Comments | icepixie: Lists

icepixie

Lists

Aug 15, 2011 16:51

Crazy link of the day: the mimic octopus. I'm a little scared of anything that smart that isn't human.

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The NPR Sci-Fi/Fantasy list. Less because it's a good list (it isn't) and more for lack of much better to do.

( 100 books, with commentary )

amusements on the intertubes, meme

Comments 6

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icepixie August 16 2011, 05:18:15 UTC

I don't really mind that they left YA off (not a fan myself), but some of the missing non-YA novels are criminal. Plus they really didn't need umpteen Gaiman, Bradbury, Heinlein, and Stephenson novels on there.

I think I've read everything you've italicized, and I can definitely recommend them!

\o/

asinpterodactyl August 19 2011, 16:30:46 UTC

I heard that they left off YA novels because they're planning to do a separate YA-only list soon.

singer_shaper August 16 2011, 01:32:16 UTC

I feel like a terrible sci-fi fan for not having read the majority of this list. On the other hand, I would highly recommend the Foundation trilogy and the prequels even if you didn't care for Asimov's prose in "I, Robot." Hari Seldon is a fun character to read.

icepixie August 16 2011, 05:21:53 UTC

I feel like a terrible sci-fi fan for not having read the majority of this list.

I wouldn't. There's better stuff out there, first of all, and I think a few of these novels are on here because of their impact way before we were old enough to read, and the same concepts have been done with better writing, or with a more modern sensibility, or otherwise have either been improved upon or had what was groundbreaking about them absorbed into the genre to the point where the original feels passe.

I may have tried a Foundation novel at some point. Asimov, though...I can handle him in very short bursts, but I think I'd shoot myself if I had to read a whole novel's worth of him. :(

asinpterodactyl August 19 2011, 16:38:18 UTC

18. The Kingkiller Chronicles, by Patrick Rothfuss
Why is this on here? There's been one book released! And the book wasn't even that good!

There's actually two books in the series so far (the second one is called "The Wise Man's Fear"). Many of my friends are absolutely gaga for Rothfuss, but I can't seem to get into him. I read "The Name of the Wind", and I thought it was... okay. Not great, but entertaining and technically well-written.

74. Old Man's War, by John Scalzi
I've heard nothing but good.
It's good, but it's not his best work. My favorite of his is The Android's Dream, with close runners-up being Agent to the Stars and Fuzzy Nation.

97. Doomsday Book, by Connie Willis
Still my second-favorite of hers, after Passage.
Really? I'm a huge Connie Willis fan, but you've just named the two books of hers that I like the least. Have you read her other books? I especially recommend To Say Nothing of the Dog and Inside Job. (Oh! And if you haven't already, you must read her short story "The Soul Selects Its Own Society". It's ( ... )

icepixie August 19 2011, 18:27:00 UTC

Many of my friends are absolutely gaga for Rothfuss, but I can't seem to get into him. I read "The Name of the Wind", and I thought it was... okay. Not great, but entertaining and technically well-written.

It seems half the internet is crazy about him, but I also don't get the appeal. I didn't finish The Name of the Wind, but perhaps I was just not in the right headspace at the time.

It's good, but it's not his best work. My favorite of his is The Android's Dream, with close runners-up being Agent to the Stars and Fuzzy Nation.

I haven't read anything by him, so I must check some of these out at some point.

Have you read her other books?

Yep. I've read...just about everything she's ever written. I think I might be missing two or three short stories, but I've definitely read all her novels. I actually used "The Soul Selects Her Own Society" in my sci-fi class. I long ago accepted that my tastes diverge completely with those of other Willis fans; I just prefer her depressing stories, and Passage is one of the most haunting ( ... )