Thursday, March 28, 2013

Classic Reading List

Golly, I hope the formatting holds on this. My sincere apologies if it doesn't. Classic Fantasy Recommended Reading List Although many respectable works that need no reintroduction have been left off, the following list is an attempt to bring to light a portion of the rich legacy of fantasy literature. You'll notice a good deal of science fiction and horror have crept in—illustrating that, while there is not room for fantasy in sci-fi or horror, there is room in the fantasy genre for everything. Consider it, if you will, a brief history of lost or forgotten works. How many have you read? Please email me (mkeaton@archangelpress.net) if you find any goofs or believe I've left something off that absolutely must be considered for future lists. Orlando Furioso Arosto, Ludovico The Foundation Trilogy Asimov, Isaac A House-Boat on the Styx Bangs, John Dendrick The Wonderful Wizard of Oz Baum, L. Frank The Stars Are My Destination The Demolition Man Bester, Alfred A Case of Conscience Blish, James The Sorcerer's Ship Beyond the Golden Stair Box, Hannes Stand on Zanzibar Brunner, John A Princess of Mars Tarzan Burroughs, Edgar Rice The Biography of Manuel The Cream Of The Jest Jurgen Domnei Cabell, James Branch War With the Newts Capek, Karel Alice's Adventures in Wonderland Carroll, Lewis Thongor Against The Gods (see also the Flashing Swords! anthologies with Lin as editor) Carter, Lin Red Moon And Black Mountain Chant, Joy Fancies and Goodnight Collier, John They'd Rather Be Right (w/Frank Riley) Clifton, Mark The Phoenix And The Mirror Collected Fantasies Davidson, Avram Babel-17 The Einstein Intersection Delaney, Samuel R. Lest Darkness Fall (possibly the first ‘alternate history’ novel) de Camp, L. Spraque Don Quixote de Cervantes, Miguel The Man in the High Castle Dick, Philip K. The Lost World (see also the two sequels The Poison Belt and The Land of Mist) Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan The King of Elfand's Daughter At The Edge Of The World Beyond The Fields We Know Don Rodriguez: The Chronicles Of Shadow Valley The Charwoman's Shadow Dunsany, Lord The Worm Ouroboros Mistress Of Mistresses Eddison, Eric Rucker To Your Scattered Bodies Go Farmer, Philip Jose The Moon Of Gomrath Garner, Alan The Serpent Atlan The City Gaskell,Jane She The World's Desire (w/Andrew Lang) Haggard, H. Rider The Forever War Haldeman, Joe Greyfax Grimwald Hancock, Niel Double Star Starship Troopers Stranger in a Strange Land The Moon is a Harsh Mistress Heinlein, Robert A. Dune Herbert, Frank Conan the Barbarian Howard, Robert The Lost Continent Hyne, C. J. Cutliffe Flowers for Algernon Kayes, Daniel Walkers On The Sky Lake, David J. The ‘Color’ Fairy Books Lang, Andrew The Left Hand of Darkness LeGuin, Ursula K. Swords And Deviltry Gather, Darkness! The Big Time The Wanderer Leiber, Fritz Out of the Silent Planet (see also the two sequels Perlandra and That Hideous Strength) Lewis, C. S. Vril:The Power of the Coming Race Lytton, Edward The Princess and the Goblin MacDonald, George The Moon Pool The Metal Monster The Ship Of Ishtar Face In The Abyss Dwellers In The Mirage Merritt, A. A Canticle for Leibowitz Miller, Walter M., Jr. Paradise Lost Milton, John Lud-in-the-Mist Mirrlees, Hope The Knight Of The Swords Stormbringer The Jewel In The Skull The Chronicles of Corum Moorcock, Michael Jirel Of Joiry Moore, C. L The Chalchiuhite Dragon Morris Kenneth The Glittering Plain The Water Of The Wondrous Isles The Sundering Flood Three Works The Well at the World's End The Wood Beyond The World Morris, William Ringworld Niven, Larry A Mirror for Observers Pangborn, Edgar Rite of Passage Panshin, Alexei Gormenghast Titus Alone Peake, Mervyn The Space Merchants Pohl, Fredrik The Blue Star Land Of Unreason (w/L. Sprague de Camp) Pratt Fletcher A Time of Changes Silverberg, Robert City Way Station Simak, Clifford D. Hyperborea Smith, Clark Ashton The Lensman Series Smith, E.E. Doc Witch Queen Of Lochlann Smith,George Henry The Faerie Queene Spenser, Edmund Armor Steakly, John Earth Abides Stewart, George R. E Pluribus Unicorn (short stories) More Than Human Sturgeon, Theodore Day Of The Minotaur The Weirwoods Green Phoenix Wolfwinter Lady Of The Bees Cry Silver Bells Swann, Thomas Burnett La Gerusalemme liberata Tasso, Torquato The Dying Earth Vance,Jack Slan Van Vogt, A.E. The Island Of The Mighty The Song Of Rhiannon Prince Of Annwn The Children Of Llyr Walton, Evangeline We Zamyatin, Yevgeny Nine Princes In Amber Jack Of Shadows This Immortal Lord of Light Zelazny, Roger The Odyssey Homer The Illiad Science Fiction: History, Science, Vision (1977) Scholes, Robert and Eric S. Rabkin, Oxford University Press

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

MidSouth Con: Wit of the Staircase

I just got back, in good health and spirits but very weary and mentally groggy. I'll try to to a full con report later and it could be a long one. Because other people were ill or unable to make panels, I was able to expand my own schedule and stay comfortably busy. I'm sad other people had trouble but, as most of you know, I LIKE doing panels. But that's for later. This post is to let you know I got home safe and that I hope everyone else did too in spite of the weather. It is also a chance for me to post the little things that I forgot to say on some of the panels, information I couldn't remember, and some tidying up. Dark Oak has aquired Calamity's Child and will re-release it VERY soon (as in a few weeks). The old link box for it on the side here will be replaced when that happens. Please, order the new one, don't accidentally get the old one. The new one is better edited and the formatting problems are fixed plus, if you buy the old one, I don't get paid for it. Instead, do be so kind as to find ten friends and stand by to order the new one as soon as it's available. After this, you may begin to lobby for the Red Dog stuffed toy. Also, if you don't want to keep checking back on this blog and watching the tumbleweeds, post you contact info or email it to me and I'll send you an email when it comes out. Steampunk: "Dream of Perpetual Motion" was written by Dexter Palmer. Read it. The other good overlooked steampunk books I forgot were "Farlander" by Col Buchanan, "Court of the Air" by Stephen Hunt, and "Stormdancer" by Jay Kristoff. The end of the world: I didn't get a chance to mention that there is a company called Apocalyptic Ammunition (apocalypticammunition.com/) that sells gold and silver bullets based on the concept that then you can shoot OR barter. Timeless: I didn't have enough copies to give out so I'm going to try to post my list of classis SF/F books as a seperate blog post. (I'm afraid of the formatting and don't want it to mess up this post.) I'll pre-schedule that as a blog update for later in the week. Finally, thanks so very much to everyone who made my return to the world after two years of withdrawal wonderful and safe. I can't wait for Conclave (although, come to think of it, they haven't invited me yet. Hmmmn.). I will be at Pulp-Ark in April because, if you run a convention so close to where I live that I can sleep in my own bed at night, you have a very good chance of getting me to come (and the organizer is the editor on the revised Calamity's Child and he was rather insistent). Absolutely want to do "Dark and Stormy" every year from here on. And, again, thank you all so very much. It is a pleasure and honor to serve such an excellent, kind, and intellegent readership, both those who made it to Midsouth and all the rest of you. And Selena still hits.