Updates: Recent Science Fiction Purchases No. CCCXLVII (Edgar Pangborn, Rudy Rucker, Sally Miller Gearhart, and a SF anthology)

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

The first purchases of 2026!

1. A Mirror For Observers, Edgar Pangborn (1954)

From the back cover: “We would call them Martians, though they refer to themselves as Salvayans. Refugees from their dying planet, they arrived on our world almost 30,000 years ago to make new lives for themselves. From their vast underground cities, hidden from discovery, the Salvayans have ben observing us with care and concern, waiting for the day when humans will be ready to meet them. The Salvayans are not many, but they are long-lived and patient….

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Updates: Recent Science Fiction and Fantasy Purchases No. CCCXLV (Ursula K. Le Guin, Alan Garner, Burt Cole, and a Cyberpunk Anthology)

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

I apologize for the photos of my copies instead of my normal hi-res scans. My scanner died suddenly. Goodbye Dutiful and Dedicated Recorder of the SF Volumes.

1. Always Coming Home, Ursula K. Le Guin (1985)

From the back cover: “Ursula K. Le Guin’s Always Coming Home is a major work of the imagination from one of America’s most respected writers of science fiction. More than five years in creation, it is a novel unlike any ever written. A rich and complex interweaving of story and fable, poem, artwork and music, it totally immerses the reader in the culture of the Kes, a peaceful people of the far future who inhabit a place called the Valley on the Northern Pacific coast.”

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Updates: Recent Science Fiction Acquisitions No. CLXII (Vance + Rucker + Kaye + Godwin + Orbit Anthology)

More SF joins the ranks that cover my shelves, from a Jack Vance Demon Princes sequence novel to a promising Orbit anthology with early Vernor Vinge, Carol Emshwiller, Harlan Ellison, etc.

And the covers!  Powers and Lehr at their best…

And what happened to SF art the 80s? (the Rudy Rucker novel cover terrifies — in a bad way).

As always, thoughts/comments are appreciated!

1.The Palace of Love, Jack Vance (serialized 1966)

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(Richard Powers’ cover for the 1967 edition) Continue reading