1. The Complete Stories of J. G. Ballard, J. G. Ballard (2009)
My girlfriend gave me this MASSIVE (1196 pages) newly released volume of all of Ballard’s short stories (arranged in chronological order) for my birthday. I’m extremely excited because I enjoyed my first Ballard work, High-Rise (1975). Does anyone have a particular story which I should start with?
2. And Chaos Died, Joanna Russ (1970) (MY REVIEW)
Joanna Russ is famous for her feminist science fiction novels — most notably The Female Man (1975). In my normal circuitous manner I’ve decided to tackle her work from an oblique angle, her earlier novel And Chaos Died. A review will be posted shortly — I’m almost finished.
3. A Time of Changes, Robert Silverberg (1971)
Silverberg’s A Time of Changes is considered one of his masterpieces (it won the Nebula and was nominated for the Hugo). I usually avoid novels about telepathy however I’ve been very appreciative of his works I’ve read so far — I’ll give it a go.
4. Vault of the Ages, Poul Anderson (1952) (MY REVIEW)
Poul Anderson’s Vault of the Ages is his second novel so I don’t expect the magic of some of his more mature works. But, 1950s sci-fi is often delightfully fun (and naive) so I picked up a copy.
5. Spaceling, Doris Piserchia (1978)
I was relatively impressed with Piserchia’s bizarre and otherworldly Doomtime (1981). Hopefully Spaceling has similar qualities although I might have made a bad purchase since the few reviews I’ve found online describe this for younger audiences. We’ll see.
6. Earthworks, Brian Aldiss (1965) (MY REVIEW)
Besides having one of the creepiest covers ever, Aldiss’ Earthworks deals with one of my favorite sci-fi themes, the social impact of overpopulation. Also, it is one of the earliest on the theme I’ve found (I suspect there are multiple earlier ones — if anyone knows of earlier works please please let me know!).
7. Rolltown, Mack Reynolds (1976) (first published in If magazine in 1969) (MY REVIEW)
Ok, this was an impulsive buy. In the 70s Mack Reynolds was an extremely popular sci-fi writer whose popularity has faded away in recent years. BUT, the subject matter is so fascinating — colonies of artists ignoring national boundaries wandering around in moving cities!