Constructive Interference: Me and SF

In addition to the political blogs, I like to read science and math blogs. Note the stuff on evolution over on the right hand side. Check it out. One excellent blog that I've recently discovered, and that I strongly recommend is Good Math, Bad Math, by Mark Chu-Carroll. Check it out. I'll get it up on my blog roll soon as well. As an aside, although I've only come across Mark's blog in the past couple of months, I've read him a lot in the past. I used to read the Usenet group talk.origins a great deal, back in the 90's. He was quite a prolific, and knowledgeable writer on that group. When I saw a post of his, it was nearly always very much worth reading. His blog is every bit as worth reading, although a lot of it is only of interest to math and science geeks like myself.

Enough preamble. This post on Good Math, Bad Math is in response to a list of the 50 most important works of science fiction in the past 50 years (although in true math/science fashion that is apparently with a +/- unknown delta). Apparently, the list was started by PZ Myers on pharyngula. Check it out. So, I decided I'd add my comments on what I've read as well. The books, I've read are in bold.

The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien
Brilliant work. The world would be a poorer place without Tolkien
The Foundation Trilogy, Isaac Asimov

Dune, Frank Herbert

Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert A. Heinlein

A Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula K. Le Guin

Neuromancer, William Gibson

Childhood's End, Arthur C. Clarke

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Philip K. Dick

The Mists of Avalon, Marion Zimmer Bradley

Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury

The Book of the New Sun, Gene Wolfe

A Canticle for Leibowitz, Walter M. Miller, Jr.

The Caves of Steel, Isaac Asimov

Children of the Atom, Wilmar Shiras

Cities in Flight, James Blish

The Colour of Magic, Terry Pratchett
While I haven't read The Colour of Magic, I have read a lot of Prathett. He is great. Douglas Adams for fantasy. And the beauty of Discworld is that Pratchett has a huge supply of possible characters. He won't grow tired of them as I feel sure Adams did with his set.

Dangerous Visions, edited by Harlan Ellison

Deathbird Stories, Harlan Ellison

The Demolished Man, Alfred Bester

Dhalgren, Samuel R. Delany

Dragonflight, Anne McCaffrey

Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card

The First Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, Stephen R. Donaldson

The Forever War, Joe Haldeman

Gateway, Frederik Pohl

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, J.K. Rowling

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams

I Am Legend, Richard Matheson

Interview with the Vampire, Anne Rice

The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K. Le Guin

Little, Big, John Crowley

Lord of Light, Roger Zelazny
Partially highlighted because I haven't read Lord of Light, but I have read, and loved, Princes of Amber. Zelazny is worth reading

The Man in the High Castle, Philip K. Dick

Mission of Gravity, Hal Clement

More Than Human, Theodore Sturgeon

The Rediscovery of Man, Cordwainer Smith

On the Beach, Nevil Shute

Rendezvous with Rama, Arthur C. Clarke

Ringworld, Larry Niven

Rogue Moon, Algis Budrys

The Silmarillion, J.R.R. Tolkien
This is more of a reference work about Middle Earth than a novel. If read from that perspective (and you have any interest in that perspective) it is quite worth reading

Slaughterhouse-5, Kurt Vonnegut

Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson

Stand on Zanzibar, John Brunner
I have started this book a few times. I have never finished it. I recall it having promise, but it never caught my attention. That actually says a lot, because I rarely fail to finish a book.