A selection of read volumes from my shelves
What pre-1985 science fiction are you reading or planning to read this month? Here’s February’s installment of this column.
Before we get to books and birthdays and writing plans…
Do you have the inner strength to survive the panic of a nuclear attack? Take a test in the August 21st 1953 issue of Collier’s and find out! Sample question: “HOW DO YOU FEEL WHEN: […] You are alone in an automatic elevator when it stalls between floors?” Possible answers: “I’m not bothered,” “I become tense,” “It jars me badly,” and “I blow up.”
In my last column, I mentioned my voracious consumption of monographs on Cold War culture and relayed a bizarre moment of science fictional thought amongst the planners and advisors of containment from the pamphlet “Civil Defense Implications of the Psychological Impact and Morale Effect of Attacks on the People of the United States” (April 1953). This and other moments from Guy Oakes’ transfixing The Imaginary War: Civil Defense and American Cold War Culture (1994) convinced me to purchase a few of the popular magazines that form the evidence for his analysis.
And the 1953 “Test Yourself: How Panic-Proof Are You” quiz did not disappoint… Below are only a few of the questions you can answer to to figure out if you have the emotional strength to survive the panic of a nuclear attack:
Questions from “Test Yourself: How Panic-Proof Are You” in the August 21st 1953 issue of Collier’s.
Let me know if this Collier’s article is some thing you want me to feature in my Exploration Log series.
Anxiety inducing quizzes aside, let’s turn to the books in the photo and what I’ve been reading and writing.
The Photograph (with links to reviews and brief thoughts)
- Ever read a novel that completely put you off tracking down longform works by an author? Busby’s Cage the Man (1973) is that novel for me. I’ve had better luck with his short fiction: “If This is Winnetka, You Must Be Judy” (1974) reminded me of Robert Silverberg’s Dying Inside (1972).
- Everything by James White is underrated — especially The Dream Millennium (1974).
- I’ll let my review speak for itself: Damnation Alley (1969).
- I imagine most of the political discussion of Le Guin’s The Dispossessed went over my head when I read it in my late teens. I often wonder if it’s worth coming back to a few of those classics that I gravitated towards at that age. Le Guin, of course, remains a favorite of mine whose work I devoured before my site. I’ve reviewed two of her novels and four short stories since I started posting my reviews in 2010.
What am I writing about?
My most recent review is an installment in my series to read the first three short stories by female SF authors I should know more about: Alice Eleanor Jones’ “Life, Incorporated” (1955), “Miss Quatro” (1955), and “Recruiting Officer” (1955). While Jones only published five science fiction short stories (all in 1955), two of the five–“Created He Them” (1955) and “Recruiting Officer” (1955)–are really really good!
I also posted a review of John Brunner’s structurally inventive and architecturally fascinating near-future thriller The Squares of the City (1965).
What am I reading?
I’m currently struggling through a collection of 40s and 50s short stories by an author I’ve been promising to tackle in a more serious manner for years. Stay tuned for more information. They can’t all be winners.
As for history, I finished Guy Oakes’ wonderful The Imaginary War: Civil Defense and American Cold War Culture (1994) and a book on the Ancient Greek oracles and moved on to Isiah Lavender III’s Race in American Science Fiction (2011).
Isiah Lavender III’s Race in American Science Fiction (2011).
A Curated List of SF Birthdays from the Last Two Weeks
March 2nd: Author Louis Trimble (1917-1988). I reviewed The City Machine (1972) in the first few years of the site. Freas’ cover is far more memorable than the book!
March 2nd: Artist Leo Dillon (1933-2012). One half of the illustrious art partnership of the 60s/70s/80s! Leo created fantastic cover art with his wife Diane.
Ric Binkley’s cover for the 1st edition of Edward E. Smith’s Children of the Lens (1954)
March 3rd: Artist Ric Binkley (1921-1968)
March 5th: Author Mike Resnick (1942-2020).
March 5th: Author Robin Hobb (1952). I might have read some of her fantasy as a younger teen.
Hejja’s interior art from Omni (July 1986)
March 5th: Artist Attila Hejja (1955-2007). If there’s a SF artist who loves one color palette more than another, it’s Heijja… his endless array of blues….
March 6th: Author William F. Nolan (1928-2021). Best known for Logan’s Run (1967). He also wrote quite a few short stories. Any favorite short works that I should keep my eyes out for?
March 7th: Author Leonard Daventry (1915-1987). Wrote A Man of Double Deed (1965)–which I described as a “dark and grungy tale of polyamory, telepathy, and apocalyptical violence.”
March 7th: Kobo Abe (1924-1993). I’m a huge fan of his work, from The Woman in the Dunes (1962, trans. 1964) to Secret Rendezvous (1977, trans. 1979).
March 7th: Author Elizabeth Moon (1945-).
March 7th: Author and editor Stanley Schmidt (1944-).
March 9th: Author William F. Temple (1914-1989). Another prolific magazine author whom I’ve not read…
March 9th: Author Manly Banister (1914-1986).
March 9th: Author Pat Murphy (1955-). While outside of my timeframe, I’ll confess that I’ve been eying Murphy’s The City, Not Long After (1989).
Canvas for the 1977 edition of Universe 7, ed. Terry Carr (1978)
March 10th: Artist Carlos Ochagavia (1913-2006). I’ve featured his work here.
March 11th: Author F. M. Busby (1921-2005).
March 11th: Author Douglas Adams (1952-2001).
March 12th: Author Harry Harrison (1925-2012).
March 13th: Artist Diane Dillon (1933-). One half of the illustrious art partnership of the 60s/70s/80s! Diane created fantastic cover art with her husband Leo.
March 13th: Author William F. Wu (1951-). With his short stories of the late 70s, Wu is one of the earlier Asian-American SF authors. I need to read his work.
March 14th: Author Mildred Clingerman (1918-1997). Another hole in my SF knowledge… I own her collection A Cupful of Space (1961).
I own this Foss volume for some reason…
March 16th: Artist Chris Foss (1946-). He’s iconic. He spawned a lot of clones. People love him. He’s not for me.
March 16th: Author P. C. Hodgell (1951-). God Stalk (1982) is supposed to be bizarre.
March 16th: Artist James Warhola (1955-).
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 
On the subject of Ursula Le Guin, I recently read ‘The Lathe of Heaven’, a novel that’s been blipping around on my radar for ever. Thomas Disch described it as ‘…one of the best novels Dick ever wrote…’.
Well, I wouldn’t go that far, not least because It is completely devoid of humour, separating it from PKD’s work. However it’s a fine novel, full of interest, and its overlapping realities and themes of willing and unwilling divinity build up a good head of steam and lead to a pretty satisfying, well thought out conclusion. Not a word is wasted.
Plan to read some more recent SF soon, Nina Allen and Dave Humphries, though may fit Len Deighton’s ‘SS-GB’ in somewhere.
The Lathe of Heaven is one of the few Le Guin novels (from the decades I cover) that I haven’t yet read. I have a copy hiding somewhere. Year after year I tell myself to read it… maybe this year I will!
It’s as good as anything in the SF genre I’d say, really strong on almost all levels, so not a bad one to have in reserve – along with ‘Born With The Dead’ and I daresay many others you’ll have hidden in plain sight.
Is the iffy 40s / 50s collection by Van Vogt, perchance?
The Le Guin is definitely something I know that I will enjoy.
It is not van Vogt. I’ve read a few van Vogt novels and short stories over the years and don’t care for his work. I won’t read any more unless one of his stories fits the theme of one of my various review series. The best van Vogt I’ve read — and one of the few I’ve reviewed–is his short story “Centaurus II” (1947). But I probably enjoyed it more due to the generation ship theme and gave it props for not being unduly labyrinthine.
Dave Hutchinson, even.
I used to talk to Dave Hutchinson a bunch on twitter before that idiotic site imploded and I moved on. But I haven’t read any of his early work.
This cover tantalizes…. https://www.isfdb.org/wiki/images/a/a2/FLSGLDGXFB1979.jpg
Yves Tanguy influence there, maybe. I’ve read his first Europe novel and plan to carry on – I have a weakness for ‘maps are wrong’ novels / stories. I had some awareness he was David once and published some short stories in his youth.
Thanks to reading about Twitter I learnt a new word the other day – ‘enshittification’.
Yeah, I am far happier not having posted on twitter since last September! Only a small number of my 11k (at that time) followers were “engaged” in those final few months, that’s for sure. Most of the engaged followers had migrated — as did I — to Mastodon. So many wonderful voices had left years earlier.
The comparison with PKD is probably unavoidable with The Lathe of Heaven, I even think Le Guin herself said that it was directly inspired by him.
At least according to this very interesting essay about it: k-punk: …’if you can watch the overlap of one reality with another’ (abstractdynamics.org)
Here’s another interesting discussion of the relation between the two authors: https://www.depauw.edu/sfs/backissues/5/watson5art.htm
Thanks, sadly my laptop warned me against visiting that site but k-punk suggests Mark Fisher?
Yes, it’s the archive of his blog – I don’t think there should be any danger there (at least not for your laptop).
Yeah, I had no trouble clicking the link. I haven’t read it yet. But I knew of Ian Watson’s 1975 article over at Science Fiction Studies so I thought I’d leave a link as well.
This is all taking on a slight PKD flavour
hah
I had bad luck with an Eric Frank Russell (review up tomorrow) and worse luck with a Justin Leiber (review up a week from tomorrow). Oh, well. Next up is a Brunner–which Brunner, I am not sure–and that will be better.
Ah, Justin Leiber. I have one of his books on the shelf.
Did you see my recent Brunner review? https://sciencefictionruminations.com/2024/03/02/book-review-john-brunners-the-squares-of-the-city-1965/
I have now. I didn’t review it myself because I am not a chess guy and would miss too much.
I’m in this camp: I don’t think you really need to understand chess to understand the book — it simply gives a structural substrate to his narrative choices (the narrative itself works without knowing it’s a chess game, albeit, it’s a bit too labyrinthine). It’s not like I need to understand I Ching to get the main points PKD is trying to make in The Man in a High Castle (1962).
And Brunner fudges with the movements of the game anyway — it provides a template and guidance that he doesn’t always follow.
And happy birthday James! (isfdb.org told me)
I recently reviewed Russell’s Three to Conquer and was not impressed
Feel free to provide a link — especially as haven’t returned to your site.
You can find the review here: https://medium.com/@ian-93054/three-to-conquer-eric-frank-russell-cdc48ac265d8
I moved across to Medium a couple of years ago, after deciding the changes WordPress had made to their editor made it a real pain to use. I also decided I would only post books reviews, which meant I didn’t have to stick to any kind of schedule. And, I admit, my posting there has been a bit erratic. But I’ve also covered old sf, new sf and non-genre books. I have a review of 2023 sf novel currently lined up. It just needs a little more work.
Yeah, and remember, in one of our many discussions about the changes and you writing on Medium, I offered to help you “catch up” with WordPress if you wanted to return! As I said before, “yes, it’s annoying, but it’s still a good option.”
Lynn Hickman’s THE VALLEY WHERE TIME STOOD STILL is what I’m reading, 1974.
Linn Carter? Can’t say I know too much about his work other than it’s more on the pulp side of things. I see volumes of his Callisto series on the shelves at my local used book stores all the time but never pick them up.
My error, as may be seen–Lin Carter. Lin Carter debuted as a writer with “Masters of the Metropolis”, an unforgettable satire. Since then he took off and wrote a lot of books. I’m pleased to refresh my memory of him.
What was the topic of that earlier co-written satire “Master of the Metropolis”?
The story was a satirical view of science fiction about Utopias. Viewers were being shown around the area’s marvels by three angels when the whole setup of the area started falling apart.
The story appeared in Ron Smith’s fanzine Inside and Science Fiction Advertiser and later appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction.
Hmm, intriguing.
My current pre-1985 reading (not counting those Silverberg novels I finished recently, Regan’s Planet and World’s Fair, 1992) is a couple of Stephn Robinett books. I just finished The Man Responsible (1978), and I’ll have a review up in Black Gate in a month or so I imaginge. (It’s written, but I have built up a backlog there.) So, perhaps foolishly, I decided to read the rest of his novels, and right now I’m in the middle of Mindwipe!, which he published as by “Steve Hahn” for Laser Books in 1976. (It was based on his second sale, a story of the same title published in Analog, December 1969, as by “Tak Hallus”.)
I also read the only Carol Emshwiller novel I hadn’t read, Leaping Man Hill (1999), a sequel to Ledoyt. It’s a wonderful novel (as is Ledoyt), though not of course SF at all. (It’s a Western of sorts, set in remote parts of California in 1919.)
I haven’t read anything by Robinett. I look forward to your reviews. I’m pretty sure I have his collection Projections (1979).
Since last time I finally got around to Dischs The Genosides, which I’ve had for some time. I found it very good, especially the second half, after they enter the plant. The first half seemed to be working with more generic post apocalyptic tropes, though done very well, and I assume the bleakness and pessimism must still have been rather unusual for the time it was written.
While Piserchias somewhat related Earth in Twilight is a much less focused work, I do find the complete transformation that the earth and humanity has undergone in that book more fascinating. A story taking place somewhere in between would be interesting.
I also read PC Jersilds En Levende Sjæl (A Living Soul) – a disembodied brain living in a vat and getting its memory repeatedly reset by electro shock, all while trying to figure out what the private company doing the research is planning for it
At times a bit heavy handed in gettting its point across, but overall I liked it very much, a strange mix of dry realism and bizarre, hallucinatory elements. In some ways a bit reminiscent of Bodelsens Freezing Down, and perhaps also a bit of Kobo Abe, especially Inter Ice Age 4. Apparently there’s an english translation, so a big recommendation from me.
Yes, I own all three English translations of Jersild’s science fiction!
I’ve reviewed, and adored, After the Flood (1982, trans. 1986): https://sciencefictionruminations.com/2022/05/30/book-review-after-the-flood-p-c-jersild-1982-trans-1986/
I also thoroughly enjoyed Bodelsen’s Freezing Down (1969, trans. 1971) https://sciencefictionruminations.com/2019/01/13/book-review-freezing-down-anders-bodelsen-1969-trans-1971/
Which is all to say, count me intrigued by A Living Soul 🙂
I know you already know my thoughts on The Genocides. The beginning does suggest that a more traditional survival story might be possible, and then everything changes when they finally enter the plant. Although I’d argue everything changes with that dinner… one of the most memorable SFictional meals I’ve ever read. But yes, I remain interested in the Piserchia.
For those who haven’t read my review: https://sciencefictionruminations.com/2023/01/08/book-review-the-genocides-thomas-m-disch-1965/
After the Flood is one of Jersilds rarer books here, but I’m looking out or it.
I think what I found somewhat generic with The Genocides was not so much the possibility of a survival story as the overall setting – a rural community regressed to a quasi-medieval, hardcore religious patriarchy after the catastrophe, this has been done so many times by now that I alway get a feeling of “here we go again” when I encounter it, even if it’s unfair in this case, which might be one of the earliest examples.
Perhaps the most original element of the setting was the pure instrumentality of the aliens approach to Earth – an idea descended from War of the Worlds of course, but utilised far to rarely IMO.
See, I found it quit distinct — it wasn’t trying to resurrect some medieval world but instead aiming at the American small town preacher. Quite a different religious conjuration for a post-apocalyptic nightmare! He’s laying aim at the cornerstone of the American grand narrative of small town resilient pioneers fighting evil and conquering the land. The subversive recasting of American narratives that they tell about their pasts is a central part of my review and what makes the book so effective.
There are plenty earlier examples of far more pseudo-medieval conjurations of post-apocalyptic society. I’ll think of a few after I finalize planting these trees in my backyard! haha.
Chan Davis’ “The Aristocrat” (1949) came to mind: https://sciencefictionruminations.com/2023/11/18/short-story-reviews-chan-davis-the-nightmare-1946-to-still-the-drums-1946-and-the-aristocrat-1949/
Yes, I guess it would have taken several generations to reach an actual “midieval” society (hence “quasi”), and there is certainly a specific americana-flavour at play here, but to me it felt more like a variation on a theme than something completely original (until the second half).
Now that I’m thinking of War of the Worlds, it appears to me that Anderson in The Genocides is like a mix of the parson (using religion as a way to make sense of the invasion) and the artilleryman (delusionally believing that it will once more be possible to reclaim earth from the invaders through hard work and ingenuity), though explored through a rural, american lens.
You are talking to an actual medievalist who got a PhD studying medieval universities, historiography, the epistemological workings of exemplum, and encyclopedias here who shudders at the phrase “reach an actual ‘medieval’ society” vs. a rural society with low levels of agricultural technology focused on subsistence — muahaha.
And what more American celebration than Thanksgiving, and of course, in the book it’s a Thanksgiving like no other.
finished Ballard’s “The Unlimited Dream Company” (incredible), re-read the Cornelius Chronicles Vol. 3 (amusing comfort reading), have moved on to Doris Piserchia’s the Spinner, which has this appallingly bad cover: https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1419623290i/1547130._UY630_SR1200,630_.jpg
How was the Ballard?
Yeah, I have a copy of that Piserchia — it is not supposed to be one of her best.
I thought it and The Fluger were both fun, but they are a bit different from her other books.
Hello! What older SF have you been reading recently?
Not been reading much older stuff at the moment. Most recent was Them Bones (1984) by Howard Waldrop. Interesting, and I intend to re-read one strand of it soon to see how it works on it’s own (there’s virtually no overlap with the other two main threads after the start and it feels like it should work as a short story).
And following Eric Brown’s death, I picked up an earlyish one by him I hadn’t read called Necropath but it’s 2008, so far too late for you!
Next older book, though, will probably be a re-read of something by Brian Stableford. I read a huge amount of his early books back in the 70s & 80s… Maybe Rhapsody in Black (the 2nd Hooded Swan novel)
I have a copy of Them Bones but haven’t read it yet. Speaking of Waldrop, I reviewed my favorite Waldrop story so far after his death earlier this year: https://sciencefictionruminations.com/2024/01/28/short-story-reviews-howard-waldrops-mary-margaret-road-grader-1976-david-j-skals-chains-1971-and-tom-purdoms-courting-time-1966/
I can’t say I’m a huge fan of Stableford. I have thought about reading one of his stories as he also recently died. I’ve read the first Hooded Swan book but, I dunno, I struggle with his slight idea-rich but plain narratives.
And apparency Vernor Vinge also just died…. alas.
Yes, I heard the news this morning. I liked what I read but I shan’t be tracking any down to re-read.
I have a Hooded Swan omnibus but it’s been languishing on a shelf for years waiting for me to read the stories again… I remember Rhapsody in Black as being my favourite from the first tme around.
I may well have various Waldrop stories scattered through the anthologies I own but the only longer work I’ve read apart from Them Bones is A Dozen Tough Jobs (1989), his Hercules homage/spoof, which was good fun.
I actually acquired his first novel The Texas-Israeli War: 1999 (1974) recently. I don’t expect it to be that great.
Oh god, you’ve just reminded me that the shop I used to work in had a last copy of it kicking about for years which just wasn’t selling. I took it home and read it one wet afternoon, and you’re right to not expect much of it! Very forgetable.
Yeah, he’s definitely better at short form. As a member of the anti-joke story club (with few exceptions), I struggle with some of his more comedic stories… but “Mary Margaret Road-Grader” (1976) had a seriousness that I found appealing and played to his strengths.
As it happens, the Stableford title I chose to read was To Challenge Chaos (DAW # 7!), one of the very few I’ve kept from then. I guess it creaked a bit but I still enjoyed it! It may be as close as he got to New Wave…
It almost makes me want to track down his earlier books to re-read.
I just included that one in my most recent purchase post! It’s been sitting on my “to process” shelf for months…
Every time I dip into peak Ballard I am just in love with the prose, sentence to sentence its such a joy to read. This is one of his best, a dreamlike unreliable narrator scenario with allusions to Blake and a consistently vivid, both hilarious and disturbing, tone.
There are so many books I’ve been meaning to read so I bet it sounds a bit tired and repetitive at this point — but yes, I’ve been meaning to read it for years!
I’m reading H Beam Piper’s The Cosmic Computer. This is the first novel I’ve read by Piper. It’s about a bunch of people on a backwater planet searching for a legendary super computer. The problem is that it’s boring. There is a lot of people talking about supply chains and who gets which stuff they’ve salvaged but very little actual salvaging. And I do not care about the corporate structure of the LLCs they set up. I also don’t understand why trying to find this mythical computers is what they need to get their economy up and running again.
Speaking of Piper, his birthday was yesterday! (3/23).
I’ve not had the best luck with his work, albeit, I still have not read the Little Fuzzy stories. I have a bunch of his union-related stories in my general plans at the moment (he wrote more about unions than most 50s authors of his day, often from an anti-union or mixed perspective).
Thanks for visiting!
I recently read one of Asimov’s Lucky Starr juveniles. I’m just starting Killerbowl by Gary K. Wolf.
I hope you enjoy the Wolf!
Currently reading “Rax” by Coney. I’ve started a campaign to read all of my (200 page and under) SF novels from the SF good ole days. That will keep me busy for a while. I haven’t read your review, but I did notice the 4.5/5, so that’s a relief. Up next will by “Memoirs of a Spacewoman,” and then “Hestia,” by Cherryh.
I enjoyed that one. It’s surprisingly tender and in a fascinating world. Also a fan of Memoirs. I have a copy, but haven’t read Hestia yet. Not supposed to be one of her best.