Monster Media 1996 #14/Monster Media No. 14 (April 1996) (Monster Media, Inc.).ISO/text/read301.zip/SF.LST

File List | 1995-10-16 | 12KB | 243 lines

                           Science Fiction
                           ------- -------

Anderson, Poul: BRAINWAVE, 1954 <out of print>.
     A physical phenomenon boosts the intelligence of all living creatures.
     How the newly created geniuses cope.

Anthony, Piers: CHTHON, Ace Books, 1967 (reprinted 1987), [out of print!].
     A grand tale of adventure, deep psychological insight and perversity.
     Also an allegory in the best tradition.  Works on both levels.
     Nominated for the Hugo and should have won it. Read it!

Bear, Greg: BLOODMUSIC, Arbor House, 1985.
     Intelligent viruses?  Yes, and a rollicking good tale, too.  Vintage
     Bear, and better than his more recent work.

Benford, Gregory: TIMESCAPE, Pocket Books, 1980, ISBN 0-671-83389-8, $2.95
[out of print].
     Ecological disaster in 1998 drives a desperate scientist to attempt
     communication with a colleague in 1962.  The course of history is
     changed, or is it?  Very well done tale.  Good characters.

Bester, Alfred: THE DEMOLISHED MAN [out of print].
     A multi-media murder mystery in a society of telepaths.  Highly textured
     and enjoyable.

Blish, James: A CASE OF CONSCIENCE, Ballantine, 1979, ISBN 0-345-28023-7,
$1.95 <out of print>.
     Discovery of a race of aliens free of Original Sin poses ethical
     conflict for a priest.  Beautiful morality play.

Brunner, John: THE SHOCKWAVE RIDER, Ballantine, 1976, ISBN 0-345-27472-5,
$1.95, <out of print>.
     The novel that inspired the Computer Hacker subculture.  A future Data-
     net Hacker defies the Authorities by, what else, creating computer
     viruses.  Prophetic (deja vu all over again) and well-written.

Card, Orson Scott: ENDER'S GAME, Tor Books, 1986, ISBN 0-812-53253-8, $3.50.
     Military sf novel that is somewhat reminiscent of DORSAI!, but even more
     deeply textured.

Card, Orson Scott: SEVENTH SON, TOR Books, 1988, ISBN 0-812-53354-2, $3.95.
     An alternate America in the early 1800's where folk magic works.  An
     awe-inspiring fantasy world that liberates the imagination.

Dick, Philip K.: THE MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE, Berkley Books, 1962 (reprinted
1986 and 1992), ISBN 0-425-10143-6, $2.95.
     The I Ching is both behind the scenes prime mover and co-author of this
     subtle little gem of an alternate reality in which the Axis wins WWII.
     Another Hugo winner.

Dickson, Gordon: DORSAI!, DAW Books, 1960 (repr. 1976), $1.75.
    The centerpiece of Dickson's "Childe Cycle", and one of the best of SF
    military novels.

Disch, Thomas M.: ON WINGS OF SONG, St. Martin's Press, 1979,
ISBN 0-312-58466-0, $10.95.
     Life in a future repressive America where some have mastered Song to be
     able to fly in the Spirit Realm.  An uplifting picaresque tale.

Donaldson, Stephen R.: THE CHRONICLES OF THOMAS COVENANT, Ballantine, 1977,
ISBN 0-345-25716-2, $2.50.
     Complex adult fantasy series of a leper's alternate existence in a
     world where dark magic works.

Farmer, Philip Jose: THE LOVERS, Ballantine, 1981, ISBN 0-345-28691-X, $2.25.
     An unusual story of alien love.  When first published in the 1950's, it
     broke the "sex barrier" in mainstream SF.

Farmer, Philip Jose: The RIVERWORLD series, Berkley Books, 1982, $2.75 ea.
     Stories of the entire human race resurrected after death on a million-
     mile long river valley, and their quest for the answer to the riddle of
     Why. Read the first three books [TO YOUR SCATTERED BODIES GO,
     THE FABULOUS RIVERBOAT, THE DARK DESIGN]. Skip the others.

Gold, H.L. (editor): BODYGUARD AND FOUR OTHER SHORT SCIENCE FICTION NOVELS
FROM GALAXY, Doubleday, 1960 [out of print].
     A good collection that epitomizes the best of 1950's SF in five
     novelettes.  Some long-lost masterpieces in this one, see especially
     Floyd Wallace's "Delay in Transit".

Harrison, Harry: DEATH WORLD, 1960 [out of print].
     Survivalists on a planet bitterly hostile to humans.

Harrison, Harry: THE HAMMER AND THE CROSS, Tom Doherty Associates, 1993, ISBN
0-812-52348-2, $5.99.
     An alternate history in which Paganism prevails in Ninth Century
     England. Must have been inspired by THE MISTS OF AVALON (Bradley), but
     definitely worth reading in its own right.

Heinlein, Robert: CITIZEN OF THE GALAXY, Ballantine Books, 1957 (repr. 1987),
ISBN 0-345-34244-5, $2.50.
     Considered one of Heinlein's "juvenile books", actually one of his
     overall best by any standard.  Gets a little preachy in places, but not
     as bad as STARSHIP TROOPERS.

Heinlein, Robert: GLORY ROAD, Berkley Medallion, 1963 (repr. 1971),
SBN 425-01809-1, $.95 [out of print?].
     A very enjoyable fantasy romp, complete with hero & fair maid (?!) and
     dragons, of course.  Gets better each time it's read.

Heinlein, Robert: THE MOON IS A HARSH MISTRESS, Berkley, ISBN 0-441-53699-9,
$4.95.
     Revolt of the moon colonists is led by a sympathetic computer.

Herbert, Frank: THE DOSADI EXPERIMENT, Berkley Publishing, 1977,
ISBN 425-03834-3, $2.25.
     What happens when you cage millions of humans and an alien race together
     in a city and force-evolve the resulting society?  Better than the
     "prequel", WHIPPING STAR.

Herbert, Frank: DUNE, Berkley Books, 1965 (repr. 1983), ISBN 0-425-07160-X,
$3.95.
     The classic tale of guerilla warfare on a desert planet.  One of the
     early ecology novels.  Grand sociological themes.  Ponderous, but
     gripping.

King, Stephen: IT, Signet, 1987, ISBN 0-451-16951-4, $5.95.
     Kids discovering themselves and growing up as they fight the Monster.
     Nobody does it better than King.

King, Stephen, THE STAND (uncut version), Doubleday, 1990,
ISBN 0-385-19957-0, $24.95.
     The struggle of Good against evil in the aftermath of a plague that
     leaves only a few survivors.  Worth reading and rereading.

Kingsbury, Donald: COURTSHIP RITE, Pocket Books, 1983, ISBN 0-671-46089-7,
$3.95 [out of print].
     A novel of evolution under alien conditions, where technology and
     cannibalism prove less important than religion and politics.

Knight, Damon: THE MAN IN THE TREE, Berkley Books, 1984, ISBN 0-425-06006-3,
$2.75 [out of print].
     The story of a superman (or messiah) who can stretch the fabric of
     reality, but learns the value of restraint. In the grand tradition of
     Ted Sturgeon.

Lafferty, R.A.: PAST MASTER, Ace Books, 1968, #65301-4, $1.00 [out of print].
     Great political satire, funny and still topical.

Leguin, Ursula: "The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas", [short story].
     Surely one of the most poignant pieces of short fiction ever written,
     the too-close-to-home description of a "utopia" with a single "small"
     flaw.  Has been anthologized in numerous collections.

Lem, Stanislaw: SOLARIS, HBJ Books, ISBN 0-15-683750-1, $4.95.
     Planetary intelligence and self discovery.  Involuted and intricate,
     but worth the effort.

Lindsey, David: A VOYAGE TO ARCTURUS
     Dark mystic and allegorical tale.  Worth reading, if you can figure
     out what it all means.

McIntosh, J.T.: SNOW WHITE AND THE GIANTS, Avon, 1968, $.60 <out of print>.
    McIntosh is one of the most underrated writers of the 50's and 60's.
    Usually manages to sneak in a bit of titillating, but tasteful sex into
    his tales. SNOW WHITE, understated and masterfully written, deals with
    some very important issues. About time travelers, manipulation of the
    psyche, and fire insurance.

Niven, Larry: NEUTRON STAR, Ballantine, 1968, SBN 345-02297-1-095, $.95.
    Short stories and novelettes of Known Space.  Niven is the emperor of
    Space Opera.

Pangborn, Edgar: DAVY, Ballantine, 1964, LC# 64-10349, $.75 [out of print].
    A picaresque tale of a future New England, centuries after nuclear war.
    Reminiscent of TOM JONES, gives charming portraits of its characters.

Piper, H. Beam: LORD KALVAN OF OTHERWHEN, Ace Books, ISBN 0-441-49053-0,
$2.25 [out of print].
     A Pennsylvania State Trooper accidentally transported to an alternate
     world of feudal kingdoms finds his true calling as a military warlord.

Pohl, Frederick: GATEWAY, Ballantine, ISBN 0-345-34690-4, $3.95.
     On the Gateway Asteroid, a vanished race of aliens had left
     their spacecraft behind. A few courageous adventurers fly them
     where??? Interesting plot, fine character development. Won the Hugo,
     and deserved it.  The rest of the series are likewise worth reading,
     if somewhat anticlimactic.

Roberts, Keith: PAVANE, Ace Books, 1968, $.95 [out of print].
     An understated, but richly textured novel of an Alternate Reality
     in which the Spanish Armada conquered England and technology is rigidly
     controlled by the Catholic Church. Lyrical and extremely well done.

Shaw, Bob: THE PALACE OF ETERNITY, Ace Books [#65050], 1969, $.75
[out of print].
     Humans fight for survival against aliens in a last bastion, in a battle
     that transcends the boundaries of death.  Vast panorama, well done
     characters, and startling plot twists.

Silverberg, Robert: THE MAN IN THE MAZE, Avon Books, 1969, ISBN
0-380-00198-5, $1.95 [out of print].
    A man in voluntary self-exile in a deadly maze on a remote planet holds
    knowledge essential to the rest of humanity.  How to persuade him to
    return to society?  One of Silverberg's cynical and bitter comments on
    humanity, but superbly written, as usual.

Stapledon, Olaf: LAST AND FIRST MEN and THE STARMAKER, Dover, 1931 & 1937
reprinted 1968), ISBN 0-486-21962-3, $5.00.
     The future history of Humanity and of the Universe.  Mysticism at its
     best, and very readable.

Sturgeon, Theodore: "The Man Who Lost The Sea" (short story).
     This one story captures the best that SF is capable of, and maybe the
     best that modern literature is, as well.  A world well lost.

Sturgeon, Theodore: MORE THAN HUMAN, Ballantine, ISBN 0-345-32721-7, $3.50.
     The next step in human evolution - a composite intelligence?  Superb.

Vance, Jack: THE DRAGON MASTERS, Ace Books [Ace Double F-185], 1962, $.45
[out of print].
     Short novel about genetically bred warriors that won the Hugo. Enjoyable
     reading with keen insights about humanity.  The illustrations in this
     story's original incarnation in GALAXY magazine (by Gaugin?) greatly
     enhanced it, but they're gone forever.  Too bad.

Varley, John: STEEL BEACH, Ace Books, ISBN 0-441-78565-4, 1993, $5.99.
     The grand culmination of the "Eight Worlds" series.  Varley is one of a
     very few SF writers (or mainstream fiction writers, for that matter) who
     can exquisitely blend and orchestrate characterization and plot, and who
     is a master of both.  He outheinleins Heinlein by at least an order of
     magnitude.

Varley, John: The TITAN Trilogy [TITAN, WIZARD, DEMON], Berkley Books,
1980, 1984, ISBN 0-425-04998-1, 0-425-08271-7, $2.50, $3.50.
     Adventures on a giant artificial asteroid controlled by alien, but all-
     too human intelligence.  Good characters (mostly written from a female
     point of view - how does Varley do it so well?), inventive plot.

also by Varley: THE PERSISTENCE OF VISION [novella]
                EQUINOCTIAL [novella]

Williams, Walter John: DAYS OF ATONEMENT, Tom Doherty Associates, 1992, ISBN
0-812-50180-2, $4.99.
     An unusual murder mystery set in the near future. Extremely well-written
     with believable characters.

Zelazny, Roger: LORD OF LIGHT, Avon Books, 1969, ISBN 0-380-01403-3. $2.75
[out of print].
     Hindu deities reinvented by colonists of another planet.
     Entertaining reinvention of myth.