MobileRead July 2010 Book Club Nominations

[JSWolf]

I'll nominate The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien.

J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy masterpiece The Hobbit is a tale of high adventure, undertaken by a company of dwarves in search of dragon-guarded gold. A reluctant partner in this perilous quest is Bilbo Baggins, a comfort-loving unambitious hobbit, who surprises even himself by his resourcefulness and skill as a burglar. Encounters with trolls, goblins, dwarves, elves and giant spiders, conversations with the dragon, Smaug, and a rather unwilling presence at the Battle of the Five Armies are just some of the adventures that befall Bilbo. Bilbo Baggins has taken his place among the ranks of the immortals of children's fiction. Written by Professor Tolkien for his own children, The Hobbit met with instant critical acclaim when published.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by banjomike

Technically it is six books.

Six books? How so when there are only three?

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by lila55

Yes, I second that. What a good reason to re-read it!

Which one are you seconding as it's not just one book?

Series
Lord of the Rings
1. The Fellowship of the Ring (1954)
2. The Two Towers (1954)
3. The Return of the King (1955)

[lila55]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Which one are you seconding as it's not just one book?

Series
Lord of the Rings
1. The Fellowship of the Ring (1954)
2. The Two Towers (1954)
3. The Return of the King (1955)

If I look at the Kindle Bookstore, it is available there as one book, called "The Lord of the Rings"
If possible, that is the one I would like to second

[TimMason]

Banjomike is correct; Lotr is six books in three volumes.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Lord of the Rings really doesn't fit in as it's three books and not one.

No it isn't; to quote from the "Note on the text" at the start of the book:

J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings is often erroneously called a trilogy, when it is in fact a single novel, consisting of six books plus appendices, sometimes published in three volumes.

It is, as it says itself, "a single novel" and thus perfectly eligible to be nominated here.

[RyanMWilliams]

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

I'll nominate The Deed of Paksenarrion by Elizabeth Moon

http://www.webscription.net/p-100-th...senarrion.aspx

I'll add a third nomination for this one. I've picked it up but haven't read it yet.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by HarryT

No it isn't; to quote from the "Note on the text" at the start of the book:



It is, as it says itself, "a single novel" and thus perfectly eligible to be nominated here.

So with your nomination then are you saying it is the Entire Trilogy we'd read this month?

[Rich_D]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I'll nominate The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien.

I'll second The Hobbit. Tolkien light!

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by lila55

If I look at the Kindle Bookstore, it is available there as one book, called "The Lord of the Rings"
If possible, that is the one I would like to second

That's an omnibus edition which combines the three books into one volume. It's still three books.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

I'll nominate The Deed of Paksenarrion by Elizabeth Moon



http://www.webscription.net/p-100-th...senarrion.aspx

Complete at Last in a
Single Hardcover Volume
—the Finest Trilogy of
Epic Fantasy in a Decade

It's a trilogy of three books in one volume. So are you nominating the first book in the trilogy?

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Complete at Last in a
Single Hardcover Volume
—the Finest Trilogy of
Epic Fantasy in a Decade

It's a trilogy of three books in one volume. So are you nominating the first book in the trilogy?

I guess it depends on what others think. The first book, The Sheepfarmer's Daughter is in the Baen Free Library although the story has been sold as one volume for quite some time. I guess I'm not totally clear on the problem. If folks don't want to read it because it's a "trilogy" then it won't get enough votes to be picked. If folks feel differently it, or LotR, will get the votes and be the pick.

What do you say BOb, Harry, others? Are LotR and Paksenarrion not allowed? They've been nominated, 2nded and 3rded already.

[AnemicOak]

I'll nominate A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin...

Product Description
A Game of Thrones is a contemporary masterpiece of fantasy. The cold is returning to Winterfell, where summers can last decades and winters a lifetime. A time of conflict has arisen in the Stark family, as they are pulled from the safety of their home into a whirlpool of tragedy, betrayal, assassination, plots and counterplots. Each decision and action carries with it the potential for conflict as several prominent families, comprised of lords, ladies, soldiers, sorcerers, assassins and bastards, are pulled together in the most deadly game of all--the game of thrones.
From the Publisher
"The major fantasy of the decade . . . compulsively readable."
--The Denver Post

"We have been invited to a grand feast and pageant: George R.R. Martin has unveiled for us an intensely realized, romantic but realistic world."
--Chicago Sun-Times

"A Best Book of 1996: Martin makes a triumphant return to high fantasy . . . [with] superbly developed characters, accomplished prose, and sheer bloodymindedness."
--Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"A splendid saga . . . . Inventive and intricately plotted."
--BookPage

"Magic . . . George R.R.Martin's first fantasy epic [is set] well above the norms of the genre."
--Locus

"Such a splendid tale and such a fantasticorical! I read my eyes out and couldn't stop 'til I finished and it was dawn."
--Anne McCaffrey

Locus Award Winner: Best Fantasy Novel

[AnemicOak]

I'll also nominate The Princess Bride by William Goldman...

From the Inside Flap
What happens when the most beautiful girl in the world marries the handsomest prince of all time and he turns out to be...well...a lot less than the man of her dreams?

As a boy, William Goldman claims, he loved to hear his father read the "S. Morgenstern classic, The Princess Bride. But as a grown-up he discovered that the boring parts were left out of good old Dad's recitation, and only the "good parts" reached his ears.

Now Goldman does Dad one better. He's reconstructed the "Good Parts Version" to delight wise kids and wide-eyed grownups everywhere.

What's it about? Fencing. Fighting. True Love. Strong Hate. Harsh Revenge. A Few Giants. Lots of Bad Men. Lots of Good Men. Five or Six Beautiful Women. Beasties Monstrous and Gentle. Some Swell Escapes and Captures. Death, Lies, Truth, Miracles, and a Little Sex.

In short, it's about everything.

Eventually to be adapted for the silver screen, THE PRINCESS BRIDE was originally a beautifully simple, insightfully comic story of what happens when the most beautiful girl in the world marries the handsomest prince in the world--and he turnsout to be a son of a bitch. Guaranteed to entertain both young and old alike by combining scenes of rowsing fantasy with hilarious reality, THE PRINCESS BRIDE secures Goldman's place as a master storyteller.


From the Back Cover

"His swashbuckling fable is nutball funny...a 'classic' medieval melodrama that sounds like all the Saturday serials you ever saw feverishly reworked by the Marx Brothers."
--Newsweek


"One of the funniest, most original and deeply moving novels I have read in a long time."
--Los Angeles Times


"A comic adventure romance which moves all over the world and dances through history...carried off with fantastic inventive energy and lightness, everything converted into pure story...The Princess Bride is a joyous and releasing book."
--Ross MacDonald

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

I'll also nominate The Princess Bride by William Goldman...

Seconded