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Sci-fi A-Z

Isle of the dead (Amazon synopsis)
This is the fourth title in iBooks' reprint series of Zelazny's works. Isle of the Dead (1969) features Francis Shadow, a centuries-old man kept young through science. His advanced age has allowed him to accumulate enough wealth to own a planet, where he is considered a god by the world's natives, who believe he has absorbed the powers of their ancient ancestors. His abilities does he really have any? are tested when another planet-owning ruler challenges his dominance. Eye of the Cat (1982) takes a twist on the hunter turned hunted. William Blackhorse Singer is hired to protect an alien diplomat, then enlists the assistance of a shape-shifter he captured years earlier. The creature will only help on the condition that it gets a chance to try to trap Singer once the mission is completed.
Sounds interesting.
 
Jirel of Joiry - Catherine Lucille Moore

J's are hard, have not read this book but it's the sort of stuff I pick up in second hand book shops and read on the rig when bored. Pulp fantasy, simple literary fun, eg I am browsing through Conan the Renegade now. As long as you take books like these in the fun they were writen, you'll enjoy and chuckle as you read them. A feminists Conan perhaps:)
The creation of Catherine Lucille Moore, Jirel appeared in the pages of Weird Tales between October of 1934 and April of 1939. Jirel's little realm of Joiry is set in ancient France sometime after the fall of the Roman empire, and she is the prototype for later fantasy heroines such as Red Sonja and Xena. It's pretty clear that she made some positive impressions where her male counterparts could not. Horror grand master Robert Bloch, who did not at all care for Conan, stated that he was "very taken" with Jirel in a 1979 interview with author Graeme Flanagan.
 
Kushiel's Dart - Jacqueline Carey. One of my favourites of last year. I love Carey's writing style and the very interesting world. The end third of the novel is weaker but still, a very enjoyable read. I recommend it to anyone, unless you've got something against explicit sex scenes.
 
Luck in the Shadows - Lynn Flewelling.

First in the nightrunner series.
Thieves, spies, war, magic. A good series and good book to start it off with, BUT the homosexual relationship of the 2 main characters left me without a frame of reference, and detracted from my enjoyment of what would have been an excellent series, which sadly for me became just good and with a jaded edge. I'm still not sure why Lynn felt the need to go down this route. If any-one has any thoughts on the matter I'd be interested in reading them.
 
Magic's Pawn, Magic's Promise, Magic's Price (trilogy) - Mercedes Lackey

The best of her Valdemar series, with a gay hero. Lackey does an incredible job of handling a sensitive issue, especially considering that teenagers would be a big part of her audience. Also, the magical universe she creates here is intensely detailed and logical.

I have a new Valdemar book to read tonight! Yea!
 
Number of the Beast--Robert Heinlein

Its a sci-fi novel based on the idea of parallel universes. Heinlein gives it a good twist, as always. An academian who is pursuing an unusual branch of mathematics publishes a paper. This paper causes him, his daughter, another woman to whom he is to be married and his daughter's future husband to become the object of several assasination attempts. Beings from another universe have been systematically trying to keep their Earth from learning about transferring between planes. Downplaying, always, this particular branch of math. The math in question leads him to perfect a device that allows them to shift into other universe's where, as in many Heinlein books, havoc and adventure ensue.

A good read, to be sure.
 
On Basilisk Station by David Weber.

I've made a couple of posts on this series, as I have been reading it over the past couple of months.
First in the Honor Harrington Series.
Military scifi in a similar vein as CS Foresters Hornblower. Planetary and system conflict, space battles, etc. Won't win any awards as they are simple books, but they are fun to read. I've linked the title to the free download at Baen's website. Currently there are 9 in the series plus a few others written by different authors.

Pure Entertainment.
 
Perdido Street Station - China Mieville
An excellent book, crampacked with interesting and original concepts. This book well deserved the world fantasy award and I really can't find the words to do it justice. Mind-blowing.
 
The Queen of the Swords - Michael Moorcock.

Moorcock is a very prolific writer, especially in the 70's when most of his Eternal Champion books , Elric, Jerry Cornellius, etc. were writen

The Queen of Swords is the second book in the Corum Series. Not as good as Elric books but it all fits into Moorcocks Universe, or rather a Multiverse existing on numerous planes. Corum stands for Law and the book(s) follow the theme of Law vs Chaos.

If you have not read any Moorcock, then I suggest you pick up the Elric series. Once you've got the bug you'll enjoy the rest. These books are all short so for an avid reader you can read then in a day or two.
 
Sirius - Olaf Stapeldon

Great novel from the 1930s or 40s about a super-smart dog and his romantic crush on his master's daughter. Very strange. Bought it blind at a flea market. I've since learned he was a pretty influential sci fi writer.
 
Time and Again - Jack Finney

A very interesting (and I suppose Einsteinian) look at time travel. What if all it takes is a little mental readjustment to walk into the past? What's great about this one is that it's an "illustrated novel" which means he dug up some great old photos and drawings to include in the novel, giving it a great visual component.

The sequel isn't so good, though. He has a collection of short stories, Time after Time (I think) that are pretty good.
 
Ubik - P.K.Dick (1969)

A classic scifi author.

Synopsis (stolen) :) : Glen Runciter is dead--or is everybody else? Somebody died in an explosion orchestrated by Runciter's business competitors, but it's hard to tell who. Filled with paranoic menace and unfettered slapstick, Ubik is a metaphysical comedy of death and salvation--which comes in a convenient aerosal spray, to be used only as directed.
 
Veniss Underground - Jack Vandermeer.
Jeff VanderMeer explores the limits of love, memory and obsession in a far-future SF novel that combines the grotesque and the sublime with a compelling mystery. On a far-future Earth, where vast deserts - ecological disaster areas - surround walled city-states slowly losing their grip on advanced technology, the mysterious Quin manipulates biological engineering to create sentient species as both toys and manual labour. When Nicholas, a failed holo artist, decides to visit Quin, he - along with his programmer sister Nicola and her former lover, Shadrach - will discover just how dangerous it is to know Quin - in the place known as Veniss Underground.
 
The War of Powers - Robert E. Vardeman

A prolific writer.

I read The War of Powers, years ago, it was published in 1984 as a omnibus, which is when I read it, originally published as 3 books in 1980. I thoroughly enjoyed it and have looked for a copy on ebay and second hand bookshops to re-read it.

From memory: warrior women, a hero, riding on eagles, lizard men invaders. All a bit hazy, but we are talking 20 years ago.
OMG 20 years ago, I am getting old. Anyway the War of Powers was followed up by 3 more books released as another omnibus called Istu Awakened.

Oponn Veniss Underground - Jack Vandermeer. sounds really intriguing, I'll add it to my list.
 
Following W with ....

Xenocide--Orson Scott Card, third book in Ender cycle

I love this writer but he has a tendency to run out of steam on his series novels. Enders Game and Speaker for the Dead were great standalone novels that happened to continue a great story, but X is a mess without the setup of the first two and bridges to a final novel (Children of the Mind) that really falls apart.

O
 
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