Dragons & Jetpacks discussion

It's that time again already!

– Books must be published by the first, be available internationally, and available in print form.
– After 24-48 hours, 8 books from each genre will be chosen at random from the selection, using a random generator online.
– Only ONE nomination per person (EITHER sci-fi OR fantasy).
– If books are part of a series, they must be the first, unless the group has already read the previous book(s). (you can see our previous group reads here)
– No authors nominating their own works.
– No self-published or ebook-only books — we want our BotM to be accessible to as many members as possible!


SCI FI
1. The Ophiuchi Hotline
2. Eyes of the Void
3. Aurora's End
4. Amped
5. Elder Race
6. Navigating the Stars
7. Too Like the Lightning
8. A Psalm for the Wild-Built



FANTASY
1. Kaikeyi
2. Engines of Empire
3. Assassin's Quest
4. The Hunger of the Gods
5. Fledgling
6. A River Enchanted
7. Paladin's Grace
8. Sufficiently Advanced Magic

The Ophiuchi Hotline by John Varley for scifi

Eyes of the Void by Adrian Tchaikovsky for sci-fi please

Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel for fantasy please

Aurora's End for SF

Engines of Empire for fantasy, please :)

The Hunger of the Gods for fantasy.

Amped for sci fi please

Elder Race for SF please.

I love these suggestions so far. :) Voting will be tough.

Sufficiently Advanced Magic by Andrew Rowe for Fantasy!

Assassin's Quest for Fantasy please.

Ian (RebelGeek) wrote: "Sufficiently Advanced Magic by Andrew Rowe for Fantasy!"

It looks like this is self-published. It looks like I have it on my Kindle, so a buddy read is certainly possible.

I'd be interested in a buddy read.

I bought it from Audible. It's an Audible exclusive, so I don't think it's self-published.

Shawnie wrote: "I'd be interested in a buddy read."

of Sufficiently Advanced Magic? Sweet!

Ian (RebelGeek) wrote: "Shawnie wrote: "I'd be interested in a buddy read."

of Sufficiently Advanced Magic? Sweet!"

There's a buddy read thread where you can set it up to let everyone know the details and seek participation. There are usually others who want to join in. :)

Ian (RebelGeek) wrote: "I bought it from Audible. It's an Audible exclusive, so I don't think it's self-published."

It's won awards for Best Self-Published Something Something, so that's how I reached that conclusion.

But yes, I'm all for a buddy read of it.

More nominations please!

Fledgling by Octavia E. Butler

N.E.C.C. wrote: "The Hunger of the Gods for fantasy."

Audrey, don't forget this one. :)

Audrey wrote: "Ian (RebelGeek) wrote: "I bought it from Audible. It's an Audible exclusive, so I don't think it's self-published."

It's won awards for Best Self-Published Something Something, so that's how I rea..."

When I did my search, I saw saw Podium Publishing also picked it up and published it. Podium Publishing is not owned by the author. If a self-published book gets picked up by another publisher later, does it remain unavailable?

I think it is acceptable if it gets picked up.

A River Enchanted for fantasy please

Eric wrote: "Audrey wrote: "Ian (RebelGeek) wrote: "I bought it from Audible. It's an Audible exclusive, so I don't think it's self-published."

It's won awards for Best Self-Published Something Something, so t..."

That is an audiobook publisher, so I will need a second opinion on that.

Eric wrote: "Fledgling by Octavia E. Butler"

I put this under fantasy. Let me know if that's wrong.

Audrey wrote: "Eric wrote: "Audrey wrote: "Ian (RebelGeek) wrote: "I bought it from Audible. It's an Audible exclusive, so I don't think it's self-published."

It's won awards for Best Self-Published Something So..."

If it's not available internationally, that would nix it.

Audrey wrote: That is an audiobook publisher, so I will need a second opinion on that.

Are audiobooks also verboten?

Audrey wrote: "Eric wrote: "Fledgling by Octavia E. Butler"

I put this under fantasy. Let me know if that's wrong."

I can see the book go either way. It's a mix of sci-fi and fantasy.

Eric wrote: "Audrey wrote: That is an audiobook publisher, so I will need a second opinion on that.

Are audiobooks also verboten?"

I think it's ideal to have multiple formats available.

Audrey wrote: "I think it's ideal to have multiple formats available."

According to Goodreads, there are 5 editions of the book: kindle, paperback, and ebook are self published while audio is published by Podium Publishing and Podium Audio. Podium Publishing is not owned by the author which means a publisher picked it up.
There's multiple formats available, it's been picked up by a publisher, and you requested for more nominations in order to get to the desired 8 per genre.
I didn't nominate it but I'm scratching my head thinking some obscure rules are restricting you. If there was an over abundance of nominations, I can see those books to not make it to the poll.

I didn't set the rules, so I'm trying to interpret them correctly and will defer to the Original Rule Masters' wishes.

I nominate Paladin's Grace by T. Kingfisher for fantasy.

Navigating the Stars by Maria V. Snyder for Sci-fi please

Lynne wrote: "Navigating the Stars by Maria V. Snyder for Sci-fi please"

I still need to read the third one!

I've seen Sufficiently Advanced Magic in local German book stores, so I think it's widely available internationally (Rowe's books are very successful). 🙂

(By the way, what self-published used to mean, and what it means today in a completely different publishing environment, are very different things. Even Brandon Sanderson self-publishes now.)

I'd like to nominate Too Like the Lightning by Ada Palmer for SF, please.

Woohoo!

To paraphrase John Scalzi, Sanderson is the exception rather than the rule. Its a tough call on the self published side. For every gem there is still a lot of bang average stuff.And goodreads is full of authors abusing book of the month nominations. A hard line is easier than anything to manage. Otherwise managing nominations month to month will just be painful.

One more SF nomination anyone? :)

your call

Can i nominate a Psalm for the Wild Built by Becky Chambers for scifi

Paul wrote: "Can i nominate a Psalm for the Wild Built by Becky Chambers for scifi"

Sounds good. I'll set up polls.