'Definitive' Science Fiction Reads

[Rinn, (Retired mod) Captain of the SSV Normandy]

Back in November, I hosted an event on my blog called Sci-Fi Month. As part of the event I set myself a challenge: to read the complete list of what I consider to be 'definitive' science fiction reads. I created my own list because I wanted it to include newer sci-fi, as well as some Young Adult books, which many similar lists do not contain.

I've decided to add this as a challenge for anyone in the group who might want to join! Here is the list - you just need to shelf each book under your challenge shelf, and the counter will tell you how many you've read. You can find the official challenge page here.

There is a total of 58 books on the list. This is an ongoing challenge, and counts books you've read BEFORE the start of the challenge - just make sure to add read dates.

[I will add the books as GR links to this thread when I have more time]

[Nara]

Signed up for the challenge :D
I've read all but one in the YA section haha

[Rinn, (Retired mod) Captain of the SSV Normandy]

Yay! And oops, there's actually 58 books... not sure where the other six went ;)

[Trillian]

Hi Rinn, that's a great list. I'm definitely going to participate. It's perfect for this year since I set myself the goal to read more science fiction books. I like the combination of classics and newer books - I'm not so sure about the YA part, because I try to read less young adult books this year ;).

[Rinn, (Retired mod) Captain of the SSV Normandy]

Oh, that's great =D And don't worry, it's not for the year but ongoing - so you could ignore the YA books this year and read them another time, if you wanted =P Or just leave that section out entirely, completely up to you!

[Trillian]

Rinn wrote: "Oh, that's great =D And don't worry, it's not for the year but ongoing - so you could ignore the YA books this year and read them another time, if you wanted =P Or just leave that section out entir..."

Good idea, I'm going to skip the ya part for this year ;) I like that it's ongoing and not only for this year - less stressful.

[Trillian]

btw. I don't know all the books, but is there one with some kind of religious aspect on the list? I have a challenge with monthly topics and for April it's religion and I'm still looking for books to read. I already thought about A Canticle for Leibowitz and I'm going to read The Master and Margarita, but maybe there is another book on the list I haven't thought about.

[Krys]

I'm not sure if I'll join the challenge, however, I will definitely look into this list and pick some out, as I have been wanting to try more sci-fi (I've always been an epic fantasy kinda girl). Though, I have read a few of these at some point in time.

[Freya, Dragon Rider]

Thanks Rinn! I'll be participating in this one too especially as it is an ongoing challenge :) about to take a look at the list... or maybe I'll save it for an extremely dull lecture.... tempting. :P

[Kirsty, Jedi Master]

Is there going to be a listopia for the books?? :D

Great stuff!

[Rinn, (Retired mod) Captain of the SSV Normandy]

The thing about listopias is that anyone can add to them (like someone who isn't even in the book group has added books to our Ultimate Booklist), which kind of makes them confusing for challenges =/

[Kirsty, Jedi Master]

Ah yes... I remember! Sucky you can't make "locked" ones!

[Roger, Knight Radiant]

Agreed I wanted to do something like a listopia for the books in the Forgotten Realms The Sundering series but there is no way to lock it or set a specific order

[[deleted user]]

Whoa, sweet list! I love that you included Michael Crichton. I may not do a challenge per se but I think I'll be reading these, with the exception of the YA stuff.

[Rinn, (Retired mod) Captain of the SSV Normandy]

I've nearly completed the YA section! I need to check which of the classic SF I can get for free on my Kindle.

[Rinn, (Retired mod) Captain of the SSV Normandy]

How are people doing on this challenge so far? :)

[Paul, A wanderer in unknown realms]

I read 13 of the classic but none of the modern or YA. I'll have to work on that

[Roger, Knight Radiant]

I'm not a big science fiction fan so I really haven't checked out the list.

[Rinn, (Retired mod) Captain of the SSV Normandy]

Yeah, I'm planning to read them all (of course) but I'm in no rush - as you said, concentrating on the Avengers vs. X-Men Challenge at the mo :)

[Roger, Knight Radiant]

Can you The Drowned World by itself or do you need to read The Wind from Nowhere first?

[Rinn, (Retired mod) Captain of the SSV Normandy]

I've seen lots of lists with The Drowned World on and no mention of The Wind From Nowhere, so it does look like you can read it as a standalone.

[Nara]

I've read 4 of the newer scifi and 8 of the classic scifi :)
And the YA section- I've read them all except Ultraviolet.

I've had Slaughterhouse Five and Frankenstein on my shelf for ages, but just haven't picked them up for some reason. Should get onto them soon...

[Freya, Dragon Rider]

I've read 5 in total, and I'm not doing so well on X-men vs Avengers either! I need to do a bit of a rethink of books, but I just have no time at the moment :(

[Trillian]

If I remember correctly I started this challenge with nine books read and now I have finished 14. So I read five books for the challenge: so far no young adult book, but four from the classics (20,000 leagues under the sea, a canticle for leibowitz, the lost world & flowers for algernon) and the windup girl from the modern list. I hope to finally cross off a book from YA but I have quite a stressful time at work atm, so I'm not sure when I find some time to read again. But I switched to audiobooks for my daily commute :-) maybe that helps.

[Rinn, (Retired mod) Captain of the SSV Normandy]

I've never gotten on with audiobooks for some reason - but to be honest, I haven't given them much of a try. I think the right narrator could turn me around :D

[Paul, A wanderer in unknown realms]

The most appealing draw to audiobooks ive heard is Stephen Fry doing the Harry Potter books. If that doesnt appeal nothing will.

[Freya, Dragon Rider]

Stephen Fry reading anything is amazing :)

Listening to the Audiobook for A Scanner Darkly, and I am not sure about the narrator which might be why I still have a little bit to listen to!

[Trillian]

I'm making slow progress - especially in the young adult category, but there are some really great books on that list. I especially enjoyed Flowers for Algernon, which was one of the best books I read last year. And I recently finished Hyperion and immediately started with the second one.

Unfortunately I stopped listening to audiobooks a few months ago. I definitely need to start with them again.

[Rinn, (Retired mod) Captain of the SSV Normandy]

There's no need to rush, it's a lifetime challenge ;)

[Trillian]

I know, but there are a lot of good books on the list, I really want to read :-)
unfortunately I have so little time to read and bow when the weather gets better even less :-) But I bought The Road by McCarthy to start with audiobooks again tomorrow morning and use the time in bus.

[Tawallah]

Decided to beef up on reading sci fi and fantasy. Aiming for 40 after all, it ends in 2034. Luckily I've read a few since 2014. Will have to do a few re-reads however.

[Freya, Dragon Rider]

Good plan! I haven't checked how I'm doing against this for a while :)