2007-03-19

SFBC & Me (Reblog)

I arrived at this circuitously through CMD's shared post from SF Signal about a cute plastic Cthulhu doll. The original is from Sara Howe. This is a Science Fiction Book Club list of the most significant SF novels from '53 to '06 with the instructions: "Bold the ones you have read, strike through the ones you read and hated, italicize those you started but never finished and put a star next to the ones you love." Let's see how normal I am.
  1. * The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien
  2. The Foundation Trilogy, Isaac Asimov
  3. Dune, Frank Herbert
  4. Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert A. Heinlein
  5. A Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula K. Le Guin
  6. Neuromancer, William Gibson
  7. Childhood's End, Arthur C. Clarke
  8. * Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Philip K. Dick
  9. The Mists of Avalon, Marion Zimmer Bradley
  10. Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury
  11. * The Book of the New Sun, Gene Wolfe
  12. A Canticle for Leibowitz, Walter M. Miller, Jr.
  13. The Caves of Steel, Isaac Asimov
  14. Children of the Atom, Wilmar Shiras
  15. Cities in Flight, James Blish
  16. The Colour of Magic, Terry Pratchett
  17. Dangerous Visions, edited by Harlan Ellison
  18. Deathbird Stories, Harlan Ellison
  19. The Demolished Man, Alfred Bester
  20. Dhalgren, Samuel R. Delany
  21. Dragonflight, Anne McCaffrey
  22. Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card
  23. The First Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, Stephen R. Donaldson
  24. The Forever War, Joe Haldeman
  25. Gateway, Frederik Pohl
  26. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, J.K. Rowling
  27. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
  28. I Am Legend, Richard Matheson
  29. Interview with the Vampire, Anne Rice
  30. * The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K. Le Guin
  31. Little, Big, John Crowley
  32. * Lord of Light, Roger Zelazny
  33. * The Man in the High Castle, Philip K. Dick
  34. Mission of Gravity, Hal Clement
  35. * More Than Human, Theodore Sturgeon
  36. The Rediscovery of Man, Cordwainer Smith
  37. On the Beach, Nevil Shute
  38. Rendezvous with Rama, Arthur C. Clarke
  39. Ringworld, Larry Niven
  40. Rogue Moon, Algis Budrys
  41. The Silmarillion, J.R.R. Tolkien
  42. * Slaughterhouse-5, Kurt Vonnegut
  43. * Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson
  44. Stand on Zanzibar, John Brunner
  45. The Stars My Destination, Alfred Bester
  46. Starship Troopers, Robert A. Heinlein
  47. Stormbringer, Michael Moorcock
  48. The Sword of Shannara, Terry Brooks
  49. Timescape, Gregory Benford
  50. To Your Scattered Bodies Go, Philip Jose Farmer

Read: 40.

Read & hated: 6.

Read & loved: 9.

Started & did not finish: 1.

I'm genuinely surprised that I'm more of a lover than a hater! Although many of the books on the list I consider poor (Neuromancer) or quite poor (The Sword of Shannara), without actually being able to provoke by utter derision. I'm gratified that Dick, Sturgeon, and Wolfe all made their list.
Posted by at
Labels: ,

6 comments:

Chris said...

What's the code if you've just seen the movie?

12:32
Chris said...

*1. The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien
2. The Foundation Trilogy, Isaac Asimov
3. Dune, Frank Herbert
XXXX 4. Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert A. Heinlein XXXX
5. A Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula K. Le Guin
6. Neuromancer, William Gibson
7. Childhood's End, Arthur C. Clarke
8. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Philip K. Dick
9. The Mists of Avalon, Marion Zimmer Bradley
10. Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury
*11. The Book of the New Sun, Gene Wolfe
12. A Canticle for Leibowitz, Walter M. Miller, Jr.
13. The Caves of Steel, Isaac Asimov
14. Children of the Atom, Wilmar Shiras
15. Cities in Flight, James Blish
16. The Colour of Magic, Terry Pratchett
17. Dangerous Visions, edited by Harlan Ellison
18. Deathbird Stories, Harlan Ellison
19. The Demolished Man, Alfred Bester
20. Dhalgren, Samuel R. Delany
21. Dragonflight, Anne McCaffrey
22. Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card
23. The First Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, Stephen R. Donaldson
24. The Forever War, Joe Haldeman
25. Gateway, Frederik Pohl
26. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, J.K. Rowling
27. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
28. I Am Legend, Richard Matheson
29. Interview with the Vampire, Anne Rice
30. The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K. Le Guin
31. Little, Big, John Crowley
*32. Lord of Light, Roger Zelazny
*33. The Man in the High Castle, Philip K. Dick
34. Mission of Gravity, Hal Clement
35. More Than Human, Theodore Sturgeon
36. The Rediscovery of Man, Cordwainer Smith
37. On the Beach, Nevil Shute
38. Rendezvous with Rama, Arthur C. Clarke
39. Ringworld, Larry Niven
40. Rogue Moon, Algis Budrys
41. The Silmarillion, J.R.R. Tolkien
42. Slaughterhouse-5, Kurt Vonnegut
43. Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson
44. Stand on Zanzibar, John Brunner
45. The Stars My Destination, Alfred Bester
46. Starship Troopers, Robert A. Heinlein
47. Stormbringer, Michael Moorcock
48. The Sword of Shannara, Terry Brooks
49. Timescape, Gregory Benford
50. To Your Scattered Bodies Go, Philip Jose Farmer

I use to use a list like this to determine what to read. That's the only reason I've read as many on here as I have.

I had to use XXX to mark my hated book as strikeout didn't work.

Read: 18
Read & Hated: 1
Read & Loved: 4
Started & DNF: 4

12:47
Anonymous said...

Kevin knows how I feel about science fiction, so he'll know why my list is so short:

Started and did not finish:
The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien
The Foundation Trilogy, Isaac Asimov

Read, and liked most of:
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams

Read, and was ambivalent about:
Cities in Flight, James Blish
Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card

Read, and liked because I was 12 years old:
Dragonflight, Anne McCaffrey

13:47
Jeff Carroll said...

* 1. The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien
2. The Foundation Trilogy, Isaac Asimov - Read first two
3. Dune, Frank Herbert
4. Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert A. Heinlein
5. A Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula K. Le Guin
XXX 6. Neuromancer, William Gibson XXX
7. Childhood's End, Arthur C. Clarke
8. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Philip K. Dick
9. The Mists of Avalon, Marion Zimmer Bradley
10. Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury
11. The Book of the New Sun, Gene Wolfe
12. A Canticle for Leibowitz, Walter M. Miller, Jr.
13. The Caves of Steel, Isaac Asimov
14. Children of the Atom, Wilmar Shiras
15. Cities in Flight, James Blish
16. The Colour of Magic, Terry Pratchett
*17. Dangerous Visions, edited by Harlan Ellison
18. Deathbird Stories, Harlan Ellison
19. The Demolished Man, Alfred Bester
Currently reading...20. Dhalgren, Samuel R. Delany
21. Dragonflight, Anne McCaffrey
22. Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card
23. The First Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, Stephen R. Donaldson
24. The Forever War, Joe Haldeman
25. Gateway, Frederik Pohl
26. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, J.K. Rowling
*27. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
28. I Am Legend, Richard Matheson
29. Interview with the Vampire, Anne Rice
*30. The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K. Le Guin
*31. Little, Big, John Crowley
*32. Lord of Light, Roger Zelazny
*33. The Man in the High Castle, Philip K. Dick
34. Mission of Gravity, Hal Clement
*35. More Than Human, Theodore Sturgeon
*36. The Rediscovery of Man, Cordwainer Smith
XXX 37. On the Beach, Nevil Shute XXX
38. Rendezvous with Rama, Arthur C. Clarke
39. Ringworld, Larry Niven
40. Rogue Moon, Algis Budrys
*41. The Silmarillion, J.R.R. Tolkien
42. Slaughterhouse-5, Kurt Vonnegut
*43. Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson
44. Stand on Zanzibar, John Brunner
*45. The Stars My Destination, Alfred Bester
46. Starship Troopers, Robert A. Heinlein
47. Stormbringer, Michael Moorcock
48. The Sword of Shannara, Terry Brooks
49. Timescape, Gregory Benford
50. To Your Scattered Bodies Go, Philip Jose Farmer

Read: 41
Currently reading: 1
Read & Hated: 3
Read & Loved: 12
Started & DNF: 2

I read Neuromancer after Snow Crash, and it suffered in comparison. On the Beach might have been a good read twenty years ago, but two years ago, it seemed repetitive and full of exposition.

13:59
KRM said...

There are actually some books on that list that genuinely qualify as plain old fiction, as opposed to a genre work of speculative fiction: The Man in the High Castle, for example.

There are a few authors on that list who have written books I think CEA might actually enjoy -- Peace by Gene Wolfe, or perhaps Some of Your Blood by Theodore Sturgeon.

Has anybody but me ever read Dhalgren?

14:01
KRM said...

And JTC answers my question before I even post it :-) I found Dhalgren to be a very challenging book that was clearly a great effort of the author's, but I've always been on the fence about whether or not I really appreciated it.

14:03

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)