Science Fiction Invaders Challenge: The Final Results

The final results for the Science Fiction Invaders reading challenge are in. I've tallied all the points from participants who submitted their scores to be featured on the leaderboard and I was blown away by the truly impressive scores!

The overall high score goes to @bflobookgeek with a staggering 596,500 points!!! Second place goes to Jayelsea with a score of 364,00 points and third place to myself (I didn't cheat, I promise!).

Congratulations, and a huge thank you to everyone who participated. I hope you all had fun expanding your science fiction horizons.

In 2023 the challenge is going to be bigger and better. We are tackling the entire speculative fiction realm in the Speculative Fiction Invaders challenge. All speculative fiction genres count, so if you are a fan of fantasy, horror, science fiction and everything in between then this will be the reading challenge for you.

Want to join in? Find out everything you need to know about the Speculative Fiction Invasion Reading challenge. Prepare to blast off. The universe needs you!

Reading Challenge: Speculative Fiction Invaders 2023

2022's Science Fiction Invaders challenge was huge fun and quite a few people joined in on the challenge. The amount of participants exceeded all my expectations so I'm calling it a success. A huge thank you to everyone who participated!

One thing I noticed was that while participating in the challenge I read loads of science fiction, but I tended to neglect all other genres. Who wants to read something if it doesn't count for anything? As a result I've decided to morph Science Fiction Invaders into Speculative Fiction Invaders for 2023. This means you can read anything that falls under the speculative fiction umbrella (fantasy, horror and science fiction). Adding more genres means you have more choice in what you want to read and, of course it also means you have the opportunity to earn more points! 

I'm pleased to officially launch the Speculative Fiction Invaders  (SF Invaders) reading challenge. This is a fun, low-commitment,  speculative fiction themed reading challenge which will blast off on 1 January and end on 31 December 2023. 

How it works:

Download the game sheet below to print out or keep as a digital file. Each time you complete a prompt you can cross off an invader and award yourself the indicated amount of points. All points earned count towards your yearly total. Be sure to keep track of your accumulated points. During the year we'll have quarterly check-ins and you can share your high score at the end of the year to claim a spot on the leaderboard.

You can read as much or as little as you want. To successfully finish the challenge you need to complete at least one full game sheet which will require reading 18 short stories, 7 novellas/graphic novels, 7 novels with 350+ pages, 4 novels with 500+ pages and 3 novels which are part of a trilogy or the last 3 books in a series.

The prompts and scoring:

As a general rule, unless otherwise stated, you are required to finish one book per prompt. Books cannot be used for multiple prompts. Each story in an anthology/collection counts as a single short story. (And yes, audiobooks and short story podcasts count too! Re-reads are allowed.)

Finish a speculative fiction (SF) trilogy or series - 50,000 points
To complete this prompt you need to start and finish reading an entire science fiction trilogy during the year. For a longer series you need to finish the last 3 books in that series during the year. The 3 books used for this prompt do not count towards any other prompt.

Read a SF novel with more than 500 pages - 10,500 points

Read a SF novel with more than 350 pages - 5,000 points

Read a SF novel/novella/graphic novel with more than 100 pages - 2,000 points

Read a SF short story - 500 points

Bonus points:

You can earn bonus points by completing any of the following in conjunction with any regular prompt for novellas and above. Unless otherwise stated only one bonus condition can apply per prompt.

Read a SF novel by a female/non-binary/POC author  - 1,000 points
Read a SF novel by an author from a country outside the US/UK - 1,000 points
Read a SF novel released in 2023 - 500 points

Tame that TBR: Read a novel which has been on your TBR/shelves for more than a year - 200 points.
This bonus can be used in conjunction with any other bonus prompts.

Golden Triad: Read a novel (350 pages or more) from each of the three genres (1 x horror, 1 x fantasy and 1 x science fiction novel.) - 7,000 points.
The Golden Triad can be earned for each set of 3 genre novels read and counts in addition to any other bonus prompts.

Example 1:
You read a 500 page book by a male UK author. You earn 10,500 points. (No bonus applies)
Example 2:
You read a 500 page book by a male South African author. You earn 11,500 points (10,500 + 1,000 bonus points for author outside US/UK).
Example 3:
You read a 500 page book by a female South African author. You earn 11,500 points (10,500 + 1,000 bonus points for either female author or author outside US/UK. Only 1 bonus applies per prompt).

Hard Mode: Leaving it to Fate

For those who like to live dangerously or who just can't decide what to read next you can leave it up to fate.  For each of the novel categories you can roll the dice to determine which genre you need to read. You'll need a D8 (or just use Google to "Roll D8") and let fate decide:

1. Science Fiction
2. Horror
3. Fantasy
4. Genre of your choosing
5. Science Fiction
6. Fantasy
7. Horror
8. Genre of your choosing
   

For each novel decided by fate you earn 300 extra points. Do you feel lucky?

Level Up

You have successfully completed the reading challenge once all the invaders have been eliminated and crossed off your game sheet. Well done! You can call it a day and bask in the warm glow of your accomplishment, or you can decide to continue your fight (and accumulate even more points) by leveling up.

You level up by starting another game sheet (level) and completing the prompts like normal. You can complete as many levels as you like, but each game sheet must be completed in full before you can start the next one.

All points earned from multiple levels count towards your cumulative total and your yearly high score.

Share your score

To make it easy to keep track of your score there is a handy Google sheets spreadsheet to use. You can share your score in the comments below, on Instagram or via Twitter using #SFInvaders. Quarterly totals should be posted by the end of March, June and September. At the end of December you can post your final high score to be included in the leaderboard. Feel free to share your monthly progress and what you are reading. Engagement is always great and much appreciated!

The Hall of Fame

A special reward awaits a select few readers who manage to reach 1,000,000 points during the challenge. This magnificent achievement will be forever immortalised in the Hall of Fame. Only the bravest, most determined souls will be able to achieve this pinnacle. Will you be the one? 

***

I hope this challenge brings you a little bit of joy throughout the year and that you have fun while expanding your speculative fiction horizons. Arm your blasters and start your engines. Let's go kick some invader ass!

Science Fiction Invaders 1st Quarter Leaderboard

The first quarter of the year has come and gone. So many books, so little time.

It's time to announce the Science Fiction Invaders reading challenge leaderboard for the first quarter. Some participants have really blown through the challenges and are nearly done with all the yearly challenges already and on the brink of leveling up.

• Bflobookgeek - 115,500
• Carter - 98,000
• KJ Mulder (Worlds In Ink) - 84,500
• Angela (LitSciAlliance) - 81,000
• Jayelsea - 63,000
• AccipiterF1- 44,000
• Eveemilie - 37,000
• Laura S - 12,000
• Tawallah - 6,000 

I'm really impressed with everyone's scores and astounded that some are almost done already. Never underestimate a book geek when it comes to a reading challenge. Thank you to everyone participating, you have made this reading challenge more fun than I could ever imagine.

If you want to join in on the battle to save the galaxy all the information about the Science Fiction Invaders reading challenge can be found here. It's a yearlong challenge so there's still plenty of time to join us in kicking some alien ass (that's if aliens have asses)!

The Science Fiction Invaders Book Tag

Any respectable reading challenge should have a book tag to go along with it. Introducing the Science Fiction Invaders Book Tag. Seven questions to get to know fellow science fiction fans and to bare your sci-fi soul to all. (If this is a total flop. Procrastination made me do it!)

1. Blast off:
Which book got you interested in or hooked you on science fiction?

Despite how problematic the author has become Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card was my gateway into science fiction. It's the one book I can still vividly remember reading as a teen and being blown away by the story. It inspired me to search out more stories like it, and I subsequently read the entire SFF section available in my small town library. Multiple times. 

2. Engage targeting systems:
What type of science fiction do you enjoy the most? Any specific tropes or sub-genre that makes something a must-read?

I've always been a huge fan of space opera. Give me galactic intrigue, huge spaceships and devastatingly powerful weapons and I'm as happy as can be.

3. Prime weapon systems:
What’s your favourite science fiction book series?

The Expanse series by James S.A. Corey is amazing, The Culture series by Iain M. Banks (which I still haven't had the heart to finish), Revelation Space series by Alastair Reynolds and The Polity novels by Neal Asher. I can't pick just one. They are all so good.

4. Disengage safeties:
What would you like to see more of in the genre?

More books focused on space exploration and encountering something alien and new. Something where we push our frontiers ever forward and outward just to see what wonders await. 

5. Weapons free:
What’s your favourite adaptation of a science fiction work?

The Expanse TV show has to be on the top of my list. I haven't watched the later series yet, but once I spotted the plumes from Enceladus in the intro, I knew we were in for something good.

6. Torpedoes away:
Share an unpopular opinion you have, which other sci-fi fans might judge you for.

Dune isn't that great. There, I said it.

7. Victory:
What’s the one sci-fi book you always recommend to someone? Why?

Another tough question. At the moment it has to be Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky. Tchaikovsky has this ability to bring non-human intelligences to vibrant life on the page.

***

I challenge you, yes YOU, to complete the tag in any format you like and to tag two other science fiction lovers in your life to do the same! Share in the fun, and get to know a little bit more about each other.

Reading Challenge: Science Fiction Invaders 2022

Nothing rings in a new year quite like a shiny new reading challenge. It brings me great joy to officially announce the Science Fiction Invaders reading challenge. This is a fun, low-commitment,  science fiction themed reading challenge which will blast off on 1 January and end on 31 December 2022. 

How it works:

Download the game sheet below to print out or keep as a digital file. Each time you complete a prompt you can cross off an invader and award yourself the indicated amount of points. All points earned count towards your yearly total. Be sure to keep track of your accumulated points. During the year we'll have quarterly check-ins and you can share your high score at the end of the year to claim a spot on the leaderboard.

You can read as much or as little as you want. To successfully finish the challenge you need to complete at least one full game sheet which will require reading 18 short stories, 7 novellas/graphic novels, 7 novels with 350+ pages, 4 novels with 500+ pages and 3 novels which are part of a trilogy or the last 3 books in a series.

The prompts and scoring:

As a general rule, unless otherwise stated, you are required to finish one book per prompt. Books cannot be used for multiple prompts. Each story in an anthology/collection counts as a single short story. (And yes, audiobooks and short story podcasts count too! Re-reads are allowed.)

Finish a sci-fi trilogy or series (50,000 points)
To complete this prompt you need to start and finish reading an entire science fiction trilogy during the year. For a longer series you need to finish the last 3 books in that series during the year. The 3 books used for this prompt do not count towards any other prompt.

Read a sci-fi novel with more than 500 pages (10,500 points)

Read a sci-fi novel with more than 350 pages (5,000 points)

Read a sci-fi novel/novella/graphic novel with more than 100 pages (2,000 points)

Read a sci-fi short story (500 points)

Bonus points:

You can earn bonus points by completing any of the following in conjunction with any regular prompt for novellas and above. Only one bonus condition can apply per prompt.

Read a sci-fi novel by a female/non-binary/POC author (1,000 points)
Read a sci-fi novel by an author from a country outside the US/UK (1,000 points)
Read a sci-fi novel released in 2022 (500 points)

Example 1:
You read a 500 page book by a male UK author. You earn 10,500 points. (No bonus applies)
Example 2:
You read a 500 page book by a male South African author. You earn 11,500 points (10,500 + 1,000 bonus points for author outside US/UK).
Example 3:
You read a 500 page book by a female South African author. You earn 11,500 points (10,500 + 1,000 bonus points for either female author or author outside US/UK. Only 1 bonus applies per prompt.).

Level Up

You have successfully completed the reading challenge once all the invaders have been eliminated and crossed off your game sheet. Well done! You can call it a day and bask in the warm glow of your accomplishment, or you can decide to continue your fight (and accumulate even more points) by leveling up.

You level up by starting another game sheet (level) and completing the prompts like normal. You can complete as many levels as you like, but each game sheet must be completed in full before you can start the next one.

All points earned from multiple levels count towards your cumulative total and your yearly high score.

Share your score

You can share your score in the comments below or via Twitter using #SFInvaders. You can also join the Science Fiction Invaders Discord Channel to participate there. Quarterly totals should be posted by the end of March, June and September. At the end of December you can post your final high score to be included in the leaderboard. Feel free to share your monthly progress and what you are reading. Engagement is always great!

The Hall of Fame

A special reward awaits a select few readers who manage to reach 1,000,000 points during the challenge. This magnificent achievement will be forever immortalised in the Science Fiction Invaders Hall of Fame. Only the bravest, most determined souls will be able to achieve this pinnacle. Will you be the one? 

***

I hope this challenge brings you a little bit of joy throughout the year and that you have fun while expanding your science fiction horizons. Arm your blasters and start your engines. Let's go kick some invader ass!

A Month of Discworld Madness

As you might have noticed November was an extremely quiet month as far as reviews went. The reason for that is that I spent most (OK, all!) of my reading time on reading Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels. You see, the devious minds over at the South African Book Lovers group on Goodreads devised a great Terry Pratchett reading challenge which kicked off in November. I'm a sucker for a good challenge and I got a bit obsessed carried away...

The challenge consists of 40 tasks which need to be completed by a team of four. Each team member has to complete 10 tasks which count towards their team total. The first team to finish all 40 tasks wins. In order to complete the challenge on an individual basis you need to complete 25 tasks. For every 5 tasks completed the team is awarded a Discworld themed card and individuals earn stamps as rewards.

I'm on my fourth stamp now, which means that I've read a total of 21 Discworld novels during the month of November. My team, The City Watch, is also leading by a mile with a total of 32 points (the team in second place only has 15 points). Not bad if you consider the fact that the challenge was supposed to last for a year!

Unfortunately this obsession left little time for anything else. Sanity has finally returned and with a bit of luck I'll be able to catch up on my review backlog now.

A-Z Book Challenge

My reading group has a A-Z Book challenge running at the moment (actually a few of them!).  The aim of this particular challenge is to read a book whose title corresponds with the letters of the alphabet.

Here's my list.  I'll update this post as I progress:

A - Ashes to Ashes
B -
C - Carved in Bone
D - Djinn Rummy
E -
F - Fire Upon The Deep
G -
H - Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
I -
J -
K -
L -
M -
N -
O -
P -
Q -
R -
S - Stranger in a Strange Land
T -
U -
V -
W -
X -
Y -
Z -

50,000 pages reading challenge

This year I managed to read over 100 books (108 and still going) for the 100 books in 2010 challenge.  Since completing a book now lacks that sense of achievement I've decided it's time to start on a new challenge.  This time around I'm going to focus on reading 50,000 pages within a year.

Since page sizes tend to vary from book to book this won't be an exact science, but where possible I'll be reading paperbacks and using the total pages from each paperback.  If I read an eBook I'll be using the stated page numbers for the paperback edition of the same book.

I'm so keen to get going so I've already started the challenge today, so for me it will be running from the 21/12/2010 till 21/12/2011.  In all likelihood I'll be referring to it as my 2011 reading challenge even though it started 10 days early.  Wish me luck!

100 Books in 2010

At the start of the year I set myself the goal of reading 100 books in 2010.  At times it was tough going, but last Friday, with a WHOLE month to spare, I managed to complete my hundredth book.  What did it accomplish?  Not much aside from providing me with a warm fuzzy feeling of contentment.

So, without further ado - here's my list of titles completed in 2010.

Books read in 2010

1. The Neutronium Alchemist (Night's Dawn, #2) -    Peter F. Hamilton
2. The Naked God (Night's Dawn, #3) -   Peter F. Hamilton
3. 4th of July (Women's Murder Club, #4) -   James Patterson
4. The 6th Target (Women's Murder Club #6) -   James Patterson
5. When the Wind Blows -   James Patterson
6. Thief of Time (Discworld, #26) -   Terry Pratchett
7. The Lake House -   James Patterson
8. Pyramids (Discworld, #7) -   Terry Pratchett
9. The Last Continent (Discworld, #22) -   Terry Pratchett
10. A is for Alibi (Kinsey Millhone, #1)  -  Sue Grafton
11. Act Of War (Jason Richter, #1)  -  Dale Brown
12. The 5th Horseman (Women's Murder Club, #5)  -  James Patterson
13. Cat & Mouse (Alex Cross, #4) -   James Patterson
14. Night Watch (Discworld, #29)   - Terry Pratchett
15. Pop Goes the Weasel (Alex Cross,#5)  -   James Patterson
16. Roses Are Red (Alex Cross, #6)  -  James Patterson
17. The Infinite Sea (The Chaos Chronicles, #3)  -  Jeffrey A. Carver
18. 7th Heaven (Women's Murder Club, #7) -   James Patterson
19. The 8th Confession (Women's Murder Club, #8) -   James Patterson
20. Without Fail (Jack Reacher Series, #6) -   Lee Child
21. Bad Luck and Trouble (Jack Reacher Series, #11) -   Lee Child
22. Against a Dark Background -   Iain M. Banks
23. Shadows  -  Shaun Hutson
24. Step on a Crack (Michael Bennett, #1)  -  James Patterson
25. Sail  -  James Patterson
26. Persuader (Jack Reacher Series, #7) -   Lee Child
27. The Enemy (Jack Reacher Series, #8) -   Lee Child
28. Don't Kiss Them Good-bye  -  Allison DuBois
29. The Blue Nowhere  -  Jeffery Deaver
30. Chosen Prey (Lucas Davenport, #12) -   John Sandford
31. Ghosts of Onyx (Halo) -   Eric S. Nylund
32. Red Mars (Mars Trilogy, #1) -   Kim Stanley Robinson
33. The Wasp Factory -   Iain M. Banks
34. Mostly Harmless (Hitchhiker's Guide, #5)  -  Douglas Adams
35. Thirteen Steps Down  -  Ruth Rendell
36. Dead Men  -  Stephen Leather
37. Cry for Help  -  Steve Mosby
38. The Cutting Crew -   Steve Mosby
39. Circle of the Dead  -  Ingrid Black
40. Echo Park (Harry Bosch, #12) -  Michael Connelly
41. Compulsion (Alex Delaware Series, #22) -   Jonathan Kellerman
42. The Red Dahlia (Anna Travis Mystery, #2)  -  Lynda La Plante
43. The Woods -   Harlan Coben
44. The Narrows (Harry Bosch, #10) -   Michael Connelly
45. Dead Run -   P.J. Tracy
46. The Way of Shadows (Night Angel, #1) -   Brent Weeks
47. The Last Coyote (Harry Bosch, #4) -   Michael Connelly
48. Above Suspicion (Anna Travis Mystery, #1)  -  Lynda La Plante
49. Shadow's Edge (Night Angel, #2) -   Brent Weeks
50. Beyond the Shadows (Night Angel, #3) -   Brent Weeks
51. London Bridges (Alex Cross, #10) -    James Patterson
52. Live Fire (Dan Shepherd Mystery)  -  Stephen Leather
53. Unseen Academicals  -  Terry Pratchett
54. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Millennium, #1)  -  Stieg Larsson
55. The Girl Who Played with Fire -   Stieg Larsson
56. Spider Light -   Sarah Rayne
57. Along Came a Spider  -  James Patterson
58. You've Been Warned  -  James Patterson
59. Book of the Dead (Angel)  -  Ashley McConnell
60. Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void  -  Mary Roach
61. The Black Prism (Lightbringer, #1)  -  Brent Weeks
62. Flashforward  -  Robert J. Sawyer
63. The Portable Door  -  Tom Holt
64. The Algebraist -   Iain M. Banks
65. Troy: Lord of the Silver Bow -   David Gemmell
66. Haunted (Angel)  -  Jeff Mariotte
67. Troy: Shield of Thunder (Troy, #2)  -  David Gemmell
68. The Final Warning (Maximum Ride, #4) -   James Patterson
69. Conspiracy in Death (In Death, #8)  -  J.D. Robb
70. Zoo City -   Lauren Beukes
71. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest (Millennium, #3)  -  Stieg Larsson
72. Retribution  -  Jilliane Hoffman
73. Good Guy, The -  Dean Koontz
74. Shadow Command  -  Dale Brown
75. Flesh and Bone -   Jefferson Bass
76. The Elves of Cintra (Genesis of Shannara, #2)   - Terry Brooks
77. The Gypsy Morph (Genesis of Shannara, #3)  -  Terry Brooks
78. Jack and Jill   - James Patterson
79. We Need to Talk About Kevin (Five Star Paperback) -   Lionel Shriver
80. 2061: Odyssey Three   -  Arthur C. Clarke
81. Nemesis  -  Isaac Asimov
82. Dark Matter  -  Greg Iles
83. Encounters  -  Isaac Asimov
84. Rollback -   Robert J. Sawyer
85. Ender's Game (Ender's Saga, #1) -   Orson Scott Card
86. 1984 -   George Orwell
87. I, Robot  -  Isaac Asimov
88. Extinction -   Ray Hammond
89. The Cloud  -  Ray Hammond
90. Frankenstein -   Mary Shelley
91. The Mirrored Heavens -   David J. Williams
92. Fahrenheit 451 -   Ray Bradbury
93. Old Man's War -    John Scalzi
94. Oryx and Crake  -  Margaret Atwood
95. Perdido Street Station   -  China Mieville
96. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy  -   Douglas Adams
97. Men at Arms   -      Terry Pratchett
98. The Windup Girl   -     Paolo Bacigalupi
99. Solitary Man    -     Jeff Mariotte
100. The Time Machine  -  H.G. Wells

Science Fiction Reading Challenge

It's been quite some time since my last post.  Some of you might have thought that I fell victim to an alien abduction or some other type of dastardly deed.  No need to worry.  I'm perfectly fine. The reason for my absence is due to my participation in the South African Book Lover's Science Fiction Reading challenge.

The aim of the challenge is to complete the following tasks within a year (starting from 1 November 2010):

1. Sci fi based on mythology
2. Biopunk
3. Read a book classified as Steampunk
4. Read a Sci-Fi Thriller
5. Read some Space Opera
6. Read something by Isaac Asimov
7. Read a book that has a Alien or Aliens
8. Cyberpunk
9. Short stories. SF is a big short story genre, with some of the most exciting, inventive tales out there, so read a collection of sf short stories.
10. Read a Sci-Fi dystopia
11. Read hard sci-fi: Hard science fiction is a category of science fiction characterized by an emphasis on scientific or technical detail, or on scientific accuracy, or on both
12. Read military sci-fi
13. Read a sci-fi that a prominent movie was based on
14. Read Romance and Sexuality in sci-fi
15. Read a sci-fi published between 2000-2010
16. Read a sci-fi that has Robots/Companion bots etc. in them
17. Read a Sci-fi that has a authoritarian state/government
18. Read a Sci-Fi set on both Earth and another planet
19. Read a YA Sci-Fi
20. Sci fi about an ecological disaster (on Earth or any other planet)
21. Read sci fi that's won either the Hugo or the Nebula award
22. Read a sci-fi book which involves or includes elements of nature (i.e. plants or animals)
23. Read a sci-fi book which involves or includes time travel
24. Read an alternate history novel
25. Read any Golden Age Sci-fi author (excluding Asimov)

Since I'm also attempting to finish reading 100 novels for the year I'm spending all my free time reading like crazy.  I've still got 11 novels to go to meet the 100 novel deadline and I'm trying to see how far I can get on the Sci-Fi challenge by the end of December.

That leaves very little time to actually sit down and compose blog entries.  Hopefully once everything settles down I'll be able to put up some reviews of books I've finished for the various challenges.  If not I'll have to resort to posting some brief ratings as a last resort.

Now I need to get back to some reading...