| donate | directory |
|
Great Science-Fiction a critical list with discussions Some Candidates For the Science-Fiction & Fantasy Author and Book Lists"'The Observer will decide,' I said."--Kiteworld, Keith Roberts What Makes a "Candidate"About This PageRegrettably, I have been spared little time of late for the development of this site. While I hope and expect that I will be returning to a heavier commitment to it soon now, in the meantime I thought to augment the site with a list of authors and books that I suspect--from considerable examination of others' comments on them (and on who those "others" are and how credible they are)--might plausibly end up, once I have read them, being added to the main lists at this site. Let me make it clear that I am not exactly "prejudging" these books, and that in consequence this list is unlike the main lists, in that it is not a list of recommendations but rather just a list of intriguing possibilities. As time (and, in the case of some rarer books, budget) allows, I will read these and either add them to the actual "recommended" lists or just discard them. I set forth this list only to assist those few--if any--who occasionally look to this site for some hints on new realms to explore in their reading. This list is basically just a prettified and annotated copy of my personal "buy and read" list, but that list has some nuancing worth mention. Although I intend to examine everything on this list, I do not reckon equal probabilities of success for everything on it. Some authors sound--to the extent that we can deduce reliably from existing comment and review--like they are virtual locks; most just sound pretty interesting; and a few I am more or less skeptical about, but will examine owing to the total weight of others' critical approval. I have used color coding, explained farther below, to mark out each author's status in this list. While it may seem curious, or even hypocritical, to segregate authors whose works I admittedly have not personally reviewed, the distinction is of value, at least to me, in that it creates a triage order in which to attack the list; and having set up those distinctions, I simply pass them on for what they may, or may not, be worth to others. I should further note that although I am treating all of these authors as "unread", in not a few instances I have read some--sometimes much--of their work, but so long ago, many decades ago in a lot of instances, that I can no longer trust either my memory or the status of my critical judgement at the time. Don't reckon that I am a quasi-illiterate just owing to the appearance of some major names on this "unread" list: been there, done that, at least at some time. But, as someone wisely said, the past is a foreign country, and only strangers live there. Finally, I will note that in several instances of authors who work in the vicinity of the border between speculative fiction and mainstream fiction, it has been hard to deduce from the available commentary whether this or that particular book really qualifies for the designation "speculative fiction". Mainstream books, however meritorious, do not belong in these specialist lists, but I cannot simply omit the uncertain; I have, therefore, included those questionable titles, but have appropriately marked them out, as explained farther below. (This issue--what sort of work does or does not belong in these lists--nagged at me enough that I eventually set forth some comment on the matter supplementary to what is already in the Apologia elsewhere on this site.) Other ResourcesSince the idea is to point you at authors and books generally consonant with those actually in the main lists on this site, let me also point you at some further resources for identifying such authors and books.
Another fine literary resource, not specific to speculative fiction but including many speculative-fiction authors, is the so-called "Authors' Calendar", a set of well-done short essays and select bibliographies for most of the notable figures of literature. The ListThis list is liable to very frequent revisions, which--owing to that frequency--are not logged on this site's Change Log page. In these listings:
The standard marks on this site also apply: a # mark after an author's name signifies that he or she produced only one or two books in our field (however many might have been produced in other areas), while a * after a book title indicates that it is a collection of tales, not a novel. Where I know enough about the writer, I have inserted a brief note (note, not evaluation). I have also tried to provide an external link for each author. I think it important to emphasize that the titles listed are not necessarily a complete bibliography of a given author's speculative-fiction work; in many cases they are, but in others they are only an indicative selection (or even single book). The idea here is to point you (and me) at books with which we can sample the authors; if we like what we taste, we can (and I will) go on to assemble complete lists. Authors Included: Aickman, RobertAickman is a "horror" writer whose works sound sufficiently large in purpose to possibly qualify as "speculative fiction" (as I define it). These collected tales are, I believe, his entire oeuvre. There is a useful web site, Robert Aickman - An Appreciation.
Aylett, SteveA writer who snuck in under my radar, Aylett is by general report savagely funny. He maintains his own web site, title simply the Steve Aylett Website.
Baker, FrankThe tantalizingly little information generally available suggests that others of his oeuvre may well also be of interest. There is a nice web site available, Frank Baker Author.
Ballard, J. G.Ballard was a copious writer who eventually achieved mainstream reputation after a long science-fiction career. The list below is only a small sampling of his oeuvre, intended as a starting place for anyone interested (including me). Ballard is one of those writers whose work I last read so many decades ago that I need to refresh myself before definitively adding him into these lists. If he is as I recall, the final tabulation for him will doubtless be rather longer than this mini-list. A good starting place on line is the web site at jgballard.com; another is The Ballardian.
Beerbohm, Max #Beerbohm, a contemporary of Shaw and Chesterton, was held by such as they to be a wit supreme and an elegantly polished writer. His one novel has sufficient fantastic elements (though they sound like appurtenances to the tale, not core issues) to qualify for consideration here, as do at least some of the portraits in the collection below; if he is anything like as good as reputed, I'm glad to have the excuse to include him here. There is a nice on-line review of some books on his life and work, The Beerbohm Cult.
Bioy Casares, Adolfo"Bioy" was a good friend of Borges, and collaborated with him on some works. On his own, he was, by general report, a good writer, but nothing like in Borges' class. His chief work (in modern opinion) is the novel cited below, a curiously weird, humorous, sad, and philosophical work. Some--perhaps many--of his short stories also have a fantastical cast. There is an on-line discussion of Morel, The Invention of Morel, Adolfo Bioy Casares.
Brockmeier, KevinThe novel listed below derives from a short story that appeared in the New Yorker. It has been well received critically, both in the mainstream and in speculative-fiction circles.
Carpentier, AlejoCarpentier is one of the very earliest writers whose works would come to be described as "magical realism"; he is said to have inspired such successors as Gabriel García Márquez. I have listed his complete oeuvre below, but I cannot yet solemnly swear it is all speculative fiction (though I think so). There is a pleasant article, Alejo Carpentier, Criticism and Essays, available on line.
Carrington, LeonoraCarrington is both a respected painter and an apparently under-recognized author, chiefly in the surrealist mode. Her most-read book (in a relative sense) is The Hearing Trumpet; I have read it, and found it overall not quite up to these lists: but it is a mixed bag. It starts, and for some time goes on, most excellently, with a wild, poker-faced madcap humor that can have one barking in laughter twice a page. The fantastic/surrealist elements in this phase of the book are minimal, scarcely present at all. The Carrington turns to A Message (a feminist one) and the floodgates of fantasy open wide--too wide, and her original plot, such as it was, and style are swept away in a tide of ever-more-fervid nuttiness that is, regrettably, too unsubtle. But the point is that the work is not simply worth reading, but shows a real talent that might, with more restraint (which the short-story form often imposes, and much of her work is short stories), be excellent. Thus I present this list of her other works. I think they are all fantasies, but I may err; there is too little information on line about her writing (though much on her painting). There may be some overlap in the contents of the story collections.
Coney, MichaelThere is a tribute Michael Coney web site with much information on Coney, plus some of his work available to be read on line; it also has a large--but incomplete--bibliography of his extensive oeuvre. Also available on line is an appreciative obituary of Coney by Christopher Priest.
Constantine, StormConstantine has a rabid fan following for her substantial oeuvre, most of which at least sounds like things I would not fancy; the novel listed below, however, may be an exception (if, in fact, my deductions from reviews are correct as to her work), and seems well worth sampling. There is an "Official Storm Constantine Web Site", which has a bizarre Java/cookies-based interface that may not be universally usable.
Cooley, MarthaA well-received second novel that, as one review puts it, "explores the concepts of repressed emotions, hidden truths which slowly reveal themselves, and figures in literary/artistic history who play vital roles within the framework of the novel." It got mixed but generally favorable reviews. You can get a sample of her prose style from a brief essay available on line.
Coover, Robert #This bizarre novel by a noted mainstream author very probably belongs here, but till I finish it--I have actually begun--I can't say for certain. Coover also has some other work that seems arguably speculative fiction, but his stuff is near the heart of the question of whether strangeness in fiction suffices to qualify as speculation. I cannot find any solid Coover site or even page, but there is a on-line review of Association from The New York Times.
Cortasár, JulioOn the Authors' Calendar Julio Cortasár page at that excellent literary site, he is is described as "one of the great masters of the fantastic short story, who has been compared to Jorge Luis Borges." Cortasár also wrote a novel, Hopscotch, that--although written in an experimental style (read the chapters in any order, hence the title)--I don't think is really "speculative fiction".
Danielewski, Mark Z.House of Leaves is a creepy, complex, nonlinear, challenging monster of a book that readers (including reviewers) either love or hate; The Whalestoe Letters is a novella somewhat extending House; and Danielewski's new speculative-fiction novel, Only Revolutions, is just recently released. The Complete Review has a good web page on House of Leaves. For the interested, there is a web site dedicated to Only Revolutions, but it despicably requires the "Flash" browser plugin; of the book, one reviewer remarked "the jury will be out on whether the tricks are of the for-art's-sake variety or more like a terrific video game". Umf. This all starts to sound like The Emperor's New Clothes.
Fessier, MichaelFessier mostly did screenplays for movies and television, but produced these two quirky and quite different speculative-fiction novels. There is precious little information about Fessier on the web, and that mostly about his screenplays; this SF Site "Curiosities" review of Fully Dressed is perhaps the most relevant information available. (Clovis is a comic tale about a highly educated, highly opinionated parrot.) See also this page for a little more about Fully Dressed.
Ford, JeffreyA lot of people with a right to an opinion very much like this author, comparing him to Kafka, Wolfe, Crowley, and even Borges; that's pretty strong company. Ford maintains his own web site, Jeffrey Ford's Homepage.
Forster, E. M.Yes, this is that E. M. Forster. While far and away best known for his mainstream fiction, Forster was always an adventurer into speculation, as his classic novella The Machine Stops (included in the second collection) shows. The stories in this collection are by and large parables, reportedly excellently written.
Frayn, MichaelFrayn is a known, awarded mainstream novelist (Somerset Maugham Award, Hawthornden Prize, Sunday Express "Book of the Year", Booker Prize shortlist), playwright, and translator; he considers Sweet Dreams possibly his best book. And Anthony Burgess put it on his list of the best 99 English novels since 1939. The New York Times Book Review, the New Yorker, and the Times Literary Supplement all liked it. While such recommendations can be two-edged swords, it seems well worth trying.
Fuentes, CarlosOne of the last of the diplomat-scholars, Fuentes "uses experimental techniques familiar from the nouveau roman and postmodern fiction" (per the Fuentes page on The Authors' Calendar) in literate tales that, by and large, focus on power and politics in Latin America. There seems, by report, little doubt that Fuentes is a writer of high quality; what is less certain, to me, is which of his books fairly fall under the rubric "speculative fiction" ("experimental techniques" is not quite the same thing as "speculative fiction"). The listing below is thus quite incomplete (Fuentes was prolific, with both fiction and non-fiction) and possibly in some error; I consider it a modest "sampler" list, which can be expanded at will.
Garnett, DavidThough Garnett wrote a number of later fictions, this, his first, is what he is remembered for--to the extent that he is remembered, for despite the book's having in its time won all sorts of literary prizes and the praise of the famous, neither it nor Garnett himself are much remembered today. There is correspondingly little about Garnett on the web; perhaps the best of that little is this little David Garnett bio.
Geston, Mark S.Geston wrote science fiction for which the phrase "amazingly depressing" is too light. But a lot of people seem to feel that he wrote it well, and with Big Ideas well treated. I have done his flagship (and premier) novel at least twice, at widely separated times, and still don't have it on the shelves, but I guess third time pays for all . . . . (A couple of his later books are said to be somewhat different.) I find it remarkable and then some that though Geston's name seems universally recognized by veteran sf readers, there is virtually nothing substantive about him or his works on the web.
Ghose, ZulfikarGhose is, ahem: an ex-Pakistani in Texas by way of England writing Latin American "magic realism". OK, but it's said to be good writing. As one commenter put it, "His literary reputation has not been served well by critics and reviewers who choose to focus on labeling writers along strictly national or ethnic boundaries. As with so many of these "magical realism" writers, it is hard to know which of his books (at least ten novels so far) really are speculative fiction and which not; the one below is, and may be taken as a Ghose starting point. There are references to Ghose and his works all over the web, but little in the way of a concentrated analysis; you can, however, read this review of Figures of Enchantment from The New York Times.
Gray, AlasdairGray is a respected Scottish author, mostly mainstream but with a few turns of fantasy, as listed below. Gray has his own web site, The Official Web Site of Alasdair Gray. My first approach to 1982, Janine, which I did not finish, left me unsure of its merit, and I need to re-try it to get a better handle on it and Gray. (But it was skillfully written, at the least). Since writing that, I have begun his earliest novel, Lanark, and in early going it is quite first-class. More later.
Gray, Curme #This little-known book, now well over half a century old, is said to be a remarkable exercise: a far-future tale (a murder mystery, as it happens) told with absolutely no "infodumping" whatever. The author writes as if addressing others of that time, and so explains nothing that would be common knowledge--often leaving the reader perplexed. It could be great or it could be awful: it certainly never found any popular readership, yet the few who write of it do so respectfully (as did Damon Knight and Paul Di Filippo). I'll be interested to see. Here is a link to Di Filippo's mini-review of the book (from the SF Site Curiosities series).
Gun, GuneliGun is a Turk, now resident in the U.S., who writes in English and seems well liked by the literary establishment (here's an on-line micro-biography of Guneli Gun). The novel listed below is available online.
Hand, ElizabethThis is just one sample--a collection of four novellas--of her extensive work, but is probably as good a starting point as any. Ms. Hand maintains her own web site, Winterlong.
Hansen, BrooksHansen's first novel, The Chess Garden, stirred some strong positive reactions in competent critics. The next two look rather promising as well, based on a majority of published criticism from reputable sources. There seems to be no overall Hansen site or page on the web, but there are available reviews of the individual books, of which these are samples: review of The Chess Garden; review of Perlman's Ordeal; and review of Caesar's Antlers.
Harpur, PatrickThis came to my attention through a recommendation by M. John Harrison. Most reviews seem to like it. Harpur has a small essay on alchemy of some possible interest. This book seems to be a sort of cult "semi-classic", in that it is little known but those who know it like it.
Hesse, HermanHesse is another world-class mainstream author who occasionally dipped into the fantastic (or the science-fictional). Professor Günther Gottschalk maintains the Herman Hesse Home Page.
Hollander, JohnHollander is a top-ranked poet and scholar, and he used his abilities to construct this one fantasy work, which takes the form of a scholar's efforts to piece together and interpret a lost medieval epic poem; the resulting book is half an amusing commentary on scholarly research and half an actual epic poem, though in scattered pieces in different hands and different styles. The thing is said to be a delightful hoot.
Hughes, RhysHughes is a Welsh writer who has achieved a substantial literary reputation in the U.K. Most or all of his work is tinged with the fantastic. He maintains his own blog, The Spoons That Are My Ears!
Ishiguro, Kazuo #The first novel linked below is another that, even after reading extensive reviews and descriptions of it, seems to me hard to classify as "speculative fiction". Odd, yes, no doubt; told in an curious, experimental manner, yes; surrealistic or fantastic--maybe. But, it seems, definitely a good book, no matter of what sort. Here is a brief on-line evaluation of Ishiguro. (The second novel loisted here is definitely speculative fiction.)
Jansson, ToveJansson's "Moomintroll" tales are nominally children's stories, but like many another such set, they have been enthusiastically taken up by many adults. They have been lauded by folk with a right to an opinion, and seem well worth a taste. Regrettably, after the series passed from the late author's originals it was turned into a schlocky cottage industry, rather like Pooh. There is a nice dedicated Moomintroll web site, The Moomintroll Home Page.
Johnson, KijJohnson has a series of awards to testify to the quality of her writings: the Theodore A. Sturgeon Memorial Award for best short story of 1994, the International Association for the Fantastic in the Art's Crawford Award for best new fantasy novelist of the year, finalist for the 2003 James Tiptree, Jr. Award, finalist for the 2004 Mythopoeic Fantasy Award, currently a finalist for the World Fantasy Award; she was an author guest of honor for the 2005 SFRA conference in Las Vegas. She has her own web page, Kij Johnson; separate from that, she runs her own blog, "Everything is a transition between something and something else".
Jones, GwynethA long-time and prolific writer of children's books (under another name), in 1984 Jones (under her own name) turned to science fiction; since then, she has been the winner of two World Fantasy Awards, the BSFA short story award, the Children of the Night Award from the Dracula Society, the Arthur C. Clarke Award, the Philip K. Dick Award, and a co-winner of the James Tiptree, Jr. Award. The work below is only a sampling of her total oeuvre; if it pans out, the list will likely end up rather longer. She has a web site of her own, Gwyneth Jones.
Joseph, M. K.The work below is only a sampling of the total oeuvre of this remarkable writer; if it pans out, the list will likely end up rather longer. There is available an on-line review of the book listed below (read down the blog column a bit till you come to it).
Kafka, FranzThere is no least doubt that these classics by this famed author belong here; my only question is at how many stars, so I need to navigate them before adding them in. Kafka material on the web is voluminous, but the Authors' Calendar Franz Kafka page is a good place to look.
Kay, Guy GavrielHere is another writer a lot of people seem to love, but who brings out, in me, only The Eight Deadly Words (described farther above). Nothing in his work seems particularly wrong in any way, but the sum of the elements--from the actual prose to the depth of the characters--seems always just that much off deep achievement. But several readers have suggested that perhaps I was reading the wrong works--some being supposedly much better than others, I guess--so I owe it one more fling. The two books listed below are probably as good a place to dive in as anywhere. There is an "authorized" Kay web site, Bright Weavings.
Kharms, Daniil #Kharms wrote short absurdist pieces in Stalinist Russia, which facts led, at least in part, to his incarceration, during which he died of starvation in the prison hospital. His works are short, often microscopically so, but are reportedly outstanding reading; so far as I can tell, the volume cited below collects all of these pieces. Kharms also produced a substantial body of books for young children, many of which are also said to be absurdist fantasy, and at least some of which are available in English. The Authors' Calendar Daniil Kharms page is useful.
King, Thomas #This is said to be a very funny book; King, a Cherokee Indian, writes of the clash between traditional Indian culture and the modern world, and spares nothing and nobody from his pervasive wit, which is warm-hearted, not scathing. There is a fair amount of material about King on the web, none particularly deep or insightful; here is a typical King bio, Canadian Writers: Thomas King.
Knox, ElizabethThe work below is only a sampling of her total oeuvre; if it pans out, the list will likely end up rather longer. The New Zealand Book Council has a reasonably extensive web page on Elizabeth Knox.
Koster, R. M.Koster has written some other works, but this is the only one that seems to clearly lie in our fields; it is reported to be exceedingly clever and funny. There is remarkably little available about Koster, surprising in that he has been a controversial political writer for a long time. The closest to useful is perhaps this brief description of Carmichael's Dog.
Kotzwinkle, WilliamKotzwinkle has written numerous popular children's books (with titles like Walter the Farting Dog) and--apparently with very bad results--"novelizations" of some major movie scripts (such as E.T.), as well as a good number of adult novels, many fantastical (and commonly described as satirical); he is a two-time winner of both the National Magazine Award for Fiction and the World Fantasy Award. For a'that, there is no central Kotzwinkle site or page on the web (that I can find), just scattered reviews of some individual books. The closest thing to general background is this skinny micro-biography.
Krausser, HelmutKrausser has written a lot more; I don't know how much of it, if any, is fantasy, because little or none (save the one novel listed below) is available yet in English. In the novel we have, a psychiatrist takes on a patient who claims to be--and may indeed be--Satan; much hilarity (sort of) ensues. There seems no Krausser web page, but here's a review of The Great Bagarozy.
Krohn, LeenaKrohn is a Finnish author of substantial output, but (so far as I know) the two books listed below are her only work yet translated into English. Tainaron is a rather unusual epistolary novel, the letters coming from an unnamed writer visiting a city of diverse, civilized, human-sized insects; all available reports praise it highly. Krohn's style is to build a whole out of quite small pieces of prose--such as the letters in Tainaron--which, though each seems almost independent, add up to a significant whole exposition. Krohn has several other works in her oeuvre, some possibly also fantastical. Besides numerous glowing reviews of Tainaron, There are a couple of mini-biographies available on line--here is one such Krohn biography.
La Farge, TomLa Farge (married to Wendy Walker, see farther below) specializes in adult tales of the Talking Animal variety. There is annoyingly little information on him or his works on the web; about the best available is this mini-review of Zuntig.
Lem, StanislawLem is a late addition to this page, because I had read some of his work and found it jejeune. But it seems that a very great deal depends on the translation, with the developing consensus being that most English translations have done Lem's work great disservice. In the books list below, I have included only those translated into English by Michael Kandel, who appears to be the one universally praised translator for Lem. We'll see how this goes on the replay. (Note that Solaris, possibly Lem's best-known work, is not--yet, anyway--tramnslated by Kandel.)
Link, KellyOne reviewer describes her tales as "elliptical and spooky". She maintains her own web site, www.kellylink.net.
Martel, YannMartel hit the big time with this novel. He has a few other works that also straddle the line between mainstream and speculative fiction; if this one reads well, those will be worth pursuing as well. (This prize-winning novel was, by Martel's own avowal, derived from Moacyr Scliar's novel (see below) Max and the Cats.) There are several reviews of the novel on line, but only scant Martel biography: this Martel page seems to be about as much as there is.
Masefield, John(Yes, the Poet Laureate Masefield.) Many critics seem to like these two novels, though the terms in which they speak lead me to believe that there is an element of nostalgia possibly clouding their critical judgements. Well, in time we shall see. There is an extensive Masefield biography available on line.
Meyrink, GustaveMore a psychological and social study than a "supernatural" tale, this is one of the definitive renderings of the golem legend. One reader suggests strongly that the 1928 translation by Madge Pemberton (available in a Dover edition of the novel) is somewhat more flowing than that of Mike Mitchell, though the latter has done several Meyrink books of late. There are few pages on the web about Meyrink, but there is a decent review of The Golem available.
Michael, IbAs with many other listings on this page, this is only a sample of a larger oeuvre. There is a decent Ib Michael web site available.
Miller, KeithA first novel, a quest fable, told in elegant prose, liked by critics and readers.
Moore, BrianMoore is another respected mainstream writer who on occasion entered to the speculative arena to go a few rounds with his angst and issues. Both these books garnered substantial critical praise; one thing I noted in reviews of The Great Victorian Collection was that no two reviewers, though each seemed certain of his grasp of the book, seemed to find the same message in it, which--for me--bodes well. And while Cold Heaven was made into a movie, one reviewer said "avoid at all costs the film based on the book, a botched job if there ever was one." Reviews of the book are generally positive, but more mixed than for Collection.
Morris, KennethMorris was catapaulted into current attention when Ursula Le Guin classed him one of the three master prose stylists of fantasy in the twentieth century (along with Dunsany and Tolkien). There is a good Kenneth Morris web site.
Murakami, HarukiMurakami has become quite the bright light of modern literature. It's time to see why. The so-called "official American Murakami web site" is a programming disaster requiring the vile "Flash" plugin to show anything at all (perhaps the very definition of "brain dead" in site-making); fortunately, there is a nicely done "unofficial" Haruki Murakami site.
Nabokov, VladimirNabokov is an eminently well-known "mainstream" novelist who is by no means always mainstream. I presently know him only by his autobiographical work Speak, Memory, which is first-class writing. There is a useful Authors' Calendar Vladimir Nabokov page.
Nye, RobertElsewhere on this site, I have praised Nye's book Falstaff, but not included it in the main lists because it is not truly a work of speculative fiction (though it reads much like, which is why I mentioned it). I now find that Nye has treated several other literary and historical figures, and if the results are as good as for Falstaff, there's quite a treat awaiting. I list below only Nye's books that do or might qualify as "speculative", but recommend to you anything you can find by him. (Incidentally, despite the success of Falstaff and some of his other novels, it seems Nye is best known as a poet.) There is a brief biography of Robert Nye, but not a lot more in any one place.
O'Leary, PatrickO'Leary is a popular young writer of speculative fiction. He maintains his own web site, Patrick O'Leary's Books.
Okri, BenOkri, a Nigerian African, is often compared to Amos Tutuola; Okri's books, set in modern-day Africa, are redolent of "magic realism" (whatever exactly that may be), with Yoruba myths and beliefs interwoven integrally with the narrative. Some readers report The Famished Road as complicated or difficult or, tellingly, as a book that reads as if written for an academic readership; others simply love it. The ever-helpful Author's Calendar has a Ben Okri page.
Pamuk, OrhanPamuk, a Turk, is a commonly described as a bright star in today's literary constellations. The books listed below, though they seem all to partake of modernist writing techniques, are by no means assuredly what I would class "speculative fiction". There is a Orhan Pamuk web site (unofficial).
Percy, WalkerPercy is a reportedly literate advocate of morals and the battle for the modern mind and soul. He is a Catholic, and the protagonist of the two books below is a Dr. Tom More, but the reports suggest that while he is not subtle about moralizing, neither does he strike too hard with that most baneful weapon of didactic fiction, The Great Hammer Of Obviousness. I have--based, as always, on report and review--mixed feelings about these, but they seem to deserve a reading. There is a major web site available, The Walker Percy Project.
Potocki, JanThe novel below, a sprawling Decameron of sub-tales, seems known to few, all of whom ecstatically praise it. Note that the latest translation from the original French not Polish, as I previously stated here), by Ian MacLean, seems considered by many to be inferior to the earlier two-volume version by Elizabeth Abbot ("only version that captures the humor of the original"), which was published in two volumes (entitled The Saragossa Manuscript and The New Decameron.); yet another reviewer preferred the translation by Christine Donougher ("more successfully captures the surreal whimsy"--do we see a trend here?). There was a film of the book, said to be pretty faithful (and thus good). (Actually, the history of the manuscript is complex, in that parts of the original in French were lost, the present English translations derive from an early translation of the then-intact whole into Polish, which translation was and is considered quite good. |
|
Site Mechanics:
|
|||
|
Site Directory:
The site's Front Page |
|||
(essential one-time reading) |
Introductory Material: | ||
|
Welcome:
a quick site overview and some mechanical details |
|||
|
Apologia: [in two parts, for shorter downloads]
the criteria used to make these lists · Apologia: Part 1 · Apologia: Part 2 |
|||
|
Site Organization: what's where, and why |
|||
(the heart of the site) |
The Authors: | ||
|
Author List (just a lightly annotated list of the authors here--not the best place to start) |
|||
|
Master Authors/Books List (the centrum of this site, but a big page--there are alpha subpages available) A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z |
|||
|
Specialty Lists: several author "sub-lists" (such as the 5-star greats) |
|||
|
Author Links: links to a useful external page or site for each listed author |
|||
|
More Books: yet-unread candidate books by authors already in these lists |
|||
|
Other Candidates: authors, and books, that--pending actual reading--seem likely candidates for these lists |
|||
(typically gotten to by author) |
The Books: | ||
|
All Listed Science Fiction & Fantasy Books (a long file to download) |
|||
|
Preferred Editions: for those books having such (a work in progress) |
|||
|
The Other Books: all cited books not in the master fiction list, collected in one place |
|||
|
Overlooked Gems of Science Fiction & Fantasy: wonderful works sadly under-known |
|||
|
Light-Hearted Science-Fiction & Fantasy: there's more than you might think |
|||
|
Religiously Themed Science Fiction & Fantasy: something the field handles wonderful well |
|||
|
Science Fiction & Fantasy For Younger Readers: a selection from these lists of appropriate works |
|||
|
100 Great Works of Science Fiction & Fantasy: using an expansive definition of "works" |
|||
(new, used--find any book, anywhere in the world) |
About Buying Books From Here: | ||
|
Buying Books New:
· about buying books from Amazon · searching for new books at any Amazon division · international book-buying considerations |
|||
|
Buying Books Used:
searching for used books anywhere in the world |
|||
|
About the Science-Fiction Book Club: info & online signup |
|||
(often the most interesting part of any site) |
Miscellaneous Topics & Info: | ||
|
an ever-growing collection of, yes, musings |
|||
|
Obiter Dicta: collected miscellaneous |
|||
|
"That Other Genre": crime/mystery fiction |
|||
|
Science-Fiction & Fantasy Art and Illustration: online galleries of diverse works |
|||
|
Other Sites:
sites that have noticed this one |
|||
|
The English Language: a few thoughts on its modern rape |
|||
|
Scumware! read this if nothing else whatever |
|||
|
Change Log what was done when |
|||
|
Your Host: a comically little about me |
|||
|
Donate: you can help support this site |
|||
|
Comments: some things said about this site by others |
|||
Site Info:
Comments? Criticisms? Questions? Please, e-mail me by clicking here. (Or, if you cannot email from your browser, send mail to webmaster@greatsfandf.com) All content copyright 1999 - 2008 The Owlcroft Company This web page is strictly compliant with the W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) | |||||||