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

1. The Saliva Tree and Other Strange Growths, Brian W. Aldiss (1966)

Contents: “The Saliva Tree” (1965), “Danger: Religion!” (1962), “The Source” (1965), “The Lonely Habit” (1962), “One Role with Relish” (1966), “Legends of Smith’s Burst” (1959), “Day of the Doomed King” (1965), “Paternal Care” (1966), “Girl and Robot with Flowers” (1965)

Initial Thoughts: I love Aldiss as most of you probably know. I’ve reviewed around 45 of his short stories and 5 novels. Hothouse (1962) was one of last year’s reading highlights!

2. Science Fiction from China, ed. and trans. by Dingbo Wu and Patrick D. Murphy (1989)

From the inside flap: “This anthology of stories by six major Chinese science fiction writers is the firstsuch collection to be published in English. The stories are enriched by CHina’s ancient trdition of fantastic literature as well as that nation’s fascination with futuristic science and technology, and they provide illuminating glimpses of Chiense attitudes, values, and daily life.

Like most Chinese science fiction writers, the authors represented in this volume are themselves engaged in scientific research or the popularization of science. Their work reflects the critical dictum that scientific fiction must be factual or based on reasonable extrapolations of known fact.

Among the themes treated in these stories are people’s use of and relationship to robots and clones; peaceful versus military applications of technology; futuristic detection and intelligence operations; space exploration and warfare; and personal heroism, patriotism, and responsibility. The stories typically incorporate an optimistic view of science’s contribution to the future of humankind.

Wu provides a comprehensive introduction to the history of Chinese science fiction together with a chronological bibliography of stories, novels, and related critical works.

This collection offers a unique perspective on modern China and a welcome opportunity to explore the Chinese contribution to one of the most popular forms of contemporary fiction.”

Contents [For the original titles here’s the bibliographic listing]: Tony Enzheng’s “The Death of the World’s First Robot” (1982), Wei Yahua’s “Conjugal Happiness in the Arms of Morpheus” (1982), Ye Yonglie’s “Reap As You Have Sown” (1981), Xang Xiaoda’s “The Mysterious Wave” (1979), Tony Enzheng’s “Death Ray on a Coral Island” (1978), Zheng Wenguang’s “The Mirror Image of the Earth” (1980), Ye Yonglie’s “Corrosion” (1981), Jiang Yunsheng’s “Boundless Love” (1987)

Initial Thoughts: A few months ago I voted for the first time in the Hugo Awards. And, considering the awards will be held in China (to great controversy concerning the choice of Russian author Sergei Lukyanenko as a Guest of Honor), I wanted to read-up a bit on earlier Chinese SF in the late 1970s and early 1980s. I will feel like a fish out of water writing about this one! Wu Dingbo, who received a PhD in English on “Utopias by American Women” in the United States, contributes what’s bound to be a deeply illuminative introduction to Chinese Science Fiction.

3. Ibis: Witch Queen of the Hive World, Linda Steele (1985)

From the back cover: “When Padrec Morrissey and the crew of his Planetary Exploration ship crashlanded on Ibis 2, they realized quickly that they weren’t the first human ship to have landed there. The native Ibisians were not only sentient, but strangely human. However, unlike most of the early colonies, the denizens of Ibis deviated widely from the mammalian norm.

The natives displayed a highly organized societal behavior like that of certain Terran insects. And their behavior was a mirror of their physiological changes. Like a beehive, 95% of Ibsians were neuter–workers or warriors. Very few were truly male or female, and of these only the true females, the Queens, were intelligent.

Padrec faced a triple problem. How to explain to his queen captor that he was an individual; how to escape a future of mindless hive servitude; how to save his crewmen’s lives…”

Initial Thoughts: A DAW Collectors volume I’d never heard of by an equally unknown author. Here’s all that SF Encyclopedia states: “(1953-    ) US author (not the Linda Steele married to Michael Moorcock) whose Ibis: Witch Queen of the Hive World (1985) examines human sexual politics (see Feminism; Gender) through the perspective of an affair between a human male and a female of an Alien hive-like species.” Doesn’t have the most compelling premise…

4. City of Masques, Alan Brennert (1978)

From the back cover: “A BONE-CHILLER ABOUT A HOLLYWOOD STUDIO THAT WOULD MAKE ANYONE A STAR FOR A TERRIFYING PRICE.

Dalmatton Studios was building an empire on the fading dreams of Hollywood hopefuls. Struggling actors and actresses were turning up in starring roles in the most lavish, most expensive productions in town. Even the critics were amazed. No one had ever seen a sexier Marilyn. Or a more brutal Manson.

L.A. Times reporter Marnie Eilers sensed a scoop when she heard about the revolutionary technique. Jim DeKalb, the actor she lived with, wanted to investigate too. He wanted to try Dalmatton’s amazing “method.” It was very simple: electronically replace your thought patterns with those of the person you want to become: Farrah Fawcett-Majors or Robert Redford, for example.

THE RESULTS WERE SPECTACULAR: OVERNIGHT FAME OVERNIGHT TERROR.”

Initial Thoughts: Back in 2021 I read my first Alan Brennert short story “In This Image” (1974) and swore that I’d read down more of his fiction… I haven’t, yet.

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