(no subject)

[rivendellrose]

Snagged off a link from Io9, here's a pretty nifty flow-chart for choosing where to start in NPR's recent list of the Top 100 Sci-Fi and Fantasy Books

The list was created by poll, and therefore has something that positively everyone will consider incorrect. The flow-chart, however, is pretty cool. (Although I'd like to put in that LeGuin's The Left Hand of Darkness is not, IMHO, about feminism. It is about gender. There is a difference.)

Comments

[diea.livejournal.com]

I wish I had a printer!

My small quibble: I would have put The Dragonriders of Pern in the bit where it says "Can't I Have Both?" Because it is both, once you get far enough into the series.

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

I admit, mine are all petty dislikes. Like, I haven't read it... but I still can't bring myself to believe one of the Drizzt books somehow made a "best of" list for the whole of two genres. It might very well be unfair... it just seems weird.

And did we really miss all of Pratchett? Seriously? Not even Good Omens? Or did I just miss it? I don't remember being angry about that when the actual list came out, so I'm hoping I just missed it on the flowchart...

[diea.livejournal.com]

If you start in the middle and scroll left and down a bit, there's some Pratchett: Going Postal and Small Gods to be exact. I didn't see Good Omens.

Also, I need a book icon.

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

Drat, that's right. I remember those two being on the list, now that you mention it. "Small Gods" is an okay choice, but there are so many better Discworld books... and "Good Omens" is just awesome. :P

[kusanivy.livejournal.com]

I agree - I raised an eyebrow at Small Gods (which I don't think I even finished)

Mind you I tend to prefer either the Watch or the Death books

[darthparadox.livejournal.com]

I think this list was put together by committee. There's a lot of inconsistency about whether to include a series as a single work or put multiple books from the series separately. Discworld may not be a single, integrated story the way something like ASoIaF is, but naming two random books out of the series really belies the breadth - and depth! - of the whole thing.

Putting the Vorkosigan Saga under the "I do not have a sense of humor" branch is really discounting the witty banter and clever narration - and, occasionally, manner comedy - that are some of my favorite things about the series.

I am, however, entertained by "Like a little time travel with your love story? No? Tough." Especially since that's the branch of the tree that's been doing its hardest to disassociate itself from genre fiction in the first place. Atwood's "Why no, my dystopian future social commentary isn't sci-fi; how could you accuse me of lowering myself like that?" spiel still irritates me. I'm more forgiving of Vonnegut for a lot of reasons, among them being that he's honest about wanting to keep the SF label off his work for marketing purposes.

And, to return to diea's point - to me, Pern's sci-fi seemed basically bolted on to its fantasy setting. All the Weyrs of Pern aside¹, it's still a fantasy story, and a bit of high-tech hand-waving doesn't really change that. (But then, I've been known to make the same argument about Star Wars, which is ultimately a sword-and-sorcery epic underneath all the lasers and spaceships and robots.) Regardless, I'm entertained that the path to Pern was essentially "I want a pet dragon!" - because I really do believe that sort of wish-fulfillment/escapism is one of the big draws of the series, especially to a newly adolescent geek.

1 Not knocking it or anything - All the Weyrs of Pern may actually have been my favorite Pern book. But then, I'm more of a computer geek than a fantasy geek. And AtWoP is actually pretty good SF - introduce new technology into an existing society and watch the changes ripple through the world. Whee!

[ryunohi.livejournal.com]

Awesome.

P.S. Could you send me your current address. I found this completely random, tiny thing that you could easily end up throwing away, but I think is not a waste of the 110 yen stamp it requires.

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

It is pretty awesome, isn't it? I love visualizations like that.

Awww, thank you, that's so sweet! I shall send you a PM right away. ♥

[mmegaera.livejournal.com]

One of my favorite things about the Vorkosigan series (and Bujold in general) is the humor. One of my many favorite things. How anyone could say those books don't have a sense of humor is beyond me.