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Discussion Forums - Science Fiction
Topic: SF Challenge DISCUSSION THREAD (8/10)
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You all know the drill by now, and I'm running out of new ways to ask the same question. . . ;) I'm determined to make this a SF-heavy month, because I'm tired of having 2-3 SF carryovers on my to-read list each month. So for accountability's sake, I plan to read: Hyperion, by Dan Simmons Neuromancer, by William Gibson Absolution Gap, by Alastair Reynolds Invader, by C.J. Cherryh Pebble in the Sky, by Isaac Asimov So take that, universe! ;) |
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I read 7 books last month, 6 of them sf. But I only advanced by 2 on the basic challenge list. So, on 7/31/10 I was at 37/40, plus 3 of the extra categories. My remaining categories are:
These aren't the categories I expected to see left at the end! It looks like I will have to seek out books specifically to fill them, since nothing on my TBR shelf fits well. |
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As I said in the other thread, I've been reading some Ron Goulart books, but I don't think I have a category for them. |
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After studying my tracking list a little bit, I discovered that while I had counted Gifts by Ursula LeGuin in the "young adult" category only for a potential "2nd time around", I could also count it as the "male first-person narrator" - and then move Glasshouse by Charles Stross to the "work set on a space ship" category. Therefore, my challenge status is now 38/40, still with no double-counting. -Tom Hl. |
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I'm continuing with Ron Goulart, and I've decided I really like his style. I finished Calling Dr. Patchwork and Hello, Lemuria, Hello without having a category for them, but today I read The Robot In the Closet, which happens to have been published in 1981, the year I was born, to fill that slot. Goulart seems to be trying to emulate the earlier science fiction pulps of the '30s and '40s in a hunorous way. I see he's written quite a few nonfiction books on that period of pulp fiction and comics as well. I know some of you guys have read the more recent comic SF author John Zakour. I am 99% sure that Zakour's writing is influenced by Goulart...and I think I'm being generous by using the term "influenced." If I wrote like that, it would be called "fanfiction." |
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I've been on a Robert Silverberg kick lately - I just finished The Face of the Waters, taking a break with F. Paul Wilson's By the Sword, (more of a fantasy I guess, but I like Repairman Jack) and then on to Silverberg again with Kingdoms of the Wall. Has anyone read Lamentation and or Canticle by Ken Scholes? I try to stay away from series, usually, but I really like these. |
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I recently finished Iron Sunrise, by Charles Stross, which I have counted in the "Hard SF" category, after shuffling Forever Free, by Joe Haldeman, from "Hard SF" to "Work set in a galaxy with multiple non-human intelligences in contact with humans". This puts me at 39/40. I've gotten my hands on a pretty good anthology, so should be able to complete my last category soon. -Tom Hl. Last Edited on: 8/16/10 10:29 AM ET - Total times edited: 1 |
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Just finished #3: Cyberpunk Filled with: Neuromancer, by William Gibson Other categories this book could fill: Hard SF, Hugo Award winner, Nebula Award winner, Philip K. Dick award winner. My thoughts: Overall I enjoyed it, but all my thoughts on the topic veer into gross generalizations about gender, so I shan't post them here. ;) |
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I finished The New Weird, a recent anthology edited by Ann & Jeff VanderMeer, to complete the challenge today. Now what???
-Tom Hl. |
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Congrats! Ummm. . . now. . . you brainstorm ideas for next year's challenge! ;) |
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My computer is dead, so I haven't been able to update, but I finished The World of Null-A by A.E. van Vogt. For a book that is supposed to be an influential classic, I did not care for it. Maybe I'm too dumb to understand his points, but I did not sympathize with the Null-A philosophy expoused in the book...and as an English major, I thought the prose was pretty bad. I am counting this for the Grand Master Category, though it could also work for pre-1950, since it was originally serialized in 1945. I am currently reading Throy by Jack Vance for the Human Interstellar Empire category. It's the 3rd of the Cadwal Chronicles. Besides that, I am continuing with Ron Goulart. I have finished six of his books so far, and I'm working on a 7th, even though I've only found a category for one. Maybe next challenge we can have a category where you read 10 books by a single author! |
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I'm never going to finish this challenge in time! Drat! But it's certainly fun trying. Today I read I Who Have Never Known Men (Jacqueline Harpman, translated), and I really enjoyed it. I've been receiving quite a few wishlisted books, so whether or not I get through the challenge I'm up to my elbows in long-awaited potentially good reads for a while. =) I think next on the list is World Ends in Hickory Hollow (Ardath Mayhar). I hope I can put it into an empty category when I'm done, but I really doubt it! |
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For a little while, I've decided to re-read a few old favorites before getting back to the overachiever categories of the challenge. A few months ago, we defined a process for adding overachiever categories, and then approved 11.
41. Multiverse setting At this point, I am proposing 29 more as a block. If two other people approve, then this will make for a total of 80 categories. Here's what I came up with...
52. Race in America |
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What is a fix-up novel? What is a slipstream novel? Is there a definition for a new weird novel? Twenty-nine more novels in two months? I know I wouldn't be able to finish- I still have to complete the original list. Some categories look interesting, others - well, just FINDING a German or French SF novel would be a challenge. Oh wait, I guess there's always Jules Verne........ |
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I'm back online! You all can do what yuou want, but I'm not even going to attempt the first set of overachiever categories. I am interested in changing up the categories for a new challenge next year, though. I think it would be good to do it like the fantasy challenge...because all of us obviously do not read at anything like the same rate. |
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fix-up novel - when an author combines a series of previously published short stories into a novel. example - The Martian Chronicles slipstream novel - my definition is when a book marketed as mainstream contains sf elements. example - The Time Traveller's Wife new weird novel - "a type of urban, secondary-world fiction that subverts the romanticized ideas about place found in traditional fantasy, largely by choosing realistic, complex real-world models as the jumping off point for creation of settings that may combine elements of both science fiction and fantasy." example - Perdido Street Station 29 more in 2 months - I don't think any of us (with the possible exception of Bob K.) could finish this by 11/1/10. It would have to be just a fill-as-many-as-you-can kind of game. german/french awards - Both of the named awards give a prize for novel in their own language as well as a prize for "foreign novel" (which includes English language titles). Either type would count. do what you want - of course. as always. :) I could just make it my own personal challenge if no one else want to use this. fantasy challenge - What aspect of the fantasy challenge is it that you like? And here's another suggestion. Should we extend the challenge to 12/31/10, then whatever the next challenge might be, it would align with the 2011 calendar. |
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Ummm. . . I'm good with extending the challenge to 12/31/10 so that the next one is in line with the calendar, but I think 29 more categories is too many for me. (Extending the challenge would just let me do the current overachiever challenges, lol.) Why not save them for next year's challenge? ;) |
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