A New Meme! And An Explanation, Of Sorts

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!