tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post1282337389522318522..comments2024-02-14T01:50:56.112-06:00Comments on The OF Blog: Westeros develops its own lists of the best spec fic booksLarry Nolenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16001420558511460998noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-20776699584517135072010-02-25T08:27:00.739-06:002010-02-25T08:27:00.739-06:00If anybody's still interested, http://vacuousw...If anybody's still interested, http://vacuouswastrel.wordpress.com/2010/02/25/westeros-org-book-list-index/ gives links to my posts on the subject, explaining the selection method, noting it flaws, and explaining why that method was selected over others. Hopefully that might give more background to the list.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-87403389229566585442010-02-24T10:10:16.726-06:002010-02-24T10:10:16.726-06:00Lol, Marco, I hope no one gets the idea to rewrite...Lol, Marco, I hope no one gets the idea to rewrite Storm's novella as biker story. ;)Gabriele Campbellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17205770868139083575noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-59878902280460687292010-02-24T08:26:53.281-06:002010-02-24T08:26:53.281-06:00I should introduce my blog readers to the Ghost Ri...<i> I should introduce my blog readers to the Ghost Rider and dyke sacrifices some day.</i> <br /><br />Ghost Rider, the cursed biker with the blazing skull, and dyke sacrifices, also known as Lesbian Vampire Killers from Hell?<br />I don't think they're eligible, being a comic book and a movie.<br /><br />;)<br /><br />http://gutenberg.spiegel.de/?id=12&xid=2799&kapitel=1&cHash=cdc9dafdf02marconoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-79137530156492712472010-02-24T05:10:16.916-06:002010-02-24T05:10:16.916-06:00Adam: I agree with you. Unfortunately, people over...Adam: I agree with you. Unfortunately, people overwhelmingly voted for the series as a whole, not for individual books. And, even if I ignored that and forced the votes to go to an individual book, that book would have to be Night Watch - which is probably the LEAST standalone book in the series. I can't really recommend that people read Night Watch without having read at the very least the other Watch novels first...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-35454727890270492892010-02-23T18:07:26.066-06:002010-02-23T18:07:26.066-06:00A pretty good and varied list.
Although including...A pretty good and varied list.<br /><br />Although including all the DISCWORLD books in one lump is a bit of a cheat. 36 books with no continuing stories between them, some recurring characters and only a shared background challenge the notion of what is a 'series' quite severely. Getting all 36 on there does mean readers perhaps don't have to choose between NIGHT WATCH or SMALL GODS as the best, but it does lead to the conclusion that weaker books like THE LAST CONTINENT and EQUAL RITES are good enough to be on an all-time best spec fic reads list, which is pretty misleading.Adam Whiteheadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11383677312079611311noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-56379987636985817052010-02-23T17:42:32.623-06:002010-02-23T17:42:32.623-06:0046 out of the main list and we differ on 10 books ...46 out of the main list and we differ on 10 books you marked as unread (Pratchett, Feist, Tad Williams, GG Kay's novels, Hesse, Heinlein, Cornwell). 5 of the honourable mentions, but only 3 of the 21th century list. <br /><br />I read Morgan's Steel Remains but his other books don't appeal to me. Nor do I care for thieves as MCs, so that rules out Lynch. Mieville didn't work for me, though I made my way through Perdido Street Station. I may give Abraham a try some day - his new project sounds more like my thing though, so I'll proabbly start with that once it's out. <br /><br />My list would include Beowulf and the lais of Marie de France, plus some Scandinavian writers (Almqvist, Lagerlöf, Rydberg) and German ones (de la Motte Fouqué, ETA Hoffmann, Theodor Storm....) but I may be a bit biased there. I should introduce my blog readers to the Ghost Rider and dyke sacrifices some day. :)Gabriele Campbellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17205770868139083575noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-405165200472987752010-02-23T16:29:44.019-06:002010-02-23T16:29:44.019-06:00This comment has been removed by the author.Gabriele Campbellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17205770868139083575noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-23196230478740901232010-02-23T10:36:06.669-06:002010-02-23T10:36:06.669-06:00Thanks for mentioning this.
However, one thing mu...Thanks for mentioning this.<br /><br />However, one thing must be made clear: this isn't a list created to produce the best 100 books. Because I don't think that's possible from any popular vote - Jonathan is quite right that when the voters differ greatly in what they have read it's impossible to create any meaningful ranking. <br /><br />Instead, this should be seen as Tea is seeing it: a recommended reading list that is directed at an unknown reader. As a result, it's intentionally designed to have considerable variety within it, to cater to a wide range of tastes. <br /><br />That is, it's a "you should be able to find something here worthwhile" list, not a "you shouldn't be able to find anything here not worthwhile" list; it's a comprehensive array of tastes, not a consensus adjudication.<br /><br />So, sure, lots of people won't love the Empire Trilogy - and lots of people won't love the Autumn of the Patriarch. I'm guessing rather few people will actually love them both - but if you start combining the people who love this or that, you start building up a picture of the electorate as a whole. <br /><br />I think that makes it quite good as a statement, "This is what we, the Westeros forum, like". <br /><br />It also makes it good, I think, as recommended reading. Even if you don't know anything about these books, if you are a genre fan, picking out a good handful of these books should net you some reads you really appreciate - whereas some 'greatest ever' lists can give you nothing that you like at all, because the tastes of the list-maker are too different from your own.<br /><br /><br />-------<br /><br />If anybody's interested, I'll be putting the list up on my blog shortly, complete with "how this list was made", "what's wrong with this list" and "possible questions about this list" (ie "why did you choose to make it in that rather peculiar way?). The electoral system is complex and innovative.<br /><br />---<br /><br />Joe: no votes for AR at all. Votes for Dreamsongs, but it was after the cut-off date.<br /><br />---<br /><br />PeterWilliam: The Faded Sun and Cyteen also got votes, but Downbelow Station got more. Note, however, that the list works by aggregate author totals, and then selecting the representative books, not by votes for books alone.<br /><br />---<br /><br />Droid: don't think either series got votes - in the case of the Belgariad, I'm not surprised, but I did like the first two Whyte books (for some reason, never bought the others). Partly it's because people only voted for 20 works each - lots of books probably have broad support without having the real enthusiasm (again, electoral system artifacts representing the intention of the electoral system rigger/organiser). Rothfuss did well, and would have made it on the main list, but it was harder to get on the 21st century one.<br /><br />----<br /><br />Anyway, I'll let you know when I've got more details of the system up. As every good electoral system student knows, you can't say anything about results if you don't know how they were arrived at.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-79228546445908584862010-02-22T14:59:16.498-06:002010-02-22T14:59:16.498-06:0050 out of 100 on the main list. not too shabby. ...50 out of 100 on the main list. not too shabby. I am surprised to see the The Belgariad didn't make the list, really who hasn't read it? Jack Whyte's Camulod series is fairly popular as well. But maybe that is just in Canada. As for the 21th century list, I would have nominated Pat Rothfuss's The Name of the Wind.<br /><br /> Some of the books I have never heard of, i too will be on the lookout for them, so I can read my way through.Droidprogrammerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05998907966592168385noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-80134313550217839922010-02-22T09:18:50.056-06:002010-02-22T09:18:50.056-06:00Jonathan - Way to make a sweeping generalization t...Jonathan - Way to make a sweeping generalization that condemns two completely different groups of people in one blow. <br /><br />Considering that the list has great variation (and keep in mind it is a list of speculative fiction, not all fiction); that I know for a fact that many of the people who voted have read QUITE a lot, I can only conclude that you are everything you condemn, namely someone who is pretentious, with poor taste, and without a proper opinion.Gorannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-4437519227988662702010-02-22T06:43:21.437-06:002010-02-22T06:43:21.437-06:00Um, readers who have read too much? LOL! Just how ...Um, readers who have read too much? LOL! Just how much is too much and how much is just right. Might it be more correct to say that encountering someone more widely read than you is a cause for celebration?<br /><br />Unless the creation of lists and the act of reading are part of some infernal contest? jvAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-32152241068371086162010-02-21T18:15:58.398-06:002010-02-21T18:15:58.398-06:00If absolutely nothing else, this list would be a g...If absolutely nothing else, this list would be a good one for me to try to read my way through. I recognise a lot of titles and authors on it, though I confess I've read relatively few of the books mentioned. Maybe by this time next year I'll be able to say otherwise.Tea and Tomeshttp://tea-and-tomes.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-15052290524053956182010-02-21T18:06:33.685-06:002010-02-21T18:06:33.685-06:00I was a little surprised that Downbelow Station is...I was a little surprised that <i>Downbelow Station</i> is the single work that gets Cherryh on the list. Fairly solid list though.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-67033911809690508242010-02-21T16:21:15.536-06:002010-02-21T16:21:15.536-06:00Well, I had read something like 50 of those on the...Well, I had read something like 50 of those on the main list, and most of the new books, but I feel this list suffer a bit from "reader created lists"-syndrome. It has many of the big names where the books are not of the quality which should be included, and it tends to group series together, when perhaps one book out of the whole gang is of sufficient quality to merit a mention. <br /><br />The list contains obvious gems though, and even one or two works I have never heard of... I should perhaps check them out, but I feel somewhat sceptical when it comes to the quality of some things on the list and feel that it would be advantageous to just forget this list and get proper recommendations instead. <br /><br />Lists, in general, are voted on by people who haven't read enough to have a proper opinion, or people who have read too much and have to be pretentious about it. Oh, and those with poor taste.Jonathanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13869974939839253813noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-26616613172200908172010-02-21T15:38:24.777-06:002010-02-21T15:38:24.777-06:00It's easy to nitpick an individual book, and I...It's easy to nitpick an individual book, and I can't be surprised given that this is a GRRM forum, but <i>Dying of the Light</i> is really not that remarkable. If they really needed another GRRM, <i>The Armageddon Rag</i> would have been a better choice.Joehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16094675116398769415noreply@blogger.com