Last year in 2016, I joined the lovely Ju and Steph in reading all the of Twelve Planets, a project they called A Journey Through Twelve Planets. It was manageable as it was one book a month and it worked nicely, and each book, of course, was well written and enjoyable.
I want to do something similar in 2017, and I want to use it to expand my woeful knowledge of women in speculative fiction. As such, I’m going to read either the first in an epic series or their most popular/defining work, with one book for each author I really should know way more about. …At least, this started out as a list of twelve books (trying to keep it simple!) but of course and quite rightly, with SO many excellent books to get into, the list quickly turned into 24, which means two books a month. (Partly because I remembered Scott’s list of formative books…) Easy, right?
01. A Wizard of Earthsea (Earthsea Cycle, #1) by Ursula K. Le Guin – my review
02. Seed to Harvest (Patternmaster #1-4 ) by Octavia E. Butler – my review
03. Her Smoke Rose Up Forever by James Tiptree Jr. – my review
04. Shards of Honour (Vorkosigan Saga #1) by Lois McMaster Bujold – my review
05. Bellwether by Connie Willis – my review
06. Everfair by Nisi Shawl – my review
07. The Rowan (The Tower and the Hive #1) by Anne McCaffrey – my review
08. Witch World (The Estcarp Cycle #1) by Andre Norton – my review
09. Sheepfarmer’s Daughter (The Deed of Paksenarrion, #1) by Elizabeth Moon – my review
10. The Female Man by Joanna Russ – my review
11. Downbelow Station (The Company Wars #1) by C.J. Cherryh
12. A Thousand Words for Stranger (Trade Pact Universe #1) by Julie E. Czerneda
13. Red as Blood by Tanith Lee
14. War for the Oaks by Emma Bull
15. The Snow Queen (The Snow Queen Cycle #1) by Joan D. Vinge
16. The Forgotten Beasts of Eld by Patricia A. McKillip
17. Burning Bright by Melissa Scott
18. The Poison Master by Liz Williams
19. The Ruins of Ambrai (Exiles #1) by Melanie Rawn
20. Stormwarden (The Cycle of Fire #1) by Janny Wurts
21. The Gate to Women’s Country by Sheri S. Tepper
22. Synners by Pat Cadigan
23. Jack the Bodiless (Galactic Milieu Trilogy #1) by Julian May
24. The Planet Savers (Darkover) by Marion Zimmer Bradley
I shall hopefully be able to write a meaningful review (or just a ramble) about what comes to me as I read, or what it leaves with me. My friend Tehani of The Book Nut may join me, and we may do some discussion posts together. We’ll see what the year brings!
Also, as we had such a hard time keeping the list to just 24, we decided to also have a subs list, just in case we failed to get into any book above. If the first 100 pages just can’t grab us, then we’ll call in the below:
- Oryx and Crake (MaddAddam #1) by Margaret Atwood
- Valor’s Choice (Confederation #1) by Tanya Huff
- Brown Girl in the Ring by Nalo Hopkinson
- Arrows of the Queen (Valdemar: Arrows of the Queen #1) by Mercedes Lackey
- A Wrinkle in Time (Time Quintet #1) by Madeleine L’Engle
ETA June: I’ve decided to cut this short by half a year. Travelling and other reading commitments are taking over my life, and I really should have aimed for 12 books over the year rather than double that. As it is, reaching a total of 12 books is something I’m happy with, and perhaps next year I can finish this off.
ventureadlaxre 