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Great Science-Fiction
& Fantasy Works
a critical list with discussions
Science-Fiction and Fantasy Books by
Brian Stableford
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Standard Disclaimer:
This is a brief discussion of Brian Stableford and, of course, of some speculative-fiction books by Brian Stableford This discussion and list does not necessarily include every book by Stableford: it includes only those books that I both know and like. Just as with the author list itself, omission of a particular item may mean I didn't think highly enough of the omitted item, or it may simply mean that I have not yet sufficient familiarity with it. (In a very few cases, I have listed some books merely on the strength of my opinion of the author: all such books are clearly marked below, as throughout these lists, with a hash mark (#) before the title so you know what's what.) I don't pretend that this discussion is a deep analysis. My intent is no more than to give you a rough idea of what kinds of tales Stableford tells, how those tales are usually told, and what makes them and Stableford worthy; in sum, to help you rank Stableford (and the works by Stableford listed here) on your personal literary "to do" list. |
A Few Words About Brian Stableford
Regrettably, I have not yet had an opportunity to write an essay on this author, but the "Other Resources" section below will lead you to some information about the "Notable Books" listed farther down this page.
It may be worth noting, however, that in the lists below are three unrelated yet related novels: The Empire of Fear; Young Blood; and The Hunger and Ecstasy of Vampires (now somewhat re-written and issued with the more commercially catchy title of Sherlock Holmes and the Vampires of Eternity). Their relation, as Rick Kleffel has pointed out, is that each is an exploration of the vampire mystique, yet each is different--from the others, and from most vampirrhea (as I call it). Stableford is nothing if not diverse (except perhaps prolific)--from pacific, fact-based science-fiction to wild extravaganzas of degenerate (using the term in its technical literary sense) fantasy, and always much better than competent.
Other Brian Stableford Resources
All in all, it is disappointing to see how little, at least relatively, there is on the web about such a prolific author of thoroughly literate books. The chief resource is the Brian Stableford Web Site, which has brief descriptions (though not critical analyses) of each of Stableford's works within its purview--but there's the rub, for it is now (apparently, anyway) nearly three years since it was last updated in any way, so there are newer works not catalogued there.
Beyond that site, there seems no general commentary on the man or the oeuvre. The seeker will find only one-off reviews of individual books, which is not a great help considering the length of the roll call. There are also a couple of the inevitable interviews--at Strange Horizons by Cheryl Morgan and at Infinity plus by Barbara Godwin, and an old one from ConFuse 91 (where Stableford was the guest of honor) by Tommy Persson--which are helpful; but one wishes for more in the light of Stableford's stature. (The brief appreciation of Stableford by David Langford of The Ansible is pleasant but not critically enlightening.)
A few of the individual reviews seemed to me worth citing as giving some general insights, however brief, into the character of Stableford's work. Among those are Rick Kleffel's Agony Column review of The Hunger & Ecstasy of Vampires; Serpent's Blood reviewed at Albedo; and The New Faust at the Tragicomique reviewed at The Green Man Review. Also, the SF Site has several reviews of interest and, helpfully, a portal page for the lot (which page is in itself useful).
Though not direct resources for Stableford's fiction, there are available on line some non-fiction works by Stableford--essays, articles, and reviews of others' fiction--which reveal something of the man and his style; as samples, one could examine "The Third Generation of Genre Science Fiction" at Science Fiction Studies; his review of Barrington Bayley's Soul of the Robot; and his appreciation of Ian McDonald.
Notable Science-Fiction and Fantasy Books by Brian Stableford ***
This is almost, but not quite, all of Stableford's work. One or two pedestrian novels are omitted, as are some readable but only so-so stuff written for Games Workshop's "Black Library" series under the pseudonym "Brian Craig".- Cradle of the Sun
-
The Blind Worm
- The Dies Irae Trilogy:
-
To Challenge Chaos
(ISFDB also lists three short stories as part of the "Chaos" cycle: "The Sun's Tears", 1974; "An Offer of Oblivion", 1974; and "Captain Fagan Died Alone", 1976; all seem uncollected.)
- The "Hooded Swan" Sextet:
- Man in a Cage
-
The Mind Riders
- The "Daedalus" Sextet:
- The Florians
- Critical Threshold
- Wildeblood's Empire
- The City of the Sun
- Balance of Power
- The Paradox of the Sets
- The Last Days of the Edge of the World
- # The Walking Shadow
-
The Realms of Tartarus
(first pubished as three separate volumes) - Optiman
- The Gates of Eden
-
# The Empire of Fear
- The Asgard Series:
-
# Asgard's Secret
This is a major revision of an earlier novel titled Journey to the Centre (which itself revised Journey to the Center) -
# Asgard's Conquerors
(originally titled Invaders from the Centre) -
# Asgard's Heart
(originally titled The Centre Cannot Hold)
-
# Asgard's Secret
-
# Sexual Chemistry *
- The Lydyard Series:
- # Young Blood
-
# Firefly: A Novel of the Far Future
- Genesys:
-
# Fables and Fantasies *
- The Emortality Series:
(These were published out of their intended reading order; that intended order is what is shown below.)
- The Cassandra Complex
- Inherit the Earth
- Architects of Emortality
- Fountains of Youth
- Dark Ararat
- The Omega Expedition
- Year Zero
- The Eleventh Hour
-
Complications and Other Stories *
- The Doomed Earth Series:
(So far, only the first novel of this projected series has been written.)
- Salome and Other Decadent Fantasies *
- # The Wayward Muse *
- # Kiss the Goat
- # Sheena and Other Gothic Tales *
- # The Stones of Camelot
- # Streaking
- # The New Faust at the Tragicomique
- # The Tree of Life *
- # The Haunted Bookshop and Other Apparitions *
- # The Cure for Love *
-
# Sherlock Holmes and the Vampires of Eternity
(An earlier version of this book was published in 1996 as The Hunger and Ecstasy of Vampires.)
- The Empire of the Necromancers Series:
- The Dragon Man: a novel of the future
- # Changelings and Other Metamorphic Tales *
- # The Moment of Truth
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