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The “Last” Science Fiction & Fantasy Book Meme

Here’s a simple science fiction and fantasy book-related meme (with a “last” theme) for a lazy Saturday…

For each question, you can name one or more science fiction books, fantasy book, and/or horror books. For extra credit, you can add to each answer if you wish.

Copy the questions below and paste them into the comments with your answers.

  1. The last sf/f book I finished reading:
  2. The last sf/f book I did NOT finish:
  3. The last sf/f book(s) I bought:
  4. The last sf/f book I bought that I already owned:
  5. The last sf/f book I shared with someone:
  6. The last sf/f book I raved about:
  7. The last sf/f book I did not enjoy at all:
About John DeNardo (11821 Articles)
John DeNardo is the Managing Editor at SF Signal and a columnist at Kirkus Reviews. He also likes bagels. So there.

34 Comments on The “Last” Science Fiction & Fantasy Book Meme

  1. Arturo Poveda // October 6, 2013 at 12:42 am //

    The last sf/f book I finished reading: Flowers for Algernon
    The last sf/f book I did NOT finish: The war with the newts
    The last sf/f book(s) I bought: Flowers for Algernon
    The last sf/f book I bought that I already owned:
    The last sf/f book I shared with someone: The man in the high castle
    The last sf/f book I raved about: Flowers for Algernon
    The last sf/f book I did not enjoy at all:

  2. Steve Oerkfitz // October 6, 2013 at 2:26 am //

    Last SF/f book I finished:Doctor Sleep by Stephen King
    Last Sf/f book I did not finish:Redshirts by John Scalzi
    Last Sf/f books I bought:Burning Paradise by Robert Charles Wilson and The Land Across by Gene Wolfe(both preorderLast Sf/f book I bought that I already owned:none
    Last Sf/f book I shared with someone:The Pilo Family Circus by Will Elliott
    Last Sf/f book I raved about:The Adjutants by Christopher Priest
    The last Sf/f book I did not enjoy at all:Redshirts by John Scalzi(normally I like Scalzi but Redshirts seemed like a good 30 page story that went on for way too long}

  3. The last sf/f book I finished reading: Sign of Chaos by Roger Zelazny (Working my way through The Great Book Of Amber).
    The last sf/f book I did NOT finish: Three Against The Witch World by Andre Norton.
    The last sf/f book(s) I bought: 4 volumes of the Year’s Best Fantasy for 99 cents (Thanks, SF Signal).
    The last sf/f book I bought that I already owned:
    The last sf/f book I shared with someone:
    The last sf/f book I raved about: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J. K. Rowling.
    The last sf/f book I did not enjoy at all: World of Ptavvs by Larry Niven.

  4. The last sf/f book I finished reading: The Dispossessed by Ursula Le Guin
    The last sf/f book I did NOT finish: The 3rd novel in the The Wheel series by Robert Jordan
    The last sf/f book(s) I bought: Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C Clarke
    The last sf/f book I bought that I already owned: I don’t think I’ve done that
    The last sf/f book I shared with someone: Blackout/All Clear by Connie Willis
    The last sf/f book I raved about: Blackout/All Clear by Connie Willis
    The last sf/f book I did not enjoy at all: The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi

  5. 1. The last sf/f book I finished reading: Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie
    2. The last sf/f book I did NOT finish: Little Brother by Cory Doctorow(too scary!)
    3. The last sf/f book(s) I bought: Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie
    4. The last sf/f book I bought that I already owned: All the Weyrs of Pern by Anne McCaffrey(converting library from paper to ebook)
    5. The last sf/f book I shared with someone: Brood of Bones by A.E. Marling
    6. The last sf/f book I raved about: Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie – everyone should stop reading these comments right now and go read it! It’s BRILLIANT!
    7. The last sf/f book I did not enjoy at all: Little Brother by Cory Doctorow – scared me so bad I had to delete it from my kindle before I could sleep.

  6. The last sf/f book I finished reading: King Breaker by Rowena Cory Daniells
    The last sf/f book I did NOT finish: Be Careful What You Wish For by Daniel Black
    The last sf/f book(s) I bought: Deathstalker Rebellion by Simon R. Green
    The last sf/f book I bought that I already owned: n/a
    The last sf/f book I shared with someone: Sparrow Rock by Nate Kenyon
    The last sf/f book I raved about: Gideon Smith and the Mechanical Girl by David Barnett
    The last sf/f book I did not enjoy at all: The Companions by R.A. Salvatore

  7. The last sf/f book I finished reading: The Lost Stars: Perilous Shield by Jack Campbell
    The last sf/f book I did NOT finish: A Galaxy Unknown by Thomas DePrima
    The last sf/f book(s) I bought: Daughter of the Sword by Steve Bein
    The last sf/f book I bought that I already owned: Earthsea trilogy by Ursula K Le Guin (bought as set)
    The last sf/f book I shared with someone: True Names by Vernor Vinge
    The last sf/f book I raved about: Among Others by Jo Walton
    The last sf/f book I did not enjoy at all: A Galaxy Unknown by Thomas DePrima

  8. 1.The last sf/f book I finished reading:Nexus then it’s sequel Crux by Ramez Naam.
    2.The last sf/f book I did NOT finish:I’m not a quitter
    3.The last sf/f book(s) I bought:So many,too many to list.Ancillary Justice,The Cure,Day One,The 100,The Incrementalists…
    4.The last sf/f book I bought that I already owned:Is That Possible?
    5.The last sf/f book I shared with someone:
    6.The last sf/f book I raved about:Nexus/Crux-Ramez Naam also The 5th Wave,Fiend and The Humans
    7.The last sf/f book I did not enjoy at all:End of Days by Robert Gleason a really stupid book.

  9. The last sf/f book I finished reading: The Man Who Folded Himself by David Gerrold

    The last sf/f book I did NOT finish: Downbelow Station by C. J. Cherryh (I’ll get back to it, I promise!)

    The last sf/f book(s) I bought: Three omnibus editions of Steven Brust’s Vlad Taltos series and preordered The Republic of Thieves by Scott Lynch

    The last sf/f book I bought that I already owned: Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell (I wanted that Penguin re-release with the blacked-out cover)

    The last sf/f book I shared with someone: Old Man’s War by John Scalzi

    The last sf/f book I raved about: Diplomatic Immunity by Lois McMaster Bujold

    The last sf/f book I did not enjoy at all: The Inexplicables by Cherie Priest. She went over territory previously covered in earlier installments, only this time through the eyes of an uninteresting protagonist.

  10. David Greybeard // October 6, 2013 at 10:59 am //

    The last sf/f book I finished reading: SPECTYR Philipa Ballantine
    The last sf/f book I did NOT finish: GROUND ZERO Paul Wilson
    The last sf/f book(s) I bought: Heir of Novron by Michael J. Sullivan
    The last sf/f book I bought that I already owned: Guards! Guards! Terry Pratchett
    The last sf/f book I shared with someone: Lawless & The Devil of Euston Square by William Sutton
    The last sf/f book I raved about: Darkness Weaves by Karl Edward Wagner
    The last sf/f book I did not enjoy at all: Indestructible Hulk, Vol. 2: Gods and Monster by Mark Waid

  11. Rob Blake // October 6, 2013 at 12:18 pm //

    The last sf/f book I finished reading: Phoenix Rising by Pip Ballantine

    The last sf/f book I did NOT finish: A Taint in the Blood by S.M. Stifling

    The last sf/f book(s) I bought: Thieftaker by D.B. Jackson

    The last sf/f book I bought that I already owned: Cobra by Timothy Zahn

    The last sf/f book I shared with someone: The Heroes by Joe Abercrombie

    The last sf/f book I raved about: Dreadnought by Cherie Priest

    The last sf/f book I did not enjoy at all: One Good Soldier by Travis S. Taylor

  12. Harry Blanchard // October 6, 2013 at 1:15 pm //

    1. The last sf/f book I finished reading: The Best of All Possible Worlds, by Karen Lord (Excellent, reminds me of LeGuin’s sf series novels).

    2. The last sf/f book I did NOT finish: Kiln People, by Daivd Brin (Good story, just I didn’t finish it, I’ll try again sometime).

    3. The last sf/f book(s) I bought: Evening’s Empires, by Paul McAuley (from Amazon.co.uk – why oh why can’t we get these books in the US?!?)

    4. The last sf/f book I bought that I already owned: The Warlord of the Air, by Michael Moorcock (Steampunk before there was Steampunk, but it seems I also had it in an omnibus collection –probably read it already too, years ago).

    5. The last sf/f book I shared with someone: Redshirts, by J. Scalzi (Say what you will, it deserved its win).

    6. The last sf/f book I raved about: The Ocean at the End of the Lane, by N. Gaiman (Not that I needed to rave, I expect Gaiman to write something mediocre soon, but it’s not happening).

    7. The last sf/f book I did not enjoy at all: Toss up between Farside by Ben Bova (the Amazon reviewer who said ‘he phoned this one in’, was right) & Wolfhound Century, by Peter Higgins (ended abruptly, I thought maybe I had a defective copy of the book – could of at least warned us that it’s a series).

    • I’ve had great luck getting UK only books either through secondary sellers on Amazon or off of ebay,with reasonable prices and shipping times.

      And high five to a fellow Red Shirts lover!

  13. 1. The last sf/f book I finished reading: 2312, it took like six months to read, which is unusually long for me to read a book. But it’s not an easy book to read!
    2. The last sf/f book I did NOT finish: I didn’t finish Name of the Wind. Not because I didn’t like it, but because I got distracted.
    3. The last sf/f book(s) I bought: Ooh, last weekend I bought Redshirts! I need something like that after the past few months.
    4. The last sf/f book I bought that I already owned: I haven’t bought any sf/f books I already owned. However because I buy so much manga, I realized last week I bought the same manga twice. It’s not scifi though…
    5. The last sf/f book I shared with someone: I don’t share my books that often :) I think the last book I may have let someone borrow is Wild Sheep’s case by Murakami.
    6. The last sf/f book I raved about: Left Hand of Darkness, though I’ll probably always rave about that one.
    7. The last sf/f book I did not enjoy at all: I do not like the supernatural urban fantasy genre. That’s not quite true, I did briefly enjoy the Sookie Stackhouse books, but stopped reading after the third or 4th one maybe. I’ve tried many books that are popular but it really isn’t my thing. The last book then probably is Dead Witch Walking. Again, not my thing :)

  14. The last sf/f book I finished reading: The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle

    The last sf/f book I did NOT finish: The World Inside by Robert Silverberg

    The last sf/f book(s) I bought: Galaxy magazines.
    The last sf/f book I bought that I already owned: Beyond Apollo by Barry N. Malzberg

    The last sf/f book I shared with someone: Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. le Guin

    The last sf/f book I raved about: Beyond Apollo by Barry N. Malzberg

    The last sf/f book I did not enjoy at all: The World Inside by Robert Silverberg

  15. 1. The last sf/f book I finished reading: The Mask and the Master (Mechanized Wizardry 1) by Ben Rovik
    2. The last sf/f book I did NOT finish: Lord Valentine’s Castle by Robert Silveberg… The technology stuff is all over the place. (They have technology to make things hover but have to pull the hovering wagons with draft animals because they can’t propel them forward?)
    3. The last sf/f book(s) I bought: The Company by KJ Parker
    4. The last sf/f book I bought that I already owned: none
    5. The last sf/f book I shared with someone: The Wizard that Wasn’t by Ben Rovik. (Great, fun little steampunk/fantasy novella– followed by the book in question 1)
    6. The last sf/f book I raved about: Mechanized Wizardly books from above.
    7. The last sf/f book I did not enjoy at all: Flatland. (what the hell?)

  16. The last sf/f book I finished reading: Seeker by Jack McDevitt
    The last sf/f book I did NOT finish: Rocannon’s World by Ursula K. LeGuin (although I’ll give Planet of Exile a chance; I hear it’s much better)
    The last sf/f book(s) I bought: Jack Glass by Adam Roberts (reading it now; why is brutality such a common affectation of “literary” sf?)
    The last sf/f book I bought that I already owned: Dangerous Visions (found a nice hardback copy at a library sale although I already owned a paperback copy)
    The last sf/f book I shared with someone:
    The last sf/f book I raved about: Hawksbill Station by Robert Silverberg (just a fantastic premise)
    The last sf/f book I did not enjoy at all: Light by M. John Harrison (I at least enjoyed the opening prologue of Rocannon’s World; Light, again another bit of “literary” sf, was full of nasty unappealing characters in confusing, underdescribed environments and situations.

  17. The last sf/f book I finished reading: HellFire – Jean Johnson

    The last sf/f book I did NOT finish: The Human Division – John Scalzi

    The last sf/f book(s) I bought: Autumn Bones – Jacqueline Carey

    The last sf/f book I bought that I already owned: Who does that?

    The last sf/f book I shared with someone: The Retrieval Artist series by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

    The last sf/f book I raved about: Written in Red – Anne Bishop

    The last sf/f book I did not enjoy at all: Abbadon’s Gate – James S.A. Corey

  18. The last sf/f book I finished reading:The Machine by James Smythe
    The last sf/f book I did NOT finish:Apocalypse Z
    The last sf/f book(s) I bought:Black Powder by Matt Bialer
    The last sf/f book I bought that I already owned:The Bottom of the Sea by Zachary Jernigan
    The last sf/f book I shared with someone:Wrath-Bearing Tree by James Enge
    The last sf/f book I raved about:Fiend by Peter Stenson
    The last sf/f book I did not enjoy at all:Shaman

  19. The last sf/f book I finished reading: Clarkesworld Year 4 (anthology)
    The last sf/f book I did NOT finish: can’t remember.
    The last sf/f book(s) I bought: Apex anthos: Glitter and Mayhem, Apex Book of World SF, Apex Book of World SF 2
    The last sf/f book I bought that I already owned: One of the Steven Brust Vlad Taltos books.
    The last sf/f book I shared with someone: Twelve, by Jasper Kent
    The last sf/f book I did not enjoy at all: Starship and Haiku, but Somtow Sucharitkul. I did enjoy the concepts, and the poeticness of the whole thing, but the characters were really bleh.

  20. The last sf/f book I finished reading: Scott Lynch’s Republic of Thieves
    The last sf/f book I did NOT finish: Emma Jane Holloway’s A Study in Silks
    The last sf/f book(s) I bought: Lindsay Buroker’s Torrent
    The last sf/f book I bought that I already owned: Don’t think I’ve done this.
    The last sf/f book I shared with someone: One of the Dresden Files books, probably; my wife reads them, but she’s behind.
    The last sf/f book I raved about: Scott Lynch’s Republic of Thieves
    The last sf/f book I did not enjoy at all: I’m getting pretty good at filtering now, and I don’t persevere with books I’m not enjoying, so either A Study in Silks (but I only read 5% of it) or James Potter and the Curse of the Gatekeeper (read 30% of it, didn’t totally hate it, but it was a two-star book).

  21. The last sf/f book I finished reading: On Stranger Tides by Tim Powers
    The last sf/f book I did NOT finish: The Faded Sun Trilogy by C.J.Cherryh (sad but true)
    The last sf/f book(s) I bought: Jack Glass by Adam Roberts
    The last sf/f book I bought that I already owned: I do this quiet often, when I want to read the original version of a book I read in german translation when I was younger (the last was the C.J.Cherryh mentioned above, but it didn’t stand the test of time).
    The last sf/f book I shared with someone: A Dance with Dragons by G.R.R. Martin
    The last sf/f book I raved about: 2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson
    The last sf/f book I did not enjoy at all: Black Out/All Clear by Conny Willis (A mediocre author of history novels trapped in the body of a sf-author … what a tragic fate)

  22. 1. The last sf/f book I finished reading: American Elsewhere by Robert Jackson Bennett (Great)
    2. The last sf/f book I did NOT finish: Reamde by Neal Stephenson (300 pages in, middle of a gunfight, let’s take a 30 page digression to introduce a totally new character! Nope)
    3. The last sf/f book(s) I bought: On the Steel Breeze by Alistair Reynolds
    4. The last sf/f book I bought that I already owned: Consider Phlebas (Got confused, it was Excession I didn’t have my own copy of)
    5. The last sf/f book I shared with someone: Jagganath by Karin Tidbeck (With my mum, oddly enough)
    6. The last sf/f book I raved about: Angelmaker by Nick Harkaway (Can see how it could be a bit marmite, but I loved it)
    7. The last sf/f book I did not enjoy at all: Nod by Adrian Barnes (Sent me to sleep, ironically enough)

  23. Thanks for the meme – blogged it as well, great idea!

    The last sf/f book I finished reading: Shift Omnibus by Hugh Howey

    The last sf/f book I did NOT finish: Perdido Street Station by China Miéville (I loved The City & the City but just could not finish this one. It’s very rare for me to not finish a book.)

    The last sf/f book(s) I bought: Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie

    The last sf/f book I bought that I already owned: Reamde by Neal Stephenson (I buy all of his books in hardcover and Amazon had the Kindle version for $2. Couldn’t resist).

    The last sf/f book I shared with someone: A Game of Thrones (a co-worker is sucked into the TV series and wanted to read the books. He agrees the books are even better, as good as the HBO series is).

    The last sf/f book I raved about: Ancillary Justice – I just started reading it this weekend and am already raving about it. We’ll see how the end is.

    The last sf/f book I did not enjoy at all: There Goes the Galaxy by Jenn Thorson. It was another Kindle deal for free or a buck. If you look at the reviews, it has 33 5 star reviews and 21 4 star reviews (54 out of 61 reviews). It was trite, the writing wasn’t all that great and you could see the end coming a mile away. It tried way too hard to be in the vein of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and just didn’t pull it off.

  24. The last sf/f book I finished reading: Abaddon’s Gate by James S. Corey
    The last sf/f book I did NOT finish: A Little Knowledge by Michael Bishop
    The last sf/f book(s) I bought: The Hobbit (for about the 10th time, this one for my son)
    The last sf/f book I bought that I already owned: The Hobbit
    The last sf/f book I shared with someone: Leviathan Wakes by James S. Corey
    The last sf/f book I raved about: Leviathan Wakes by James S. Corey
    The last sf/f book I did not enjoy at all: Out of the Dark by David Weber

  25. 1. The last sf/f book I finished reading: The Constantine Affliction by T.Aaron Payton. I wanted a creepy October book. This was quite good and fit the bill.
    2. The last sf/f book I did NOT finish: Etiquette and Espionage by Gail Carriger. Like her non-YA books better.
    3. The last sf/f book(s) I bought: Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie
    4. The last sf/f book I bought that I already owned: I guess I’ll find out when I unearth it from my pile of books.
    5. The last sf/f book I shared with someone: Blood and Iron by Elizabeth Bear
    6. The last sf/f book I raved about: A Madness of Angels Kate Griffin
    7. The last sf/f book I did not enjoy at all: Coyote by Alan Steele

  26. 1.The last sf/f book I finished reading: The Bone Palace by Amanda Downum
    2.The last sf/f book I did NOT finish: Um, one of Simon Green’s Deathstalker books — #4 or #5, I think. I enjoyed the series but it just kept going and going and going.
    3.The last sf/f book(s) I bought: Silverlock by John Myers Myers — $0.99 on Kindle.
    4.The last sf/f book I bought that I already owned: Silverlock by John Myers Myers. (Unless you mean the last book I bought that I didn’t intend to buy again, in which case probably Fever Crumb by Philip Reeve.)
    5.The last sf/f book I shared with someone: The Shattered Goddess by Darrell Schweitzer.
    6.The last sf/f book I raved about: Range of Ghosts and Shattered Pillars by Elizabeth Bear. Seriously — they’re really, really good.
    7.The last sf/f book I did not enjoy at all: Probably The Shaving of Shagpat by George Meredith, which I dutifully read only because it was part of the Ballantine Adult Fantasy series.

  27. The last sf/f book I finished reading: The Dirty Streets of Heaven by Tad Williams
    The last sf/f book I did NOT finish: Voyagers by Ben Bova (good god he is boring)
    The last sf/f book(s) I bought: Abbadon’s Gate by James SA Corey
    The last sf/f book I bought that I already owned: uuuuh n/a?
    The last sf/f book I shared with someone: The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
    The last sf/f book I raved about: The Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson
    The last sf/f book I did not enjoy at all: Star Wars – Crucible by Troy Denning (what a dumb, dumb book)

  28. 1. The last sf/f book I finished reading: “Leviathan’s Wake”, by James S.A. Corey
    2. The last sf/f book I did NOT finish: “Titan”, by Ben Bova (early last year)
    3. The last sf/f book(s) I bought: new, “Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell”, by Susanna Clarke; used, “The Best of Analog” anthology (1978) and a couple pulps from a used bookseller at Robercon, a small new local convention
    4. The last sf/f book I bought that I already owned: Ace “Classics of Modern Literature” hardcover edition of “Dune”
    5. The last sf/f book I shared with someone: “Windup Girl”, by Paolo Bacigalupi, loaned to a friend with a burgeoning interest in sustainability and agriculture (book sort of blew his mind – “wow, I didn’t know they wrote stories about this stuff!”)
    6. The last sf/f book I raved about: “The Lathe of Heaven”, by Ursula Le Guin. Rarely do dream sequences in fiction actually seem dream-like to me, but I thought Le Guin accurately captured the creeping sense of “familiar but not quite right” common to dream environments (at least for me). To spin the whole plot around that sensation, and not just some scene – well, wow.
    7. The last sf/f book I did not enjoy at all: see #2 above. Happily, stinkers rarely seem to find their way into my reading queue (or maybe I am just easily entertained)

    Unsolicited Answers to Unasked Questions:

    8. The last sf/f book you borrowed from the library: “Leviathan’s Wake”
    9. The last sf/f book you had a hard time getting in to but ultimately appreciated: “Stand on Zanzibar”, by John Brunner.

  29. 1.The last sf/f book I finished reading: Dr. Sleep. Stephen King.
    2.The last sf/f book I did NOT finish: Heaven’s Fall. Series ran out of gas, I thought.
    3.The last sf/f book(s) I bought: Pre-order Brandon Sanderson’s Words of Radiance
    4.The last sf/f book I bought that I already owned: Dune. Read Dune five times and it still amazes me.
    5.The last sf/f book I shared with someone: Wool. Hugh Howey.
    6.The last sf/f book I raved about: The way of Kings. Brandon Sanderson.
    7.The last sf/f book I did not enjoy at all: The Desert Spear. Peter Blatt. Book one (Warded Man)inventive but follow up just redundant.

  30. Zdeslav Benzon // October 9, 2013 at 3:08 am //

    The last sf/f book I finished reading:Tears in Rain, Rosa Montero
    The last sf/f book I did NOT finish:Redshirts, John Scalzi
    The last sf/f book(s) I bought:Horns on Their Heads by R. A. Lafferty
    The last sf/f book I bought that I already owned:A Canticle for Leibowitz, Walter M. Miller
    The last sf/f book I shared with someone:A Canticle for Leibowitz, Walter M. Miller
    The last sf/f book I raved about:Jagganath, Karin Tidbeck
    The last sf/f book I did not enjoy at all:Redshirts, John Scalzi

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