I’ll vote for EC Tubb and Alan Burt Akers (a pen name)—Prince of Scorpio: I really enjoyed these.
In the spirit of recovering lost books…what are your favorites in that category?
by CJ | Mar 26, 2012 | Journal | 67 comments
67 Comments
Submit a Comment Cancel reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
http://www.kregen.com/prince.html
http://www.dumarest.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thongor_of_Lemuria…this one because I knew Lin and we shared lunch…when he had the temerity to tell me, authoritatively, that no woman could have survived in the middle ages. I had quite a laugh; and Lin got a rather funny look when I said he was living proof some woman did.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_E._Howard
http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/w/jack-williamson/reign-of-wizardry.htm
…I loved this book: it got me back into sf and fantasy, after dropping out after age 6.
http://barsoom.wikia.com/wiki/John_Carter_%28Film%29…actually I have a serious issue with the movie: in my young mind, Tars Tarkas was just as handsome as John Carter, if not more so. I don’t know if I can get into this new movie take. But I loved those books.
And I can never forget my friend: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leigh_Brackett Loved her. We had all too short a friendship.
More recent but not more available, A Matter of Oaths, Helen S. Wright.
A Matter of Oaths is available for download at http://www.arkessian.com
Jacqueline Lichtenberg’s Sime/Gen, Dushau and Lifewave series: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacqueline_Lichtenberg
Although I’ve just discovered a number have been newly released and are available on Amazon (and more as ebooks for Kindle).
I’ve just started reading the Barsoom books and regard the film with extreme scepticism – book to film adaptations, esp. for sci fi and fantasy are typically dire. Although lol at the comment on this trailer (http://youtu.be/l8I9eZGzNhM) “didn’t he write these stories 40-50yrs ago?”. 🙂
Re Jacqueline Lichtenberg’s Sime~Gen books: Not only are the originals being reprinted (and reissued as e-books), but there are actually (finally) some new works as well. Jacqueline is my other “go-to” author when I want to reread something that just feels good; like CJ, she treats her characters honestly and well, and doesn’t write tragedies. Up-to-date info is on the Sime~Gen facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/groups/121838917889519/ .
The people I know who have seen ‘John Carter of Mars’ say that it’s pretty good, although possibly more of a ‘summer movie’. They also say that it really should have been called ‘Princess of Mars’. Poor marketing is its biggest problem.
I saw John Carter a couple of weeks ago and really enjoyed it. Nice, escapist movie with a nice, fast-paced plot. I have not read the Barsoom books, although I indeed remember the covers, etc. The princess is quite well done in the movie: I gather much, much more assertive and positive than the books.
The trouble with lists like this is that books now go in and out of print so quickly that it’s hard to know what it truly ‘lost’. In CJ’s list only Dumarest and Thongor are truly, completely out-of-print. A bunch of the Scorpio books are available from Fictionwise, and a lot of Brackett from Baen.
My list would include:
L. Sprague de Camp’s Viagens series: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viagens_Interplanetarias
The space opera’s of Edmond Hamilton: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmond_Hamilton
The space opera and fantasy of C. L. Moore: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C_L_Moore
Actually, Moore and husband Henry Kuttner (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Kuttner) wrote a lot of works that fit this category.
I’m sure I’ll think of a dozen more right after I click on “Post”.
Baen has a fair bit of Hamilton to go with the Brackett (and bits and bobs are available from Project Gutenberg, mostly the original serialized versions).
SFGateway has a bunch of Moore and some Kuttner, plus a lot of other classic works, but you’ll need a proxy/VPN to buy them if you’re outside the UK due to publisher insistence that first sale doesn’t apply to e-books.
I loved some of the works of John Brunner like “The Whole Man” and “World-Swappers” and others I can’t recall offhand.
Then there are writers like Zenna Henderson and Alan E. Nourse who wrote the a book titled “Bladerunner” (a bit prescient in light of today’s problems with the cost of medical help for the poor) long before the movie and which had nothing to do with the movie by that title which was based on P.K. Dick’s work; I believe the studio had to buy the name from him or something.
I enjoyed Lin Carter’s Thongor series too and still recall some of the poems he wrote for it like “Tonight in the red halls of hell we’ll feast with friends and foes as well.” There are several other bits and pieces still floating around in my brain though it’s been decades since I read those books. I also enjoyed his “The Star Magicians” and “The Man Without a Planet”.
Not to forget Jack Vance. Wonderful writer. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Vance —he was also heavily influenced by Jeffrey Farnol, an American writer who succeeded mostly in Britain writing British adventure-romances. I loved those books, especially Black Bartlemy’s Treasure…And Jack’s books. My, my, my. Color and adventure.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fritz_Leiber
Another one. I really, really think nobody should miss Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser…
And Michael Moorcock, who hasn’t been seen as much lately…http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Moorcock
Elric, another grand-scope story…
You’d be surprised at some of his pen names, too.
Lin was such a madman. One was alternately completely horrified and amused: most of my Lin stories I will ONLY tell in close company and after a couple of glasses, but he was unique.
L. Sprague de Camp and his Dragon at the Gate, Catherine—we did a lot of conventions together.
Poul Anderson and Karen Anderson—loved him. Wonderful storyteller. I did one Flandry story, sort of, as a tribute. I don’t know what that book’s schedule is or whether it’s out yet.
I just heard an interview with Mike Moorcock today. He had some serious health issues recently. The kind where they remove body parts serious. He is still writing, has a new Elric novel coming out soon. Recently wrote a Dr Who novel. Working with BOOM! comics on an ongoing Elric comic. Apparently writing a lot of non-fiction, and short stories and working with New Worlds. A lot of his recent stuff seems to be published in Europe mainly.
The interview was on The Starship Sofa podcast #194, if anyone is interested.
Might we have met in Lankhmar?
Hal Clement’s “Mission of Gravity”. Zelazny’s “Nine Princes in Amber”, & “Lord of Light”. Editorials by John W Campbell. Rod Serling’s “Twilight Zone”, e.g. “The Monsters are due on Maple Street”. Partricia McKillip’s “Riddle Master of Hed”. Oh, too numerous. “Slan”!
p.s. I can’t remember when I threw out a book.
I became very disillusioned with our local county library when I saw how it’s run like a business instead of a repository of knowledge.
Most public libraries now are dependent upon other sources of income than what can be generated by collecting fines. Of course, in order to collect a fine, the library has to have the offender come in and turn over the book and pay the fine. Not so easy to do if the book is dropped off in the depository and no fine ever paid. So, libraries are now trying to get funding through such organizations as The United Way, especially here in Ohio where state funding was cut for our public libraries. I still see my library as a repository of knowledge, regardless of how it’s run. If I recall my history lessons, libraries were not “public” in any sense of the imagination, and only scholars with the proper credentials (fame, experience, MONEY) could get in to one.
Okay, back to the original question. Andre Norton’s books, especially would like Daybreak – 2250 A.D., in that title, not Star Man’s Son. I had borrowed a copy years ago from a friend, but never got a copy of my own. This shows Fors and Lura(?) on the raft in the early morning.
I know that cover.
Heh, I basically got into sf&f in the 80s, so most of the books are either available as ebooks or we just have to wait for the rights to revert or the publishers to publish (like Michelle West’s Sun Sword books, for examples) – amidst their regular scheduled new book releases in e.
So… M.K. Wren’s Phoenix Legacy or Alis Rasmussen’s (aka Kate Elliott) Highroad Trilogy in the way of sf.
My list of books to find and re-read includes:
Zelazny, Roadmarks and Jack of Shadows;
Anderson, Brain Wave;
Spider Robinson’s Callahan’s Bar series
Heinlein, Farnham’s Freehold
The list should include books by Theodore Sturgeon and Gordon R. Dickson, but I can’t bring titles to mind at the moment.
Dickson’s “Dragon and the George” is one of the funnest novels to read! I also love the first set of Amber novels, although the second solved problems too easily by the almighty protagonist.
CJ:
You mentioned EC Tubb, which reminded me to check if the last book in the Dumarest series ever got more widely published than the 1000 copies….I checked, and final book (#33m Child of Earth) is available as an eBook (looks like the rest of the series too). Amazon has it for Kindle, and its available for some other readers in the UK (ePUB with some sort of DRM)
Andy
Out of print but still locatable used; however, not available as an ebook, unless I’ve missed them. (I do have two collections of (many but not all) of her works in ebook form, though.)
Ahem…just noticed (shame on me) I didn’t put last name first in proper MLA biblio format. Tsk, tsk….
Andre Norton, Star Man’s Son / Daybreak 2250 A.D. — Yes, I know that cover.
—-, The Iron Cage — pb is on my shelf to reread.
—-, Solar Queen series;
—- (?), Time Traders series;
—-, The Jargoon Pard;
—-, Beast Master series;
…I read many of her books as a kid, teen, and young adult;
Robert A. Heinlein, The Rolling Stones — It looks like a few more of his books are coming out in ebook format, so there’s hope;
Gordon R. Dickson, The Dragon and the George series;
—-, …and many of his other books; when last I looked, none in ebook form;
L. Sprague DeCamp, Lest Darkness Fall — would love to reread this, last reread was shortly after college, I think;
Various Authors, Catfantastic series, some five or six books, anthology of shorts and novella length works, many fine authors, very enjoyable, each cover was a feline spoof of a Renaissance portrait;
Only the tip of the iceberg there.
Hmm, I remember also a short story (or novella?) that appeared in a Reader’s Digest book, an anthology, but I can’t recall the author or title. Post-apocalyptic future, a mutant in a rural and puritanical society flees and eventually finds the coast, with Europeans beginning to return with technology. IIRC, there was a “spider” (person with very spindly long limbs and fingers) and a polydactyl person, and others, “mutants” of various kinds. I think the story was from around the 1950’s “Golden Era.” It seems like when the hero (the put-upon mutant) finally reaches the coast and sees the others, there are “needlers” and sticky projectile “net” weapons and some red glow in the sky. I think a litter of kittens or puppies, similarly mutant, were given as examples of the rules/laws (religious and superstitious) regarding shunning or killing of mutants were treated. Set generations after some atomic apocalypse.
So many of the books I read (and many I still have in pb in boxes) are out of print and not available in ebook format, yet they are fantastic reads. It’d be a huge shame for any of them to be lost to future readers.
Hah, that probably includes the set of Star Trek: Animated Series Novelizations, by, I think, Alan Dean Foster.
The World of Star Trek, The Making of Star Trek, The Making of Star Trek: The Trouble With Tribbles — These three, by Gene Roddenberry and Stephen E. Whitfield and David Gerrold, were formative for me as a fan and as someone who wanted to write or illustrate in science fiction. — Bjo Trimble’s Star Trek Concordance was available in reprint for awhile; likewise the Star Trek Technical Manual from the original series. Hahaha, I still remember my eyes lighting up, seeing those available one Christmas at the bookstore….
Wow…and to think, as a kid in the 70’s, how much of my allowance went for $1.25 and $1.50 paperback science fiction at B. Dalton’s and Waldenbooks, neither of which survived the 90’s.
Some lady named Cherryh, various books by Clifford D. Simak, James Blish, a series of hospital space station alien novels by (?) James White and another by another author…hmm, I’m sure that’s not even half the library….
Some of Alan Dean Foster’s books are out as ebooks, though. (I don’t recall if the Tar-Aiym Krang is, but I’ve seen others of his Flinx books are.)
Vonda McIntyre, fortunately, has made the leap into ebooks. Also Diane Duane. IIRC, it was the Entropy Effect by her that has an alien entity that doesn’t perceive time as a dimension, and the book was well worth the read for the questions that raised. I felt DS9’s “Prophet/Wormhole Aliens/Pagh Wraiths” were related to that idea, but did things differently enough.
Nope, still only scratched the surface, and I’m sure I’m leaving out some favorites as it is.
@BlueCatShip: there are a lot of books by Gordon R. Dickson available as ebooks on Kobobooks-dot-com, including the Dragon and the George series and Dorsai series, but also lots of standalones. Also some André Norton, Robert Heinlein and L. Sprague de Camp, and lots of Burroughs. They are busy adding books, and not just new books: I’ve seen 2 Heinleins added in the past month.
It looks as if the estates of those authors, or their publishers, have seen the ebook-possibilities; and their works won’t need the extra effort to be rescued.
So Singularity can probably better concentrate it’s efforts on the less well-known authors, or maybe the popular ones that don’t have active estates or publishers picking up on the ebook market. I wonder how that would work out, if they want to give their backers a vote in which to digitize first? I’d expect the most votes to go to the more popular and well-known books, that need the extra effort the least…
‘The Making of Star Trek’ was the first book I ever purchased (with my own money), at a book fair at my elementary school. I had to get written permission from my mom, as it was considered ‘too old’ for a third-grader… :^)
Thanks, Hanneke, I’ll check there. I use Kindle for PC and for iPad, but I can get .epub and .mobi files on, at least via Calibre (or via iBooks).
Some of the publishers, living authors, and authors’ estates/heirs are catching up with getting ebooks out, but it’s taking time. It’s great to see more classic SF&F coming out.
Hah, Dr. Lizardo, one or two of those Star Trek books were thanks to a school book fair at my junior high in the 70’s. Hmm, I think I bought another couple of books, but I no longer remember which ones. I’m not sure if that speaks well or ill of the books or of my reading habits!
This is a real trip down memory lane for me! Entropy Effect was a Vonda McIntyre book & very good, too. I’d like to see Eric Frank Russell’s books back, eg, Next of Kin (tho having just checked, they are available on Kindle! Gollancz has been reissuing its backlist so some John Brunner is available inc Traveller in Black, Shockwave Rider, but not yet Stand on Zanzibar or The Sheep Look Up). I think a lot of the SF Masterworks books are on Kindle now as well. I’m so glad to be seeing the leap from analogue to digital happening to books at last.
Michael Scott Rohan is a more recent writer I’d like to see reissued, eg, his Spiral books, and Winter of the World. His books got me into sf again after a few years away.
Ah, the title I was thinking of was The Wounded Sky by Diane Duane. I enjoyed The Entropy Effect a lot too. C.J. was kind enough to point out that you can find Diane Duane’s books as ebooks, including those, at Ms. Duane’s site. Others are available via Amazon or Barnes & Noble or other ebook sellers. See Also: dianeduane.com — Yes, Ms. Duane answers her own email, a real live person and everything. Hey, I was impressed, anyway.
Oh, and I also keep an eye on the New England Library books as they have been republishing a lot, eg, all the works of Theodore Sturgeon :).
Ah, Phoenix Legacy is fantastic – not that I’m biased that my town is the capital of a star-spanning empire.
I’ve spent so much time in secondhand bookshops trying to fill partial series such as Doc Smith, Burroughs, Moorcock, etc and find classic old SF/F over the years, I’m really out of touch with current authors – although given my last venture into a mainstream bookshop (apparently 90% twi-vamp and Warhammer40k) I don’t know that I’ve been missing out on much. :p
I just bought a Kindle on a US visit and I’m finding it hard to work out modern stuff to read, as much of my choice is based on a quick flick through the book (looking for maps, checking random paragraphs, etc). The “tactility” is missing (must be getting old :p ).
John Brunner, Theodore Sturgeon, Leigh Brackett, Fritz Lieber most especially Frfd and the Grey Mouser
BTW…..a small donation to Kickstarter gets you a whole bunch of goodies.
Fritz Lieber’s Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser series are available today at baen.com. I enjoyed rereading those.
Cordwainer Smith. I think The Instrumentality stories are still fantastic.
And there’s a terrific movie in Scanners Live In Vain.
Phil Brown
Ms. Cherryh sez:
Not to forget Jack Vance.
I won’t. His widow was a good friend of my mother’s.
Phil Brown
>Not to forget Jack Vance.
>I won’t. His widow was a good friend of my mother’s.
Phil, did something happen to Jack Vance ?
The first several chapters of this one (which I first found in the basement of a Duane Reade’s back in the late ’70s) still blow my mind… It wanders some after that, but boy, it starts out with a memorable bang!
http://www.amazon.com/World-War-III-John-Stanley/dp/0380004879
For a while (before Google, I guess) It was almost impossible to find. Easier to find copies now, but it still feels pretty rare.