Fantasy Book Club Series discussion

Our current series discussion will finish at the end of June 2021, so I am opening nominations for a series to begin July 1, 2021.

PLEASE READ CAREFULLY
Rules for nominating a series:
1. The series must be complete (as far as we can reasonably tell).
2. The series must be fantasy (I know, seems obvious).
3. The series should not be targeted mainly for middle school or a YA audience.
4. The series must not be one the group has already read. Look through the website or the group bookshelf to see if we’ve read it before.
5. Each member may nominate one series. Please tell us the name of the series, the author, how many books are in the series, and the name of first book in the series. If you want to add more information, please feel free.
6. Each member may second one other nomination in addition to making their own nomination.
7. In order to move into the polling, a nomination must be seconded.
8. Nominations will be open through May 24. We will then have a poll. If there are a lot of nominations or the results are close, we may have a run-off poll between or among the top vote-getters.

Nominations are open! Let’s go!
Kathi, for the mods

Nominated and seconded:
Legends of the First Empire (6 books), starting with Age of Myth, by Michael J. Sullivan
The Wounded Kingdom (3 books), starting with Age of Assassins, by R.J. Barker
Paternus (3 books), starting with Rise of Gods, by Dyrk Ashton
Riddle-Master (3 books), starting with The Riddle-Master of Hed, by Patricia A. McKillip
The Sharing Knife/Wide Green World (4 books), starting with Beguilement, by Lois McMaster Bujold
Broken Earth (3 books), starting with The Fifth Season, by N.K. Jemisin

Nominated but not yet seconded:
Magister (3 books), starting with Feast of Souls, by C.S. Friedman
Chasing Graves (3 books), starting with Chasing Graves, by Ben Galley

Nominated but disqualified :

I'd like to nominate The Wounded Kingdom series, starting with Age of Assassins by R.J. Barker, which is a completed trilogy.

I was thinking about Michael Sullivan's series Legends of the First Empire starting with Age of Myth. There are six books in all

I nominate Paternus Trilogy by Dyrk Ashton. Three book series.
Rise of Gods
and I will second the Age of Myth series.

I second Age of Myth.

Riddle-Master by Patricia A. McKillip starting with The Riddle-Master of Hed

Michelle wrote: "I second Age of Myth."

Kevin already seconded Legends of the First Empire, starting with Age of Myth, so if you’d like to save your second for a different series, you may.

I'll hold my second for just a bit, then, until I see what else is nominated.

I second The Wounded Kingdom series (3 books), starting with Age of Assassins, by R.J. Barker

Thanks, Paulo!

I will second Rise of Gods

I’ll second /b/ Riddle-Master

I will nominate The Sharing Knife/Wide Green World series, 4 books starting with Beguilement, by Lois McMaster Bujold. I have read other fantasy (and SF) by this author, and enjoyed them all. Her characters are always multi-faceted and her plots are interesting.

I second Bujold! Huge fan of the Vorkosigan saga.

I second Legends of the First Empire!!! I already read the first installment, but I will most definitely reread it!

Kurt wrote: "I second Legends of the First Empire!!! I already read the first installment, but I will most definitely reread it!"

Legends of the First Empire has already been seconded. You can save your second and use it for another series, if something else gets nominated.

I'd like to nominate The Magister Trilogy by C.S. Friedman. It is a completed trilogy, starting with Feast of Souls by C.S. Friedman. It is a spin off series from her The Coldfire Trilogy, but it is completely different story and stands on its own. And its better:) I want to reread it, and I'd like some company

I'd like to nominate The Broken Earth Trilogy (3 books) starting with The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin.

Set on an alternate Earth plagued by constant seismic activity and frequent near-extinction events, where evidence of past civilizations and ruined cities litter the planet. The story and world seem very interesting. and each book in the trilogy won the Hugo award, so it's on my TBR for this year, and I would love to read and discuss it with others.

I will second The Broken Earth Trilogy.

Wow, 3 series in the nominations that I want to read! And still a couple more days for nominations and seconds! It will be hard to choose.

Last day for nominations/seconds! Polls go up tomorrow!

I'd like to nominate the Chasing Graves series by Ben Galley

It's a complete series (3 books) beginning with Chasing Graves

Nominations and seconds are closed. We have 2 series that didn't make it into the polling due to lack of a second, and 6 series in the poll.

The poll will run through the end of the month. If needed because the voting is very close, a second poll will run in early June for the final selection.

Vote here: Poll for Series starting July 1, 2021

Looks like the top 2 might be headed for a run-off final poll. We’ll see. If you haven’t yet voted, please do. This poll closes May 31.
Vote here: Poll for Series starting July 1, 2021

We are having a final run-off poll to choose between the top 2 vote getters of our first poll. There was a pretty clear break between them and the rest.

The poll will only be open for 5 days, today through June 5.

Please vote!!

Link to Final Run-Off Poll for Series to Start July 1, 2021

EDITED TO FIX LINK TO POLL. (This link DOES work.)

I can only send one broadcast message per day but will send another tomorrow with the corrected link. Thanks for Lacey for alerting me that the first link didn’t work.

Voting is very close! We have 2 great series in this final poll—I want to read both! Be sure to vote for our next series and, if you are connected with any of our fellow members, please encourage them to vote, too!

Since there's so much interest, maybe we could also buddy-read whichever one that doesn't win? :-)

Eva wrote: "Since there's so much interest, maybe we could also buddy-read whichever one that doesn't win? :-)"

Yes, that’s a possibility. Or be sure to nominate whichever series doesn’t win this time when we open nominations again.

Last day to vote is today!!

Thank you to everyone who nominated, seconded, and voted!

Our next series will be Legends of the First Empire by Michael J. Sullivan.

Here is the schedule:
July 1: Age of Myth
August 1: Age of Swords
September 1: Age of War
October 1: Age of Legend
November 1: Age of Death
December 1: Age of Empyre

The polling was close. It has been suggested to do a “Buddy Read” for the Broken Earth trilogy, which was the runner-up. Another option is to re-nominate the Broken Earth trilogy next time around for our group read/discussion. Legends of the First Empire was the runner-up in our last round, when we chose our current series, the Lightbringer series.

I am excited to read and discuss our next series, but I’m in the middle of the last book in our current series, so that is my priority!

Happy Reading
Kathi, for the mods

Yay!