MobileRead August 2015 Book Club Nominations

[CRussel]

I've no more nominations available, so I can't second it, but The Girl, the Gold Watch & Everything is a good book worthy of a read. But rather expensive for this category where there are so many excellent possibilities at a more reasonable price.

[WT Sharpe]

I nominate Ex Machina by Alex Garland. It's got robots and sex and stuff.

From Amazon:

Caleb, a 24 year old coder at the world's largest internet company, wins a competition to spend a week at a private mountain retreat belonging to Nathan, the reclusive CEO of the company.

But when Caleb arrives at the remote location he finds that he will have to participate in a strange and fascinating experiment in which he must interact with the world's first true artificial intelligence, housed in the body of a beautiful robot girl.

EX MACHINA is an intense psychological thriller, played out in a love triangle. It explores big ideas about the nature of consciousness, emotion, sexuality, truth and lies.

Available at Amazon.com and, no doubt, pretty much everywhere.

[WT Sharpe]

I also nominate, yet again, Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke. Hard science-fiction from the author of 2001: A Space Odyssey and its sequels.

From Wikipedia:

Rendezvous with Rama is a hard science fiction novel by Arthur C. Clarke first published in 1972. Set in the 22nd century, the story involves a 50-kilometre (31 mi) cylindrical alien starship that enters Earth's solar system. The story is told from the point of view of a group of human explorers who intercept the ship in an attempt to unlock its mysteries. This novel won both the Hugo and Nebula awards upon its release, and is regarded as one of the cornerstones in Clarke's bibliography.

Amazon UK / Amazon US / Barnes & Noble

Third time's the charm?

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by CRussel

I've no more nominations available, so I can't second it, but The Girl, the Gold Watch & Everything is a good book worthy of a read. But rather expensive for this category where there are so many excellent possibilities at a more reasonable price.

$9.99 at Amazon isn't too bad. Seconded, and a link added: http://smile.amazon.com/Girl-Gold-Wa.../dp/B00E2RXHT8.

[John F]

I'll second Rendezvous with Rama.

[bfisher]

I'll third Rendezvous with Rama

[bfisher]

I'll third The Girl, the Gold Watch & Everything

[JSWolf]

I'll second The Martian.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by bfisher

I'll third Rendezvous with Rama

That is one heck of a seriously BORING book.

[bfisher]

I'll third The Martian

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by CRussel

I'll nominate Agent of Change, one of the gateway books to the Liaden Universe. This is available as a free book from:
Amazon
BaenEbooks.com
Kobo

The Audible version isn't free, but is WhisperSync enabled: Audible )

The Liaden Universe is a complex universe spanning millenia, and is multi-threaded. There are lots of entry points into it, but this is the most obvious one, since it is the first book published. The Liaden Universe books are character-driven books with a healthy dose of world building over time. They are not "shoot 'em ups", though we certainly get some action in this one. They are also not "hard science" books, but probably fit into "space opera" as much as anything else. They are about cultures and their interactions, since we have three main "species" - humans, Liadens, and Yxtrang. Oh, plus Clutch Turtles who appear here and there.

The Amazon description for this book is:

Spoiler:

Once a brilliant First-in Scout, Val Con yos'Phelium was "recruited" by the mysterious Liaden Department of Interior and brainwashed into an Agent of Change—a ruthless covert operative who kills without remorse.

Fleeing the scene of his latest murderous mission, he finds himself saving the life of ex-mercenary Miri Robertson, a tough Terran on the run from a team of interplanetary assassins. Thrown together by circumstances, Val Con and Miri struggle to elude their enemies and stay alive without slaying each other—or surrendering to the unexpected passion that flares between them.

I highly recommend the books of Lee and Miller, and think this is an excellent entry into the Liaden Universe. And it's FREE.

The Liaden universe is one no book group should dive into because of different reading orders and depending on what reading order you want, this is not the first book in the universe. It's a well established universe that should be read how each person wants to read it. But for a book club, it's a bust.

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

That is one heck of a seriously BORING book.

What? No ray-gun battles?

[fantasyfan]

I'll nominate Way Station by Clifford D. Simak. It is one of the finest books by a classic Golden Age Science fiction writer.

From Amazon:

"Enoch Wallace survived the carnage of Gettysburg and lived through the rest of the Civil War to make it home to his parents' farm in south-west Wisconsin. But his mother was already dead and his father soon joined her in the tiny family cemetery.
"It was then that Enoch met the being he called Ulysses and the farm became a way station for space travellers. Now, nearly a hundred years later, the US government is taking an interest in the seemingly immortal Enoch, and the Galactic Council, which set up the way station is threatening to tear itself apart.
"Winner of the Hugo Award for best novel, 1964"

[Dazrin]

I will second Way Station and hope my library will get it.

[WT Sharpe]

Hey! Just sayin'.