Question for the Science Fiction Reading Gang

[Mick C.]

Originally Posted by Bluesman Mike Lindner

Mick, some of the best stuff is by "one-hit wonders." And you know I ain't lyin'.

That's gospel truth. It makes you wonder about those endless racks of used SF paperbacks by writers you don't know sitting in used bookstores in out-of-the-way strip malls, their bindings bleaching in the sunlight coming through the window, their authors long forgotten. There are probably some pretty good novels in there that no one will ever read again.

[Bluesman Mike Lindner]

Originally Posted by Aprilis

What good is a Glass Dagger by Larry Niven


The only story of his I have ever read

Larry and Jerry Pournelle together...mighty!

[Mick C.]

Originally Posted by mad4tunes

I guess they're not really obscure, but I've read and always enjoyed "No Different Flesh" by Zenna Henderson. The stories of the People are fascinating to me.

I had a chance to meet her when I was in high school, and passed on it because I had tickets to a Paul Butterfield Blues Band concert.

Now I wish I had realigned my priorities.

Wasn't Henderson a teacher at Phoenix Union High School?

I remember watching the made-for-tv movie that ABC did based on her book back in the 70s. I never read any of her books, I should probably take a peek.

There was a whole genre of rural SF back then - writers like Clifford Simak and Manly Wade Wellman.

[Bluesman Mike Lindner]

Originally Posted by mad4tunes

I guess they're not really obscure, but I've read and always enjoyed "No Different Flesh" by Zenna Henderson. The stories of the People are fascinating to me.

I had a chance to meet her when I was in high school, and passed on it because I had tickets to a Paul Butterfield Blues Band concert.

Now I wish I had realigned my priorities.

Yup! I have a copy of the first book, great cover. A farmer (heh-heh-heh) with a look =I did not like= in the foreground, in the background a woman and a shack and a ship not built by the sons of Adam...

[Mick C.]

Originally Posted by Aprilis

What good is a Glass Dagger by Larry Niven


The only story of his I have ever read

Wasn't that a sequel to his short story "The Magic Goes Away"? I really enjoyed that (or do I have the order backwards?) Good example of "hard" fantasy - fantasy that operates by fixed SF-like rules.

I remember Marvel Comics had a B&W Comics magazine back in the mid-70s titled "Unknown Worlds of Science Fiction" that adapted it very well into comics form.

That was a great magazine, BTW - new stories and really good adaptations, with some interviews and film reviews included. They also gave some underground comic artists, like Rich Corben, their first appearances in the "aboveground" comics. I still have all my copies.

[Bluesman Mike Lindner]

Originally Posted by Mick C.

Wasn't Henderson a teacher at Phoenix Union High School?

I remember watching the made-for-tv movie that ABC did based on her book back in the 70s. I never read any of her books, I should probably take a peek.

There was a whole genre of rural SF back then - writers like Clifford Simak and Manly Wade Wellman.

Gotta go, Mick--place is closing. But ain't it grand how some great sf authors have held mundane jobs? Andre Norton was a librarian and

YO! DUDE! PUT THE FUCKING BAT DOWN! I'M GOING, OK?

[sigokat]

I don't know if this is "obscure" by your terms, Mike, but I just recently read

The Tomorrow File by Lawrence Sanders and thoroughly enjoyed it. Yes there were parts that became predictable because I was able to pick up on the foreshadwing, but overall I enjoyed it alot.

[Kenji]

Originally Posted by Bluesman Mike Lindner

What's your favorite =obscure= sf story?

Obscure SF story....? Hmm....let me think...




"Tiger! Tiger!" by Alfred Bester. When I was young I read it. I enjoyed it but also it confused me. Maybe I was too young. Maybe if I re-read it now, I'll get it...


Also his another masterpiece "The Demolished Man" was great.

[Pleiades]

Originally Posted by Bluesman Mike Lindner

Larry and Jerry Pournelle together...mighty!

Amen! They could do no wrong.

I don't know if it's obscure, but for some reason today, I thought of a novel I read a while back that was weird - in a good way, I think. It was Dhalgren (did I spell that right?) by Delany (?). I read a lot of his stuff, and while his stories were kind of weird, I kept coming back for more. The novel is kind of circular - it ended where it began, had crooked notes in the page margins, and included stories by the characters that were parts of the novel. I remembered a quote today: "I have come to wound the autumnal city". Probably the gray sky today started me thinking about autumn.

[cobalt79]

I've always favored the medical science fiction......hmmm...wonder why?
One book that I really enjoyed was Cure Complex by Ed Murphy. I had to go dig it out as I didn't remember who the author was. The book was about a cure all for all of man's ills. I remember it giving goosebumps and yet tugging at my heart as I read some passages. Good explanations to things technical as well if I remember correctly. The book was published in 2003, but the paperback I have is from 2005.