TO READ FOR NEXT WEEK:
&
The Jaunt by Stephen King. (I've been slow on getting Golem XIV for everyone)
DISCUSSION OF LAST WEEK'S READING:
Or All the Seas with Oysters by Avram Davidson
&
The Road Not Taken by Harry Turtledove
Prompts for discussion
1. "Or All the Seas with Oysters": Here we're back to a rather whimsical story centered around clashing personalities, with a bit of conspiracy. What hints is Davidson dropping for us, and what personality do you relate with more?
2. "The Road Not Taken": What do you think of the central premise of this story, however plausible or implausible the scenario presented may be? It does at least remind you that all our speculation on alien life, and even ideas like the Fermi paradox (which will be a recurring topic in the Hugos later on), are based on a sample size of 1. How wildly misleading could that be?
And remember to vote for your favorites for next week
Ongoing list of material to vote on (Still looking for digital format "Golem XIV")
Frankenstein
Golem xiv by Stanislaw Lem
Forbidden Planet
2001
The Day the Earth Stood Still
I, Robot (book)
Watchbird by Robert Sheckley
Equoid by Charles Stross
Blood Music by Greg Bear
Shoutouts:
kleinbl00 JakobVirgil mhr OftenBen plewemt elizabeth blackbootz flagamuffin Meriadoc minimum_wage Tiger_the_Lion _thoracic johnnyFive tehstone rthomas6 War Dala OftenBen bhrgunatha kantos francopoli anatomygeek Purple_Ruby
I think one a week is easily doable. I mean, really - two a week is easily doable. But it's above the threshold of "I really have no excuse to not dump this on my kindle right now." I also think that it helps to know that things won't crash to the earth if we miss a week.
I have admit, when I read the first few paragraphs of "The Road Not Taken" I was momentarily panicked that I had sent out some kind of furry fanfic to all the #scificlub readers. That set me up to be pleasantly surprised though, as I kept reading. While it seems a little far-fetched that a civilization with conquistador-era tech could make a space-worthy craft, even ignoring all gravity and movement challenges, it makes for some great musing.
It depends on your taste in literature I guess. I didn't think it was especially rife with material to discuss. People have praised Davidson's writing style. I acknowledge it as good but I don't swoon over it. Either way, all these are so short there's not much to be lost.
The first decade or so is very... different in character than what comes later in the Hugos. Remember at this point the award is still brand new and carries little weight. You could probably make some generalizations right now that would be true of the first several, but it definitely evolves over time. Going through them the way we are now I wonder if it's better to pick out some of the best rather than do chronological order.