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The 2014 Sci-Fi Experience

90 Comments

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(“Strength and Honor” by Stephan Martiniere, used with the artist’s permission)

“For my part I know nothing with any certainty,
but the sight of the stars makes me dream.”

~Vincent Van Gogh

The sight of the stars makes me dream as well, and has done so for as far back as I can remember. The phrase “littered with stars” was inadequate to describe what my young eyes experienced as I gazed upwards on dark Nebraska nights–the sky untainted by the pollution of city lights. America’s space program was in its glory days and my young imagination was fueled by the reality of space travel as well as the fantastical imagery of shows like Star Trek, Star Wars, and Battlestar Galactica. It is little wonder that science fiction became my first love and that my younger years were spent lost between the pages of books by Harry Harrison, Larry Niven, Brian Daley and Alan Dean Foster, dreaming of the days when I too would be “boldly going”.

I will soon be celebrating my 45th year and I have long since made peace with the realization that I won’t be piloting a light freighter alongside a wookie or beaming up any time soon. That has not diminished the excitement I feel when traveling within our solar system or beyond through the pages of a good book or the via the imagination of creators of science fiction television and film. Seven years ago this excitement lead me to invite other readers to spend time together to:

a) Continue their love affair with science fiction
b) Return to science fiction after an absence, or
c) Experience for the first time just how exhilarating science fiction can be.

Thus The Sci-Fi Experience was born, and now it is time to do it again.

Traditionally this experience has begun on January 1st and continued through the end of February. Every year I find myself with an overwhelming desire to focus my reading and viewing to the science fiction genre as soon as the weather turns cold and because of this I end up partaking of a lot of science fiction before the experience ever officially begins.

And so this year I am making a change. We will celebrate the joys of Science Fiction to end 2013 and begin 2014 by officially beginning The 2014 Sci-Fi Experience on December 1st, 2013 and it will go through January 31st, 2014. As we have done the past few years, we will be coupling the Experience with Andrea’s Vintage Science Fiction Month which runs through the month of January 2014.

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The details can be found by clicking on the link. With every reading event I have grandiose plans and my list of classic books I want to get to in the month of January is growing by leaps and bounds daily. After reading and enjoying The Time Traders by Andre Norton earlier this year I would love to get to the sequels, Galactic Derelict and The Defiant Agents. I would like to read more of the adventures of Ensign Flandry and of Jame Retief. There are Harry Harrison novels that have sat unread on my shelves for far too many years and Isaac Asimov stories I have yet to discover. My basement is filled with classic SF paperbacks…I will not be short of possibilities.

Prior to that I will be reading more modern SF, some of which will be novels I’ve started this year and would like to get back to.

I would love it if you would consider joining us to read and/or view some science fiction over the next few months. There are no numbers of things you are required to read or view. This is not a challenge, just an opportunity to experience the wonder of science fiction.

If you are interested, please consider signing up. There will be a review site where you can post any SF book, television, film or game reviews for things you experience during the months of December and January. Artist Stephan Martiniere, one of my perennial favorite book cover illustrators, has graciously given me permission to use one of his images for the banner and I chose Strength and Honor, which I bought as a print at Spectrum Fantastic Art Live back in May, and now hangs framed alongside another of his prints in my living room. Here are a variety of sizes if you are interested:

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Individual science fiction stories may seem as trivial as ever to the blinder critics and philosophers of today – but the core of science fiction, its essence, has become crucial to our salvation if we are to be saved at all.
~Isaac Asimov

90 thoughts on “The 2014 Sci-Fi Experience”

  1. You know I’m completely down for this. Give me a little bit, I might even knock up a ‘sign up’ post before, er, signing up.

    1. Great Kamo! So excited about the weather changing..science fiction is in the air!

  2. I am very much in! It’s likely I’ll be more active in this after the holidays because work will be insane for me, but nonetheless. Plans are in progress. 😀

    1. Work certainly puts a crimp in our reading time, doesn’t it? 🙂 Oh well, hope you enjoy the holiday season and can work a surprising amount of reading into the mix.

    1. Hooray!!!

      Yes, isn’t Martiniere amazing? Love his work and have for a long time. I feel like he has taken the mantle of John Berkey into the digital realm. They are both different in their style but both men make scenes of space flight so epic.

  4. I’m soo in! It will be my first time participating and I also have some great books put off until the event. December will be very busy for me, but I hope to read a lot of good old Sci-Fi in January!
    P.S. Love the image!

    1. It is a great image, isn’t it? One of my favorite Martiniere works. I especially love the orange ship in the background.

      Great to have you in Ekaterina! I suspect December is going to rush by in a whirlwind but I hope we all can enjoy it as much as possible.

      1. I thought it’s much more interesting to sign up with a list, so I linked up a post rather than just a blog address. Hope it’s OK 🙂 I’m all anticipation, can’t wait to start 🙂

    1. Thanks George!

      Not super disappointed about the Chiefs. I expected them to get blown away and instead they hung in there. I didn’t expect them to go undefeated…heck, I didn’t expect them to be 9-1 at this point in the season…so they have to lose some games. I just wish they could put together an offense to complement their defense.

    1. It is, and I’m getting the classic bug something fierce. I pulled up about 8 or 9 books from the basement a couple of days ago for your January event.

        1. The books I pulled up the other day were:

          We Claim These Stars by Poul Anderson
          Retief: Diplomat at Arms by Keith Laumer
          Planet Run by Keith Laumer and Gordon R. Dickinson
          Homeworld by Harry Harrison
          Transit to Scorpio by Alan Burt Akers
          The Last Planet by Andre Norton
          The Stars are Ours by Andre Norton
          Postmarked the Stars by Andre Norton

  8. Excellent! I have all sorts of plans to revisit my favorite science fiction universes this year…looking forward to it!

    1. revisiting is good. In fact I picked up the two novel set of Lois McMaster Bujold today at lunch and am reading Barrayar right now. Great to be back visiting this universe.

  9. I’m in! I don’t have a list, just several 3 ft. piles of books stacked around various places that need to move. 😀

      1. Yes, I suspect there are a great many of us who could quite easily be buried under an avalanche of books.

  10. I’m definitely participating again this year. I didn’t get much done last year because of the fact I had fantasy in my reading pile too, but I’m giving it a go again.

    1. Great, Jay Dee! The whole point is to just enjoy yourself and I have no doubt you will do so.

    1. Great to have you enjoying the science fiction with us, Darla

  12. First off that is a great image from a world class artist. Secondly I’m so in. You know it.

  13. I’ll do my best to join in. It seems my TBR pile is growing and growing, but I do have some Wells on my Kindle ready to go. Fingers crossed!

    1. Thanks TBM. Are there any novels on your must-read list that you could knock out for this?

  14. I’m in, love 2-month events (the last RIP was great success for me!) and also really want to rekindle the love for sci-fi. Thanks for organising 🙂

    1. This is perfect for the rekindling! This time of year stokes the fires for me every time.

  15. I already missed your RIP event, so I must join this one.
    If the beautiful image hadn’t hooked me, the idea of reading tons of science fiction for two months definitely does. 🙂

    Science Fiction covers such a broad range of themes and topics – space opera is so different from, say, dystopian fiction. I usually read a lot of society-themed SF but now I’m in the mood for space ships and alien battles. Can’t wait to get started and see what other people are reading.
    Thanks for organising. I’m sure this will be a lot of fun.

    1. Yes you must! No, seriously, happy you are joining in.

      I do love the broad, and ever-widening, range of what can be considered science fiction. It keeps things fresh and interesting while of course adding immensely to the to-read pile!

  16. As usual I’ll be reading some SF-F during the upcoming months. I put your image up on the blog. I wish CALIBAN’S WAR wasn’t so darn thick.

    1. I hear you, I’ve still got that one to read and before long next year will be here and the next book in the series will be out. Whew!

  17. Carl, CALIBAN’S WAR is the 2nd one, which I read just 20 pages of and I believe you have read. The third is out and the fourth is the one coming out next year. Whew.

    1. Oops, yes. A brain dead moment for me. 🙂 It is good, though it is a BIG book.

  18. As promised I’m joining in and have my post up. Delighted to be doing this again having missed last year. Thanks for hosting, Carl!

    1. Great, I’ll be checking it out! And thanks for joining in on this with us. 🙂

  20. It’s always science fiction month for me, but I’ll figure out something special. I can’t believe it’s this time again. Seems like just yesterday I was meeting a bunch of people for the first time through the SF Experience. Great fun.

    Also, I’ll be quite happy with a Seahawks – Chiefs Super Bowl. 😉

    1. For most months, though not all, it is for me too. It is crazy how fast time goes by, isn’t it?

      I’m all for a Seahawks-Chiefs Superbowl, that would be something to see.

    1. As I mentioned in the Barrayar post, Cordelia’s Honor would be a great place to start!

  24. Oh, really? I am so out of the loop because I totally missed this post until now. I just got the audio of Abaddon’s Gate (even though I have the print copy) and I can’t wait to listen to it. 🙂

    1. Who is the narrator? Is there more than one? I have the print and ebook copy of Abaddon’s Gate but I might actually get to it quicker if I get the audio. Hmmm…

      1. It’s the same guy that narrated book 1 and 2. I am not positive what his name is, but I am checking… Jefferson Mays. I didn’t mind him when I listened to book 1 and 2. And, I need to read book 3 because I have book 4 pre-ordered. So. 🙂

  26. Hooray! So looking forward to this, and this year, I don’t have to wait all of December for it. Does this count as my Winter Solstice gift? 🙂

  27. Would be great if you post a list of titles you plan to devour so it could introduce classics and new titles for a junior in scifi world like me.

    1. I might just do that. Is there a specific type of fiction you enjoy?

  28. I’m in, too. I love sci-fi and events that don’t have a specific target number. By the way, the banner is great!

    1. I’m so happy that Mr. Martiniere let me use one of his images. They are so fantastic. I have this framed, signed print hanging up in my living room. It makes me very happy.

  30. oops! Forgot to sign-up. I found three of the books you recommended at the second hand store last night. Yay!

    1. Glad you found out, still plenty of time for fun! Thanks for taking part!

  32. Hallo, Hallo Mr. Anderson!

    Having participated in #RRSciFiMonth in November, and am following up my posts in December to round-out the posts I wasn’t able to post during November, I think giving myself a bit of extra time to continue my love and exploration of science fiction would be smashing! I was curious, I read you had the artist’s permission to use the artwork in the badge/banners. Are we allowed to use those badges/banners on our blogs & posts for this challenge!? Should we put the artist’s name with them!? I do not mind doing so as I always appreciate giving credit & seeking permissions! 🙂

    I’ll be continuing my quest to fill the missing slots on my SFN Page, but I will write a post for this challenge as well! 🙂 I love the extra ‘2 months’ of sci-fi love! Should I wait until my post is set-up before I link!?

    1. Yes, if you don’t mind putting Stephan Martiniere’s name for credit that would be great. I do indeed have his permission for the use of the image for this event. So yes, please feel free to post on your blog.

      Glad you are participating with us. I’m sorry I didn’t discover Rinn’s event until near the end. Next year!

      1. Hallo again! 🙂

        I have finally created my SciFi Experience post tonight!! I’m very thankful you are hosting & I look forward to reading new titles for this experience as well as stitching together the left-over posts I meant to give to Rinn’s event! 🙂

        Happy reading!

  33. I read a lot of science fiction, anyway, so this is an opportunity for me to share notes about a book I really enjoyed.

    1. Love it when people share about science fiction they enjoyed, be it in book form, film, television…share away!

  34. I was planning on reading some vintage science fiction in January anyway and I happened to come across this site from the adventures in scifi pub site. Awesome. Might as well sign up! 🙂

    1. Perfect, glad you came across here Victoria. Welcome! 🙂

  35. Why, for Hell’s sake, do we have to pick up with the linky? I totally lost any interest in a challenge now. Forcing me to register to yet another site, like there wouldn’t be too much sites I’m already registered at. No, thank you.

    Good luck with your challenge. I’ll be reading my sf books alone.

    1. Umm…first of all you don’t have to actually sign up with the Linky to participate, it is just a simple way for me and the other participants to go and visit your site and see any posts you may write about SF books/films/tv you partake of during the event. Second, you are not really “registering” for anything in the traditional sense. You aren’t going to be getting emails, etc.

      This whole thing is about community, kind of hard for us to have a community experience if we have no idea that a person is taking part. 🙂

      1. If I have to register my email, etc. then I’m registering. Another site with my data.

        A simple way to visit smb’s site is by clicking the url under my name in here. 😉 User can always provide a link with SF tag or the name of the challenge etc. I haven’t written the reviews of sf books on my site, yet. 😉

  36. Hi Carl! A little late signing up for this challenge, but I know I’m going to enjoy it. It’s been a few years since I participated in challenges, but I’m looking forward to rejoining some special ones this year — like this one and your Once Upon a Time challenge. Thanks! Robin

  37. What a cool idea! I used to read your blog all the time, but then I lost track of everyone when I became computerless and lost all my links! I’m working on a Star Trek paperback at the moment, “Exiles” that I usually read as my current computer…ahem…”works”. lol

    1. I’m glad you are back! Becoming computerless is not a fun thing, most especially because of the lost links issue. Reminds me that I really should be backing that stuff up in the cloud somewhere.

      The Star Trek book sounds perfect.

  38. Hallo again! 🙂

    I am hosting a full week of science fiction & fantasy joy on my blog this week, and if I understood correctly, if we are posting topics &/or reviews for science fiction we can include them on the review site!? I tweeted about the launch of my focus on an Indie Press (Seventh Star Press) but I also attached a link for the Author Guest Post which went live tonight on your link site for the Experience! I hope this is alright!? I am not sure if you guys are using a special hashtag or not? I did try using (#)SciFiExperience? I have three book reviews scheduled this week, as I didn’t get to finish & review the other sci fi books I have on my shelf! 🙁

    I have one for clockwork, and two I ILL’d as I found them during the Experience! I’m hoping to write more posts throughout the week — am I right in thinking topics can be linked as I had with the Author Guest Post!? I wanted to blog about what I have found, (authors/books), as much as how much I adore science fiction in general. I’m extending from Sci-Fi November (SciFiMonth)!!

    Hope I understood!
    Cheers!

    1. PS: I accidentally hit the enter key too early! 🙁 On the review site, could you delete the link which keeps “Jorie” in the link but leave the one that keeps “DA Adams”?! I didn’t see an x to cancel the redundant link myself!? Oh, no! Now it says “Loves Loves”,… grr! Should I re-enter it again!? Sighs. My apologies!

      1. I am hopeful that the linky will remain open through the 10th of February (at least) as I have a whole week of SFF posts — from guest posts by authors & editors to three book reviews!! I was delayed due to health issues from having everything post the last week of January!! 🙁 I will keep adding the links as I’m able too as I always meant to share them as part of my 2014 Sci Fi Experience!

        (I tried to post this on the linky blog site but blogger had a disagreement with me!)

        1. I don’t take them down, so it will be up as long as blogger lets it stay up. Keep on adding the reviews!

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