Gollancz SF Masterworks Meme
So there’s been a lot of recent buzz on the internets about the SF Masterworks series from Gollancz including this meme. Mostly it’s because of the SF and Fantasy Masterworks Reading Project that kicked off a few weeks ago. The reading project is a "a group blog dedicated to reading and reviewing Gollancz’s series of genre classics in its entirety". They have several reviews posted already that are worth a read.
As you might have guessed from looking at WWEnd I really love this idea. The Masterworks collections contain some of the best works in the genre and have some great cover art to boot. I’ve only read a few from the list but it’s my goal to eventually read them all – though I’ll be taking my time. These guys will be reading them all within a year. Sheesh!
Of course, if you’re interested in reading them too, WWEnd’s BookTrackr can help you keep tabs on your progress. We’ve got the complete lists for the SF Masterworks and the Fantasy Masterworks and you can use BookTrackr to tag the ones you’ve read as you go along. The color coding will show you how many you’ve read and which ones you still need to read. Give it a shot.
Anyway, without further ado, here is my SF list so far. I’ve bolded and linked the ones I’ve read.
- The Forever War – Joe Haldeman
- I Am Legend – Richard Matheson
- Cities in Flight – James Blish
- Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? – Philip K. Dick
- The Stars My Destination – Alfred Bester
- Babel-17 – Samuel R. Delany
- Lord of Light – Roger Zelazny
- The Fifth Head of Cerberus – Gene Wolfe
- Gateway – Frederik Pohl
- The Rediscovery of Man – Cordwainer Smith
- Last and First Men – Olaf Stapledon
- Earth Abides – George R. Stewart
- Martian Time-Slip – Philip K. Dick
- The Demolished Man – Alfred Bester
- Stand on Zanzibar – John Brunner
- The Dispossessed – Ursula K. Le Guin
- The Drowned World – J. G. Ballard
- The Sirens of Titan – Kurt Vonnegut
- Emphyrio – Jack Vance
- A Scanner Darkly – Philip K. Dick
- Star Maker – Olaf Stapledon
- Behold the Man – Michael Moorcock
- The Book of Skulls – Robert Silverberg
- The Time Machine and The War of the Worlds – H. G. Wells
- Flowers for Algernon – Daniel Keyes
- Ubik – Philip K. Dick
- Timescape – Gregory Benford
- More Than Human – Theodore Sturgeon
- Man Plus – Frederik Pohl
- A Case of Conscience – James Blish
- The Centauri Device – M. John Harrison
- Dr. Bloodmoney – Philip K. Dick
- Non-Stop – Brian Aldiss
- The Fountains of Paradise – Arthur C. Clarke
- Pavane – Keith Roberts
- Now Wait for Last Year – Philip K. Dick
- Nova – Samuel R. Delany
- The First Men in the Moon – H. G. Wells
- The City and the Stars – Arthur C. Clarke
- Blood Music – Greg Bear
- Jem – Frederik Pohl
- Bring the Jubilee – Ward Moore
- VALIS – Philip K. Dick
- The Lathe of Heaven – Ursula K. Le Guin
- The Complete Roderick – John Sladek
- Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said – Philip K. Dick
- The Invisible Man – H. G. Wells
- Grass – Sheri S. Tepper
- A Fall of Moondust – Arthur C. Clarke
- Eon – Greg Bear
- The Shrinking Man – Richard Matheson
- The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch – Philip K. Dick
- The Dancers at the End of Time – Michael Moorcock
- The Space Merchants – Frederik Pohl and Cyril M. Kornbluth
- Time Out of Joint – Philip K. Dick
- Downward to the Earth – Robert Silverberg
- The Simulacra – Philip K. Dick
- The Penultimate Truth – Philip K. Dick
- Dying Inside – Robert Silverberg
- Ringworld – Larry Niven
- The Child Garden – Geoff Ryman
- Mission of Gravity – Hal Clement
- A Maze of Death – Philip K. Dick
- Tau Zero – Poul Anderson
- Rendezvous with Rama – Arthur C. Clarke
- Life During Wartime – Lucius Shepard
- Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang – Kate Wilhelm
- Roadside Picnic – Arkady and Boris Strugatsky
- Dark Benediction – Walter M. Miller, Jr.
- Mockingbird – Walter Tevis
- Dune – Frank Herbert
- The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress – Robert A. Heinlein
- The Man in the High Castle – Philip K. Dick
- Inverted World – Christopher Priest
- Cat’s Cradle – Kurt Vonnegut
- The Island of Dr. Moreau – H.G. Wells
- Childhood’s End – Arthur C. Clarke
- The Time Machine – H.G. Wells
- Dhalgren (July 2010) – Samuel R. Delany
- Helliconia (August 2010) – Brian Aldiss
- Food of the Gods (Sept. 2010) – H.G. Wells
- The Body Snatchers (Oct. 2010) – Jack Finney
- The Female Man (Nov. 2010) – Joanna Russ
- Arslan (Dec. 2010) – M.J. Engh
As you can see, I’ve got my work cut out for me to finish this list. I own my shame. So how many have you read? Are you trying to read them all?
7 Comments
I’ve read 20… still a lot to go. This list has the best of the best in my opinion. Every book I’ve read from this list is always Amazing… good job.
Hmmm. Nice quest, but surely sitting through giant tomes "Cities in Flight", "The first and Last Men", "Dune", "Dancers at the End of Time" and "Helliconia" is going to be draining?I’ve read 32 of these novels, 33 if you count tossing aside "The Female Man" when the jumpy narrative became too frustrating to follow any longer. All of these I’ve read in the last 18 months during my own quest to round up the classic novels of the genre, and it was a great jumping-off point to do so, however, I soon realised that my own quest needed to stray a good distance from this particular path.There are some incredible novels on this list I’d never have read otherwise, but most of the post-1980 books are pretty far from classics. There are a lot of books that will be too antiquated for the modern reader, but some gems have stood the test of time a little better. Worst of all, however, there is no Asimov, only one Heinlein, no John Wyndham, nor any Ray Bradbury. From the more classic material, I might have expected Conan Doyle’s "Lost World", or a Mary Shelley and would insist on Jules Verne. Gollancz can only publish what they have on their roster, and this series is aimed at making sales. It is by no means a definitive list of the great in the genre, and I’ll leave you to discover that there’s more than a couple of utter stinkers.
@John: Yeah, it should always been remembered that this is a money making venture by the pubisher and only contains books they have the rights to publish, hence the missing classics. There are other problems with this list too like the massive number of PKD books: 14! Like all lists there will always be some stinkers. Have a look at any of the awards or "best of" lists we’ve covered here and you’ll find some head scratchers for sure. It’s still a great list for all it’s flaws.
Sixty-seven. Glad to see the Tepper there, as well as the barely-known M J Engh.
@Meridian: I’ve read fewer than you have left to read. Show off 😉
The list of the ones I’ve read is too short:Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? – Philip K. Dick (http://valsrandomcomments.blogspot.com/2009/11/do-androids-dream-of-electric-sheep.html), Gateway – Frederik Pohl (http://valsrandomcomments.blogspot.com/2010/02/gateway-frederik-pohl.html), Man Plus – Frederik Pohl (http://valsrandomcomments.blogspot.com/2010/04/man-plus-frederik-pohl.html), Rendezvous with Rama – Arthur C. Clarke, Roadside Picnic – Arkady and Boris Strugatsky (http://valsrandomcomments.blogspot.com/2010/06/roadside-picnic-arkady-and-boris.html), Dune – Frank Herbert, The Island of Dr. Moreau – H.G. Wells (http://valsrandomcomments.blogspot.com/2009/10/island-of-dr-moreau-hg-wells.html). I’m 30 pages from finishing Jem by Frederik Pohl so that takes it to 8. There are four more on the to read stack. I’ll probably get around to reading Childhood’s End by Arthur C. Clarke sometime in August.
@Val: It’s funny, I’ve reads hundreds of SF books but somehow missed so many of these classics. I’ve got a bunch on my list though so I’m trying to correct the situation. I’ve just added Roadside Picnic after reading your review. Very nice. @Everyone: Ya’ll should check out valsrandomcomments.blogspot.com for some great reviews.
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