Book Club Lobbying: February

GWC Community GWC Book Club
#1

All,
Welcome to our next installment of Book Club Lobbying. The idea is simple: rally around the book(s) that you want the book club to take on in a classic cagematch setting and then vote on those you want to read. The following books are up for your consideration.

As you may have noticed I have changed the timing slightly. We are starting the lobbying in the second week of the month and will start voting in the final week.

Asher, Neal - “Cowl”
Brooks, Max - “World War Z: An Oral History Of The Zombie War”
Chabon, Michael - “The Yiddish Policemen’s Union”
Gibson, William - “Neuromancer”
Grossman, Austin - “Soon I Will Be Invincible”
Heinlein, Robert A. - “The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress”
Lem, Stanislaw - “Solaris”
Martin, George R. R. - “A Game of Thrones”
Meyer, Stephenie - “Twilight (The Twilight Saga, Book 1)”
Niven, Larry - “Lucifer’s Hammer”
Niven, Larry - “The Mote in God’s Eye”
Reynolds, Alastair - “Revelation Space”
Rushdie, Salman - “Midnight’s Children”
Scalzi, John - “Old Man’s War”
Shelley, Mary - “Frankenstein”
Steakley, John - “Armor”
Whyte, Jack - “The Skystone”

#2

The Mote in God’s Eye. Very strong writing and melds together two very good writers. I would correct the post as it’s not a Niven book. It’s both Niven and Pournelle. When they write, Niven writes the aliens and Pournelle writes the humans. This is a masterpiece.

#3

I vote for “Old Man’s War” by John Scalzi. It’s a great book, with great characters and it’s a very easy, enjoyable read.

#4

I’ll second that.

#5

Ursula K. LeGuin: The Left Hand of Darkness

The prejudice between the humans and cylon got me thinking about this incredible novel. LeGuin crafted this to explore human nature when gender is no longer a factor. I thot of it when we found out all of Erf were cylon(s)(z). Would the colonies’ prejudice go away if they found out they were machines?

#6

After reading A Game Of Thrones, I think it would be well worth the detour into fantasy territory. It’s a bit of a lengthy book, but it’s very well written and interesting. I’d love to talk about it with you guys.

#7

I vote for these because I already own them and need to read them:

Brooks, Max - “World War Z: An Oral History Of The Zombie War”
Grossman, Austin - “Soon I Will Be Invincible”
Lem, Stanislaw - “Solaris”
Niven, Larry - “The Mote in God’s Eye”
Shelley, Mary - “Frankenstein” - would be a reread for me

#8

I’d do a two book vote here. Left Hand of Darkness and the Mote in God’s Eye. I’ve considered reading her for a long time, but just haven’t yet. That said I plan to read Mote anyway. :wink:

#9

The first five are old favorites of mine.
World War Z is an incredible “restrospective” look at a zombie apocalypse.
Neuromancer created the cyberpunk genre almost on its own.
Lucifer’s Hammer may be THE quintessential post-apocalypse novel.
Mote in God’s Eye continues the Niven / Pournelle penchant for really interesting novels, characters, and, especially, aliens that are ALIEN.
And Steakley’s Armor is a fascinating take on Starship Troopers – though with a bit less benevolent fascism! :smiley:

The other two sound interesting. I’ve heard of Old Man’s War … every time I try to order it from Amazon I get a sold out or out-of-print warning, tho. And if Soon I Will Be Invincible is about what I think it’s about … woot!

#10

Very good point about Mote. Niven does the truly Alien alien better than anybody, and it plays really well against Pournelle’s military/political story line.