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Ever so much closer to crowning a champion, we move up to the ELITE 8! I have the match-ups in a SurveyMonkey survey, for this round there is only 1 survey.
Be sure to get your votes in as the stakes get bigger every round:


The actual bracket can be found here for your reference and to check the scores of previous rounds.

The Elite 8 ends at Midnight CST on Thursday April 5.

Let the fun continue!!

I can't really say there were any upsets in the Sweet 16 round. All 16 titles were major works that one could make great arguments for, so I think we're beyond upsets.

Delighted to see Fahrenheit 451 go through."If there's one book I wish I'd written..." etc!

I just listened to Fahrenheit 451 a month or two ago. I couldn't believe how well it had aged & it was perfect as an audio book. There was a wonderful afterword from Bradbury, too.

I think that that's one of the best things about sci-fi: most of the good stuff doesn't age. It's so far removed from everyday life that there aren't any jarring ananchronisms to drag your mind out of the story.

Last day for voting in the ELITE 8! Final 4 starts tomorrow!!

Krister wrote: "I think that that's one of the best things about sci-fi: most of the good stuff doesn't age. It's so far removed from everyday life that there aren't any jarring ananchronisms to drag your mind out of the story."

It's only the immediate future science fiction where predictions fail.

Yesterday was the 40th anniversary of the first hand-held cell phone call (though they didn't become truly mobile and affordable until the mid-90's.) A lot of science fiction completely missed this trend, not to mention smart phones. See, e.g., Clarke's "2001" and sequels or "Rama" and sequels. Or this month's classic novel discussion of "The Lathe Of Heaven".) It depends on how much it bothers you when people in the 21st century need to find a pay phone or library :)

Charles Stross has written a pair (so far) of near-term science fiction novels set only a few years into the future in Edinburgh (Halting State, Rule 34.) He's used these novels to look at currently evolving technologies and their impact on the current decade, such as the ubiquitous mobile Internet, augmented reality ("Google glasses"), hacking as an instrument of governmental espionage as well as international criminals, and the impact of 3-D printers on items we think of as restricted today (weapons, drugs,...) He does this in the context of a local crime story. These stories are pretty likely to be proven false in the author's lifetime. (They're both terrific novels right now, though.)

OK, I know that voting was supposed to close today, but if somebody hasn't voted yet, we have a deadlock tie in one of the matchups so one more voter would be fantastic!

Stefan wrote: "OK, I know that voting was supposed to close today, but if somebody hasn't voted yet, we have a deadlock tie in one of the matchups so one more voter would be fantastic!"

Oh, boy, an overtime period!

In the last few months that I've been running the "what book shall we discuss next month?" polls, I've been waiting for a tie. But there, since we have more than two candidates, it's probable a runoff poll would settle things.

Now, in your case, suppose a tardy voter breaks your tie,... And creates a tie in another bracket! :)

Always a possibility!

Stefan, (Or Anyone Playing),

Do you think without the three(four) very successful movies, Tolkien dominates as much as he has? The answer might very well be yes but I'm just wondering what other people think.

Bobby wrote: "Do you think without the three(four) very successful movies, Tolkien dominates as much as he has? The answer might very well be yes but I'm just wondering..."

Within the confines of this group, I'm going to say, "yes."

If this were a more open poll of Internet science fiction fans, such as the NPR top 100 sci-fi/fantasy list from last year or one of the Locus Magazine all-time best fantasy polls, then I would quickly concede there is a bias towards material with a significant media presence. (In fact, I espouse it in message #9 of the aforementioned NPR top 100 topic.) We used to divide genre fandom into media fen and lit fen; these days there are cosplay fen, videogame fen, comic fen, anime fen, etc.) When a poll is open to general "sci-fi fans", then those books with movies or TV shows get an extra boost because their more widely known.

But in this group, I think everybody here reads a lot of SF/F, and have strong opinions about those books. (Such as my opinion that the original 64 seed list was criminally negligent for slighting Verne, Clarke, Zelazny, McCaffrey, Niven, Scalzi & Rowling. :)

For me, J.R.R. Tolkien is the definitive fantasy author. I know younger fans might, perhaps, prefer Game of Thrones or Wheel of Time (or Harry Potter), but I can't even imagine another fantasy work dethroning "The Lord of the Rings". When you throw sci-fi into the mix, I at least have to think for a bit.

If Stefan is nice enough to run this contest again next March and "Ender's Game" beats out "The Lord of the Rings", I'll reconsider my analysis. :)

Bobby wrote: "Stefan, (Or Anyone Playing),

Do you think without the three(four) very successful movies, Tolkien dominates as much as he has? The answer might very well be yes but I'm just wondering what other ..."

Yes for me. Tolkien was the first real literature I read in his Hobbit so it holds a special place for me. He dominates fantasy in a way that few other authors do. He may not be the greatest writer in there but he is the best if that makes sense (or perhaps one of the most important). I hold him on a level with Mervyn Peake and E.R.R Eddison currently. In terms of sci-fi I've still not read anything that quite compares...

Bobby wrote: "Stefan, (Or Anyone Playing),

Do you think without the three(four) very successful movies, Tolkien dominates as much as he has? The answer might very well be yes but I'm just wondering what other ..."

Another "Yes" vote here.

I'm going with the yes answer as well. Tolkien has long been the established Top Gun in fantasy writing. The anticipation and criticism of the films prior to the release was due to the overall feeling that if someone was going to tackle this material they needed to be sure to get it right. (The outcome of this effort is still heavily debated, i.e. discussions on the omission of Tom Bombadil, changing/combining characters to allow for stronger female roles etc. The internet is full of these discussions.)

And yes, if there is interest, I'd be happy to run this again next year.

Bobby wrote: "Stefan",(or anyone playing)

I'm not sure about Tolkein's pre-movie influence. I stumbled over THE HOBBIT in my school library then had to jump over to the adult section for others. This was in the late 60's or early 70's. Because I liked the Hobbit I ploughed thru TLORs and some short stories. I still can't get thru THE SILMARILIAN. The point being I never told anyone back then I read sci fantasy. While adults may have loved it, most ya's would not. In this respect I vote for the movies...all of them!

I see what you're saying Barbara, but I think that with the establishment of fantasy as a more mainstream genre in the 80s and 90s, Tolkien's place was established as one of the foundations of the genre well before the Jackson films saw the light of day.

Stefan wrote: "I see what you're saying Barbara, but I think that with the establishment of fantasy as a more mainstream genre in the 80s and 90s, Tolkien's place was established as one of the foundations of the ..."

I agree. If you look at the history of the books there was a major movement among students and adults in regards to the books while Tolkien was still alive which helped fantasy become the money making machine it is today. As a child around 1999/2000s just before the movies I found old copies of The Hobbit and loved it. The Hobbit has been loved by many of the YA crowd of the past movies...

Barbara wrote: "I'm not sure about Tolkein's pre-movie influence...."

Huge. As a college student in the 60's, "The Lord of the Rings" was one of the books to read, and was cherished beyond all reason by JRRT's fans. What Stefan said.

Stefan wrote: "Tolkien's place was established as one of the foundations of the genre well before the Jackson films saw the light of day...."

By the way, animator Ralph Bakshi made a "" movie in 1978. The news was greeted with modest anticipation in Middle Earth. Bakshi had a pretty good reputation from his earlier counter-culture films (Fritz the Cat, Heavy Traffic, and the satirical post apocalyptic comedy fantasy .) The reality of that film was more than just disappointing. The rotoscoping was awful, the story greatly abridged, and it told only half the story (which was a surprise to the audience when it abruptly ended). The second half was never made (unless you count the even more execrable TV movie).

When the Peter Jackson movie project was announced, most of us thought "please don't screw it up like Ralph Bakshi".

Barbara wrote: "I still can't get thru THE SILMARILIAN...."


I can certainly see that. I was quite surprised to see that the Silmarillion made it on the original 64 tournament seed. It's a collection of background material and stories JRRT drafter but were edited together by Tolkien's estate after his death. While it's delightful extra information for JRRT's most ardent fans, I don't think many of them would argue it's a great book.

G33z3r wrote: "Barbara wrote: "I still can't get thru THE SILMARILIAN...."


I can certainly see that. I was quite surprised to see that the Silmarillion made it on the original 64 tournament seed. It's a collect..."

I would. It depends on the edition you read. However in fact I consider The Silmarillion in many regards the greatest of all The Middle Earth novels.