Speculative & Baby Steps

I really really really need to stop finding challenges. I need help in learning how to say no. Now, for the record, I am not signed up for these yet. I may do it later tonight, sometime tomorrow, or a week from now. Or maybe just maybe I'll skip them altogether. But chances are I won't be able to resist long. Can't you just hear them calling to me?

Speculative Fiction Challenge is hosted by The Book Ninja. The challenge runs from October through April 1, 2008. You may not sign up for the challenge after December 1, 2007. (So, dear readers, we've got a month and a week or so to decide if we want to commit.)

Speculative Fiction the action of the story can take place in a culture that never existed, a world we know nothing of, or an earth that might have been or might be, to name a few. … This distinctiveness is best illustrated in the primary question asked by the writers of Speculative Fiction, “What if?” … this genre has a special capacity to deal with the human equation. (source)

In organizing, I decided to focus on four genres within the speculative fiction umbrella.

Challenge Requirements

For this challenge, you read six books. It’s up to you which areas of speculative fiction you read in; these categories exist only because I wanted to use these ridiculous titles that are only hilarious to me:

• Skinning Schrödinger’s Cat With Occam’s Razor: read six science fiction books.
• Herding Unicorns and Dragons With An Untested Magical Staff: read six fantasy books.
• Points of Divergence, or Oh Shit We’re All Speaking French!: read six alternate history books.
• Decoder Rings Never Looked So Good: read six magic realism books.
• A Theoretical Handbook For the Unseasoned Speculator: otherwise known as the speculative fiction buffet. Here’s how it might look:
  • Science fiction (3), Fantasy (1), Magic Realism (2)
  • Science fiction (1), Fantasy (1), Alternate History (1), Magic Realism (3)
  • Fantasy (4), Alternate History (2)

Elaborations:

• Speculative fiction
  • Science Fiction
  • Fantasy
  • Alternate History
  • Magic realism

I know this. If any of my loyal readers out there are going to join up they should try to read LIFE AS WE KNEW IT by Susan Beth Pfeffer. It is so so so so so so good. And if there is anyone out there that hasn't discovered the wonders of Alas, Babylon...then this is your opportunity!


The second challenge that I *discovered* today is The Baby Steps Challenge hosted by The Nattie Challenge. (A blog dedicated to the memory of a blogger named Nattie who died earlier this year.) The challenge for this one is to read three books from your tbr pile before January 1, 2008.

Option A. Pick 3 books you own but have not read and read them before 2008.
Option B. Pick 3 books you have on a To Be Read list and read them before 2008.

Since I haven't heard that you can't use books you're reading from other challenges, I'm going to assume that any books you read between now and December 31rst would count towards it.