Science Fiction Challenge, 2011 -- COMPLETE!
There are three options to complete this challenge.
Light Challenge: Read one novel in 5 out of the 10 categories in Parts A-C and read one novel in 3 out of the 5 categories in Part D. A maximum of 3 titles may double-qualify. (Total of 15-18 titles)
Regular Challenge: Read one novel in all 35 categories in Parts A-D. A maximum of 5 titles may double-qualify. (Total of 30-35 titles)
Expanded Challenge: Read one novel in all 35 categories in Parts A-D; expand one category in each Part to five novels, each from a different decade. A maximum of 6 titles may double-qualify. (Total of 45-51 titles)
The categories are:
Part A: Subgenre Challenges
1. Biopunk
2. Graphic Novel
3. Meta-SF
4. Mundane SF
5. New Wave: The Dispossessed, by Ursula K. Le Guin. Completed 11/19/11.
6. Pulp SF
7. Second Contact: Embassytown, by China Miéville. Completed 6/25/11. ( Review)
8. SF Comedy: The Atrocity Archives, by Charles Stross. Completed 12/21/11.
9. SF Mystery: Remains, by Mark W. Tiedemann. Completed 2/12/11. ( Review)
10. SF Romance: Jaran, by Kate Elliott. Completed 12/7/11.
Part B: Topic Challenges
1. SF dealing with a big dumb object: Ringworld, by Larry Niven. Completed 8/15/11.
2. SF dealing with climate change
3. SF dealing with gender roles: Commitment Hour, by James Alan Gardner. Completed 6/26/11. ( Review)
4. SF dealing with (and set on/under) an ocean
5. SF dealing with race: Fledgling, by Octavia E. Butler. Completed 3/15/11. ( Review)
6. SF dealing with religion
7. SF dealing with robots/artificial intelligence: Chill, by Elizabeth Bear. Completed 12/28/11. ( Review)
8. SF dealing with a secret history: Nell Gwynne's Scarlet Spy, by Kage Baker. Completed 1/23/11.
9. SF dealing with the singularity
10. SF that ties in with some other medium (i.e. a movie, TV series, video game, etc.)
Part C: Award Challenges
1. Work that has won the Arthur C. Clarke Award or the BSFA Award
2. Work that has won the Aurora Award: Passion Play, by Sean Stewart. Completed 5/17/11. ( Review)
3. Work that has won the Gaylactic Spectrum Award or the Lambda Literary Award: Ammonite, by Nicola Griffith. Completed 8/22/11. ( Review)
4. Work that has won the Kurd Lasswitz Preis
5. Work that has won the Prometheus Award: The Dispossessed, by Ursula K. Le Guin. Completed 11/19/11.
6. Work that has won the Seiun Award
7. Work that was a runner-up for the Hugo Award: Old Man's War, by John Scalzi. Completed 10/8/11.
8. Work that was a runner-up for the Nebula Award
9. Work that is on the Banned Books list or that is on the 1,001 Books You Must Read Before You Die list.
10. Work that is on the Locus Recommended Reading List for 2010: Yarn, by Jon Armstrong. Completed 3/9/11. ( Review)
Part D: Miscellaneous Challenges
1. Themed anthology
2. Fix-up novel: A Canticle for Leibowitz, by Walter M. Miller. Completed 12/27/11.
3. Read a novel by an author known for his/her short stories
4. Read a non-SF novel by a genre author: The Steep Approach to Garbadale, by Iain Banks. In progress.
5. Read a non-fiction work related to the genre: The Vorkosigan Companion, ed. by Lillian Stewart Carl & John Helfers. Completed 1/27/11.