Friday, November 7, 2014

Blind Book Challenge 2014


Brown paper packages tied up with string. These are a few of my favourite things... Especially if the packages are book-shaped and come equipped with cryptic clues to reveal what wonders lurk within.

Like last year I've asked Tiemen Zwaan, the mastermind behind the blind book date initiative at the American Book Center in Amsterdam,  to create a list of clues for you to try to decipher. And this year he has been particularly devious.


Your mission. if you are are brave and cunning enough to accept it, is to try to figure out which novels these clues refer to. Post your answers/guesses in the comments below and at the end of the month the answers will be revealed. 
  1. Failed Author/ Hollywood/ Cloned for TV
  2. Cyberpunk/Mysterious Book/Djinn
  3. Cynical Surveyor/Ex-Lawyer/ Adorable Small Biped/ Courtroom Showdown
  4. Anglo-French Kingdom/Nuclear-powered Zeppelin / One-eyed, Cigar-chomping Monkey
  5. Crappy Island Vacation/It Blows your Mind/Not Your Average Hunger Games
  6. Humanity Almost Extinct/Gene Trade/Ooloi Gives You Pleasure
  7. Exoskeletons vs. Aliens/Live/Die/Repeat/ Tom on the Cover is kind of Scary
  8. Linked Combat Squad/Dead Sisters/King David
  9. Warship in Space/Legal Officer/Cover-up
  10. Cloistered Sanctuary/Young Fraa/Many Worlds Theorem
  11. (Relatively) Safer on Mars/Base without Adults/Teacher Robots
  12. Future plagued by Drought/Occupation/Young Tea Master
  13. Technology Driven by Insects/Endless War/Hard Boiled Female Bounty Hunter
  14. Recluse Scientist/Settled Solar System/Secrets of the Grandmother
  15. Military Scifi Psychological Horror Thriller/Partial Deconstructed Space Station/Alien Shadows
  16. Steampunk Classic/Steam-driven Cybernetic Engines/ Detective Story
  17. Stowaway Sky Surgeon/Diverse Crew/ Inter-dimensional Rifts
  18. Apocalyptic Wasteland/Lone Gunman/ Fear the Weir
  19. Mercenary with Ambition/Ship with Bad Luck/Armor Suit
Put those thinking caps on and get cracking. Good luck!


7 comments:

  1. Ooooh this sounds like so much fun!
    Number 7 sounds like Edge of Tomorrow and number 10 sounds like Anathem?

    - Kritika @ Snowflakes & Spider silk

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  2. It is fun, but it can be infuriating as well.

    You might be right with those two. I don't know the answers so we'll have to see when they are revealed.

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  3. Squeee! I love this game!!

    ok, here's my guesses:

    4. Ack Ack Macaque (or one of the books in that series)
    8. The Red by Linda Nagata?
    13. God's War by Kameron Hurley
    16. The Difference Engine?
    18. Three by Jay Posey

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  4. Only two out of nineteen...
    3) Fuzzy Nation by John Scalzi
    19) Fortune's Pawn by Rachel Bach

    Great game!!!

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  5. Hi, I'm also a book lover :) I just wanted to ask a few questions about Book Depository. Is it 100% reliable? Like, do your books ever get stolen or not delivered? I've had a few bad experiences when packages were stolen. If you could let me know your experiences of book depository in South Africa. :) thanks a million x

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  6. Okay, I actually met Tiemen on Saturday at the ABC, it was lovely to meet him! :D And I got to see those famous blind date books in person, haha ;)

    Here are my guesses:
    4. Ack-Ack Macaque (I mean what other book has a cigar chomping monkey??)
    5. Battle Royale
    7. All You Need Is Kill
    15. Leviathan Wakes

    These are tricky but I think I know more than last year :D

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    Replies
    1. It's awesome that you got to meet Tiemen and visit the ABC to see them in person!

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