[ArthurFrayn]

OK, hope everybody had a fine New Years - let's start early on this one -the listing of all your SF reads for the past year. Rate them if you so desire.
Like last year,I'll wait to post my list until a number of posts have gone by...

I really do like reading people's list on this level. It brings out the Nick Hornby in me. ;)

[WhiteWolf]

Sounds fun. Even though I don't read sf exclusively, I did manage to fit in some good ones this year in between the other stuff.

I started out with some short stories from THE ESSENTIAL ELLISON, a mammoth anthology of works by the Grand Master Harlan Ellison. My favorite so far of these was "Punky and the Yale Men."

MOONRISE, by Ben Bova. Not as good as MARS, but I'm still going to read its sequel, as soon as I can find a copy.

DARWIN'S RADIO, by Greg Bear. Not quite what I was expecting, not bad, but not outstanding. Worthwhile.

OTHERLAND, vIV: SEA OF SILVER LIGHT, by Tad Williams. A huge finale that I finally got back to finish after taking a little time off. Don't know why I stopped, it was the best book since CITY OF GOLDEN SHADOW. A great ending on all fronts. And an excellent all-around series.

HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY, by Douglas Adams. I found it disappointing. The quirky British humor fell flat a bunch of times, and the whole thing seemed to be missing a story. Mercifully short.

ALTERED CARBON, by Richard K. Morgan. Extraordinary. I got exactly what I wanted out of this and more. I'll be returning to Takeshi Kovacs soon.

Stories from Orson Scott Cards book, THE CHANGED MAN. Accurately described by the author as "stories of Dread." Some are painful to read, but very good, and I'm not finished reading them yet.

CRYPTONOMICON, by Neal Stephenson. The Best Book I Read All Year, and maybe even one of the best books I've read ever. I loved the whole, cumbersome volume. Stephenson is a gifted stylist of prose, and the characters are brilliant. Although, as I posted in another thread, I'm not so sure this really qualifies as science fiction. But oh well, here it is. A really great book, and well worth making the time to read (it took me a while, believe me).

NEXT, by Michael Crichton. I'm going to go ahead and say that this does qualify as sf, and very intelligent sf at that. Crichton writes a jaw-dropping account of a near-future where gene therapy has run amok. Very well done.

And I'm now reading HYPERION, by Dan Simmons, even though it doesn't count as a 2006 read, because I just started it yesterday.

[Erfael]

Here is my list. It's copied from a text document, so my tabbing got all messed up. It gives author, title, pages, date finished, and general rating out of ten (I tried to me more picky here than in the past, but I have been picking things that I think will be pretty good, so not too many in the low end.) 7 is a solid, liked it, nothing overly special, totally middle of the road. 8s were quite liked and above that really thought they were something special. It has all my reading for the year, not just SF.

__________________________________________________ ______________
Total: 79 books, 28315 pages 61 authors (34 new authors, Haldeman and Hamilton 2 books each) (77.57 pages per day)

January '06 (6) 2606

Helprin, Mark Winter's Tale (672) 1-5 8
Hamilton, Peter F. Pandora's Star (756) 1-14 8
Constantine, Storm Wraeththu Trilogy Omnibus(3-book) (774) 1-27 6
Kearney, Paul The Iron Wars (311) 1-29 2
Leiber, Fritz Swords Against Death (3-stories) (73) 1-29 8


February '06 (8) 2674

Howard, Robert E. The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane (390) 2-2 7
Powers, Tim On Stranger Tides (325) 2-5 7
Crowley, John Engine Summer (200) 2-7 8
Bakker, Scott The Thousandfold Thought (405) 2-10 9/10
Joyce, Graham The Tooth Fairy (320) 2-13 7
Atwood, Margaret The Handmaid's Tale (310) 2-15 7
Harrison, M. John Viriconium (462) 2-25 9
McKillip, Patricia Winter Rose (262) 2-27 7

March '06 (6) 1710
Butler, Octavia Dawn (248) 3-3 7
Butler, Octavia Adulthood Rites (271) 3-7 7
Butler, Octavia Imago (231) 3-9 7
Bear, Elizabeth Hammered (324) 3-12 7
Lebbon, Tim Dusk (386) 3-20 4
Dick, Phillip K. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?(250) 3-24 7

April '06 (9) 2136
Zelazny, Roger Nine Princes in Amber (175) 4-1 7
Hearn, Lian Grass for his Pillow (292) 4-5 6
Zelazny, Roger The Guns of Avalon (223) 4-8 7
Hearn, Lian Brilliance of the Moon (328) 4-11 6
Zelazny, Roger Sign of the Unicorn (151) 4-13 7
Scalzi, John Old Man's War (313) 4-17 8
Zelazny, Roger The Hand of Oberon (151) 4-20 7
Sweet, Caitlin A Telling of Stars (373) 4-28 8
Zelazny, Roger The Courts of Chaos (130) 4-28 7

May '06 (4) 1763
Hamilton, Peter F. Judas Unchained (827) 5-11 8
Haldeman, Joe Camouflage (296) 5-13 7
Bujold, Lois McMaster Paladin of Souls (370) 5-23 8
Wolfe, Gene Peace (270) 5-26 9

June '06 (9) 3272
Duncan, Hal Vellum (467) 6-2 8/9
Morgan, Richard K. Broken Angels (366) 6-9 7
Cherryh, C.J. 40,000 in Gehenna (316) 6-12 7
Hawks, John Twelve The Traveler (456) 6-15 7
Carroll, Jonathan The Marriage of Sticks (270) 6-16 8
Foer, Jonathan Safran Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (325) 6-20 7
Hughart, Barry Bridge of Birds (278) 6-23 7
Wilson, Robert Charles Spin (452) 6-27 9
Novik, Naomi His Majesty's Dragon (342) 6-30 7.5

July '06 (6) 2621
Flewelling, Lynn Hidden Warrior (551) 7-5 7
Gaiman, Neil Neverwhere (370) 7-15 7
Lynch, Scott The Lies of Locke Lamora (500) 7-20 8
Smith, Michael M. Only Forward (341) 7-22 6
Flewelling, Lynn The Oracle's Queen (557) 7-27 7
Carroll, Jonathan The Wooden Sea (302) 7-29 8

August 06 (5) 2027
Ford, John M. The Dragon Waiting (374) 8-4 7
Calvino, Italo Invisible Cities (165) 8-4 8
Vandermeer, Jeff City of Saints & Madmen (600) 8-8 8
Peake, Mervyn Titus Groan (543) 8-17 9
Vandermeer, Jeff Shriek: An Afterword (345) 8-25 9

September 06 (7) 2449
Cherryh, C.J. Downbelow Station (432) 9-2 7
Erikson, Steven Deadhouse Gates (600) 9-7 8
Powers, Tim Declare (510) 9-19 7
Budrys, Algis Rogue Moon (180) 9-20 7
Bradbury, Ray Something Wicked This Way Comes (210) 9-21 7
Mieville, China Looking for Jake (225) 9-26 7
Walton, Jo Tooth and Claw (292) 9-29 8

October 06 (5) 2426
Priest, Christopher The Prestige (404) 10-3 7
Williams, Tad Otherland: City of Golden Shadow (770) 10-12 7
Ellison, Harlan Dangerous Visions (544) 10-22 8
Friedman, C.S. Black Sun Rising (586) 10-26 6
Matheson, Richard I am Legend (122) 10-28 7

November '06 (6) 2186
Grimsley, Jim The Ordinary (368) 7
Flynn, Michael Eifelheim (313) 9
Williams, Tad River of Blue Fire (634) 7
Haldeman, Joe The Forever War (230) 8
Morrow, James Towing Jehovah (371) 11-24 7
Barker, Clive The Damnation Game (270*) 11-25 6

December '06 (6) 2081
Cherryh. C.J. The Pride of Chanur (215) 12-1 7
Yolen, Jane Briar Rose (200) 12-2 8
Williams, Tad Mountain of Black Glass (685) 12-10 7
Cherryh, C.J. Chanur's Venture (169) 12-17 7
Williamson, Jack Darker Than You Think (319) 12-23 7
Willis, Connie To Say Nothing of the Dog (493) 12-29 9

Misc....weren't filed right: (2) 384
O'Brien, Patrick Master and Commander (200*) 7
Sladek, John Tik-Tok (184) 8

[Ropie]

Happy new year to you too, Arthur. Here's mine - the reds are the best of the year:

The Cyberiad - Stanislaw Lem *****
Stand on Zanzibar - John Brunner ***
Chasm City - Alastair Reynolds **
Nova - Samuel R Delany ***
Excession - Iain M Banks **
Old Man’s War - John Scalzi ***
Grass - Sheri S Tepper *****
Ubik - Philip K Dick ****
Inverted World - Christopher Priest ****
The Prestige - Christopher Priest ****
Red Mars - Kim Stanley Robinson ****
City of the Chasch - Jack Vance **
The Player of Games- Iain M Banks ***
The Martian Chronicles - Ray Bradbury *****
Spin - Robert Charles Wilson ***
Soul of a Robot - Barrington J Bayley ****
Watchmen - Alan Moore & David Gibbons *****
Final Circle of Paradise - Strugatsky ****
Only Forward - Michael Marshall Smith **
The Glamour - Christopher Priest ****
Doomsday Book - Connie Willis ****
Hothouse - Brian Aldiss ***
The Fountains of Paradise - Arthur C Clarke ***
Rogue Moon - Algis Budrys **
The Invincible - Stanislaw Lem ***
The Book of Skulls - Robert Silverberg ***
Hyperion - Dan Simmons ****

Here's to even more enjoyable books in 2007...

[Archren]

In no discernable order (it's the order they appeared on my reading list, not the order they were crossed off it). The bold are the best, the italic are the worst:

Toast and Other Rusted Futures; Charles Stross
The Separation; Christopher Priest
Jennifer Government; Max Barry
The Birthday of the World - Ursula K. LeGuin
Interface; Stephen Bury
Trading in Danger; Elizabeth Moon
Fluke: I Know Why the Winged Whale Sings; Christopher Moore
Prey; Michael Crichton
Callahan's Key; Spider Robinson
The Stars My Destination; Alfred Bester
Omega; Jack McDevitt
Cowl; Neal Asher
The Atrocity Archives; Charles Stross
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World; Haruki Murakami
Barrayar; Lois McMaster Bujold
The Snow Queen; Joan D. Vinge
The Gods Themselves; Isaac Asimov
Double Star; Robert Heinlein
Metaplanetary; Tony Daniel
Inferno; Niven/Pournelle
Robinson Crusoe 1,000,000 A.D.; Terry Sunbord
Spin; Robert Charles Wilson
Crossing the Line; Karen Traviss
Rite of Passage; Alexei Panshin
The Carpet Makers; Andreas Eschbach
The Urth of the New Sun; Gene Wolfe
The Cassini Division; Ken MacLeod
Accelerando; Charles Stross
The Collapsium; Wil McCarthy
WorldWired; Elizabeth Bear
Learning the World; Ken MacLeod
The Stonehenge Gate; Jack Williamson
Pushing Ice; Alastair Reynolds
On Basilisk Station; David Weber
Burn; James Patrick Kelly
Numbers Don't Lie; Terry Bisson
Shards of Honor; Lois McMaster Bujold
Effendi; Jon Courtney Grimwood
The World Before; Karen Traviss
Vellum; Hal Duncan
Felaheen; Jon Courtney Grimwood
The Day of the Triffids; John Wyndham
Superluminal; Tony Daniels
V for Vendetta; Alan Moore
A Million Open Doors; John Barnes
Cobweb; Stephen Bury
Old Man's War; John Scalzi
Fifty Degrees Below; Kim Stanley Robinson
Remnant Population; Elizabeth Moon
I Am Legend; Richard Matheson
Ethan of Athos; Lois McMaster Bujold
Matriarch; Karen Traviss
Marque and Reprisal; Elizabeth Moon
Glasshouse; Charles Stross
Absolution Gap; Alastair Reynolds
Only Forward; Michael Marshall Smith
Alien Beach; A.R. Yngve
Market Forces; Richard K. Morgan
Adventures in Time and Space; ed. Raymond Healy & Francis McComas
Resonance; Chris Dolley
Proteus Rising; Peter Dingus
Agent to the Stars; John Scalzi
Odyssey; Jack McDevitt

Wow, I would've said I didn't read enough SF this year until I had to type it all out! :D

[ArthurFrayn]

Boy, some of you guys really read a lot of books. :eek:

Here's mine- a lot for me really. And I enjoyed most of what I read. I did start to burn out at the end. I don't think I'll be steady reading SF quite like this , in 2007.
Once again the color key: green means I liked it/loved it, blue indicates disappointment,black means it is what it is, and red means I think it's really bad, OR I actively disliked it:

1)Half Past Human-T.J.Bass***
2)The Fifth Head of Cerberus-Gene Wolfe***1/2
3)The Saliva Tree-Brian W. Aldiss *
4)The Zen Gun-Barrington J Bayley****
5)Earth's Last Citadel -Henry Kuttner/CL Moore***1/2
6)The Moon is A Harsh Mistress -Robert Heinlein *****
__________________________________________________
7)Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang-Kate Wilhelm****
8)The Martian Way -Isaac Asimov***

Cities in Flight-James Blish**
9)They Shall Have The Stars ***
10)A Life For The Stars ***
11)Earthman Come Home *1/2
12)The Triumph of Time **

13)The Handmaid's Tale-Margret Atwood***1/2
__________________________________________________
14)The Pillars of Eternity -Barrington J Bayley *****
15)The Grand Wheel -Barrington J Bayley*** 1/2
16)Empire of Two Worlds -Barrington J Bayley **1/2
17 )Armor -John Steakley **1/2
18)Starmaster's Gambit -Gerard Klein**1/2
19)Venus Plus X-Theodore Sturgeon****
__________________________________________________ ____
20) Ice-Anna Kavan ***1/2

Tales of The Dying Earth -Jack Vance -***
21)The Dying Earth ****
22)The Eyes of the Overworld***
23)Cugel's Saga **
24)Rhialto the Marvelous***

25)Solar Lottery-Phillip K Dick**1/2
26)Old Man's War -John Scalzi****
__________________________________________________ ______________
27)The Zap Gun -Phillip K Dick***
28)Vurt -Jeff Noon***1/2
29)Soul Of A Robot -Barrington J Bayley****
__________________________________________________ ______________
30)The Rod of Light -Barrington J Bayley****1/2
31)Spin -Robert Charles Wilson***
32)The Galactic Patrol -EE Doc Smith (No stars)
__________________________________________________ ______________
33)Only Forward -Michael Marshall Smith **1/2
34)Accelerando -Charles Stross****1/2
35)Perdido Street Station-China Mieville (no stars)
__________________________________________________ ___
36)Annihilation Factor -Barrington J Bayley**1/2
37)Knights of the Limits -Barrington J Bayley***1/2
38)The Great Hydration -Barrington J Bayley***1/2
39)Star Winds -Barrington J Bayley****1/2
40))Double Star -Robert Heinlein***
41)The Rose -Charles Harness***
__________________________________________________ ___
42)A Fire Upon the Deep-Vernor Vinge****
43)Rogue Moon -Algis Budrys **1/2
44)The Prestige -Christopher Priest***1/2
45)The Forest of Peldain-Barrington J Bayley****
46)The Sinners of Erspia-Barrington J Bayley *1/2
47)A Case of Conscience -James Blish ****1/2
48)The Shockwave Rider (reread)-John Brunner****1/2
__________________________________________________ ___
49)Use of Weapons -Iain M Banks****1/2
50)Collision Course -Barrington J Bayley***1/2
__________________________________________________ __________________

51)The Garments of Caen -Barrington J Bayley***1/2
52)The Fall of Chronopolis -Barrington J Bayley***

[Ropie]

Boy, some of you guys really read a lot of books. :eek:
Yeah - you too! I thought my 27 was quite a lot but that's less than half of most others. I only managed to read 3 non SFF books all year too.

This year for the first time I started to leave books unfinished - there are 3 that I started that I know I won't pick up again for a long time, if ever, though they are not listed. It's not an ideal thing to abandon a book once it's started but it has to be better than forcing yourself to complete something just for the sake of completing it! That's what I tell myself anyway...

BTW - something between a quarter and a third of what you read this year was Barrington Bayley - impressive!!

[Beleg]

Anyway, the following are sci-fi novels I clearly remember reading,

- Use of Weapons - Iain M. Banks****
- Inversions - Iain M. Banks***1/2
- The Player of Games - Iain M. Banks****1/2
- Excession - Iain M. Banks***1/2
- Dreaming in Smoke - Tricia Sullivan(a big fat ZERO)
- The Left Hand of Darkness - Ursula Le Guin*****
- The Dispossessed - Ursula Le Guin*****
- The Sparrow - Mary Doria Russell**
- China Moutain Zhang - Maureen F. McHugh****
- Greenstone Grail - Amanda Hemingway**
- Inverted World - Christopher Priest***1/2
- A Deepness in the Sky - Vernor Vinge***1/2
- Marrow - Robert Reed**
- The Cosmic Puppets - Philip K. Dick****
- Arabesk - Jon Courtney Grimwood***1/2
- Revelation Space - Alastair Reynolds*
- Neuromancer - William Gibson*
- Darwin's Radio - Greg Bear***
- Eon - Greg Bear***
- Diaspora - Greg Egan**
- Beggars in Spain - Nancy Kress****
- Red Mars - Kim Stanley Robinson*

That's 22. I probably read a couple others as well but they must have been been pretty forgettable.

[Space Traveller]

Im reading Consider Phlebas By Iain M. Banks and noticed that Beleg had read at lot of his work. I was wondering if you had read this book and could A) recommend the rest of the series. and B) tell me if his other books either follow Horza or change characters and stay with the Culture Vs the Idirans.

[ArthurFrayn]

Yeah - you too! I thought my 27 was quite a lot but that's less than half of most others. I only managed to read 3 non SFF books all year too.
Reading from 20-30 books I regard as a typical year of reading for someone who enjoys reading and has the time to read; that's what I have been reading like for years. I can in some measure chalk up my beefed up reading regiment to hanging out here. ;)
But I don't really think I can keep it up. I don't wan't it to become a drag. We'll see. I definitely need some break from non-stop SF.


BTW - something between a quarter and a third of what you read this year was Barrington Bayley ...
This is probably the reason why I'll be reading less SF in 2007. By and large, I could always go back to a sure thing after reading (and maybe being disappointed by) other authors. I read one true bum by the guy;can't beat that. It's going to be a melancholy day when I finish the last of his works (a short story collection and a franchise novel) in '07.:(

I got some more Didion,Roth,and other guys like that to read. A few overdue bios and nonfiction. It feels right to read this stuff now, and I always go with instinct when it comes to direction in reading.

This year has had many rich reading moments. To have had the time to read, and to have so many books that I've enjoyed, with no sarcasm, I'd have to say, I feel I've been truly blessed (and I'm not religious ;)).
I'm grateful for the gift of reading.