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| This is this years's thread.
Saw the suggestion about all 25 awards as a reading level. Might be a bit much. What do other people think? |
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| Hi justified - I'm in this one this year and yes 25 is a bit much and for me probably challenging to hit. That said, I may just have a crack at it anyway.
For the 12 in 12 I'm going to start off with Hugo winner 'The Three-Body Problem' by Cixin Liu. For me, it seems like the premise is almost like what I imagine 'classic' Sci-Fi to be and a nice revisiting of First Contact. I'll review every book read this year and I do feel pretty excited and positive that this one is a good one to start off with. |
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Location: New Zealand | Hi Justified
Glad to see this you are bringing this one back again. Doing one book for each award in the database sounds like fun. I'd do it. |
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| Okay - since I'm only allowed 4 levels I'm going to drop the lowest one. |
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| Great Justified - I'm going for the 25 then! Can't wait! |
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| Increased the top number to 26 to include the new Tiptree Award listing. |
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| Excellent stuff, Justified, going to go for it! |
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Location: Atlanta, GA | My first RYO challenge!!
I have been holding out on joining a challenge since I feel my reading speed pretty much sucks. But what the heck. I'll give it a go! And quickly getting through Joyce Carol Oates' Zombie didn't hurt either! I'm always leaning toward reading award winning books, so this challenge seem to be a great fit for my first one.
Happy reading!
Kristi |
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| Good for you Kristi! The cool thing about the challenges are the Reading levels, which of course you can change if you find you are reading more or less. Every year I am conscious that I want to sign up for lots of challenges but can really only devote to one.. Please let us know how you get on! |
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Location: Atlanta, GA | Will do! Thanks for the support!  |
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| Welcome Kristi and good luck! |
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| (Just over) one month in and I'm already behind schedule - whoops! However there is plenty of time to get back on track and I've had some hefty non-challenge reads this month. I finished Cixin Liu's 'The Three-Body Problem' today. I'll put a review up on site probably tomorrow but I have mixed thoughts on the book - some elements were excellent, yet a lot of the hard SF was just 'science-babble' for me.
12 in 12 Challenge 2016
The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu (Hugo winner) 2.5 / 5 |
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| I finished Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer this afternoon and have to say it's a great book, I'll definitely put a review up soon (still, haven't done one for 'Three-Body' yet!) I'm still not sure what the book was about but I definitely want to read the rest of the trilogy. It's a psychological horror sci-fi book which is almost Lovecraftian in it's depth. A background of an ecological disaster and an expedition into the danger zone only goes some way to understanding this. VanderMeer has a wonderful imagination and conveys it with his writing. Really enjoyed this one.
Ann Leckie's Ancillary Sword next which should be fun as I quite enjoyed Ancillary Justice.
12 in 12 Challenge 2016
The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu (Hugo winner) 2.5 / 5
Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer (Nebula / Shirley Jackson winner) 4.5 / 5 |
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Location: Atlanta, GA | I finished Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke last night. One of those books it seems everyone else on this planet has read but me! A good quick read - even for a slow reader like me. I can see why it is on all those lists. It was and engaging ride that left me with questions that didn't bother me. A true classic that all fans of SF should read. |
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| Cool Kristi - haven't read that one and it's great to see it's a thumbs up from you! |
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| I finished Ancillary Sword today. I was a little bit disappointed with it to be honest, particularly as I thought Ancillary Justice was fantastic. I enjoy the world building and development but one could almost sleep through this novel. Not a lot happens in the book really. I read a review on Goodreads that suggested this was Downton Abbey in space and whilst this may be a little unkind I can see where the reviewer was coming from. I'm still with the series and would like to read Ancillary Mercy but I wasn't particularly overawed.
12 in 12 Challenge 2016
The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu (Hugo winner) 2.5 / 5
Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer (Nebula / Shirley Jackson winner) 4.5 / 5
Ancillary Sword by Ann Leckie (BSFA / Locus SF winner) 3 / 5 |
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| I finished 'Tales From Rugosa Coven' by Sarah Avery today. The book is a series of interlinked novellas based on a coven of modern day witches based in New Jersey. After a shaky start where I thought I wouldn't enjoy the book I really got into the end of the first novella before really enjoying the second and third novellas. I really liked the characterisation as the witches all seemed very real people, with very real problems (and a fair few magical ones). I really have to like characters to enjoy a novel and if I'm being honest quite a few of the characters weren't particularly likeable, but this is where I think Avery has done a good job, they are really well developed and authentic, so despite not 'liking' or identifying with a few characters I could really enjoy them. Avery has really done her research and has presented a world where paganism is a little more accepted and magic is real whilst firmly being rooted in today. I've been very sceptical in older years and this book has made me interested in all the estoric things I read about in my teens. Very pleasantly surprised by this.
12 in 12 Challenge 2016
The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu (Hugo winner) 2.5 / 5
Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer (Nebula / Shirley Jackson winner) 4.5 / 5
Ancillary Sword by Ann Leckie (BSFA / Locus SF winner) 3 / 5
Tales From Rugosa Coven by Sarah Avery (Mythopoeic winner) 4 / 5 |
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| I've finished reading 'Redshirts' by John Scalzi today which is another double award winner (Hugo / Locus SF). Many reviews go into detail about what the book is about and I think I am going to find it hard to review without spoilers but I will say I found it very funny, very clever with a couple of significant plot twists which take the book in different directions. It is a light read and one needs to switch their brain off a little to follow the logic of the book but that doesn't denigrate from one's enjoyment. It's funny and quirky and very 'meta'. I'm keen to read more of Scalzi after this.
12 in 12 Challenge 2016
The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu (Hugo winner) 2.5 / 5
Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer (Nebula / Shirley Jackson winner) 4.5 / 5
Ancillary Sword by Ann Leckie (BSFA / Locus SF winner) 3 / 5
Tales From Rugosa Coven by Sarah Avery (Mythopoeic winner) 4 / 5
Redshirts by John Scalzi (Hugo / Locus SF winner) 4 / 5 |
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| Updated the top level to 27 in order to include the Aurora Award. The finish line keeps getting further and further away. |
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| One more to the list. We've just hit March and I'm 5 books in so just about on target. Currently reading 'No one gets out alive' by Adam Nevill and it's amazing - one problem is the 650 pages length! Going to be interesting to see if I can stay the pace, particularly with the non-genre stuff I like to read! |
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| 'No One Gets Out Alive' is my favourite book this year. From the first page the reader is thrust into a 'haunted house' novel and it is relentless, over nearly 650 pages. It is so much more than a Ghost story, indeed ghosts are the least of the protagonists problems. It captures the desperation and desolation of working class young people in the UK with no options. It captures perfectly the psychology of the slum lord and the psychopath. Frightening, chilling and malevolent. Not a pleasant read but a gripping one - loved it.
12 in 12 Challenge 2016
The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu (Hugo winner) 2.5 / 5
Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer (Nebula / Shirley Jackson winner) 4.5 / 5
Ancillary Sword by Ann Leckie (BSFA / Locus SF winner) 3 / 5
Tales From Rugosa Coven by Sarah Avery (Mythopoeic winner) 4 / 5
Redshirts by John Scalzi (Hugo / Locus SF winner) 4 / 5
No One Gets Out Alive (August Derleth winner) 5 / 5 |
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Location: Atlanta, GA | I'll have to add that to my reading list. I love a good horror novel. Thanks for the tip! |
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| Well it gets a big thumbs up from me Kristi - I did notice there are only two ratings on here. One person gave it 0.5 stars and I've given 5 stars so it's clearly one that may divide opinion. I've stuck a review up on the main site. |
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Location: Atlanta, GA | Cherie Priest's 'Boneshaker' is now completed! Fairly fun ride into a zombie filled steampunkish world. I'll definitely be reading more in the series in the future.
3 books down for the challenge! |
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| Sounds good Kristi, had my eye on this for a while but never got round to picking it up. |
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| I think over the next week or so I'm going to have some deja vu in my reading. For my book group at work I've just read 'Life After Life' by Kate Atkinson about a woman who after every time she dies starts her life again.... The next book I'd identified for this challenge which I'll probably start tomorrow is 'The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August' by Claire North about a boy who relives his life over and over again. Uncanny and unplanned really to read two books with such a niche concept back to back - what a coincidence! |
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Location: New Zealand | That's funny, Bazhsw, as I did exactly the same thing last year, but the other way around. I read The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August, followed by Life After Life. |
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Location: Atlanta, GA | Wow. I just finished my 4th book - Rudy Rucker's 'Software'. I think this challenge is really pushing me to read faster than I have before. I may even increase my leading list to 9 or join another challenge if I can keep up this pace. My next book is the classic "The Left Hand of Darkness". |
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| I'll be keen to hear what you think of 'Left Hand of Darkness' Krisit - it's been on my to read list for so very long. Glad to see you are enjoying the challenge. |
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| 'The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August' finished today. It's weird because I read 'Life After Life' immediately before it which deals with similar themes - in fact the main premise is virtually identical. It's weird because we're discussing the Kate Atkinson book on Monday in my book group and I want to discuss the Claire North book instead. I think Atkinson's book is more 'literary' whilst North's book is the better one as there seemed to be more direction in where the book was going. Will put a review up in the next week or so (as an aside I'm finding myself getting jaded with reviewing books on goodreads and on here - I think I need to get a bit more sparkle going to motivate me).
As for the challenge at the end of Quarter 1 I am just about on schedule so the 27 books for the year is still on!
12 in 12 Challenge 2016
The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu (Hugo winner) 2.5 / 5
Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer (Nebula / Shirley Jackson winner) 4.5 / 5
Ancillary Sword by Ann Leckie (BSFA / Locus SF winner) 3 / 5
Tales From Rugosa Coven by Sarah Avery (Mythopoeic winner) 4 / 5
Redshirts by John Scalzi (Hugo / Locus SF winner) 4 / 5
No One Gets Out Alive by Adam Nevill (August Derleth winner) 5 / 5
The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North (John Campbell winner) 4/5 |
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Location: Atlanta, GA | Just finished the classic "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula Le Guin. What a great read. Adventure, politics, love, all wrapped up in an excellently spun tale that had me shivering from the cold climate of the host world. A must read for any SF fan for sure.
On to "The Yiddish Policeman's Union" to finish out my challenge! |
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| So, I have been struggling a bit with this challenge. I've had some really long reads recently for my 'physical space' book group. That's been compounded with pretty much every other book I read these days being quite long. David Mitchell's 'The Bone Clocks' is no exception. I really enjoyed 'The Bone Clocks' - at times Mitchell's writing is wonderful, his characters are really strong and there is loads going on. Really enjoyed this one.
12 in 12 Challenge 2016
The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu (Hugo winner) 2.5 / 5
Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer (Nebula / Shirley Jackson winner) 4.5 / 5
Ancillary Sword by Ann Leckie (BSFA / Locus SF winner) 3 / 5
Tales From Rugosa Coven by Sarah Avery (Mythopoeic winner) 4 / 5
Redshirts by John Scalzi (Hugo / Locus SF winner) 4 / 5
No One Gets Out Alive by Adam Nevill (August Derleth winner) 5 / 5
The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North (John Campbell winner) 4/5
The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell (British Fantasy Award) 4.5 / 5 |
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| Well, we are nearly half way through the year and my progress has been slow to read a winner from every award this year. Nevertheless I am going to keep on going. Could do with a couple of 300 page novels to help me out a bit! I've finished 'The Goblin Emperor' in the last few days. It's quite a departure from the fantasy I normally read with a central character I really liked.
12 in 12 Challenge 2016
The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu (Hugo winner) 2.5 / 5
Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer (Nebula / Shirley Jackson winner) 4.5 / 5
Ancillary Sword by Ann Leckie (BSFA / Locus SF winner) 3 / 5
Tales From Rugosa Coven by Sarah Avery (Mythopoeic winner) 4 / 5
Redshirts by John Scalzi (Hugo / Locus SF winner) 4 / 5
No One Gets Out Alive by Adam Nevill (August Derleth winner) 5 / 5
The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North (John Campbell winner) 4/5
The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell (British Fantasy Award winner) 4.5 / 5
The Goblin Emperor (Locus Fantasy winner) 4 / 5 |
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Location: Atlanta, GA | Finished my 6th book and completed my challenge! Michael Chabon's "The Yiddish Policeman's Union" was a great read. His writing style is just excellent. There were so many lines of text that I wanted to extract and implant in my brain to use at a later date. Not a classic SF tale as many have stated, but still a pleasure to me.
Now on to my other challenges! |
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| Hey all! Just joined the challenge. I wasn't going to do it this year because I figured I had enough reading on my plate, but I realized that I had already read quite a few award winners this year and I thought, what the hell. I don't know if I'm actually going to do the super-master level or not, but I needed the space because I decided to add any award winners I have read or intended to read in existing reading challenges. But, some of those other challenges will continue into mid-2017, so I doubt that all of those options will get finished before the end of the year, and I'll likely edit it back down to the twelve books I've actually read at that point. A lot of these books cross over with the SF Masterworks list, so that's why I've finished quite a few of them, and I intend to finally read A Song of Ice and Fire this year, so that takes care of four, maybe five slots already (if I get around to A Dance with Dragons by the end of the year). Anyway, nice to meet you all and I hope to discuss some great books! |
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| Great to have you onboard Sable, please let us know how you get on! |
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| Welcome. I'm only aiming at 12 myself. 27 is a little too daunting. |
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| Back to some genre reading and I rattled off Influx by Daniel Suarez this week. Cracking read, thought I wouldn't like it at first as it seemed a little too 'hard sci-fi' nut I stayed with it. Excellent winner for the Prometheus award too as it explores themes such as who can control technology and information, whether we need 'protecting for our own good', whether consciousness can exist without free will. It explores whether Artificial Intelligence can be truly sentient and have feelings and make moral choices. On top of that it is a fast paced tech-thriller set in a near-future with plenty of explosions! Really enjoyed this one.
12 in 12 Challenge 2016
The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu (Hugo winner) 2.5 / 5
Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer (Nebula / Shirley Jackson winner) 4.5 / 5
Ancillary Sword by Ann Leckie (BSFA / Locus SF winner) 3 / 5
Tales From Rugosa Coven by Sarah Avery (Mythopoeic winner) 4 / 5
Redshirts by John Scalzi (Hugo / Locus SF winner) 4 / 5
No One Gets Out Alive by Adam Nevill (August Derleth winner) 5 / 5
The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North (John Campbell winner) 4/5
The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell (British Fantasy Award winner) 4.5 / 5
The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison (Locus Fantasy winner) 4 / 5
Influx by Daniel Suarez (Prometheus winner) 4.5 / 5 |
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| I knocked out 'The Memory Garden' by Mary Rickert over the last few days. I quite enjoyed it, it was like eating a nice meal or sitting in a garden on a summer's day. Like sitting around doing nothing all day it was very pleasant but without too much meaning or depth. The book sucks the reader in gently, has a nice conclusion and I enjoyed it - just not a lot of 'wow' factor.
12 in 12 Challenge 2016
The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu (Hugo winner) 2.5 / 5
Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer (Nebula / Shirley Jackson winner) 4.5 / 5
Ancillary Sword by Ann Leckie (BSFA / Locus SF winner) 3 / 5
Tales From Rugosa Coven by Sarah Avery (Mythopoeic winner) 4 / 5
Redshirts by John Scalzi (Hugo / Locus SF winner) 4 / 5
No One Gets Out Alive by Adam Nevill (August Derleth winner) 5 / 5
The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North (John Campbell winner) 4/5
The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell (British Fantasy Award winner) 4.5 / 5
The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison (Locus Fantasy winner) 4 / 5
Influx by Daniel Suarez (Prometheus winner) 4.5 / 5
The Memory Garden by Mary Rickert (Locus First Novel) 3.5 / 5 |
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| Well, there is a month of reading I will never get back..... I finished the Aurora winner 'A Turn Of Light' this morning. Really not my kind if book, weighing in at over 800 pages it's clear the author put in every possible detail they'd thought of in but the book definitely needed re-editing. First 100 pages were a confused mess, not an awful lot happens in the book and the lead character is stupid and annoying....
12 in 12 Challenge 2016
The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu (Hugo winner) 2.5 / 5
Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer (Nebula / Shirley Jackson winner) 4.5 / 5
Ancillary Sword by Ann Leckie (BSFA / Locus SF winner) 3 / 5
Tales From Rugosa Coven by Sarah Avery (Mythopoeic winner) 4 / 5
Redshirts by John Scalzi (Hugo / Locus SF winner) 4 / 5
No One Gets Out Alive by Adam Nevill (August Derleth winner) 5 / 5
The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North (John Campbell winner) 4/5
The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell (British Fantasy Award winner) 4.5 / 5
The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison (Locus Fantasy winner) 4 / 5
Influx by Daniel Suarez (Prometheus winner) 4.5 / 5
The Memory Garden by Mary Rickert (Locus First Novel winner) 3.5 / 5
A Turn Of Light by Julie Czerneda (Aurora winner) 1.5 / 5
Edited by bazhsw 2016-08-28 2:43 AM
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| I read 'The Book Of The Unnamed Midwife' by Meg Elison today and really enjoyed it. A plague infects humanity and wipes out 99% of people. It has a disproportionate effect on women with the added complication of what few women are left (the ratio is 10 to 1 men to women) are more likely to die in childbirth and no children survive. It's a great near future dystopia which addresses a number of themes related to sex, gender, religion and power relations. It's pretty harrowing in places and for much of the book there is a threat of sexual violence. It can be quite grim. The novel also explores our need for love and intimacy, our desires and our need to 'consume'.
Now we've just hit September I'm 2/3 through the year but only half way through the books so the 27 is going to be a push I think. Nevertheless, I'll keep on going. Of the 13 books read so far I've rated 9 of them 4* or above so it's definitely been worth it (although one could argue they should all be since they won an award!)
12 in 12 Challenge 2016
The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu (Hugo winner) 2.5 / 5
Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer (Nebula / Shirley Jackson winner) 4.5 / 5
Ancillary Sword by Ann Leckie (BSFA / Locus SF winner) 3 / 5
Tales From Rugosa Coven by Sarah Avery (Mythopoeic winner) 4 / 5
Redshirts by John Scalzi (Hugo / Locus SF winner) 4 / 5
No One Gets Out Alive by Adam Nevill (August Derleth winner) 5 / 5
The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North (John Campbell winner) 4 / 5
The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell (British Fantasy Award winner) 4.5 / 5
The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison (Locus Fantasy winner) 4 / 5
Influx by Daniel Suarez (Prometheus winner) 4.5 / 5
The Memory Garden by Mary Rickert (Locus First Novel winner) 3.5 / 5
A Turn Of Light by Julie Czerneda (Aurora winner) 1.5 / 5
The Book Of The Unnamed Midwife by Meg Elison (Philip K. Dick winner) 4.5 / 5
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| My run of (mostly) great books continues! I've just read Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky, the winner of the Arthur C. Clarke award. For me it's perfect SF for me because it goes back to a fundamental question SF should ask, 'What if?'. There is so much going on in this book, it's a novel of evolution, it's Space Opera, it's exceptionally thought provoking. Loved it!
Sadly, I think I'm not going to hit all 27 award winners this year. I think I'll still read a winner from every award but it's going to take a little longer.
12 in 12 Challenge 2016
The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu (Hugo winner) 2.5 / 5
Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer (Nebula / Shirley Jackson winner) 4.5 / 5
Ancillary Sword by Ann Leckie (BSFA / Locus SF winner) 3 / 5
Tales From Rugosa Coven by Sarah Avery (Mythopoeic winner) 4 / 5
Redshirts by John Scalzi (Hugo / Locus SF winner) 4 / 5
No One Gets Out Alive by Adam Nevill (August Derleth winner) 5 / 5
The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North (John Campbell winner) 4 / 5
The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell (British Fantasy Award winner) 4.5 / 5
The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison (Locus Fantasy winner) 4 / 5
Influx by Daniel Suarez (Prometheus winner) 4.5 / 5
The Memory Garden by Mary Rickert (Locus First Novel winner) 3.5 / 5
A Turn Of Light by Julie Czerneda (Aurora winner) 1.5 / 5
The Book Of The Unnamed Midwife by Meg Elison (Philip K. Dick winner) 4.5 / 5
Children Of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky (Arthur C. Clarke winner) 5 / 5 |
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Uber User
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| Finished - at least at the 12 novel level:
BSFA - The Separation
Clarke - Distraction
Campbell - Campbell
Locus (YA) - Un Lun Dun
PKD - The Book of the Unnamed Midwife
Aurora - Starplex
Nebula - Uprooted
Locus (SF) - Ancillary Mercy
Locus (FN) - The Grace of Kings
Hugo - The Fifth Season
Tiptree - China Mountain Zhang
Golden Tentacle - God's War
Edited by justifiedsinner 2016-09-18 6:31 PM
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| Well done JS! What did you think of the books you read? Did you enjoy 'The Book of the Unnamed Midwife'? |
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| Hello Guest - (did you forget to login?). Unfortunately, I didn't care for it, thought it was badly written and gave in 2.5 stars. I posted a review. |
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| That's me posting earlier today (I logged in then accidentally logged out!). I really enjoyed 'Midwife'. I thought it had quite a lot going on although I can see how the structure of the novel and some of the language choices could put people off. |
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| It was rather the lack of coherent structure. The novel has a framing story of boys reading a diary then unexplained separate points of view come in. Are they part of the diary? if not where do they come from? Are the boys reading them? It's just sloppy.
I also had a problem with her characterizations. For years there has been a fully justified criticism of male authors writing cardboard thin female characters. Elison seems to have the same problem with men. They are portrayed as either being psychopathic rapists or passive non-entities. |
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| Hey gang, just a quick question; is it only award winners that count for the challenge, or do the nominees also count? Just updating my list, thanks. |
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| It's just winners on this challenge Sable, be interested to see your list. |
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| Yes, just winners. The Second Best challenge is for nominees (as long as they have not won any other award). |
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Veteran
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| Well, I currently have the 27 book option selected, but I don't actually expect to do it. That's just because I don't know which of the books I'm considering reading for the challenge will be the ones I read first (of the ones I haven't yet) so I'm just keeping my options open. I will likely dial it back to the 12 book option. But thus far this year I have read:
Babel-17 by Samuel R. Delany (1966 Nebula)
Brown Girl in the Ring by Nalo Hopkinson (1999 Locus)
Gateway by Frederick Pohl (1977 Nebula, 1978 Hugo, Campbell and Locus)
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood (1987 Clarke)
Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny (1968 Hugo)
Starship Troopers by Robert A. Helnlein (1960 Hugo)
Updraft by Fran Wilde (2016 Norton)
Uprooted by Naomi Novik (2015 Nebula, 2016 Holdstock, Locus, and Mythopoetic)
Most of these I read because I look for award-winning crossovers for other challenges I'm doing; some I read because they came up in reading order for the SF Masterworks challenge/book club that I'm doing. I know for a fact I'll be reading three more by the end of the year because they're coming up on the SF Masterworks list:
The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester (1953 Hugo; the first ever, I think)
Stand on Zanzibar by John Brunner (1969 BSFA and Hugo)
The Dispossessed by Ursula K. LeGuin (1974 Nebula, 1975 Hugo and Locus)
So really, I only have to come up with one more. And I intend to read A Song of Ice and Fire before the year is out, so . . .
Having re-examined my list (because I read the description properly) I found that I'd ended up with a lot of books that were eligible for the Second Best challenge, so I joined that one too. Again, I don't expect to finish it really, but we'll see.
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| Well 27 winners are not going to be read this year but I'm up to 16 so far and I may sneak another one in so it's not too bad. My other book challenges have had some monstrous page lengths as has this one which has slowed me down a little in terms of book numbers...
I have recently read 'A Head Full of Ghosts' by Paul Tremblay which is about an exorcism and I was quite looking forward to it. I can't help but think that the book thought it was too clever for it's own good and actually wasn't that unsettling or thought provoking (which I think were the intentions). Anyway, a review is up.
Today I read the novella 'The New Mother' which was better. This one the Tiptree award and was quite clever, starts off with a clever 'What if?' - 'what if women did not need men to conceive' and it explores quite a few ideas. Quite enjoyed it.
I don't like to give up on a good thing so I think next year I will continue with 'finishing' the challenge by getting up to 27 but just in case I don't post in here again this year I would say it's a mixed bag. There was only one book I really didn't like (the tedious and sleep inducing 'A Turn of Light' . 10 books I scored over 4 stars, the highlight of the year was discovering Adam Nevill. This will likely be my favourite book of the year.
12 in 12 Challenge 2016
The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu (Hugo winner) 2.5 / 5
Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer (Nebula / Shirley Jackson winner) 4.5 / 5
Ancillary Sword by Ann Leckie (BSFA / Locus SF winner) 3 / 5
Tales From Rugosa Coven by Sarah Avery (Mythopoeic winner) 4 / 5
Redshirts by John Scalzi (Hugo / Locus SF winner) 4 / 5
No One Gets Out Alive by Adam Nevill (August Derleth winner) 5 / 5
The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North (John Campbell winner) 4 / 5
The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell (British Fantasy Award winner) 4.5 / 5
The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison (Locus Fantasy winner) 4 / 5
Influx by Daniel Suarez (Prometheus winner) 4.5 / 5
The Memory Garden by Mary Rickert (Locus First Novel winner) 3.5 / 5
A Turn Of Light by Julie Czerneda (Aurora winner) 1.5 / 5
The Book Of The Unnamed Midwife by Meg Elison (Philip K. Dick winner) 4.5 / 5
Children Of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky (Arthur C. Clarke winner) 5 / 5
A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay (Bram Stoker winner) 2.5 / 5
The New Mother by Eugene Fischer (Tiptree winner) 3.5 / 5 |
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Posts: 92
| I've just read 'Illuminae' by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff. There are some neat ideas in here and the book is beautiful. I can imagine many readers loving this but it didn't really cut it for me. It's YA space opera. I couldn't really get into the characters and they annoyed me a little although it got going towards the end.
Maybe sneak another one hopefully by the end of the year.
12 in 12 Challenge 2016
The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu (Hugo winner) 2.5 / 5
Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer (Nebula / Shirley Jackson winner) 4.5 / 5
Ancillary Sword by Ann Leckie (BSFA / Locus SF winner) 3 / 5
Tales From Rugosa Coven by Sarah Avery (Mythopoeic winner) 4 / 5
Redshirts by John Scalzi (Hugo / Locus SF winner) 4 / 5
No One Gets Out Alive by Adam Nevill (August Derleth winner) 5 / 5
The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North (John Campbell winner) 4 / 5
The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell (British Fantasy Award winner) 4.5 / 5
The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison (Locus Fantasy winner) 4 / 5
Influx by Daniel Suarez (Prometheus winner) 4.5 / 5
The Memory Garden by Mary Rickert (Locus First Novel winner) 3.5 / 5
A Turn Of Light by Julie Czerneda (Aurora winner) 1.5 / 5
The Book Of The Unnamed Midwife by Meg Elison (Philip K. Dick winner) 4.5 / 5
Children Of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky (Arthur C. Clarke winner) 5 / 5
A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay (Bram Stoker winner) 2.5 / 5
The New Mother by Eugene Fischer (Tiptree winner) 3.5 / 5
Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff (Aurealis SF winner) 2.5 / 5 |
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Posts: 92
| Just got the last one in for the year that I think I will achieve and it's a good one. 'Day Boy' is a book about what is effectively a Vampire servant, running around doing jobs for Vampires during the day. Now YA and Vampires are not really my thing but this is quite an intelligent book. It's quite powerful and even though it is short it seems to pack quite a lot in it, there are undertones of love and tenderness, rage and hate, loss and belonging throughout. Day to day drudgery combines well with an ever present menace. Really enjoyed it and quite a pleasant surprise.
If I don't post again this year hope you all have a peaceful couple of weeks and get lots of books to read next year.
12 in 12 Challenge 2016
The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu (Hugo winner) 2.5 / 5
Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer (Nebula / Shirley Jackson winner) 4.5 / 5
Ancillary Sword by Ann Leckie (BSFA / Locus SF winner) 3 / 5
Tales From Rugosa Coven by Sarah Avery (Mythopoeic winner) 4 / 5
Redshirts by John Scalzi (Hugo / Locus SF winner) 4 / 5
No One Gets Out Alive by Adam Nevill (August Derleth winner) 5 / 5
The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North (John Campbell winner) 4 / 5
The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell (British Fantasy Award winner) 4.5 / 5
The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison (Locus Fantasy winner) 4 / 5
Influx by Daniel Suarez (Prometheus winner) 4.5 / 5
The Memory Garden by Mary Rickert (Locus First Novel winner) 3.5 / 5
A Turn Of Light by Julie Czerneda (Aurora winner) 1.5 / 5
The Book Of The Unnamed Midwife by Meg Elison (Philip K. Dick winner) 4.5 / 5
Children Of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky (Arthur C. Clarke winner) 5 / 5
A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay (Bram Stoker winner) 2.5 / 5
The New Mother by Eugene Fischer (Tiptree winner) 3.5 / 5
Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff (Aurealis SF winner) 2.5 / 5
Day Boy by Trent Jamieson (Aurealis Fantasy / Aurealis Horror winner) 4 / 5 |
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2016 12 in 12