in-reading notes: perdito street station

I've only read the intro so far, but it's s striking difference from the last book. I finished Dead Until dark and wasn't ready to be done yet, so I started the next book on the pile, which was this one, and it's like night and day. The sentances are better, the words used are better, the descriptions are more complete and clearer and more interesting, the whole feel of the piece is better. And it's a relief. I like my crap fic, but I like good books more, and after two moderately frustrating vampire romances, it's good to have. And it's already lining up with the way City of Bones was, and I don't know if that even makes sense, but sometimes my brain makes it make sense...

book 9: blood price

Here's the thing about books that become shows that I like: I usually like the show more than the book. It's not really about the translation from one to the other, or the fact that I'm more and more visual as I grow up, but about the fact that it seems these books don't have a very high standard of excellence to live up to. Blood Price is a perfectly passable book, and it's a pretty good mystery, but it's a little frustrating and I just want to edit bits of it and ask Tanya Huff to flesh out parts and trim back other parts and get it in line with the way I know it could have been-- like Norman, the main villain for most of the book, who's flat, two-dimensional, one-note, and all the other ways of saying that he doesn't have any depth or interest. Corrine, too, is kind of dull and unfocused, and I don't really see why Vicky and Mike care about eachother other than the fact that they used to be a couple-- but her and Henry pretty much shine, and that's where the heart of the book is, and where the saving grace of the plot is. This is supposed to be girl-meets-vampire, moderated by the fact that girl is damn stubborn and kind of broken and emotionally unavailable, and that's the way I like her, because Henry's pretty damn seductive, even with the fact that he mostly exists in flashbacks as far as this book is concerned, but this book fights too much to be a proper romance.

It established the characters and it sets the scene and defines the world it happens in, the relationships between the people, and the creeping weirdness that's moving into the ordinary world and why Vicky would care enough to investigate it, and that's really all it needs to do... but i wish it would have had a better villain who does a better job and gets offed in a better way, and I wish Henry had been a bit more active and useful than he actually would up being.

I'm looking forward to the second book, and since I found out that it's there in our bookstore, it'll be pretty easy to get ahold of.

book 11: dead until dark

Book one of the Sookie Stackhouse Novels is kind of sweet and chatty and rambly, and follows the same basic path as the first season, but doesn't quite take the same path to get there. Things are rearranged some, and happen in different ways, and it's entirely inside Sookie's head, whereas the show gets the luxury of being in other peoples' points of view as well. Most of what I thought about the book was in the Notes I posted about it before, but here's a bit more, now that I've reached the end and I've had an hour or two to go over it in my head:

- I don't really understand what Sookie and Bill see in eachother, other than the fact that she wanted to fall for a vampire and they were obviously written to be together. Book!Bill explains much less to her than TV!Bill does, and so we never really know what he's doing, what he means when he says things, what he's thinking-- this last is part of why Sookie likes him, but it makes it a little frustrating in the reading, when we can know everyone else so much deeper, and it makes me wonder why it doesn't bother Sookie more. On top of this, Bill treats her like a doll and an invalid through most of the book, and that doesn't seem to bother her much, either, which annoys me, and when she does complain, she sort of still lets him be like that, so it's a moot point.

- I'm not sure why Vampires would want to be in the South; there's so much sun here. It's like vamps in LA or the Mexican desert. It makes no sense. Vamps in Alaska or Sweden? That makes sense.

- The ending of the show is more effective, I think, but both sort of come out of nowhere. I don't know how long ago this book was written, and how early in her career it was, but there wasn't alot of foreshadowing-- which might have made it feel more like it makes sense.

- I missed all the side characters that were much more fleshed out in the show, which I think benefitted from being visual instead of just trapped inside Sookie. Especially Sam and Hoyt, who are some of my fav characters in the show.

- Okay, if vampires cry blood, does blood replace other fluids in their bodies? Sex with them must be really gross, and the biting is kind of weird even as it's hot-- and Bill's pillow talk better get more tender and less clinical or I'm going to wind up checking out of this series before the end.

Overall, I enjoyed the book, but I think I might have enjoyed it more if I hadn't already seen the show-- and maybe if I hadn't already read a book that was much tigher in plotting and pacing than this one. But Sookie is pitch-perfect as a character, even when the plot has no idea what it's doing and even when various motivations are suspect, and she sort of wins me over when I'd otherwise have gotten bored with the book. And I'm actually looking forward to the next book, though who knows when I'll get to buy it.

Locus's latest reading list

SF novels

• Matter, Iain M. Banks (Orbit UK)
• Flood, Stephen Baxter (Gollancz, Roc '09)
• Weaver, Stephen Baxter (Gollancz, Ace)
• City at the End of Time, Greg Bear (Gollancz, Del Rey)
• Incandescence, Greg Egan (Gollancz, Night Shade)
• January Dancer, Michael Flynn (Tor)
• Marsbound, Joe Haldeman (Ace)
• Spirit, Gwyneth Jones (Gollancz)
• Escapement, Jay Lake (Tor)
• Song of Time, Ian R. MacLeod (PS Publishing)
• The Night Sessions, Ken MacLeod (Orbit)
• The Quiet War, Paul McAuley (Gollancz)
• The Company,K. J. Parker (Orbit)
• House of Suns, Alastair Reynolds (Gollancz, Ace '09)
• Pirate Sun, Karl Schroeder (Tor)
• Anathem, Neal Stephenson (Atlantic UK, Morrow)
• Saturn's Children, Charles Stross (Orbit, Ace)
• Rolling Thunder, John Varley (Ace)
• Half a Crown, Jo Walton (Tor)
• Implied Spaces, Walter Jon Williams (Night Shade Books)

Fantasy novels

• An Autumn War, Daniel Abraham (Tor)
• The Love We Share Without Knowing, Christopher Barzak (Bantam)
• The Knights of the Cornerstone, James P. Blaylock (Ace)
• The Ghost in Love, Jonathan Carroll (Farrar, Straus & Giroux)
• The Island of Eternal Love, Daina Chaviano (Riverhead)
• The Shadow Year, Jeffrey Ford (Morrow)
• Shadowbridge/ Lord Tophet, Gregory Frost (Ballantine Del Rey)
• The Memoirs of a Master Forger, William Heaney (Gollancz) ; as How to Make Friends with Demons, Graham Joyce (Night Shade Books '09)
• Varanger, Cecelia Holland (Tor/Forge)
• Lavinia, Ursula K. Le Guin (Harcourt)
• The Bell at Sealey Head, Patricia A. McKillip (Ace)
• The Hidden World, Paul Park (Tor)
• The Engine's Child, Holly Phillips (Ballantine Del Rey)
• The Enchantress of Florence, Salman Rushdie (Jonathan Cape)
• The Alchemy of Stone, Ekaterina Sedia (Prime Books)
• The Dragons of Babel, Michael Swanwick (Tor)
• An Evil Guest, Gene Wolfe (Tor)

First novels

• The Ninth Circle, Alex Bell (Gollancz)
• The Painted Man, Peter V. Brett (HarperVoyager); as The Warded Man(Ballantine Del Rey)
• A Curse as Dark as Gold, Elizabeth C. Bunce (Scholastic)
• Graceling, Kristin Cashore (Harcourt)
• Alive in Necropolis, Doug Dorst (Riverhead)
• Thunderer, Felix Gilman (Bantam Spectra)
• Black Ships, Jo Graham (Orbit US)
• Pandemonium, Daryl Gregory (Ballantine Del Rey)
• The Gone-Away World, Nick Harkaway (William Heinemann, Knopf)
• Last Dragon, J.T. McDermott (Wizards of the Coast/Discoveries)
• Singularity's Ring, Paul Melko (Tor)
• The Long Look, Richard Parks (Five Star)
• The Red Wolf Conspiracy, Robert V. S. Redick (Gollancz, Del Rey '09)
• The Cabinet of Wonders, Marie Rutkoski (Farrar, Straus, Giroux)

Young Adult Books

• City of Ashes, Cassandra Clare (Simon & Schuster/McElderry)
• The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins (Scholastic Press)
• Monster Blood Tattoo, Book Two: Lamplighter, D. M. Cornish (Putnam; Omnibus Books Australia)
• Little Brother, Cory Doctorow (Tor)
• The Graveyard Book, Neil Gaiman (HarperCollins, Bloomsbury)
• Eon: Dragoneye Reborn, Alison Goodman (Viking); as The Two Pearls of Wisdom (HarperCollins Australia)
• Tender Morsels, Margo Lanagan (Knopf)
• How to Ditch Your Fairy, Justine Larbalestier (Bloomsbury USA)
• Ink Exchange, Melissa Marr (HarperTeen)
• Chalice, Robin McKinley (Putnam)
• The Knife of Never Letting Go, Patrick Ness (Candlewick Press)
• The Adoration of Jenna Fox, Mary E. Pearson (Henry Holt)
• Nation, Terry Pratchett (Doubleday UK, HarperCollins)
• Zoe's Tale, John Scalzi (Tor)
• Flora's Dare, Ysabeau S. Wilce (Harcourt)

Collections

• The Serial Garden: The Complete Armitage Family Stories, Joan Aiken (Small Beer Press/Big Mouth House)
• Pump Six and Other Stories, Paolo Bacigalupi (Night Shade Books)
• The Adventures of Langdon St. Ives, James P. Blaylock (Subterranean Press)
• Works of Art, James Blish (NESFA Press)
• The Wall of America, Thomas M. Disch (Tachyon Publications)
• Dark Integers and Other Stories, Greg Egan (Subterranean Press)
• The Drowned Life, Jeffrey Ford (HarperPerennial)
• The Wreck of the Godspeed and Other Stories, James Patrick Kelly (Golden Gryphon Press)
• The Baum Plan for Financial Independence and Other Stories, John Kessel (Small Beer Press)
• Nano Comes to Clifford Falls and Other Stories, Nancy Kress (Golden Gryphon Press)
• Mr. Gaunt and Other Uneasy Encounters, John Langan (Prime Books)
• Pretty Monsters, Kelly Link (Viking)
• H.P. Lovecraft: The Fiction, H. P. Lovecraft (Barnes & Noble)
• Binding Energy, Daniel Marcus (Elastic Press)
• Ten Sigmas and Other Unlikelihoods, Paul Melko (Fairwood Press)
• The Collected Short Fiction: Where Angels Fear / The Gods Perspire, Ken Rand (Fairwood Press)
• The Ant King and Other Stories, Benjamin Rosenbaum (Small Beer Press)
• Long Walks, Last Flights, and Other Strange Journeys, Ken Scholes (Fairwood Press)
• Filter House, Nisi Shawl (Aqueduct Press)
• The Autopsy and Other Tales, Michael Shea (Centipede Press)
• The Best of Lucius Shepard, Lucius Shepard (Subterranean Press)
• The Best of Michael Swanwick, Michael Swanwick (Subterranean Press)
• Other Worlds, Better Lives, Howard Waldrop (Old Earth Books)
• Crazy Love, Leslie What (Wordcraft of Oregon)
• Gateway to Paradise: The Collected Stories of Jack Williamson, Volume Six, Jack Williamson (Haffner Press)

Anthologies - Original

• Clockwork Phoenix, Mike Allen, ed. (Norilana Books)
• Fast Forward 2, Lou Anders, ed. (Pyr)
• Sideways in Crime, Lou Anders, ed. (Solaris)
• Dreaming Again, Jack Dann, ed. (HarperCollins Australia; Eos)
• The Del Rey Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy, Ellen Datlow, ed. (Ballantine Del Rey)
• Galactic Empires, Gardner Dozois, ed. (SFBC)
• Extraordinary Engines: The Definitive Steampunk Anthology, Nick Gevers, ed. (Solaris)
• A Book of Wizards, Marvin Kaye, ed. (SFBC)
• The Solaris Book Of New Science Fiction Volume Two, George Mann, ed. (Solaris)
• Subterranean: Tales of Dark Fantasy, William Schafer, ed. (Subterranean Press)
• Eclipse Two, Jonathan Strahan, ed. (Night Shade Books)
• The Starry Rift, Jonathan Strahan, ed. (Viking)
• Fast Ships, Black Sails, Ann VanderMeer & Jeff VanderMeer, eds. (Night Shade Books)
• Celebration: 50 Years of the British Science Fiction Association, Ian Whates, ed. (NewCon Press)

Anthologies - Reprint

• Wastelands, John Joseph Adams, ed. (Night Shade Books)
• A Science Fiction Omnibus, Brian W. Aldiss, ed. (Penguin Modern Classics)
• The Black Mirror and Other Stories: An Anthology of Science Fiction from Germany and Austria, Franz Rottensteiner, ed. (Wesleyan University Press)
• Poe's Children: The New Horror, Peter Straub, ed. (Doubleday)
• The New Weird, Ann VanderMeer & Jeff VanderMeer, eds. (Tachyon Publications)
• Steampunk, Ann Vandermeer & Jeff VanderMeer, eds. (Tachyon Publications)

Anthologies - Best of the Year

• The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror 2008: Twenty-first Annual Collection, Ellen Datlow, Kelly Link & Gavin Grant, eds. (St. Martin's Griffin)
• The Year's Best Science Fiction: Twenty-fifth Annual Collection, Gardner Dozois, ed. (St. Martin's)
• Year's Best Fantasy 8, David G. Hartwell & Kathryn Cramer, eds. (Tachyon Publications)
• Year's Best SF 13, David G. Hartwell & Kathryn Cramer, eds. (Eos)
• Fantasy: The Best of the Year: 2008 Edition, Rich Horton, ed. (Prime Books)
• Science Fiction: The Best of the Year: 2008 Edition, Rich Horton, ed. (Prime Books)
• The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror: Volume Nineteen, Stephen Jones, ed. (Robinson; Running Press)
• The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year Volume Two, Jonathan Strahan, ed. (Night Shade Books)

Novellas

• Or Else My Lady Keeps the Key, Kage Baker (Subterranean Press)
• "The Overseer", Albert E. Cowdrey (F&SF 3/08)
• The Word of God: Or, Holy Writ Rewritten, Thomas M. Disch (Tachyon Publications)
• “The Political Prisoner", Charles Coleman Finlay (F&SF 8/08)
• "Arkfall", Carolyn Ives Gilman (F&SF 9/08)
• The Luminous Depths, David Herter (PS Publishing)
• "Mystery Hill", Alex Irvine (F&SF 1/08)
• "The Erdmann Nexus", Nancy Kress (Asimov’s 10-11/08)
• "Pretty Monsters", Kelly Link (Pretty Monsters)
• "The Surfer", Kelly Link (The Starry Rift)
• "The Hob Carpet", Ian R. MacLeod (Asimov’s 6/08)
• "The Tear", Ian McDonald (Galactic Empires)
• "Tenbrook of Mars", Dean McLaughlin (Analog 7-8/08)
• Once Upon a Time in the North, Philip Pullman (Knopf)
• "The Man with the Golden Balloon", Robert Reed (Galactic Empires)
• "Truth", Robert Reed (Asimov’s 10-11/08)
• "True Names", Benjamin Rosenbaum & Cory Doctorow (Fast Forward 2)
• "Wonjjang and the Madman of Pyongyang", Gord Sellar (Tesseracts Twelve)
• "The Philosopher’s Stone", Brian Stableford (Asimov’s 7/08)

Novelettes

• "The Gambler", Paolo Bacigalupi (Fast Forward 2)
• "Pump Six", Paolo Bacigalupi (Pump Six and Other Stories)
• "Tangible Light", J. Timothy Bagwell (Analog 1-2/08)
• "Radio Station St. Jack", Neal Barrett, Jr. (Asimov’s 8/08)
• "The Ice War", Stephen Baxter (Asimov’s 9/08)
• "Turing’s Apples", Stephen Baxter (Eclipse Two)
• "The Rabbi’s Hobby", Peter S. Beagle (Eclipse Two)
• "The Tale of Junko and Sayuri", Peter Beagle (InterGalactic Medicine Show 7/08)
• "Uncle Chaim and Aunt Rifke and the Angel", Peter S. Beagle (Strange Roads)
• "Shoggoths in Bloom", Elizabeth Bear (Asimov’s 3/08)
• "The Golden Octopus", Beth Bernobich (Postscripts Summer ’08)
• "If Angels Fight", Richard Bowes (F&SF 2/08)
• "From the Clay of His Heart", John Brown (InterGalactic Medicine Show 4/08)
• "Jimmy", Pat Cadigan (The Del Rey Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy)
• "Catherine Drewe", Paul Cornell (Fast Forward 2)
• Conversation Hearts, John Crowley (Subterranean Press)
• "The Things that Make Me Weak and Strange Get Engineered Away", Cory Doctorow (Tor.com 8/08)
• "Crystal Nights", Greg Egan (Interzone 4/08)
• "Lost Continent", Greg Egan (The Starry Rift)
• "The Ray-Gun: A Love Story", James Alan Gardner (Asimov’s 2/08)
• "Memory Dog", Kathleen Ann Goonan (Asimov’s 4-5/08)
• "Shining Armor", Dominic Green (The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction, Volume Two)
• "The Illustrated Biography of Lord Grimm", Daryl Gregory (Eclipse Two)
• "Pride and Prometheus", John Kessel (F&SF 1/08)
• "The Art of Alchemy", Ted Kosmatka (F&SF 6/08)
• "Divining Light", Ted Kosmatka (Asimov’s 8/08)
• "Childrun", Marc Laidlaw (F&SF 8/08)
• "Machine Maid", Margo Lanagan (Extraordinary Engines)
• "The Woman", Tanith Lee (Clockwork Phoenix)
• "The Magician’s House", Meghan McCarron (Strange Horizons 7/08)
• "An Eligible Boy", Ian McDonald (Fast Forward 2)
• "The Dust Assassin", Ian McDonald (The Starry Rift)
• "Special Economics", Maureen F. McHugh (The Del Rey Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy)
• "Beyond the Sea Gate of the Scholar-Pirates of Sarsköe", Garth Nix (Fast Ships, Black Sails)
• "Infestation", Garth Nix (The Starry Rift)
• "Immortal Snake", Rachel Pollack (F&SF 5/08)
• "The Hour of Babel", Tim Powers (Subterranean: Tales of Dark Fantasy)
• "Five Thrillers", Robert Reed (F&SF 4/08)
• "Fury", Alastair Reynolds (Eclipse Two)
• "The Star Surgeon’s Apprentice", Alastair Reynolds (The Starry Rift)
• "The Egg Man", Mary Rosenblum (Asimov’s 2/08)
• "Sacrifice", Mary Rosenblum (Sideways in Crime)
• "Days of Wonder", Geoff Ryman (F&SF 10-11/08)
• "Lester Young and the Jupiter’s Moons’ Blues", Gord Sellar (Asimov’s 7/08)
• "Gift from a Spring", Delia Sherman (Realms of Fantasy 4/08)
• "An Alien Heresy", S.P. Somtow (Asimov’s 4-5/08)
• "Following the Pharmers", Brian Stableford (Asimov’s 3/08)
• "The First Editions", James Stoddard (F&SF 4/08)

Short Stories

• "Don’t Go Fishing on Witches Day", Joan Aiken (The Serial Garden)
• "Goblin Music", Joan Aiken (The Serial Garden)
• "The Occultation", Laird Barron (Clockwork Phoenix)
• "King Pelles the Sure", Peter S. Beagle (Strange Roads)
• "Boojum", Elizabeth Bear & Sarah Monette (Fast Ships, Black Sails)
• "Private Eye", Terry Bisson (F&SF 10-11/08)
• "Offworld Friends Are Best", Neal Blaikie (Greatest Uncommon Denominator Spring ’08)
• "The Man Who Built Heaven", Keith Brooke (Postscripts Summer ’08)
• "Balancing Accounts", James L. Cambias (F&SF 2/08)
• "Exhalation", Ted Chiang (Eclipse Two)
• "The Fooly", Terry Dowling (Dreaming Again)
• "Truth Window: A Tale of the Bedlam Rose", Terry Dowling (Eclipse Two)
• "Awskonomuk", Gregory Feeley (Otherworldly Maine)
• "Daltharee", Jeffrey Ford (The Del Rey Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy)
• "The Dismantled Invention of Fate", Jeffrey Ford (The Starry Rift)
• "The Dream of Reason", Jeffrey Ford (Extraordinary Engines)
• "The Seventh Expression of the Robot General", Jeffrey Ford (Eclipse Two)
• "Reader’s Guide", Lisa Goldstein (F&SF 7/08)
• “Glass”, Daryl Gregory (Technology Review 11-12/08)
• "26 Monkeys, Also the Abyss", Kij Johnson (Asimov’s 7/08)
• "The Voyage Out", Gwyneth Jones (Periphery)
• "Evil Robot Monkey", Mary Robinette Kowal (The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction, Volume Two)
• "The Kindness of Strangers", Nancy Kress (Fast Forward 2)
• "The Sky that Wraps the World Round, Past the Blue into the Black", Jay Lake (Clarkesworld 3/08)
• "The Fifth Star in the Southern Cross", Margo Lanagan (Dreaming Again)
• "The Goosle", Margo Lanagan (The Del Rey Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy)
• "The Thought War", Paul McAuley (Postscripts Summer ’08)
• "[a ghost samba]", Ian McDonald (Postscripts Summer ’08)
• "Midnight Blue", Will McIntosh (Asimov’s 9/08)
• "Fallen Angel", Eugene Mirabelli (F&SF 12/08)
• "Mars: A Traveler’s Guide", Ruth Nestvold (F&SF 1/08)
• "The Blood of Peter Francisco", Paul Park (Sideways in Crime)
• "The Small Door", Holly Phillips (Fantasy 5/08)
• "His Master’s Voice", Hannu Rajaniemi (Interzone 10/08)
• "The House Left Empty", Robert Reed (Asimov’s 4-5/08)
• "Fifty Dinosaurs", Robert Reed (The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction, Volume Two)
• "Traitor", M. Rickert (F&SF 5/08)
• "Snatch Me Another", Mercurio D. Rivera (Abyss & Apex 1Q/08)
• "The Film-makers of Mars", Geoff Ryman (Tor.com 12/08)
• "Talk is Cheap", Geoff Ryman (Interzone 6/08)
• "After the Coup", John Scalzi (Tor.com 7/08)
• "Invisible Empire of Ascending Light", Ken Scholes (Eclipse Two)
• "Ardent Clouds", Lucy Sussex (The Del Rey Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy)
• "From Babel’s Fall’n Glory We Fled", Michael Swanwick (Asimov’s 2/08)
• "The Scarecrow’s Boy", Michael Swanwick (F&SF 10-11/08)
• "Marrying the Sun", Rachel Swirsky (Fantasy 6/08)
• "A Buyer’s Guide to Maps of Antarctica", Catherynne M. Valente (Clarkesworld 5/08)
• "Fixing Hanover", Jeff VanderMeer (Extraordinary Engines)
• "The Eyes of God", Peter Watts (The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction, Volume Two)
• "Ass-Hat Magic Spider", Scott Westerfeld (The Starry Rift)

Another reading list for SciFi and Fantasy

As before, the ones I've read will be bolded, and the rest will be fodder for when I'm looking for new books at the used bookstores (wecause i'm'a broke).

For a good introduction (and for younger readers)

• Barnes, John -- Orbital Resonance (teenagers cope with life in a hollowed-out asteroid)
• Butterworth, Oliver P. -- The Enormous Egg (Great book for kids--about a boy whose chicken lays a triceratops egg!)
• Carver, Jeffrey A. -- Dragons in the Stars, and the longer and more complex Dragon Rigger (starflight leads to encounters with a realm of dragons, and a centuries-old struggle)
• Duane, Diane -- So You Want to be a Wizard, Deep Wizardry, High Wizardry, and further additional sequels (SF/F blend set in modern world, teenaged heroes face important choices); also Spock's World (Star Trek novel)
• Gardner, Craig Shaw -- popular funny fantasies include A Malady of Magicks and other "Ebenezum" novels (a wizard allergic to magic); also the "Cineverse" books, starting with Slaves of the Volcano Gods (hero trapped in B-movie worlds)
• Heinlein, Robert A. -- early (pre-1970) books from "the dean of science fiction writers"; for example, Starman Jones, Double Star, or The Door Into Summer. Excellent collection, The Past Through Tomorrow, includes stories that helped define the field. (Much of his later work suffers by comparison.)
• Lewis, C.S. -- The Chronicles of Narnia (classic fantasy series including The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe)
• L'Engle, Madeleine -- A Wrinkle in Time and its sequels (choices made by young protagonists may affect all of creation)
• McCaffrey, Anne -- Dragonflight, Dragonquest, and numerous sequels (far-future planet where humans and dragons together combat threats to survival) ((this is actually both why I read adult books, especially scifi and fantasy, and why I started writing))
• McIntyre, Vonda N. -- Starfarers and related novels (humanistic SF novels with biology as the scientific focus)
• Norton, Andre -- Star Guard, The Stars are Ours, Starman's Son, Galactic Derelict (The titles alone are enough to make you feel 12 years old again; classic young adult SF, evocative of everything that drew you to science fiction.)
• Rowling, J.K. -- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban are the wonderful and sometimes scary adventures of a young student and his friends at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Classic good vs. evil tales spun with delightful wit and humor. My kids love these books, and they're terrific for reading aloud.
• Tolkien, J.R.R. -- The Hobbit (sets the stage for the much deeper story told in The Lord of the Rings)
• Vinge, Joan D. -- Psion (slum kid of the future with telepathic powers); sequel, Catspaw
• Vinge, Vernor -- True Names (what is "real" in the cyberworld?)
• Yep, Lawrence -- Dragonwings (fantasy with an Asian flavor)
• Yolen, Jane -- The "Pit Dragon" series: Dragon's Blood, Heart's Blood, A Sending of Dragons (bond with dragons on another world); Here There Be Unicorns (story collection) ((I love these books. Seriously. Still.))

---

More ambitious reading

• Anzetti, Toni -- Typhon's Children and its sequel Riding the Leviathan (terrific undersea-on-alien-world novels; great imagination of biological sciences and what humanity could become)
• Asimov, Isaac -- The Foundation Trilogy (galactic empire saga); much loved by readers, if a bit clunky in the telling
• Bear, Greg -- The Forge of God and Anvil of Stars (Earth is destroyed by an unseen enemy from the stars and her surviving children seek vengeance)
• Bethke, Bruce -- Headcrash (wickedly funny and somewhat baudy sendup of our future on the net)
• Benford, Greogry -- In the Ocean of Night and its sequels Across the Sea of Suns and others (hard SF, excellent literary quality)
• Bester, Alfred -- The Stars My Destination and The Demolished Man, two classics of the field, by an author who was also a brilliant short story writer
• Bowker, Richard -- Replica, Dover Beach (near-future SF/mystery, good writing and characterization); also, though not SF, his novel Senator is a wonderful read, a political mystery
• Bradbury, Ray -- The Martian Chronicles (SF about a Mars that never was), Something Wicked This Way Comes (a small town is visited by a mysterious and dangerous carnival)
• Brin, David -- Startide Rising and The Uplift War (interstellar adventure; a "must" if you like dolphins or chimpanzees)
• Bull, Emma -- Finder (Elfland and a grungy modern civilization coexist; luminous writing and delightful characters)
• Butler, Octavia -- Wild Seed, Kindred, Dawn -- just about anything you can find from the first SF writer to win a MacArthur Foundation "genius" grant
• Bujold, Lois McMaster -- The Warrior's Apprentice (A "Miles Vorkosigan" novel -- entertaining interstellar adventure with vivid writing, warmth, humor, and fine characterization; also, many sequels.)
• Card, Orson Scott -- Ender's Game (thoughtful look at interspecies conflict) and its sequel Speaker for the Dead, as well as numerous other novels
• Carver, Jeffrey A. -- Eternity's End, The Infinity Link, The Rapture Effect, From a Changeling Star and Neptune Crossing (some of my personal favorites: explorations of alien contact, AI, viewpoints on human consciousness and purpose, with science and sense of wonder; the latter book begins a new series, THE CHAOS CHRONICLES, inspired by the science of chaos.)
• Cherryh, C.J. -- Downbelow Station, Cyteen, and other popular novels set among the stars
• Clarke, Arthur C. -- Childhood's End, The City and the Stars, and Rendezvous with Rama (transcendent SF, classics in the field; the sequels toRama don't come close to the original, sadly)
• Clement, Hal -- Mission of Gravity (classic "hard science" SF, life on a planet with gravity that varies drastically depending upon location) -- now back in print as part of Heavy Planet: The Classic Mesklin Stories
• Crowley, John -- Little, Big (beautifully crafted present-day fantasy) ((currently reading in beautiful little snippets))
• Czerneda, Julie E. - A Thousand Words for Stranger (Striking first novel, with evocative writing and sharp characterization.)
• Delany, Samuel R. -- Babel-17 and Nova (Great examples of 60's "New Wave" writing, with innovative style, nifty ideas, and excellent characterization.)
• Haldeman, Joe -- The Forever War (anti-war novel about a future interstellar war); Mindbridge (SF novel about telepathic communion between species) -- ((I actually have this one, bequeathed to me by my great grandpa who died when I was, like, fifteen, and never knew it was something special. It's on the list for this year. And I've met him, which is awesome.))
• Heinlein, Robert -- The Moon is a Harsh Mistress and Stranger in a Strange Land (Heinlein at the apex of his career)
• Herbert, Frank -- Dune (classic galactic empire saga) ((Don't want to read this one, but it's on, like, every single reading list. Maybe I'll read it, still not like it, and write papers about why it's not so great as everyone thinks...))
• Hughart, Barry -- The Bridge of Birds and The Story of the Stone (wonderfully told and often funny fantasy tales set in an imaginary China of the distant past)
• Jones, Diana Wynne -- The Tough Guide to Fantasy (Not fiction, but a hilarious and extremely perceptive compendium of the vast number of cliches in modern fantasy)
• Keyes, Daniel -- Flowers for Algernon (basis for the movies Charly and, more recently, Flowers for Algernon; a true classic in the field, both as a short story and as a novel)
• Landis, Geoffrey -- Mars Crossing, a Nebula-nominated hard SF novel, written by an author who actually works for NASA on Mars exploration; excellent writing and characterization, as well as science
• LeGuin, Ursula K. -- A Wizard of Earthsea and other books of Earthsea (a young wizard grows into wisdom); The Left Hand of Darkness (an SF classic set on a world where humans must live both as male and as female)
• McDevitt, Jack -- The Engines of God (interstellar archaeology, and a story told with wisdom and grace); by the author of many fine short stories. Also, more recently, Ancient Shores.
• McIntyre, Vonda N. -- Dreamsnake (SF grounded in biology, but feels like lyrical fantasy)
• Miller, Walter M., Jr. -- A Canticle for Leibowitz (post- holocaust novel, with religious overtones; a classic)
• Niven, Larry -- Ringworld (SF with mind-stretching ideas and fascinating aliens) and sequel Ringworld Engineers; also numerous story collections ((I didn't like this much, either; maybe hard sf isn't my thing, or maybe I just tried to jump in when my brain wasn't ready for it. I've been meaning to go back-- I hate leaving books unfinished.))
• Niven, Larry and Pournelle, Jerry -- A Mote in God's Eye (grand galactic space opera, well conceived and told)
• Pangborn, Edgar -- A Mirror for Observers and Davy (recognized classics; strong characterization and writing)
• Pohl, Frederik -- Gateway and sequel, Beyond the Blue Event Horizon (psychology, space exploration, innovative style)
• Sawyer, Robert J. -- The Terminal Experiment (Nebula Award winner) and Starplex (hard SF with interesting scientific and philosophical speculations)
• Scott, Melissa -- Dreamships (an interesting and unusual take on future societies among the stars)
• Simmons, Dan -- Hyperion and Fall of Hyperion (ambitious far- future SF, inspired by Keats' poem, with Canterbury Tales structure; superbly written).
• Smith, Cordwainer -- Norstrilia (novel) and The Rediscovery of Man (short stories); (quirky, original, and wonderful)
• Smith, David Alexander -- In the Cube and, as editor, Future Boston (both set in a transformed Boston of the future)
• Sturgeon, Theodore -- More Than Human (What does "human" mean?)
• Tolkien, J.R.R. -- The Lord of the Rings (The tale of Gandalf, Frodo, and Middle Earth, this is a true masterpiece of fantasy and one of the great works of world literature. It inspired countless successors, but none that match its brilliance and depth.) ((Long and long-winded, and, unfortunately, retro-cliched because everything that came after tried so hard to be the same))
• Vinge, Joan D. -- The Snow Queen and The Summer Queen (far-future SF, steeped in myth)
• Vinge, Vernor -- The Peace War and sequel Marooned in Realtime(imaginatively conceived hard SF and mystery combined); also A Fire Upon the Deep and his latest, A Deepness in the Sky (richly detailed novels filled with great sweep and scope)
• Vonnegut, Kurt -- Slaughterhouse Five and The Sirens of Titan, two of the best and funniest novels of this fine satirist.
• Willis, Connie -- Doomsday Book (hauntingly beautiful tale of time-travel researcher stranded in plague-decimated England) and many short stories
• Wolfe, Gene -- The Shadow of the Torturer (far-future SF with a fantasy feel; superb writing); followed, in order, by The Claw of the Conciliator, The Sword of the Lictor, and The Citadel of the Autarch
• Yolen, Jane -- Cards of Grief (SF with lyrical fantasy feel) and Briar Rose (heartbreaking fantasy about a woman's search for her roots in the ashes of the Holocaust)

---

Nebula Award winners

Another good place to start is with novels that have won the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America's Nebula Award. Note that the awards are actually given out in the spring following the year listed; the latter corresponds generally to year of publication. Here's the list to date:

2004 Paladin of Souls -- Lois McMaster Bujold
2003 The Speed of Dark -- Elizabeth Moon
2002 American Gods -- Neil Gaiman
2001 The Quantum Rose -- Catherine Asaro
2000 Darwin's Radio -- Greg Bear
1999 Parable of the Talents -- Octavia E. Butler
1998 The Forever Peace -- Joe W. Haldeman
1997 The Moon and the Sun -- Vonda N. McIntyre
1996 Slow River -- Nicola Griffith
1995 The Terminal Experiment -- Robert J. Sawyer
1994 Moving Mars -- Greg Bear
1993 Red Mars -- Kim Stanley Robinson
1992 Doomsday Book -- Connie Willis
1991 Stations of the Tide -- Michael Swanwick
1990 Tehanu: The Last Book of Earthsea -- Ursula K. Le Guin
1989 The Healer's War -- Elizabeth Ann Scarborough
1988 Falling Free -- Lois McMaster Bujold
1987 The Falling Woman -- Pat Murphy
1986 Speaker for the Dead -- Orson Scott Card
1985 Ender's Game -- Orson Scott Card
1984 Neuromancer -- William Gibson
1983 Startide Rising -- David Brin
1982 No Enemy But Time -- Michael Bishop
1981 The Claw of the Conciliator -- Gene Wolfe
1980 Timescape -- Gregory Benford
1979 The Fountains of Paradise -- Arthur C. Clarke
1978 Dreamsnake -- Vonda N. McIntyre
1977 Gateway -- Frederik Pohl
1976 Man Plus -- Frederik Pohl
1975 The Forever War -- Joe Haldeman
1974 The Disposessed -- Ursula K. Le Guin
1973 Rendezvous with Rama -- Arthur C. Clarke
1972 The Gods Themselves -- Isaac Asimov
1971 A Time of Changes -- Robert Silverberg
1970 Ringworld -- Larry Niven
1969 The Left Hand of Darkness -- Ursula K. Le Guin
1968 Rite of Passage -- Alexei Panshin
1967 The Einstein Intersection -- Samuel R. Delany
1966 Flowers for Algernon (tie) -- Daniel Keyes
1966 Babel-17 (tie) -- Samuel R. Delany
1965 Dune -- Frank Herbert