A Year of Reading

Also as a consequences of barely writing anything this year, I've read far more books than usual - a total of 86.

I've read almost entirely science fiction books for as long as I can remember, but last year I started reading Jeeves and Wooster, which is one of my favoutite TV series, and read 9 of the books this year. I also continued my ongoing quest to read the 'classics' of the genre, with the usual varied results. I also read 8 books by Matthew Hughes, completing almost everything available, along with my last 2 Eric Browns and final 4 Alastair Reynolds to bring me up to date.

My favourite books of the year? In reverse order of reading:

The Dervish House by Ian McDonald
The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang by Kate Wilhelm
Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon
Killing is My Business by Adam Christopher
Austral by Paul McAuley
The Inimitable Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse

Classic Book Stats

In several previous posts I've mentioned some of the 'classic' SF books that I've read over the past few years. I decided to quantify how many of the 'best' or 'classic' books I've read, with the aid of Goodreads. This is what I came up with:

List	Number	Read	%
Best	100	55	55%
Hugo	71	30	42%
Locus	47	18	38%
Nebula	54	20	37%
SF Masterworks	170	53	31%
BSFA	48	12	25%
Campbell	45	8	18%
Clarke	29	3	10%

The 'Best' list at the top is the Best Science Fiction top 100 on Goodreads, which is probably as valid as any other 'Best of' list. The others obviously refer to the major Science Fiction awards, and I've also included the SF Masterworks imprint.


These various lists give me some idea of books to add to my to-read list and I've decided to start with some that appear on more than one list.

Further Classics

Following on from my previous posts on the subject, I've continued to look out for 'classic' SF books that have won awards, appeared on 'Best of' lists etc.


These are the ones I've read over the past year or so:


Dreamsnake by Vonda N. McIntyre - Enjoyably lyrical.


Hothouse by Brian W. Aldiss - Very good, though slightly old-fashioned now.


Planet of the Apes by Pierre Boule - OK, not actually hailed as a classic, and actually rather antiquated even for its time.


The Word for World is Forest by Ursula K. LeGuin - Very good, but not really sure what the fuss is about.


I Am Legend by Richard Matheson - Rather dated.


Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Phillip K. Dick - I don't know why everyone says this is so good.






According to the GoodReads 'Best Science Fiction' list I've read 52 of the top 100 science fiction novels of all time, which isn't bad. There are, of course, lots of other 'Best of' lists.

Reading in 2016

I've read a surprising 58 books this year, rather more than usual. Probably because I haven't done much writing I guess. As I've also been reviewing I've read quite a few new books along with books from previous years and decades.






These are my favourites of the year, in reverse chronological order of reading:






The Core of the Sun by Johanna Sinisalo
Everfair by Nisi Shawl
Death's End by Liu Cixin
Daughter of Eden by Chris Beckett
Europe at Midnight by Dave Hutchinson
Made to Kill by Adam Christopher
Barsk: The Elephants' Graveyard by Lawrence M. Schoen






I know a top 7 is a little odd, but it was either that or a top 28, which doesn't narrow things down much!

Classic Progress

Last year in this post I commented on some of the so-called classic SF books I've managed to read over the past couple of years. I've got through several more in the past few months:




Helliconia Spring - Brin Aldiss - Excellent, but not quite as ground-breaking as perhaps it was at the time


A Fire Upon the Deep - Vernor Vinge - Brilliant. It was like reading 2 fantastic novels simultaneously.


Slaughterhouse 5 - Kurt Vonnegut -  Original and quirky, but I was left underwhelmed


The Windup Girl - Paulo Bacigalupi - Brilliant.

Favourite Books of 2015

This year I read my usual mixture of some brand new novels, a few from ongoing favourite series and a few of those books hailed as classics. These are the ones I particularly enjoyed, in chronological order of reading:






Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie
The Princess Bride by William Goldman
Hyperion by Dan Simmons
Children of Time by Adrian Tcaikovsky
Ancillary Sword by Ann Leckie
The Fall of Hyperion by Dan Simmons
A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge
Ancillary Mercy by Ann Leckie

Catching Up With the Classics

There are lots of novels hailed as classics of the genre – those that won the Hugo and/or Nebula awards, those that were reprinted a lot, or that have been included in the SF Masterworks series, or that are often included in various ‘best of’ lists. In recent years I’ve made an effort to get hold of as many of these ‘classics’ as possible to fill in the gaps in my literary heritage. They haven't always lived up to their reputation. Here’s a brief review of what I’ve read recently:

Childhood’s End – Arther C Clarke – it was OK but rather dated now.

Desolation Road – Ian McDonald – wonderfully lyrical

The Dispossessed – Ursula K. LeGuin – Pretty good, but a little dated.

Non-Stop – Brian Aldiss – Brilliant.

The City and the Stars – Arthur C Clarke – Good but slow.

The Left Hand of Darkness – Ursula K. LeGuin - Brilliantly evocative.

Stranger in a Strange Land – Robert Heinlein – Don’t know what the fuss was about.

Ringworld – Larry Niven – Didn’t enjoy at all.

The Moon is a Harsh Mistress – Robert Heinlein – Enjoyable, but not great.

Gateway – Frederick Pohl – Genius.

The Songs of Distant Earth – Isaac Asimov – It was OK.

Hyperion – Dan Simmons – Brilliant.

Lined up on my shelf I have Helliconia Spring

Books On A Plane

For only the second time ever, somebody commented on the book I was reading, and again I was on a plane. This time, while flying back from Dublin, the man 2 seats away nodded at the copy of Dan Simmon's Hyperion on my lap and asked if it was any good. Like me he has had it waiting on his book shelf for some time, intending to read it at some point as it's one of the 'classic' SF books. I told him it's really good so far.

I have the next 2 books in the Hyperion Cantos still lined up on my bookshelf...

A Fellow Reader

For the first time ever, somebody said to me "I'm reading that book too!"

Except at SF conventions, I've rarely met anyone who's read any of the same books as me, never mind at the same time. I was reading the Jonathan Strahan anthology Edge of Infinity on the flight from Dublin when the stewardess checking we were all strapped in saw the book and made the comment.

I think everyone else on the flight was reading various volumes of Game of Thrones!

The End of Barsoom

I really enjoyed the film John Carter when I saw it a year ago, unlike the critics who didn't like it at all apparently. I didn't realise until I watched it that it was based on Edgar Rice Burroughs' Barsoom series, and in fact I was only vaguely aware of the books. I enjoyed the film so much that I got the entire 11 book series in omnibus edition.

 

I started them in December, reading each book individually with other books in between, and finished yesterday, 2500 pages later. I enjoyed all of them immensely, even though the plots started to become predictable. They have barely aged at all, despite being started 100 years ago. Barsoom is a fabulous place, and even though we now know nobody lives on Mars, it doesn't matter. I'm quite sad to have come to the end.

At WorldCon I picked p the omnibus edition of the first 3 volumes of Burroughs' Pellucidar series. I'm hoping they will be just as enjoyable.

Graphic Novels

Having been converted to appreciation of the graphic story form by Murky Depths magazine, I have acquired 2 graphic novels to review for SF Crowsnest. These will be the first I've read since TinTin and Asterix!

Two Magazines

I've read 2 magazines over the past few days:

Jupiter XXIX, with 5 stories, of which I'm undecided as to my favourite. Mike Wood's The Bottle Garden or Rosies Oliver's Agents of Repair.

The latest edition of the BSFA' critical journal Vector also arrived. The theme this time was children's and YA genre fiction. Lots of books were highlighted, none of which I read as a child. I talked about my early reading habits in this post. What were you reading in the old days?

Reading Queue

For Review:

Coming up any day now ill be my reviews of Hard Luck Diggings by Jack Vance and New Model Army by Adam Roberts. I've also read Ted Chiang's Lifecycle of Software Objects and I've just finished Ian R MacLeod's anthology Journeys. Reviews of both of these will be appearing at some point. Lined up next I have Absorption by John Meaney.


Not for Review:

I've recently read Stormqueen! which is one of two remaining Darkover books by Marion Zimmer Bradley that I've not read. It's one of those series that I've been reading on and off for two decades. Just Hawkmistress to track down. Earlier this month I read Patriarch's Hope, David Feintuch's penultimate novel in the Hope saga. Just Children of Hope to get hold of. Last week I read Extro, one of only 2 books by Alfred Bester that I've read. The other was the faboulous classic The Stars My Destination aka Tiger, Tiger. Extro was much more dated, in attitude and stereotyping more than technology. Next up is The Early Asimov, Volume 1, several years after reading volumes 2 & 3, then Jack Vance's Showboat World, one of the few remaining Vance novels I have yet to read. I'm trying to spread them out so there's always another to look forward to.

I really need a bigger bookshelf.

Zooniverse

I read the new issue of Jupiter this week. As usual I enjoyed the whole issue - it seems to be the magazine closest to my taste in short stories. One story in particular stood out though - Gary Budgen's A Clown in Apus. It's a brilliantly clever idea of a CERN-type set-up creating a pocket universe, set in a zoo (there is a reason for that!) The way the author has applied complex physics into a mundane setting is genius.

On the Bookshelf

This week I finished Jonathan Maberry's The Dragon Factory, I've nearly finished the BSFA's survey of SF writers and I've started the new Jack Vance collection Hard-Luck Diggings.

The new issue of Jupiter arrived yesterday, and currently lined up on the bookshelf I have Ted Chiang's first novella-length work The Lifecycle of Software Objects, the new Ian McCleod collection Journeys and Patriarch's Hope, the sixth in David Feintuch's intensely gripping series.

In the post I'm expecting a review copy of Gareth Owens' Fun With Rainbows and my contributor copy of Cat Tales 2.

According to my calculations, all of that will keep me occupied until the end of June. :o)

Reading List

The BSFA Award shortlist has been anounced, and unfortunately I've not read any of the 4 short-listed novels. I don't see how I'll have tome to read them before April either.

I've read Albedo One #37 and Interzone #226 in the past couple of weeks, as well as At All Costs, the latest Honor Harrington book from David Weber. I say latest, but it seems to be 4 years old. It's taken me that long to get round to it. I've now started Colin Harvey's Winter Song and my contributor copy of Galactika finaly arrived today. That won't take long as I can't read Hungarian.

Lined up I have:

Cherie Priests two books Boneshaker and Clementine, which will be my first steampunk novels
The Light Of Other Days by Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter
Hard-Luck Diggings: The Early Jack Vance, one of my favourite authors
Journeys: Stories by Ian R. Macleod, his forthcoming new collection

Favourite Stories of 2009

Yes, it's that time again already. By my count I've read 18 SF magazines and 8 anthologies this year. Most of the anthologised stories were from previous years though. I gave up trying to narrow this list down to a top ten a couple of yeas ago, and this year my list of favourites amounts to 13, presented here in chronological order:



Out Of Time by Jack Westlake – Murky Depths #8

Come-From-Aways by Tony Pi – On-Spec #76

Rescue Stories by Andrew West - Focus Fiction Special

Our Man in Herrje by Andrew Knighton – Jupiter #24

Ghosts in the Machine by Ian Whates – The Gift of Joy

Dusting Tycho by Vera Sepulveda – Jupiter #25

Silence and Roses by Suzanne Palmer – Interzone #223

Sublimation Angels by Jason Sanford – Interzone #224

The Festival of Tethselem by Chris Butler – Interzone #224

Palimpsest by Charles Stross – Wireless

White Wall by Tim Nickels – Midnight Street #13

Funny Pages by Lavie Tidhar – Interzone #225

Radio Man, Frequency Woman by Alex Kurnow – Murky Depths #10

Now Reading

This week I've finished Trevor Denyer's excellent debut collection The Edge of the Country, and read Jupiter XXVI, in which I particularly enjoyed David Conyers' The Octagon.

Today I've started on Paul McCauley's Gardens of the Sun, and after much translatlantic delay, my contributor copy of Pow!erful Tales finally arrived. It's a shiny-looking book with lots of atmospheric pencil drawings to accompany the superhero stories.

Books I’ve read more than once

The 30th anniversary editions of the Hitchhiker trilogy arrived yesterday, some of the few books that I’ve read more than once. There’s always so much else to read I rarely have time for a second reading. Here’s my list of novels I’ve read more than once.



Three Times

The Last Legionary Quartet – Douglas Hill
The Chronicles of Narnia
Lord of the Rings (age 11, 13 & 15)
The Hobbit “
The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy vol. 1-4



Twice

The original 2 Dune trilogies (re-read after reading the prequels)
The original Foundation saga “
Dragonflight – Anne McCaffrey





How about you?

Not Writing

I haven't written any fiction for a week or more. A new job and attempting to finish refurbishing my new house have left me with no time or brain power.

I have managed to finish reading Charles Stross' collection Wireless and written a review for SF Crowsnest. I'm now reading Ray Bradbury's Martian Chronicles - The Complete Edition (750 pages!). Lined up next I have Interzone #224 and Philip Palmer's Red Claw, plus the latest re-issue of the Hitchhiker trilogy (in 5 parts).

Hopefully, normal writing service will resume shortly...