the Vintage SF not-a-challenge
Posted October 30, 2011
on:- In: classics | Vintage SciFi
- 35 Comments
The first post on my January Vintage SciFi not-a-challenge got so much comments/conversation, I figured it was time to do a teeny bit more planning and organizing for this thing. Cuz thanks to everyone’s (that’s YOU by the way!) excitement , it looks like it’s gonna be big and awesome.
let’s get right to the FAQs.
What counts as vintage? I’m gonna say anything Science Fiction that was published before 1979. Sword and Sorcery counts. Sci-Fantasy counts. short stories count. Jules Verne and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein count. Anthologies count. If it was published before I was born and you consider it Science Fiction, it counts.
What’s a not-a-challenge? Exactly what it sounds like. This isn’t a challenge, it’s just a fun thing to help garner some attention to all that wonderful classic, golden age, vintage SF that influenced many of your favorite contemporary writers. Other than Herbert, Asimov and Heinlein, I’m woefully underread in the classics, so this is my chance to make up for some of that. There are no sign ups, no points, no contests, no prizes. Read one vintage SF book or 10, or 50 or Zero. Actually, don’t read 50, that would make me look like a total slacker. and then I’d cry.
How can bloggers who are participating identify themselves? I’ll come up with some kinda badge-y jpg thing, soon, I promise. you can put it in the side bar, or in the post, or whatever you feel like doing. If I’m really smart, I’ll start a Vintage SF tab up top on the page and you can post your links in the comments section.
On Twitter? use #vintageSciFi
Need some suggestions? There are plenty in the comments of the original post, and feel free to post in the comments what you plan to read, hope to read, or types of stories you’d like to read (first contact, space opera, YA, etc), and I’ll bet others will offer plenty of suggestions to help you out. In fact, I already took a few suggestions from Richard:
Ok, he didn’t suggest Regan’s Planet by Silverberg, but it’s a Silverberg! Resistance is Futile.
35 Responses to "the Vintage SF not-a-challenge"
I think I will probably try and participate. I will be doing Carl’s Science-Fiction Experience at the same time, so it should be fun. I should start brain-storming now because I never read as much science-fiction as I would like during those two months.
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Eek, I wish I weren’t all but committed to rereads throughout January! I’ve been meaning to read more vintage SF for a while now. I’ll try to sneak a couple in, but I’m not sure how much qualifying rereadable stuff I have on hand. I’ll have to poke at my reading list and see what gives.
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Vintage SF is one of my favorites. My problem is narrowing down the list of ones I want to read for it. I will be joining in on the “Foundation” reading.
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I know my plans are always much bigger than my reality when it comes to books I want to read during the months of January and February. I would like to get to some contemporary stuff by Alastair Reynolds and Ian McDonald, among others, and in addition to the Asimov and Heinlein I am planning on reading I would like to read some more Jack Vance, some Poul Anderson, Andre Norton. I’d like to get to Dragonflight by McCaffrey. I want to read some Keith Laumer and re-read some Harry Harrison or perhaps read some Harrison that I haven’t read before.
Over the last couple of years January has been my most prolific reading month of the year and I usually average 9 or 10 books. I hope that trend continues in 2012.
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The see you have ‘City’ by Simak. It is a great book, but be aware that it exists in two versions. The later version has an additional story/chapter in it that sort of closes things off (I believe it was written well after the original publication). Either version is a good read.
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[…] Red Reviewer, I will be participating in The Vintage SF Not-A-Challenge. Details can be found here, but here is the concept in an abbreviated form. The Not-A-Challenge is a loose group of bloggers […]
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Hi, I came across a link at SF Experience challenge. This intrigues me because like you, I’m not nearly as well read in older sf as I’d like to think.
Do they have to be “vintage” editions or are we simply going by when stuff was originally published? I might have a few likely suspects lurking in my bookshelves but they’re all mostly reprints.
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1 | Carl V.
October 30, 2011 at 8:50 am
It will be fun! Especially as it coincides with the 5th year of the science fiction related non-challenge that I host in January/February, The Science Fiction Experience (previously known as the Sci-Fi Experience but changed this year after some ‘education’ about how ‘true’ SF fans feel that term is derogatory). I always have a hankering for the classics during that time and cannot wait to see what everyone decides to read.
I will definitely be promoting your non-challenge as a co-experience with my own if that is okay with you and if you are okay with books qualifying for both.
I also hope you and many of your participants will join in on the group read of Foundation beginning in January. And actually if you yourself are planning on joining in I might as well throw out a request to see if you’ll come up with questions for one of the weeks? I’m thinking of splitting the group read into two 10 day reading periods. The book is less than 300 pages long. Your thoughts?
I won’t post anything about The Science Fiction Experience 2012 until mid-late December and if you are cool with it I will include a link to yours. I’ll also post about the group read around that time. I plan on doing Foundation and doing Puppet Masters in February. So can’t wait to reread both of those books.
As you know I picked up several vintage books recently and have many others I’ve purchased over the last few years. The fun will be deciding what I am going to read.
So….since I was born in 1968, does that mean I am vintage as well?!?! 🙂
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Redhead
October 30, 2011 at 12:53 pm
Well, you might be vintage, you might not. you’re only as old as you feel!
I was planning to read Foundation, and would love to join you with Foundation. I might not do it as an official read-along here, but it’ll be two conversations or some such. Are you doing that through Stainless Steel, or through the Yahoo group that was linked to on your blog?
I never found the phrase “SciFi” derogatory. I’m of the generation that takes phrases like that an owns them!
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Carl V.
October 30, 2011 at 2:38 pm
I’ll be doing the group read of Foundation through my blog. I figure I’ll be doing two simultaneous but different group discussions of Foundation. The book club just does things more free form and so I thought it would be fun to do both at the same time.
And considering the fact that I pulled a chest muscle moving some furniture and feel like I’ve been hit by a truck, I guess I must be really old indeed!!!
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Redhead
October 30, 2011 at 3:31 pm
It’s not just you. I did 15 minutes of Yoga and feel like I got hit by a train.
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