• Blog
  • About
  • Reviews
  • Archive

SciFi Mind

Visions of Future Worlds

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Goodreads
You are here: Home / Great Series Read Project / The Great Series Read Project

The Great Series Read Project

By John Folk-Williams

I’ve belatedly decided to join a group of bloggers, led by Caitlin at Realms of My Mind, for the Great Series Read Project, including Jason at Off the TBR, Lisa at Dear Geek Place, Imyril at There’s Always Room for One More, Susy at Susy’s Cozy World, among other brave souls. So I am posting the series I have been working on, completed or hope to read and review at some point.

Since I regularly miss self-imposed deadlines, I won’t give a schedule for my own Great Series Read but instead offer a list of must-reads and in some cases, must re-reads. Since I’ve started blogging about science fiction, I have realized that the important series bear much deeper attention than I may have given them in the past. And some are just so great that they demand a second, even a third look.

Below is my personal Great Series Read list, which is itself a work in progress since so many amazing new works are coming out all the time. Who can keep up with it all? Please let me know your thoughts about possible additions – or subtractions if you feel strongly either way.

Here are the series I want to read or have already started. This is a comparatively short list, given the wealth of science fiction out there, because I want to have a good chance of actually finishing it in a reasonable period of time. (But no fixed deadlines!) I’ll set up a page to track progress soon.

  • Martha Wells: Murderbot Diaries
  • Rebecca Roanhorse: The Sixth World
  • Derek Kunsken: Quantum Evolution
  • Tade Thompson: The Wormwood Trilogy
  • Aliette de Bodard: Dominion of the Fallen
  • Emma Newman: Planetfall series
  • Christopher Brown: Dystopian Lawyer
  • Sue Burke: Semiosis Duology
  • N.K. Jemison: The Great Cities Trilogy
  • Gareth L. Powell: Embers of War
  • Yoon Ha Lee: Machineries of Empire
  • Ada Palmer: Terra Ignota
  • Rita Carla Francesca Monticelli: Red Desert

Here are the series I have completed but will never be done with because I learn more each time I look back at them. They are all must re-reads. I’ve added links for the few reviews I’ve published so far.

  • Linda Nagata: Nanotech Succession and Inverted Frontier (Edges and Silver with more coming.)
  • Iain M. Banks: Culture Novels
  • Doris Lessing: Canopus in Argos – Archives
  • NK Jemison: Broken Earth
  • Ian McDonald: Luna trilogy
  • Alastair Reynolds – Revelation Space
  • Jeff VanderMeer – Southern Reach trilogy
  • Ann Leckie: Imperial Radch
  • Cixin Liu: Remembrance of Earth’s Past
  • Octavia Butler: Xenogenesis trilogy
  • Malka Older: The Centenal Cycle
  • Stephen Baxter: Xeelee
  • Isaac Asimov: Foundation
  • Frank Herbert: Dune
  • Douglas Adams: Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series

What are your favorites and must-reads?

Related Posts

  • Great Series Read Project
    Great Series Read Project Update

    The end of the year seems like a good time to update progress on the…

  • Failed State Dystopian Lawyer Book 2
    The Dystopian Lawyer Series by Christopher Brown

    Christopher Brown’s two-book set (Rule of Capture and Failed State) about his hapless yet strangely…

  • SciFiMonth 2021
    5 Great Novels in My Lineup for #SciFiMonth

    November is here and it's time for SciFiMonth, that great blog-along managed by Lisa of…

Filed Under: Great Series Read Project Tagged With: science fiction series

Comments

  1. Caitlin G. says

    April 20, 2020 at 11:09 am

    Welcome aboard the Great Series Read! Love your options – Murderbot and Sixth World are great places to start because the books are nice and short. Planetfall and Dominion of the Fallen are on my list as well!

    Reply
    • John Folk-Williams says

      April 20, 2020 at 3:47 pm

      Thanks for your inspiration lead on this. You’ve opened a big door for a lot of us to enter.

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Subscribe to SciFi Mind Posts



About SciFi Mind

nebula SciFiMind

Something is struggling to be born in this damaged and inspiring world, and I believe science fiction and its speculative cousins are helping us figure out what it is. It’s pushing the imaginations of fiction writers to bend and twist familiar forms to try to capture the forces that are hurling us into a barely conceivable future. This blog is my small way of exploring the half-perceived … Read More about About

Search SciFi Mind

Recent Posts

  • Moon Witch Spider KingMoon Witch Spider King by Marlon James, A Review for Wyrd & Wonder
  • The Wall Sumer Cities in SFFAmazing Cities in SFF – 3
  • Wyrd & Wonder 2022Five Favorite Fantasy Novels Read This Past Year: Wyrd & Wonder
  • Eyes of the Void by Adrian TchaikovskyEyes of the Void by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Categories

Twitter

John Folk-WilliamsFollow

John Folk-Williams
SFMind

Reading: "Fear chews at you, though, and some artists don’t even realize they’re experiencing it until it overwhelms them." Business Musings: How Writers Fail (Part 2): Fear (Established Writer Edition) https://shar.es/afm95x via @KristineRusch

Reply on Twitter 1527387058573955076Retweet on Twitter 1527387058573955076Like on Twitter 1527387058573955076Twitter 1527387058573955076
SFMind

Reading "His politics ..: in opposition to empire, racism, poverty, patriarchy, Christian dogma, and the emerging global capitalism of his time." William Blake: The Remarkable Printing Process of the English Poet, Artist & Visionary https://www.openculture.com/2022/05/william-blake-the-remarkable-printing-process-of-the-english-poet-artist-visionary.html via @openculture

Reply on Twitter 1527385898806956055Retweet on Twitter 1527385898806956055Like on Twitter 1527385898806956055Twitter 1527385898806956055
SFMind

Hey @WashingTECH, Thank you for the follow!

Reply on Twitter 1527313198063333378Retweet on Twitter 1527313198063333378Like on Twitter 15273131980633333781Twitter 1527313198063333378
SFMind

WashingTech Thank you for following me!!

Reply on Twitter 1527309205098708992Retweet on Twitter 1527309205098708992Like on Twitter 15273092050987089921Twitter 1527309205098708992
Retweet on TwitterJohn Folk-Williams Retweeted
mrcarlson04

@LindaNagata is a writer I discovered last year, and have not looked back. Whether it’s SF or fantasy, she is a go to author on my short list. Check out her upcoming “Needle,” the third in the Inverted Frontier series. #writingcommmunity https://twitter.com/LindaNagata/status/1525939289866981376

Linda Nagata@LindaNagata

So—amidst all the grimness of the world—I have a new book coming out. NEEDLE is the third volume of my far-future series, Inverted Frontier. It’ll be out on July 12, with gorgeous cover art by the amazing Sarah Anne Langton (@xHelloSarahx).
1/5

Reply on Twitter 1526387183954759681Retweet on Twitter 15263871839547596813Like on Twitter 152638718395475968116Twitter 1526387183954759681
Load More...

About the Author

A late-comer to the worlds of science fiction, John Folk-Williams circled around it, first by blogging (primarily through Storied Mind) about inner struggles and the mind’s way of distorting reality. Then he turned directly to SFF as an amazing medium for re-envisioning the mind and the worlds it creates. He started this blog as a way to experiment with writing science fiction and to learn from its many masterful practitioners.

Follow

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Goodreads

Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy

Cookie Policy

Cookie Policy

© 2022 Copyright by John Folk-Williams · Dynamik-Gen On Genesis Framework