Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.3 4.3bsd-beta 6/6/85; site topaz.RUTGERS.EDU Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!cbosgd!cbdkc1!desoto!packard!topaz!Alfke.PASA From: Alfke.PASA@Xerox.ARPA Newsgroups: net.sf-lovers Subject: Re: What should be your FIRST sf book ??? Message-ID: <3537@topaz.RUTGERS.EDU> Date: Thu, 5-Sep-85 12:46:22 EDT Article-I.D.: topaz.3537 Posted: Thu Sep 5 12:46:22 1985 Date-Received: Fri, 6-Sep-85 05:49:33 EDT Sender: daemon@topaz.RUTGERS.EDU Organization: Rutgers Univ., New Brunswick, N.J. Lines: 36 From: Peter Alfke Jeff Thompson writes: >My question is this -- Was that a wise choice for a representative >of all that is good in the field? If not what would you suggest to >your friends given the same opportunity? Not having read Lord of Light (sorry!), I will instead present an unabashed rave for a book that I would certainly suggest . . . At the moment I would recommend John Crowley's "Engine Summer", my (again, at the moment) favorite sf book. As far as micro-plot-synopsis: it takes place many centuries after the (non-nuclear) general collapse of our civilization, and follows a boy of a tribe that have an *exact* science of sociology, but no other scientific knowlege, in his journeys in an attempt to become a saint. This book is suffused with a "sense of wonder" -- the super-scientific devices of our near-future (and they are *original* super-scientific devices) are seen as quite magical by the characters in the story, and are presented through their eyes. Crowley lets one see these as magical holy relics, while simultaneously one realizes what they must 'really' be. The sense of wonder is one of the best and most important features of SF; it is certainly an essential feature of a "first" SF book. "Engine Summer" would make a wonderful first book, and in fact I strongly recommend it to anyone, no matter how SF-jaded they may be. Then, when you've finished it, read his "Little, Big"... --Peter Alfke PS: How else can you find out: Who are Dr. Boots' List? What is the Filing System? Who are the Four Dead Men, and why aren't there five, and are they the same Dead Men as the ones carved on a mountain? What do the silver ball and glove do? . . .