Science Fiction 13 – Hand, Harrison, Henneberg & Harness

It was Elizabeth Hand’s novel Winterlong that introduced me to her work. It’s an exotic, ornately written tale set in a future decadent society. I enjoyed the trilogy, though I must admit it seemed to end rather abruptly, or inconclusively to my mind.

Its sequels are Aestival Tide and Icarus Descending.

M John Harrison’s Viriconium Stories are well regarded and I have to agree. I loved Pastel City and Storm of Wings.

Other books set in the same locale are Viriconium Nights and The Floating Gods

A few more stray H authors…

Though I can’t remember much about The Ring of Ritornel by Charles Harness, I have vague memories of quite liking it. Mark Helprin’s Winter’s Tale is more fantasy than Science Fiction and has endured as well loved urban fantasy of New York.

And finally The Green Gods by N C Henneberg – an exotic A Merritt style story wherein plants go to war against men. The cover art is by old favorite Don Maitz

Next – Gwyneth Jones

Science Fiction 12 – Kathleen Ann Goonan, Stuart Gordon and Robert Graves

This morning I just finished rereading Kathleen Ann Goonan’s The Bones of Time, a futuristic novel set in Hawaii. It’s not a bad read at all, with an interesting plot, likable characters and dealing with nanotechnology, which I admit fascinates me. Queen City Jazz was her first novel and also features nanotech. I recently reread it and enjoyed it very much. I intend to seek out its sequels Mississippi Blues, Crescent City Rhapsody and Light Music.

Jeff VanderMeer recommended The Smile on the Void by Stuart Gordon, though unfortunately I can’t remember much about it. It’s been a while since I read it. I do remember when I ordered it from Alibris it was just before 9/11 and its delivery was delayed for several weeks.

Another curiosity is Robert Graves Seven Days in New Crete, which is described on the cover blurb as “a classic science fantasy novel of a future civilization doomed by its own sterile virtue”. I can’t remember if I’ve ever read it.

That’s it for authors whose names begin with G.

Next will be Elizabeth Hand and M John Harrison

Science Fiction 11 – William Gibson

Even though I would like to say that I discovered William Gibson when Neuromancer was first published in 1984, it was not until 1992 that he came to my notice. After that there was no looking back and I have assiduously collected his books ever since. If I recall, it was seeing a short Cyberpunk Documentary, that inspired me to seek out his books. It was love at first read. William Gibson has since then become one of my favorite writers, and I regard him up there with Whittemore, Crowley and Peake as a masterful writer - a prose stylist of the first order.

So here’s my complete Gibson collection in various editions, mostly paperback.

Firstly, Burning Chrome and the Sprawl Trilogy

The Bridge Trilogy

Pattern Recognition & Spook Country – Hard Cover First Editions

Next – Goonan, Gordon and Graves.

Science Fiction 10 – Effinger, Fowler and Gaskell

I have been shamefully remiss in adding new posts to this blog, but I will endeavour to keep it going. After all, I have a ton of books scanned ready to be displayed, so I have no excuses for dragging my feet.

Anyway, tonight for your delectation a few authors whose names begin with E, F or G.

First up, George Alec Effinger’s rather odd, but as I recall it, enjoyable novel The Wolves of Memory.

Karen Joy Fowler has become, over the last few years a celebrated fiction writer, after her novel The Jane Austen Book Club became a bestseller. However, early in her career she wrote the totally delightful collection of science fiction stories Artificial Things.

And finally for this entry – Jane Gaskell. She is famous for writing Strange Evil which China Mieville lists as one of his top 10 examples of weird fiction. She wrote the novel when she was 14.

She also went on to write other books, sort of heroic fiction ala Tanith Lee, though Jane Gaskell’s were published a decade before Lee’s.

Coming next – William Gibson

Science Fiction 9 - Philip K Dick & Samuel R Delany

I appear to have very few books by both these authors - only three in the case of Philip Dick and two Delany novels.

Be that as it may, I do have my favourite PKD novel The Man in the High Castle in an elderly (1965) Penguin edition with the cover being a detail from Max Ernst's painting The Petrified Forest .

Also in an old Penguin edition is The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch. My edition of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep was released about the time Blade Runner, one of my all time favourite movies, was released. Before then, it was a pretty impossible book to find.

I can't remember much about Samuel Delany's Fall of the Towers, but do recall being very taken with it as I was by Tales of Neveryon. The latter affected me much the same way as when I first read Edward Whittemore.

Coming next - SF Authors E to G.

Science Fiction 8 - Chapman, Clarke, Compton, Cowper & Crowley

To finish off authors whose names begin with a "c" here is an odd assortment of the above mentioned authors.

First Stepan Chapman's Troika - truly one of the weirdest books I've ever read. It was sent to me by Jeff VanderMeer several years ago. It is one of those rare Ministry of Whimsy books.

Next, the sole copy of an Arthur C Clarke book I have in my possession - The Fountains of Paradise.

Richard Cowper is a British writer and I was very fond of his Road To Corlay trilogy, sort of post apocalypse science fiction/fantasy. The first two books have lovely Don Maitz covers.

This collection of short stories by Cowper also has a terrific cover by Don Maitz.

D G Compton's Synthajoy somehow found its way into my collection. The cover is slightly psychedelic - try scrolling up and down and the circles spin.

And lastly, to wind up the ''c's", John Crowley's early science fiction novels. John Crowley is one of my all time favourite writers and I first discovered his books with the SF novel Beasts in the mid 1970s. From then on I collected pretty well all of his works. I do indeed have a first edition copy of Little, Big on another bookshelf, and have prepaid for a copy of the 25th Anniversary edition, finally due this year, which is sure to be a very fine example of bibliophilic eye candy. For this entry however I will only display mass market paperbacks of The Deep, Beasts, Engine Summer and Great Work of Time.

Next - Phillip K Dick, Samuel Delaney etc.

Science Fiction 7 - Feminist SF Part 2

Sheri S Tepper is one of my favourite SF writers. She writes wonderful eco feminist novels and I always enjoy seeing any new book of hers. I have many of her books, but perhaps her most well known feminist fiction is The Gate to Women's Country, which besides featuring an interesting dystopia is very cleverly written, as are all of her books.

Another of her clever and fascinating books is in fact the Marianne trilogy which I have in an omnibus edition. They are wonderfully bizarre.

Six Moon Dance has an unusual dystopian society where men are forced to wear veils and serve the women who run all aspects of this society. The Family Tree is a lovely eco fantasy with a huge surprise half way through.

Next Grass, Northshore and Gibbons Decline And Fall

I do have several more Tepper novels, but they can wait for another time.

Finally, as far as feminist science fiction goes - Women of Wonder, a collection of stories by women writers including Ursula Le Guin, Vonda McIntyre, Kate Wilhelm among others.

Next - continuing with authors whose names start with "c"