No, me too
― Gully Foyle is my name (Matt #2), Wednesday, 6 April 2011 23:32 (thirteen years ago) link
So glad Stranger In A Strange Land didn't make it, it seemed to be a student favourite for decades.
― Gully Foyle is my name (Matt #2), Wednesday, 6 April 2011 23:34 (thirteen years ago) link
I am too I guess it's just that, well, worth discovering /= all-time best, really. Like, those are separate categories. This list would have been a lot different if people excluded things the majority of spec fiction readers are already very familiar with (no 1984, no LOTR, etc)
― in my world of loose geirs (Shakey Mo Collier), Wednesday, 6 April 2011 23:35 (thirteen years ago) link
ha i can tell which books (apart from JRR obv) are fantasy ones cos i've never heard of the authors
― /人 ◕ ‿‿ ◕人\ (zappi), Wednesday, 6 April 2011 23:38 (thirteen years ago) link
I think The Past Through Tomorrow is a fantastic brick of nonstop sf ideas -- much of the best of the Golden Age between two covers.
― Pigmeat Arkham (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 7 April 2011 00:42 (thirteen years ago) link
Thanks for all the work you've put in on this, Lamp! Really good work.
― The Louvin Spoonful (WmC), Thursday, 7 April 2011 00:47 (thirteen years ago) link
Yeah Lamp this was an awesome and surprising joy of a results thread for me to read. Thank you!! I really sort of wish I'm made a ballot now. I will for your next one. :)
― ENBB, Thursday, 7 April 2011 00:50 (thirteen years ago) link
To Your Shattered Bodies Go
― Pigmeat Arkham (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 7 April 2011 00:51 (thirteen years ago) link
Sorry I didn't vote but Disch and Sturgeon winding up in the 90-100 zone is some straight bullshit.
― President Keyes, Thursday, 7 April 2011 00:52 (thirteen years ago) link
Think a lot of you would enjoy reading the Tom Disch book about sci-fi that Elvis Telecom hipped us to, The Dreams Our Stuff Is Made Of.
― Pigmeat Arkham (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 7 April 2011 00:54 (thirteen years ago) link
sturgeon's best stuff is his short stories, tho 'more than human' is really good.
― (The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Thursday, 7 April 2011 00:59 (thirteen years ago) link
Camp Concentration was my #2
― Number None, Thursday, 7 April 2011 01:17 (thirteen years ago) link
thanks again to lamp for doing this! ha goddamn narnia i thought i was going to get by without a single top 50 thing OH WELL
― thomp, Thursday, 7 April 2011 01:59 (thirteen years ago) link
Stuff I think of as universally loved that I was surprised didn't crack top 50: Ender's Game, Perdido Street Station, Ted Chiang (i voted only for Ender's Game of these)
― Guayaquil (eephus!), Thursday, 7 April 2011 02:01 (thirteen years ago) link
ender's game is a bunch of fascist fantasy claptrap
― in my world of loose geirs (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 7 April 2011 02:38 (thirteen years ago) link
wish i'd been around to see this unfold in real time.
lol @ dickyay @ leguin (left hand was my #1, earthsea #6 - that's a childhood fave but I only read left hand last year and was blown away, as you can tell.) (banks is the only other author i gave two votes to, neither of which made the #50.)smdh @ narniasad for wells, wyndham.
read 32 of the 50, 45 of the 100, voted for 9, 13. The bottom 50 is definitely crazier than the top.
― and the hint of parp (ledge), Thursday, 7 April 2011 08:23 (thirteen years ago) link
this was a good thread and a very handy 'to read' list for the next while, thanks lamp.
― the salmon of procrastination (darraghmac), Thursday, 7 April 2011 08:27 (thirteen years ago) link
Ted Chiang got a lot of lower ballot votes it seems like, which makes sense to me - it's easy to really like and hard to unreservedly love imo.
― Gravel Puzzleworth, Thursday, 7 April 2011 09:03 (thirteen years ago) link
17 of the 51, exactly a third. and, tbh, there's not a lot in the other 2/3rds that particularly appeals.
(and reynolds was robbed.)
― koogs, Thursday, 7 April 2011 09:11 (thirteen years ago) link
Have not even tried to follow these threads but Lamp thank you so much for getting all this together. I've grabbed the whole top 100 and will start pecking at the ones I've never read.
― You Say Various Things (Autumn Almanac), Thursday, 7 April 2011 12:12 (thirteen years ago) link
I didn't register in time to vote in this, but thanks for doing it, Lamp. A cool mix of stuff I haven't read and stuff I have strong feelings about.
Belated comments -
Laurel & Jon Lewis OTM about Riverworld. I think you're as well-served reading the back cover blurbs as the books.
DJP - I can't stand V, but Lot 49 is great. Just pretend V is written by Pynchon's dark half or something.
Jon Lewis - have you read the revised edition of Aegypt? Or the revised edition of The Solitudes, I forget which title refers to which edition. It's been on my to-read list for ages, but only one edition is available for the Kindle, and I'm not sure if it's the one I should read or not.
― Bill, Thursday, 7 April 2011 16:50 (thirteen years ago) link
WAHT I know nothing about a revised edition of Aegypt!!!
― the Stars That Play with Laughing Sam's Doink (Jon Lewis), Thursday, 7 April 2011 16:53 (thirteen years ago) link
revised Aegypt = The Solitudes right? The overlook press eds? I actually wasn't sure whether Aegypt meant the cycle or the renamed first book in the poll.
― portrait of velleity (woof), Thursday, 7 April 2011 16:54 (thirteen years ago) link
Sorry, 'the now-renamed first book'.
― portrait of velleity (woof), Thursday, 7 April 2011 16:56 (thirteen years ago) link
Wiki says it was originally published in 1987 under the name Aegypt "...despite Crowley's objections. Revised 2007..." and re-released as The Solitudes. Okay, Aegypt is the one available for Kindle.
I don't know anything about the nature of the revisions, but 2007 was recent enough that maybe there's something on Crowley's LiveJournal.
― Bill, Thursday, 7 April 2011 16:57 (thirteen years ago) link
Why do I keep saying "Kindle" instead of "the Kindle"? THE Kindle. THE.
BAD KINDLE. BAD.
― Back up the lesbian canoe (Laurel), Thursday, 7 April 2011 16:58 (thirteen years ago) link
I like the Kindle so much more than I thought I would, but that's a whole nother thread.
― Bill, Thursday, 7 April 2011 17:02 (thirteen years ago) link
So far I can't find any deets about whether the text has actually been revised, in addition to the title change and shift of the title Aegypt to refer to the four books as a whole.
― the Stars That Play with Laughing Sam's Doink (Jon Lewis), Thursday, 7 April 2011 17:36 (thirteen years ago) link
I think it is revised - publisher says so.
― portrait of velleity (woof), Thursday, 7 April 2011 17:45 (thirteen years ago) link
Keep in mind "revised" might just mean it got a cover re-design. It's not a very accurate way to talk about something, because "revision" should require a certain amt of changed content. But it's prob just a new afterword or new cover des or something.
― Back up the lesbian canoe (Laurel), Thursday, 7 April 2011 17:48 (thirteen years ago) link
Having brought it up, I feel obligated to look around too, and can't find anything specific. He does clarify that the later books are barely changed, but you'd think he'd have a blog entry about whether people who have the previous edition should pick up the new edition, or something along those lines.
― Bill, Thursday, 7 April 2011 17:51 (thirteen years ago) link
They'll never do that, I don't think? Because a "revision" comes out when sales start slacking and the editor thinks the backlist could be working a little harder with a minimum of expense. If you're asking, "Should I spend money on your book regardless of whether I have a copy already?" the answer will always be "Yes!"
― Back up the lesbian canoe (Laurel), Thursday, 7 April 2011 17:54 (thirteen years ago) link
Missed the reveal, but a belated huzzah for the poll and for the high placings of Gene Wolfe and Earthsea. Those both would've been in my top 5 too, probably. I've read Book of the New Sun twice and thinking I'd like to read it again. Biggest surprise to me is no Harlan Ellison in the poll. But maybe there's no consensus pick for him? (Or maybe everybody just knows he's a big asshole?)
― something of an astrological coup (tipsy mothra), Thursday, 7 April 2011 18:07 (thirteen years ago) link
They'll never do that, I don't think? Because a "revision" comes out when sales start slacking and the editor thinks the backlist could be working a little harder with a minimum of expense.
In this case the two editions are from different publishers and the original was out of print, but yeah, the same idea still holds - bill it as something new and hope for a sales bump. Stupid anniversary edition of The Jerk.
― Bill, Thursday, 7 April 2011 18:11 (thirteen years ago) link
Re: Ellison, I think most people were disinclined to nominate or vote for individual short stories (I nominated two and voted for one), and there's not really a consensus Ellison collection.
― The Louvin Spoonful (WmC), Thursday, 7 April 2011 18:13 (thirteen years ago) link
i probably would've voted for 'i have no mouth...'
― cum dude (Princess TamTam), Thursday, 7 April 2011 18:18 (thirteen years ago) link
I Must Vote, But I Have No Mouse
― the Stars That Play with Laughing Sam's Doink (Jon Lewis), Thursday, 7 April 2011 18:22 (thirteen years ago) link
A+
― sorry ozzy but your dope is in another castle (Edward III), Thursday, 7 April 2011 18:27 (thirteen years ago) link
Also scrap what I said about Ellison being the biggest surprise -- Bradbury! Can't believe at least the Martian Chronicles didn't make it.
― something of an astrological coup (tipsy mothra), Thursday, 7 April 2011 21:18 (thirteen years ago) link
After having witnessed the results of thinly attended jazz instrumentalist polls in which most of the cats nominated got zero votes, I'm never surprised by the results of any poll ever.
― POLL Along The Watchtower (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 7 April 2011 21:34 (thirteen years ago) link
Right, have managed to get some info on the Crowley revisions now I'm not on a phone. Aegypt isn't heavily revised:
This is a great way to advertise the series and a few small changes have been made, with a a few more substantial ones to come in the later volumes, but your old hardbacks will do just fine. There are errors in the Latin and other things but if you don;t mind those just read on. I don't know why I'm saying this since I thereby lose my $1.60 on the pb you miht have bought, but ah well.
And on the later books:
The Overlook Love&Sleep isn't substantively different -- mostly I removed recap material intended to remind readers of what happened in Volume I, which appeared some years before. In the Ovelook Daemonomania I did that too, and also made other cuts, most small -- a paragraph, a sentence -- and some larger -- a couple of pages. One or two entire scenes are now gone, as being either redundant, or made redundant by their appearance in the last volume, or just not so hot. One entire brief new scene added. And throughout there are words altered, sentences recast, sentences added, etc., that perhaps a reader of both would not notice but which I think are decided improvements.
― portrait of velleity (woof), Friday, 8 April 2011 09:15 (thirteen years ago) link
Excellent! Thanks for finding that.
― Bill, Friday, 8 April 2011 13:07 (thirteen years ago) link
always forgot john crowley was on livejournal. him and disch. that was weird, that whole thing.
― thomp, Friday, 8 April 2011 13:59 (thirteen years ago) link
Yeah, for a long time it felt (till the Fantasy Masterworks Little, Big, I guess) he was this mysterious writer who was almost entirely unavailable in Britain, & there didn't seem to be much info anywhere out there; it blew my mind a little when I first saw him on LJ.
― portrait of velleity (woof), Friday, 8 April 2011 14:10 (thirteen years ago) link
I hadn't heard of him until that came out, but, then, I was fourteen.
― thomp, Friday, 8 April 2011 14:19 (thirteen years ago) link
I was 26, & had caught wind of him years before from references here and there, American friends primarily. Had had little luck finding much.
― portrait of velleity (woof), Friday, 8 April 2011 14:27 (thirteen years ago) link
Mikhail Bulgakov - The Master & Margarita
this is only £3 in hmv if any britishers wanna pick it up. excited to put it on my shelf to read after my book of checkov plays.
― popular gay automobile (a hoy hoy), Friday, 8 April 2011 14:45 (thirteen years ago) link
woof, major thankage for that info. It sounds like the changes he made to books 2-4 might be salutary (removing redundant mtrl which had been necessitated by the time gaps between books).
I have never cracked open Daemonomania let alone Endless Thingy. Someday...
― the Stars That Play with Laughing Sam's Doink (Jon Lewis), Friday, 8 April 2011 16:47 (thirteen years ago) link
£1.99 on amazon 8)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Master-Margarita-Wordsworth-Classics/dp/1840226579?qid=1302280724
those wordsworth classics are a recently discovered goldmine. picked up a couple and they seem fine. (they are cheap as they are out of copyright, but still, how you can print a 777 page book like the one i bought (dickens) and transport it and give the shop a slice and still turn a profit out of 1.99 is a bit of a mystery)
― koogs, Friday, 8 April 2011 16:51 (thirteen years ago) link