2009 Selections

January: Glory Road by Robert A. Heinlein
February: Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons
March: Seventh Son by Orson Scott Card
April: Altered Carbon by Richard Morgan
May: The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester
June: Santiago by Mike Resnick
July: The Space Trilogy (Out of the Silent Planet / Perelandra / That Hideous Strength) by C. S. Lewis
August: A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
September: Someplace To Be Flying by Charles DeLint
October: The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
November: Off Armageddon Reef by David Weber

Nominations for 2009

Below is the list on nominations for 2009. We will meet on Wednesday, December 10th at 6:30 p.m. to determine the schedule for next year.

The Space Trilogy (Out of the Silent Planet / Perelandra / That Hideous Strength) by C. S. Lewis
Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons
The Child Garden by Geoff Ryman
1984 by George Owell and Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester
A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge
The Host by Stephenie Meyer
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne
Seventh Son by Orson Scott Card
Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon
The Scar by China Mieville
Someplace To Be Flying by Charles DeLint
Neuromancer by William Gibson
Altered Carbon by Richard Morgan
The Postman by David Brin
Santiago by Mike Resnick
Heart Shaped Box by Joe Hill
Bridge of Birds: A Novel of an Ancient China That Never Was by Barry Hughart
Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
Protector's War by S.M. Stirling
Hyperion by Dan Simmons
Off Armageddon Reef by David Weber
Dragon and Thief by Timothy Zahn
The Sword of Shanara by Terry Brooks
A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold
Archangel by Sharon Shinn
Decision at Doona by Anne McCafferey
Armor by John Steakley
A Call to Arms by Alan Dean Foster
Way of the Pilgrim by Gordon R. Dickson
Cyteen by C.J. Cherryh
The Ecologic Envoy by L.E. Modesitt
The Alexandrian Ring by William R. Forstchen


Heinlein nominations
The Green Hills of Earth
The Fantasies of Robert A. Heinlein & Have Spacesuit, Will Travel
Have Spacesuit, Will Travel
Variable Star by Heinlein and Spider Robinson
Glory Road
JOB: A Comedy of Justice

(Last updated: December 1, 2008)

"Dorsai!" Links

To get ready for this month's discussion, here are a few interesting links about "Dorsai!," and Gordon R. Dickson

Wikipedia entry on Gordon R. Dickson
Wikipedia entry on the Childe Cycle
Wikipedia entry on "Dorsai!"

Dorsai Irregulars

Old Time Radio's X-Minus One Episode: Lulungameena (based on a "Dorsai!" story by Dickson)
Listen here or Download Here (It's second from the bottom) (It's safe...most OTR has become public domain and is free to distribute).

Fan made trailer for a potential "Dorsai!" movie.

SF Site Review
SF Reviews.Net Review

November: Dorsai by Gordon Dickson

Bringing things full circle for 2008 (we started the year with two military SF novels) is Gordon Dickson's "Dorsai!" "Dorsai" is part of the incomplete Childe series. It was the first novel published in the series, though later novels look at events that take place before "Dorsai!"

Throughout the Fourteen Worlds of humanity, no race is as feared and respected as the Dorsai. The ultimate warriors, they are known for their deadly rages, unbreakable honor, and fierce independence. No man rules the Dorsai, but their mastery of the art of war has made them the most valuable mercenaries in the known universe.Donal Graeme is Dorsai, taller and harder than any ordinary man. But he is different as well, with talents that maze even his fellow Dorsai. And once he ventures out into the stars, the future will never be the same.

The Obscure Reference SciFi and Fantasy Group will meet on Wednesday, November 19th at 6:30 p.m. at Linebaugh Library to discuss the book. We meet a week earlier than usual in November due to Thanksgiving. That evening, all final nominations for next year will be taken as well.

Previously Nominated Titles

Last year, we had a lot of titles nominated. As we think about nominees for next year, here are some of the titles nominated but not selected for 2008. Some may be nominated again this year and there may be some you'd like to add to your "to be read" list.

• Gridlinked by Neil Asher
• In the Garden of Iden by Kage Baker
• Timescape by Greg Benford
• The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester
• Jupiter by Ben Bova
• Privateer by Ben Bova
• Heritage of Hastur by Marion Zimmer Bradley
• Kiln People by David Brin
• The Postman by David Brin
• A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
• Ill Win by Rachel Caine
• Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carol
• Time's Eye by Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter
• Babel 17 by Samuel Delany
• The Dragon and the George by Gordon Dickson
• Solider Ask Not by Gordon Dickson
• Acacia by David Anthony Durham
• To Your Scattered Bodies Go by Philip Jose Farmer
• Conrad Starguard by Leo Frankowski
• Stardust by Neil Gaiman
• Nueromancer by William Gibson
• Flowers for Algernon by William Keyes
• The Disposssed by Ursula LeGuin
• The Left Hand of Darknes by Urusula LeGuin
• A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
• The Crystal Singer by Anne Caffery
• The Road by Cormac McCarthy
• Seeker by Jack McDevitt
• Nekropolis by Maureen McHugh
• The Scar by China Mieville
• Dawn for Distant Earth by L.E. Modesitt
• Ecolitian Operation by L.E. Modesitt
• Legacies by L.E. Modesitt
• Altered Carbon by Richard Morgan
• Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
• Golden Compass series by Philip Pullman
• March Upcountry by John Ringo
• Berzerker series by Frederick Saberhagen
• The Complete McAndrews by Charles Sheffield
• Hyperion by Dan Simmons
• A Brother's Price by Wes Spencer
• Dog Warrior by Web Spencer
• Conquistador by S.M. Stirling
• The Domination by S.M. Stirling
• Accelerando by Charles Stross
• A Deepness in the Sky by Vernor Vinge
• Any Kurt Vonnegut novel
• Mutineer's Moon by David Weber
• Off Armageddon Reef by David Weber
• The Time Machine by H.G. Wells
• Spin by Robert Charles Wilson
• Farday's Orphans by N. Lee Wood
• Looking for Madhi by N. Lee Wood
• Macrolife by George Zebrowski

October: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Octobers's selection is a Mary Shelley's classic novel Frankenstein. Originally published in 1818, Shelley's work is one of the most influential in literature and has been adapted multiple times for the silver and small screens.

Frankenstein is a novel infused with some elements of the Gothic novel and the Romantic movement. It was also a warning against the "over-reaching" of modern man and the Industrial Revolution, alluded to in the novel's subtitle, The Modern Prometheus. The story has had an influence across literature and popular culture and spawned a complete genre of horror stories and films. It is arguably considered the first fully realized science fiction novel.

The Obscure References Sci-Fi & Fantasy Discussion group will meet on Wednesday, October 22, 2008 to discuss this novel. Meetings take place at the Linebaugh Library in Murfreesboro, Tennessee starting at 6:30 p.m. in the second floor conference room.

Books We've Read (Through the end of 2008)

As we prepare to nominate books for next year, it might be useful to have a list of books we've read in the past. Here is the list of books we've read and discussed so far....

Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein
The Forever War by Joe Haldeman
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Universe by Douglas Adams
Gateway by Frederick Pohl
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

Downbelow Station by C.J. Cherryh
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle
The Gate to Women's Country by Sheri Tepper
A Canticle for Leibowitz by William Miller
Dragonflight by Ann McCafferty

The Mote in God's Eye by Jerry Pournelle and Larry Niven
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinlein
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Star Man's Son by Andre Norton
The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell

Wicked by Gregory Maguire
The Snow Queen by Joan D. Vinge
Orphanage by Robert Buettner
The Doomsday Book by Connie Willis
Mission of Gravity by Hal Clement

American Gods by Neil Gaiman
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkein
Farnham’s Freehold by Robert Heinlein
Children of Men by P.D. James
Red Mars by Kim S. Robinson

His Majesty’s Dragon by Naomi Novik
Way Station by Clifford Simak
Dune by Frank Herbert
2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clark
Foundation by Isaac Asimov

There will be Dragons by John Ringo
Lucifer’s Hammer by Jerry Pournelle and Larry Niven
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick
Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein
Old Man’s War by John Scalzi

Time Slave by John Norman
Planet of the Apes by Pierre Boulle
Storm Front by Jim Butcher
Warrior’s Apprentice by Lois M. Bujold
To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis

On the Beach by Nevil Shute
The Truth by Terry Pratchett
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Dorsai by Gordon Dickson

September: The Truth by Terry Pratchett

September's selection takes us to Terry Pratchett's imaginative DiscWorld series with "The Truth." While not the first in this long-runnng series, the story is a stand-alone (well, as much as a Pratchett novel can be) that hopefully will give us a good idea of what Pratchett's writing and universe are like.

Here's a description from Good Reads....

The Truth, Pratchett's 25th Discworld novel, skewers the newspaper business. When printing comes to Ankh-Morpork, it "drag(s) the city kicking and screaming into the Century of the Fruitbat." Well, actually, out of the Century of the Fruitbat. As the Bursar remarks, if the era's almost over, it's high time they embraced its challenges.

William de Worde, well-meaning younger son of reactionary nobility, has been providing a monthly newsletter to the elite using engraving. Then he is struck (and seriously bruised) by the power of the press. The dwarves responsible convince William to expand his letter and the Ankh-Morpork Times is born. Soon William has a staff, including Sacharissa Cripslock, a genteel young lady with a knack for headline writing, and photographer Otto Chriek. Otto's vampirism causes difficulties: flash pictures cause him to crumble to dust and need reconstitution, and he must battle his desire for blood, particularly Sacharissa's. When Lord Vetinari is accused of attempted murder, the City Watch investigates the peculiar circumstances, but William wants to know what really happened. The odds for his survival drop as his questions multiply.

The Obscure References Sci-Fi & Fantasy Discussion group will meet on Wednesday, September 24, 2008 to discuss this novel. Meetings take place at the Linebaugh Library in Murfreesboro, Tennessee starting at 6:30 p.m. in the second floor conference room.

Links for "On the Beach"

Here are a couple of on-line resources for August's novel, "On the Beach."

• Nevil Shute Web Site
• Wikipedia Entry: Nevil Shute
• Wikipedia Entry: On the Beach (Novel)
• Wikipedia Entry: On the Beach (1959 movie) (includes differences from book to film)
  Wikipedia Entry: On the Beach (2000 TV movie)
• IMDB: On the Beach (1959 movie)
• IMDB: On the Beach (2000 TV movie)
• Nevil Shute Bibliography
• SparkNotes: On the Beach
• Book Rags Study Guide
• Critical Analysis
• Review from Nevil Shute Web Page
• Review from Challenging Destiny
• Review from Big Dumb Object
• Reciew from Blogging for a Good Book
• An "On the Beach" Quiz

August: On The Beach by Nevil Schute

August's book is the post-apocolyptic story "On The Beach" by Nevil Schute.

The story is set in what was then the near future (1963 in the book) in the months following World War III. The conflict has devastated the northern hemisphere, polluting the atmosphere with nuclear fallout and killing all life. While the nuclear bombs were confined to the northern hemisphere, global air currents are slowly carrying the fallout to the southern hemisphere.

The group will meet on Wednesday, August 27th at 6:30 p.m. to discuss the story. Meetings take place in the upstairs board room of the Linebaugh Library.

July: To Say Nothing of the Dog

July's selection is Connie Willis' award-winning, time-travel epic "To Say Nothing of the Dog".

To Say Nothing of the Dog is a science-fiction fantasy in the guise of an old-fashioned Victorian novel, complete with epigraphs, brief outlines, and a rather ugly boxer in three-quarters profile at the start of each chapter. Or is it a Victorian novel in the guise of a time-traveling tale, or a highly comic romp, or a great, allusive literary game, complete with spry references to Dorothy L. Sayers, Wilkie Collins, and Arthur Conan Doyle? Its title is the subtitle of Jerome K. Jerome's singular, and hilarious, Three Men in a Boat. In one scene the hero, Ned Henry, and his friends come upon Jerome, two men, and the dog Montmorency in--you guessed it--a boat. Jerome will later immortalize Ned's fumbling. (Or, more accurately, Jerome will earlier immortalize Ned's fumbling, because Ned is from the 21st century and Jerome from the 19th.)