Comments | lolaraincoat: by popular request

lolaraincoat

by popular request

Aug 15, 2011 17:51

Following up on the NPR meme, a couple of you asked what my top 100 SF books would be, and since I can't ever answer a simple question straightforwardly, here's a list of SF-ish stories, books and series of books which I love, alphabetically by author because ranking seemed ridiculous ( Read more... )

science fiction

Comments 18

goseaward August 16 2011, 00:52:13 UTC

I just started The City & The City (my first Miéville) and oh my God. :D

I am also totally impressed that you could put together 100 in a day! *boggle*

lolaraincoat August 16 2011, 01:00:30 UTC

It isn't 100! It's somewhere around 75! Unless you count all the novels in all the series separately, in which case it would be more like 300, I think.

I'm glad you're liking The City & the City. I loved it. It gets better as it twists its way along, too, so I'll be interested to see what you say about it once you've finished it. I think that and Embassytown are my favorites of his, although the others are all pretty great. Except Iron Council, which disappointed me as a conclusion to that amazing trilogy. Although it had its moments too ... hmmm, maybe I should re-read it ...

fledgist August 16 2011, 11:42:08 UTC

I haven't been able to get into Miéville (creo que el accento agudo tiene la culpa). My older son loves his work.

goseaward August 16 2011, 20:47:39 UTC

So I sort of...finished it a little while ago (what can I say, it was engrossing :D). I have to say I liked the ending less than the beginning--I felt it got more predictable as it went along, and while I didn't have the whole thing together I did figure out the whodunnit before the reveal, when I thought at the beginning it was going to be rather more nuanced than a whodunnit, if you know what I mean? But I still liked it quite a bit, and the prose was gorgeous, and I'll be seeking out more of his work. :)

pir8fancier August 16 2011, 00:56:02 UTC

Thank you!

lolaraincoat August 16 2011, 01:03:45 UTC

You're welcome! Now you try it!

... and actually if you were to post a top-40 (or top-100 or top-whatever) list of mysteries, that would be great too ... I'm just saying ...

pir8fancier August 16 2011, 02:24:04 UTC

Yes, I could do mysteries...

elgoose August 16 2011, 01:38:38 UTC

This is very interesting. If my memory wasn't so screwed up by mental illness and general lack of attentiveness, I might be able to come up with a list, too. But it is, so it's unlikely. But thank you for sharing yours. I like it.

lolaraincoat August 16 2011, 01:41:36 UTC

Aw, you are very welcome! And you don't have to do a list at all. I had fun making up this one - if it's not fun, why do it?

ellid August 16 2011, 02:14:04 UTC

I reread Zenna Henderson a few years ago and am delighted to report that they *are* good (one or two were nominated for Hugos) and they *do* hold up. So there you have it :)

lolaraincoat August 16 2011, 03:12:19 UTC

Oh, yay! that is a relief. I wonder if they're available for the kindle ...

fledgist August 16 2011, 11:43:47 UTC

That's a good question. The answer is no. I just checked.

lolaraincoat August 19 2011, 00:54:21 UTC

Bummer. So much is not on Kindle. And even less is legally available for Kindle in Canada.

(The comment has been removed)

lolaraincoat August 16 2011, 03:15:27 UTC

Well, I love Dust a whole lot.

And it's another one where I'm eager to see the sequel! Which, come to think of it ...huh. What is it about genre fiction that lends itself to serial formats?