Author Topic: SF Novel poll: Presenting the final 16  (Read 7021 times)

Ocicat

  • Castle Watchcat
  • Moderator
  • *****
  • Posts: 3722
  • Anything for a Weird Life
on: December 16, 2009, 07:27:06 PM
Okay, the group round is done, and we're left with sixteen books that will go head-to-head until we arrive at a victor.  We'll wait until after the holidays to start the new rounds, that should give you a chance to read any of these you've missed:

The Martian Chronicles - Ray Bradbury
Ringworld - Larry Niven
Dune - Frank Herbert
Stranger in a Strange Land - Robert Heinlein
Flowers for Algernon - Daniel Keyes
Foundation - Isaac Asimov
1984 - George Orwell
Cat's Cradle - Kurt Vonnegut
Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
Frankenstein - Mary Shelley
The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
Starship Troopers - Robert Heinlein
Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? - Philip K. Dick
2001: A Space Odyssey - Arthur C. Clarke
War of the Worlds - H.G. Wells

In the second place runoff last week you'll note that Foundation and Man in High Castle ended up tied.  Well, to avoid further runoffs, I discounted my own vote, which was for PK Dick's work.  That will continue going forward - I'll essentially have a tiebreaker vote only. 

I've actually read 15 out of the 16 books in the final, with the exception of the Handmaid's Tale (which I've seen the movie of, for whatever that's worth).  How many have you read?
« Last Edit: December 17, 2009, 03:25:27 AM by Ocicat »



Heradel

  • Bill Peters, EP Assistant
  • Hipparch
  • ******
  • Posts: 2938
  • Part-Time Psychopomp.
Reply #1 on: December 16, 2009, 07:59:31 PM
9 myself.

I Twitter. I also occasionally blog on the Escape Pod blog, which if you're here you shouldn't have much trouble finding.


Sandikal

  • Matross
  • ****
  • Posts: 287
Reply #2 on: December 17, 2009, 02:51:25 AM
I've read at least 11 of them, but half of those were so long ago that I remember very little about them.



Bdoomed

  • Pseudopod Tiger
  • Moderator
  • *****
  • Posts: 5891
  • Mmm. Tiger.
Reply #3 on: December 17, 2009, 08:20:08 AM
I've read 7 of them

I'd like to hear my options, so I could weigh them, what do you say?
Five pounds?  Six pounds? Seven pounds?


Darwinist

  • Hipparch
  • ******
  • Posts: 701
Reply #4 on: December 17, 2009, 07:31:31 PM
I've read 9.

For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.    -  Carl Sagan


Anarkey

  • Meen Pie
  • Hipparch
  • ******
  • Posts: 703
  • ...depends a good deal on where you want to get to
Reply #5 on: December 17, 2009, 09:45:24 PM
12

Ocicat, you're one well-read feline.

Winner Nash's 1000th member betting pool + Thaurismunths' Free Rice Contest!


eytanz

  • Moderator
  • *****
  • Posts: 6109
Reply #6 on: December 17, 2009, 10:55:25 PM
I read 11.



Ocicat

  • Castle Watchcat
  • Moderator
  • *****
  • Posts: 3722
  • Anything for a Weird Life
Reply #7 on: December 17, 2009, 11:05:48 PM
Ocicat, you're one well-read feline.

When it comes to Science Fiction and Fantasy anyway.  :-)  Scary thing is, I read 13 of them before I graduated high school, and I've re-read probably six of those since.



tpi

  • Peltast
  • ***
  • Posts: 93
Reply #8 on: December 18, 2009, 07:31:39 AM
 I have read 14.

Stranger in a Strange Land  is on my TBR-pile.
The Handmaid's Tale : I haven't even seen the movie.



DKT

  • Friendly Neighborhood
  • Hipparch
  • ******
  • Posts: 4980
  • PodCastle is my Co-Pilot
    • Psalms & Hymns & Spiritual Noir

CryptoMe

  • Hipparch
  • ******
  • Posts: 1146
Reply #10 on: December 19, 2009, 12:09:00 AM
I've read 11. And I think they were all before my first university degree. I haven't had much chance to read since then....



stePH

  • Actually has enough cowbell.
  • Hipparch
  • ******
  • Posts: 3906
  • Cool story, bro!
    • Thetatr0n on SoundCloud
Reply #11 on: December 19, 2009, 07:32:57 AM
Have not read Flowers (not the novel anyway; have read the short), Cat's Cradle, Handmaid's Tale (but have seen the movie), or WotW (but have listened to Welles' radio play -- which I know is not even remotely the same thing). 

But that leaves 12 that I have read.  (I consider that I have read Frankenstein even though I've only listened to the unabridged Recorded Books reading by George Guidall.)
« Last Edit: December 19, 2009, 07:34:59 AM by stePH »

"Nerdcore is like playing Halo while getting a blow-job from Hello Kitty."
-- some guy interviewed in Nerdcore Rising


Portrait in Flesh

  • Hipparch
  • ******
  • Posts: 1121
  • NO KILL I
Reply #12 on: December 20, 2009, 12:48:04 AM
I've only read 6 of these.

...I'll be standing over there in the Corner of Shame...

"Boys from the city.  Not yet caught by the whirlwind of Progress.  Feed soda pop to the thirsty pigs." --The Beast of Yucca Flats


kibitzer

  • Purveyor of Unsolicited Opinions
  • Hipparch
  • ******
  • Posts: 2228
  • Kibitzer: A meddler who offers unwanted advice
Reply #13 on: December 20, 2009, 04:20:03 AM
13 -- some as a result of this poll (Flowers For Algernon and Cat's Cradle).

btw, I found Cat's Cradle a charming book. It has a narrative style I like very much, where the author seems just to be relating things as they happened, with no particular journey or plot in mind. There is, of course, it just doesn't seem that way. And the ending surprised me greatly. It's also a book that gives you much to ponder -- definitely one worth deeper study of the themes.

Slaughterhouse Five is next, followed by some Lovecraft of whom I've read little.
« Last Edit: December 20, 2009, 04:24:15 AM by kibitzer »



Anarkey

  • Meen Pie
  • Hipparch
  • ******
  • Posts: 703
  • ...depends a good deal on where you want to get to
Reply #14 on: December 20, 2009, 01:37:17 PM
13 -- some as a result of this poll (Flowers For Algernon and Cat's Cradle).


Yay!  The poll has done its work. 

So glad you enjoyed "Cat's Cradle" kibitzer.  It is one of my favorite books ever.

Winner Nash's 1000th member betting pool + Thaurismunths' Free Rice Contest!


Bdoomed

  • Pseudopod Tiger
  • Moderator
  • *****
  • Posts: 5891
  • Mmm. Tiger.
Reply #15 on: December 21, 2009, 02:27:34 AM
13 -- some as a result of this poll (Flowers For Algernon and Cat's Cradle).


Yay!  The poll has done its work. 

So glad you enjoyed "Cat's Cradle" kibitzer.  It is one of my favorite books ever.
I ditto everything.  Very glad you liked Cat's Cradle!

btw this poll made me learn about the 6th Hitchhiker's Guide book which I am currently reading (started today) and I gotta say so far it's doing the books justice! :)  There was a really good joke so far that I thought was a little off-humor but it was still really funny so I've excused it for not being Hitchhiker's Guide-y.

I'd like to hear my options, so I could weigh them, what do you say?
Five pounds?  Six pounds? Seven pounds?


Heradel

  • Bill Peters, EP Assistant
  • Hipparch
  • ******
  • Posts: 2938
  • Part-Time Psychopomp.
Reply #16 on: December 21, 2009, 08:11:57 AM
It's late to quibble about the content of the list, but I'd like to lobby that Anathem belonged in there somewhere. I've been rereading it when I've taken a break from finals, and while it suffers from long (usually necessary) infodumps it's probably Stephenson's best work. Once it gets going it's one of the better attempts at Quantum Hard I've read, and the way it mines Plato among others is really masterful.

I Twitter. I also occasionally blog on the Escape Pod blog, which if you're here you shouldn't have much trouble finding.


kibitzer

  • Purveyor of Unsolicited Opinions
  • Hipparch
  • ******
  • Posts: 2228
  • Kibitzer: A meddler who offers unwanted advice
Reply #17 on: December 21, 2009, 12:02:48 PM
It's late to quibble about the content of the list, but I'd like to lobby that Anathem belonged in there somewhere. I've been rereading it when I've taken a break from finals, and while it suffers from long (usually necessary) infodumps it's probably Stephenson's best work. Once it gets going it's one of the better attempts at Quantum Hard I've read, and the way it mines Plato among others is really masterful.

That is very heartening, thank you for posting. I know NS can be overlong but to hear a recent work is "navigable" is great. I <3 Cryptonomicon (if one can use such an overused colloquialism for such a work) but Quicksilver had me confused and stranged pretty quickly -- didn't read the rest. Must read Anathem.


Heradel

  • Bill Peters, EP Assistant
  • Hipparch
  • ******
  • Posts: 2938
  • Part-Time Psychopomp.
Reply #18 on: December 21, 2009, 05:10:54 PM
It's late to quibble about the content of the list, but I'd like to lobby that Anathem belonged in there somewhere. I've been rereading it when I've taken a break from finals, and while it suffers from long (usually necessary) infodumps it's probably Stephenson's best work. Once it gets going it's one of the better attempts at Quantum Hard I've read, and the way it mines Plato among others is really masterful.

That is very heartening, thank you for posting. I know NS can be overlong but to hear a recent work is "navigable" is great. I <3 Cryptonomicon (if one can use such an overused colloquialism for such a work) but Quicksilver had me confused and stranged pretty quickly -- didn't read the rest. Must read Anathem.

Yeah, the Baroque cycle is a bit of a bear to get through, and one of those subbooks is just deathly.

I've both read the print one and the audiobook, and have to say that the (32.5 hour) audiobook is probably easier to consume the first time around. There's a lot of scene setting up front that trips people up, and having a narrator steadily moving through it makes it easier.

I Twitter. I also occasionally blog on the Escape Pod blog, which if you're here you shouldn't have much trouble finding.