I know I have been negligent lately, when it comes to keeping this blog updated. All I can say is that work has been crushing; an average of three days out of town per week for the last 10 weeks. Fortunately, the end of my excessive travel is in sight, so I should find the time I need to at update this (personally beloved) site at least once per week.
In the meantime, here's a new meme that I found over on Ian Sales' wonderful, SF-centric blog, It Doesn't Have To Be Right..., which used to finish with the admonition, "it just has to sound good," but no longer does. I guess Ian thought the last phrase was best left unstated. Anyway, this meme came from the SFX Book Club (sorry, the original link on Ian's site was busted. Just find it yourself). It's supposed to be a list of SF classics. As per usual, there are a few weird and unexpected entries, but for the most part, some classics are listed. I'm supposed to bold the ones I've read. If I started the book and threw against the wall in a rage, I'll italicize it.
1. The War Of The Worlds by HG Wells 2. The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury 3. Ringworld by Larry Niven 4. A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs 5. A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M Miller 6. The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester 7. Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey 8. Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C Clarke 9. The Shadow of the Torturer by Gene Wolfe 10. The Forever War by Joe Haldeman 11. The Weirdstone of Brisingamen by Alan Garner 12. Dangerous Visions edited by Harlan Ellison 13. A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K Le Guin 14. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K Dick 15. The Player of Games by Iain Banks 16. Pavane by Keith Roberts 17. Neuromancer by William Gibson 18. Collected Ghost Stories of MR James 19. I Am Legend by Richard Matheson 20. A Game of Thrones by George RR Martin 21. Stand on Zanzibar by John Brunner 22. Planet of the Apes by Pierre Boulle 23. The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinlein 24. Blood Music by Greg Bear 25. Non Stop by Brian Aldiss 26. Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift 27. Dune by Frank Herbert 28. The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula Le Guin 29. A Case of Conscience by James Blish 30. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes 31. Star Maker by Olaf Stapledon 32. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley 33. The Einstein Intersection by Samuel R Delany 34. The Day Of The Triffids by John Wyndham 35. Titus Groan by Mervyn Peake 36. Vurt by Jeff Noon 37. Foundation by Isaac Asimov 38. The City And The Stars by Arthur C Clarke 39. Strata by Terry Pratchett 40. The Centauri Device by M John Harrison 41. Earth Abides by George R Stewart 42. Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson 43. The Death of Grass by John Christopher 44. Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein 45. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley 46. From The Earth To The Moon by Jules Verne 47. Interview With The Vampire by Anne Rice 48. Life During Wartime by Lucius Shepard 49. Perdido Street Station by China Miéville 50. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by CS Lewis 51. Cities In Flight by James Blish
I really need to reread Star Maker and Pavane, so I can get them up here. I've read one book of Cities in Flight, but not all four. Someday I'll get to that one, when I'm in a better mood. Blish, IMHO, requires enormous patience, but can be rewarding.
So I think having read this many makes me an SF classicist! 35 not counting the ones I've started and left unfinished, or thrown out a window, 40 counting them. I have turned my attention lately to new books. Guess my timing was right, 'cause I have read a lot of the old stuff!