A selection of SF novels from my shelves
What pre-1985 science fiction are you reading this weekend?
Every Saturday for more than a year, I’ve asked this question on Twitter (and since February on Mastodon) with a photo of books I’ve read and reviewed on my website from my shelves. Due to the painful implosion of Twitter and the confused and frustrating “what platform do we go to next” panic, I’ve decided to move my weekly question and photo to my site. This community is always first and foremost in my mind. Thank you commenters and lurkers!
I’ve decided to also include some of the intriguing SF-related birthdays (another staple of my social media accounts) for the week with links to reviews when applicable. This won’t take the place of reviews or other features I have planned but will be, I hope, a fun and more informal supplement.
I want to hear what pre-1985 SF you’ve been reading!
The Photograph (with links to reviews and brief thoughts)
- Theodore Sturgeon’s Venus Plus X (1960): I’m not sure I completely understood Venus Plus X when I reviewed it back in 2016. I’ve read quite a bit more of his fiction since then. Check out more flesh-out thoughts on “And Now the News” (1956) and “The Man Who Lost the Sea” (1959).
- Algis Budrys’ Budrys’ Inferno (1963): I’ve warmed to Budrys over the years. This is a solid collection!
- Robert Silverberg’s masterpiece Dying Inside (1972): I love this novel. I waited too long to write a full review.
- Naomi Mitchison’s Memoirs of a Spacewoman (1962): A brilliant episodic rumination on the nature of non-violent interaction with alien species that challenge (and transform) conceptions of ourselves and others. Do you enjoy quite, ruminative, interior, and non-violent SF? Check this one out.
What am I writing about?
As followers of the site know, I am a reader and writer of whim. As this is my hobby, I find it neigh impossible to make plans, join podcasts about particular books, or participate in reading series in conjunction with other blogs due to my inability to adhere to a plan that isn’t entirely of my own making. My plans tend to be overarching themes I am exploring rather than particular authors.
My current writing projects include a new installment of my generation ship reviews series–Poul Anderson’s “The Troublemakers” (1953) is on the chopping block–and writing a review of Edgar Pangborn’s Davy (1964) (lips sealed on this one until the review is posted!).
My annotated and battered copy of Anderon’s “The Troublemakers” (1953). I’ve been trying to write about this story for months.
What am I reading?
Current reading projects include the first three published short fictions by female SF authors — vacillating between Leigh Kennedy and Connie Willis at the moment.
A Curated List of SF Birthdays from Last Week!
July 2nd: Hannes Bok (1914-1964): SFF artist extraordinaire. It’s so easy to fall under the spell of his garish yet wonderful pastels. Here’s the ISFDB index with pictures.
July 3rd: Jerome Podwil (1938-): One of the unknown and underrated SF artists. I adore his 1965 cover for Poul Anderson’s The Enemy Stars (1958) in particular. Here’s the ISFDB index with pictures.
July 7th: T. J. Bass (1932-2011): In 2011, I reviewed and did not entirely appreciate Half Past Human (1971). I should give it another read — with a deeper sense of New Wave experimentation I think I would appreciate his poetic twist on scientific deluge a bit more.
July 7th: Robert A. Heinlein (1907-1988): I had to include him, right?
July 7th: Jane Gaskell (1941-): An author I need to read. Unfortunately, her SF novel A Sweet Sweet Summer (1969) is prohibitively expensive online. Here’s her bibliography.
July 8th: Alan Aldridge (1938-2017): The radical Penguin Books artist pre-Pelham. Here’s the ISFDB index with pictures.
A Last Note
Joachim Boaz favorite Michael Bishop (1945-) is in hospice care. He is one of THE underrated SF authors. Here’s the File 770 post with more information.
A few of my Bishop reviews:
- A Funeral for the Eyes of Fire (1975)
- Stolen Faces (1977)
- Transfigurations (1979)
For book reviews consult the INDEX
For cover art posts consult the INDEX
For TV and film reviews consult the INDEX
Science Fiction and Other Suspect Ruminations 
Greetings from Greece. I have been reading Emperor Star (1966) by Samuel R. Delany, a hard novella to read, indeed.
Thanks for commenting! I’ve read that one — but as with a lot of Delany, unfortunately, mostly before I started my site so I haven’t written about it.
I’m not sure if you saw but I reviewed one of his shorter novels recently: Ballad of Beta-2 (1965).
I should reread my copy of Driftglass (contains some of his best-known short fiction) to refresh my memory of his work!
I hadn’t seen the review, and I haven’t read the novel yet. I have to look for it in English, because it hasn’t been translated in Greek. However, you have intrigued me into buying “Dying Inside” by Silverberg, another novel, which hasn’t been translated in Greek.
Dying Inside is spectacular. One of the exemplar New Wave SF novels! That said, definitely Silverberg’s attempt to write a literary novel that, while it contains a SF premise, might pass as mainstream.
It’s frustrating what has and has not been translated. I can read French and I regularly buy French SF that isn’t translated into English — unfortunately, it often feels like work having to read another language… And I struggle to identify the literary qualities of a novel when it isn’t in my native tongue.
Yes, the same is true for me and many Greek SF fans: we are buying novels in English, simply because we cannot find them in Greek. There is some (not much) interesting SF in Greek too, but I Doubt if anyone has translated it in English
Have you heard of Rachel Cordasco (who should at least be nominated for the Hugo for best Fanzine for her amazing website)? Her site SF in Translation has MASSIVE indices of SF translated into English.
A quick look shows that a handful of Greek stories have been translated into English: https://www.sfintranslation.com/?p=11635
Albeit, it doesn’t look like anything older than the 2000s.
No, I didn’t know neither her nor her site/index. I will check it out, thank you very much!
No problem!
Hi, I’m reading Quest for the Faradawn (1982) right now. It’s more SF Fantasy but really a great. I read it years ago and remember loving it, so it’s time for a re-read.
Hello, thanks for stopping by! Richard Ford is not an author I know well. I was obsessed with animal fantasy as a kid (Redwall and its endless sequels and prequels in particular) and would have loved that series.
You’re welcome. I don’t think I’ve read anything else by Ford other than this one.
According to isfdb.org he didn’t publish any speculative fiction other than the trilogy that Quest for Faradawn (1982) starts. https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?186707
Thanks for the info! I didn’t realize it was a trilogy.
No problem. Thanks again for stopping by!
Sorry to hear about Michael Bishop. I loved Transfigurations and, especially, No Enemy But Time. Currently I am just over the 1985 cut-off, with 1988’s Lavondyss by Robert Holdstock.
I’m huge fan of Bishop. And he’s a very kind man — we interacted when he got word of my quest post series on his fiction that I hosted on my site.
I have not read No Enemy But Time but a guest poster wrote about it on my site.
I think Stolen Faces is his underrated masterpiece. And the original version of A Funeral for the Eyes of Fire is my favorite of his — so far.
I have begun the Gaea trilogy by John Varley. It seems to be perfect summer reading for now.
Ah, I own the first volume of the series — Titan (1979) — but haven’t picked it up yet.
I waited until I had all three before beginning as I get frustrated when I can’t continue a story if it’s engaging.
As I get older, I have less and less willpower to get through lengthy series. I used to gauge fantasy in my teens (and later SF) based on the maps they had and how long they were… Robert Jordan for the win!
It’s a shorter read 2-300 pages or so doesn’t feel overwhelming.
So my strategy now more often than not is to read the first volume and never get to the rest. Like Charnas’ wonderful Walk to the End of the World (1974). I’ve had the sequel Motherlines (1978) on the shelf for years.
I just finished scanning the 1875 first U.S. printing of the first volume of The Mysterious Island — Wrecked in the Air. This is an unusual volume printed in two columns like the magazine appearance. So I expect to read it some this weekend.
I loved Mysterious Island as a kid! I later learned that the US editions published until the early 2000s were abridged.
From Wikipedia: “Except for the Complete and Unabridged Classics Series CL77 published in 1965 (Airmont Publishing Company, Inc), no other unabridged translations appeared until 2001 when the illustrated version of Sidney Kravitz appeared (Wesleyan University Press) almost simultaneously with the new translation of Jordan Stump published by Random House Modern Library (2001).”
I have the unabridged French original…. but reading French always feels like work so I haven’t given it a go.
For reading the Sidney Kravitz is the quality modern translation to turn to for The Mysterious Island. I have the large paperback edition of this on my shelf.
Most Verne books had bad translations to English in the Victorian period. Some of it was a matter of haste but there were also some who decided to make changes to characters names and even inventing scenes found nowhere in any version of Verne’s texts.
Some of the modern translations go back to extant manuscripts and the most complete published texts to provide a story as close to what the author wrote as possible.
The most common translation of Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea has not only many errors but also omits an entire chapter describing the interior of the Nautilus.
One way to make a spot check on the completeness of a translation is to check the number of chapters and compare it with the French standard edition from the Hetzel magazine or early book publications.
For The Mysterious Island the three parts should be 22, 20, and 20 chapters.
St. James Magazine in the U.K. published just the first part (22) and half of the second part (10).
Scribner’s, the basis for the U.S. books, had just 22, 20, and 12 chapters.
Publishers reprinting Verne often grab whatever translation is at hand and do a slip-shod manner of it. The plethora of copies of Around the World in Eighty Days with a balloon on the cover shows that these editors and publishers did not read the story — there is no balloon in it, only in the 1956 Michael Todd film and others influenced by it.
I tried to show the title page of the 1875 copy I scanned this morning but it didn’t like the IMG tag. Maybe this link will work instead:
Although this translation is usually credited to W.H.G. Kingston, it is really the work of his wife and some stories had help from his daughter. He had little to do with them short of lending his name to them and cashing the checks from the British publisher, Sampson Low. Later he acknowledged their work on the several Verne stories the family translated.
Thank you for the translation information. That said, can’t say I’m interested in tracking down a new version at the moment. Definitely an author and work of my youth.
I checked my childhood copy which I still own.
I have the 1946 Charles Scribner’s Sons edition. I can’t remember if my father found it in a store for me or whether it came from my grandfather. https://www.ebay.com/itm/124434175799
The Scribner Illsutrated Classics edition with the N.C. Wyeth color plates was first published in 1920. It has the right number of chapters — 22, 20, 20. I am pretty sure it is the Kingston translation.
It’s a lovely edition for sure.
Hi, I’ve been reading your site by email this year and have missed the weekend reading and birthday posts. I’m currently reading the short story collection CAUTIONARY TALES by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro. “Un Bel Di” in particular is one of the more disturbing stories I’ve read in any genre.
Hello Gary,
I only posted the birthdays and weekend reading posts on Twitter.
I’ve enjoyed most of what I’ve read of Yarbro so far, I have that collection on the site.
I’ve reviewed two of her novels:
False Dawn (1978): https://sciencefictionruminations.com/2014/07/26/book-review-false-dawn-chelsea-quinn-yarbro-1978/
Hyacinths (1983) https://sciencefictionruminations.com/2020/08/02/book-review-hyacinths-chelsea-quinn-yarbro-1983/
Thanks for the links, after reading both your in-depth reviews I’m definitely going to be tracking down HYACINTHS by Yarbro next.
Hyacinths is a good one. Fits the completely ignored and forgotten category.
In her collection you mentioned (sitting on my shelf), I’m assuming some of them are not science fiction?
I’m only five stories in, however “Lammas Night” is the only crime story. With the fantastical element of a con man conjuring a fake demon (not really a spoiler). The other four are variations of science fiction themes, at least.
Thank you. To be honest, I thought there were more non-SF stories in the collection which made me more reluctant to read it. I now have my eyes on it!
The Great Rock and Roll Swindle, a Jerry Cornelius novel by Michael Moorcock.
Hello Rich, thanks for stopping by,
I’ve only read a few Jerry Cornelius short stories — by Moorcock and others.
I’ve purchased a Kindle and about to start reading Neuromancer by William Gibson. Been holding it for so long now.
Haha, there are always a few books that you know one should read but resist…. Gene Wolfe’s The Shadow of the Torturer (1980) comes to mind.
I enjoyed Neuromancer in my late teens. I’m pretty sure I would now as well considering I reread (or rather listened) to Count Zero last year and thought it was quite solid.
The Book of The New Sun is also on my list but it looks like a massive effort. I hear it’s a tough read as well and needs to be re-read to piece it together.
As for Neuromancer: the thing is, I’ve watched plenty of anime (such as the recent Cyberpunk 2077 Edgerunners show) and movies in the cyberpunk genre, and going back to the granddaddy of the genre, I fear that all it’s successors will make it less impressive, since they’ve done its tropes to death by this point.
This typically goes for anything considered influential like Lensmen and Dune. But I can’t really be the judge of that until I’ve read them.
Sometimes it’s fun to read something because of its historical importance.
Morning from the UK.
As the world seems to be rapidly hurtling towards its end I’ve been reading a few (mainly pre 1985) novels about the world coming to its end.
I finally got round to Ballard’s ‘Wind from Nowhere’ and finished it yesterday. My main throught was – I’m not at all surprised he disowned it. ‘The Drought’ and novels (and short stories both before and after) are in a completely different league. One for Ballard completists only. By your scoring I’d give it 1.5, for one or two vivid paragraphs.
Anyway, having belatedly discovered this wonderful blog I hope to chip in with a comment or two (before the world ends).
Cheers
Hello, thanks for stopping by!
I reviewed the Ballard a few years ago. I gave it a 3/5 stars. Mostly for the vivid paragraphs you mention and the general way of telling that I enjoyed. But yes, a flawed work for sure and I understand why he disliked it so intensely.
And if you want a truly nightmarish novel of the world coming to the end… check out P. C. Jersild’s (1982)!
I included it on my best reads of 2022 list: https://sciencefictionruminations.com/2023/01/01/updates-my-2022-in-review-best-sf-novels-best-sf-short-fiction-and-bonus-categories/
The Jersild looks a cracker, right up my street, I shall add it to the list. I’d never heard of it.
Let me know your thoughts when you get to it! As I said, hits harder than Cormac McCarthy (RIP). You must be in the mood for some body horror though… The novel is dystopian in ever sense of the word.
I actually rather enjoyed The Wind From Nowhere in terms of how it was written (although the actual plot towards the end was rather ridiculous). It reminded me of the writing and style of authors like John Wyndham and John Christopher, certainly I read it around the same time and felt it fit in with them rather neatly. He did rather develop his style from then though.
There were bits of it that reminded me slightly of Christopher – a description of people being swept away by the wind and there’s some cold-blooded killing (albeit by the baddies). The plot though, as you mention, completely falls apart towards the end.
At least it paid for a vacation!
But yes, deeply connected to the post-apocalyptic style of his contemporaries. But I’ll take Ballard over Christopher most days. The three apocalypse Christopher novels I’ve reviewed:
A Wrinkle in the Skin (variant title: The Ragged Edge) (1965)
The Death of Grass (variant title: No Blade of Grass) (1956) [short blurb review]
The Long Winter (1962)
Yes of course. Ordinary Ballard, even a Ballard in first gear, makes Christopher seem very pedestrian. ‘The Wind…’ is a curiosity.
Of his early ovels I have a personal preference for ‘The Drowned World’ over ‘The Drought’ and ‘The Crystal World’. I think a shorter and more effective version of the latter appeared first as a short story. Could be wrong though.
‘novels’
I’ve read those three and would definitely place The Drowned World on top. I’ve been meaning to reread The Drought so I could write a review.
I have a huge sentimental spot for the novel The Crystal World. It was a gift to my 15 year old self who until then had been reading stuff like Clarke, Heinlein, Asimov and John Christopher’s Tripods trilogy. To say the least, Ballard began the melting of my mind that four decades on is still underway. Thank you JG.
A shorter version of THE CRYSTAL WORLD appeared as a two-part serial in NEW WORLDS in 1964 under the title “Equinox,” and a sort of outtake of short story length titled “The Illuminated Man” appeared in FANTASY AND SCIENCE FICTION. I would not say either was more effective than the longer book version, though the short story was quite striking, leaning more towards the Bradburyish end of Ballard’s sensibility.
‘The Illuminated Man’, that’s it, is in ‘The Terminal Beach’ collection (and I daresay many others. Thanks for the information.
The context of ‘more effective’ for me is probably that I read the short story before the novel – and that in the main I prefer Ballard’s shorter work to his novels.
@John Boston. I’ve read The Illuminated Man short, but not Equinox. I must track this down and read it immediately. Thanks.
I’ve read that TJ Bass wrote Half Past Human as an experiment in order to help him remember medical terminology while he studied for his courses at university. Having read the novel, I’d say it explains quite a bit. I thought it was a good read, but could be dry in places. I feel the reader is missing out if one isn’t familiar with the terminology he employed in the text.
The only Jane Gaskell fiction I’ve been able to come across are her fantasy novels. I too have wanted to read A Sweet Sweet Summer, but it has always been a rare book to find in North America.
Speaking of Leigh Kennedy, I finally came across a copy of her first novel, The Journal of Nicholas the American, which I had trouble finding until last year. Perhaps I should get around to reading that book now.
I did get around to reading Naomi Mitchison’s The Blood of the Martyrs earlier this year. I’d highly recommend that novel. However, that is a work of historical fiction by her, allegorical of the time in which she wrote it. Which makes it not relevant for your site.
I’m currently reading recent fiction, so nothing to report on that front for this site.
If I remember correctly, the medical terminology creates an almost mnemonic rhythm (which is logical considering what you said about him needing to memorize stuff). I think I would appreciate it more now. Here is what I originally said in 2011: https://sciencefictionruminations.com/2011/03/23/book-review-half-past-human-t-j-bass-1971/
And no, I can’t say I have anything other than a basic intro biology college course for non-majors knowledge (and most of that has faded) of the sciences. I took history classes–including history of science classes–instead!
That Gaskell, one of the “I desperately want it now” novels. I’m willing, occasionally, to spend money on rare SF–I bought Susan Cooper’s SF novel Mandrake for $30 odd bucks recently, but not hundreds and hundreds.
I’m reading Neville’s Mission: Manstop collection, thanks to you.
I am very keen to hear your thoughts on Pangborn’s Davy.
I know I said I’d keep my lips sealed, but, I can’t help but talk about good books. I’m a big fan of Davy on so many levels — it’s lusty, poignant, and an insightful (especially for 60s SF) rumination on the operations of memory and history and the way stories are told and interacted with…
I’m glad you like Davy. I love that book. I was a bit worried that my love for it was misplaced. But Pangborn, along with Miller, Neville, and others, was one of the top ten writers of SF in the 1950s. Davy is a late masterwork, certainly nothing new in terms of its themes but a wonderful trip nonetheless.
Oh, I reread Kuttner’s “Year Day” last night. I read it last year for my media series but never got around to writing about it… what a story.
Year Day is great. Even the mere mention of it makes me want to reread it.
Review posted! Easily one of the best stories I’ve read for my media landscapes of the future series. Not sure why I couldn’t write about it last year when I read it first!
I’ve just started reading A Maze of Death by Philip K Dick. Prior to that I’ve been reading More Women of Wonder ed. by Pamela Sargent (initially for the short story by Ursula Le Guin) and Death on a Warm Wind by an author I have forgotten (sorry).
I’m a big fan of that one (I want to talk about why but that would give away the ending so I’ll let you finish). Most of my PKD reading happened before I started my site so I’ve reviewed very little of his work.
I reviewed one of his short fictions–“The Infinites” (1953)–very recently for my subversive accounts of space travel series: https://sciencefictionruminations.com/2023/05/19/short-story-reviews-philip-k-dicks-the-infinites-1953-and-james-causeys-competition-1955/
Those Sargent volumes are wonderful.
Eleanor Arnason’s “The Warlord of Saturn’s Moons” in The New Women of Wonder (1974) was a highlight of last year: https://sciencefictionruminations.com/2022/03/21/short-fiction-reviews-eleanor-arnasons-a-clear-day-in-the-motor-city-1973-ace-167-1974-and-the-warlord-of-saturns-moons-1974/
Yes I enjoyed the Sargent collection – I found that the more I read in it the more I got into the stories themselves. Many of them perhaps veered slightly more into fantasy and space than I regularly read (I lean more towards dystopia, new wave SF and climate/disease/overpopulation type themes generally but am open to all sorts – not long finished Nova by Delany as well which is different again) . I did particularly like the Joan Vinge novelette ‘Tin Soldier’ in the collection and the depiction of the relationships within.
I have actually not long finished Davy as well so am also looking forward to your dissection. While I enjoyed it I much preferred The Judgement of Eve by Pangborn which I read last year and it’s depiction of the NE of the USA following some nuclear catastrophe and the intertwined relationship of the main characters.
The Death on a Warm Wind I mentioned earlier was by Douglas Warner. It was a Penguin Crime series book and was a short breezy read – ostensibly about predicting earthquakes through unconventional methodology and the political machinations suppressing the information framed within the Cold War secrecy of nuclear testing. Probably more accurate to describe it as SF-adjacent and the premise was rather ludicrous but it was an enjoyable enough afternoon reading it anyway (although not sure I will delve into any more of his work).
Lips are sealed on the Davy until I muster the resolve to review it! Hah. It’s very good. And maybe for reasons that are more unique to my background and past research interests….
Just finished the first book of James Blish’s Cities in Flight quartet, They Shall Have Stars. It’s a bit dated–like a lot of sf of its time, it shows zero imagination when it comes to future technology, other than those maguffins required by the plot. It’s also big on Malthusian scariness, another big thing in US sf of the 1950s and 1960s.
I read that one in the early years of my site — my memory, other than what I wrote in the review, is faint. https://sciencefictionruminations.com/2010/11/13/book-review-they-shall-have-stars-variant-title-year-2018-james-blish-1956/
I’m big on my SF possessed by Mathusian scariness! It was in British SF too… Overpopulation is one of my absolute favorite SF themes for what it says about mentalities of the day.
Reading a British example at the moment — Susan Cooper’s dystopia Mandrake (1964).
Have only read her Dark is Rising fantasy novels–at least, I think I have. I know I’ve seen the film adaptations, but I might be getting the books confused with Louise Cooper.
I loved her Dark is Rising sequence as a kid (as you probably know, I was obsessed with fantasy in my early and mid teens). Did not realize she wrote a SF novel until last year.
Neither did I until you mentioned it here.
It’s pretty interesting so far! Especially in relationship to her later fantasy works that are so obsessed with the sense of the place. She left England soon after she wrote Mandrake — which explores an intensely reclusive England turning in on itself.
Ian, do you want a PDF copy? I have one. It’s an expensive paperback… for whatever reason.
I have just finished the first two parts of Doris Lessings Canopus in Argos-series. I read the first one a long time ago (at 16 I think), but surprisingly I remebered a lot of it. It’s a mixed bag, but with a lot of intriguing elements, and it’s fascinating to see a mainstream writer dare to go all in with tropes like galactic empires, even if it’s done very differently from standard space opera.
The second one is very diffrent, and closer to fantasy. I didn’t find the overall theme – a meeting of “male” and “female” societies – as interesting, but it was done so well that it was still an inspiring read.
I plan to read the rest soon, but maybe I’ll take a break with something else before I go on (I have Ballards Hello America and the Strugatskys Lame Fate/Ugly Swans lined up as well).
I own the Canopus in Argos series but have not read it yet. I still think the title of the second volume — The Marriages Between Zones Three, Four, and Five (1980) — is straight out one of the best titles of all time.
I am more likely to read her post-apocalyptic novel The Memoirs of a Survivor (1974) first before delving into that longer sequence.
I read and enjoyed The Ugly Swans. I never managed to review it. Seemed like a well-wrought allegory about oppressive life and generational strife during the USSR. Like some of their other work, it was deemed to controversial to publish when it was written.
Memoirs of a Survivor is great, probably a good place to start. It share some themes with Shikasta, which I think you’ll enjoy as well, given your interest in Malthusian futures.
The Marriages seems more related to autors like LeGuin and Saxton. It’s a great title, but I’m even more fond of the title of last in the series: The Sentimental Agents in the Volyen Empire, I love the idea of “sentimental agents”.
I have read Ugly Swans before and liked it a lot, but this is a new translation that is apparently based on the first soviet edition where it’s combined with another book, so the narrative is switching between two metafictional levels.
I have all five as signed first editions. Bought cheap before she was awarded the Nobel Prize. I have paperback copies with me here in Sweden, and plan to read them soon. I did read the first one years ago, and described it at the time as “being beaten about the head by a Le Guin novel” but perhaps I’ll appreciate it more now.
I don’t see anything wrong with “being beaten about the head by a Le Guin novel” haha. As I always say, we shall see. I have so many other projects at the moment it might be years until I get to them.
I’ve started reading ‘Arslan’ (1976) by M J Engh (the SF Masterworks edition). I’m 100 pages in, so I cannot say much, but it has my full attention.
Before that – ‘Project Barrier’ by Galouye (1968; ‘Rub-a-Dub’ very good, the rest not so much) – and before that ‘Fistful of Digits’ (Hodder-Williams,1968) – peculiar early cyber-techno-thriller, interesting ideas (quite striking for its time, actually), but the writing is rather uneven. And before that – ‘Nine by Laumer’ (well, by Laumer, 1967), quite varied, some stories surprisingly fine.
Thanks for stopping by!
I couldn’t get through Arslan. I’ve tried a few times.
I reviewed that Galouye collection: Project Barrier (1968). And yes, “Rub-a-Dub” (variant title: “Descent Into the Maelstrom”) (1961) was absolutely the best! My review: https://sciencefictionruminations.com/2021/04/06/book-review-project-barrier-daniel-f-galouye-1968/
The son of Hodder-Williams follows me on twitter. And yes, he wants me to read something by his father — I have three or four laying around but haven’t got to them yet.
I just read Naomi Mitchison’s TRAVEL LIGHT, (reviewed here: https://rrhorton.blogspot.com/2023/06/review-travel-light-by-naomi-mitchison.html) — an excellent and original fantasy. I have never read MEMOIRS OF A SPACEWOMAN, but I really should.
I reread DYING INSIDE a few years ago and revised my views upward from my first reading (when I was too young to appreciate a novel without, you know, exploding spaceships and all.)
I also didn’t really get VENUS PLUS X, and I was old enough to appreciate it. I tend to think it’s a good ambitious try that doesn’t quite work.
As you probably remember, I’m a big fan of Budrys. And that said — I think BUDRYS’ INFERNO is a solid collection of early Budrys, but the “early” often shows — it doesn’t rank with his best.
Hello Rich,
I saw your review of Travel Light. I am less interested in her fantasy obviously but I do own one of her other SF novels. But yes, I thoroughly enjoyed Memoirs and, if you enjoy her other fiction, I expect you will too.
I would love to read a detailed analysis of Venus Plus X. I should troll around academia.edu to see if I can find one…
I didn’t know that about Michael Bishop. Thanks for the info. I’ve enjoyed his work a lot over the years.
He and his family have my best wishes.
Yeah, he’s a favorite for sure.
I’m almost done my current read, which means I must now select something I read between 1974 and 1981 for a reread. Torn between an obscure collection by a beloved author whose fiction is like fingernails on a chalkboard to me now, a different obscure collection by a beloved author whose fiction is like fingernails on a chalkboard to me now, or digging through the library for something by an author I’ve not reviewed on my site before. Maybe not SF: Desmond’s The Hot Blooded Dinosaurs keeps catching my eye…
Well, I can’t help but suggest that you take a peek at some of the stuff I’ve been writing about! 🙂
🙂 Saxton just won the Cordwainer Smith Rediscovery Award. Tor wants an updated piece. Saxton’s peak period is perfect for my purposes… except all my Saxtons are in storage….
I have a fair number of Bishop books but my favourites are too late for this review series.
I reviewed Saxton’s first three short fictions relatively recently: https://sciencefictionruminations.com/2022/07/29/short-fiction-reviews-josephine-saxtons-the-wall-1965-ne-deja-vu-pas-1967-and-nothing-much-to-relate-1967/
And I’ve long been a proponent of The Hieros Gamos of Sam and An Smith (1969) https://sciencefictionruminations.com/2012/11/04/book-review-the-hieros-gamos-of-sam-and-an-smith-josephine-saxton-1969/
At least, unlike some Rediscovery winners, her books are easy to purchase.
Sort of. The one I want is very expensive…. Group Feast (with dust jacket) is $40 plus. And Vector for Seven is a good $20 (I own this one at least).
I did buy GROUP FEAST and THE HIEROS GAMOS OF SAM AND AN SMITH for Kindle cheap. And the Jane Saint books. But I found reasonable copies of VECTOR FOR SEVEN, THE POWER OF TIME, and QUEEN OF THE STATES in print form.
If I buy an eBook copy of something, it’s a firm guarantee that I’ll never read it. Alas. Maybe if I spent more time traveling or something and couldn’t bring physical books….
@James: I just looked at your article on the Rediscovery award for Tor — I highly highly highly recommend Guin. Here’s my review of almost his entire short fiction output: https://sciencefictionruminations.com/2016/06/06/book-review-living-way-out-variant-title-beyond-bedlam-wyman-guin-1967/
“Songmaster” by Card. It’s a novel that summons emotions and disturbing suggestions in equal measure.
Ah, cool. I haven’t read Card in a long long long time. What is its general premise?
Before my site, I read Ender’s Game, The Worthing Saga, Speaker for the Dead, Xenocide, Seventh Son, and Red Prophet. And probably some other short stories here and there.
It’s a story about a kidnapped boy who endures life in a special school becoming a “singer” who can all but control people with the school’s song methods. And an Emperor who must have him in his Court. And it really goes in on the fear and uncertainty of youth in true Card fashion. As a writer he summons emotion, joy, fear, dread like few others.
But it must be said, some of the characters dwell on the child hero in disturbing ways. Nothing is ever described, but it is implied. It’s odd, I can’t imagine why it’s necessary to include it. Card had his reasons, and he has explained them in interviews.
I’ll probably finish it this weekend.
Once you start thinking about the oft-repeated Orson Scott Card theme of abused young boys, it’s hard not to start to wonder, fairly or unfairly — and it can get a bit creepy. I do think, if nothing else, Card returns to the theme too often, so that it seems almost to pat a way for him to induce sympathy in the reader.
I grew up in an area with a lot of Mormons. There was a massive temple quite close by. I realized later why they enjoyed Card so much… and for a while, if I read Card and lent the books to my friends it guaranteed that I had someone to talk to about science fiction/fantasy which wasn’t always the case with other authors (especially the massive fantasy series I adored at the time). I, of course, learned more about him after high school!