BionicGriff
Where is everybody?
(Edited the poll instructions into this post from the thread merge)
I've attached the poll compiled from all submissions provided in the thread. In total we have 210 items, to say the least I am very impressed with some of the contributors knowledge of the genre's, there are a lot of titles here I have never heard of (which is what I was hoping for!). I'm hoping that the final results will coalesce into a nice solid list on their own, it all depends how aggregated/spread out the results are, if it ends up being really spread out, I may have to come up with a system to aggregate it some more into a more reasonable sized list.
Here are the rules of the poll:
1. You are allowed to change your votes, not sure if this means you can go back in after submitting, or just during the process of submitting, but I'm not against somebody changing their minds should they choose to.
2. The results will not be displayed publicly, nor will they be view-able without voting. I want to avoid any potential pre-vote influence.
3. The poll will be up for one week.
4. Voters will be allowed to select up to 30 items (but you can choose less).
Some final thoughts:
1. Just a reminder, the goal here is for Essential reads (not necessarily your personal favorites), I've been thinking of that as a combination of popularity and influence, but feel free to interpret how you see fit.
2. Please try and avoid not voting for something simply because you feel its a sure bet without your vote. I tried to select a vote limit that wouldn't make people feel too constricted, but also prevent the final result from being to large, we'll see how I did.
3. I tried to catch all of the duplicate entries, however if I missed any, the results for the duplicated entries will be combined in the final tally, so don't worry about which one you voted for (if you do notice a duplicate, a comment in the thread regarding such would be appreciated).
The final results of this poll will be my reading list, so if anyone is interested, you will be able to view my progress through it in my reading log section of my blog here on the Chronicles.
Thanks for you help everyone!
(original first post)
***I did do a couple quick searches of the forum to see if this has been addressed already, but I did not come across anything. If there is something I missed, please let me know and I'll go there instead. Thanks!***
I'd like to get some input from the community in creating a list of essential science fiction & fantasy reading. Think of it as a recommended reading list for someone brand new to science fiction and fantasy who has never read anything within the genres.
Here are some rough guidelines for what I'm looking for:
The end goal of this thread is to comprise an actual to-read list for myself. I've been a lifelong fan of science fiction and fantasy, yet I find most of the classics that people would consider essential I have not read, I've made it a goal of mine to rectify this.
I know this can be a very loaded question, and that's the reason for the rules I put in place. Basically I want to keep the final list a manageable size (I have no idea what manageable is at the moment).
Lastly, I know I could do a Google search and come up with 100+ examples of this list, but I'm legitimately interested in what the community here thinks should be on this list, plus I think if this thread catches on, it could be a lot of fun.
Thanks for your considerations!
I've attached the poll compiled from all submissions provided in the thread. In total we have 210 items, to say the least I am very impressed with some of the contributors knowledge of the genre's, there are a lot of titles here I have never heard of (which is what I was hoping for!). I'm hoping that the final results will coalesce into a nice solid list on their own, it all depends how aggregated/spread out the results are, if it ends up being really spread out, I may have to come up with a system to aggregate it some more into a more reasonable sized list.
Here are the rules of the poll:
1. You are allowed to change your votes, not sure if this means you can go back in after submitting, or just during the process of submitting, but I'm not against somebody changing their minds should they choose to.
2. The results will not be displayed publicly, nor will they be view-able without voting. I want to avoid any potential pre-vote influence.
3. The poll will be up for one week.
4. Voters will be allowed to select up to 30 items (but you can choose less).
Some final thoughts:
1. Just a reminder, the goal here is for Essential reads (not necessarily your personal favorites), I've been thinking of that as a combination of popularity and influence, but feel free to interpret how you see fit.
2. Please try and avoid not voting for something simply because you feel its a sure bet without your vote. I tried to select a vote limit that wouldn't make people feel too constricted, but also prevent the final result from being to large, we'll see how I did.
3. I tried to catch all of the duplicate entries, however if I missed any, the results for the duplicated entries will be combined in the final tally, so don't worry about which one you voted for (if you do notice a duplicate, a comment in the thread regarding such would be appreciated).
The final results of this poll will be my reading list, so if anyone is interested, you will be able to view my progress through it in my reading log section of my blog here on the Chronicles.
Thanks for you help everyone!
(original first post)
***I did do a couple quick searches of the forum to see if this has been addressed already, but I did not come across anything. If there is something I missed, please let me know and I'll go there instead. Thanks!***
I'd like to get some input from the community in creating a list of essential science fiction & fantasy reading. Think of it as a recommended reading list for someone brand new to science fiction and fantasy who has never read anything within the genres.
Here are some rough guidelines for what I'm looking for:
- -This is not a list of peoples favorites, or what they feel is essential, but rather what the sci-fi and fantasy community as a whole (authors and readers alike) would largely agree on.
- -Can be a single book, anthology, or a series.
- -Age doesn't matter 100 years old, or published last year (though I understand it generally takes some time to become considered "essential").
- -Should have relatively broad appeal, basically if the recommendations needs a preface such as "if you like robots 'so & so' is essential reading", it should not be included.
- -Awards or critical acclaim at the time of publication are not necessary. There are plenty of instances where a piece of art (writing, music, etc) do not receive the credit they deserve until long after they were created or the creator has died.
The end goal of this thread is to comprise an actual to-read list for myself. I've been a lifelong fan of science fiction and fantasy, yet I find most of the classics that people would consider essential I have not read, I've made it a goal of mine to rectify this.
I know this can be a very loaded question, and that's the reason for the rules I put in place. Basically I want to keep the final list a manageable size (I have no idea what manageable is at the moment).
Lastly, I know I could do a Google search and come up with 100+ examples of this list, but I'm legitimately interested in what the community here thinks should be on this list, plus I think if this thread catches on, it could be a lot of fun.
Thanks for your considerations!
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