# [Reading Group] May 2014 VOTING OPEN



## Philip Overby

It may be super, super early for this, but I wanted to go ahead and get it up now so we'll have plenty of time for people to chime in. So far we've had the following themes:

February: fantasy with advanced technology (Prince of Thorns)
March: fantasy with dungeons or dragons (His Majesty's Dragon)
April: fantasy classics (Swordspoint)

For May, I'd like to offer some suggestions. You can of course put forward your own suggestions for a theme if you'd like. Here are some ideas:

1. Classics again? Since classics can cover a lot of ground, we could go this route again, but try to make it more specific. Perhaps like early 20th century classics, or something like that? (1900-1940s?)

2. Award winners-Books that won awards such as the Hugo, the Campbell Award, etc.

3. Non-native English speaker fantasy: I suggested this last month, but I still think this could be a good theme. Find some translations or some such of good fantasy from around the world.

4. Urban fantasy: Anything that might be categorized as urban fantasy.

5. Dark fantasy: Anything that might be categorized as dark fantasy.

6. New and exciting authors: Books from authors who had their fantasy writing debuts in 2013-2014

You can agree with any of these or suggest your own below.

Note: once the theme is decided, I'll change this to a nomination thread and then ultimately to a voting thread so we don't have multiple threads all over the place. 

I figure let's give until April 6th to decide on a theme, April 13th to get nominations in, and April 20th to choose the book for May. Stagger it a bit so we have plenty of time to make choices.

OK, please get your thoughts in if you plan on reading in May!


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## Philip Overby

OK, I'm going to go ahead and make my vote and hope other people get on board later on. I know this is still pretty early, but I wanted to go ahead and get some ideas floating around since the Reading Group has kind of slowed down with I believe a lot of people not finishing _His Majesty's Dragon._ I apologize that I didn't stay on the ball with that one, but I'm just finding it difficult to finish at the moment. I'm happy with the April pick so far as I think it's really good, but I want to make sure we can keep the group going with picks everyone is pretty happy with.

So my vote for the theme for May is: dark fantasy. I'm going to go with this definition of what dark fantasy is:



> Dark fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy which can refer to literary, artistic and filmic works that combine fantasy with elements of horror. The term can be used broadly to refer to fantastical works that have a dark, gloomy atmosphere or a sense of horror and dread.[1]



Get your votes in for a different theme if you're interested in trying something else. You can also suggest your own ideas as well.


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## Ankari

A new suggestion:

Books set in a RPG world.

These can include any Warhammer: 40K, D&D, Shadowrunner, Dragon Age, World of Warcraft, and Everquest settings.

Thoughts?


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## Philip Overby

I'm cool with that as well. I was actually going to suggest that, but I couldn't think of how to word it. I was going to say "shared world" but that didn't make sense for some reason. I would love to read some Warhammer books. I have one called _Runefang_ here at my house I've been wanting to read for a while. 

If others are on board, I'd be happy with that since I could still nominate lots of dark fantasy books. Hell, that is where "grimdark" came from originally anyway.

(I still don't get grimdark, honestly. A lot of what I read is labeled as such, but to me it basically just means "gritty fantasy." I guess if it works for some people, whatever.  )


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## Steerpike

For CL Werner, the Witch Hunter books are probably better. For Warhammer, either the Felix and Gotrek books or Nathan Long's Blackheart books are good. Or Long's Ulrika the Vampire books (though since Ulrika is a spin-off of Felix and Gotrek it makes some sense to read those first). For WH40K, anything by Dan Abnett.


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## Ophiucha

I'd love to _read_ more new fantasy, but I also don't really have the money to buy a book that's still in hardcover and has a $18 Kindle price, you know? As for shared world, the only problem I could see with that is reader accessibility - a _lot_ of them require you have some knowledge of the series before you read. Certainly all of the video game ones I've read, particularly from Bioware. There's also a quality control issue, but I'd hope nominations would weed out the best of them.


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## Philip Overby

I thought the same thing about both of those issues.

1. New books are expensive and many people may not want to spend that much. (Although I agree, I'd like to try some new books)
2. Shared world stories do sort of require some knowledge of the world in some cases, but not always. I've read Warhammer and Dragonlance books before and I didn't feel like I needed any knowledge of the world as each book does a good job immersing (for the most part). 

Maybe just doing an open theme might be best? That way people can just nominate whatever they want. If more people chime in, we can decide on what works best. I don't want anyone to skip out on a month because they don't like the theme.


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## Ankari

I'm still behind the shared world theme. It's interesting to see how authors write within a confined (a better word may be preconceived) setting.

There are many good books from such settings. The ones from WotC tend to be average if not outright good.


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## Philip Overby

So not sure if we have a theme hammered down yet, so maybe it would be better to just have it open to whatever? That would allow people to nominate whatever they felt like. Since we haven't done this yet, it might be worth trying because I feel like we'd get more nominations that way. As it stands, we're only getting a handful of nominations from the same people.

Thoughts on an open theme for May to see how it turns out?


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## Ankari

Saladin Ahmed's _Throne of the Crescent Moon_








Peter V Brett's _The Warded Man_







Daniel Abraham's _A Shadow in Summer_


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## Philip Overby

Ankari: I guess your above post means you're fine with an open theme? 

It works for me as I have all three of the books you nominated. I'm actually more likely to vote for a book I already have for May as I bought two books for March and April, so if I can, I'd prefer to read something I already have.

Let's just go ahead and go with an open theme then. 

Here are some nominations from me:

_Best Served Cold_ by Joe Abercrombie







_The Ocean at the End of the Lane_ by Neil Gaiman (because I've never read any Gaiman)







_The Name of the Wind_ by Patrick Rothfuss







Two of these I already own. Please wait for others to nominate and then you can offer up more books later on.  Let's aim for *April 13th* to get nominations in.


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## ACSmyth

I'm good with any of yours, Philip, since I own all of them and haven't read any. I've broken my "no buying for now" rule to get Swordspoint, so I could do with clearing some backlog this month.


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## Ophiucha

_Deathless_, by Catherynne M. Valente







_The Thief_, by Megan Whalen Turner







_The Curse of Chalion_, by Lois McMaster Bujold


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## Kaellpae

I couldn't find an origin thread, but is the reading group open to anyone or do I need to announce my interest?


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## ACSmyth

I just jumped in, Kaellpae. Never occurred to me that there might be a protocol.


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## T.Allen.Smith

It's open to all members. Hop in, read, & participate.


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## Kaellpae

I shall join in. I don't have any suggestions as of yet, but I'll definitely vote on the finalists.


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## Philip Overby

OK, let's try to get any last nominations in this weekend and I'll open up voting next week. We'll close voting by April 19th, so make sure to get your votes in before then. Try to pick a book you really want to read or are curious about. Maybe we'll get one month where everyone likes the book that's chosen (although I like the widely different viewpoints  )


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## Kaellpae

How do we cast our vote? Is a poll made, or do we just say the one or two we want?


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## Philip Overby

I'll open up the vote this weekend if there are no other nominations. All you have to do is vote for the three books you're most interested in reading. Then I'll tally up the votes and we'll have our official pick for May.

I'm giving a couple of more days in case there are any last minute nominations.


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## Philip Overby

Our books open for voting this month: (Please choose your top 2 since we don't have as many nominations this time). Post your votes to this thread. Voting will be closed at the end of the week (April 26th).

Throne of the Crescent Moon by Saladin Ahmed
The Warded Man (or The Painted Man) by Peter V. Brett
A Shadow of Summer by Daniel Abraham
Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie
The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
Deathless by Catherynne M. Valente
The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner
The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold

Please vote for your top 2. Also use only one vote for your own nomination if you nominated any.


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## Philip Overby

My two votes are the following:

Throne of the Crescent Moon by Saladin Ahmed
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

Both of these are on my TBR lists. Deathless is my alternate in case there is some sort of tie, just because I think that one sounds really interesting as well.


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## Ophiucha

_The Ocean at the End of the Lane_ by Neil Gaiman
_Deathless_ by Catherynne M. Valente

I picked _TOatEotL_ (yikes) over _Name of the Wind_ because I haven't read it yet and my grandma's been nagging me to do so. I've read _NotW_ like four times (a favourite, for sure), but if it wins, I don't mind going for a fifth.


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## Philip Overby

I wouldn't mind reading any of the nominations this go around. There's not a single one that I read about that I said, "Ugh, that sounds boring and/or not my thing." I'm also hoping for a meatier book in terms of content so the discussion doesn't get slowed down or anything. I started reading The Ocean at the End of the Lane (the sample) and so far I like the quick pace. However, it feels like it's a book that will take me some getting acclimated to.


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## AnneL

I must be the only person in the world who didn't like Name of the Wind. I quit on page 70 when there still wasn't a woman.


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## Philip Overby

I thought the MC's mother was in the first 70 pages, but I could be wrong. I liked what I read, but I got sidetracked with other stuff. I wanted to give it another try since people have told me how much they like it. But I'm honestly happy with whatever gets picked for this month.


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## Ophiucha

Sadly, they are few and far between, but at least he's decent at giving them character development. Better than Tolkien, anyway. 

I'm also good with pretty much any of the picks. I've either read and liked or have been meaning to read all of them.


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## Kaellpae

The name of the wind
The Thief

If there happens to be a tie, then The Ocean at the End of the Lane.


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## Steerpike

I've read most of these. I'll go with:

A Shadow of Summer by Daniel Abraham
The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner

In the event of a tie, Throne of the Crescent Moon by Saladin Ahmed


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## ACSmyth

Ocean at the End of the Lane
Name of the Wind.


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## Ankari

The Warded Man

The Name of the Wind


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## Mythopoet

I'd love to participate, though whether or not I am able to in the end will likely depend on what's chosen and how much it costs. I'll cast my vote for:

The Warded Man

The Curse of Chalion

since those are already on my list of fantasy reading.


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## T.Allen.Smith

The Warded Man

Deathless 

Crescent Moon


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## Philip Overby

The votes tallied so far:

The Name of the Wind: 4
The Warded Man: 3
Deathless: 2
The Ocean at the End of the Lane: 2
The Thief: 2
Throne of the Crescent Moon: 1
The Curse of Chalion: 1
A Shadow of Summer: 1

Since we didn't have too many nominations this time, I'm counting the top 2 unless there is a tie. Unless we get some more votes before the weekend, The Name of the Wind will be our May choice.


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## Philip Overby

Of note, The Name of the Wind is 700 something pages. If needed, if this is the final choice, we could always carry over the discussion into June. Although I'll set up another vote for June for those that are interested in doing something separate. 

Is it better to just do open themes from now on? I find that it's easier to make nominations without a theme, but I did like having a monthly theme before.

Also I understand the discussions aren't always going to be on fire the whole time, so if there is a lull in the discussion, always feel free to bring up whatever you want to talk about concerning the book.


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## Mythopoet

Well, I've already read The Name of the Wind and I don't really have the time to reread the whole thing. But I'll likely skim along to refresh my memory and participate in any discussion.


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## Philip Overby

Anyone get any final votes in this weekend. It's looking like either The Name of the Wind or The Warded Man (The Painted Man) unless we get a surge of more votes.


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## Steerpike

Philip Overby said:


> Anyone get any final votes in this weekend. It's looking like either The Name of the Wind or The Warded Man (The Painted Man) unless we get a surge of more votes.



Heh. I've read both of those. 

Maybe one month the theme could be "Books Steerpike hasn't read."  Or is that too ego-centric


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## Philip Overby

Steerpike said:


> Heh. I've read both of those.
> 
> Maybe one month the theme could be "Books Steerpike hasn't read."  Or is that too ego-centric



I think that would be impossible. 

However, always feel free to nominate any books you want to read or have heard good things about. The ones I nominated have been on my TBR list forever it seems.


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## Kaellpae

I'll be going to the bookstore sometime tomorrow, so I hope we've finalized by late afternoon.


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## Philip Overby

I don't suspect anyone else is going to chime in at this point, but I'll give it until early Saturday morning. If there's no word, we'll go ahead and pick the one with the most votes.


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## Ankari

I already had The Warded Man in my Nook library, so I downloaded The Name of th Wind. Skimming through the reviews, this is a highly regarded book. I can't wait to dissect the writing style. Many insist it's the best writing they've encountered.


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## monyo

I'm not casting a vote - being new here I don't want to skew it in case I lose interest and drop out halfway. But following the above post by Ankari, I am kind of excited it seems you guys have picked _Name of the Wind_. _The Kingkiller Chronicles_ managed 18th place on NPR's Top 100 Sci-fi and Fantasy list, which judging from the other books on it seems pretty darn prestigious. I have a minor goal of making it through all the ones on it eventually, so already ordered a copy for myself and plan to follow along, even if I don't comment much.


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## Steerpike

Name of the Wind is good. Best writing ever? No.


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## Philip Overby

OK, The Name of the Wind is our choice. I've actually read about 70 pages of it before. I know some people love this book a lot, so I'm going to go in with lowered expectations (since I get excited about every book I read). I remember liking the style a lot, but I wouldn't say it's the greatest writing I've ever come across. I guess that distinction for me would go to Frank Herbert or maybe Cormac McCarthy. There are probably some literature folks I'm excluding (like John Milton or Shakespeare), but as far as somewhat modern writers, Herbert and McCarthy impressed me the most with their style, content, everything.


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## Ophiucha

I could see one arguing he has the best writing style of contemporary (2004-2014) fantasy authors. My tastes lean more towards Valente and Mieville in that category, though.

Been an age since I read this book, so it should be fun.


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