chaotic_nipple | All the cool kids are doing it...

... So I have to ~~inject heroin into my eyeballs~~ propagate this meme too:

Rules:

This is the Science Fiction Book Club's list of the fifty most significant science fiction/fantasy novels published between 1953 and 2002. Bold the ones you've read, strike-out the ones you hated, italicize those you started but never finished and put an asterisk beside the ones you loved.

1. The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien

I keep trying to read it, but I can never get into it. I've tried reading them in order, out of order, starting in the middle of the books, etc, but it never grabs me.

*2. The Foundation Trilogy, Isaac Asimov

One of the classics. Just suspend your disbelief and go with it!

3. Dune, Frank Herbert

Meh. It just bored me.

*4. Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert A. Heinlein

The first of Bob's Really Trippy And Intense books. It wasn't as good as "Time Enough For Love", though.

5. A Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula K. Le Guin
*6. Neuromancer, William Gibson

If you didn't love this book, turn in your mirrorshades in disgrace.

*~~7. Childhood's End, Arthur C. Clarke~~

Yes, I both loved and hated it.

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

Not the most consistent of his books, but still wonderfully strange.

9. The Mists of Avalon, Marion Zimmer Bradley
10. Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury

Read it for english class, but I can barely remember the plot, and I never got why it was so "controversial".

11. The Book of the New Sun, Gene Wolfe
*12. A Canticle for Leibowitz, Walter M. Miller, Jr.

Also read this for english class. And read it again later on my own.

*13. The Caves of Steel, Isaac Asimov
14. Children of the Atom, Wilmar Shiras
15. Cities in Flight, James Blish
*16. The Colour of Magic, Terry Pratchett

The first Discworld book. Not the best, but here's where it started.

17. Dangerous Visions, edited by Harlan Ellison
18. Deathbird Stories, Harlan Ellison

Actually, I'm not sure if I read these or not. If I did, they can't have been good, or I'd remember them.

19. The Demolished Man, Alfred Bester
20. Dhalgren, Samuel R. Delany
*21. Dragonflight, Anne McCaffrey

If only all of her Pern books were as good as the first 6. The series is a stern warning to other authors about the dangers of running a good idea into the ground.

*22. Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card

What can I say that hasn't already been said? Future generations will consider this one of the seminal works of this age.

~~23. The First Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, Stephen R. Donaldson~~
*24. The Forever War, Joe Haldeman
25. Gateway, Frederik Pohl

Actually, in the middle of reading it. Seems cool and somewhat transhumanistic, but the science is somewhat... lacking.

~~26. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, J.K. Rowling~~

No, I have no interest in reading it. I don't care who thinks I'd like it. NO!

27. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams

Funny, but not worth re-reading.

28. I Am Legend, Richard Matheson
29. Interview with the Vampire, Anne Rice

Meh. It was an entertaining read, but not all _that_ great.

30. The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K. Le Guin
31. Little, Big, John Crowley
32. Lord of Light, Roger Zelazny
*33. The Man in the High Castle, Philip K. Dick

Possibly his best work.

34. Mission of Gravity, Hal Clement
35. More Than Human, Theodore Sturgeon
36. The Rediscovery of Man, Cordwainer Smith
37. On the Beach, Nevil Shute
*38. Rendezvous with Rama, Arthur C. Clarke

Liked what I read, but somehow I never get around to finishing it.

39. Ringworld, Larry Niven

One of the classic Really Cool Ideas, but I found most of his books somewhat bland when it comes to characterization.

40. Rogue Moon, Algis Budrys
41. The Silmarillion, J.R.R. Tolkien

I was actually able to finish it!

42. Slaughterhouse-5, Kurt Vonnegut
*43. Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson
44. Stand on Zanzibar, John Brunner
45. The Stars My Destination, Alfred Bester
*46. Starship Troopers, Robert A. Heinlein

I long for the day when Bob is finally able to pull his scattered, soggy ashes together and wreak horrible undead havoc on Hollywood for the _atrocity_ that was the movie adaptation.

*47. Stormbringer, Michael Moorcock

Good reading, for moody teenagers.

48. The Sword of Shannara, Terry Brooks
49. Timescape, Gregory Benford
*50. To Your Scattered Bodies Go, Philip Jose Farmer

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

... at least ONE of the two great Bester novels. I prefer "The Stars My Destination" but "The Demolished Man" is excellent as well.

And read Harry Potter! MUAAAHAHAHAH! MUAAAHAHAH!

... at least ONE of the two great Bester novels. I prefer "The Stars My Destination" but "The Demolished Man" is excellent as well.

Fine, I'll attempt to do so. No promises, though.

And read Harry Potter! MUAAAHAHAHAH! MUAAAHAHAH!

NEVER! I'd sooner whore myself at the next Republican National Convention. Though I might be too old...

Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated. You too will read "Naked Quidditch".

I'm with

seawasp....The Stars My Destination is a must read. Proto-cyberpunk written in the domed cities and jumpsuits era of sci fi.

Just as long as you're not with him on the Harry Potter too. I don't like to have too many people on my "Afflict with Dire Curses when I become an Evil Demigod" list at any one time.

... how does an Evil Demigod, puny and weak as that is, afflict ME with curses? I'll just send one of my Dread Minions after you. Maybe several. Teen Harry Potter fangirls. Who will tie you up and read their Mary Sue Potterfics to you.

how does an Evil Demigod, puny and weak as that is, afflict ME with curses? I'll just send one of my Dread Minions after you. Maybe several.

Have I mentioned that I will be an INSANE Evil Demigod? Ever Greater Deities will say "Don't mess with that one, he's crazy!". Your puny minions will fall before my frenzied assault like frenchmen!

Teen Harry Potter fangirls. Who will tie you up and read their Mary Sue Potterfics to you.

Can't possibly be more Mary Sue-ish than Leo Frankowski's last few books.

I have to admit..... I LIKED the Starship Troopers movie. BUT!! It was for completely different reasons! I thought the Nazi theme was clever. And.... And... the bugs were cool, too. OK, I saw the movie first, that's pretty much why I still like it. The book is phenomenal, though. I tried to make my roomate read it at DLI, but I just ended up reading most of the important parts aloud instead. In return, as she was so horrified that I'd never read it, she went out and bought a brand new copy of 1984 for me.

Never could get past the second book of Lord of the Rings, although I've read The Hobbit more times than is healthy. I'll never admit this to my dad, but I couldn't get into Dune either. WTF, Ringworld makes it on here, but not The Mote in God's Eye,??? World's goin to hell n a handbasket, I tell ya.

Mote in God's Eye beats Ringworld hands down

True, but Ringworld was more original. Mote was a brilliant book, but there had been hundreds of First Contact stories before.

Grr, stupid Livejournal logged me out. That wuz me. :-P

Hey, _you_ might know the answer to this: I'm (hopefully) starting college again this spring. When I enlisted, I got the GI Bill and Army College Fund. I've already filled out the GI Bill paperwork. My questions are: 1) Do I need to fill out separate paperwork to get the extra ACF money? and 2) Is the ACF amount listed on my contract supposed to be for the ACF itself, or MGIB and ACF combined? The veteran's representative at the Registrar's office thinks the answers are 1) No and 2) ACF by itself, but she wasn't completely sure, and the VA website isn't helping either. Sure, I _could_ wait until monday and call them, but I'm impatient.

1) Not at a national level. Meaning, if you've already applied for your VA benefits and been approved for the GI Bill then you're good. Every semester you have to turn in a copy of your schedule to the VA office at your school and reconfirm your registration in order to continue receiving benefits. The first time you do this you bring in your VA approval letter and you should also bring any paperwork involving ACF and/or kicker money (ie, enlistment papers, payment vouchers), or you'll just get MGIB and have to go in and plead and get your money much later.
2) It's combined. The MGIB is calculated by taking the current montly rate and multiplying it by 36. Everything else is ACF adding up to your total. The MGIB monthly rate goes up every now and then. This does not affect your total, however. You still get that $50,000 (or whatever you're entitled to), and no more.
3) Yeah, there wasn't a third question, but I'll add this in anyway: they pro-rate your payments. Meaning, if your school starts on the 25th of September (like mine), you'll get paid for five days worth. BUT, this goes against your 36 month total. See, you'll either get *UP TO* 36 months worth OR *UP TO* your total promised on your contract. If you run out of months before you've been paid everything, tough shit. THERE'S HOPE! What ya need to do is register with the VA office BEFORE the semester ends (like before Xmas break) for the following term, and then you'll get paid straight through. I didn't know this last year and got gypped outta spring break cash. This also means that it's really really helpful to go to summer school, as you are paid straight through from spring to fall, so long as you turned the paperwork in before the next term starts.

Oh, and you have to confirm online at this place on the last business day of the month in order to receive payments. You'll get your direct deposit a few days to a week later.

So, if one had the poor judgement to sign his contract back in 1995, when the maximum ACF was $30,000, then one gets no extra money at all. Dammit, I should have taken the bonus instead.

Hmm, there was a time when the MGIB and ACF were calculated separately. Perhaps 1995 was that time. It could be that you'll get $30,000 + whatever the MGIB was at the time of your enlistment. I'd ask. Ya never know, you might luck out and get a buncha money!

I think that's the way they calculated it when I joined too. MGIB was only worth $20,000 back then, so they gave me $30,000 for ACF. The difference is that they totalled it ($50,000) and put the cap on it there. So when the rate for MGIB goes up, my total for ACF goes down.

Well, here's hoping. The extra 800-or-so a month would mean the difference between me ~~climbing a clock tower and aiming for jocks~~ having to work part time, or ~~several hours per day of blissful indolence~~ being able to devote myself fully to my studies.

I don't think I've read any of these books. But, I've read all the Haaryy Potter books that have been published. After all, I couldn't let the kids read them until I did.

gee, I can't type, can I? Harry Potter...

http://www.army.mil/soldiers/mar2002/pdfs/mar0224-25.pdf

All the cool kids are doing it...

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GI Bill