Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Science Fiction 15 – Kurland, Lafferty & Lanier

A couple of odd ones this time…

Firstly, The Unicorn Girl by Michael Kurland – hippy science fiction. It is a companion piece to the great hippy SF novel The Butterfly Kid by Chester Anderson. I did have a copy of The Butterfly Kid, way back when, but gave it away to a person who really loved it and couldn’t find a copy.

kurland_unicorngirl

Next, the strange novels of R A Lafferty of which I have two – Fourth Mansions and Nine Hundred Grandmothers.

lafferty_fourthmansions lafferty_grandmothers

Then there is Sterling E Lanier, author of Hiero’s Journey & its sequel The Unforsaken Hiero, the only two books of his I have read.

John Clute in his obituary to Sterling E Lanier describes these books as:

“Hiero's Journey (1973), is set in a not-unfamiliar Ruined Earth environment five millennia after a nuclear "event". The questing hero of the tale progresses through a world irradiated by strangeness, and oppressed by recidivist technologists caught in a state of profound denial about the appallingness of their ancestors' deeds. Opposing them is the Brotherhood of the Eleventh Commandment. The commandment is simple: "Thou shalt not despoil the Earth and the life thereon." The tale is supple and swift and compelling. For those familiar with it, Hiero's Journey remains unforgettable; and seems more and more prescient.”

I recall enjoying these books very much. I have fondness for post apocalyptic novels - must read them again…

lanier_hieros_journey lanier_unforsakenhiero

Next – Ursula Le Guin

1 comment:

Jan said...

THis is the 1st time I've looked at this blog of yours...usually it's CAT POLITICS but I shall be returning to read this properly ASAP.
It looks great.