August book study pre-poll: fantasy

Fenika · Jun 24, 2009

Alright, I'm starting this one good and early.

One idea I had for a theme would be fantasy that won a recent major/international award.

(Guess which book I'll be nominating and voting for)

Another idea would be delving into a genre we've not done much, like Urban Fantasy (yeah, we did deLint, but that wasn't standard UF).

Anyone else have a theme or want to throw out titles?

As always, please please provide links to amazon to make things easier for everyone (particularly me

)

So - Blood of Elves by Sapkowski

SPMiller · Jun 24, 2009

That'd be fine. Anything by Abercrombie would also be fine. Or any other number of novels, provided that they're recent.

Fenika · Jun 24, 2009

This just in: Forget UF. SPM just suggested dark fantasy (going along with Abercrombie)

K_Woods · Jun 24, 2009

Is there a master list of books that have been selected in the past? I'd hate to nominate something already covered.

The only other major awards I can think of besides the WFA (and I'd swear I saw Ysabel up for vote in a past fantasy reading poll), the Hugos, and the Nebulas are the Prix Aurora awards, which I know little about, and the Seiun which a) is Japanese and b) appears to be limited to science fiction anyhow.

As for urban fantasy...the little exposure I've had to that genre has been unpleasant

(I made the mistake of picking up Storm Front. Put it down about 30 pages later and was curled up in the fetal position for a good while after. Why did no one warn me about the violence?)

EDIT: Nevermind, I guess...dark fantasy is a lock, then?

Dawnstorm · Jun 24, 2009

Bahamutchild said:
So - Blood of Elves by Sapkowski

Does anyone here speak Polish? It would be interesting to hear comments on the translation. (Of course, that would mean the poor reader would have to read both the original and the translation...)

Fenika · Jun 25, 2009

K_Woods said:
Is there a master list of books that have been selected in the past? I'd hate to nominate something already covered.

Yep! If you go to the current stickied thread of any month, you can access all the previous book studies. The first post never contains spoilers, so you are safe to click and read that first post in any book study.

The only other major awards I can think of besides the WFA (and I'd swear I saw Ysabel up for vote in a past fantasy reading poll), the Hugos, and the Nebulas are the Prix Aurora awards, which I know little about, and the Seiun which a) is Japanese and b) appears to be limited to science fiction anyhow.

Those sound good, and we've had Ysabel (and other GGK books) on the prepolls before. One of these days we'll have to pick one of his books and go for it. Particularly since I'm a rabid fan. And Ysabel is loosely UF, though it merges with the past.

As for urban fantasy...the little exposure I've had to that genre has been unpleasant (I made the mistake of picking up Storm Front. Put it down about 30 pages later and was curled up in the fetal position for a good while after. Why did no one warn me about the violence?)

Heh, we did Storm Front. So I guess we have covered UF a bit. Can't help ya with the violence.

EDIT: Nevermind, I guess...dark fantasy is a lock, then?

Nope, it's early yet. This is some kinda democracy type deal. We'll see how it goes. You can always push your own interests.

Dawnstorm said:
Does anyone here speak Polish? It would be interesting to hear comments on the translation. (Of course, that would mean the poor reader would have to read both the original and the translation...)

Ah, see, speaking Polish and reading it are very different things. I like to joke I'm an illiterate Pole, but I can read some conversational Polish. There are others around here that can read far better than I. Reading a few samples from one or the other might be interesting, but I hear it's been translated well.

Parametric · Jun 25, 2009

K_Woods said:
As for urban fantasy...the little exposure I've had to that genre has been unpleasant (I made the mistake of picking up Storm Front. Put it down about 30 pages later and was curled up in the fetal position for a good while after. Why did no one warn me about the violence?)

EDIT: Nevermind, I guess...dark fantasy is a lock, then?

If Storm Front was too violent for your taste, Joe Abercrombie is not the answer. :tongue

He's firmly in the George RR Martin school of graphic violence.

jennontheisland · Jun 25, 2009

Parametric said:
If Storm Front was too violent for your taste, Joe Abercrombie is not the answer. He's firmly in the George RR Martin school of graphic violence.

Martin is considered to have graphic violence?

Etola · Jun 25, 2009

Okay, I'm going to make a suggestion: Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book. It appears to be YA dark fantasy, and it's won the 2009 Newbery Award.

Komnena · Jun 25, 2009

I just read an excellent book, the Unincorporated Man by Dani and Eytan Kollin. It just came out in March.

Kitty Pryde · Jun 25, 2009

"Powers" by Ursula LeGuin just won the Nebula Award this year. http://www.amazon.com/dp/0763639311/?tag=absolutewritedm-20 YA novel. Possibly too long for book study?

"The Knife of Never Letting Go" just won the Tiptree Award this year. http://www.amazon.com/dp/0763639311/?tag=absolutewritedm-20 YA novel, coming of age.

Neil Gaiman's "The Graveyard Book" just won the Newbery Medal. It's also quite dark though it is MG. And really really good. http://www.amazon.com/dp/0060530928/?tag=absolutewritedm-20

For dark fantasy I nom nom nominate "Palimpsest" by Catherynne Valente. http://www.amazon.com/dp/0553385763/?tag=absolutewritedm-20 Amazon sez: "The city of Palimpsest exists somewhere outside our reality, accessible only during the sleep that follows sex. The immigrants to Palimpsest, marked forever by the tattoo-like impression of a map on their skin, seek out one another for real-world sexual adventures that function as passports to new otherworldly quarters." I sez: oo-oo-oo.

ETA: Other dark fantasy: Night Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko. http://www.amazon.com/dp/1401359795/?tag=absolutewritedm-20 Not to be confused with Night Watch by Terry Pratchett or Night Watch by Sarah Waters. Really really good story of Russian vampires-very different from your usual UF vampires. The Night Watch battles the Day Watch, and good and evil have to be in perfect balance.

Mr Flibble · Jun 25, 2009

If you go Abercrombie, please warn people - the Blade Itself is NOT a stand alone book. ( and put it like this - I didn't buy the second, for reasons I shall elucidate of it gets picked)

Personally I'd love to read Night Watch - the film was excellent (in the original language - with subtitles not so great) if it's the same one I'm thinking of and I've been needing an excuse to buy it...

SPMiller · Jun 25, 2009

It might have been nice to use Abercrombie's newest novel, which I believe is standalone, but of course it's not out in paperback yet. The only other thing he has written is a trilogy, which is unfortunate.

Komnena · Jun 26, 2009

Nightlife by Rob Thurman.

Fenika · Jun 26, 2009

So, does anyone object to Hardcover books in the poll this time around? (Graveyard and a few others are discounted down to about 10$ on amazon, and there's always used books or hopefully the library.)

Parametric · Jun 26, 2009

jennontheisland said:
Martin is considered to have graphic violence?

Gang rapes over piles of corpses? Viewpoint characters being maimed and/or paralysed? The Red Wedding? Pretty graphic by my standards.

If you'd like to read a Joe Abercrombie book without venturing into a trilogy, I'd recommend the spectacularly awesome Best Served Cold. It's a standalone novel in the same world as and featuring cameos from the First Law trilogy, but can be enjoyed alone. I just finished reading Best Served Cold this weekend and I was totally floored. Abercrombie gets better with every book.

edit: Yeah, what SPM said. :tongue

Etola · Jun 26, 2009

Bahamutchild said:
So, does anyone object to Hardcover books in the poll this time around? (Graveyard and a few others are discounted down to about 10$ on amazon, and there's always used books or hopefully the library.)

I work in a university library, in a city with umpteen-trillion colleges and universities in or around it, and an inter-library loan program which I can only hope is better than the one you had to deal with, Baha.... I'm a ten minute walk away from the main branch of the Carnegie Library, which itself can get a book from any branch or member library in the city (of which there are a few dozen) in 4 days or less, provided there's an available copy. Don't know about other people here, but I think I wouldn't have a problem procuring a hardcover book for free

Mr Flibble · Jun 26, 2009

Parametric said:
Gang rapes over piles of corpses? Viewpoint characters being maimed and/or paralysed? The Red Wedding? Pretty graphic by my standards.

If you'd like to read a Joe Abercrombie book without venturing into a trilogy, I'd recommend the spectacularly awesome Best Served Cold. It's a standalone novel in the same world as and featuring cameos from the First Law trilogy, but can be enjoyed alone. I just finished reading Best Served Cold this weekend and I was totally floored. Abercrombie gets better with every book.

edit: Yeah, what SPM said.

Um I can get it paperback but...I just looked at the blurb. MC is bonking her brother?

That's a bit too squick for me thanks.

eyeblink · Jun 26, 2009

"Knife of Never Letting Go" also won last year's Guardian Children's Fiction Award - but as far as I'm aware it's SF and not fantasy. And it's in the big TBR pile.

SPMiller · Jun 26, 2009

I can pull other assorted suggestions from a fairly recent thread of mine: Kearney, Morgan, Ruckley, or McDermott (an AW writer).

Fenika · Jun 28, 2009

Alright, we have a ton of suggestions. Anyone wanna second one or two so I can narrow the list for the poll?

Paichka · Jun 28, 2009

Can I second any book written from a non-Western European/American cultural mindset?

I think it'd be interesting to read Night Watch or Blood of Elves, if only to see how fantasy looks when seen through a different cultural filter. Just my opinion.

Fenika · Jun 28, 2009

Well I can third that

Mr Flibble · Jun 28, 2009

Ahem! I already seconded Night Watch
Get to the back of the queue

I'll go with Blood of Elves too.

tjwriter · Jun 29, 2009

I'll throw Holly Lisle back out there. She's got a some more urban fantasy stuff (World Gates) and some more traditional (Talyn). I love most of her books and find them though provoking.

PS B&N has oodles of books in clearance right now for very cheap.

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