FAQ/GUIDE
IMPORTANT : This blog has now gotten really long. I didn’t expect this when I started, so the list of posts at the bottom right has now been moved to its own website/blog, called Not Free SF Reader List, obviously enough. This is being updated weekly, usually at the start of the week. Here you’ll find the works separated by the genre heading, then ordered by author.
There is a Link in the Free SF Reader Links List that will now go to a google pages page – http://freesflist.blogspot.com
that will contain the full list in one no frills smaller page.
Not Free SF Reader has the same thing : There is a Link in the Not Free SF Reader Links List that will now go to a google pages page – http://notfreesflist.blogspot.com that will contain the full list in one no frills smaller page.
Note that one page per author breakdown can be found here http://freesf.awardspace.com/ but this is only being updated monthly currently, so will be behind..
These categories and the long list of links to posts will now be only found there :-
Shootist, Sleuth, Soldier, Sorcery Fantasy, Speculative, Sport, Spy, Study, Superhero, Supernatural Fantasy, Swords
BACKGROUND : I started doing this to play with a blog, and it grew out of doing Super Reader after finding a increasing number of interesting stuffed related to Super Reader, and, of course, SF online. So, I thought, why not do the rest, as well. So, I set out on a quest to try and remember everything genre related I had read, which turns out to be a bit harder than I thought, and rate them as a guide for me, and for picking stuff for other people that ask. I will remember stuff occasionally, and add it. I figured this would likely take a couple of years.
Anyway, starting with books I actually began going backwards alphabetically and made it to J. Then I started rereading a bunch of anthologies, and starting documenting the stories there, as well, and also with some magazines I have like Andromeda Spaceways and Jim Baen’s Universe. So, that slowed me down a bit, as did doing the same thing for Graphic SF Reader, especially after finding even more stuff, and more online on top of that of interest.
I still have some Agatha Christie, Hardy Boys and Doctor Who, as far as books/novels go, so 2 years was probably a bit on the optimistic side with everything that has happened.
Everything new I read that is Free gets listed here, as well. When I discover a Free version of something on Not Free SF Reader, I will move it to here, as there is no shortage of posts on Not Free SF Reader.
RATING
Novels are rated as novels.
Non-fiction that is related is rated as non-fiction.
Short stories are rated as short stories. So are excerpts, chapter posts, etc.
Anthologies, collections and magazines are rated like this :- take the fiction, apply the formula found in ‘The Mathematics of the Anthology’ http://notfreesf.blogspot.com/2007/06/mathematics-of-anthology.html. If the non-fiction part is good/useful, give a bonus. At least, after I invented that rating formlua, anyway, which is most of them except some earlier magazines.
So, they are not directly comparable as such, and possible might label separately if I come up with a good way to do it that isn’t too clunky.
Omnibuses are rated based on the books they contain, basically the same as a collection with a little wiggle room.
FAQ/GUIDE
Books that are rated here at available as free downloads on the web. Those that are not can be found at Not Free SF Reader.
Books that are labelled Superhero are books that are listed on Super Reader. Further breakdown and subcategorisation of those books is given there.
There are a few ways to approach browsing or using Free SF Reader.
First, there is a blog search box at the very top left-hand corner.
1) The main page has the last 50 posts, which you can scroll down to look at.
2) The grid of labels at the top breaks the posts down into sections. Each section has 20 posts per page, and at the bottom of each of these pages are previous/next navigation arrows that will let you go through these a page at a time.
The sections are by category of book, and also by rating of book, if you want to browse that way.
If you scroll down to under my profile image, these labels will be reproduced vertically, with counts of how many posts are in each section, but otherwise function identically to the labels at the top of the blog.
3) If you scroll further down than that, you will find a blog archive section, where posts are archived by month. You can navigate through this in a similar manner to navigation of the sections above.
4) Anyone is welcome to comment on the posts. There is an email address on my profile, or you can write to aussievamp2@gmail.com if you have suggestions about books to add to the list, or want to talk to me for some other reason.
This email address is also displayed at the top of the blog.
Eventually I am going to try and post about everything I have read that I can remember, but this will take a considerable time. 
Rating System
5 = Outstanding
4.5 = Very Good
4 = Good
3.5 = Above Average
3 = Average
2.5 = Below Average
2 = Poor
1.5 = Bad
1 = Very Bad
0.5 = Laughable
LABELS
As everyone knows, this sort of thing is tricky, fluid and blurry, but anyway :-
Scary – Books or stories of horror that are meant to scare or disturb
Science – Science Fiction
Sleuth – Books or stories of detection, crime and mystery
Sorcery – Books or stories of fantasy and magic
Speculative – Harder to categorise, odd, or deliberate blends like the Illuminati, Wolfe, etc. Or your wish-washy slipstream stuff.
Spy – Books or stories of espionage and related thrillers or technothrillers
Study – Books or stories that are about Science Fiction and other genre writing, and are non-fiction. I added these in breaking the fiction rule a little, but I thought it made sense. Also some online interviews and articles, of things I am particularly interested in, and even the odd website.
Superhero – Books that are listed at Super Reader, specific breakdowns can be found there.
Supernatural – Paranormal or occult themed books that are less concerned with horrifying
Swords – Books of the knights, swashbucklers and pirates, that sort of thing
