Book Hauls!

[Connavar]

Abebooks second hand haul due to dangerous late night browsing.....


The Moon Pool by Abraham Merritt( I blame D_Davis for this one )
Galactic Effectuator by Jack Vance
Good Behavior by Donald E. Westlake

[Extollager]

Ashland, Oregon used book finds, the past few days, include:

Finney Time and Again -- oversized pb $1
Tolkien LOTR trilogy, generally good condition, the Barbara Remington covers on the three vols, 1972 printings -- 8.50 total
Conklin (ed) 5 Unearthly Visions 2.50
" " 4 from the Future 2.50
" " Worlds of When 2.50 -- these Conklins are all from the first half of the 1960s and in pretty decent shape
Moorcock Jewel in the Skull (Lancer 1967) 3.00
" " Secret of the Runestaff (Lancer 1969) 3.00
Non-sf -- London: A Pilgrimage, illus. by Gustave Dore (Dover reprint) $1

The stores in question: Book Exchange; Rogue Books; Book Wagon

None of these stores has a huge sf/fantasy selection, although the Book Exchange offerings take up a number of shelves.

Dale

[WizardofOwls]

Just got through ordering 20 new books! I'll post names tomorrow when I'm a little more sober.

[D_Davis]

Originally Posted by Connavar

The Moon Pool by Abraham Merritt( I blame D_Davis for this one )

I'll take the blame!

[D_Davis]

Sounds awesome. Turns out, I've seen a film - The Seven Faces of Dr. Lao - based on one of the author's books - The Circus of Dr. Lao. I think I'm going to like this author a great deal. This particular book is a collection of weird westerns, written in the 1950s, all set in the fictitious city of Manacle, Arizona.

I got this book in a lot of vintage Pyramid books I recently purchased off of eBay; it looks like there are some really cool discoveries to be made here. I got 25 vintage paperbacks for only $50, and I've already discovered that a few of them sell for $5-15 a piece, so not bad.

[K. Riehl]

Picked up Threshold by Flint and Spoor, hardcover 1st of Gateway by Fredrick Pohl, and the original galley proof of The Violent Man by A. E. Van Vogt signed from Van Vogt to Forry Ackerman

[antiloquax]

After going through the recommendations for the unenlightened thread and cross-checking with my ebooks DVDs, I am adding lots of books to my Kindle.
Too many to list but authors include Avram Davidson, Elizabeth Moon, Julie E. Czerneda, Joan D. Vinge, Elizabeth Lynn, Jack Vance, Peter Hamilton, Ian McDonald, Paul Park, Justina Robson, Michaela Roessner, John Varley, Paul McAuley, Peter Watts, Jo Clayton, Michael Scott Rohan, Kate Elliott, Barbara Hambly, Peter S. Beagle, Connie Willis etc.
Oh dear, too many. But the Kindle makes me want to hoard books ...

[GOLLUM]

Originally Posted by antiloquax

After going through the recommendations for the unenlightened thread and cross-checking with my ebooks DVDs, I am adding lots of books to my Kindle.
Too many to list but authors include Avram Davidson, Elizabeth Moon, Julie E. Czerneda, Joan D. Vinge, Elizabeth Lynn, Jack Vance, Peter Hamilton, Ian McDonald, Paul Park, Justina Robson, Michaela Roessner, John Varley, Paul McAuley, Peter Watts, Jo Clayton, Michael Scott Rohan, Kate Elliott, Barbara Hambly, Peter S. Beagle, Connie Willis etc.
Oh dear, too many. But the Kindle makes me want to hoard books ...

That's a pretty good list of authors you've compiled there. Avram Davidson is a great writer and has been a major influence on Gene Wolfe, my favourite SFF writer alive today. Elizabeth Moon's Deeds of Parksennarion is quite a good read as I recall it. Czerneda I know of but never read, likewise for Vinge and Lynn is relatively well known but I've only read a couple of her shorts, quite decent. Jack Vance...is well Jack Vance. One of the legends of SFF and as George Martin told us in the audience at WorldCon, if you are an aspiring writer look to Vance if you want to learn how to write. Songs of a Dying Earth is marvellous. Peter F Hamilton writes great space opera, his books are often massive but those I've so far read are very good and Ian McDonald is a talented writer. I have River of Gods but am yet to read it. Paul Park's Princess Of Romania quartet is highly acclaimed. I have it but another on the to read list. Peter Watts I've only read a few shorts of. Justina Robson, Michaela Roessner, Paul McAuley, Jo Clayton and Barbara Hambly I know only the name. John Varley I have some short fiction, yet to read. Michael Scott Rohan..well one of my favourite ever series is 'The Winter of the World', especially the first trilogy. Magical writer with descriptions of 'the ice' as an evil presence unparalleled in Genre fiction to my knowledge, an underrated author IMO. Kate Eliiot's work I really like, particularity her 7 part fantasy EPIC Crown Of Stars..superb. I was lucky enough to meet Kate at WorldCon and get one of the books from the series signed by her. Peter S. Beagle wrote a lovely book and to my mind a classic in The Last Unicorn. Connie Willis is a very talented writer, check out her Doomsday Book.

Good stuff..keep 'em coming and I'll keep writing...

[GOLLUM]

Originally Posted by D_Davis

Turns out, I've seen a film - The Seven Faces of Dr. Lao - based on one of the author's books - The Circus of Dr. Lao. I think I'm going to like this author a great deal. This particular book is a collection of weird westerns, written in the 1950s, all set in the fictitious city of Manacle, Arizona.

The Circus of Dr. Lao is to my mind a classic work of fiction....

[antiloquax]

Thanks, Gollum. Your comments are (as ever) vastly helpful. I'm planning to read the Bitterbynde books and then see what strikes my fancy! I also came across two volumes of "Dreaming Down Under" while searching through my hoard of Ebooks. Some gems from Australian writers in them - all new to me!

[D_Davis]

Originally Posted by GOLLUM

The Circus of Dr. Lao is to my mind a classic work of fiction....

We will soon see if I agree with you, because last night I ordered almost everything I could from Finney. While I haven't read a single thing he's written, I just have this really strong suspicion that he will be an author that I love.

[Extollager]

Well, y'all let me know if Charles Finney is the real deal. My Time and Again is by Jack Finney, who also wrote Invasion of the Body Snatchers. I enjoyed both of those. Never have read CGF, as far as I remember.

[GOLLUM]

Originally Posted by antiloquax

Thanks, Gollum. Your comments are (as ever) vastly helpful. I'm planning to read the Bitterbynde books and then see what strikes my fancy! I also came across two volumes of "Dreaming Down Under" while searching through my hoard of Ebooks. Some gems from Australian writers in them - all new to me!

The Bitterbynde trilogy is one of my favourite Australian series. I've met Cecilia (author) several times. Her 'lucky break' is quite something. Encouraged by friends she began posting and blogging online with her fiction. Based upon some of her fiction that an editor from Times Warner in the US happened to stumble across online one evening, she subsequently received an early morning phone call from Time Warner offering "as I understand it" literally for a $250,000 plus contract on the spot based on that sample text. From there she went on to publish the Bitterbynde sereis and other series since then. Bitterbynde remains my favourite thing by her however. Some readers are not keen on her writing because there's a strong celtic influence which makes the prose somewhat wooly at times to follow but I really like that style of lyrical prose.

Jack Egan is the editor of those 2 Aussie anthogloires. They're the most comprehensive contemporary SFF Australian anthologies that I am aware of. Jack is another I've bumped into at various literary events. Orignally from the US he's been living in Melbourne, my home city for the past 15 or so years. Very interesting person to listen to. He's also an author in his own right. I have a copy of his novel The Memory Cathedral, which he won the Nebula award for. Haven't got around to reading it yet though....

@D_Davis: Interested to see you what you have to say regarding The Circus of Dr. Lao.

[D_Davis]

Originally Posted by Extollager

Well, y'all let me know if Charles Finney is the real deal. My Time and Again is by Jack Finney, who also wrote Invasion of the Body Snatchers. I enjoyed both of those. Never have read CGF, as far as I remember.

I'll be starting the weird western collection probably early next week.

[pyan]

Fond a nice copy of A Song for Arbonne by Guy Gavriel Kay in the Red Cross shop - I see it's recommended by Elvet and Clansman at Goodreads, so I'm looking forward to tucking myself away for a few hours...