August Random Book Nominations

[Maggie, space cruisin' for a bruisin']

Nominate your favorite here...no seconds needed, all nominations will go into the poll, and the top two will do a runoff poll

[mark, personal space invader]

my disappointment in the tv show Falling Skies has made me long for a good story about alien invasion vs. plucky humans.

so i nominate Footfall by larry niven & jerry pournelle

[mark, personal space invader]

mike that's the other poll, the themed one. this poll is purely random!

[Margaret]

Aline invasion vs. plucky humans? Allow me to nominate David Weber's latest (first of a coming trilogy--does that man ever stop scribbling?)--"Out of the Dark". SF plus a touch of horror--think good -----s making common cause with the overmatched humans. (I don't want to spoil the surprise.) Also some great humor (the alien comander, every time he gets bested, growls "I hate those humans!" Not as dense and over-written as so much of Weber--has a lighter touch if you can believe it.

[Kevin]

I would like to nominate a series that not everyone has read, but it made George R.R. Martin to be the writer that he is today before Song of Ice and Fires, Wild Cards 1, which is actually short stories that takes place within 40 years written by some of the best writers of the our time.

[Scott]

A Talent For War

[Mike (the Paladin)]

Now that I've got straight where I am...I like Footfall.

[Jackie]

Nightfall by Isaac Asimov

[Aloha]

I've been so wishy washy about what I want to read lately, I'll let you guys nominate and I'll decide whether I want to read the winner. I'm getting tired of nonfiction, and can't decide whether to do horror or scifi next.

[Jason]

I nominate The Forever War by Joe Haldeman.

[whimsicalmeerkat]

Light by M. John Harrison gets my nomination. Partially because I loved it and wouldn't mind re-reading it before I read the sequel.

[Scott]

Light was great! I didn't care for Nova Swing though.

[Maggie, space cruisin' for a bruisin']

I have been buying way too many books altely...I am not even sure which ones I have and which I do not...lol. I know I have Light....hmmm...I see an inventory in my future

Icky

[Kristen]

I nominate Voyagers by Ben Bova

[Maggie, space cruisin' for a bruisin']

A book I have been wanting to read is Dhalgren by Delany

[Margaret]

I ssee McDevitt has been offered, A Talent for War. Anything by McDevitt is great, but I would rather recommend his best Alex Benedict SF mystery of all, The Devil's Eye. For his Priscilla series, the best is Deepsix. Any McDevitt I would vote for.

[Scott]

We're supposed to stick to the first book in a series for the monthly reads, although the Benedict novels are more or less self-contained. I started with the second one because I didn't realise it was a part of anything. It just looked good. Anyway, I haven't gone back and read the first one yet, so I nominated it.

I dove in the middle of the Hutch books as well...

[Margaret]

Yes, the Hutch boks are almost as good. In some ways, even better than the Benedict ones. Oh, well. What was the name of the first Hutch? We could recommend that one.

[Scott]

I think The Engines of God is the first Hutch novel. Either one is fine with me, but I think I enjoy the Benedict novels more.

[Margaret]

Six of one, half dozen of another. There are some Hutch I prefer, and some Benedict. There are really among the best contemporary SF. So, do we recommend Engines of God? I could go for that. It would be doing everybody a favor to introduce the forum to McDevitt (if they haven't been already.)

[Scott]

You can nominate anything you like as long as it's the first book in a series (if it's a series.) Or you can save it for the next month. I agree, his books are wonderful; Polaris is what got me back into reading futuristic SF after a long hiatus of not so much.

[Maggie, space cruisin' for a bruisin']

So Margaret, are you nominating The Engines of God? I am going to close up the nominations here soon and want to make sure I dont miss anyone...

[Margaret]

OK--Lwet's go with it--The Engines of God by Jack McDevitt nominated. By the way, sometimes books are referenced or nominated or referred to with title only, without author. Would like to see the author as well.

[Maggie, space cruisin' for a bruisin']

okay-I think that gives us the following list:

Footfall, Nightfall, A Talent For War, The Forever War, Light, Voyagers, Dhalgren, The Engines of God

Some great choices in there!