Holy moly do we have a lot of science fiction and fantasy novels. My conservative estimate is at 200. Some have been read, though--I don't cull these ones cause they're also Fernando's. Even if he's read them, like the 11 Asprin Myth books we have, or his golden age scifi short story collections, I'm pretty sure he'd want to keep them. My goal here, besides picking out the ones I want, is to spread them out in the hope at A. he'll be inspired to plough through some of them, and B. he won't bring more home!!
I can't begin to describe the pleasure I'm getting from sitting around here cataloging books. I'm taking my time, reading the backs, looking at other goodreads readers reviews...
Tonight I'm doing the science fiction and graphic novels. I feel almost transported when I sift through the Alan Moores, remembering the heights of pleasure when I discovered the Top Ten series, or getting excited about V for Vendetta which I haven't read yet (loved the movie, so it should be even better.)
In wwii a lot of super beings and robots were created, and after the war they were made to live in their own city. This is about that city's police force.
A lot of these books I bought for Fernando cause they had good reviews, or based on coworker recommendations. Some I bought for myself, like the collection of Jane Yolen stories I bought after loving one of her award nominated stories. Or the Sharon Shinns I bought after loving two of her books. Or the Pratchetts I have never tried. Or the Miles collection (Bujold).
A female dominated society of blue people, and a male dominated one of gold people. And a romance between two of the blues. A great discussion about race and culture and gender, without preaching.
I totally bought this for the cover.
(Well almost totally.)
And then there's the random stacks of books Fernando has brought home, many of them book two or eleven in a series we don't have... good ole fantasy, never content with one book. But they're fun to look over, and I came across one that sounds SUPER interesting. Like Starfish by Peter Watts, about humans finally establishing deep underwater stations, but the only people willing to train to live down there have psychological issues. ...So they're all down there rubbing elbows! This totally makes the short list!
"the crew of Beebe Station come across as not only believable but likeable as they fight for equilibrium against their own demons, one another, their superiors, and their remorselessly hostile surroundings." (New York Times)
Or award winning authors I never picked up myself, but was always curious about--like Sawyer's Hominids-which Fernando foraged somewhere. The premise is there's a parallel universe where Neanderthals won out and are the dominant species. A Neanderthal scientist pierces the wall into our world. Meanwhile his own world doesn't know what happened to him, and his lab partner's been accused of him murder. ...So interesting!!
I make interesting discoveries like... I knew Cherryh was a woman, but found out the h was added to her name so she wouldn't sound like a romance novelist. And I never knew Andre Norton was really Alice!
And some awesome covers.
And some awesome by-lines:
A Judgment of Dragons - Starring the starcats Prandra and Khreng!
(I did not add that exclamation mark.)
I don't know how I'll narrow this all down. When I'm sitting amongst my lit books, they're all I want to read. Once I was surrounded by mysteries, I couldn't imagine reading anything else. And now I'm knee deep in sci fi and it seems like the only genre in the world.
Okay I'll have to finish this tomorrow. I need to clean the S-Z off my bed.
A-D and E-H and I-Q
CAT PIC
Even my faithful companion has passed out on the E-H overflow.
5 comments:
Wow! I'm loving looking at these titles. Many I do not know because I don't read SF. Maybe I should start.: )
I bow to your collection!!
Impressive.
Fernando likes books, too. That must be nice. Someday in the future you guys need to live in a house that has a library room with all those neat tunnels and passages overhead for cats to roam in.
@Robena - If you ever want to start, try Connie Willis' Doomsday Book. It's doesn't have a foreign setting, and is very touching. Very popular book.
@Judie - It's nice to have my shopaholicm hoarding admired. ;-)
@ JJJ - TOtally
Loved the Hominid series ... take that with you!
Post a Comment