Talk:List of science fiction novels

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Listing numerical titles first is NOT correct bibliographical procedure. In a book they would be treated as if spelled out. What's wikipedia's policy on this?

Is it worth spliting into sections (A | B | C etc)do you think? ledgerbob 16:58, 21 Dec 2003 (UTC)

Contents

[edit] Notable ?

How are we defining "notable"? That is, how do we know what belongs on the list and what doesn't?

I also want to know what the criteria is for making this list, if I read an SF book and like it, does it make it worthy of entry to the list? 'Notable' seem to be quite a subjective classification method. --Kelby 19:23, 17 October 2005 (UTC)
Perhaps 'Notable' was selected on the basis that it was 'All' was thought to be a too big an ambition to have any hope of achieving. Technically, notable could be based on the 'popularity', that is number of volumes sold (although these figures aren't consistent and can be 'inflated' by publishers). And 'significance' could be based on the number of citations in critical articles/essays etc (although it would be almost impossible to 'trawl' these 'citations' since we aren't talking about going to a limited number of academic/professional journals. We could look at awards (such as the Hugos) for winners and nominees, but we'd be left with a fairly short list (and it would belong on the Hugos page..). Therefore we are left with the notion that 'Notable' is whether we think it is, and whether someone else doesn't disagree so much that they delete our entry. One thought though... if we include the BookTitle, and the Author, and the Date AND a short text entry as to WHY we think the book is significant then I think that'd ensure that folk submitting titles had to put their rationale/passion 'on the line' - enabling the rest of us to understand/judge the significance for the submitters perspective as well as our own.Tban 22:54, 13 June 2006 (UTC)
I'm not sure that we should include a 'short text entry', as I think this will just make the list gigantic and unusable. The real point is that if a novel is on this list, it should warrant an entry of it's own on Wikipedia. So perhaps that's a good definition of 'notable' - that it warrants and entry on the main encyclopedia. If such an entry doesn't exist, then a listing here is a good indication that one is needed. Swpmre 09:13, 14 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] 1984

why is animal farm by george orwell listed but not the more critically-acclaimed 1984?

Delisted Animal Farm (not SF), Nineteen Eighty-Four was already listed. -- The Anome 20:37, 29 Aug 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Absurd

This list is ludicrously incomplete. Isn't there some way to just automatically list articles which belong to the appropriate category or categories? Clarityfiend 07:49, 22 October 2006 (UTC)

It's a problem. A Category could be created called "Novels, Science Fiction," but that Category would have to be manually placed at the bottom of every article about a science fiction novel on Wiki, and my sense is there really aren't too many articles about novels. (But I'm relatively new here, so perhaps there is another solution.)PaulLev 14:34, 22 October 2006 (UTC
They somehow managed to list all the towns, I wonder if those were all manually put up, or if there was a robot program doing it? Brian Pearson 01:17, 30 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Can anyone identify this short story for me?

I am trying to find a short story I read about 30 or 35 years ago. I no longer remember the title or the author, but I think I read the short story in a collection or anthology of short stories. The plot involves a colonist on an alian planet, where humans have lived for about 20 years with no hint of danger. While out on a hike, the colonist hears sounds that remind him of chitin rubbing on chitin, but on a LARGE scale. He turns around and begins a hasty retreat towards the colony as darkness starts to fall. The sounds follow him and even seem to be closing in as he starts to panic and run. The story ends when he realizes that the sounds are now in front of him as well as behind him. Can anyone tell me the title or author of this story? Thanks. Dave Hammock

Was it a planet way above the galactic plane, so the guy could see the spiral structure of the galaxy dominating the night sky? - Reaverdrop (talk/nl) 20:13, 31 August 2007 (UTC)
Could it be "A Walk in the Dark" by Arthur C. Clarke? Clarityfiend 06:45, 22 October 2007 (UTC)