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2014 Masterworks Reading Challenge
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Rhondak101
Posted 2014-04-02 3:59 PM (#6828 - in reply to #5937)
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Location: SC, USA		Jlk22, You might want to take a look at the Grandmaster Challenge as well. It is a good one to pair with Masterworks. Plus you get to sample many of the big names. Welcome!
Rhonda
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jkl22
Posted 2014-04-02 4:46 PM (#6830 - in reply to #5937)
Subject: RE: 2014 Masterworks Reading Challenge		Quote Reply


Thanks for the welcome and suggestions. I've just read Dune , which I enjoyed, except the mua'd dib part in the middle. I enjoyed the politics and plotting, (House of cards, UK version).

 

 

 

 

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ILikeMaps
Posted 2014-04-02 8:05 PM (#6834 - in reply to #5937)
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jlk22  If you like politics and plotting - then you will love the Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny.  It is on the Fantasy Masterworks list, but don't let that fool you, it is a very different type of fantasy.  I have read it twice, and plan to re-read it again in a couple of years.

One note, the book is really an omnibus of five (small) books combined into one volume.  So it is rather long.

 



Edited by ILikeMaps 2014-04-02 8:07 PM
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justifiedsinner
Posted 2014-04-03 11:33 AM (#6838 - in reply to #5937)
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There does seem to be a fantasy sub-genre involved with Machiavellian maneuvers. Game of Thrones springs to mind.
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EricLandes
Posted 2014-04-03 11:36 AM (#6839 - in reply to #6838)
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justifiedsinner - 2014-04-03 9:33 AM

There does seem to be a fantasy sub-genre involved with Machiavellian maneuvers. Game of Thrones springs to mind.


I've only read one book in the series, but wouldn't Banks' The Culture books qualify as Machiavellian Sci-Fi? Consider Phlebas certainly felt that way.
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justifiedsinner
Posted 2014-04-03 4:28 PM (#6840 - in reply to #5937)
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I would suggest the Culture novels except they are not yet in the Masterworks series.
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Jkl22
Posted 2014-04-04 1:16 PM (#6844 - in reply to #6830)
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Location: Birmingham, England		jkl22 - 2014-04-02 10:46 PM

Thanks for the welcome and suggestions.

I've just read Dune , which I enjoyed, except the mua'd dib part in the middle. I enjoyed the politics and plotting, (House of cards, UK version).

 I've recently read the Foundation Trilogy, Flowers for Algernon and A Clockwork Orange

 My To Be Read List

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Alastair Reynolds

Revelation Space

Redemption Ark

Absolution Gap

Century Rains

 

John  Wyndham

Triffids 

Kraken

Chrysalids

Midwich Cuckoos

Trouble With Lichen

Chocky

 

Philip K. Dick

4 Short Story Collections

 

James Blish 

Cities In Flight

 

Dan Simmons

Hyperion

The Fall of Hyperion

 

Greg Bear

Eon

Eternity

Legacy

Blood Music

Darwin's Radio

 

Ben Bova

Mars

 

Sheri S. Teper

Grass

 

 

 This is the post I should have made, If you could delete the other one, Thanks.

 

 



Edited by Jkl22 2014-04-04 1:22 PM
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Jkl22
Posted 2014-04-07 4:10 PM (#6861 - in reply to #5937)
Subject: Re: 2014 Masterworks Reading Challenge		Quote Reply



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Location: Birmingham, England		So far this year I've read:-http://www.bookclubforum.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/12444-jackm-science-fiction-2014/
PKD
Time out of joint 3/5
Now wait for last year 3/5
Do androids dream of electric sheep 3/5
Ubik 3/5
A maze of death 3/5
Flow my tears, the policeman said 3/5
A scanner darkly 2/5

Anthony Burgess
A clockwork orange 3.5/5

Isaac Asimov
Foundation 3/5
F & E 3/5
SF 2/5

Daniel Keyes
Flowers for algernon 2/5

Frank Herbert
Dune 4/5



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ILikeMaps
Posted 2014-04-08 7:51 PM (#6921 - in reply to #5937)
Subject: RE: 2014 Masterworks Reading Challenge		Quote Reply



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Jkl22

Hope that you enjoy Cities in Flight .  I read it many years ago and remember that I really enjoyed it.  One of these days I am going to read it again, and hope that it is as good as I remember.

 

 



Edited by ILikeMaps 2014-04-08 7:52 PM
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francesashton
Posted 2014-04-20 10:40 AM (#7288 - in reply to #5937)
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Location: Cheshire, England		Cities in Flight is one of those books I always go back to. It's a great read and I've not yet got bored of the idea of whole cities wandering around as they want.

My Masterworks challenge has been put on hold a bit as I've been concentrating on the YA one. However, I'm trying to read Dhalgren by Sam Delaney and to say that I don't understand it would be an understatement. Reading the blurb on the back suggests that I'm probably not supposed to understand it but it's very much hard work, so I might shelve it to go back to later on.

I might move on to The Dispossessed but I don't think I can count it for this challenge as I've read quite a bit of Ursula Le Guin previously, but it's in my TBR pile and in the right livery!
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Deven Science
Posted 2014-04-20 6:44 PM (#7293 - in reply to #7288)
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Location: Sacramento, California		If you haven't previously read The Dispossessed, I'd say you can count it. It doesn't matter how many books you've read from the same author, it's about the classic book itself. Related to that, I'm rereading Dune for the first time in years. So long ago, that it's like it's the first time. BUT! Because I have read it before, I'm not counting it for this challenge. It's supposed to be 12 classics you haven't read.

I read Dhalgren some years ago, and I never quite knew what was going on, and in the end, had to admit that I hated it. Some artists think that being obscure means that it's deep, but it doesn't always. Sometimes it just means it's convoluted and confusing. I've read two Delaney novels, and I didn't like either of them. I've written that author off as not my taste.

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francesashton
Posted 2014-04-22 1:03 PM (#7312 - in reply to #5937)
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Location: Cheshire, England		Thanks Deven, I'll get on to the Dispossessed later on then when I've finished my current book. I must say I'm agreeing with you on the Delany at the moment, though I'm not sure I can make an opinion on only one book of his (partially) read so far. After that I think I'll try Grass (Sherri Tepper) or Sarah Canary (Karen Joy Fowler).
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Dlw28
Posted 2014-04-22 8:22 PM (#7314 - in reply to #7312)
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Grass and SC are such unusual books. Wonderfully written! Both plots have interesting surprises towards the end.

I have Dhalgren on my TBR list... Anyone else read it and can give me an idea of why it's considered a classic??
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francesashton
Posted 2014-04-28 1:49 PM (#7394 - in reply to #5937)
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Location: Cheshire, England		Dhalgren is one of the most frustrating books I've read. I've given it up for now and put it back on my TBR pile (but it's behind an ever-growing pile of 60+ books). It's interesting just incomprehensible in terms of it's basic premises. I sometimes wonder if the reason a lot of books are considered classics are simply because of frustration - "it's difficult to understand therefore it must be good".

On the same sort of subject, I've just given up Lord of Light by Zelazny because it's monumentally boring. Obviously others will find it a riveting read, but not me!

And if you're in the UK and you like the SF Masterworks, Fopp have got a lot of them on 2 for 5. If you can find a Fopp, of course!
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daxxh
Posted 2014-04-28 2:33 PM (#7397 - in reply to #5937)
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Location: Great Lakes, USA		In reply to Dlw28 and francesashton -

I read Dhalgren twice - once when I was 14 and again when I was 18. I thought it was great. Back then, I was into anything sf, and really liked the artsy stuff. Dhalgren starts with the end of a sentence and ends with the beginning of the sentence. It has no real plot. I kept reading to find out about the giant sun and the two moons, but nothing was mentioned about why they were there. There is a lot of sex in the book. Back then, no one talked about homosexuality or anything sex related for that matter (small town in the 1970s), so I got quite the education in that regard. I am lucky my parents didn't pick that one up and read a few pages. I'd have been banned from reading. (I did get a lecture about reading "such garbage" when my mom read a few pages of A Boy and His Dog. Of all the pages she had to pick from, she had to pick that particular page of that particular story... I hid Dhalgren after that.)

Perhaps it's a classic because it has no plot, because it is artsy or because it has topics in it that, to the characters in the book were no big deal, but were a big deal in the real world. I suspect that were I to read it for the first time now, I wouldn't like it as much as I did then.

I tried to read Lord of Light in my twenties and thought the same - boring. I have never gone back to it, even though I know many people who think it's the greatest book written.
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francesashton
Posted 2014-05-01 1:54 PM (#7459 - in reply to #5937)
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Location: Cheshire, England		One of my 2 for a 5 at Fopp books was Philip Dick's A Maze of Death which I've just finished. Now that was a good read - a bit of everything in there and really well written. I'd forgotten how good Dick was, it's that long since I read any.
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Deven Science
Posted 2014-05-02 1:58 PM (#7495 - in reply to #7459)
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Location: Sacramento, California		Interesting. I'm currently reading Dr. Bloodmoney, and I can tell you that for me, it took four books, but I will finally admit that I don't like Dick. I'll finish this one, but I will not read another. He throws everything at the wall, and some cool stuff sticks, but you have to slosh through a lot of nonsense to get to the few good bits.
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Jkl22
Posted 2014-05-09 2:24 PM (#7567 - in reply to #5937)
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Location: Birmingham, England		I'm planning on finishing Cif 3 and then starting Grass this weekend.
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Jkl22
Posted 2014-05-09 2:25 PM (#7568 - in reply to #5937)
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Location: Birmingham, England		I'm planning on finishing Cif 3 and then starting Grass this weekend.
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Dlw28
Posted 2014-05-10 5:52 AM (#7575 - in reply to #5937)
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Let me know what you think about Grass. I remember staying up literally all night to finish it. The atmosphere of the unknown was visceral.

Currently half way through Greg Bear's Eon. Written in 1985 it's a little dated in its politics-but less than you might think!
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Jkl22
Posted 2014-05-10 5:16 PM (#7586 - in reply to #7575)
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Dlw28 - 2014-05-10 11:52 AM Let me know what you think about Grass. I remember staying up literally all night to finish it. The atmosphere of the unknown was visceral. Currently half way through Greg Bear's Eon. Written in 1985 it's a little dated in its politics-but less than you might think!

 I hope I enjoy it as much as you did.

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Badseedgirl
Posted 2014-05-11 7:10 AM (#7589 - in reply to #5937)
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Location: Middle TN, USA		I am getting ready to read Robert Silverberg's Dying Inside and I just put in my interlibrary loan for Tannith Lee's Silver Metal Lover. I have no idea when it will be in.
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dustydigger
Posted 2014-05-11 12:33 PM (#7593 - in reply to #5937)
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Location: UK		I never use interlibrary loans,our library system charges about the equivalent of $15 to get such a book.I may as well get a copy online for about $5! I have had Neil Gaiman's Season of Mists reserved at the library since January and no sign of it,though all the others in the series up to and including book 7 were ordered at the same time,and all came within 6 weeks. Wonder if someone pinched it?
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Badseedgirl
Posted 2014-05-11 8:02 PM (#7597 - in reply to #5937)
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dustydigger
Posted 2014-05-12 12:58 AM (#7602 - in reply to #5937)
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