The name of this website was inspired by the Beyond Reality discussion group, which has been around for almost two decades in various forms and which I’ve been managing for more than half of that time. The group is currently housed at GoodReads (a site I waste an incredible amount of time on) and has over 900 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 June are:

Throne of the Crescent Moon by Saladin Ahmed for Fantasy: My thoughts: loved it. Loved it loved it loved it. Did I mention I loved this novel? A take on good old-fashioned sword & sorcery, with a lot of hidden and not-so-hidden depth, a group of unforgettable characters, and a spectacular Arabic-themed setting that’s just begging for more novels. I reviewed the novel here shortly after it came out. This is a book you don’t want to miss… and if you didn’t get around to reading it yet, maybe this is a good time to check it out and join the Beyond Reality discussion? 

To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis for SF: My thoughts: I’ve never been able to put my finger exactly on what turns me off in the novels of Connie Willis. Doomsday Book is, as far as I know, the only book I tried to read not once, not twice, but three times, each time abandoning it after a few hundred pages. Last year, I read about half of Blackout (to be, you know, a responsible Hugo voter), but just didn’t feel the urge to keep reading. I know she has a huge fan base and more awards than you can shake a stick at, but her stuff just doesn’t seem to work for me. Still, that’s just my opinion – if you like the novel and want to discuss it with us, please stop by the group this month!

In our ongoing series discussion of David Weber’s Honor Harrington series we’ve reached book 10, War of Honor. Later this month, we’ll get started on book 11, At All Costs. I haven’t been participating in this discussion for a while now, partly because I wasn’t entirely blown away by the first book in this series (thought it was entertaining, but not good enough to read another dozen books) and partly because I simply lack the time.

Finally, we also always have a series of short story discussions running in the group. Last month we went through all the Nebula-nominated stories, and this month we’re looking at the stories on the Hugo ballot.

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!