What are you reading right now?

[Clifford]

NPR's list of the top 100 sci-fi/fantasy works, as voted on by readers/listeners.

Let the nerd complaining begin!

The Dispossessed AND the Book of the New Sun below 70? I'm suprised they weren't more popular, but it's pleasing to see them voted ot be in the top 100. I'm also suprised by the absence of Jack Vance novels, such as Tales of the Dying Earth, which have been rather influential in modern sci-fi/fantasy.

[black bart]

I am a big fan of Robert Louis Stevenson and I've only just discovered his book about walking in France: Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes. Stevenson invented the sleeping bag would you believe?

[Rainswept]

Recently finished:

Gauntlgrym, by R.A.Salvatore, which is by my count the 29th Forgotten Realms novel I've read by him. It's more nostalgia than quality writing at this point, considering I started reading him in 1991.

The Magicians, by Lev Grossman, which I picked up because it had a George R.R. Martin recommendation on the front hailing it as sort of an adult Harry Potter story where the hero started magic in college not at 11. Not bad, not amazing.

The Name of the Wind , by Patrick Rothfuss. Definitely my favorite of the three. Well written, epic in scale, he does a terrific job of pacing, taking his time and exploring the beginnings without getting monotonous. It also has an interesting framework, as it's a story within a story, being told by the hero in 1st person.

[Rainswept]

NPR's list of the top 100 sci-fi/fantasy works, as voted on by readers/listeners.

Let the nerd complaining begin!

I've read 29 of the 100, tho that's misleading when you consider 24 dark elf books, 12 Belgariad, 13 Wheel of time, 12 Ender/Bean, 8 Wizards 1st rule, 7 or 8 Riftwar, 5 Song of Ice and Fire, 6 Codex Alera, fuck knows how many Pern books, and probably 1/2 dozen trilogies

I was surprised so many of mine were in the top 20. Foundation was the top ranked book I haven't read. I lean way more towards fantasy than sci-fi. I think I own the 1st Ringworld novel, maybe I'll read that soon.

One thing that shocked me was Ursula Leguin all over the list, but without Earthsea.

I had lots more complaints till I realized they had a "No Young Adult" rule. Then i got pissed off all over when I started seeing Ender, Pern, Star Wars... Those ARE YA books.

Thanks for posting that.

[Julius Aurora]

NPR's list of the top 100 sci-fi/fantasy works, as voted on by readers/listeners.

Let the nerd complaining begin!

Read 43 of them. Not many complaints. More Pratchett?!? Will have to read the rest of them! Eh, who has the time for that.

[black bart]

That reminds me I've still got to read the Earthsea Trilogy.

[Roland Deschain]

NPR's list of the top 100 sci-fi/fantasy works, as voted on by readers/listeners.

Let the nerd complaining begin!

Ok, i've read 30 of them. I have another 2 here ready to read in physical book format, some that I have in digital format for my book reader, and I have some that I need to download (link below). I've read some of the series on there, but it looks like i'll have to do some catching up. It's nice to see George R R Martin's Song of Fire and Ice up the top, as I read that in the past year and loved it. Neil Gaiman's sort-of-series about gods is great. If you haven't read any of them, then I recommend that you do so.

I do have a few complaints though, and for those of you who know me, you may have already guessed my main one, but I only got to 23rd place? What kind of a sick and twisted world does that to an ancient Gunslinger? Also, why is there only one Philip K Dick book up there? Seriously? They are excellent, if a little mind-bending at times...ok at all times

If you love books, but don't want to pay (or just don't have the money), I recommend you go to http://www.gutenberg.org/catalog/. They have thousands of books in a digital format for your delectation. There are so many I want, I had to stop myself before I filled my HDD with them. They have, just as the tip of the tip of the tip of the iceberg:-

Mark Twain
Plato
Charles Dickens
Shakespeare
H G Wells
Lewis Carroll
Jules Verne
Rudyard Kipling
Oscar Wilde
Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Alexandre Dumas

[Roland Deschain]

Ok, I forgot to put down what i'm currently reading I just finished Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell, and have moved onto...The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. Again.

[PKMKII]

The Neighborhood Project by David Sloan Wilson. About applying evolutionary processes and knowledge to the urban improvement of Binghampton, NY. The multi-disciplinary approach appeals to me, but I haven't gotten to the part yet where he really starts applying the evolutionary science to urban renewal, so I don't know yet how valid the idea is.

[Rainswept]

I only got to 23rd place? What kind of a sick and twisted world does that to an ancient Gunslinger?

Probably because your first book is so damn boring I haven't gotten through it in 4 tries. People keep telling me the later ones are better but....


The list is terribly hard to judge based on the weird criteria they put in. 24 (and counting) dark elf books get 1 slot, but Diskworld gets split up into single books to take up multiple spaces? Young adult books are out but Belgariad, Ender's Game, and Pern still sit on the list? Those things are no more adult than say, The Giver.

Also, Wicked may be the most overrated book I've ever read. I was hugely disappointed.

[PKMKII]

The Neighborhood Project by David Sloan Wilson. About applying evolutionary processes and knowledge to the urban improvement of Binghampton, NY. The multi-disciplinary approach appeals to me, but I haven't gotten to the part yet where he really starts applying the evolutionary science to urban renewal, so I don't know yet how valid the idea is.

I read that one at university. Brilliant. I spent a little time in Binghamton back in nineteen-mumblety-six, so I was familiar with the place. It is the home town of Rod Serling, creator of The Twilight Zone.

How did you read it at Uni if it got published less than a month ago?

[Roland Deschain]

How did you read it at Uni if it got published less than a month ago?

That would be due to #70 on the list

[black bart]

The Neighborhood Project by David Sloan Wilson. About applying evolutionary processes and knowledge to the urban improvement of Binghampton, NY. The multi-disciplinary approach appeals to me, but I haven't gotten to the part yet where he really starts applying the evolutionary science to urban renewal, so I don't know yet how valid the idea is.

I read that one at university. Brilliant. I spent a little time in Binghamton back in nineteen-mumblety-six, so I was familiar with the place. It is the home town of Rod Serling, creator of The Twilight Zone.

How did you read it at Uni if it got published less than a month ago?

Roy is a Time Traveler!!!!!

[Qwertyuiopasd]

Reading the Qur'an this semester, as well as having just finished The Taming Of The Shrew for my English class, so now I have to read Henry V. The other two plays we're reading are King Lear (been there, done that), and Othello, which I am excited for.

[black bart]

Reading the Qur'an this semester, as well as having just finished The Taming Of The Shrew for my English class, so now I have to read Henry V. The other two plays we're reading are King Lear (been there, done that), and Othello, which I am excited for.

Spoiller alert:

Everyone dies in the end.