The Evolution of Science Fiction discussion

Nominations for February 2020 will be for books published between 1980 and 1999.

Sci-fi novels or collections of short stories that have not previously been read by the group are eligible, so long as we've not read the author too many times already. Please check the bookshelf (https://www.goodreads.com/group/books...) & the nomination rules (https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...) for further clarification before nominating a book.

Please also add your nominated book title as a clickable link directly to the goodreads' book page, with author and year, so it looks like this:

Children of Time
Adrian Tchaikovsky
2015

We'd appreciate it if you tell everyone a bit about why you chose the book that you're nominating, but we don't require that.

Bear in mind, too, that we'll mostly likely be closing this nomination thread on the 15th of Dec, in order to have plenty of time for poll(s) and then for acquisitions of the winner(s).

Everything you can do to help the moderators' tasks will help the group flourish, so thank you!

I nominate Far-Seer by an author I've enjoyed before, Robert J. Sawyer. Sentient dinosaurs on extra-solar planets! First of a completed trilogy. (Full disclosure - I own it in physical form and would love to get it read and passed on.)

Nom. tracker:

Contact (three informal seconds through msg 20)
Santiago (one)
Far-Seer (one)
Helliconia Spring
Neverness
Mirrorshades
Jurassic Park

Don't forget that you can find previous nominations on the group bookshelves here.

A list of authors who published SF during this time & previously read books is in the What This Folder Is For topic.

I'm going to nominate Contact by Carl Sagan (1985). It's an excellent look at Sagan's baby, the SETI project, & what might happen if a signal is detected.

Cheryl wrote: "Nom. tracker:

Far-Seer"

Since it came up recently I nominate:

Mirrorshades: The Cyberpunk Anthology edited by Bruce Sterling

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...

1988

It is period defining, short, and good!

Helliconia Spring by Brian W. Aldiss, originally published in 1982. It was nominated/won several awards

I nominate Neverness by David Zindell (1988)

An epic SF adventure that I wanted to re-read for ages.

Santiago: A Myth of the Far Future by Mike Resnick. It was published in 1986.

Lots of choices already! We might have to do a split poll and/or runoff.

Informally, until (and if) we implement the policy of encouraging y'all to choose 'seconds' ... which of the books nominated so far (besides your own nom) would you "second" because you'd be glad to read it if yours doesn't win?

For example, I'll second Contact, as it is def. influential. I'm insufficiently interested in any of the others to second them (sorry).

Well, JP is first, LW the sequel, no? Should we not start at the beginning?

How about I decree that you nominate JP? :)

Jim wrote: "I'm going to nominate Contact by Carl Sagan (1985). It's an excellent look at Sagan's baby, the SETI project, & what might happen if a signal is detected."

I'm going to "second" Contact as I can't off hand think of anything to nominate

Thanks, Forthenco!

To clarify, seconds and nominations would be independent actions. Iow, Adrian, you're more than welcome to come back if you do think of something you'd really like to read!

I don't understand what the "seconds" will be used for, but I will say that Santiago and Far-Seer both look more interesting to me than the others.

It's just an informal experiment, to see what it might be like if we were to implement them in the future.

I'll second Contact.

So, at this point, we have seven nominations. Quite a few for a single poll, but not really enough to justify a split into two polls.

Thinking about the informal experiment with using "seconds," I see that three books got seconds. That's actually, imo, a pretty great number for a poll. We'd be highly unlikely, I believe, to need a runoff if there were only three choices.

Thoughts?

Also, more nominations or seconds? We'll probably cut them off on the 15th, so please get them in soon!

I like the seconds procedure. I'm used to it from another group. It, indeed, gives a first glimpse what would work in a poll.

Thanks, Gabi!

Gabi wrote: "I like the seconds procedure. I'm used to it from another group. It, indeed, gives a first glimpse what would work in a poll."

Ditto Gabi,
I'm used to seconds in a couple of other groups. In some you are allowed to either nominate or second, in others you can nominate and second (any book but your own nominated book). It helps I think to identify (before a poll) the most popular books for a group read.

Poll is up: time to start campaigning!
https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/1...

Note that there are seven choices. If you don't like runoffs or reading two books, be ready to change your vote and campaign to your second choice, if that strategy seems likely to lead to a clear winner. We have until January 6 to sort through these seven, and then we might do a runoff, if there's no clear winner.

Note that our experiment with seconds is just that, an experiment, so all books nominated are on the poll.

The next time around, we're going to try to cut down on the number of books being voted on & reduce the times when the moderators need to make a decision in accordance with the current rules, by requiring that a book is seconded before it will appear on a poll. Each member is allowed to make one nomination & second one other book other than their own. Otherwise, the rules remain unchanged.

They are:
- If 8 or more books are nominated & receive seconds, we'll have 2 polls.
- If 2 books are almost tied*, we'll have 2 BoTMs that month.
- If there are 3 or more books that are almost tied, we'll have a run-off poll.

Obviously, you don't have to nominate a book nor do you have to second one. If you do second one, you're expressing an interest in reading or discussing that book instead in the event that the book you nominated doesn't win. Remember that you can change your vote at any time before the deadline. You're encouraged to do so if your first choice is losing and you wish to support something more likely to win.

*"Almost Tied" means 2 books are clearly both favored by the group, probably within a vote or two of each other. The moderators will choose whether to have a second Book of the Month to foster discussion.

The poll is holding steady with "Contact" winning with 6 votes.
"Helliconia Spring" has 3 votes
"Jurassic Park" has 2 votes
"Far-Seer" has 1 vote
"Santiago: A Myth of the Far Future" has 1 vote
"Neverness" has 1 vote
"Mirrorshades: The Cyberpunk Anthology" has 1 vote

Remember that you can change your vote until the polls close on the 6th. The poll is here:
https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/1...

Today is the last day for the poll. "Contact" has surged way ahead with 11 votes, 6 more than "Helliconia Spring". The rest have just 2 votes each.

It doesn't look like anything changed yesterday, so Contact by Carl Sagan will be our group read in February.