Beyond Reality discussion

Our current series will end in mid-February and then we usually take a month off from series, so I am opening nominations for a series to begin March 15. Since we alternate genres, this time we are nominations SCIENCE FICTION series.

A few guidelines:
—The series should be complete, as far as you can tell. I realize authors sometimes revisit a series years later, but as much as possible, we are looking to read a completed series.
—The series should be one we have not read and discussed as a group. Click here for a list of the past series we have read together.
—Please give the name of the series, the author, and how many books are in the series. Feel free to add the titles of the individual books, if you want.
—The series must be SCIENCE FICTION.
—Nominations do NOT require a second.

Nominations will be open through January 15, which gives you all plenty of time to come up with some great ideas. We will have a preliminary round of polling to narrow the field and then a final poll to determine the winner. The series read itself will start March 15, giving us a "month off" between our current series read and the next one.

Please post nominations in this thread (Nominations are Open for Next Series Read) on the group page, not by responding to the broadcast message sent to your Goodreads inbox.

Nominations:
Xenogenesis trilogy (AKA Lilith’s Brood) by Octavia E. Butler, 3 books starting with Dawn
Alex Benedict series by Jack McDevitt, 8 books starting with A Talent for War
Revenger series by Alastair Reynolds, 3 books starting with Revenger
Starfarers quartet by Vonda N. McIntyre, 4 books starting with Starfarers
Impossible Times trilogy by Mark Lawrence, 3 books starting with One Word Kill (which was our SF Book of the Month back in June)
Spiral Arm series by Michael Flynn, 4 books starting with The January Dancer
Zones of Thoughts series by Vernor Vinge, 3 books starting with A Fire Upon the Deep (which was our BotM in Nov. 2014)
The Gap Cycle by Stephen R. Donaldson, 5 books starting with The Gap Into Conflict: The Real Story
MaddAddam series by Margaret Atwood, 3 books starting with Oryx and Crake (which was our BotM in August 2014)
Salvation Sequence by Peter F. Hamilton, 3 books starting with Salvation
Planet of Adventure series by Jack Vance, 4 books starting with City of the Chasch
Long Earth series by Terry Pratchett, Stephen Baxter, 5 books starting with The Long Earth
Uplift Saga by David Brin, 6 books starting with Sundiver (which was our BotM in January 2017)
Odyssey series by Arthur C. Clarke, 4 books starting with 2001: A Space Odyssey
Remembrance of Earth’s Past by Liu Cixin, 3 books starting with The Three-Body Problem (which was our BotM in February 2015)

Nominated but disqualified:
Murderbot series by Martha Wells, starting with All Systems Red—not a complete series
The Book of the New Sun series by Gene Wolfe, starting with The Shadow of the Torturer—previously read and discussed by the group in 2013

I'll nominate the Xenogenesis trilogy by Octavia Butler. I read the first book ages ago and have always meant to continue.

I'll nominate the Alex Benedict novels by Jack McDevitt. I've read some of them; they work as stand alones, but I've always wanted to go back and read the series.

Wrong link in the first message and in the message I sent out—will fix it now but can’t resend a message till tomorrow. Sorry for the mixup!

I nominate the Revenger Series by Alastair Reynolds:
Revenger
Shadow Captain
Bone Silence

Have you read The Starfarers Quartet? If not I nominate it.

Chris wrote: "I'll nominate the Alex Benedict novels by Jack McDevitt. I've read some of them; they work as stand alone, but I've always wanted to go back and read the series."

That reminds me, my husband has been trying to get me to read his Academy series for years now. But I'll hold off on that nomination since this also looks interesting.

Link for the Alex Benedict series. Looks like its 8 books in total.

Random wrote: "Chris wrote: "I'll nominate the Alex Benedict novels by Jack McDevitt. I've read some of them; they work as stand alone, but I've always wanted to go back and read the series."

That reminds me, my..."
I like the Academy series, too. But I had to choose ...

I would like to nominate Mark Lawrence's Impossible Times trilogy, which begins with One Word Kill. The setting is largely 1980s England, centers on time travel.

I nominate the Spiral Arm Series by Michael Flynn starting with The January Dancer

I would like to nominate- The Murderbot Diaries series by Martha Wells, 6 books starting with All Systems Red.

The 1st book (and the whole series) has excellent reviews (including one by Patrick Rothfuss) and seems like it would be a fun read.

The setting is a corporate-dominated spacefaring future in which Murderbot is a self-aware android who’s job is to be a security guard to protect some humans while they do their research on a planet, but Murderbot doesn’t really like humans and really only wants to be left alone long enough to figure out who it is and watch entertainment videos all day.

NOTE: The 6th book though not yet published is coming out in April this year, so it shouldn't be a problem.

I second Nachiket.

Nachiket wrote: "I would like to nominate- The Murderbot Diaries series by Martha Wells, 6 books starting with All Systems Red."

There is no indication that book 6 will be the final book in the series, so I’m not sure the series is complete. In the somewhat distant past, the group has read incomplete series, but we have since chosen to avoid doing that if possible.

If you have a source that indicates Wells is wrapping up the Murderbot series with this 6th book, I will allow the nomination, but the synopsis I read gives no indication of that. (By the way, I loved the first book!)

I nominate Zones of Thought, starting with A Fire Upon the Deep.

I'd also love to read the Impossible Times series nominated.

Ooh, ooh, ooh! We definitely should try The Gap Cycle by Stephen R. Donaldson.

5 books:
The Gap Into Conflict: The Real Story
The Gap Into Vision: Forbidden Knowledge
The Gap Into Power: A Dark and Hungry God Arises
The Gap Into Madness: Chaos and Order
The Gap Into Ruin: This Day All Gods Die

He’s probably better known for his Fantasy, but this is a solid action, political intrigue galactic space opera series. Apparently loosely based around Wagner’s Ring Cycle, but I could be wrong about that.

Kathi wrote: "Nachiket wrote: "I would like to nominate- The Murderbot Diaries series by Martha Wells, 6 books starting with All Systems Red."

There is no indication that book 6 w..."

Oh, sorry, didn't realize it wasn't finished. On amazon it said book 1 of 6, so I thought it was going to be a 6 book series.
Am I allowed to nominate another series? Or if you think there are already enough nominations, that's OK too.

There's quite a few already that I'd be happy with, and a couple I'm torn about voting for, but nonetheless I'll chip in with The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe.



This is, IMHO, one of the great works of modern literature, a dense and multilayered story set in the distant future where the sun is slowly dying and ancient technologies are treated like magic.


It begins with The Shadow of the Torturer (also available as a compendium of the first two volumes in Shadow & Claw) and consists of four books - possibly five or 12, as their is a coda, The Urth of the New Sun, and two subsequent series, The Book of the Long Sun and The Book of the Short Sun, which are only tangentially connected to the original quadrilogy. The original four are typically considered the core story. At some point I intend to go back and read the whole cycle from start to finish.

Nachiket wrote: "m I allowed to nominate another series? Or if you think there are already enough nominations, that's OK too."

It’s hard to say if Murderbot is finished or not, but I’m just not seeing any indication that book 6 is it.

And “there’s no such thing as too many books (or series)”, so please, feel free to nominate something else!

Paul wrote: "There's quite a few already that I'd be happy with, and a couple I'm torn about voting for, but nonetheless I'll chip in with The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe.”

This series is ineligible because the group already read it as a series. As stated in the first post: “The series should be one we have not read and discussed as a group. Click here for a list of the past series we have read together.”

Kathi wrote: "This series is ineligible because the group already read it as a series. As stated in the first post: “The series should be one we have not read and discussed as a group. Click here for a list of the past series we have read together.”"


My apologies, I'd somehow missed it on the list!

Paul wrote: "My apologies, I'd somehow missed it on the list!"

No worries! Please feel free to nominate something else.

I'd like to nominate MaddAddam by Margaret Atwood, starting with Oryx and Crake.

It's been on my to-do list for ages :)

Kathi wrote: "No worries! Please feel free to nominate something else."


Plenty of good stuff on the list already; I think I shall leave it :)

I know we already have a lot of great nominations, but there is still plenty of time for anyone who hasn’t made a nomination to toss one into the ring. Since we aren’t starting the series till March, we have time for an extra round of polling, if needed, so don’t be shy about giving us your idea (if you haven’t already—each member is still limited to one nomination). I’m still mulling my nomination.

I will nominate- The Salvation Sequence by Peter F. Hamilton, 3 books starting with Salvation.

The premise seems very intriguing and all the books in the series seem to have excellent reviews.

I would like to add Planet Of Adventure by my most favorite science fiction writers Jack Vance. I read these books last year, and they are simply fantastic, and would like to re-read them again this year.

I am going to nominate the Long Earth series, 5 books, starting with The Long Earth. Sir Terry Pratchett, one of the authors, is best know for his Discworld series (and is one of my favorite authors). He collaborated with Stephen Baxter, known for his sci fi books (Manifold series). Baxter is an author whom I have not yet read.

The Uplift Saga, By David Brin. It's won a bevy of awards, and the books are packed with imagination. It's six main books, and a couple novellas/short fiction.

Kathi wrote: "I am going to nominate the Long Earth series, 5 books, starting with The Long Earth. Sir Terry Pratchett, one of the authors, is best know for his Discworld series (an..."

I love the Pratchett's Discworld books, and Baxter's Xeelee books, but I've disliked The Long Whatever series. The style is there, and they are fun reads piece-wise, but there's no sense or substance to the series - and no real conclusion at the end. Feels way more like a series of short stories, than like an overarching story.

I would like to nominate the Odyssey series by Arthur C. Clarke that includes:

-2001: A Space Odyssey
-2010: Odyssey Two
-2061: Odyssey Three
-3001: The Final Odyssey

There are a few more day to nominate a SF series for the group to read. Depending on how the initial poll goes, we may have two preliminary rounds before moving to a final poll; I’m going to decide based on how the results break down.

I'd like to nominate the series Remembrance of Earth's Past from Liu Cixin, starting with The Three-Body Problem.

It's a science fiction trilogy, and the first book won the Hugo award for best novel.

@Rafael I will second this nomination of Liu Cixin’s masterpiece!!

Last day for nominations!

Nominations for our next series are closed.

The first preliminary poll is open and will remain open through January 22, 2021.

I will look for a "natural break" and probably have a second poll to narrow the choices to the top 2, and then we'll have our final poll. Of course, if there are 2 series that separate from the rest, maybe we'll move right to a final poll. I just have to see how the voting goes.

Here's the link: Preliminary Poll for SF Series starting March 15

PLEASE VOTE!

It looks like the top 4 or so vote-getters might be heading for a second poll to narrow it down to the final 2. You still have a couple days to vote (or change your vote, if you wish).

Last day to vote in the first preliminary round!

Second preliminary poll for our Science Fiction Series to start March 15, 2021 is now open! The top 2 vote getters from this poll will move to the final poll.

Preliminary Poll #2 for SF Series

This poll is open through Wednesday, January 27, 2021.
Please vote!!

OK, we are finally ready for the final poll for our Science Fiction series to start March 15, 2021.

Note that voting is open through February 1 (rather than closing at the end of the month).

Final Poll for SF Series

Please vote!

Just found out that Dawn, the first book in the Octavia Butler series in our final poll, is on sale today for $1.99 (Kindle and iBooks). Whether that series wins or not, it's probably a good read for a good price!

The final poll for our next series is extremely close! You have a couple days left to vote (or to change your current vote). The poll is open through February 1 and will close at midnight PST.

Final Poll for SF Series

Thanks to everyone who voted—we have a tie! Mods are huddling to decide what to do. Thanks for you patience.

The mods huddled up and made a decision. Since the 2 finalist series tied and since they both are "only" trilogies, we are going to run both series, one after the other. Below is the (edited/corrected) schedule:

Xenogenesis trilogy (AKA Lilith’s Brood) by Octavia E. Butler
March 15, 2021--Dawn
April 15, 2021--Adulthood Rites
May 15, 2021--Imago

Remembrance of Earth's Past by Liu Cixin
June 15, 2021--The Three-Body Problem
July 15, 2021--The Dark Forest
August 15, 2021--Death's End

I will run the discussions for the Xenogenesis series. If anyone is interested in running the discussions for the Remembrance of Earth's Past series, please chime in here or let one of the mods know.

Thanks!!