Which books/covers/authors intrigue you? Which have you read? Disliked? Enjoyed?

1. The Impossible Man and Other Stories, J. G. Ballard (1966)

From the back cover: “THE IMPOSSIBLE MAN is the eighth book by J. G. Ballard to be published in the United States. Since the publication of his famous first two novels in 1962, The Wind from Nowhere and The Drowned World, no writer in modern science fiction has received higher acclaim from the critics:

“…the freshest new talent in science fiction since Brian Aldiss.” — DAMON KNIGHT

“Ballard is one of the brightest new stars in post-war fiction… he may turn out to be one of the most imaginative of Wells’s successors.” — KINGSLEY AMIS

THE IMPOSSIBLE MAN gathers together nine of Ballard’s most recent stories. A few samples:

In “The Drowned Giant” an enigmatic visitor is subjected to the various kindnesses of man…”

In “The Impossible Man” the sinister world of “restorative surgery” is explored with frightening results…

In “The Screen Game” and “The Giaconda of Twilight Noon” Ballard revisits the strangely sinister land of Vermillion Sands…”

Contents: “The Drowned World” (1964), “The Reptile Enclosure” (1963), “The Delta at Sunset” (1964), “Storm-Bird, Storm-Dreamer” (1966), “The Screen Game” (1963), “The Day of Forever” (1966), “Time of Passage” (1964), “The Gioconda of the Twilight Noon” (1964), “The Impossible Man” (1966)

Initial Thoughts: I love (most) Ballard. I own his omnibus collection of short stories but I can never resist the original paperbacks. If you wish to learn more about the themes and inspirations of his fiction, make sure to check out D. Harlan Wilson’s wonderful monograph J. G. Ballard (2017) in the University of Illinois Modern Masters of Science Fiction series.

2. Consider Her Ways and Others, John Wyndham (1961)

From the back cover: “The future as an Amazonian ant’s-nest, a single-sex totalitarian nightmare… the curious consequences of an out-of-body experience… how Hollywood turned an Irish Rose into a plastic bloom… a scientific experiment that changes the course of history–or merely confirms it… the search for a love that is not just lost, but has never ever been… a Satanic salesman’s struggles with a quick-witted mortal…

The author of such classic chillers as THE DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS and THE MIDWICH CUCKOOS, John Wyndham was one of the most skillful and imaginative science-fiction writers of his time. His talent for the unexpected, unusual and unsettling is made thrillingly clear in this superb collection of his sharp, witty and strikingly original stories.”

Contents: “Consider Her Ways” (1956), “Odd” (1961), “Oh, Where, Now, Is Peggy MacRafferty?” (1961), “Stitch in Time” (1961), “Random Quest” (1961), “A Long Spoon” (1960).

Initial Thoughts: I spent a few extra dollars online THINKING I was going to receive the 1979 Penguin edition with its gorgeous Peter Lord cover… instead I received this miserable 2001 edition with pathetic throwaway art by Spencer Wilson. He apparently “designed” an entire series of covers for Wyndham’s novels and collections! They are all terrible. Vitriol aside, I should read more Wyndham… And one of the stories in this collection appears to fit my media landscapes of the future series.

3. Eye of Cat, Roger Zelazny (1982)

From the inside flap: “A retired hunter of alien zoo specimens, William Blackhorse Singer, the last Navajo on a future Earth, has come to what he sees as the end of his life. The World Government calls upon him for aid in protecting an alien diplomat from a powerful and hostile member of his own species. Knowing both the importance of the task and his inability to handle it on his own, Singer goes to confront his greatest conquest with a strange bargain. A shape-shifting alien, the last of his species, sits in a special cage at an institute dedicated to the study of extraterrestrial beings. most frequently he projects the aspect of a one-eyed catlike creature, but he can appear as almost anything.

One of Singer’s secrets, and his greatest guilt, is his suspicion that the creature is intelligent. He confronts him and offers his own life for Cat’s cooperation in saving the alien. Cat accepts, and later, their mission fulfilled, demands a refinement on the original bargain. Rather than a simple death he wants a return bout–a chase with Singer as the hunted rather than the hunter.

The gods, powers and monsters of Navajo legend provide the backdrop for the working out of Singer’s fate–for the chase is as much for his soul as for his body. As he uses matter transmitters to flit from Paris to London to the Middle East to the American Southwest, he must search back into his own early life as well as the root beliefs of his vanished people and come to terms with a world that has adopted him, made use of his skills, and left him feeling that he has no place to call his own.”

Initial Thoughts: This own has been languishing in my purchased but not cataloged pile for most of 2022. I purchased it right after reading To Die in Italbar (1973). I’ve long been a fan of Zelazny and have so many of his lesser known works still left to read….

4. Chronicle, Joel Zoss (1980)

From the back cover: “A SURPRISING HERO…

Born of a barren mother, Elmandif sprang forth to great village celebration. The village of Loess had never seen a child like him–he was conversant with animals, he carried snakes in his har and the movements of his hands and loins were developed far beyond his years.

A STRANGE QUEST…

And when the time came, he embarked on a curious journey where his confrontations–with a barefoot walker whose gold was hidden across the wide earth, a dead dog who barked at the sea, and a man with a gem-encrusted elephant’s head–led him back to the place where he had begun–and the most amazing conclusion to an astonishing trip.”

Initial Thoughts: I don’t know why I bought this one. As I tweet SFF-related birthdays ever morning, I suspect I came across Joel Zoss’ small output and was intrigued… He also published three short stories in New Worlds between 1968-1979.

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