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

1. The City in the Sea, Wilson Tucker (1951)

From the inside flap: “Who knows whether the strange events of this story might not one day occur?

This is the story of an expedition—a strange and exciting expedition of one man and an army of women.

He had come into the land of the women suddenly—and without warning. Tall, bronzed, muscular, he stood out among their pale skins and meek spirits. And when they learned of the land from which he had come–the land they hadn’t even known existed—they had to follow him to it.

One man and an army of women crossing the remnants of a post-atomic United States in search of the Unknown; it was an amazing trek. Miraculous things happened to the women. New emotions rose up to plague them. Once there was a near mutiny. Another time, seven of their number were killed. But was when they reached the city in the sea that the strangest of all happened….

Exciting, imaginative, prophetic, THE CITY IN THE SEA is also something rare in science fiction—a compelling human story.”

Initial Thoughts: I loved Wilson Tucker’s The Long Loud Silence (1952, revised 1969) and want to read more of his fiction. Unfortunately my inexpensive (and signed) purchase of his normally expensive collection The Best of Wilson Tucker (1982) was cancelled by the seller… What are your favorite Tucker short stories or novels? I have copies of The Year of the Quiet Sun (1970) and Ice and Iron (1974) on the shelf as well.

2. Blue Champagne, John Varley (1986)

From the back cover: “John Varley’s unique blend of startling technology and genuinely human characters has won him every major science fiction award several times over. His first collection, THE PERSISTENCE OF VISION, was acclaimed as one of the science fiction events of the decade. BLUE CHAMPAGNE is his first new collection in three years, and it includes two brand new stories written especially for this book. Here too are the Hugo winner “The Pusher” and the Hugo and Nebula winner “Press Enter.”

Contents: “The Pusher” (1981), “Blue Champagne” (1981), “Tango Charlie and Foxtrot Romeo” (1986) “Options” (1979), “Lollipop and the Tar Baby” (1977), “The Manhattan Phone Book (Abridged)” (1984), “The Unprocessed Word” (1986), “Press Enter ▮” (1984).

Initial Thoughts: I read half the stories in The Barbie Murders (1980) last year but never managed to finish or review those I’d read. The only one I’ve reviewed, “Overdrawn at the Memory Bank” (1976), struck a chord.

3. Fire Watch, Connie Willis (1985)

From the back cover of a different edition (I am out of the country at the moment and forgot to scan my covers!): “Winner of six Nebula and five Hugo awards, Connie Willis is one of the most acclaimed and imaginative authors of our time. Her startling and powerful works have redefined the boundaries of contemporary science fiction. Here in one volume are twelve of her greatest stories, including double award-winner “Fire Watch,” set in the universe of Doomsday Book and To Say Nothing of the Dog, in which a time-traveling student learns one of history’s hardest lessons. In “A Letter from the Clearys.” a routine message from distant friends shatters the fragile world of a beleaguered family. In “The Sidon in the Mirror,” a mutant with unconscious urge to become other people fins himself becoming both killer and victim.

Disturbing, revealing, and provocative, this remarkable collection of short fiction brings together some of the best work of an incomparable writer whose ability to amaze, confound, and enlighten never fails.”

Contents: “Fire Watch” (1982), “Service for the Burial of the Dead” (1982), “Lost and Found” (1982), “All My Darling Daughters” (1985), “The Father of the Bride” (1982), “A Letter from the Clearys” (1982), “And Come from Miles Around” (1979), “The Sidon in the Mirror” (1982), “Daisy, in the Sun” (1979), “Mail-Order Clone” (1982), “Samaritan” (1978), “Blued Moon” (1984).

Initial Thoughts: I must confess, I’m not the biggest Willis fan. My views are based on her later (and best-known) novels The Doomsday Book (1992) and To Say Nothing of the Dog (1997). I thought it would best to explore some of her earliest work.

4. Tin Woodman, David F. Bischoff and Dennis R. Bailey (1979)

From the back cover: “Div Harlthor is a misfit by anybody’s definition, a young man “gifted” with such strong psychic powers that he cannot bear human contact and is happiest living in isolation. But Div is also the one human being whose powers may be strong enough to reach out and contact a mysterious alien creature drifting in deepspace. He was taken into space against his will, sent out against his will to examine the great creature with his mind–and no one could have predicted what would happen when his will and that of the alien were joined…”

Initial Thoughts: I know little to nothing about the authors or the book. I’m always willing to explore!

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