SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion

Hello,

Some may have noticed that I've made a terrible mistake in the last two months, flowing over into November. Let's take a look at what happened:

September Theme: Urban Fantasy
October Theme: Monster Mash
November Theme: Steampunk

Now, all of these are fantasy themes. In September we read Storm Front, in October we are reading A Night in Lonesome October and in November we are reading a steampunk selection. How did we get three fantasy themes in a row? Well, someone screwed up and I'm going to hold this crazy moron accountable: me.

I have no idea how I accomplished this, but I did. As such, we have also been selecting 3 sci-fi books off the master list. I apologize for the screw-ups and you are free to stone me at will!

I thought Steampunk was generally considered Science Fiction and not Fantasy?

As long as you are self-flagellating, you also got the month wrong on the new poll.

And shouldn't the title then say Why All This Fantasy? Heehee.

And I thought the plan was to have 1 from each genre for each month. So I'm all OK with everything!

Hmm, is steampunk sci-fi? I consider World of Warcraft sorta steampunky and Wikipedia, a source that is always correct due to its high standards, says:

"Steampunk is a subgenre of fantasy and speculative fiction that came into prominence in the 1980s and early 1990s. The term denotes works set in an era or world where steam power is still widely used—usually the 19th century, and often set in Victorian era England—but with prominent elements of either science fiction or fantasy, such as fictional technological inventions like those found in the works of H. G. Wells and Jules Verne, or real technological developments like the computer occurring at an earlier date. Other examples of steampunk contain alternate history-style presentations of "the path not taken" of such technology as dirigibles or analog computers; these frequently are presented in an idealized light, or a presumption of functionality."

So I guess it can lean either way. I'll have to fix that title!

I'm just enjoying reading everything we've selected, it's all fine in my book! I do consider steampunk to be more science fictiony than fantasy, though.

Hmm, that is interesting. I'll rack that up as another mistake I've made. I guess. I'll go sit in the corner...

Please don't take a time out Nick! I really appreciate all you do for the group. I've liked all the selections and themes since I joined a few months ago.

All your efforts are very much appreciated and I've really enjoyed expanding my literary horizons here.

Isn't steampunk a hybrid of science fiction and fantasy?

From all of out previous discussions on what steampunk is, really the only thing I've taken away from it is Victorian age, so probably fantasy and scifi can fit in.

LOL, no time outs for me, just the corner!

Well, heck. I now have figured out my issue. Look here:

2. Which theme do you want for November?

Steampunk 20.18% 23
science gone awry? apocalyptic 13.16% 15
Hugo winners from the 1950's 9.65% 11
First contact 7.89% 9
Parody/Spoof 7.89% 9
Space Opera 7.89% 9
Hard Sci-Fi 7.89% 9
Book Picked By A Member 6.14% 7
Nebula Award Winners 5.26% 6
SF stories set during WWI 3.51% 4
stories set in the future that are now in the past 3.51% 4
Mars 2.63% 3
Anthology 1.75% 2
Contrasting/comparable works on the same theme 0.88% 1
Distopia? 0.88% 1
Ken Macleod - Stone Canal 0.88% 1

November theme is Sci Fi. I'm switching the current sci fi poll to December and adding a fantasy poll. I'm a one man mistake this month!

It's all good with me Nick! And obviously everyone else, because no one caught on to any mistakes except you. :)

A few did and emailed me wondering if I realized what happened. I finally think I see what I did! Here's the new poll for November:

http://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/17...

Nick, while you're fixing things, there are some duplicates on the November polls. They're detailed in the comments section on the Nov theme poll.

The other day, at the gym, I forgot the code on my locker padlock that I've been using for a year and it took me nearly 20 tries to get it right. Your switching months around is nothing compared to my goofiness. :)

Yes, Brooke's right, Court of the Air was in there twice, I didn't spot any others.

Heh. You've practically forced me into reading a genre I wouldn't pick up on my own (sci-fi), and *gasp* I've liked it! ;)

Court of the Air has been weeded.

Is there any chance that someone who voted for Gunslinger could explain why? I've tried reading Stephen King novels several times, and I have yet to succeed in getting through one. I think seem to be missing something. I did read a great short story by King once upon a time.

Sure ... although I may not be very representative (In no particular order):

1) I was told by my Brother-in-law (who reads a lot of King) that Gunslinger/Dark Tower is not typical of his other stuff which I can't read either.

2) The Dark Tower premise actually seems interesting to me (unlike the rest of King's books). I will probably try to read it on my own if not selected.

3) I can easily get a copy of it.

4) It is popular enough that it might actually get selected and provide enough motivation to finish it.

I will testify that King's fantasy is way different than his horror stories. I thought I'd already read the first Dark Tower novel back in the 80s, but The Gunslinger is listed as the first one so I'm confused.

And, you're absolutely right, I was able to get a copy from BookMooch of Gunslinger because it's so popular. There are probably 15-20 copies still available there.

http://bookmooch.com/m/related?asin=0...

I didn't vote for it only because I've already read it. That said, the Gunslinger series is wonderful. It is very different from his more classic horror novels. His characters are engaging and the story is intricate and interesting.

Another reason I didn't vote for it is because although the first book was captivating, it really makes little sense without all of the following in the series. He does an OK job of trying to make it stand alone, but it really is more like a first chapter in a longer story. Regardless, it isn't meant to stand alone.

Still - for anyone interested, the entire series is a long road, but worth it. I was sad to see it end. And he ended it beautifully.

Oh, and Jon, Gunslinger is without a doubt the first in the series. It's not the best, but it's the first. I can't imagine jumping in the middle of this series. It would be so confusing.

Thanks a bunch, Jen, Jon and Kristjan. I was going to skip Gunslinger, but now that I have read your responses, I'll definitely give it a try.

I think The Gunslinger was mediocre. The parts of the rest of the series that I've read were better (I haven't read the whole thing, but that's because I had stopped reading Stephen King when the quality of his writing plummeted...I actually plan on going back and reading the full series because I understand he got a lot of it back), but The Gunslinger was very subpar in my mind. Among other things it's not really a cohesive story but rather a set of vaguely related short stories tacked together. The other books are cohesive novels, but the first one is not.

I enjoyed the series. I was one ofthose who bouggt a limited edition of the gunslinger. Not the 10,000 a book one but it was pricy enough I actually wore gloves to read it.

The series was great until the last couple of books. Once he brought himself in as a vital character I was disapointed to say the least.

and the ending was a real let down. It may have been the anticipation and expectation was not met. The talsman a shorter version of this same basic story was much more fulfilling.

I have read everything King has published and will read everything he does. The dark tower series did not meet my expectations.

I have read the Gunslinger and loved it. I voted for it because I thought it might be fun to read it with a group and see what others have to say about it. I do agree that the last couple books weren't as good as the first books but still a great series.

Interesting.

Michael. I may have more luck with "vaguely related short stories" than I have had with his novels.

From the above comments, it sounds like Gunslinger might provoke an interesting discussion of literary style.

The thing I believe new readers of the Dark Tower series is that the first book is written in a completely different style than the rest of the series. To find out if you want to read all the rest of the books you should read The Gunslinger, my personal favorite, and then read the second book The Drawing of Three. If the second book draws you in then read the rest.

The books after Wizards and Glass the fourth book suffer from being written after the accident. There was so much time between books that I think King had even lost his way a little.

Jeremy wrote: "The books after Wizards and Glass the fourth book suffer from being written after the accident."

I wouldn't say that they "suffer" from being written post-accident, just that they have a different feel. My favorite books of the series are books 2, 5, and 7 (The Drawing of the Three, Wolves of the Calla and The Dark Tower).

I do agree with you though that in order to get a good idea of whether you will like the series, you must read at least Drawing of the Three.