June Tiebreaker

[Culhwch]

June was a photo finish, so we have a tiebreaker. The choices are:

Temeraire, Naomi Novik (2006)

As Napoleon's tenacious infantry rampages across Europe and his armada lies in wait for Nelson's smaller fleet, the war does not rage on land and water alone. Squadrons of aviators swarm the skies - a deadly shield for the cumbersome canon-firing vessels. Raining fire and acid upon their enemies, they engage in a swift, violent combat with flying tooth and claw... for these aviators ride dragons.


Consider Phlebas, Iain M. Banks (1987)

The war raged across the galaxy. Billions had died, billions more were doomed. Moons, planets, the very stars themselves, faced destruction; coldblooded, brutal, and worse, random. The Idirans fought for their Faith; the Culture for its moral right to exist.

Principals were at stake. There could be no surrender.

Within the cosmic conflict, an individual crusade. Deep within a fabled labyrinth on a barren world, a Planet of the Dead proscribed to mortals, lay a fugitive Mind. Both the Culture and the Idirans sought it. It was the fate of Horza, the Changer, and his motley crew of unpredictable mercenaries, human and machine, actually to find it, and with it their own destruction.

Consider Phlebas - a space opera of stunning power and awesome imagination from one of the most talented writers of his generation.

[BookStop]

Temeriare is a series, this one called His Majesties Dragon. I'm voting for it even though the Banks book looks very good just because Temeriare is still in print and I can easily get a cheap copy without relying on the libraries availability.

[pyan]

Originally Posted by Culhwch

J

Consider Phlebas - a space opera of stunning power and awesome imagination from one of the most talented writers of his generation.

Cul, who on earth described Consider Phlebas as "space opera"?

[Culhwch]

That'd be Fantastic Fiction, Pyan. I'm not to blame!!!

[Culhwch]

Originally Posted by BookStop

Temeriare is a series, this one called His Majesties Dragon. I'm voting for it even though the Banks book looks very good just because Temeriare is still in print and I can easily get a cheap copy without relying on the libraries availability.

My apologies for any confusion. My paperback copy is merely titled Temeraire, so I assumed that that was the title everywhere...

I witheld my vote in the case of another tie, but it doesn't look like we have much to worry about this time around.

[Teresa Edgerton]

Originally Posted by Culhwch

That'd be Fantastic Fiction, Pyan. I'm not to blame!!!

Let that be a lesson to you! They aren't the most reliable source of information.

Consider yourself lucky if Pyan doesn't make you write "I will not believe everything I read at FantasticFiction" one hundred times.

[Lenny]

I think it could be an idea to maybe ask those who submit the books that go into a vote to submit a brief summary in the submission thread, which can then be copied into the poll.

To be honest, I didn't think that the description from Fantastic Fiction did City of Dreaming Books justice. It said absolutely nothing about the story at all.

[Culhwch]

Fantastic Fiction is there, it's quick, so that's what I used. I never use Amazon to buy books, and found I couldn't find synopses of books there when I did try for those that were missing from Fantastic Fiction. It'd be handy if people did submit their own synopses when making sugestions, but I think it would end up being even more inconsistent than Fantastic Fiction. Next time we can try it.

EDIT: Meant to ask for suggestions of alternate sources of synopses. So fire away if you have them...

[Culhwch]

Looks like it's Temeraire/His Majesty's Dragon by a nose... a very long nose.