SFBK reading plan

OK, this may seem a little geeky (and why not), but I have been analysing our reading list to date. The books that we have read so far (including the three planned for the next few sessions) are as follows:


Date - Title - Author - Awards - Genre - Year
Jul-07 - Dune - Frank Herbert - Hugo/Nebula - SF - 1965
Aug-07 - break / film evening
Sep-07 - Foundation - Isaac Asimov - - SF - 1951
Oct-07 - 2001: a Space Odyssey - Arthur C Clarke - - SF - 1968
Nov-07 - The Swarm - Frank Schatzing - - SF - 2004
Dec-07 - break / film evening

Jan-08 - Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card - Hugo/Nebula - SF - 1985

Feb-08 - Mortal Engines - Philip Reeve - - SF - 2001

Mar-08 - American Gods - Neil Gaiman - Hugo/Nebula - Fantasy - 2001
Apr-08 - The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams - - SF - 1979
May-08 - Revelation Space - Alastair Reynolds - - SF - 2000
Jun-08 - Coalescent - Stephen Baxter - - SF - 2003
Jul-08 - Kethani - Eric Brown - - SF - 2008
Aug-08 - break / film evening
Sep-08 - The Road - Cormac McCarthy - Pulitzer - SF - 2006
Oct-08 - Troll Fell - Katherine Langrish - - Fantasy - 2004
Nov-08 - The Skylark of Space - EE Doc Smith - - SF - 1920

Dec-08 - break / film evening

Jan-09 - 1984 - George Orwell - - SF - 1949

Feb-09 - The Player of Games - Iain M Banks - - SF - 1988

Mar-09 - Star Trek Destiny - Gods of Night - David Mack - - SF - 2008

Apr-09 - Speed of Dark - Elizabeth Moon - Nebula - SF - 2002

May-09 - Startide Rising - David Brin - Hugo/Nebula - SF - 1983

Jun-09 - The Many-Coloured Land - Julian May - - SF - 1981

Jul-09 - Powers - Ursula Le Guin - Nebula - Fantasy - 2007
Aug-09 - break / film evening
Sep-09 - The Yiddish Policemen's Union - Michael Chabon - Hugo/Nebula - SF - 2007
Oct-09 - Rainbow's End - Vernor Vinge - Hugo - SF - 2006
Nov-09 - Timescape - Gregory Benford - Nebula - SF - 1980
Dec-09 - break / film evening
Jan-10 - The Dreaming Tree - C.J. Cherryh - - Fantasy - 1997
Feb-10 - The Fountains of Paradise - Arthur C Clark - Hugo/Nebula - SF - 1979
Mar-10 - Tales from Moomin Valley - Tove Jannson - - Fantasy - 1962

Apr-10 - Starship Troopers - Robert Heinlein - Hugo - SF - 1959

May-10 - The Forever War - Joe Haldeman - Hugo/Nebula - SF - 1974

Jun-10 - The City & The City - China Mieville - BSFA - SF/Fantasy - 2009
Jul-10 - Guards! Guards! - Terry Pratchett - - Fantasy - 1989
Aug-10 - break / film evening
Sep-10 - Anathem - Neal Stephenson - Hugo - SF - 2008
Oct-10 - The Stars My destination - Alfred Bester - - SF - 1956
(if only blogger supported tables!)
 
Quite early on we realised that our reading of SF was quite firmly (and ironically) stuck in the past, so we made a conscious effort to get more up to date. I think that we have achieved this:
 

If we look at how the decades pan out, post-millennium fiction has been well represented, but there is a curious gap in the 90’s.

I have been keeping a list of suggested books to read from various sources (please keep them coming in), which are (in no particular order other than publication date):

Title - Author - Awards - Genre - Year
The Island of Dr Moreau - HG Wells - SF - 1896
The King of Elfland's Daughter - Lord Dunsay - Fantasy - 1924
At the Mountains of Madness - HP Lovecraft - Fantasy - 1936
Titus Groan - Mervyn Peake - Fantasy - 1946
The Stars My destination - Alfred Bester - SF - 1956
The Midwich Cuckoos - John Wyndham - SF - 1957
Ubik - Phillip K Dick - SF - 1969
Ringworld - Larry Niven - Hugo/Nebula - SF - 1970
The 1st Book of Lankhmar - Fritz Leiber - Fantasy - 1971
Neuromancer - William Gibson - Hugo/Nebula - SF - 1984
Blood Music - Greg Bear - SF - 1985
The Dragonbone Chair - Tad Williams - Fantasy - 1988
Guards! Guards! - Terry Pratchett - Fantasy - 1989
Red Mars - Kim Stanley Robinson - Nebula/BSFA - SF - 1992
The Wind Singer - William Nicholson - Fantasy - 2000
Artemis Fowl - Eoin Colfer - SF/Fantasy - 2001
The End of Mr Y - Scarlett Thomas - Fantasy - 2007
Anathem - Neal Stephenson - Hugo - SF - 2008
The Windup Girl - Paolo Bacigalupi - Nebula - SF - 2009
Yellow Blue Tibia - Adam Roberts - SF - 2009

Which still leaves a bit of a gap in the previous decade:

Did anything else good get released in the 90’s?

We have also decided to try and include more fantasy in the reading list. So far we have read 26 SF, 6 fantasy and 1 borderline. The planned reading list is a little more balanced.

You may note that there are no Dark Fantasy books in the list (Twilight, etc). Having consulted with my eldest daughter, who has read quite a few of this currently popular genre, she suggested that as none of us were teenage girls, we may not fully appreciate them. If the feeling in the group is that we explore this particular zeitgeist then we can add some to the list (as long as I don’t have to read it on the train...)

So, in conclusion, I think we are achieving our goal of exploring what is good in SF both past and present, and are on track to do the same with fantasy as well. Comments on a postcard please.