Which books/covers/authors intrigue you? Which have you read? Disliked? Enjoyed?
Finally acquired a new scanner!
1. The Memory of Whiteness, Kim Stanley Robinson (1985)
Fred Gambino’s cover for the 1999 edition
From the back cover: “In the 33rd century humanity is scattered among the planets of the Solar System. Millions of lives depend on the revolutionary physics of Arthur Holywelkin; millions of hears are moved by the music created by the strange, eerie instrument he built in the last years of his life: the Orchestra. Johannes Wright is the Ninth–and youngest–Master of the Orchestra. But as he sets out on his first Grand Tour of the Solar System, unseen foes are at his heel, ready to reveal all but the meaning of their enmity. In confronting them, Wright must redefine the Universe–for himself and all humanity.”
Initial Thoughts: I should have a review of an early Kim Stanley Robinson novel up on the site soon. I have fond memories of reading Red Mars (1992) and Green Mars (1993)–and less fond memories of Blue Mars (1996)–as an older teen. The only Robinson work I’ve reviewed on the site is “Exploring Fossil Canyon” (1982). Unfortunately my cover of The Memory of Whiteness had a pernicious sticker that damaged the cover…
2. Greylorn, Keith Laumer (1968)
Richard Powers’ cover for the 1st edition
From the back cover: “GREYLORN. Humanity’s last hope lay in one spaceship racing through the voids of the universe. The Red Tide had all but engulfed the Earth, and there was just enough time to find Omega, the planet that had long ago been colonized–and then had simply disappeared.
After four years in space, the ship felt the hand of calamity all at once. Its food stores were destroyed by a meteor crash. its crew was set to mutiny. And, worst of all, was the threatening alien ship, with its strange cargo of human bodies…”
Contents: “Greylorn” (1959), “The Night of the Trolls” (1963), “The Other Sky” (variant title: “The Further Sky”) (1964), and “The King of the City” (1961).
Initial Thoughts: I’ve only read Laumer’s (successful) attempt at a New Wave story — “In the Queue” (1970).
3. One Way and Other Stories, Miriam Allen deFord (2025).
Uncredited cover for the 1st edition
From the back cover: “Miriam Allen deFord (1988-1975) was a feminist, a suffragette, birth control advocate, journalist, editor, winner of the Mystery Writers of America’s Edgar Award, and author of science fiction, mystery, and true crime. Now, at long last, a collection of her science fiction short stories are back in print with One Way and Other Stories.
Mystery writer, Fortean, anti-fascist, feminist of the first generation, and science fiction trailblazers for five decades, Miriam Allen deFord masterfully weaves all of her facets into her stories, bringing a macabre, fantastic tone to her tales: Bradbury meets Hitchcock. She was already the grand dame of science fiction when the genre reached its second peak with the magazine boom of the early ’50s. Her work thus paced and led the way for SF’s Silver Age.
Miriam Allen deFord somehow slips under the radar when luminaries are listed. With luck, this volume will remedy this oversight.
~Gideon Marcus, editor of Rediscovery: Science Fiction by Women.“
Contents: “Not Snow, Nor Rain” (1959), “Oh, Rats!” (1961), “One Way” (1955), “The Margenes” (1956), “The Akkra Case” (1962), “Time Out for Redheads” (1955), “Where the Phyh Pebbles Go” (1963), and “The Eel” (1958).
Initial Thoughts: It’s always nice to see a lesser-known classic author getting a collection of stories in print. The indie press Space Cowboy Books also published Jaroslav Olša, Jr.’s Dreaming of Autonomous Vehicles: Miloslav (Miles) J. Breuer: Czech-American Writer and the Birth of Science Fiction (2025), which I featured earlier this year. I’ve enjoyed some of deFord’s work in the past–in particular her earlier work. You can snag a copy of Other Stories here. They include small reproductions of the original interior art.
4. Junction, Jack Dann (1981)
Uncredited cover for the 1st edition
From the back cover: “GO TO HELL. The hundred-eyed bird monster told Ned Wheeler that his foreordained quest must begin in Hell–which lay just beyond the borders of Junction, the tumultuous, bawdy, pious town that knew damnation as a daily experience and salvation as a distant hope.
ned’s odyssey took him to a place stranger than Junction, stranger than Hell–the bizarre, unbelievable, dangerous city called New York.
Its learned scientists told him of incredible things, like the laws of cause and effect and the fact that they had ceased to operate. It was as if the entire world were living in a chaotic dream–perhaps Ned Wheeler’s dream…”
Initial Thoughts: I recently reviewed, and enjoyed, Dann’s Nebula-nominated novella “Junction” (1973). This is the fix-up novel version that also includes the short story “The Islands of Time” (1977). I’m a bit worried. I felt like the original novella version could have been trimmed and tightened. Not sure how a novelization will add to the metaphysical kaleidoscope that was the original. We shall see!
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Science Fiction and Other Suspect Ruminations 
What do you get from finding out what writers and books intrigue us? There isn’t any furtherance beyond hearing those answers, is there? Are ones most mentioned counted?
Many interesting discussions have happened in the comments about authors. I’ve learned a lot from my community. People link reviews they’ve read, written, articles, etc. I own thousands of unread books. Discussions, depending on their nature, often inspire me to pick them up. I’m addicted to learning about the science fiction produced in the era I enjoy.
And also, lots of people visit these posts — I imagine people buy books often based on what people say. I’m but one person, and my reviews take forever to write and often follow particular threads obsessively and narrowly. I know for a fact that others find books that they might enjoy from the comments 🙂
I read Memory of Whiteness back when it came out and found it quite a slow read. I finally re-read it almost a decade ago and enjoyed it a lot as I took a fairly leisurely approach to it. Even the author thought it was a bit left field as he signed my copy with the phrase ‘my strange child’!
My comments on it here
https://flic.kr/p/GrEy5N
I read Greylorn back in 2011 and quite liked it, although it was his first story,I think, and creaked a bit. I’ve enjoyed other Laumer books a lot more though:, Galactic Odyssey or The Great Time Machine Hoax for instance. I never took to his various series like Retief though.
My comments on Greylorn here
https://flic.kr/p/avGsEe
I enjoyed Junction (the novel) a long time ago and have a feeling that I also had read the novella earlier although I’m not sure on that. I still have my paperback of the novel awaiting an eventual re-read. I really don’t remember much about it now except its New Wave feel..I also still have The Man Who Melted, which I enjoyed at the time but I’m afraid I abandoned a re-read half way through a few years ago. I may give it another try sometime. I’m much more likely to go for Junction though.
Counting Coup from 1996 was probably my favourite Dann novel.
Hello Mike,
I’m enjoying the Robinson novel I’m reading at a moment. I’m keeping it a bit hush hush as I am easily dissuaded from writing reviews and don’t want to raise expectations. As for Memory of Whiteness, I wish, as a teen, I had move beyond his Mars novels. I might have discovered (and enjoyed) some of his odder visions. Better late than never!
Thank for your the links on Laumer. I’ll take a look.
As for Dann, I really really really enjoyed the collection of short fictions I reviewed recently: Timetipping (1980). Despite its reputation, the novella version of “Junction” (1973) was not my favorite by a long shot from the collection. Those honors would go to the perverse and bizarre “The Dybbuk Dolls” (1975) and “A Quiet Revolution for Death” (1978). In the latter in particular, he reigns in a bit of his tendency to go FULL metaphysical deluge, if you know what I mean.
Just dug out my copy of Epoch to read it and Timetipping reads like some dense R. A. Lafferty story…
Oh, I read the collection Timetipping (1980). I didn’t think the title story was the strongest. I felt a bit out of my depth on that one. The two I recommended (“The Dybbuk Dolls” and “A Quiet Revolution for Death”) were more for me. They appeared in Silverberg’s anthologies Dimensions: Science Fiction: Number 5 and Number 8 respectively.
I realised that but the title story was the only one I knew I had to read!
Big fan of KSR’s novels – he’s one of those authors, like Iain Banks, who can disappoint because he’s not as good as some of his other works.
I should have a review of one of his early novels up soonish. Stay tuned!
Excellent short story writer, too. Wouldn’t care to be put on the spot to pick a single favourite, either story or novel, though!
“Memory of Whiteness” was the first KSR I read (I read it in ’86 when it was pretty new). I recall liking its weird mesh of conspiracy, philosophy and physics (if I had read “Crying of Lot 49” at that point, I would have seen similarities, I think. There’s a certain resonance with a Fritz Leiber novel too (spoilers!).
Perhaps predictably, The Crying of Lot 49 is the only Pynchon I’ve read — in one intense sitting. I’m all for that “weird mesh.”
That’s the way to read it – in one mind-altering sitting. I remember hearing of it in one of the early books about Star Trek fandom “Star Trek Lives” (unless I’m mistaken)
What’s your favorite of his early works?
Maybe “The Gold Coast”? The whole Three Californias series is great. Someday I should read the few of his that I’ve missed
That KSR might be my least favorite novel of his. Curious what you´ll think of it, if you ever get to it. I liked all of his other old work, a lot even.
I have a review of an early KSR novel on the horizon. So maybe you won’t get a review of this exact one soon but I’ll have another up in the coming weeks.
“The Islands of Time” is the sequel novella to “Junction”. I had always assumed that the book version of Junction was a combination of two novellas (“Junction” and “The Islands of Time”) with some revisions and expansions. Perhaps I am wrong, though.
As for The Memory of Whiteness, it is probably my least favorite KSR novel. Certainly I liked his first novel, Icehenge, more. Someone’s review — perhaps Algis Budrys’s? — claimed that The Memory of Whiteness was a trunk novel he sold after selling Icehenge. It does incorporate some decent early shorter stories. As I recall, it’s kind of a travelogue of the Solar System — a bit like the much later 2412, I suppose.
Hello Rich,
Yup, I made sure to mention that Junction combined the novella “Junction” with “The Islands of Time” (1977) in my “Initial Thoughts.”
Icehenge is the one I should have a review up soon. I also enjoy it — as an analysis on the ways we fight over, co-opt, and constantly engage with history.
Icehenge mini-review posted! Loved it.
Also, we are using a Miriam Allen deFord story, “The Last Generation?”, in our Philosophical SF anthology. And I’ve read at least a couple of those Laumer stories in the original issues of Amazing or Fantastic they appeared in, if memory servers.
Nice! While I don’t remember the details, I apparently enjoyed that one enough to give it a 3.5/5 — way back in 2013.