2010 Selections

January 27: The Caves of Steel & The Naked Sun by Issac Asimov
February 24: Soulless by Gail Carringer
March 24: The Gunslinger by Stephen King
April 28: The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold
May 26: The Time Machine by H.G. Wells & Lest Darkness Fall by L. Sprague de Camp
June 23: Acacia by David Anthony Durham
July 28: The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick
Aug 25: Hyperion & Fall of Hyperion by Dam Simmons
September 22: The Traveler by John Twelve Hawkes
October 27: World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks
November 17: Archangel by Sharon Shinn
December 12: Holiday Party

Waiting for 2011:
The City & the City by China Mievelle
Steal Across the Sky by Nancy Kress
Use of Weapons by Iain M. Banks

Nominations for 2010

It's that time of year again...time to begin thinking about the books we'd like to read and discuss next year.

Below is the list of this year's nominations.

Use of Weapons by Iain M. Banks
Hyperion & Fall of Hyperion by Dam Simmons
The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick
World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks
Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffinengger
The Traveler by John Twelve Hawkes
The Gunslinger by Stephen King
Darwin's Radio by Greg Bear
In the Garden of Iden by Kage Baker
Acacia by David Anthony Durham
Steal Across the Sky by Nancy Kress
Archangel by Sharon Shinn
The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold
Bridge of Birds by Barry Hughart
Soulless by Gail Carringer
Child of Fire by Harry Connolly
The City & the City by China Mievelle
Cities in Flight by James Blish
Bio of a Space Tyrant: Refugee by Piers Anthony

Classic SF/Fantasy:
The Caves of Steel & The Naked Sun by Issac Asimov
The Time Machine by H.G. Wells
Flatland by Edwin A. Abbott
The Dream Master by Roger Zelazny
Too Many Magicians by Randall Garrett
Lest Darkness Fall by L. Sprague de Camp

Updated: December 3, 2009

Nominations Guidelines

As we start to wind down the year, it's time to start thinking about the books we'd like to nominate for the group to read next year.

I've updated the list we had from last year, adding the books we read this year and pulling all of last year's nominated but unselected books into the list of previous nominations.

So, start thinking about the books we'd like to read for next year. Also, as we begin to nominate books, remember our "guidelines."

1. Each person can nominate up to four books--three non-Heinlein books and one classic sci-fi or fantasy novel (classic is defined as published before 1970).

2. Please help ensure that we can find the books by making sure they're easily available and at an affordable cost. (If it's out of print and goes for $50 on Amazon's market place, that may exclude some people or lead to mud wrestling for the book at the circulation desk.).

3. We can have nominations for a theme or a series that go together--provided we aren't required to read the entire Wheel of Time series in a month. For example, this year we did the entire C.S. Lewis Space Trilogy one month and we had nominations of 1984 and Brave New World last year because they're thematically similar.

For new members, each person can nominate up to four books as detailed above. For our December meeting, we get together and put together the list of books for next year. We also slot the books into the calendar for next year.

We've made one update to our nominations process. January was traditionally a month when we read a novel by Heinlein. However, we've opened it up to now be classic sf/fantasy month. Classic is being defined at a novel or work published before 1970. We've opened up the field a bit but if you love Heinlein you can still nominate him here or for one of our other monthly openings.

Books We've Read (Through 2009)

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
Glory Road by Robert A. Heinlein

Watchmen by Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons
Seventh Son by Orson Scott Card
Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan
The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester
Santiago by Mike Resnick

The Space Trilogy by C.S. Lewis
A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
Someplace to be Flying by Charles De Lint
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
Off Armageddon Reef by David Weber

Books Previously Nominated But Not Selected

Here are some of the books from last year's nominations that weren't selected. Books from the list can be nominated again.

The Child Garden by Geoff Ryman
1984 by George Owell and Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge
The Host by Stephenie Meyer
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne
Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon
The Scar by China Mieville
Neuromancer by William Gibson
The Postman by David Brin
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
Dragon and Thief by Timothy Zahn
The Sword of Shanara by Terry Brooks
Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon
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

• Gridlinked by Neil Asher
• In the Garden of Iden by Kage Baker
• Timescape by Greg Benford
• 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
• The Crystal Singer by Anne Caffery
• The Road by Cormac McCarthy
• Seeker by Jack McDevitt
• Nekropolis by Maureen McHugh
• Dawn for Distant Earth by L.E. Modesitt
• Ecolitian Operation by L.E. Modesitt
• Legacies by L.E. Modesitt
• Golden Compass series by Philip Pullman
• March Upcountry by John Ringo
• Berzerker series by Frederick Saberhagen
• The Complete McAndrews by Charles Sheffield
• 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
• 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

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
JOB: A Comedy of Justice

November 2009 -- "Off Armageddon Reef" by Dave Weber

November's selection is the space opera, "Off Armageddon Reef" by Dave Weber.

Humanity pushed its way to the stars - and encountered the Gbaba, a ruthless alien race that nearly wiped us out. Earth and her colonies are now smoldering ruins, and the few survivors have fled to distant, Earth-like Safehold, to try to rebuild.

But the Gbaba can detect the emissions of an industrial civilization, so the human rulers of Safehold have taken extraordinary measures: with mind control and hidden high technology, they've built a religion in which every Safeholdian believes, a religion designed to keep Safehold society medieval forever. 800 years pass. In a hidden chamber on Safehold, an android from the far human past awakens. This "rebirth" was set in motion centuries before, by a faction that opposed shackling humanity with a concocted religion. Via automated recordings, "Nimue" - or, rather, the android with the memories of Lieutenant Commander Nimue Alban - is told her fate: she will emerge into Safeholdian society, suitably disguised, and begin the process of provoking the technological progress which the Church of God Awaiting has worked for centuries to prevent.

Nothing about this will be easy. To better deal with a medieval society, "Nimue" takes a new gender and a new name, "Merlin." His formidable powers and access to caches of hidden high technology will need to be carefully concealed. And he'll need to find a base of operations, a Safeholdian country that's just a little more freewheeling, a little less orthodox, a little more open to the new.

And thus Merlin comes to Charis, a mid-sized kingdom with a talent for naval warfare. He plans to make the acquaintance of King Haarahld and Crown Prince Cayleb, and maybe, just maybe, kick off a new eraof invention. Which is bound to draw the attention of the Churchand, inevitably, lead to war. It's going to be a long, long process. And it's going to be the can't-miss SF epic of the decade.

The Obscure References Book Group will meet at Linebaugh Library in Murfreesboro, TN on Wednesday, November 18 at 6:30 p.m.

Please note: Due to Thanksgiving, we will meet a week earlier than usual.

October 2009 -- "The Graveyard Book" by Neil Gaiman

October's selection is the Hugo-award winning novel, "The Graveyard Book" by Neil Gaiman.

Here's the description of the book, courtesy of GoodReads.

Bod is an unusual boy who inhabits an unusual place-he's the only living resident of a graveyard. Raised from infancy by the ghosts, werewolves, and other cemetery denizens, Bod has learned the antiquated customs of his guardians' time as well as their timely ghostly teachings-like the ability to Fade.

Can a boy raised by ghosts face the wonders and terrors of the worlds of both the living and the dead? And then there are things like ghouls that aren't really one thing or the other.

This chilling tale is Neil Gaiman's first full-length novel for middle-grade readers since the internationally bestselling and universally acclaimed Coraline. Like Coraline, this book is sure to enchant and surprise young readers as well as Neil Gaiman's legion of adult fans.

The Obscure References Book Group will meet at Linebaugh Library in Murfreesboro, TN on Wednesday, October 28 at 6:30 p.m.

September 2009 -- Someplace To Be Flying By Charles De Lint

September's selection in Charles De Lint's "Someplace to be Flying"

Nobody does urban fantasy better than Charles de Lint. He has a gift for creating engaging, fully realized characters, totally believable dialogue, and a feeling that magic is just around the corner.

Someplace to Be Flying is set in Newford, a town familiar to readers of de Lint. (He set two prior novels (Memory and Dream and Trader) and two anthologies (Dreams Underfoot and The Ivory and the Horn) in Newford.) One late night, as Hank drives his gypsy cab, his reliable though perilous city is transformed. He encounters the mythical "animal people," and the experience leaves him--and the reader--questioning accepted reality.

"Hank just wanted away from here. He'd sampled some hallucinogens when he was a kid and the feeling he had now was a lot like coming down from an acid high. Everything slightly askew, illogical things that somehow made sense, everything too sharp and clear when you looked at it but fading fast in your peripheral vision, blurred, like it didn't really exist." Fans of Emma Bull and Terri Windling (as both an editor and an author) will enjoy de Lint. He can make you believe "as many as six impossible things before breakfast." --Nona Vero

"The [Newford] books have all been written in such a way that you should be able to pick up any one and get a full and complete story. However, characters do reoccur, off center stage as it were, and their stories do follow a sequence."

The Obscure References Book Group will meet at Linebaugh Library in Murfreesboro, TN on Wednesday, September 23 at 6:30 p.m.

August 2009: "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin

August's selection is the epic first installment in the "Song of Fire and Ice" series, "A Game of Thrones."

From a master of contemporary fantasy comes a novel of imaginative power unlike any you've ever encountered...

In A Game of Thrones, George R.R. Martin has created a genuine masterpiece, bringing together the best the genre has to offer. Mystery, intrigue, romance, and adventure fill the pages of the first volume in an epic series sure to delight fantasy fans everywhere.

In a land where summers can last decades and winters a lifetime, trouble is brewing. The cold is returning, and in the frozen wastes to the north of Winterfell, sinister and supernatural forces are massing beyond the kingdom's protective wall. At the center of the conflict lie the Starks of Winterfell, a family as harsh and unyielding as the land they were born to. Sweeping from a land of brutal cold to a distant summertime kingdom of epicurean plenty, here is a tale of lords and ladies, soldiers and sorcerers, assassins and bastards, who come together in a time of grim omens. Amid plots and counterplots, tragedy and betrayal, victory and terror, the fate of the Starks, their allies, and their enemies hangs perilously in the balance, as each endeavors to win that deadliest of conflicts: the game of thrones.

The Obscure References Book Group will meet at Linebaugh Library in Murfreesboro, TN on Wednesday, August 26 at 6:30 p.m.

June 2009: "Santiago" by Mike Resnick

June's selection is "Santiago: A Myth of the Far Future" by Mike Resnick

Here's the summary from GoodReads: "Bandit, murderer, known to all, seen by none....has he killed a thousand men? Has he saved a dozen world? His legend is as large as the Rim itself, his trail as elusive as a wisp of starlight in the empty realms of space. The reward for him is the largest in history."

The Obscure References Book Group will meet at Linebaugh Library in Murfreesboro, TN on Wednesday, June 24 at 6:30 p.m.

Thoughts on "The Stars, My Destination"

Overall, the group liked "The Stars, My Destination." The informal count taken found all but one member happy with the book. For many, this was the first time reading this classic of science-fiction.

Discussion centered on jaunting, the character of Gully Foyle and Bester's portrayal of female characters in the story. And, of course, there were the usual side tangents and obscure references that got us off topic more often than not.

If you liked this book, you may want to give Bester's other "big" book, "The Demolished Man" a try. It's short and if you're a fan of "Babylon Five," you will see elements of Bester's portrayal of telepathic powers carry over to "B5."

"The Stars, My Destination" Links

Here are a few entries for Alfred Bester's "The Stars, My Destination."

Wikipedia Entry (includes summary with SPOILERS)
Wikipedia Entry on Alfred Bester
Good Reads Entry
Library Thing Entry
Science Fiction and Fantasy Reading Experience

IMDB Entry (book optioned for a film)

Reviews
Tal Cohen's Bookshelf
Infinity Plus Review
SF Site Review
Cyberpunk Review
Heretical Ideas Review
Slashdot Review
SciFi Weekly

May 2009: "The Stars, My Desination" by Alfred Bester

May's selection is the Alfred Bester classic, "The Stars, My Destination."

When it comes to pop culture, Alfred Bester (1913-1987) is something of an unsung hero. He wrote radio scripts, screenplays, and comic books (in which capacity he created the original Green Lantern Oath). But Bester is best known for his science-fiction novels, and The Stars My Destination may be his finest creation. First published in 1956 (as Tiger! Tiger!), the novel revolves around a hero named Gulliver Foyle, who teleports himself out of a tight spot and creates a great deal of consternation in the process. With its sly potshotting at corporate skullduggery, The Stars My Destination seems utterly contemporary, and has maintained its status as an underground classic for forty years. (Bester fans should also note that Vintage has reprinted The Demolished Man, which won the very first Hugo Award in 1953.)

The Obscure References Book Group will meet at Linebaugh Library in Murfreesboro, TN on Wednesday, May 27 at 6:30 p.m.

April 2009: "Altered Carbon" by Richard K. Morgan

April's selection is Richard K. Morgan's debut novel, "Altered Carbon." The novel won the Philip K. Dick award in 2003 and is the first of the Takeshi Kovacs trilogy.


In the twenty-fifth century, humankind has spread throughout the galaxy, monitored by the watchful eye of the U.N. While divisions in race, religion, and class still exist, advances in technology have redefined life itself. Now, assuming one can afford the expensive procedure, a person’s consciousness can be stored in a cortical stack at the base of the brain and easily downloaded into a new body (or “sleeve”) making death nothing more than a minor blip on a screen.

Ex-U.N. envoy Takeshi Kovacs has been killed before, but his last death was particularly painful. Dispatched one hundred eighty light-years from home, re-sleeved into a body in Bay City (formerly San Francisco, now with a rusted, dilapidated Golden Gate Bridge), Kovacs is thrown into the dark heart of a shady, far-reaching conspiracy that is vicious even by the standards of a society that treats “existence” as something that can be bought and sold. For Kovacs, the shell that blew a hole in his chest was only the beginning. . . .

The Obscure References Book Group will meet at Linebaugh Library in Murfreesboro, TN on Wednesday, April 22 at 6:30 p.m.

"Seventh Son" Links

To get ready for our discussion of "Seventh Son" here are some links you might find interesting....

Orson Scott Card's Official Web Site
Wikipedia Entry: Orson Scott Card
List of Works by Orson Scott Card

Wikipedia Entry: The Tales of Alvin Maker

SF Reviews Net: "Seventh Son" Review
Jandy's Review Blog: "Seventh Son" Review
Library Thing Reviews

March: "Seventh Son" by Orson Scott Card

March's selection is the first in Orson Scott Card's "Seventh Son." It's the first installment in Card's Alvin Maker series, which currently stands at six books. (Card has hinted more may be on the way....)

From the author of Ender's Game, an unforgettable story about young Alvin Maker: the seventh son of a seventh son. Born into an alternative frontier America where life is hard and folk magic is real, Alvin is gifted with the power. He must learn to use his gift wisely. But dark forces are arrayed against Alvin, and only a young girl with second sight can protect him.

The Obscure References Book Group will meet at Linebaugh Library in Murfreesboro, TN on Wednesday, March 25 at 6:30 p.m.

January: "Glory Road" by Robert A. Heinlein

Keeping our group tradition, we begin the new year with a work by Robert A. Heinlein. This year's selection in Glory Road.



E. C. "Scar" Gordon was on the French Riviera recovering from a tour of combat in Southeast Asia , but he hadn't given up his habit of scanning the Personals in the newspaper. One ad in particular leapt out at him:"ARE YOU A COWARD? This is not for you. We badly need a brave man. He must be 23 to 25 years old, in perfect health, at least six feet tall, weigh about 190 pounds, fluent English, with some French, proficient in all weapons, some knowledge of engineering and mathematics essential, willing to travel, no family or emotional ties, indomitably courageous and handsome of face and figure. Permanent employment, very high pay, glorious adventure, great danger. You must apply in person, rue Dante, Nice, 2me eacute;tage, apt. D."How could you not answer an ad like that, especially when it seemed to describe you perfectly? Well, except maybe for the "handsome" part, but that was in the eye of the beholder anyway. So he went to that apartment and was greeted by the most beautiful woman he'd ever met. She seemed to have many names, but agreed he could call her "Star." A pretty appropriate name, as it turned out, for the empress of twenty universes.

Robert A. Heinlein's one true fantasy novel, Glory Road is as much fun today as when he wrote it after Stranger in a Strange Land. Heinlein proves himself as adept with sword and sorcery as with rockets and slide rules and the result is exciting, satirical, fast-paced, funny and tremendously readable -- a favorite of all who have read it.

We'll be meeting in January to discuss Glory Road. More details coming soon. The meeting will take place at the Linebaugh Library on the 3rd or 4th Wednesday of the month.