SF/Fantasy Books Read
The following is making the rounds on LinuxChix Live:
Bold what you’ve read, strike out what you don’t like, italicize what you’d like to read but haven’t yet…
The HitchHiker’s Guide to the Galaxy— Douglas Adams- Nineteen Eighty-Four — George Orwell
- Brave New World — Aldous Huxley
- Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? — Philip K. Dick
Neuromancer— William Gibson – I seriously dislike Gibson’s writing- Dune — Frank Herbert
- I, Robot — Isaac Asimov – I didn’t really care for it, but I didn’t dislike it either
- Foundation — Isaac Asimov – I tried reading this back in high school, didn’t get very far
- The Colour of Magic — Terry Pratchett
- Microserfs — Douglas Coupland – I think I’m one of the few people I know who have heard of it, very well written
- Snow Crash — Neal Stephenson – this is the book that got me into Stephenson
- Watchmen — Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons – haven’t heard of it, but I think I’ve seen Alan Moore on one of Chris’ comic books – if that’s the case, I’m not interested in reading it.
- Cryptonomicon — Neal Stephenson
- Consider Phlebas — Iain M Banks
- Stranger in a Strange Land — Robert Heinlein – tried reading it once, didn’t make it very far
- The Man in the High Castle — Philip K Dick
- American Gods — Neil Gaiman
- The Diamond Age — Neal Stephenson
- The Illuminatus! Trilogy — Robert Shea & Robert Anton Wilson
- Trouble with Lichen – John Wyndham — never heard of it
I notice that there’s a large number of Neal Stephenson books in the list, I don’t think I would classify him as a “classical sci-fi” writer.
Yeah, that list is a bit random, isn’t it? I’ve read Microserfs too, but I didn’t think it could be considered science fiction or fantasy. Among the titles I’m surprised not to see on that list: Lord of the Rings, Ender’s Game, Discworld series, The Hobbit, A Canticle for Leibowitz (my sf club at work raves about that one), 2001: A Space Odyssey, 20000 Leagues Under the Sea, Journey to the Centre of the Earth, A Wizard of Earthsea, Fahrenheit 451, Mists of Avalon, Ringworld, Interview with a Vampire, Left Hand of Darkness…
That list is very Stephenson-heavy. i *highly* recommend Watchmen. And have you read any gibson other than Neuromancer? Specifically Pattern Recognition? It’s *completely* different than any Gibson books prior. Less Sci-fi and more contemporary mystery/thriller. I was less than pleased by American Gods (Gaiman) to the point that I’m not even going to purchase his newest book (Anansi Boys) which is a direct sequel to American Gods.
I have attempted to start reading pattern recognition, but I made it to about the 3rd chapter. His extremely verbose and descriptive writing style turns me off. I like to let my imagination run a bit wild while reading, and it’s hard with all those adjectives and adverbs in the way.