kerravonsen | Book Musings (Reply)

Have assuaged the guilt by spending all afternoon working on my RemixRedux story, and it's Nearly Finished (maybe). Hopefully tomorrow will do it, and then the betaing. Hopefully.

Now, I've been meaning to do this since the last book meme... my favourites in different sub-categories, because one doesn't always feel like the same kind of book all the time.

Okay, so I already said that my favourite Historical was "A Beacon At Alexandria" by Gillian Bradshaw.

SF: Most interesting aliens This one's a tie, with a few contenders, though not as many as you might think. It's hard to write aliens that are both convincingly non-human and at the same time bearing an intelligence which is comprehensible (because if it is just so different that it might as well be a rock, then what's the point?). First, we'll put the aliens in Orson Scott Card's "Ender's Game" trilogy, the Buggers and the Piggies. I also have to plug the Venusians in "Venusian Lullaby" by Paul Leonard, which is probably the only Doctor Who spin-off novel that I'd reccommend as a stand-alone SF novel as well.

SF: hard science David Brin is the first "hard SF" author that I came across who managed to have good characterisation as well as good science. And I'd stick my favourite (my only favourite) Arthur C. Clarke novel here, unless I had a category for SF thriller: "A Fall of Moondust".

SF: post-apocalyptic Hmmm, there's a couple of favourites here. "The Chrysalids" by John Wyndham is a classic. "The Postman" by David Brin gets a plus for its major irony, though it does have a few detours here and there. And an honourable mention for "Where Late The Sweet Birds Sang" by Kate someone-i-forgot. You could also consider the entire Sime~Gen series (by Jacqueline Lichtenberg et al) as post-apocalyptic, except that it has its emphasis on other things.

SF: lighthearted SF that doesn't take itself seriously isn't much around. I almost wouldn't count Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy as SF, it's more Sci Fi, I mean it has the trappings of SF but not the speculativeness. No, the two books I have in mind here are David Brin's "The Practice Effect" (what if practice really did make perfect? -- and he gets the princess too) and Connie Willis's "To Say Nothing of the Dog" (time travel, self-corrections, and the giddying effect of too much time travel)

SF: time travel Well, I've already mentioned "To Say Nothing of the Dog" but as I said, that isn't really serious. Hmmmm, a good time travel novel..."The Door into Summer" by Robert Heinlien (but mainly because of the cat) Or I could pick some of my favourite Doctor Who novels where time travel is important, like "The Crystal Bucephalus" or "Cold Fusion".
Or I could toss in "alternative history" here as well, in which case I'd vote for "1632" by Eric Flint. While "Island on the Sea of Time" by S. M. Stirling has a similar concept, I found the characters in 1632 more appealing.

SF: cyberpunk "The Diamond Age" by Neal Stephenson; I love how the inner story and the outer story end up relating to each other.

SF: psi The People stories by Zenna Henderson, because they're so nice. Human-like aliens with amazing powers, stranded on Earth near the beginning of the 20th century. Also the "Catspaw" series by Joan Vinge; this is more cyberpunky. I have a list of more psi-related stories on my Also Like page.

SF: use of language "Babel 17" by Samuel R. Delaney, where language is the heart of the plot.

SF: the transformation of a classic story into a new SF story while retaining all the resonances Well, there's only two novels that I think have actually managed to even do this, so they both win this category. "The Snow Queen" by Joan Vinge (I was once going to do a point-for point comparison of this novel with the original Hans Christian Andersen story, but I never got around to it. Wouldn't surprise me if someone else has done it already). And "The Stars My Destination" (aka "Tiger Tiger!") by Alfred Bester, which parallels itself with "The Count of Monte Cristo" by Alexandre Dumas, another favourite of mine.
One example of this category which actually failed was "Jenna Starborn" by someone-i-forget which was based on Jane Eyre, but while it had some promising ideas, fell down before it got to the end.

SF: military The Vorkosigan novels by Lois McMaster Bujold; they aren't purely military by any means, but certain of them have a strong emphasis on military, politics and espionage, but the strongest emphasis is on the characters. Next best would be David Weber's Honor Harrington stories, which I read when I can't get Lois McMaster Bujold. I like the earlier books better than the later ones, where you have more space battles and less politics. Honourable mention to "The Man Who Never Missed" by Steve Perry (I should see if I can get a copy of that) which was the first in a series, but I liked this one best, more for the central idea.

SF: interstellar trade there's a good bit of trading in some of the Liaden universe novels by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller, most particularly "Balance of Trade". Then there's the recent "Trading In Danger" by Elizabeth Moon. But the first ones I was captivated by would have to be the old "Solar Queen" novels by Andre Norton. Oh, and the tradeship parts of "Citizen of the Galaxy" by Robert Heinlein, now there's a classic. I like the interstellar trade trope (a single ship buying and selling in an exotic universe) because you have the excitement and possible danger, but the emphasis is on the use of wits rather than might, and the possibility of a win-win situation, rather than always having win-lose.

SF: the most serious interpretation of the Prime Directive is not in a Trek novel, but in a series where there's an advanced civilization which takes non-interference much more seriously than Star Trek does: the Elana books by Silvia Louise Engdahl. The first book is "Enchantress from the Stars".

SF: lyrical anything by Cordwainer Smith. And "Fool's Run" by Patricia A. McKillip

SF: most colourful future "Biting the Sun" (aka "Don't Bite the Sun" + "Drinking Sapphire Wine") by Tanith Lee

SF: theological I suppose I could cop out and note the "Out of the Silent Planet" trilogy by C.S. Lewis, but that wasn't what I was thinking of, more on the controversial theological, in which case I would put "A Case of Conscience" by James Blish, and "The Sparrow" by Mary Doria Russell

SF: ugly duckling Menolly in the Harper Hall trilogy by Anne McCaffrey and Aelianna in "Scout's Progress" by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller

SF: unputdownable series The "Agent of Change" sequence in the Liaden universe series by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller. The four books of the seqence, "Agent of Change", "Carpe Diem", "Plan B" and "I Dare" follow on from each other so closely that even though each novel does come to a conclusion, I always end up reading them one after the other.

Fantasy: retelling of a fairytale "Ella Enchanted" by Gail Carson Levine because it mixes more than one fairytale together and makes an original story of it. For a deadly serious one, "Deerskin" by Robin McKinley, and for something in between "Beauty" by the same author.

Fantasy: favourite Arthurian "Hawk of May" by Gillian Bradshaw. It's the first of a trilogy but I like the first one best, because I hate how the Arthur cycle ends.

Fantasy: historical fantasy That is, a historical novel with fantasy elements, an alternative history historical novel with fantasy elements, or a fantasy novel set in some known historical era. I think I'd have to vote for Judith Tarr's "The Hound and the Falcon" trilogy and even more, her stand-alone "A Wind In Cairo" which has the feel of an Arabian Nights story. "Hawk of May" would be here if it wasn't already in the Arthurian category.

Fantasy: most original enchantment "Dun Lady's Jess" by Dorana Durgin; a horse is accidentally turned into a woman -- with all the instincts of a horse. This one gets a plus not just for the unusual scenario, but the attention to behavioural detail.

Fantasy: most unusual teaching tradition The riddle-masters in the Riddle-Master trilogy by Patricia A. McKillip ("The Riddle-Master of Hed", "Heir of Sea and Fire", "Harpist in the Wind"). And this has a few other unique cultural features, such as the Land-Rule, as well as more "ordinary" fantasy things such as lost Wizards, ancient ruins, and mysterious shape-changers. I had to make up a category for this one because I wanted to mention it, but I couldn't be sure it was really the "best trilogy".

Fantasy: urban fantasy "War for the Oaks" by Emma Bull

Fantasy: ugly duckling a lot of Diana Wynne Jones's stories, especially "Howl's Moving Castle", "Power of Three" and "Charmed Life".

Fantasy: lyrical "The Forgotten Beasts of Eld" by Patricia A. McKillip. "Smith of Wooton Major" by J.R.R. Tolkien. The "Singer" trilogy by Calvin Miller, though I'm not sure exactly what genre this one really belongs in.

I think I'd better stop now, it's getting late!