Worlds Without End Blog

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.

1. The Forever War – Joe Haldeman
2. I Am Legend – Richard Matheson
3. Cities in Flight – James Blish
4. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? – Philip K. Dick
5. The Stars My Destination – Alfred Bester
6. Babel-17 – Samuel R. Delany
7. Lord of Light – Roger Zelazny
8. The Fifth Head of Cerberus – Gene Wolfe
9. Gateway – Frederik Pohl
10. The Rediscovery of Man – Cordwainer Smith
11. Last and First Men – Olaf Stapledon
12. Earth Abides – George R. Stewart
13. Martian Time-Slip – Philip K. Dick
14. The Demolished Man – Alfred Bester
15. Stand on Zanzibar – John Brunner
16. The Dispossessed – Ursula K. Le Guin
17. The Drowned World – J. G. Ballard
18. The Sirens of Titan – Kurt Vonnegut
19. Emphyrio – Jack Vance
20. A Scanner Darkly – Philip K. Dick
21. Star Maker – Olaf Stapledon
22. Behold the Man – Michael Moorcock
23. The Book of Skulls – Robert Silverberg
24. The Time Machine and The War of the Worlds – H. G. Wells
25. Flowers for Algernon – Daniel Keyes
26. Ubik – Philip K. Dick
27. Timescape – Gregory Benford
28. More Than Human – Theodore Sturgeon
29. Man Plus – Frederik Pohl
30. A Case of Conscience – James Blish
31. The Centauri Device – M. John Harrison
32. Dr. Bloodmoney – Philip K. Dick
33. Non-Stop – Brian Aldiss
34. The Fountains of Paradise – Arthur C. Clarke
35. Pavane – Keith Roberts
36. Now Wait for Last Year – Philip K. Dick
37. Nova – Samuel R. Delany
38. The First Men in the Moon – H. G. Wells
39. The City and the Stars – Arthur C. Clarke
40. Blood Music – Greg Bear
41. Jem – Frederik Pohl
42. Bring the Jubilee – Ward Moore
43. VALIS – Philip K. Dick
44. The Lathe of Heaven – Ursula K. Le Guin
45. The Complete Roderick – John Sladek
46. Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said – Philip K. Dick
47. The Invisible Man – H. G. Wells
48. Grass – Sheri S. Tepper
49. A Fall of Moondust – Arthur C. Clarke
50. Eon – Greg Bear
51. The Shrinking Man – Richard Matheson
52. The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch – Philip K. Dick
53. The Dancers at the End of Time – Michael Moorcock
54. The Space Merchants – Frederik Pohl and Cyril M. Kornbluth
55. Time Out of Joint – Philip K. Dick
56. Downward to the Earth – Robert Silverberg
57. The Simulacra – Philip K. Dick
58. The Penultimate Truth – Philip K. Dick
59. Dying Inside – Robert Silverberg
60. Ringworld – Larry Niven
61. The Child Garden – Geoff Ryman
62. Mission of Gravity – Hal Clement
63. A Maze of Death – Philip K. Dick
64. Tau Zero – Poul Anderson
65. Rendezvous with Rama – Arthur C. Clarke
66. Life During Wartime – Lucius Shepard
67. Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang – Kate Wilhelm
68. Roadside Picnic – Arkady and Boris Strugatsky
69. Dark Benediction – Walter M. Miller, Jr.
70. Mockingbird – Walter Tevis
71. Dune – Frank Herbert
72. The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress – Robert A. Heinlein
73. The Man in the High Castle – Philip K. Dick
74. Inverted World – Christopher Priest
75. Cat’s Cradle – Kurt Vonnegut
76. The Island of Dr. Moreau – H.G. Wells
77. Childhood’s End – Arthur C. Clarke
78. The Time Machine – H.G. Wells
79. Dhalgren (July 2010) – Samuel R. Delany
80. Helliconia (August 2010) – Brian Aldiss
81. Food of the Gods (Sept. 2010) – H.G. Wells
82. The Body Snatchers (Oct. 2010) – Jack Finney
83. The Female Man (Nov. 2010) – Joanna Russ
84. 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?

Posted in Novels | Tags: Book Lists, BookTrackr, Science Fiction

7 Comments

Aleix   |   09 Jul 2010 @ 11:55

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.

John   |   12 Jul 2010 @ 07:31

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.

Dave Post   |   12 Jul 2010 @ 08:16

@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.

Meridian   |   25 Jul 2010 @ 13:37

Sixty-seven. Glad to see the Tepper there, as well as the barely-known M J Engh.

Dave Post   |   25 Jul 2010 @ 14:07

@Meridian: I’ve read fewer than you have left to read. Show off 😉

Val   |   01 Aug 2010 @ 02:43

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.

Dave Post   |   03 Aug 2010 @ 08:08

@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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