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From: mpm@hpfcla.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.sf-lovers
Subject: Re: Request from an SF Diletante
Message-ID: <24000028@hpfcms.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 1-Feb-86 00:53:00 EST
Article-I.D.: hpfcms.24000028
Posted: Sat Feb  1 00:53:00 1986
Date-Received: Tue, 4-Feb-86 19:57:26 EST
References: <635@ttidcb.UUCP>
Organization: 31 Jan 86 22:53:00 MST
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Re:  Classic science-fiction

     I recommend some Edgar Rice Burroughs, namely "Tarzan of the Apes"
and the "Venus" books.  There is adventure here, and a subtle touch of
class.  Jules Verne wrote some fun tales also, notably "Journey to the
Center of the Earth".  Warning:  the language of these works is, ob-
viously, dated.

     Also I highly recommend some reading by the "big name" female S-F
writers.  Anne McCaffrey's Pern books, especially "Dragonquest" and
"Dragonflight", "Dragonsong", offer sensitive character portrayal 
along with well-designed cultural venues.  I second the votes for books
by Marion Zimmer Bradley.

     I also suggest some reading of books by Poul Anderson, Gordon Dick-
son, and Keith Laumer.  The latter two especially write novels with
strong central characters who often begin as relatively unnoteworthy in
the story but demonstrate their true metal later on.  Go for the Dorsai
books by Dickson.  No single book by Laumer stands out for me but there
are some good adventure tales here with, again, excellent character dev-
elopment.  Laumer deals with the psyche of his protagonists more than
most authors.  As for Anderson, I recommend "Tau Zero", or the Flandry
books.  Poul does tend to use an uncommonly large vocabulary.  (I keep
a dictionary handy.)

     My personal favorite is Jack Vance.  His strong point is developing
a very rich culture and setting for his stories.  He even goes so far as
to put footnotes in some of his novels.  Try the Planet of Adventure
series:  Servants of the Wankh; City of the Chasch; The Dirdir; The Pnume.
Or read "Showboat World" which takes place on the same world as "Big
Planet".  An excellent single novel is "Maske:  Thaery".  (You may have
some trouble finding these.

     Despite all the moaning and groaning about Heinlein's pontificating
in his recent works, I recommend him.  (But not "Number of the Beast".)
With "Glory Road", "Stranger in a Strange Land", "Time Enough for Love",
and "I Will Fear No Evil", he has taken some risks to introduce sex in
a "mainstream" S-F novel.  He also seems willing to accept that love can
show itself in ways other than those approved by the Moral Majority.

     The Doc Savage books by Kenneth Robeson are adventure stories (with
simplistic characters and plots) that are on a par with the Doc Smith
books.  They may be two-dimensional, but they are FUN.

     An excellent book that seems little known of late is Daniel Galouye's
"A Scourge of Screamers".  It offers a novel plot:  one based on the as-
sumption that we are all functioning at a "low" level of mental ability
because of a "field" that the Earth has been within for thousands of years.
What happens when our solar system moves into "free space" and our neurons
go crazy?

     There are some classics by Andre Norton that first appeared in the
1950s and 1960s.  I recommend the Time Agent books (Galactic Derelict,
Key Out of Time, etc.), and some others like "Star Gate", "Moon of Three
Rings", and "The X Factor", and especially the early Witch World books
(Witch World, Warlock of the Witch World).  These stem from her "science-
fiction" period.  In the last ten years, Ms. Norton has shifted to writing
mostly fantasy.

     I could go on and on.

	-- From the land of high mountains (Colorado)
	   Mike McCarthy
	   (ihnp4,hplabs)!hpfcla!mpm
	   M