Reading

 

  I have been reading and blogging even less lately. I think it is a combination of laziness, lassitude, and insomnia. Two weeks of polar vortex did not help; this is something we expect in western Canada, but the fact we have been sheltering in place for so long because of the pandemic meant that we were already housebound. However, our family and friends are okay, so I have little reason to complain. 

  I was sitting in my room early this morning, and right at my elbow, I found a potential remedy, a pile of anthologies. I started with Aliette de Bodard's "The Frost on Jade Buds" from Solaris Rising 3 and followed that up with "A Mouse in the Walls of the Global Village" by Dean R.Koontz from Again Dangerous Visions 2. Neither story was a cheerful read. 

  But the more I discuss science fiction with Doug during our weekly get-togethers, now via Skype, the more I realize how short stories have informed my science fiction reading. Both Doug and Helen are more novel orientated. So I thought the best solution to get my butt in gear was to select some anthologies to dip into regularly. I tried to have some reasonably current material and some significant anthologies I had on hand, but I have not read extensively. Also, I wanted to read paper books with no music or tv in the background to reduce my overall screen time to see if that helps with my insomnia and my concentration level. The Dangerous Visions anthologies include introductory material by Harlan Ellison and the author of the stories, which can be quite interesting. The Koontz story has already given me some ideas for future posts and titles to investigate. 

How are you doing/coping?

New Arrivals and updated Reading Exercise

My last post featured items I picked up on a trip to visit family. The items in this post came via ABE. 

This cover by Ronald Walotsky always intrigued me and when I realized this collection, included Guin's short story "Beyond Bedlam" I had to get it.

I have made no secret of my admiration of the art of Richard Powers. I consider this cover one of his best, so I finally abandoned any hope of picking up a copy without incurring shipping costs and ordered it.

The rest of these books come from Alex Simpson on

 ABE, I was really impressed with the service. The books are in beautiful condition, the seller reduced the shipping charges even further upon receiving the order and I had my books in about a week. Thanks.

I was initially looking for Badger books, a UK imprint discussed at length on the unsubscibed blog.

https://unsubscribedblog.wordpress.com/2014/10/19/book-on-sunday-doom/

I found a Badger book (Reactor XK9, cover by H. Fox) and a Vega book (Special Mission, cover H. Fox). Vega seems to be an America imprint for Badger books. I then looked to see what else this bookseller had and found some lovely stuff.

A couple of years ago, my buddy Doug convinced me to reread Foundation, one of his favourite books. I borrowed his cool 1951 Book Club Edition, I have been looking for a reasonably priced copy of my own ever since.

Fahrenheit 451 is one of my favourite novels by one of my favourite authors. I wanted this edition because it was intended for use in the Ontario school system. It does have a cover image from the rather wretched 1966 film. I just noticed a remake is on tap for 2018, I will probably stick with the book.

Early Book Club Edition, 1958, cover Paul Baron.

And a couple of items which show my collecting tastes are  still fairly eclectic.

New additions to the reading list include;

Arnason Eleanor, Mammoths of the Great Plains, (2010)

Asher Neal, Strood, (ss) 2004

Barnes John, The Birds And The Bees And The Gasoline Trees, (ss) 2011

Bear Elizabeth, Dolly. (ss) (2011)

Okorafor Nnedi, Wahala, (ss) (2011)

And Doug dropped off some more magazines for my perusal.

Reading Exercise Part Two

Illustration by Jack Gaughan

The reading exercise mentioned in my last post continues with Doug and I both offering selections and then reading and briefly discussing them. I had hoped to be providing posts on some of the titles by now but that will have to wait as I have other commitments for the next few weeks. Doug has read everything we have chosen so far but I have to admit I read less than half of Class Six Climb by Cochrane. While I look at older SF as historic artifacts that may include the racism and sexist attitudes of the time the misogyny of Class Six Climb was setting my teeth on edge. But it was the writing that finished me off. Many of the incidents included in the plot were simply illogical, and after one third of the story the characters still had not begun the climb. I could go on but I see little point. My intent in this blog has always been to post only about works or authors that I think have something worthwhile to offer.

Cover by Frank Kelly Freas                                       Cover by Dean Ellis

The system or non-system we have initiated for choosing specific titles has worked so far. While I was trying to avoid reading a number of works on specific themes one after another, the repetition of themes is almost unavoidable as certain tropes have come to define science fiction. So instead we simply play it by ear. The recent revelations concerning Jupiter have, for example encouraged us to read a number of stories concerning that planet. I have to admit I am enjoying seeing how the same concepts play out across stories by different authors and also how the passage of time and a more diverse group of authors has changed the way they are handled. 

Anderson Poul, Call me Joe, (ss) (1957)

Anderson Poul, Epilogue, (ss) (1962)

Anvil Christopher,  Strangers in Paradise, (1966)

Anvil Christopher, Experts In the Field, (ss) (1967)

Anvil Christopher, The Trap, (ss) (1969)

Asimov Isaac, Not Final, (ss) (1941)

Asimov Isaac, Victory Unintentional, (ss) (1942) 

Baxter Stephen, Tempest 43, (ss) (2009)

Bodard Aliette de, The Waiting Stars, (ss) (2013

Clement, Hal, Close to Critical, (1958)

Dickson Gorden R., Wolfling, (1969)

Egan Greg, Wang’s Carpets, (ss) (1995)

                                                       Cover by John Harris

 

Cover by Dominic Harman  

                                       

Hallus Tak, Mini-Talent, (ss)  (1969)

Harrison Harry, The Man from P.I.G., (ss) (1967)

Harrison Harry, The Man from R.O.B.O.T. (ss) (1969)

Kapp Colin, The Wizard of Anharitte, (1972)

Kornbluth C.M. & Pohl Fredrick, The Space Merchants, (1953) 

Laumer Keith,The Last Command, (ss) (1967) 

Leiber Fritz, Gather Darkness, (1943)

Piper H. Beam & McGuire John J., Null-ABC (ss), (1953)

Reynolds Alastair, Fixation (ss) (2009)

Schmitz James H.,The Witches of Karres, (1949)

Sheckly Robert, Specialist (ss) (1953)

Silverberg, Downward to the Earth, (1969)

Simak, Clifford, Time is the Simplest Thing, (1961)

Simak Clifford,  Desertion, (ss) (1944)

Illustration by Frank Kelly Freas

Sipes Richard Grey, Of Terrans Bearing Gifts, (ss) (1967)

Van Vogt, The Voyage of the Space Beagle, (1939)

Reading Exercise

I have been a bit lazy with my blogging, so lets start again. My buddy Doug and I (see his guest post here https://ajaggedorbit.blogspot.ca/2017/05/guest-post-comments-on-h-beam-pipers.html ) meet once a week to discuss among other things SF. So I suggested we create a reading list of novels and short stories that we would both read and then discuss the next week. The criteria is fairly open, except the novels cannot be over 200 pages. This is because my attention span and eyesight are not what they used to be and I like to be able to cover a few things in a week. Also if I left it open Doug would probably try to sneak in some enormous tome like one of Weber's Safehold novels and well let's not go there. Otherwise we mostly alternate picks, Doug and I both both started reading SF with material published in the 1940's and 1950's and that and the page limit may influence what we read but we will try to be somewhat inclusive. I am trying to suggest material or authors I have not read especially some that are considered important in the history of SF that I missed the first time. But we also consider items one or both of us have already read and want to discuss. Doug has suggested a number of short stories and while I have a goodly number of anthologies some of these were never reprinted, go figure. So Doug brings over copies from his extensive collection of Analog/Astounding, Galaxy and If and I geek out over the covers, the illustrations and things in the table of contents other than the suggested stories. So that works. I will put together post on some of the items but so far we have read.

The Space Merchants, Pohl and Anderson
Strangers in Paradise, Christopher Anvil
The Voyage of the Space Beagle, Van Vogt
Close to Critical, Hal Clement
Time is the Simplest Thing, Clifford Simak
"Epilog" (ss), Poul Anderson
"Specialist" (ss), Robert Sheckley
"Null-ABC" (ss), H. Beam Piper and John J. McGuire

Some items for the next couple of weeks.

I am enjoying the exercise. I read stuff I would not have picked, I go through my library and the web looking for other titles to suggest, I love the hands on with the old magazines and I get to hear Doug's observations and opinions on what we cover. While Doug has suggested that we don't have to finish something we don't like I am more likely to finish a work I have started once we have both agreed to put it on the list. It also reinforces what a diverse field SF is in both subject matter and style. Doug's approach to the exercise as well as his tastes and mine often diverge but that also gives me a better understanding of the field and what people are taking from it, it is good to be flexible.

Doug has kindly supplied his take on our experience so far.

"I am making an interesting discovery, in that much of the material that I have been reading over the last few years, has been stuff that I have read before. The most attractive stories were/are ones that allow me to transport my imagination into very familiar worlds even with new extensions to the story sequence. What this exercise you have given me has done has allowed me to either enter the old world's through a different door, or to read books that I have not read before, the sum of these approaches has been quite revealing."

Bud Webster, SF writer and essayist in his, Anthopology 101: Reflections, Inspections and Dissections of SF Anthologies, when discussing the anthologies of Groff Conklin (24) notes
"At the time I was eight or nine , I didn't always notice who wrote the stories I read, and, with a few exceptions, I didn't bother to remember from one time to the next which writer I'd liked best the last time, I simply read everything with a rocket ship or an atom on the spine, indiscriminately.
But I kept noticing that the stories I liked best, the ones I'd remember from one week to the next, the ones I thrust on my friends with the words, "You GOTTA read THIS one!","

this exercise is a bit like that.