Space Opera Fans discussion
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[BOTM] - September Nominations
Reader pick: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas AdamsIndie pick: Queen of Roses by Elizabeth McCoy -- assuming it's acceptable, since the author herself describes it thusly "Space opera universe, but the plot... not so much with the blasters."
READER PICK:
A Tale of Two Clocks (I've discovered that this fell into the copyright crack and is now public domain; it's available for free electronically)INDIE PICK:
Scavenger Hunt
Anna wrote: "Greetings Space Opera Fans!It's that time of the month to nominate what great Space Opera tales we'll be reading as a group during the month of September. We've got two categories up for nominati..."
Yes, I've always thought that Amazon's insistence on exclusivity wouldn't always work to the readers' advantage...or even Amazon's. And certainly not to the authors'.
Stephen wrote: "Yes, I've always thought that Amazon's insistence on exclusivity wouldn't always work to the readers' advantage...or even Amazon's. And certainly not to the authors'..."Amazon might control a big chunk of the USA market, but that's not true of the rest of the world. This is a reader-oriented community. My job is to make sure we don't exclude readers.
I vote for Use of Weapons by Iain M Banks.
Reader pickThe Dark Between the Stars by Kevin J Anderson
If you read his Saga of Seven Suns series, well this is the first book in a proposed trilogy that continues events 20 years on.
Okay ... here's what I've got so far for titles:READER PICK:
INDIE PICK:
John? You commented, but then didn't nominate a book. Don't you have an Indie Pick to nominate? Just drop it in and I'll add it.
Can I still nominate? I'd like to nominate Valor's Choice.It is awesome and has a kick-ass female protagonist.
Got it Alicja!So far...
READER PICK:
INDIE PICK:
The Iain M. banks one says it's a book 3. Is it necessary to read the other two, or is it just a same universe different story sort of thing?
Sarah wrote: "The Iain M. banks one says it's a book 3. Is it necessary to read the other two, or is it just a same universe different story sort of thing?"I just checked other people's reviews and it looks like, while one might benefit from having read the other books, this book distinctly stands alone. If anybody has read it and has a different opinion, now would be a good time to speak up!
Excellent. I try to make sure before I put something on my want-to-read list. These nomination threads are like shopping. :)
John wrote: "Can't think of any..."Or a reader pick :-) Either one. Or both. If not, you get to scope out what everybody else recommends which is half the fun.
My own book, Part 1: The Courtesan Prince (Okal Rel Saga) for the traditionally published pick. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...For the indie pick, WarpWorld by Kristene Perron https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...
Thanks everybody who's nominated so far! Keep 'em coming!READER PICK:
SERIES PICK: (Coming up next - not open for nomination)
INDIE PICK:
Reader Pick - well, my own book! In the Black
Book one of Tales from the Edge
When Sam Keller left the military, she ran to the far end of the galaxy. Now she captains the Bonnie Belle, a spaceship full of courtesans who bring a little pleasure to hard-up men on mining colonies. When one of her girls turns up dead, it's Sam's job to find out who killed her, fast.
Marshal Daniel LeClair is as tough as steel and quick on the draw. But when his vacation gets replaced by an assignment to help find the killer, he can't help angling for a little action with the saucy, hard-charging Sam. She's got brains, attitude and a body he wouldn't mind investigating.
Sam, six months lonely, might just indulge him. But the Guild that owns the Belle wants the case closed yesterday. With pressure coming from all quadrants, Sam and her marshal clash over false leads and who's on top. But when the killer threatens the Belle again, romance will have to wait. It's a captain's job to save her crew, no matter the cost.
Okay ... hopefully got these new ones in the right category. Reader Pick = can get paperback version in most bookstores/libraries, eBook version on at least 3 distribution platforms. Indie Pick = self-published, small-press-assisted/you market it all, or legacy author who got their rights back and is self-publishing. I might have to tweak the categories next month, but for now any imbalances I can fix with my MOD PICK.Okay ... so far...
READER PICK:
SERIES PICK: (Coming up next - not open for nomination)
INDIE PICK:
For reader pick I'll nominate Moonfall
, which I've never read but would like to,
and for indie pick I have to go with my own, Ship of Storms
The former would seem to be a space opera, and the latter has been called one.
, which I've never read but would like to,and for indie pick I have to go with my own, Ship of Storms
The former would seem to be a space opera, and the latter has been called one.
Ken wrote: "For reader pick I'll nominate Moonfall..."Oooh! Anything by Jack McDevitt is always awesome :-)
Got both books on my list Ken :-)
I want to nominate my Indie story FILE A PROPER CLAIM
A SciFi that falls in with todays problems about a company that wants to strip mine a jungle planet but it turns out there are natives. OOPS.
I'd like to nominate Veronica Scott's Wreck of the Nebula Dream. It's a really fun space opera loosely based on the sinking of Titanic. For trad publisher, I'd nominate Ghost Planet.
So now we're up to:READER PICK:
SERIES PICK: (Coming up next - not open for nomination)
INDIE PICK:
INDIE PICK:
(Tons of layered characters, plot elements, and real-world parallels to discuss in these--not sure why the second book doesn't have its cover up on here, though.)
READER PICK:
(Really interesting spin on Space Opera.)
Thanks! Our current line-up:READER PICK:
SERIES PICK: (Coming up next - not open for nomination)
INDIE PICK:
I'm one of the little guys and would like to nominate my newly released book Ancient Treasure.Thanks!
Jim
Got it! Awesome pen name, BTW ... James Kirk Bisceglia :-)
Anna wrote: "Got it! Awesome pen name, BTW ... James Kirk Bisceglia :-)"Thanks Anna. My parents never told me if Star Trek influenced their choice of my name. It was given to me in 1969 just a month after the last original air date in the series.
@James - *giggles*******
BTW SOF friends - if somebody nominated a book, and you want to read that book as well, it's okay if you nominate the same book so long as you are a different person. One man, one vote, but more than one man can vote for the same candidate.
@Chase ... got The Dark Between :-)***********
John wrote: "Would you please clarify something for me Anna. Does the randomiser simply choose amongst the nominated books or does the number of nominations for a book influence its chances?..."
In a nutshell ... yes. More people = more chances. It's like the time I bought two raffle tickets to win a bicycle and had each of my kids put a ticket in the drawing basket. But it doesn't guarantee a winner. In the end, it's totally random (which is why it's called random.org :-)
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Thus far we have:
READER PICK:
SERIES PICK: (Coming up next - not open for nomination)
INDIE PICK:
@AnnaSaw The dark between the stars while I was looking for the sequel to old man's war. It looked good. Read a few chapters. will wait to read until picks are made.
Yes, I'd like to read this too. The Seven Suns series was an interesting and solid space opera.Eric wrote: "Reader pick
The Dark Between the Stars by Kevin J Anderson
If you read his Saga of Seven Suns series, well this is the first book in a proposed trilogy that continues events 20 years on."
Hi Anna, I'm all new here, but here's my Indie pick;
An hilarious (completely unbiased opinion, of course!) first book in what is going to be a trilogy.
Book: Currure Spatium
Author: Christian Ytteborg
Currure Spatium
Regards
Ane
I'm new to Indie so I don't have an indie pick but my reader's pick would be Dune by Frank Herbert.
@Les ... that sounded like a nomination for The Dark Between the Stars, yes? I put it in. If it -wasn't- a nomination, shout it out.Okay ... our lineup so far:
READER PICK:
SERIES PICK: (Coming up next - not open for nomination)
INDIE PICK:
For Indie Pick I'd like to nominate my book WYNDE, winner of the 2014 Independent Publisher Gold Medal for Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror Ebook
Yes sorry Anna, you can consider mine a nomination for Dark Between the Stars. Thanks.
@Les - had assumed so and already put you in :-)@Christian - be sure to drop your book link in the We Found Free Ebooks thread tomorrow/Saturday so other community members have a better chance of spotting your KDP Select Giveaway :-) Things tend to get buried in this thread.
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Okay ... our lineup so far:
READER PICK:
SERIES PICK: (Coming up next - not open for nomination)
INDIE PICK:
@Kisten - got it! *********
READER PICK:
SERIES PICK: (Coming up next - not open for nomination)
INDIE PICK:
I was so flattered to see that my 2013 SFR Galaxy Award winning Wreck of the Nebula Dream was already nominated!Thank you very much...I guess I really must support the nomination LOL, so here goes (thanks, Anna, for letting me know that was ok)Wreck of the Nebula Dream.
Got it, Veronica!Just a reminder ... EACH community member can nominate ONE book in EACH category.
It's okay if you want to nominate the same book as somebody else so long as it's been nominated by two separate people. Each fresh entry is like a raffle ticket. The drawing is done randomly, but it gives that book two 'chances' to win. It also clues the MODS about what books lots of people want to read as that's something we look at when exercising the MOD PICK to balance out the offerings.
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Okay ... the tally so far...
READER PICK:
SERIES PICK: (Coming up next - not open for nomination)
INDIE PICK:
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Space Opera Fans
Books mentioned in this topic
Tau Zero (other topics)The Dark Between the Stars (other topics)
Use of Weapons (other topics)
Red Mars (other topics)
A Tale of Two Clocks (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Poul Anderson (other topics)Kim Stanley Robinson (other topics)
It's that time of the month to nominate what great Space Opera tales we'll be reading as a group during the month of September. We've got two categories up for nomination this month:
READER PICK: this category is for a traditionally published, mass-market book which you can find by walking into most bookstores, libraries and at least three* ebook distribution platforms. Reader Picks are meant to be widely available to the masses worldwide.
INDIE PICK: this category is for an independently published author or a legacy author who has gotten their publication rights back and is now self-publishing their backlist. This category is for the little guy, the underdog, the maverick who decides to go it alone. Authors may nominate their own books.**
* and ** - see below.
Also coming in September:
SERIES PICK: we will be continuing on with the Old Man's War series by John Scalzi. Up for September is Zoe's Tale. Put that puppy on hold through your local inter-library loan or start hunting for a coupon or sale!
MOD PICK: What will your MODS pick next? Spaceships? Aliens? Shape-changing xenomorphs? Who knows what will spark your MOD's interest, but whatever it is, we'll invite you to read along with us :-)
Remember … each community member can nominate ONE book in EACH category that is up for grabs (this month READER and INDIE pick). On September 1st, the nominations for each category will be tallied and run through the Random.org list randomizer to randomly pick a winner. The September Group Reads will then be announced via email.
May the odds forever be in your favor!
Anna Erishkigal
SOF MOD-2
BORING RULES STUFF:
*Note for READER, SERIES and MOD PICKS: due to Amazon's Kindle Unlimited, we suddenly have the bizarre situation where some blockbuster books are no longer available to the non-Amazon masses, so ebook editions must be available on THREE different distribution platforms in at least .epub and .mobi. We also now have some major publishing houses publishing e-book only editions (no paperbacks) under a phony imprint which don't qualify for either category. I don't expect you guys to know this stuff when you nominate a book, but your Borg Queen hates mega-corporation tricks, traps, exclusivity, monopolies, obfuscation, and things-with-strings, so if I happen to notice a Reader or Series Pick doesn't qualify due to some publisher trick before Judgment Day … ahem … the Randomizer … I will invite you to pick another selection so people aren't excluded. SOF is a global, all-inclusive community.
Note for INDIE PICKS: If your book is locked up in Kindle Unlimited, I urge you to consider scheduling a KDP Select free giveaway day and offering to email a DRM-free .epub to any non-Kindle owning SOF member who asks so you don't limit your readership to Amazon customers only. Y'all don't have to … just a suggestion.