Beth's 2016 Old and New Sci-Fi Classics Challenge

[Beth]

In 2016 I'll be exploring more science fiction:

1899 and earlier
From the Earth to the Moon
The Coming Race
The Island of Dr. Moreau

1900 to 1999
Stranger in a Strange Land
Ringworld
Rendezvous with Rama

My Wild Card Six
The World Treasury of Science Fiction
The Windup Girl
Slow River
Downbelow Station
Gateway
Foundation and Earth

Alternates
To Your Scattered Bodies Go
Red Mars

[Andrea AKA Catsos Person]

Very cool!

[Powder River Rose]

What a great idea. I'll have to remember these. OMGosh, do you like Rama also? I read the series in the....80's...it was a gift from a friend. I had the books for the longest time but now am looking for them in audio. I have the first book from Audible but can't seem to find the others. This was my first and favorite sci-fi...best wishes.

[Laurie]

Great variation on this challenge. I never considered reading only one genre. Might have to give that some thought for 2017. Hope you enjoy your challenge.

[Katy, Quarterly Long Reads]

Ooh! I love this idea! I am going to add some of these to my list to read in 2016. And I'll definitely be checking to see how your challenge goes and what books you recommend.

[Beth]

Thanks, I'd been planning on doing many Hugo/Nebula Award winners as a personal challenge and so I added a few of the older classic science fiction novels to fit in here. Rose, I've actually never read Rama, which is part of the point with my selections :). I was always drawn more to the Fantasy side of SF&F but now want to go back and look at it differently.

[Maarit]

Very nice idea indeed for a challenge, Beth :). I like your choice of books, though I've only read The Island of Dr. Moreau and Rendezvous with Rama from your list, both this year. Both were interesting books. I'm also planning on reading The Windup Girl some time next year, as we own it and I've been planning on reading it quite a while now.

And I'd love to read Stranger in a Strange Land someday, too, but it's one of the few most known Heinlein books that isn't translated in my language (Finnish) at all and it's quite hard to a copy of it in English anywhere around here, too, so it has to wait. But maybe I'll read Starship Troopers next year, as we own it and I'd just need to grab it from the bookshelf and start reading :P :D.

[Powder River Rose]

Beth wrote: "Thanks, I'd been planning on doing many Hugo/Nebula Award winners as a personal challenge and so I added a few of the older classic science fiction novels to fit in here. Rose, I've actually never ..."

hehe it's been so long since I've read the series and I was so excited to see another reading it that I forgot book one is Rendezvous....I was thinking you were on book 4 Rama Revealed. I loved the books. You have a great selection, and I hope you don't mind but I copied your list to my journal just to play with it at some later date. It really is a great spin.

[Bob, Short Story Classics]

Welcome to the challenge, science-fiction is a favorite of mine, I need to read more. By the way, I read A Stranger in a Strange Land this year, very good read. Good Luck!

[Sarah]

Cool list! I love sci-fi so I enjoy seeing other people exploring it too :)

[Adrian]

Hi Beth. As an avid Sci Fi reader I really like your list, some excellent choices, and a few of my all time favourite books.
I tried to avoid naming all Sci Fi in my list, to force myself to read something different, but still ended up with about half. Oh well.
Anyway enjoy your challenge and I look forward to hearing your thoughts on some of the books.

[Beth]

First one - I completed Ringworld.

I really enjoyed this book. The scientific concepts and how they related to the end of the book were intriguing. There was a lot of explaining going on, which may not have been the best story, and some repetition, but I felt I needed it to understand what was going on.

There was a pulp feel to it, completely expected for the publishing data, and the two female characters were the ship's entertainment and lucky ingenue, which, again, was not unusual, but is a bit grating nowadays. The human male protagonist was in many ways the peak of "coolness" for the day but in his inner life was ready to be self aware enough to know he had flaws. The alien species were well considered and presented as developed personalities with viewpoints arising from their backgrounds.

There is no character development of anyone. It's simply an adventure. It reminds me of Cussler's Dirk Pitt novels, which were first published at about the same time, just with a much older race leaving a much larger mystery.

[Pink]

Well done on completing your first book. I don't think I've even heard of that one, but then again my knowledge of science fiction doesn't go much deeper than the most popular and well known. I haven't yet read any books on your list, but I do plan on reading The Island of Dr Moreau with the group next month. Good luck with your next books :)

[Beth]

I read The Island of Dr. Moreau

Wells pulls out the tension and suspense with this novel, although knowing what's coming and being well-steeped in sci-fi/horror does seem to lessen the effect in relation to what a contemporary reader might have felt. It was still enough to give some shudders and definitely enough to appreciate how Wells wrote it to generate the emotional effect.

The book reminded me of Frankenstein, after a fashion, which a quick internet search shows is hardly a new reaction for readers and was probably purposeful. I just find it interesting that it would do so when only the theme - changing nature gone wrong - matches and the details and plot are very different. The narration was more consistent, though, which I appreciated.

Overall the book was a good read.

[Adrian]

Hi Beth. Really interested in your thoughts on The Island of Dr Moreau as its a Wells book I've never read. I must remedy that.
As to Ringworld, it took me 3 goes before I could get into it, but once I did I really enjoyed and have also read a couple of the sequels. Maybe it's time I had a re-read.
Will be interested to see which book you start next.
Was the one you deleted Stranger in a Strange Land ??

[Maarit]

Beth, I think you are missing Stranger in a Strange Land from your list, as I noticed that I've rambled about it in my previous message from last year and I didn't notice it on your list anymore.

[[deleted user]]

you had good laste in book Beth

[Beth]

Yes! Thank you Adrian and Maarit. I got my list back...

And glad you think so Rachid.

[Katy, Quarterly Long Reads]

Beth I just love your list and wait anxiously to read your thoughts as you finish each book.

[Beth]

From the Earth to the Moon

I was expecting action. What I got was a plot wrapped around the science of the day. This isn't a bad thing. It was just unexpected. When I read more about this series - that the actual point and intent was to outline modern science, then that made complete sense. There were definitely still a handful of larger than life characters, big personalities in a way that somewhat reminded me of the legends of Theodore Roosevelt. There was no character development, but it was a story in a sense of a great deed accomplished and I liked it.

One other thing I found interesting as I read it was that a French national wrote a story in which it was the Americans who were accomplishing an engineering marvel, although part way through Verne adds in a Frenchman who brought a crazy amount of inspiration and dream to the project, and then I was even more amused.

[Katy, Quarterly Long Reads]

Sounds like a fun read.

[Leni]

Great challenge! Sci-fi is one of my favourite genres and I'm a bit dismayed that the only book on your list that I've read is Red Mars! Only goes to show that there are a large amount of classic sci-fi out there. Also reminds me that I still have the final book in the Mars trilogy to go, but I'm embroiled in 19th century literature to last me most of the year.

[Darren]

ooh a sci-fi list!
my 2016 queue has quite a few sci-fi/fantasy on it including 7 of these!
re The Coming Race in particular, I have nominated it for April Old School, so feel free to vote for it! ;o)
if it doesn't win, I'll be reading it anyway! :op

[Beth]

I finished Foundation and Earth as part of reading the five books in the series over the last couple months. I didn't really get why the original trilogy was such a big deal (I learned some context in another group) and my opinion wasn't improved by the more recent two books.

Foundation and Earth was a good book and described an interesting search. A lot of things were explained - some of which I couldn't really appreciate to the full extent, not having read much of Asimov's other works.

I liked it and am glad I've read the series but doubt any of them will end up on a personal list of sci-fi classics.

[Darren]

I (re-)read Foundation recently and liked it juuuust enough that I feel I ought to read Foundation And Earth later in 2016...
I read The Coming Race recently too and wasn't that impressed but will be interested to hear what you think...
I'm also planning to read Ringworld, Stranger, Rama and Gateway in 2016 so we have quite a bit of overlap...

[Bob, Short Story Classics]

Your moving along with your challenge. I do envy your selections, I really should read more science fiction, its a favorite.

[Beth]

The Coming Race was more of an imaginary anthropological travel log than a novel. It was odd and didn't particularly appeal to me and was somehow creepy.

But I can definitely believe that it was an unexpected and influential work of its time, as the Goodreads intro claims, and it has some interesting ideas. I just consider it more valuable for its historical place and less for its worth without context.

[Wreade1872]

Beth wrote: "The Coming Race was more of an imaginary anthropological travel log than a novel. It was odd and didn't particularly appeal to me and was somehow creepy.

But I can definitely believ..."

I really liked 1/3 of the Coming Race. It was so funny to me him being terrorized by the small child and later the woman. And his delusions of grandeur and world conquest.
Also just the overall fear of women, trying to keep them happy or they'll get all emotional and destroy the world you know women :$ . So funnily complimentary and insulting at the same time.

[Beth]

Yes, the colonialist attitude goes squish was funny. He spent most of the book talking about how the people were different with different values and how they considered him inferior and then he went off into that fantasy because a young woman showed interest. and it had zero basis in reality.