The Six Most Influential Books in My Life

Since Aidan and Nila did this based on Justin’s post, I might as well join the fray. Of course distilling a lifelong passion for consuming the written word into five six plus a few collections of those written words is not an easy task.

The Three Investigators by Robert Arthur

While other kids were reading about Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys, I was riding along with The Three Investigators. I don’t recall which of the many The Three Investigators novels was the first I read, but I’m going to guess it was The Secret of Terror Castle since it was the first in the series. Well, as I originally read the series when I was a wee lad in New Jersey it was Alfred Hitchcock Presents the Three Investigators. I visited the library often to take out an unread book in the series and eventually, started buying the series in the mall stores like B. Dalton and Waldenbooks. (Yeah, I just dated myself)

Like the best crafted series, these books could be read in any order, since Robert Arthur managed (and this is coming from a spot which has been in my memory for over two decades) to convey each of the three young investigators – Jupiter Jones, Bob Andrews, and Pete Crenshaw as distinct characters. The little logo onthe book sported Hitchcock's famous silhouette since he was a mentor for the boys. Sorting through my memories of these terrific books, I’m not surprised in the least that I was drawn to these books and tried to devour all the books in the series for they have a fair amount in common with one of my favorite cartoons of all time – Scooby Doo. Both properties involve youthful investigators and more often than not, the seemingly supernatural MacGuffin (or Red Herring) was a guy in a costume or something not supernatural at all. 

As the series continued, the agreement with Alfred Hitchcock lapsed and a famous “actor” named Hector Sebastian took over as the boys's mentor. The series was continued at one point with the three boys at older ages, re-released and even had a Disney movie (direct to cable) made a couple of years ago.

Anyway, The Three Investigators is what introduced me to the idea of an ongoing series in prose form. What I found pretty cool is that Brandon Sanderson has pointed to this series as influential

The Talisman by Stephen King and Peter Straub

My parents were readers, though my mother more so than 'my father. One author they both agreed upon was Stephen King and like many children of the 1980s who enjoyed reading, I gravitated to Mr. King’s fiction. Although the first from him I read I think was Cujo (when I was in third grade and still is as good a POV from through the eyes of a dog as I've ever read), I’ll have to say the King novel to have the biggest impact on me was the fantasy novel he co-wrote with Peter Straub. Of course, I speak of The Talisman. It was the first book I read more than once and much of the landscape of The Territories still remains strongly in my memory. Although King & Straub were by no means the first to introduce parallel worlds / multiverse into fiction (Moorcock and the D.C. Universe predate them by a couple of decades), but The Talisman was my introduction to the concept. I still see the scenes of Jack Sawyer flipping, dealing with his friend Wolf and the hell he experienced thanks to Sunlight Gardner’s School quite vividly. My dad has the Donald M. Grant two-book limited slipcase edition which contains some gorgeous art.

I haven’t read it in years, but for a few years, I read The Talisman three or four times over the course of five years.

DragonLance: Chronicles by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman

If The Three Investigators introduced me to the concept of “series” in prose fiction and The Talisman was something of an introduction to fantasy, then the final piece of this here Triforce would be the Chronicles as fans have come to refer to these books. My young RPG group played Dungeons and Dragons quite often and my friend John had a copy of Dragons of Autumn Twilight lying on his bookshelves and what about that Larry Elmore cover didn’t appeal to me at the time? I of course asked if I could borrow it from him. After devouring the book, I decided to get the first of what would eventually be many volumes in my personal Omnibus Hall of Fame – the Big White Book which contains all three novels in the original trilogy. This big ol’ omnibus is now dog-eared after multiple readings and served as my foundational fantasy series/novel.

Frankenstein by Mary Shelly

For a number of reasons, the least of which involves the words on the page. You see, as an undergraduate English major, this book was on the reading list of half of my classes so I read it quite often. The most important of those classes was my Science Fiction Literature class at Rutgers University in 1994. Why is that class so important? I met my wife in that class. Don’t get me wrong, I think Frankenstein is a masterpiece, a dark, gothic, brooding story of one man’s vanit, his weakness and god complex that serve as the foundation for both Science Fiction and Horror. But yeah, Frankenstein was the first book we covered in that class (of approx 200 students in a school of 30,000 students) where my wife and I met in Scott Hall 135. I've analyzed the book from a few standpoints and remembered being in awe of it. Also on that syllabus: Dune, Hello, America by J. G. Ballard, The Eye in the Sky by Philip K. Dick, the David Lapham comic books Warriors of Plasm, the marvelous Dawn by Octavia Butler and the two books I abhorred and couldn’t finish: The Difference Engine by Bruce Sterling and William Gibson and Solaris by Stanislaw Lem. As part of that course, we were also required to watch Metropolis and Blade Runner.

The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan

As I’ve mentioned on the blog previously, this is the book that sucked me fully into fantasy and science fiction after graduating college and having free reading time on my hands. Were it not for this book, I may not have discovered the SFFWorld forums back in 1999. Had I not joined those forums, the great overlord Dag Rambruat may not have asked me to join the behind-the-scenes workings as a forum moderator, and later book reviewer and this blog might not even exist.

I reread the book two years ago and was pleased at how well it stood up to my initial reading memories. Having read much of the series, it was also impressive to see how impactful much of what happened in the first book is for later installments in the series.

Heroes Die by Matthew (Woodring) Stover 

This is the book that changed the prescription of my fantasy-reading lens. Stover’s violent novel mixes elements of fantasy/mythology and physics in a novel that launched. Stover’s Caine (aka Hari Michaelson) is one of the most complex, interesting, and engaging characters I’ve ever encountered in fiction. Each subsequent installment in what has become The Acts of Caine shows Stover flexing his writing muscles, but this is the one that started it all and the book that forced me to look at the genre differently and experience it differently than I did before reading the book.

It remains my favorite book published in the last 15 years and I suspect if Heroes Die were published today, it would be more widely read and appreciated. In short, I think Matt Stover was ahead of his time with this book.

OK, some honorable mentions, two of which are considered The Great American Novel (at least of their respective centuries of publication) The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Adventures of Kavalier and Klay.  I think Chabon's Pulitzer for Kavalier and Klay says it all.  I'd also add to the almost list 1984 (one of the few perfect novels, IMHO) and perhaps the pinnacle of superhero deconstruction Watchmen, a graphic novel I read about once per year and discover something I'd missed on previous readings.

Right, so there you go. I would't be surprised if I changed my mind at a later date, but the six books highlighted above have probably had the most influence on me as a reader.

MEME | Finish the Thought With a Title

Courtesy of The Mad Hatter...

Complete the following sentences with book titles that you have read this year. Put the author of the book in parenthesis.

I am: The Stuff of Legend (Mike Raicht, Brian Smith & Charles Paul Wilson III)
I will never be: By Heresies Distressed (David Weber)
I fear: Neverland(Douglas Clegg)
My best friend is: The Dragon Reborn (Robert Jordan)
What’s the weather like? Cold Magic (Kate Elliott)
Best Advice: No Doors, No Windows (Joe Schreiber)
I’ve never been to: Elegy Beach (Steven R. Boyett)
Favorite form of transport: Jump Gate Twist (Mark L. Van Name)
I’ll never fit in at: The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms (N.K. Jemisin)
How I’d like to die: With the Old Breed (E.B. Sledge)
You and your friends are: Warriors (edited by George R.R. Martin & Gardner Dozios)
Thought for the day: Bitter Seeds (Ian Tregillis)
Your soul’s present condition: Earth Ascendant (Sean Williams)

SF Masterworks Meme

This meme has been making the rounds on teh intarwebby-blog-a-ma-jigs. What better way to keep a blog alive than a meme, especially when (a) it shows of some of your geek cred {or lack thereof} and (b) you aren't participating in the group blog from which this meme originates.

The standard instructions for memes like this is to bold books one has read, italicize books one owns but hasn't read yet, and strike through books one violently disagrees with.

The list:

I – Dune – Frank Herbert
II – The Left Hand of Darkness – Ursula K. Le Guin
III – The Man in the High Castle – Philip K. Dick
IV – The Stars My Destination – Alfred Bester
V – A Canticle for Leibowitz – Walter M. Miller, Jr.
VI – Childhood’s End – Arthur C. Clarke
VII – The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress – Robert A. Heinlein
VIII – Ringworld – Larry Niven
IX – The Forever War – Joe Haldeman
X – The Day of the Triffids – John Wyndham

1 – The Forever War – Joe Haldeman -- what, again?
2 – I Am Legend – Richard Matheson (IMHO, one of the best vampire novels ever, an utterly convincing vision of ironic terror)
3 – Cities in Flight – James Blish
4 – Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? – Philip K. Dick
5 – The Stars My Destination – Alfred Bester
6 – Babel-17 – Samuel R. Delany
7 – Lord of Light – Roger Zelazny
8 – The Fifth Head of Cerberus – Gene Wolfe
9 – Gateway – Frederik Pohl
10 – The Rediscovery of Man – Cordwainer Smith
11 – Last and First Men – Olaf Stapledon
12 – Earth Abides – George R. Stewart
13 – Martian Time-Slip – Philip K. Dick
14 – The Demolished Man – Alfred Bester
15 – Stand on Zanzibar – John Brunner -- I don't think I finished it, so this may be cheating.
16 – The Dispossessed – Ursula K. Le Guin
17 – The Drowned World – J. G. Ballard
18 – The Sirens of Titan – Kurt Vonnegut
19 – Emphyrio – Jack Vance
20 – A Scanner Darkly – Philip K. Dick
21 – Star Maker – Olaf Stapledon
22 – Behold the Man – Michael Moorcock
23 – The Book of Skulls – Robert Silverberg
24 – The Time Machine and The War of the Worlds – H. G. Wells
25 – Flowers for Algernon – Daniel Keyes
26 – Ubik – Philip K. Dick
27 – Timescape – Gregory Benford
28 – More Than Human – Theodore Sturgeon
29 – Man Plus – Frederik Pohl
30 – A Case of Conscience – James Blish
31 – The Centauri Device – M. John Harrison
32 – Dr. Bloodmoney – Philip K. Dick
33 – Non-Stop – Brian Aldiss
34 – The Fountains of Paradise – Arthur C. Clarke
35 – Pavane – Keith Roberts
36 – Now Wait for Last Year – Philip K. Dick
37 – Nova – Samuel R. Delany
38 – The First Men in the Moon – H. G. Wells
39 – The City and the Stars – Arthur C. Clarke
40 – Blood Music – Greg Bear
41 – Jem – Frederik Pohl
42 – Bring the Jubilee – Ward Moore
43 – VALIS – Philip K. Dick
44 – The Lathe of Heaven – Ursula K. Le Guin
45 – The Complete Roderick – John Sladek
46 – Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said – Philip K. Dick
47 – The Invisible Man – H. G. Wells
48 – Grass – Sheri S. Tepper
49 – A Fall of Moondust – Arthur C. Clarke
50 – Eon – Greg Bear
51 – The Shrinking Man – Richard Matheson
52 – The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch – Philip K. Dick
53 – The Dancers at the End of Time – Michael Moorcock I've read the majority of Moorcock's Eternal Champion stories through the White Wolf editions and I thought this was, by leaps and bounds, the weakest of the bunch
54 – The Space Merchants – Frederik Pohl and Cyril M. Kornbluth
55 – Time Out of Joint – Philip K. Dick
56 – Downward to the Earth – Robert Silverberg
57 – The Simulacra – Philip K. Dick
58 – The Penultimate Truth – Philip K. Dick
59 – Dying Inside – Robert Silverberg
60 – Ringworld – Larry Niven
61 – The Child Garden – Geoff Ryman
62 – Mission of Gravity – Hal Clement
63 – A Maze of Death – Philip K. Dick
64 – Tau Zero – Poul Anderson
65 – Rendezvous with Rama – Arthur C. Clarke
66 – Life During Wartime – Lucius Shepard
67 – Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang – Kate Wilhelm
68 – Roadside Picnic – Arkady and Boris Strugatsky
69 – Dark Benediction – Walter M. Miller, Jr.
70 – Mockingbird – Walter Tevis
71 – Dune – Frank Herbert
72 – The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress – Robert A. Heinlein
73 – The Man in the High Castle – Philip K. Dick
74 – Inverted World – Christopher Priest
75 – Kurt Vonnegut – Cat’s Cradle
76 – H.G. Wells – The Island of Dr. Moreau
77 – Arthur C. Clarke – Childhood’s End
78 – H.G. Wells – The Time Machine
79 – Samuel R. Delany – Dhalgren I've tried on at least 3 or 4 occasions to read this book, never getting beyond the first 100 pages. I suppose I can understand that it holds a place in the genre, just not on my bookshelf
80 – Brian Aldiss – Helliconia
81 – H.G. Wells – Food of the Gods
82 – Jack Finney – The Body Snatchers
83 – Joanna Russ – The Female Man
84 – M.J. Engh – Arslan

Book Review/Stats Meme

Since Adam and Pat are doing it, among others, I figured I might as well do it, too with a couple of disclaimers. The tally is for all the books I’ve read (35), not just those I reviewed (20) and not all are 2010 books. 15 of the books are 2010 books and all the 2010 books (graphic novels excluded) I read were for review.

Here's the Publisher List:

Ace: 3 (3)
BantamSpectra: 1 (1)
Black Library: 1 (1)
DAW: 2 (2)
DC Comics: 2
Del Rey: 3 (2)
Eos: 1 (1)
Marvel: 5
Night Shade Books: 1 (1)
Orbit: 2 (2)
Presidio Press: 1
Pyr: 2 (2)
Roc: 2
Tor: 8 (4)
Vanguard: 1 (1)

Gender:
3 women
32 Men
2 mixed (anthologies)
9 authors were new to me, 3 were debuts.

The reviews are primarily up at SFFWorld, with two (one from EOS and one from Orbit) over at the San Francisco / Sacramento Book Review. The large spike with Tor is due to my Wheel of Time re-read.

Book Habits Meme - Spring 2010 Version

Nacked from James, who nacked it from The World in the Satin Bag…

What is your favorite drink while reading?

Usually a glass of water or beer. The type of beer depends on the season, of course. In cooler months, maybe a pint of Guinness or pumpkin in warmer months, maybe a Hoegaarden or summer ale.

Do you tend to mark your books as you read, or does the idea of writing in books horrify you?

No, not never.

How do you keep your place while reading a book? Bookmark? Dog-ears? Laying the book flat open?

Either a book mark or the promotional/marketing letter included with the book.

Fiction, nonfiction, or both?

Mostly fiction, but occasionally a sports biography, a war book (like the excellent With the Old Breed by E.B. Sledge, the basis for HBO’s The Pacific.

Are you a person who tends to read to the end of a chapter, or can you stop anywhere?

I try to read through to the end of a chapter, or one of those double-paragraph breaks – the sub chapter.

Are you the type of person to throw a book across the room or on the floor if the author irritates you?

The only book I every threw across the room in disgust, since I’ve been reviewing, is Sara Douglass’s Hades Daughter. I came close with a couple of others, though.

If you come across an unfamiliar word, do you stop and look it up right away?

If I’m near a computer, I’ll rock a Wiki.

What are you currently reading?

Shadowrise by Tad Williams and Swords and Dark Magic edited by Jonathan Strahan and Lou Anders.

What is the last book you bought?

With all the books I get for review for SFFWorld.com, I don’t buy books for myself very often any more. The most recently purchased book is With the Old Breed by E.B. Sledge

Are you the type of person that reads one book at a time, or can you read more than one?

No more than two at a time. One I will read during my lunch break at work and the other at home.

Do you have a favorite time/place to read?

Any time and everywhere

Do you prefer series books or stand alones?

Not really, although from a distance it would seem series since many of the books I’ve been reading are part of a series. I think that’s more a condition of the genre itself, really.

Is there a specific book or author you find yourself recommending over and over?

Matthew Stover’s Acts of Caine, beginning with Heroes Die, George R.R. Martin’s Ice and Fire, Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn, Joe Abercrombie, Robert Charles Wilson’s Spin

How do you organize your books? (by genre, title, author’s last name, etc.)

Haphazardly, at best. I’ve got bookshelves in different rooms in the house, so there’s no real rhyme or reason other than…hmmm, all of my Tad William’s doorstoppers will fit on this shelf in this room, so here they go or I’ll put my first edition A Game of Thrones in the living room bookshelf so all can see it in its Silvery foil glory.

Fantasy Writer Quiz/Meme - I'm Gene Wolfe!

Ganked from the ol' Hornswaggler and Grasping for the Wind

Your result for Which fantasy writer are you?...

Gene Wolfe (b. 1931)

15 High-Brow, 25 Violent, 3 Experimental and -1 Cynical!

Congratulations! You are High-Brow, Violent, Experimental and Romantic! These concepts are defined below.

US author Gene Wolfe is a very typical example of the kind of writer who is more appreciated by critics and, above all, other writers, than by the wider public. Science fiction writer Michael Swanwick has, for example, dubbed Gene Wolfe the greatest writer in the English language alive today. However, Wolfe's novel in four parts, The Book of the New Sun (1980-83), is widely known and considered a classic within both fantasy and science fiction (the book is generally considered fantasy although it is actually set in a distant future, where some technology may seem like magic to the novel's characters).

Wolfe, a veteran of the Korean war, is un-afraid of describing the fear and violence caused by warfare and the protagonist of his most well-known piece of fiction is a torturer, who at one time openly defends the importance of his work.

Wolfe is well-known for his stylistic excellence, often using first person narration in a masterful way. His narrators are often unreliable, for different reasons, sometimes leaving it up to the reader to read between the lines and figure out what's really going on.

Being a "literary" author, one of those few writers whose books it's worth the time and effort of reading more than once, does not stop Wolfe from being a great storyteller who is quite able to create all the magic and page-turning suspence of a typical best-selling writer. Much of this might stem from Wolfe's empathy with his characters and his almost religious commitment to his worlds. Several critics have pointed out the influence of Wolfe's strong Roman Catholic faith to his fiction.

No fantasy fan should go through life without having at least tried to read Wolfe. There are few writers who manage to put imagination back into the word fantasy like he does.

You are also a lot like Mary Gentle.

If you want something more gentle, try Tove Jansson.

If you'd like a challenge, try your exact opposite, Robert Jordan.

Your score

This is how to interpret your score: Your attitudes have been measured on four different scales, called 1) High-Brow vs. Low-Brow, 2) Violent vs. Peaceful, 3) Experimental vs. Traditional and 4) Cynical vs. Romantic. Imagine that when you were born, you were in a state of innocence, a tabula rasa who would have scored zero on each scale. Since then, a number of circumstances (including genetical, cultural and environmental factors) have pushed you towards either end of these scales. If you're at 45 or -45 you would be almost entirely cynical, low-brow or whatever. The closer to zero you are, the less extreme your attitude. However, you should always be more of either (eg more romantic than cynical). Please note that even though High-Brow, Violent, Experimental and Cynical have positive numbers (1 through 45) and their opposites negative numbers (-1 through -45), this doesn't mean that either quality is better. All attitudes have their positive and negative sides, as explained below.

High-Brow vs. Low-Brow

You received 15 points, making you more High-Brow than Low-Brow. Being high-browed in this context refers to being more fascinated with the sort of art that critics and scholars tend to favour, rather than the best-selling kind. At their best, high-brows are cultured, able to appreciate the finer nuances of literature and not content with simplifications. At their worst they are, well, snobs.

Violent vs. Peaceful

You received 25 points, making you more Violent than Peaceful. Please note that violent in this context does not mean that you, personally, are prone to violence. This scale is a measurement of a) if you are tolerant to violence in fiction and b) whether you see violence as a means that can be used to achieve a good end. If you are, and you do, then you are violent as defined here. At their best, violent people are the heroes who don't hesitate to stop the villain threatening innocents by means of a good kick. At their worst, they are the villains themselves.

Experimental vs. Traditional

You received 3 points, making you more Experimental than Traditional. Your position on this scale indicates if you're more likely to seek out the new and unexpected or if you are more comfortable with the familiar, especially in regards to culture. Note that traditional as defined here does not equal conservative, in the political sense. At their best, experimental people are the ones who show humanity the way forward. At their worst, they provoke for the sake of provocation only.

Cynical vs. Romantic

You received -1 points, making you more Romantic than Cynical. Your position on this scale indicates if you are more likely to be wary, suspicious and skeptical to people around you and the world at large, or if you are more likely to believe in grand schemes, happy endings and the basic goodness of humankind. It is by far the most vaguely defined scale, which is why you'll find the sentence "you are also a lot like x" above. If you feel that your position on this scale is wrong, then you are probably more like author x. At their best, romantic people are optimistic, willing to work for a good cause and an inspiration to their peers. At their worst, they are easily fooled and too easily lead.

Author picture from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Genewolf1.png Click the link for license info.

Take Which fantasy writer are you? at HelloQuizzy

Locus 2008 Recommended Reading List: A Meme

I’m becoming increasingly addicted to memes, so here’s a very genre-specific one from Larry

Since this is a long group of books/stories, bold for books read, italics for owned but not yet read in full. Where appropriate, I linked to my review:


SF novels


Matter, Iain M. Banks (Orbit UK)
Flood, Stephen Baxter (Gollancz, Roc '09)
Weaver, Stephen Baxter (Gollancz, Ace)
City at the End of Time, Greg Bear (Gollancz, Del Rey) [One of the most disappointing reads for me last year]
Incandescence, Greg Egan (Gollancz, Night Shade)
January Dancer, Michael Flynn (Tor) [Another disappointing read for me last year]
Marsbound, Joe Haldeman (Ace)
Spirit, Gwyneth Jones (Gollancz)
Escapement, Jay Lake (Tor)
Song of Time, Ian R. MacLeod (PS Publishing)
The Night Sessions, Ken MacLeod (Orbit)
The Quiet War, Paul McAuley (Gollancz)
The Company, K. J. Parker (Orbit)
House of Suns, Alastair Reynolds (Gollancz, Ace '09)
Pirate Sun, Karl Schroeder (Tor)
Anathem, Neal Stephenson (Atlantic UK, Morrow)
Saturn's Children, Charles Stross (Orbit, Ace)
Rolling Thunder, John Varley (Ace)
Half a Crown, Jo Walton (Tor)
Implied Spaces, Walter Jon Williams (Night Shade Books)

Fantasy novels


An Autumn War, Daniel Abraham (Tor)
The Love We Share Without Knowing, Christopher Barzak (Bantam)
The Knights of the Cornerstone, James P. Blaylock (Ace)
The Ghost in Love, Jonathan Carroll (Farrar, Straus & Giroux)
The Island of Eternal Love, Daina Chaviano (Riverhead)
The Shadow Year, Jeffrey Ford (Morrow)
Shadowbridge/ Lord Tophet, Gregory Frost (Ballantine Del Rey)
The Memoirs of a Master Forger, William Heaney (Gollancz) ; as How to Make Friends with Demons, Graham Joyce (Night Shade Books '09)
Varanger, Cecelia Holland (Tor/Forge)
Lavinia, Ursula K. Le Guin (Harcourt)
The Bell at Sealey Head, Patricia A. McKillip (Ace)
The Hidden World, Paul Park (Tor)
The Engine's Child, Holly Phillips (Ballantine Del Rey)
The Enchantress of Florence, Salman Rushdie (Jonathan Cape)
The Alchemy of Stone, Ekaterina Sedia (Prime Books)
The Dragons of Babel, Michael Swanwick (Tor)
An Evil Guest, Gene Wolfe (Tor)

First novels


The Ninth Circle, Alex Bell (Gollancz)
The Painted Man, Peter V. Brett (HarperVoyager); as The Warded Man (Ballantine Del Rey)
A Curse as Dark as Gold, Elizabeth C. Bunce (Scholastic)
Graceling, Kristin Cashore (Harcourt)
Alive in Necropolis, Doug Dorst (Riverhead)
Thunderer, Felix Gilman (Bantam Spectra)
Black Ships, Jo Graham (Orbit US)
Pandemonium, Daryl Gregory (Ballantine Del Rey)
The Gone-Away World, Nick Harkaway (William Heinemann, Knopf)
Last Dragon, J.T. McDermott (Wizards of the Coast/Discoveries)
Singularity's Ring, Paul Melko (Tor)
The Long Look, Richard Parks (Five Star)
The Red Wolf Conspiracy, Robert V. S. Redick (Gollancz, Del Rey '09)
The Cabinet of Wonders, Marie Rutkoski (Farrar, Straus, Giroux)

Young Adult Books


City of Ashes, Cassandra Clare (Simon & Schuster/McElderry)
The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins (Scholastic Press)
Monster Blood Tattoo, Book Two: Lamplighter, D. M. Cornish (Putnam; Omnibus Books Australia)
Little Brother, Cory Doctorow (Tor)
Eon: Dragoneye Reborn, Alison Goodman (Viking); as The Two Pearls of Wisdom (HarperCollins Australia)
Tender Morsels, Margo Lanagan (Knopf)
How to Ditch Your Fairy, Justine Larbalestier (Bloomsbury USA)
Ink Exchange, Melissa Marr (HarperTeen)
Chalice, Robin McKinley (Putnam)
The Knife of Never Letting Go, Patrick Ness (Candlewick Press)
The Adoration of Jenna Fox, Mary E. Pearson (Henry Holt)
Nation, Terry Pratchett (Doubleday UK, HarperCollins)
Zoe's Tale, John Scalzi (Tor)
Flora's Dare, Ysabeau S. Wilce (Harcourt)

Collections


The Serial Garden: The Complete Armitage Family Stories, Joan Aiken (Small Beer Press/Big Mouth House)
Pump Six and Other Stories, Paolo Bacigalupi (Night Shade Books)
The Adventures of Langdon St. Ives, James P. Blaylock (Subterranean Press)
Works of Art, James Blish (NESFA Press)
The Wall of America, Thomas M. Disch (Tachyon Publications)
Dark Integers and Other Stories, Greg Egan (Subterranean Press)
The Drowned Life, Jeffrey Ford (HarperPerennial)
The Wreck of the Godspeed and Other Stories, James Patrick Kelly (Golden Gryphon Press)
The Baum Plan for Financial Independence and Other Stories, John Kessel (Small Beer Press)
Nano Comes to Clifford Falls and Other Stories, Nancy Kress (Golden Gryphon Press)
Mr. Gaunt and Other Uneasy Encounters, John Langan (Prime Books)
Pretty Monsters, Kelly Link (Viking)
H.P. Lovecraft: The Fiction, H. P. Lovecraft (Barnes & Noble)
Binding Energy, Daniel Marcus (Elastic Press)
Ten Sigmas and Other Unlikelihoods, Paul Melko (Fairwood Press)
The Collected Short Fiction: Where Angels Fear / The Gods Perspire, Ken Rand (Fairwood Press)
The Ant King and Other Stories, Benjamin Rosenbaum (Small Beer Press)
Long Walks, Last Flights, and Other Strange Journeys, Ken Scholes (Fairwood Press)
Filter House, Nisi Shawl (Aqueduct Press)
The Autopsy and Other Tales, Michael Shea (Centipede Press)
The Best of Lucius Shepard, Lucius Shepard (Subterranean Press)
The Best of Michael Swanwick, Michael Swanwick (Subterranean Press)
Other Worlds, Better Lives, Howard Waldrop (Old Earth Books)
Crazy Love, Leslie What (Wordcraft of Oregon)
Gateway to Paradise: The Collected Stories of Jack Williamson, Volume Six, Jack Williamson (Haffner Press)

Anthologies - Original


Clockwork Phoenix, Mike Allen, ed. (Norilana Books)
Fast Forward 2, Lou Anders, ed. (Pyr)
Sideways in Crime, Lou Anders, ed. (Solaris)
Dreaming Again, Jack Dann, ed. (HarperCollins Australia; Eos)
The Del Rey Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy, Ellen Datlow, ed. (Ballantine Del Rey)
Galactic Empires, Gardner Dozois, ed. (SFBC)
Extraordinary Engines: The Definitive Steampunk Anthology, Nick Gevers, ed. (Solaris)
A Book of Wizards, Marvin Kaye, ed. (SFBC)
The Solaris Book Of New Science Fiction Volume Two, George Mann, ed. (Solaris)
Subterranean: Tales of Dark Fantasy, William Schafer, ed. (Subterranean Press)
Eclipse Two, Jonathan Strahan, ed. (Night Shade Books)
The Starry Rift, Jonathan Strahan, ed. (Viking)
Fast Ships, Black Sails, Ann VanderMeer & Jeff VanderMeer, eds. (Night Shade Books)
Celebration: 50 Years of the British Science Fiction Association, Ian Whates, ed. (NewCon Press)

Anthologies - Reprint

Wastelands, John Joseph Adams, ed. (Night Shade Books)
A Science Fiction Omnibus, Brian W. Aldiss, ed. (Penguin Modern Classics)
The Black Mirror and Other Stories: An Anthology of Science Fiction from Germany and Austria, Franz Rottensteiner, ed. (Wesleyan University Press)
Poe's Children: The New Horror, Peter Straub, ed. (Doubleday)
The New Weird, Ann VanderMeer & Jeff VanderMeer, eds. (Tachyon Publications)
Steampunk, Ann Vandermeer & Jeff VanderMeer, eds. (Tachyon Publications)

Anthologies - Best of the Year

The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror 2008: Twenty-first Annual Collection, Ellen Datlow, Kelly Link & Gavin Grant, eds. (St. Martin's Griffin)
The Year's Best Science Fiction: Twenty-Fifth Annual Collection, Gardner Dozois, ed. (St. Martin's)
Year's Best Fantasy 8, David G. Hartwell & Kathryn Cramer, eds. (Tachyon Publications)
Year's Best SF 13, David G. Hartwell & Kathryn Cramer, eds. (Eos)
Fantasy: The Best of the Year: 2008 Edition, Rich Horton, ed. (Prime Books)
Science Fiction: The Best of the Year: 2008 Edition, Rich Horton, ed. (Prime Books)
The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror: Volume Nineteen, Stephen Jones, ed. (Robinson; Running Press)
The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year Volume Two, Jonathan Strahan, ed. (Night Shade Books)

Non-Fiction

Lexicon Urthus: A Dictionary for the Urth Cycle, Second Edition, Michael Andre-Driussi (Sirius Fiction)
Miracles of Life, J. G. Ballard (HarperCollins/Fourth Estate UK)
An Unofficial Companion to the Novels of Terry Pratchett, Andrew M. Butler (Greenwood)
The Vorkosigan Companion: The Universe of Lois McMaster Bujold, Lillian Stewart Carl & Martin H. Greenberg (Baen)
H. Beam Piper: A Biography, John F. Carr (McFarland)
The Worlds of Jack Williamson: A Centennial Tribute 1908-2008, Stephen Haffner, ed. (Haffner Press)
Basil Copper: A Life in Books, Stephen Jones (PS Publishing)
What It Is We Do When We Read Science Fiction, Paul Kincaid (Beccon)
Anthony Boucher: A Biobibliography, Jeffrey Marks (McFarland)
Rhetorics of Fantasy, Farah Mendlesohn (Wesleyan University Press)
The Magician's Book: A Skeptic's Adventures in Narnia, Laura Miller (Little, Brown)

Art Books


Spectrum 15: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art, Cathy Fenner & Arnie Fenner, eds. (Underwood Books)
Paint or Pixel: The Digital Divide in Illustration Art, Jane Frank, ed. (NonStop Press)
J. Allen St. John, The Paintings of J. Allen St. John: Grand Master of Fantasy, Stephen D. Korshak & J. David Spurlock (Vanguard)
Shaun Tan, Tales from Outer Suburbia (Allen & Unwin; Scholastic '09)
A Lovecraft Retrospective: Artists Inspired by H.P.L., Jerad Walters, ed. (Centipede Press)

Novellas

Or Else My Lady Keeps the Key, Kage Baker (Subterranean Press)
"The Overseer", Albert E. Cowdrey (F&SF 3/08)
The Word of God: Or, Holy Writ Rewritten, Thomas M. Disch (Tachyon Publications)
“The Political Prisoner", Charles Coleman Finlay (F&SF 8/08)
"Arkfall", Carolyn Ives Gilman (F&SF 9/08)
The Luminous Depths, David Herter (PS Publishing)
"Mystery Hill", Alex Irvine (F&SF 1/08)
"The Erdmann Nexus", Nancy Kress (Asimov’s 10-11/08)
"Pretty Monsters", Kelly Link (Pretty Monsters)
"The Surfer, Kelly Link (The Starry Rift) "
"The Hob Carpet", Ian R. MacLeod (Asimov’s 6/08)
"The Tear", Ian McDonald (Galactic Empires)
"Tenbrook of Mars", Dean McLaughlin (Analog 7-8/08)
Once Upon a Time in the North, Philip Pullman (Knopf)
"The Man with the Golden Balloon", Robert Reed (Galactic Empires)
"Truth", Robert Reed (Asimov’s 10-11/08)
"True Names", Benjamin Rosenbaum & Cory Doctorow (Fast Forward 2)
"Wonjjang and the Madman of Pyongyang", Gord Sellar (Tesseracts Twelve)
"The Philosopher’s Stone", Brian Stableford (Asimov’s 7/08)

Novelettes

"The Gambler", Paolo Bacigalupi (Fast Forward 2)
"Pump Six", Paolo Bacigalupi (Pump Six and Other Stories)
"Tangible Light", J. Timothy Bagwell (Analog 1-2/08)
"Radio Station St. Jack", Neal Barrett, Jr. (Asimov’s 8/08)
"The Ice War", Stephen Baxter (Asimov’s 9/08)
"Turing’s Apples", Stephen Baxter (Eclipse Two)
"The Rabbi’s Hobby", Peter S. Beagle (Eclipse Two)
"The Tale of Junko and Sayuri", Peter Beagle (InterGalactic Medicine Show 7/08)
"Uncle Chaim and Aunt Rifke and the Angel", Peter S. Beagle (Strange Roads)
"Shoggoths in Bloom", Elizabeth Bear (Asimov’s 3/08)
"The Golden Octopus", Beth Bernobich (Postscripts Summer ’08)
"If Angels Fight", Richard Bowes (F&SF 2/08)
"From the Clay of His Heart", John Brown (InterGalactic Medicine Show 4/08)
"Jimmy", Pat Cadigan (The Del Rey Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy)
"Catherine Drewe", Paul Cornell (Fast Forward 2)
Conversation Hearts, John Crowley (Subterranean Press)
"The Things that Make Me Weak and Strange Get Engineered Away", Cory Doctorow (Tor.com 8/08)
"Crystal Nights", Greg Egan (Interzone 4/08)
"Lost Continent", Greg Egan (The Starry Rift)
"The Ray-Gun: A Love Story", James Alan Gardner (Asimov’s 2/08)
"Memory Dog", Kathleen Ann Goonan (Asimov’s 4-5/08)
"Shining Armor", Dominic Green (The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction, Volume Two)
"The Illustrated Biography of Lord Grimm", Daryl Gregory (Eclipse Two)
"Pride and Prometheus", John Kessel (F&SF 1/08)
"The Art of Alchemy", Ted Kosmatka (F&SF 6/08)
"Divining Light", Ted Kosmatka (Asimov’s 8/08)
"Childrun", Marc Laidlaw (F&SF 8/08)
"Machine Maid", Margo Lanagan (Extraordinary Engines)
"The Woman", Tanith Lee (Clockwork Phoenix)
"The Magician’s House", Meghan McCarron (Strange Horizons 7/08)
"An Eligible Boy", Ian McDonald (Fast Forward 2)
"The Dust Assassin", Ian McDonald (The Starry Rift)
"Special Economics", Maureen F. McHugh (The Del Rey Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy)
"Beyond the Sea Gate of the Scholar-Pirates of Sarsköe", Garth Nix (Fast Ships, Black Sails)
"Infestation", Garth Nix (The Starry Rift)
"Immortal Snake", Rachel Pollack (F&SF 5/08)
"The Hour of Babel", Tim Powers (Subterranean: Tales of Dark Fantasy)
"Five Thrillers", Robert Reed (F&SF 4/08)
"Fury", Alastair Reynolds (Eclipse Two)
"The Star Surgeon’s Apprentice", Alastair Reynolds (The Starry Rift) "
"The Egg Man", Mary Rosenblum (Asimov’s 2/08)
"Sacrifice", Mary Rosenblum (Sideways in Crime)
"Days of Wonder", Geoff Ryman (F&SF 10-11/08)
"Lester Young and the Jupiter’s Moons’ Blues", Gord Sellar (Asimov’s 7/08)
"Gift from a Spring", Delia Sherman (Realms of Fantasy 4/08)
"An Alien Heresy", S.P. Somtow (Asimov’s 4-5/08)
"Following the Pharmers", Brian Stableford (Asimov’s 3/08)
"The First Editions", James Stoddard (F&SF 4/08)

Short Stories

"Don’t Go Fishing on Witches Day", Joan Aiken (The Serial Garden)
"Goblin Music", Joan Aiken (The Serial Garden)
"The Occultation", Laird Barron (Clockwork Phoenix)
"King Pelles the Sure", Peter S. Beagle (Strange Roads)
Boojum", Elizabeth Bear & Sarah Monette (Fast Ships, Black Sails)
"Private Eye", Terry Bisson (F&SF 10-11/08)
"Offworld Friends Are Best", Neal Blaikie (Greatest Uncommon Denominator Spring ’08)
"The Man Who Built Heaven", Keith Brooke (Postscripts Summer ’08)
"Balancing Accounts", James L. Cambias (F&SF 2/08)
"Exhalation", Ted Chiang (Eclipse Two)
"The Fooly", Terry Dowling (Dreaming Again)
"Truth Window: A Tale of the Bedlam Rose", Terry Dowling (Eclipse Two)
"Awskonomuk", Gregory Feeley (Otherworldly Maine)
"Daltharee", Jeffrey Ford (The Del Rey Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy)
"The Dismantled Invention of Fate", Jeffrey Ford (The Starry Rift) "
"The Dream of Reason", Jeffrey Ford (Extraordinary Engines)
"The Seventh Expression of the Robot General", Jeffrey Ford (Eclipse Two)
"Reader’s Guide", Lisa Goldstein (F&SF 7/08)
“Glass”, Daryl Gregory (Technology Review 11-12/08)
"26 Monkeys, Also the Abyss", Kij Johnson (Asimov’s 7/08)
"The Voyage Out", Gwyneth Jones (Periphery)
"Evil Robot Monkey", Mary Robinette Kowal (The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction, Volume Two)
"The Kindness of Strangers", Nancy Kress (Fast Forward 2)
"The Sky that Wraps the World Round, Past the Blue into the Black", Jay Lake (Clarkesworld 3/08)
"The Fifth Star in the Southern Cross", Margo Lanagan (Dreaming Again)
"The Goosle", Margo Lanagan (The Del Rey Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy)
"The Thought War", Paul McAuley (Postscripts Summer ’08)
"[a ghost samba]", Ian McDonald (Postscripts Summer ’08)
"Midnight Blue", Will McIntosh (Asimov’s 9/08)
"Fallen Angel", Eugene Mirabelli (F&SF 12/08)
"Mars: A Traveler’s Guide", Ruth Nestvold (F&SF 1/08)
"The Blood of Peter Francisco", Paul Park (Sideways in Crime)
"The Small Door", Holly Phillips (Fantasy 5/08)
"His Master’s Voice", Hannu Rajaniemi (Interzone 10/08)
"The House Left Empty", Robert Reed (Asimov’s 4-5/08)
"Fifty Dinosaurs", Robert Reed (The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction, Volume Two)
"Traitor", M. Rickert (F&SF 5/08)
"Snatch Me Another", Mercurio D. Rivera (Abyss & Apex 1Q/08)
"The Film-makers of Mars", Geoff Ryman (Tor.com 12/08)
"Talk is Cheap", Geoff Ryman (Interzone 6/08)
"After the Coup", John Scalzi (Tor.com 7/08)
"Invisible Empire of Ascending Light", Ken Scholes (Eclipse Two)
"Ardent Clouds", Lucy Sussex (The Del Rey Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy)
"From Babel’s Fall’n Glory We Fled", Michael Swanwick (Asimov’s 2/08)
"The Scarecrow’s Boy", Michael Swanwick (F&SF 10-11/08)
"Marrying the Sun", Rachel Swirsky (Fantasy 6/08)
"A Buyer’s Guide to Maps of Antarctica", Catherynne M. Valente (Clarkesworld 5/08)
"Fixing Hanover", Jeff VanderMeer (Extraordinary Engines)
"The Eyes of God", Peter Watts (The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction, Volume Two)
"Ass-Hat Magic Spider", Scott Westerfeld (The Starry Rift) "

Guardian SFF List Meme

Ganked from Larry, here's the SFF list from Guardian. You all know the drill. Bold what you've read and mov on.

1. Douglas Adams: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1979)
2. Brian W Aldiss: Non-Stop (1958)
3. Isaac Asimov: Foundation (1951)
4. Margaret Atwood: The Blind Assassin (2000)
5. Paul Auster: In the Country of Last Things (1987)
6. Iain Banks: The Wasp Factory (1984)
7. Iain M Banks: Consider Phlebas (1987)
8. Clive Barker: Weaveworld (1987)
9. Nicola Barker: Darkmans (2007)
10. Stephen Baxter: The Time Ships (1995)
11. Greg Bear: Darwin's Radio (1999)
12. Alfred Bester: The Stars My Destination (1956)
13. Poppy Z Brite: Lost Souls (1992)
14. Algis Budrys: Rogue Moon (1960)
15. Mikhail Bulgakov: The Master and Margarita (1966)
16. Edward Bulwer-Lytton: The Coming Race (1871)
17. Anthony Burgess: A Clockwork Orange (1960)
18. Anthony Burgess: The End of the World News (1982)
19. Edgar Rice Burroughs: A Princess of Mars (1912)
20. William Burroughs: Naked Lunch (1959)
21. Octavia Butler: Kindred (1979)
22. Samuel Butler: Erewhon (1872)
23. Italo Calvino: The Baron in the Trees (1957)
24. Ramsey Campbell: The Influence (1988)
25. Lewis Carroll: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865)
26. Lewis Carroll: Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There (1871)
27. Angela Carter: Nights at the Circus (1984)
28. Michael Chabon: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay (2000)
29. Arthur C Clarke: Childhood's End (1953)
30. GK Chesterton: The Man Who Was Thursday (1908)
31. Susanna Clarke: Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell (2004)
32. Michael G Coney: Hello Summer, Goodbye (1975)
33. Douglas Coupland: Girlfriend in a Coma (1998)
34. Mark Danielewski: House of Leaves (2000)
35. Marie Darrieussecq: Pig Tales (1996)
36. Samuel R Delaney: The Einstein Intersection (1967)
37. Philip K Dick: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (1968)
38. Philip K Dick: The Man in the High Castle (1962)
39. Umberto Eco: Foucault's Pendulum (1988)
40. Michel Faber: Under the Skin (2000)
41. John Fowles: The Magus (1966)
42. 
43. Alan Garner: Red Shift (1973)
44. William Gibson: Neuromancer (1984)
45. Charlotte Perkins Gilman: Herland (1915)
46. William Golding: Lord of the Flies (1954)
47. Joe Haldeman: The Forever War (1974)
48. M John Harrison: Light (2002)
49. Robert A Heinlein: Stranger in a Strange Land (1961)
50. Frank Herbert: Dune (1965)
51. Hermann Hesse: The Glass Bead Game (1943)
52. Russell Hoban: Riddley Walker (1980)
53. James Hogg: The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner (1824)
54. Michel Houellebecq: Atomised (1998)
55. Aldous Huxley: Brave New World (1932)
56. Kazuo Ishiguro: The Unconsoled (1995)
57. Shirley Jackson: The Haunting of Hill House (1959)
58. Henry James: The Turn of the Screw (1898)
59. PD James: The Children of Men (1992)
60. Richard Jefferies: After London; Or, Wild England (1885)
61. Gwyneth Jones: Bold as Love (2001)
62. Franz Kafka: The Trial (1925)
63. Daniel Keyes: Flowers for Algernon (1966)
64. Stephen King: The Shining (1977)
65. Marghanita Laski: The Victorian Chaise-longue (1953)
66. Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu: Uncle Silas (1864)
67. Stanislaw Lem: Solaris (1961)
68. Doris Lessing: Memoirs of a Survivor (1974)
69. David Lindsay: A Voyage to Arcturus (1920)
70. Ken MacLeod: The Night Sessions (2008)
71. Hilary Mantel: Beyond Black (2005)
72. Michael Marshall Smith: Only Forward (1994)
73. Richard Matheson: I Am Legend (1954)
74. Charles Maturin: Melmoth the Wanderer (1820)
75. Patrick McCabe: The Butcher Boy (1992)
76. Cormac McCarthy: The Road (2006)
77. Jed Mercurio: Ascent (2007)
78. China Miéville: The Scar (2002)
79. Andrew Miller: Ingenious Pain (1997)
80. Walter M Miller Jr: A Canticle for Leibowitz (1960)
81. David Mitchell: Cloud Atlas (2004)
82. Michael Moorcock: Mother London (1988)
83. William Morris: News From Nowhere (1890)
84. Toni Morrison: Beloved (1987)
85. Haruki Murakami: The Wind-up Bird Chronicle (1995)
86. Vladimir Nabokov: Ada or Ardor (1969)
87. Audrey Niffenegger: The Time Traveler's Wife (2003)
88. Larry Niven: Ringworld (1970)
89. Jeff Noon: Vurt (1993)
90. Flann O'Brien: The Third Policeman (1967)
91. Ben Okri: The Famished Road (1991)
92. Chuck Palahniuk: Fight Club (1996)
93. Thomas Love Peacock: Nightmare Abbey (1818)
94. Mervyn Peake: Titus Groan (1946)
95. John Cowper Powys: A Glastonbury Romance (1932)
96. Christopher Priest: The Prestige (1995)
97. François Rabelais: Gargantua and Pantagruel (1532-34)
98. Ann Radcliffe: The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794)
99. Alastair Reynolds: Revelation Space (2000)
100. Kim Stanley Robinson: The Years of Rice and Salt (2002)
101. JK Rowling: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (1997)
102. Salman Rushdie: The Satanic Verses (1988)
103. Antoine de Sainte-Exupéry: The Little Prince (1943)
104. José Saramago: Blindness (1995)
105. Will Self: How the Dead Live (2000)
106. Mary Shelley: Frankenstein (1818)
107. Dan Simmons: Hyperion (1989)
108. Olaf Stapledon: Star Maker (1937)
109. Neal Stephenson: Snow Crash (1992)
110. Robert Louis Stevenson: The Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1886)
111. Bram Stoker: Dracula (1897)
112. Rupert Thomson: The Insult (1996)
113. Mark Twain: A Connecticut Yankee at King Arthur's Court (1889)
114. Kurt Vonnegut: Sirens of Titan (1959)
115. Robert Walser: Institute Benjamenta (1909)
116. Sylvia Townsend Warner: Lolly Willowes (1926)
117. Sarah Waters: Affinity (1999)
118. HG Wells: The Time Machine (1895)
119. HG Wells: The War of the Worlds (1898)
120. TH White: The Sword in the Stone (1938)
121. Gene Wolfe: The Book of the New Sun (1980-83)
122. John Wyndham: Day of the Triffids (1951)
123. John Wyndham: The Midwich Cuckoos (1957)
124. Yevgeny Zamyatin: We (1924)

31 out of 124

A Book Reviewers Linkup Meme

Nacked from John at Grasping for the Wind (and mentioned on GalleyCat!)

So take this list, add it to your blog, and add a link to your blog on it. If you are already on the list, repost this meme at your blog so others can see it, and find new blogs from the links others put up on their blogs.* Everybody wins! Be sure to send the list around to others as well.

*Bold/Italicize the ones you add (I added that little part)

A Dribble Of Ink
Adventures in Reading (Joe Sherry)
The Agony Column
BillWardWriter.com
Bookspotcentral
The Book Swede
Breeni Books
Dark Wolf Fantasy Reviews
Dragons, Heroes and Wizards
Dusk Before the Dawn
Enter the Octopus
The Galaxy Express
Graeme's Fantasy Book Review
Galleycat
Fantasy Book Critic
Fantasy Debut
Fantasy and Sci-fi Lovin' Blog
Jumpdrives and Cantrips
Neth Space
NextRead
OF Blog of the Fallen
The Old Bat's Belfry
Pat's Fantasy Hotlist
Realms of Speculative Fiction
Rob's Blog o' Stuff
ScifiChick
Severian's Fantastic Worlds
SF Signal
SFFWorld's Official Book Reviews
Sporadic Book Reviews
The Road Not Taken
Urban Fantasy Land
Vast and Cool and Unsympathetic
Walker of Worlds
Wands and Worlds
The Wertzone (Adam Whitehead)
WJ Fantasy Reviews
The World in a Satin Bag

A Meme and a Stover-Link

From: Andrew Wheeler

The rules: When you see this, post in your own journal with your favorite quote from The Princess Bride. Preferably not "As you wish" or the Inigo Montoya speech.

My contribution: "To Blave…and as we all know, to blave means to bluff, heh? " or “You are the Brute Squad!”


I suspect many of the people who read my blog already know this, but Matthew Stover is featured on John Scalzi’s Big Idea this week, just in time for the release of Caine Black Knife.

Banned Books Week

It is banned books week so go out and buy and/or read a banned book. If you want to make a meme of this, for both the authors and books, Bold and Italicize the ones you've read.

The “10 Most Challenged Books of 2007” reflect a range of themes, and consist of the following titles:

1) And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson/Peter Parnell - Reasons: Anti-Ethnic, Sexism, Homosexuality, Anti-Family, Religious Viewpoint, Unsuited to Age Group
2) The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier - Reasons: Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Violence
3) Olive’s Ocean by Kevin Henkes - Reasons: Sexually Explicit and Offensive Language
4) The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman - Reasons: Religious Viewpoint
5) The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain - Reasons: Racism
6) The Color Purple by Alice Walker - Reasons: Homosexuality, Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language,
7) TTYL by Lauren Myracle - Reasons: Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Unsuited to Age Group
8) I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou - Reasons: Sexually Explicit
9) It’s Perfectly Normal by Robie Harris - Reasons: Sex Education, Sexually Explicit
10) The Perks of Being A Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky - Reasons: Homosexuality, Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Unsuited to Age Group

Off the list this year, are two books by author Toni Morrison. "The Bluest Eye" and "Beloved," both challenged for sexual content and offensive language.

The most frequently challenged authors of 2007

1) Robert Cormier
2) Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson
3) Mark Twain
4) Toni Morrison
5) Philip Pullman
6) Kevin Henkes
7) Lois Lowry
8) Chris Crutcher
9) Lauren Myracle
10) Joann Sfar

Ironic that this is Banned Books week - the same week Sarah Palin, who supposedly wanted books removed from the library for objectionable content, will be participating in her first Vice Presidential debate

MEME: Top 48 Sci-Fi Film Adaptations

Nicked from SF Signal

From Box Office Mojo's list of Top 48 Sci-Fi Films Based on a Book (or Story) (1980- present). Some of the titles on this list look suspicious. (Was Cocoon really based on a piece of written fiction? There's a difference between an adaptation and a novelization.)

Here are the rules.

• Copy the list below.
• Mark in bold the movie titles for which you read the book.
• Italicize the movie titles for which you started the book but didn't finish it.
• Tag 5 people to perpetuate the meme. (You may of course play along anyway.)

And now, the list...
1. Jurassic Park
2. War of the Worlds
3. The Lost World: Jurassic Park
4. I, Robot
5. Contact
6. Congo
7. Cocoon
8. The Stepford Wives
9. The Time Machine
10. Starship Troopers
11. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
12. K-PAX
13. 2010
14. The Running Man
15. Sphere
16. The Mothman Prophecies
17. Dreamcatcher
18. Blade Runner(Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?)
19. Dune
20. The Island of Dr. Moreau
21. Invasion of the Body Snatchers
22. The Iron Giant(The Iron Man)
23. Battlefield Earth
24. The Incredible Shrinking Woman
25. Fire in the Sky
26. Altered States
27. Timeline
28. The Postman
29. Freejack(Immortality, Inc.)
30. Solaris
31. Memoirs of an Invisible Man
32. The Thing(Who Goes There?)
33. The Thirteenth Floor
34. Lifeforce(Space Vampires)
35. Deadly Friend
36. The Puppet Masters
37. 1984
38. A Scanner Darkly
39. Creator
40. Monkey Shines
41. Solo(Weapon)
42. The Handmaid's Tale
43. Communion
44. Carnosaur
45. From Beyond
46. Nightflyers
47. Watchers
48. Body Snatchers

I tag:
Pat of the Fantasy Hotlist
John of Grasping for the Wind
Aidan of A Dribble of Ink
Adam of the Wertzone

SPOTLIGHT: The Blog/Review Ranting Meme

For the purposes of this post, I’ll just consider blogging and online reviewing the same kin. Also, there will be many parentheses throughout.

Rather than respond to all the posts in my blogroll about this topic, I decided to continue the meme. This rant may wind up being more to voice my thoughts to myself than anything, though.

All over the genre blogosphere (at least the blogosphere that consists of my sidebar and other haunts) the topic of blog/reviewing has reared its head again. This creature comes out of hiding every few months and this time, the questioning creature has something of a different face – the bloggers themselves are asking these questions, whereas in the past publishers (not exclusively) have been the ones to spark these discussions. Perhaps because of the two new genre blogs (Suvudu and Tor) having recently been launched not to mention the venerable Web sites like SFSite & SF Signal, we (the FSF review/blog community) find ourselves navel gazing again.

About, I don’t know a year ago or something on that order, the blogosphere started to make its presence known in the SFFWorld forums, where a lot of new bloggers thought they could just drop in and get some free publicity and linkage to their blogs without really ingratiating themselves into or becoming part of the community there. Admittedly this put the moderators at SFFWorld in an interesting place, especially me since I have my own blog. The sense of community we’d built at SFFWorld over the past half-decade plus was now (at that point) perceived by the blogging community, by some of us behind-the-scenes folks, as nothing more than a free advertisement forum for these new bloggers. In the time since, I think (and hope) we’ve been able to build and tow a decent line between keeping SFFWorld discussions active the forums themselves while also continuing to foster a good genre community to consider cool for discussion. Essentially, I hope we’ve been able to foster a good community between the SFFWorld forums and the bloggers who visit.

So, where were we? Jonathan McCalmont started it, the returning Gabe continued it, Pat took the relay, and Larry kept the ball rolling. One of the points brought up was how (or if) getting paid for writing these reviews was viable. Getting paid would make it almost like a job, wouldn't it? A lot of us start doing this blogging / reviewing thing in our "personal time" out of our enjoyment of the books we read. This idea of payment could also bring into the validity of the reviews; after all couldn’t we just be seen as paid members of the PR machine – paid to pander to those who pay us to help promote their product? In one sense, we reviewers / bloggers are part of the PR machine, but right now we are basically unpaid independent contractors. What we need is a union!

The publishers, in about the past year, saw the sense of community between the bloggers/ reviewers and started paying attention to us. Granted I’d been receiving review copies for a few years, but the bloggers started receiving them for review on their blogs. Most notably, newer publishers like Pyr and Solaris, but the Del Reys, Roc & Aces, and Tors of the world are there too. It’s a tricksy place we find ourselves in nowadays. There seems to be an almost, I don’t know, over-worked sense to some of the discussions I’m seeing. As people have been posting their daily and weekly hauls of books they receive in the mail (both from publishers and bought on their own, but mostly the free books for review) it seems as if some of us are overwhelmed by our place in the genre community. Or perhaps, I’m speaking solely for myself here. Part of the issue is that (as I’ve said in comments on other blogs and probably here as well) it is impossible to review everything I (or any other blogger/reviewer) receives.

This begs the question posed and intimated in the links above – how does one decide which book to read out of the plethora of choices? Initially it can be pretty easy – Book 4 of a series in which I haven’t read or even own books 1 through 3 get shunted to the pile of unread books. That eliminates about a book a week. I’ve had Richard Morgan’s The Steel Remains on the pile for a few months and I feel it is a book I have to read and review since it seems to be one of “the” books this year. Matt Stover’s next Caine novel, Caine Black Knife arrived recently and that’s a definite. Conversely, if one of the books I receive doesn’t seem to be getting all that much attention around the blogosphere (at least those limited to my sidebar), I’ll try to get that book into the mix. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, a media tie in arrived and primarily because I really enjoy the writer, Sean Williams, I’ll be reading/reviewing it. But I wonder what affect, if any, reviews from our portion of the genre community, will have on a book that basically has a built-in audience of Star Wars fans and gamers. (This could be a topic all to itself.) What of a book like The City at the End of Time by Greg Bear? The book sounds like pretty interesting Big Idea novel and I’ve enjoyed much of what I’ve read by Bear, yet there doesn’t seem to be much chatter about the book, so how do I factor that into the decision on whether or not to read the book?

In terms of quantity vs. quality, one Harriet Klausner is enough and the majority of us are self-aware enough of what we don’t want to do in our reviews. As such, we’ve all crafted our own personalities and quirks. In a more snarky sense, McCalmont seems to be contrarian, Adam’s reviews are solid and very balanced, and not a one of us can figure out Pat’s damned number ratings.

I recall Cheryl Morgan’s last postings at Emerald City and her talk of review burn-out. I’ve been posting at least one new book review a week for the majority of this year and much of 2007 and times, more than one review. I know some of the reviews are stronger than others, it’s only natural. I can feel it when I force myself to write some of the reviews both the positive and the negative reviews, and some would say I often lean towards the positive in my reviews. I also don’t want to keep saying the same things over and over again, even if I’m lucky enough to be reading books that often work for me. I’ve also thought about taking a break, if not completely putting and end to this whole reviewer thing. The thing of it is, I love the genre and I really like being a part of it even in my small capacity as reviewer and administrator/moderator at SFFWorld and maintaining this blog. I’m also working on my own fiction and generating these reviews, irrespective of their length, do take a decent amount of time to think about and craft. In some form, though, I feel a great drive to write, be it review of my own fiction.

After this sense of review burnout creeps in; however, I’ll read a book like Cory Doctorow’s Little Brother and want to shout how great it is or, on the other hand, I’ll read a book that didn’t agree with me like Karen Miller’s Empress and feel the drive to put my thoughts about that book down. Or, right now I’m reading a book that didn’t initially interest me too much based on the premise and the author was untested (by me), but I figured I would go outside my comfort zone and give it a try. I think that’s something we all need to do, is go outside our reading comfort zone and Jeff VanderMeer has said as much. Conversely, I really enjoy Epic Fantasy and I’ve really begun to enjoy Urban Fantasy / Detective Wizard, so if something new with one of those slants comes down the pike, I feel a responsibility (for lack of a better word) to measure it against other books if its kind.

As I said, this whole reviewing thing started out because I enjoy reading and sharing my thoughts about what I read. The reviewing gives me an opportunity to voice my thoughts and opinions on a larger scale. Contrary to this though, sometimes I just want to read a book without having to write a review or with a review as the ‘endgame.’ Books like Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files, Steven Erikson’s Malazan saga, the Star Wars Legacy of the Force series, an anthology like the Strahan/Dozois edited New Space Opera, Michael Chabon’s Gentlemen of the Road, or other books that have remain unread for upwards of a year or two, but at times, I’ll feel a little guilty about reading one of those while 10-20 books I’ve received from publishers await on the TBR pile for reviewing. This doesn’t even factor in my weekly/monthly haul of comics and graphic novels.

Don’t get me wrong, these aren’t life-shattering decisions or frustrations (I don’t think), but they are things I and (probably) my peers think about. I enjoy being involved, knowing what books are out there, and being afforded the opportunity to have my voice heard. I also have to admit that I like getting the free books, but I think it’s only natural (based on the resonance I’ve seen in other’s thoughts) to feel a bit guilty about not being able to read all that arrives. Strange dichotomy, I realize.

Where does this all leave us? Still in that strange place between fan and critic, I suppose. Granted, my blog is not as trafficked nor does it have the volume (and consistent substance) of postings as many others, but I feel responsibility to maintain it. I enjoy maintaining it and being part of this community. In the end, my drive to write (be it my fiction, the book reviews, on this blog, or if somebody wants to be kind enough to compensate my monetarily for my thoughts) will continue and push me to be a presence.

SFFWorld Status & The 100 book meme

I know some of the folks who visit here are members of the SFFWorld.com forums - we are experiencing some problems with the site. The backend software was recently updated, so hopefully the ship will right itself soon. I can't access the site from all the places I usually do.

I know iPods have been around for a few years now, but I finally got one last week. Or rather, Mrs. Blog o' Stuff, awesome wife that she is, gave me one for our Anniversary. I've got the 8 gigger and it is already nearly filled, although I won't be putting any of my old Aerosmith or Guns n' Roses on it since I could hear either of them at any given point if I tune into either XM or FM stations. I swear, those two bands are played more now then they were 15 years ago. I've heard enough of both bands in my life, don't need to hear them again. Granted Appetite for Destruction is a seminal album. Rant aside, one of the cool things is listening to stuff I haven't listened to in a while, as I load music into it. So, that's me, cutting edge.

Since a lot of people are doing it, here's my stab at the 100 book meme.

Instructions:
1) Look at the list and bold those you have read.
2) Italicize those you intend to read.
3) Underline the books you LOVE.
4) Reprint this list in your own so we can try and track down these people who've read six and force books upon them.

1 Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings – J.R.R. Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte
4 Harry Potter series – J.K. Rowling
5 To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee
6 The Bible
(I read this in a really cool course at Rutgers - The Bible as Literature).
7 Wuthering Heights – Emily Bronte
I hated this novel; I had to read it in an early English course at Rutgers. I still can’t decide if this or Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is the book I loathed the most from my English courses
8 Nineteen Eighty-Four – George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials – Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations – Charles Dickens
11 Little Women – Louisa M Alcott
12 Tess of the D'Urbervilles– Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 – Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare
(I took two Shakespeare courses at Rutgers– comedies and histories/tragedies so I read a bunch of them)
15 Rebecca– Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit – J.R.R. Tolkien
17 Birdsong – Sebastian Faulks
18 Catcher in the Rye – J.D. Salinger
19 The Time Traveler's Wife – Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch – George Eliot
21 Gone With the Wind – Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House – Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace – Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy – Douglas Adams
26 Brideshead Revisited – Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment – Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath – John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland – Lewis Carroll (If I haven’t read it by now, I probably won’t)
30 The Wind in the Willows – Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina – Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield – Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia – C.S. Lewis
34 Emma – Jane Austen
35 Persuasion – Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe – C.S. Lewis
(Well duh, see #33)
37 The Kite Runner – Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli's Mandolin – Louis de Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha – Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh – A.A. Milne
41 Animal Farm – George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code – Dan Brown
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude – Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney – John Irving
45 The Woman in White – Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables – L.M. Montgomery
47 Far From the Madding Crowd – Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid's Tale – Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies – William Golding
50 Atonement – Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi – Yann Martel
52 Dune – Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm – Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility – Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy – Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind – Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale of Two Cities – Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World – Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time – Mark Haddon (Mrs. Blog o’ Stuff read this and keeps asking when I’ll read it)
60 Love in the Time of Cholera – Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men – John Steinbeck
62 Lolita – Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History – Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones – Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo – Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road – Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure – Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones's Diary – Helen Fielding
69 Midnight's Children – Salman Rushdie
70 Moby-Dick – Herman Melville (I was surprised how enthralled I was by this book that has a reputation for being boring)
71 Oliver Twist – Charles Dickens
72 Dracula – Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden – Frances Hodgson Burnett (I read this waaay back in I think 4th grade, but recall nothing of it)
74 Notes From a Small Island – Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses – James Joyce
76 The Bell Jar – Sylvia Plath
77 Swallows and Amazons – Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal – Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair – William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession – A.S. Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol – Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas – David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple – Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day – Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary – Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance – Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte's Web – E.B. White (saw the movie)
88 The Five People You Meet in Heaven – Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection – Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness – Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince – Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93 The Wasp Factory – Iain Banks
94 Watership Down – Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces – John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice – Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers – Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet – William Shakespeare
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100 Les Miserables – Victor Hugo

Only 24 of the above books read – wow do I feel like a plebe.

The SFX Top 100 List (a meme?

Some of my fellow FSF bloggers have already posted this list, which all but turns this thing into a meme*, so here’s the SFX top 100 with my snarky comments.

*feel free to do this at your own blog, if you so choose.

100. James Herbert
Meh…I’ve heard decent things about him.

99. Gwyneth Jones
Meh…I’ve heard decent things about her.

98. Sara Douglass
Cliched but somewhat entertaining.

97. Charles Stross
Should be higher from all the raves I see about him. I’ve only read a bit, but liked it.

96. Terry Goodkind
I thought he didn’t write fantasy.

95. Brian W. Aldiss
Reputation alone should place him higher, never read anything from him.

94. Ken MacLeod
See my thoughts on Stross

93. Olaf Stapledon
I’d think a Golden Ager would be higher.

92. Michael Marshall Smith
He won the Philip K. Dick Award, I read his novel The Straw Men and liked it.

91. Jon Courtney Grimwood
Haven’t read him, but seems well regarded.

90. Christopher Priest
I’ve only read The Prestige, but liked it a lot.

89. Jonathan Carroll
Should be higher, what I read by him I liked, especially the classic The Land of Laughs.

88. Scott Lynch
Much as I loved The Lies of Locke Lamora and Red Seas Under Red Skies, this seems a bit premature.

87. David Weber
Haven’t read him, but I do have a collection on the to read pile. Seems popular with the Military SF crows.

86. M. John Harrison
Light was good, Virinconium started out well, but that’s all I’ve read, outside of his bloggish ramblings.

85. Jacqueline Carey
Kushiel’s Dart was good for half a book, I loved her Banewreaker duology, but like Lynch this seems a bit high, but her quantity of output is pretty impressive.

84. Kim Stanley Robinson
I tried to read Red Mars three times and wanted to poke my eyes out each time.

83. Theodore Sturgeon
An acknowledged master, but I haven’t read him. Seems low.

82. J.V. Jones
About right, I suppose. Read only two of her Ice books.

81. Joe Abercrombie
I like Joe (and how he’ll both downplay and up-play his own writing), so I suppose this is about right if Scotty-boy gets on the list, too.

80. Joe Haldeman
Should be higher, though I’ve only read two of his seminal works.

79. Simon Clark
Who?

78. George Orwell
What?? What???? 1984 is one of the greatest pieces of fiction of all time.

77. Samuel R. Delaney Delany
He should be higher.

76. Charles de Lint
About right, I suppose. I loved The Little Country.

75. Julian May
Haven’t read her, but this seems about right, based on what I've heard/seen.

74. Edgar Rice Burroughs
Tarzan and Jon Carter should place him higher, though I’ve yet to read him.

73. Robert Silverberg
Living legend, should be higher.

72. Susanna Clarke
One interesting novel (IMHO one of the most overrated novels of all time) and one collection, switcher with any half dozen lower rankings.

71. Stanislaw Lem
Solaris was one of the most painful reads for me, but I suppose this is an appropriate ranking

70. Larry Niven
This seems pretty low.

69. Alfred Bester
See Stapledon.

68. Katherine Kerr
Haven’t read her, but her Deverry series is long and well regarded enough to get a higher ranking.

67. Jack Vance
What?!? He should easily be a top 10 writer.

66. Harry Harrison
Sure.

65. Marion Zimmer Bradley
I guess.

64. Richard Matheson
Wa-a-a-y too low.

63. Dan Simmons
Hyperion is an enduring modern classic, his horror output is equally impressive. Relatively low.

62. Elizabeth Haydon
Better than Douglass.

61. Terry Brooks
I’m not his biggest fan, but relatively speaking, he should be higher.

60. Richard Morgan
About right.

59. Stephen Baxter
About right.

58. Jennifer Fallon
Whatever.

57. Mercedes Lackey
Never read her.

56. CJ Cherryh
I tried a couple of her books (Downbelow Station and The Dreaming Tree) and neither worked for me. Ranking seems about right based on what others have said, though.

55. Harlan Ellison
Very low.

54. Jasper Fforde
Never read him.

53. Octavia Butler
Another lowballed ranking.

52. J.G. Ballard
Sure.

51. Robert E. Howard
Somewhat low.

50. Sherri S. Tepper
Never read her.

49. H.P. Lovecraft
Way too low.

48. Mervyn Peake
Gormenghast just doesn’t work for me.

47. Jules Verne
Sure.

46. Alastair Reynolds
Sure.

45. Neal Stephenson
Loved Snow Crash and didn’t like Cryptonomicon.

44. Clive Barker
Sure.

43. Jim Butcher
I guess, I love The Dresden Files, but some of the other authors should be before him.

42. Tad Williams
See Butcher.

41. Kurt Vonnegut
See Delaney Delany

40. Trudi Canavan
Never read her.

39. Michael Moorcock
Living legend, should be in the top 10

38. David Eddings
Never read him, never will, but higher than Moorcock, Orwell and half a dozen others up above?

37. Alan Moore
Scripted on of Time’s 100 greatest novels, should be higher.

36. Orson Scott Card
About right, I gues.

35. Stephen Donaldson
About right I guess.

34. Gene Wolfe
Should be much, MUCH higher. Top 10. This ranking is the final straw for this list holding any kind of validity for me.

33. China Mieville
Sure.

32. Raymond E. Feist
Very Popular, I liked the first few RiftWar novels as well as the Empire collaboration with Janny Wurts.

31. Lois McMaster Bujold
Very Popular, I’ve enjoyed the Vorkosigan novels I’ve read.

30. Roger Zelazny
Should be higher, top 15 maybe?

29. Anne McCaffrey
Who hasn’t read her Pern novels? I guess this is about right, once you adjust some of the earlier aberrations.

28. Steven Erikson
I guess this is about right, once you adjust some of the earlier aberrations.

27. William Gibson
I haven’t read him, but seems slightly low.

26. Guy Gavriel Kay
I guess this is about right, once you adjust some of the earlier abberrations.

25. CS Lewis
I guess this is about right, once you adjust some of the earlier abberations.

24. Diana Wynne Jones
I guess this is about right, if a bit too high, relatively speaking.

23. John Wyndham
I guess this is about right, once you adjust some of the earlier abberations.

22. Philip Pullman
About right, I guess. Maybe lower?

21. Robin Hobb
See Pullman.

20. Stephen King
About right.

19. Ray Bradbury
Should be a tad higher.

18. Arthur C. Clarke
See Bradbury.

17. Robert Jordan
Important, but top 20? Then again, this is a popularity contest.

16. JK Rowling
See Jordan.

15. Robert Heinlein
About right.

14. Frank Herbert
About right.

13. Peter F. Hamilton
A bit high.

12. David Gemmell
About right, considering my Jordan/Rowling thoughts.

11. Ursula K. LeGuin
About right.

10. Robert Rankin
Who is this? I don’t think I’ve ever seen a book by this author and he’s ahead of Gene Frakking Wolfe and Jack Vance and George Orwell and Steven Erikson and Michael Moorcock...?

9. HG Wells
Sure

8. Philip K. Dick
Sure, maybe a bit high.

7. Iain M. Banks
Sure, maybe a bit high. He’s British, this list is from a British magazine, but I’d switch him out with I don’t know, Jack Vance?

6. Isaac Asimov
Sure.

5. George RR Martin
Sure.

4. Douglas Adams
A bit high, but again, this is a British popularity contest.

2. JRR Tolkien
This may be the first of these types of lists where he hasn’t been Numero Uno.

1. Terry Pratchett
I’ve read what I like. Best selling British Writer, British Popularity Contest.