"Arisia Reads" 5 Books Enter, One Leaves?

[beagley.livejournal.com]

Hi,
I've missed this Arisia panel (Arisia Reads!) every year, and I always want to know:

What were the five books this year?! And which one "won"?!

If someone knows the five books from this year, last year, or any year, I would really love to know them. Maybe there's a list somewhere online for each year?

Regards,
-D

Comments

[crazybone.livejournal.com]

I believe the panel in question was titled "Arisia Reads!".

[feste-sylvain.livejournal.com]

I moderated that panel; unfortunately, I am nowhere near my notes right now.

The five books were "Hellspark", "The Family Tree", "I, Robot", "The Wizard of the Pigeons", and "The Handmaid's Tale".

If this panel could have a slot every day of the con, we'd do the elimination thing; as it is, we have 75 minutes, which is nowhere near enough time for a "Survivor"-like set of rounds. So we didn't do that. According to the audience, they wanted to read all five books anyway.

"Hellspark": brilliant questioning of just what sentience means, and from that, what identity means.

"The Family Tree": Tepper's atypical work which builds an entire story based on common perceptions, and then, mid-way through, jerks the carpet of assumption out from under you.

"I, Robot": should be re-read today as a YA novel. Just accept the lack of characterization, and ride the brilliant ideas of an undisputed master. Observe elementary component-based software debugging, and question whether humanity is the pinnacle of humanity's own ideals.

"The Wizard of the Pigeons": set among the homeless of the 1980s, this can be read that magic is real and omnipresent, or that this poor wizard is simply deluded, and the story works either way. Read it twice.

"The Handmaid's Tale": Atwood's tour de force about fundamentalism, and women's short-draw in it. While no feel-good story, read it for its cautionary value, and look around you at how much is coming true.

[feste-sylvain.livejournal.com]

Well, in 2010, I pitched John Brunner's 1968 Hugo-award-winning Stand on Zanzibar, which starts on "Hey HEY, third of MAY, twenty-TEN, Man-hat-TEN!".

(Yes, I know it's spelled "Manhattan"; this is a direct quote from the book.)

[omnia-mutantur.livejournal.com]

Holy crap, that's awesome. Hellspark's been my favorite book for many, many moons, and I keep snatching up copies and giving them away.