The name of this blog was inspired by the Beyond Reality discussion group, which has been around for almost two decades and which I’ve been managing for more than half of that time. The group is currently housed at GoodReads (a site I love) and has over 850 members. Because this site’s name took its inspiration from the group, I post monthly updates about the group here, including our Books of the Month, our series discussions, and any other special events like giveaways or author visits. Please consider this an invitation to join us, if you’re interested in SF&F book discussion. And if book discussions aren’t your thing, maybe you’ll find some additional book recommendations in this monthly feature!

Beyond Reality‘s Books of the Month for April are:

The Lions of Al-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay for fantasy. My thoughts: awesome novel, awesome author. I’ve read everything Guy Gavriel Kay has written except for Ysabel, and loved almost all of it. Not just loved – adored. He’s written some of the very best fantasy of the last few decades. I consider him one of my top 5 or so favorite authors in the genre. I haven’t re-read Al-Rassan in a few years, but I remember it being just as brilliant as his other works, maybe even one of his best, so if you haven’t read it yet, pick up a copy and come join the group this month.

The Einstein Intersection by Samuel Delaney for SF. I have a confession to make here. I have never read anything by Samuel Delaney. I know. I know. I’ve heard great things about this particular book, so it’s hereby added to my never-ending list of books-t0-check-out-if-I-ever-catch-up-with-my-review-books. Which I obviously won’t be getting to this month, so unfortunately I’ll be a silent observer during this discussion.

In our ongoing series discussion of David Weber’s Honor Harrington series we’ve reached book 8, Echoes of Honor. We’ll be starting book 9, Ashes of Victory, on April 15th. I had to stop reading along with this series discussion, simply for lack of time, so I can’t say much about this one.

And in our short story discussions, we’ve launched a neat new project: we’re reading and discussing all the Nebula-nominated short stories. We did something similar last year, and it was a great success. I’ve actually read all of these stories over the last few days (partly because I have a Tor.com post due about them) and I’m here to tell you: it’s a strong ballot this year. If you’re in the mood for some good short fiction, make sure to check out these stories. There are links to all the stories (available online for free) in the article linked above.

And that’s it for this quick look about what we’re doing at the Beyond Reality discussion group. If you’re interested in participating in any of these book or short story discussions, please drop by the group!