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. Because this site’s name took its inspiration from the group, I try to 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, at least you’ll maybe find some new book recommendations in this monthly feature!

Beyond Reality’s Books of the Month for December are:

Babel-17 by Samuel R. Delany for SF. My thoughts: I have never read this. I want to read it. I want to read it very badly, especially because it deals with language and how it defines us, a topic that’s always fascinated me. I doubt I’ll get to this in December, given that I’m already ridiculously over-committed in terms of books I should be reading for review by the end of the year, but I still may try to squeeze it in. 

Cold Magic by Kate Elliott for fantasy. My thoughts: I have tons of respect for Kate Elliott, both for her fiction and for her eloquence when it comes to a number of issues in the SFF community that I care deeply about. The author also has a bit of history with Beyond Reality, as she joined the group back in 2008 to participate in our discussion of The King’s Dragon. All this to say that I’m hoping to get to this book (the opening volume of the now completed Spiritwalker trilogy) some time over the holidays, so I can join this discussion.

That’s it for December, but exciting news to report for the 2014: I nominated Range of Ghosts by Elizabeth Bear (my review) for our January fantasy selection, and it won! Ann Leckie’s Ancillary Justice (my review) didn’t make it for January (it lost an Ursula K. Le Guin novel – no shame there), but just won the poll for February! I’m really happy that some new readers may discover these authors and novels via the group.