Collective Chronicles Reading Experience - Have We Read Everything?

M. Robert Gibson said:
Over the years I've bought/gained loads of SF/F books and added to my To Be Read pile.
Now, thanks to Goodreads and my cataloguing obsession, here is my to-read list, containing only those authors with a Wikipedia page.

  1. Sorceress of the Witch World (Witch World Series 1: Estcarp Cycle, #5) - Andre Norton
  2. The Dark Light Years - Brian W. Aldiss
  3. The Malacia Tapestry - Brian W. Aldiss
  4. The Horned Warrior (Berserker #3) - Chris Carlsen
  5. Shadow Of The Wolf (Berserker #1) - Chris Carlsen
  6. Eragon (The Inheritance Cycle, #1) - Christopher Paolini
  7. King Kobold - Christopher Stasheff
  8. Derai (Dumarest of Terra, #2) - E.C. Tubb
  9. The Winds of Gath (Dumarest of Terra #1) - E.C. Tubb
  10. Kalin (Dumarest of Terra #4) - E.C. Tubb
  11. Land of Terror (Pellucidar, #6) - Edgar Rice Burroughs
  12. The Wizard of Venus (Venus, #5) - Edgar Rice Burroughs
  13. Carson of Venus (Venus, #3) - Edgar Rice Burroughs
  14. The Berserker Attack - Fred Saberhagen
  15. Shadowmancer (Shadowmancer, #1) - G.P. Taylor
  16. Tersias the Oracle (Wormwood, #2) - G.P. Taylor
  17. Wormwood (Wormwood, #1) - G.P. Taylor
  18. Kothar: Barbarian Swordsman (Kothar, #1) - Gardner F. Fox
  19. Operation Ares - Gene Wolfe
  20. The Winds of Winter (A Song of Ice and Fire, #6) - George R.R. Martin
  21. A Dream of Spring (A Song of Ice and Fire, #7) - George R.R. Martin
  22. Space Viking - H. Beam Piper
  23. Pebble in the Sky (Galactic Empire #3) - Isaac Asimov
  24. The Stars, Like Dust (Galactic Empire, #1) - Isaac Asimov
  25. Maildun the Voyager - James Reeves
  26. The Savage Horde (The Survivalist, #6) - Jerry Ahern
  27. Runelight (Runemarks, #2) - Joanne Harris
  28. Explorers of Gor (Gor, #13) - John Norman
  29. Beasts of Gor (Gor, #12) - John Norman
  30. Slave Girl of Gor (Gor, #11) - John Norman
  31. The Tritonian Ring - L. Sprague de Camp
  32. The Flight of the Horse - Larry Niven
  33. Flashing Swords! 2 - Lin Carter
  34. Eaters of the Dead - Michael Crichton
  35. The Black Corridor - Michael Moorcock
  36. The Shores of Death - Michael Moorcock
  37. The Blood Red Game - Michael Moorcock
  38. Masters Of The Pit - Michael Moorcock
  39. Lord Of The Spiders - Michael Moorcock
  40. The Stone God Awakens - Philip José Farmer
  41. A Spell for Chameleon (Xanth #1) - Piers Anthony
  42. Murder and Magic (Lord Darcy, #1) - Randall Garrett
  43. City of a Thousand Suns - Samuel R. Delany
  44. The Towers of Toron - Samuel R. Delany
  45. Solaris / Chain of Chance / A Perfect Vacuum - Stanisław Lem
  46. The Moon People - Stanton A. Coblentz
  47. The Gunslinger - Stephen King
  48. The Illearth War (The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, #2) - Stephen R. Donaldson
  49. Suaine and the Crow-God - Stuart Gordon
  50. One-Eye - Stuart Gordon
  51. The Weirwoods - Thomas Burnett Swann
  52. The Farthest Shore (Earthsea Cycle, #3) - Ursula K. Le Guin
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I've read the Norton and the LeGuin but I am sure many others here have as well. I've read the Stasheff, the Anthony, and the Garrett, and also the two Delanys but they were part of an omnibus The Fall of the Towers (which contains a third book the name of which I can't immediately call to mind). Pretty sure I've read the Swann, though I may be confusing it with one or more of his other books I read, long, long ago. I've read some of Burrough's Venus books, but at this late date I can't tell you whether that included those you've listed.
 
This needs to be a modly thread with a cumulative list in the first post which is updated with everyone's replies. I don't know exactly what's going on here.

As Bick mentions, excluding ties and such, I've read all Cherryh's SF and F up to 1988 and all her SF up to 1992, and a few after. Seeing's how she's published twenty Foreigner books and a lot of fantasies since, that isn't all that much of Cherryh anymore, though. ;) I think Parson's read all the Foreigner books and I'm sure others have read her fantasies. In terms of books published in their lifetimes, I've read all or most all of at least Isaac Asimov, Leigh Brackett, John W. Campbell, Arthur C. Clarke, Greg Egan (from 1992-2008, anyway, with the Pile going to 2010), Robert A. Heinlein, Fritz Leiber, everything solely credited to C. L. Moore (and some Kuttner/Moore/Padgett, et al.), James H. Schmitz, Bruce Sterling (to about 2010), Ted Sturgeon, Norman Spinrad (to 1991), James Tiptree, Jr., A. E. van Vogt (before his second phase that began in the mid-60s), and Vernor Vinge.

As far as the last post, in addition to the two Asimovs (which, coincidentally, are the last two books I've just re-read), I've read all three Burroughs, de Camp's The Tritonian Ring, Farmer's The Stone God Awakens, Anthony's A Spell for Chameleon, and Le Guin's The Farthest Shore and I'm pretty sure I read the Crichton eons ago but could be wrong. Also coincidentally, except for the Asimov and Burroughs (and the Anthony at the time), and despite liking some de Camp, Farmer, and Le Guin, I didn't especially like any of them. The Saberhagen, Piper, and Lem's Solaris are in my own Pile.

Also not sure about the significance of all these (Carlsen, Taylor, Gordon? may be my own ignorance). Maybe there should be a "the title's gotten some number of votes for significance and zero reads" to qualify as one the Chrons has missed.
 
Bick said:
We may need to encourage Samuel Delany to join Chrons, as perhaps the easiest way of ticking that one off.
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Yep, that'd do it. :D

Looking back over the rest of the thread, I can't see anything that's been listed that someone hasn't checked off except, as I say, I've read Leiber's Our Lady of Darkness.

As far as the SF Masterworks link, I can't follow everyone's numbers, but will say, allowing that I have read Stapledon but can no longer recall which and some might count DNF books either way, I've read 61 of 1-82. The ones I haven't (bold=Pile):

I Am Legend
Fifth Head of Cerberus
Earth Abides
The Drowned World
The Centauri Device
Non-Stop
Pavane
Bring the Jubilee
The Complete Roderick
Flow My Tears
Grass
The Shrinking Man
The Dancers at the End of Time
The Simulacra
The Child Garden
Life During Wartime
Roadside Picnic
Mockingbird
The Day of the Triffids
The Inverted World
Dhalgren (DNF)

Something weird happened at that point in the series because my reading goes from about 74% to about 38% but, of 83-178, I have read only 36 (and have about six in the Pile):

The Food of the Gods
The Difference Engine
Hyperion
City
Hellstrom's Hive
Rogue Moon
Dangerous Visions
The Fall of Hyperion
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
War of the Worlds
Synners
Ammonite
Frankenstein
Doomsday Book
Slow River
Wasp
The Gods Themselves
No Enemy But Time
Double Star
Revelation Space
The Door into Summer
Probably most everything in Her Smoke Rose Up Forever
The Word for World Is Forest (this is a novella)
The Wind's Twelve Quarters & The Compass Rose
Dying of the Light
A Fire Upon the Deep
Norstrilia
Always Coming Home (DNF?)
A Deepness in the Sky
Starship Troopers
Neuromancer
The Embedding
Raft
Fools
Lord Valentine's Castle
A Time of Changes

I feel like the Chrons must knock that one out (as long as we get Delany to join) but it would be really interesting to know for certain.
 
Bick said:
(3) If anyone suggests a book that we've not "collectively read" - can you prove them wrong by revealing you have actually read it?

(4) And if we agree there's a book out there we haven't read, that meets the "mustn't be far to obscure" rule - who will add it to their TBR pile? Let's add it to our collective reading experience!
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Well, following on from posts by @M. Robert Gibson and @Vladd67 , I suggest that it is very likely that no one has read (or will admit to having read) all 35 volumes of John Norman's Gor series. Furthermore, I doubt that there will be a scramble to add them to TBR piles.
 
If it helps, I cover-to-covered Dhalgren in the early 80s, so we can check that one off. Challenging novel. CC
 
J-Sun said:
Also not sure about the significance of all these (Carlsen, Taylor, Gordon? may be my own ignorance). Maybe there should be a "the title's gotten some number of votes for significance and zero reads" to qualify as one the Chrons has missed.
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I agree. The potential list of books is huge and we need a master list.

Here's a suggestion. Maybe we limit the book list to only those written by one the Chrons' featured authors.

If so, my list becomes
  1. Sorceress of the Witch World (Witch World Series 1: Estcarp Cycle, #5) - Andre Norton
  2. The Dark Light Years - Brian W. Aldiss
  3. The Malacia Tapestry - Brian W. Aldiss
  4. Operation Ares - Gene Wolfe
  5. The Winds of Winter (A Song of Ice and Fire, #6) - George R.R. Martin
  6. A Dream of Spring (A Song of Ice and Fire, #7) - George R.R. Martin
  7. The Flight of the Horse - Larry Niven
  8. The Black Corridor - Michael Moorcock
  9. The Shores of Death - Michael Moorcock
  10. The Blood Red Game - Michael Moorcock
  11. Masters Of The Pit - Michael Moorcock
  12. Lord Of The Spiders - Michael Moorcock
  13. The Gunslinger - Stephen King
  14. The Illearth War (The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, #2) - Stephen R. Donaldson
  15. The Farthest Shore (Earthsea Cycle, #3) - Ursula K. Le Guin
But then, of course, since these authors are the most popular, it is more likely that their works will have been read.
 
Another suggestion.
What if everyone who is interested nominates one book for the master list. If their choice gets marked as been read, then they can nominate another book.
 
Books that challenge are almost always worth the effort, IMO. It was the most difficult genre work I'd ever attempted (I'd been reading Asimov and Clarke only 5 years earlier, and had transitioned to Delaney through a more-recent love of PK Dick). It was dense and confusing, and very well written. But I remember being fascinated by some of the ideas, and set pieces. But I have a terrible memory for books I've read, and have just a vague outline of the story in memory (it's been almost 40 years).

But I'd never consider reading it again, because I personally didn't take much pleasure from the reading of the book. That's pretty much all I want these days; diversion and enjoyment.
 
Bick said:
Just a bit of fun for the lounge.

While mowing the lawns, thinking idly of nothing and anything, it occurred to me that of you crossed Baylor and Danny in some sort of teleporting, combining device, much like in The Fly, you'd end up with a (handsome) creature who had read almost all science fiction books.

I then got to mulling this over in a slightly more sensible way and decided that, indeed, if you combined the readership of all the Chronicles Forum members, you'd obtain quite an impressive reading log. Have we read close to all major SF and F works? I'm not talking all short stories published, as there are way too many thousand insignificant works by forgotten authors, but let's say "books" as in collections, anthologies or novels.

I'm quite sure that between us we've read all the books of the big 3 in SF (Heinlein, Asimov, Clarke). I know I've read most, and I know there are others here who've read them all. Likewise, we known J-Sun's read most of Cherryh, and for those few he hadn't read, others doubtless fill in the gaps. Weber? Parson and tobl cover us pretty well. Moorcock - JD's your man. Vance - Connavar. Simak - Dave Wixon, of course. And so on. And we have great diversity - I've read almost no romantic fantasy, but many on here, e.g. Teresa, have read a lot. I know for a fact that there are folk here who have read all of WoT and Malazan and other epic fantasy much less popular. Is there anything we haven't collectively read?

So, in response to this thread, let's see:

(1) General discussion of whether we have read everything, and if not, what percentage have we read? (Because I'm in lock-down and it seemed like a fun hypothesis)

(2) I've set a slightly daft hypothesis up - that between us we've read everything - can you specifically challenge the hypothesis and think of a SFF book we haven't read, or identify an author who is under-read among the whole reading membership?

Okay, so the main problem with this game would be if folk just come up with an extremely obscure book by an extremely obscure author. So if the author is ludicrously obscure (e.g. no wiki page), the book doesn't count, and we're off the hook.

(3) If anyone suggests a book that we've not "collectively read" - can you prove them wrong by revealing you have actually read it?

(4) And if we agree there's a book out there we haven't read, that meets the "mustn't be far to obscure" rule - who will add it to their TBR pile? Let's add it to our collective reading experience!
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I wonder if you've taken into account foreign works translated into the English such as Primo Levi's work, and the Carpet Makers by Andreas Esback The Carpet Makers is a must read for any fans of sf. I recommend it highly to all readers.
 
Whereas I read The Carpet Makers and wish I could take back the time I spent reading it. However, that's at least two of us here who have read it (and I seem to remember that it was discussed here several years ago so there are probably several more), so if we ever do compile a master list of books we've (collectively) read it would definitely have a place there.
 
Hang on - surely nobody can have read A Dream of Spring yet?
 
What about books by those who are or have been Chronicles members? Does the fact that the writer (a member now or in the past) has read the book count for our purposes here? Or does it only count if other members have read it?
 
Avelino de Castro said:
I wonder if you've taken into account foreign works translated into the English such as Primo Levi's work, and the Carpet Makers by Andreas Esback The Carpet Makers is a must read for any fans of sf. I recommend it highly to all readers.
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That’s a good question. I certainly wouldn’t have the knowledge to identify very many translated works. I guess the original posting assumes that a work is major if it is regarded as such by people knowledgeable about sf and fantasy in English (including English translation, so, e.g., works by Verne, Lem, Capek, the Strugatsky brothers, Calvino, Borges, &c would qualify. Am I right about that, Bick?
 
Extollager said:
I guess the original posting assumes that a work is major if it is regarded as such by people knowledgeable about sf and fantasy in English (including English translation, so, e.g., works by Verne, Lem, Capek, the Strugatsky brothers, Calvino, Borges, &c would qualify. Am I right about that, Bick?
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That sounds about right, Extollager.
 
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