My love for fantasy began when I was young, with Brian Jacques’ Redwall series or maybe Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind in the Willows. The most influential books, however, were The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien. These adventure tales opened for me a secret world and a lifelong passion for reading. They also led me to science fiction, because back then I didn’t know there was any difference.
I’ve branched out since, but not nearly as much as I would have liked. This is where the reading project began — from a desire to read great science fiction and fantasy, and find a community of like-minded readers. To compose my list, I consulted various top 100 lists: The Guardian’s Best SFF, NPR: Top 100 Science Fiction and Fantasy Books, and Locus Best SF Novels of All-Time served as good starting points. Admittedly, I cherry-picked from them according to my personal tastes, which is why Le Guin, Gaiman, and Miéville make multiple appearances and there are maybe too few space operas.
Remember: I’m counting on you, dear readers and commenters, to let me know your favorite books and point out ones that I’ve overlooked.
At this point, it may be helpful to elaborate on the kinds of posts I’ll be writing for each book:
Preview: background information, the opening lines of the book, and some quick facts about it and the author to let you know what I’ll be reading next.
Live updates: moving passages or scenes that grab me and say “write about me now! Don’t wait for the review!” How many of these I post will depend on the length of the book (and the quality, I suppose). Finishing the book is obviously important, but I won’t deny myself a writing prompt.
Spoiler-free Review: Now, each person’s definition of spoiler will vary, but I will do my best in this regard. If my blog achieves one thing, I hope it will help people discover some fantastic science fiction and fantasy, without depriving them the rush of a first-read.
Feature Posts: Here be spoilers; reader beware. I may want to discuss themes and content in more depth, most likely accompanied by, when applicable, the insight of a secondary source. Recently, science fiction and fantasy has increasingly been the topic of critical discussion and I would like to contribute, if I have something smart to say (which, of course, remains to be seen).
Stay tuned for what I hope will be an epic reading odyssey!
The Aberrant Rag 