Group Reads -- JUNE: Night Watch - JULY: Hounded - AUGUST: Dead Iron

[Theresa]

We'll take the first 10 book title nominations and I'll split them up in to two groups of five in the Polls. The winner from each group will be our Group Read for June and July.

The rules for submitting a book title:
1) One submission per UF member (regardless of whether we are nominating for more than one month at a time).
2) Please submit the title, author, and a brief description of the book.
3) UF titles are preferred, but Supernatural, Sci-Fi, PNR, and Fantasy are acceptable too.
4a) It must be the first book in a series or a stand-alone title. If the title is in a series, but can be read without previous knowledge of the earlier books, feel free to submit it.
4b) If we have already read and discussed the first book in the series as a group, the second title can be submitted, etc.

You can view our Group Read History here.

We'll go to a total of 10 nominations or an end date of Thursday, May 12th - whichever comes first. After we have the nominations, I will create the Polls and the voting process will begin. Voting will end on 5/25.

Please start nominating titles... and newcomers, please don't be shy - we would love to hear from you!

---

JUNE:
1. Except the Queen by Jane Yolen
2. Dead Iron by Devon Monk
3. Night Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko
4. Child of Fire by Harry Connolly
5. Night Runner: A Novel by Max Turner

JULY:
6. Blood Cross by Faith Hunter
7. The Scent of Shadows by Vicki Pettersson
8. Blood and Iron by Elizabeth Bear
9. Hounded by Kevin Hearne
10. Witchling by Yasmine Galenorn

[Julia]

Except the Queen by Jane Yolen and Midori Snyder.


Holy Terror wrote this about the book:
A wonderfully unique and dark tale, the likes of which I rarely come across.

The book tells the story of two fairy sisters; Meteora and Serana. Meteora sees something she isn't supposed to and also lets the secret slip to fellow fae with looser lips than her own. As punishment, she and her sister are banished from the realm of faery to live with mortals. They've also been stripped of their youth and beauty and forced to live alone and far away from each other. They have to rely on the kindness of others and their own wits to survive in the strange human world.

This book was such a pleasant surprise. It's so much darker than I thought it would be and the tone really works for the story. It was also fascinating to see how the sisters would adapt to their strange surroundings. I liked how this showed the fae trying to survive in the human world and how everything was strange and new to them.

There are also many humorous misunderstandings and assumptions that the sisters make. As an example; Serana and Meteora spend a great deal of time sending letters to each other by way of pigeons and other birds. They tie the letters to the birds' legs and speak to them so the animals will know where to go. At one point Serana sees the symbol for the post office on a mail box and she thinks an eagle would take letters much faster. So she asks a lady how she can send an eagle letter and how to find the place of mails. Once Serana gets to the post office, it gets even funnier:

So I did the turnings she suggested, and found the place of mails with the big eagle sigil on the wall. I did not see any of my sister's men in blue, but there was a lady behind some bars-caged like a farmer's cows-who told me to put the letter into an envelope and seal it. The lady behind the bars promised me it would reach Meteora in two days.

"Two days? Complaint edged into my voice. "But I thought this is eagle mail. The dove can do it in that time and for nothing more than some honey water and bread."

This kind of thing happens to both sisters throughout the novel and their almost childish innocence and wonder with regards to the world is both refreshing and endearing.

That's not to say everything is all fun and games for them. There's a malevolent force at work that the sisters have to figure out how to stop. They have to use their knowledge and cunning and learn how to survive anew, having their magic and strength stripped from them. The most important lesson that they have to learn though is how to rely on their own selves now that they're forced to live apart.

I really loved this book. I love stories about the fae, especially when a great deal of research has been done. I actually purchased The Fairy Bible: The Definitive Guide to the World of Fairies so I could have a visual reference for all of the fae that are present within this novel. This was certainly a well-researched and well-crafted novel and I hope the two authors work together again in the future!

[Dejsha]

I want to nominate Dead Iron. It is released July 5th.

I hear it has zombies, magic, shifters, and fae.

Amazon description:
Welcome to a new America that is built on blood, sweat, and gears...

In steam age America, men, monsters, machines, and magic battle for the same scrap of earth and sky. In this chaos, bounty hunter Cedar Hunt rides, cursed by lycanthropy and carrying the guilt of his brother's death. Then he's offered hope that his brother may yet survive. All he has to do is find the Holder: a powerful device created by mad devisers-and now in the hands of an ancient Strange who was banished to walk this Earth.

In a land shaped by magic, steam, and iron, where the only things a man can count on are his guns, gears, and grit, Cedar will have to depend on all three if he's going to save his brother and reclaim his soul once and for all...

[Michelle]

if it's not rude to do so, i'll toss Night Watch back into the ring again - the vote was really close last time, and i think it'll make a great discussion book.

the description from amazon:
Set in contemporary Moscow, Lukyanenko's fantastic American debut—the first in a series about an epic struggle between good and evil—charts the adventures of a race of supernaturally gifted Others, who serve either the Light or Dark Side. The Others slip in and out of an eerie parallel world where they coexist in an uneasy peace that a terrible revolution may soon disrupt. Philosophical Anton Gorodetsky, an earnest Night Watch agent, falls in love with 24-year-old Svetlana Nazarova, a troubled young doctor under a Dark Magician's curse. While Anton endeavors to undo the curse, he discovers Egor, a gifted boy unwilling to choose between his Light or Dark abilities. As humankind's fate hangs in the balance, Anton is forced to re-examine his allegiance, and Svetlana is drawn deeper into the exotic, vivid universe of dueling magicians, shape-shifters, witches and vampires. Potent as a shot of vodka, this compelling urban fantasy was adapted to a Russian blockbuster movie in 2004.

[Ashley]

I'd like to nominate Child of Fire by Harry Connolly.



From Goodreads:
Ray Lilly is living on borrowed time. He’s the driver for Annalise Powliss, a high-ranking member of the Twenty Palace Society, a group of sorcerers devoted to hunting down and executing rogue magicians. But because Ray betrayed her once, Annalise is looking for an excuse to kill him–or let someone else do the job.

Unfortunately for both of them, Annalise’s next mission goes wrong, leaving her critically injured. With the little magic he controls, Ray must complete her assignment alone. Not only does he have to stop a sorcerer who’s sacrificing dozens of innocent lives in exchange for supernatural power, he must find–and destroy–the source of that inhuman magic.

[Darcy]

I will go with Night Runner by Max Turner.

For Zack Thomson, life in the Nicholls Ward wasn't so bad. After his parents died, he developed strange allergies, and the mental institution was the only place where he could be properly looked after. As strange as it was, it was home. But that all changes the night a stranger on a Harley crashes through the front doors and tells him to run. Along with his best friend Charlie and a girl he may or may not be falling in love with, Zack does just that: run. Under the cover of night, hiding amongst the shadows, he races for the truth.

[Theresa]

I'm nominating: Blood Cross by Faith Hunter

(We read the first book, Skinwalker, as a Group Read in February 2010.)

The vampire council has hired skinwalker Jane Yellowrock to hunt and kill one of their own who has broken sacred ancient rules-but Jane quickly realizes that in a community that is thousands of years old, loyalties run deep...

With the help of her witch best friend and local vigilantes, Jane finds herself caught between bitter rivalries - and closer than ever to the secret origin of the entire vampire race. But in a city of old grudges and dark magic, Jane will have to fight to protect both sides, even if no one will protect her.

[[deleted user]]

I would like to nominate by Vicki Pettersson.
Here is the blurb from GR.
When she was sixteen, Joanna Archer was brutally assaulted and left to die in the Nevada desert.

By rights, she should be dead.

Now a photographer by day, she prowls a different Las Vegas after sunset—a grim, secret Sin City where Light battles Shadow—seeking answers to whom or what she really is . . . and revenge for the horrors she was forced to endure.

But the nightmare is just beginning—for the demons are hunting Joanna, and the powerful shadows want her for their own . . .

[Debye]

I would like to nominate 'Blood & Iron' by Elizabeth Bear.

[Debye]

oops. still trying figure out how to add book pictures & link for author. I will fix by the end of the day.

[Bill_i_am75]

I would like to nominate Hounded by Kevin Hearne.


From goodreads:

Atticus O’Sullivan, last of the Druids, lives peacefully in Arizona, running an occult bookshop and shape-shifting in his spare time to hunt with his Irish wolfhound. His neighbors and customers think that this handsome, tattooed Irish dude is about twenty-one years old—when in actuality, he’s twenty-one centuries old. Not to mention: He draws his power from the earth, possesses a sharp wit, and wields an even sharper magical sword known as Fragarach, the Answerer.

Unfortunately, a very angry Celtic god wants that sword, and he’s hounded Atticus for centuries. Now the determined deity has tracked him down, and Atticus will need all his power—plus the help of a seductive goddess of death, his vampire and werewolf team of attorneys, a sexy bartender possessed by a Hindu witch, and some good old-fashioned luck of the Irish—to kick some Celtic arse and deliver himself from evil.

[Foxy Grandma]

I would like to nominate Witchling by Yasmine Galenorn, the first in the Sisters of the Moon Series.

Description from Goodreads:
We're the D'Artigo Sisters: Half-human, half-Faerie, we're savvy - and sexy - operatives for the Otherworld Intelligence Agency. But our mixed-blood heritage short-circuits our talents at all the wrong times. My sister Delilah shapeshifts into a tabby cat whenever she's stressed. Menolly's a vampire who's still trying to get the hang of being undead. And me? I'm Camille - a wicked-good witch. Except my magic is as unpredictable as the weather, which my enemies are about to find out the hard way...

[carol.]

Whew, Bill--your link went to Rita Mae Brown's Hounded! lol--had to make sure I wasn't reading my mystery group poll. Sounds like a good book, though. I put it on my TBR list.

[Theresa]

The Polls are now up.

[Theresa]

Note: Dead Iron won for June, but it isn't actually being released until July 5, 2011. Due to this...

JUNE: Night Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko

JULY: Hounded by Kevin Hearne

AUGUST: Dead Iron by Devon Monk

[Marsha]

I would really like to participate in the August group read of Dead Iron. I haven't participated in a group read yet and I'm not exactly sure what the 'rules' are for it. Do we just openly discuss the book? Are there specific questions posted to which people respond? Thanks:)

[Darcy]

Marsha, just read the book and comment on the thread. It is super easy. Just keep your eyes peeled for the threads, one will be spoiler free, the others will have spoilers.

[Marsha]

Darcy wrote: "Marsha, just read the book and comment on the thread. It is super easy. Just keep your eyes peeled for the threads, one will be spoiler free, the others will have spoilers."

Thanks:)