Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ

Hello, trusty readers of great F and SF. For those who don't know, we always nominate and vote on books two months in advance. That way everyone has plenty of time to get the books for the month.

So, the theme for March is "Mistresses of Sci-fi and Fantasy." The male moderators of this group picked "Mistresses of Sci-fi and Fantasy" for March because there's an International Women's Day in March. I salute them for picking the theme and also for knowing there's an International Women's Day--because I didn't.

You have the following choices:

1) You can select and nominate two books from this shelf Mistresses of Sci-fi and Fantasy

OR

2) You can nominate one of these series that are each short enough to be read in one month.

Imperial Radch by Ann Leckie Total pages: 1,072
Ancillary Justice - 386pg HWBN NWBN
Ancillary Sword - 356pg HNBN NNBN
Ancillary Mercy - 330pg HNBN NNBN

Nanotech by Kathleen Ann Goonan Total pages: 992
Crescent City Rhapsody - 576pg NNBN
Light Music - 416pg NNBN

Sleepless by Nancy Kress Total pages: 777
Beggars in Spain - 400pg HWBN NWBN
Beggars and Choosers - 377pg HNBN NNBN

Just post your nominations in this thread. Have fun!

Mission Child, by Maureen McHugh... because I so much enjoyed and admired her writing in China Mountain Zhang.

Up the Walls of the World, by James Tiptree, Jr.... because I've only read short stories by Tiptree and think this first novel sounds challenging and interesting.

Kate,
I believe Queen City Jazz (1994) is the first installment of the Kathleen Goonan series you have listed above.

Cynthia wrote: "Kate,
I believe Queen City Jazz (1994) is the first installment of the Kathleen Goonan series you have listed above."

It would seem that many readers consider these to be mostly standalone novels set in the same world. I personally don't have any first hand experience with the series, just basing on opinions of others I am opting to skip the first two novels myself and get back to them only if the world interests me enough. One thing everyone seems to agree on is that all four novels of the "Quartet" can be read separately.

I will try looking for a copy anyway.

I nominate God's War by Kameron Hurley. I've read only one novel by her (The Stars Are Legion) and it was unusual - so I have to give her another try to decide whether I like her prose

I'll stick with the classics, and nominate The Handmaid's Tale. I suppose most of you have already read it, but for some reason I never did. I haven't even seen the TV series, for crying out loud!

Cynthia, thanks for letting me know about Queen City Jazz. I am actually unfamiliar with Goonan, and therefore I missed it.

I'm going to talk to the guys and figure out what we should do, but if Queen City Jazz is included, my feeling is that the series will be too long for a one month read. Plus, Art said above that the books are not that connected. So maybe if noone selects them, it's a non-issue? But I thank you for letting me know.

Well, I am nominating Imperial Radch, but I don't expect it will win because I know some have already read it.

The Handmaid's Tale is certainly a must-read if you haven't already read it. It also provides lots of food for thought and discussion. The TV series really captured the dystopian feel of the book, but was not always true to the plot. The first season used up the whole book then the second season was all newly written material.

I'd second Up the Walls of the World and offer The Drowning Girl by Caitlin R Kiernan. The latter had a bunch of award nominations, including a Nebula.

Allan, Since these books are all on our group bookshelf... aren't they all Nebula and/or Hugo nominees? I'm kind of new here, so I'm just checking my understanding of the terms... like bookshelf, and how a book gets placed on the shelf.

Cynthia wrote: "Allan, Since these books are all on our group bookshelf... aren't they all Nebula and/or Hugo nominees? I'm kind of new here, so I'm just checking my understanding of the terms... like bookshelf, a..."

You are absolutely correct, Cynthia. Whatever books we have on our to-read shelf are either winners or nominees.

The exception is a shelf named "related reads" which exists only for the purpose of tracking books that were "required" related material pertaining to series that we read as a group. Books on that shelf are all exclusively marked as "read".

Amazing nominations. Personally I would love getting a taste of C.J. Cherryh's writing so I'm nominating Cyteen. Here's what we've got so far:

Mission Child by Maureen F. McHugh
Up the Walls of the World by James Tiptree Jr.
God's War by Kameron Hurley
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
The Drowning Girl by Caitlín R. Kiernan
Cyteen by C.J. Cherryh

Imperial Radch by Ann Leckie Total pages: 1,072
Ancillary Justice - 386pg HWBN NWBN
Ancillary Sword - 356pg HNBN NNBN
Ancillary Mercy - 330pg HNBN NNBN

Yes, The Drowning Girl was a Nebula nominee, which puts it in our shelves automatically. However, my point was that it won or was nominated for numerous other awards. It won both the Tiptree and Stoker awards and was nominated for the Derleth, Mythopoeic, Shirley Jackson, Locus Fantasy and World Fantasy Awards. All of these are prestigious awards for science fiction, fantasy & horror books given by various groups.

Great group of nominations. I read The Handmaid's Tale finally last year and it was way better than I expected. If people haven't read this classic, it's time they did. I've got my sister-in-law reading it now. Also read Cyteen a few years ago and absolutely loved it. I won't re-read it but it is one of my favorites over the last few years.

Adding that Cyteen was my first exposure to Cherryh's writing too. Last year I read The Pride of Chanur to start that series, which is more of a lighter space opera, and I liked it a lot too. I'd like to get to her Morgaine and Foreigner series eventually.

So many books, so little time! Allen you make me want to vote for Cherryh and The Handmaid's Tale, but I think I will stick with Imperial Radch.

Have you read that, Allan? I know Z has.

I've read Ancillary Justice, which I enjoyed, but not the other two. I do have copies and planned to get to them at some point this year, so it would not be a bad thing if that series won.

I started it once, but (anc Just) got interrupted by something else. Will eventually read