My boyfriend and I went to the bookstore this afternoon, so I have some new acquisitions! I shall hopefully be reading/reviewing them soon. Anyone else find anything new or exciting lately?
“The Left Hand of Darkness” by Ursula K. Le Guin
I’ve been meaning to pick this one up for a while, but finally splurged on it. I’ve heard good things, and I’m hoping to include it in a project for my multicultural librarianship class. I really enjoyed the way that Le Guin handled gender/sexuality in “The Telling,” and a lot of the class discussion in the week that we covered GLBT in class revolved around the fact that most novels that deal with GLBT issues are about either coming out or falling in love. Sci-fi that deals with gender issues but that doesn’t make them the entire story is a refreshing change.
“Daughter of the Forest” by Juliette Marillier
I’d run across Juliette Marillier’s name when reading lists of fantasy authors, although I haven’t tried her books yet. I think that part of what sold me on this one is the fantastic cover art by John Jude Palencar. He’s one of my favorite book cover artists, and I haven’t read any books featuring his cover art that I’ve disliked!
“The Vampire Lestat” by Anne Rice
I found this last week at the library book sale. I had read “Interview With the Vampire” a few months ago, and thought that the vampires were a bit emo, but I’ve been told that they aren’t as bad in the rest of the trilogy. I’m not generally a vampire person, but I do like Anne Rice’s writing style, so I’m going to give it a chance.
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The Left Hand of Darkness is in my top 5 list of sci-fi books of all time — absolutely brilliant.
I’m very excited to read it! =D
Edit: And out of curiosity, what are the other four?
Stand on Zanzibar (1968) — John Brunner
The Left Hand of Darkness – Ursula Le Guin
The Unsleeping Eye (1974) — D. G. Compton
Dune (1965) — Frank Herbert (a somewhat predictable choice)
Hawksbill Station (1968) — Robert Silverberg (might not actually be a “classic” but one of my favorites)
Martian Time-Slip — Philip K. Dick
well, I guess — top 6.
Oooh, nice! Dune is the only other one that I’ve read. I’ll have to keep an eye out for the others. =D
Stand on Zanzibar is a pretty daunting read — really long and complex and avant-garde — but yes, all brilliant works 🙂
Now you’re making me want to read it!
Stand on Zanzibar is about a massively overpopulated future earth where all social institutions (the church, the family, racial identity, cultural groups) are breaking down…. breathtaking — filled with bits of invented and real news-articles, advertising jingles, excerpts from invented books, television programs, and even a chart….
That sounds cool. I like books that play with writing style, so the bits of invented culture thrown in sound intriguing.
Brunner is a weird author — he wrote semi-crud pulp before it and then suddenly wrote a series of masterpieces in the late 60s and 70s — Stand on Zanzibar is the best of the bunch (THe Sheep Look Up is a horrifically dark ecological disaster sci-fi novel, The Shockwave Rider predicted the computer virus, and The Jagged Orbit is darn good as well).
Brunner called it a “non-novel” — not convinced that’s accurate — just beware, it’s dense. hehe
I think that I may end up including this one when Carl’s sci-fi non-challenge starts. 😀
It won the Hugo for best science fiction novel in 1969….
Sounds good!
Great choice of books. You will love Vampire Lestat! Happy reading. 🙂
Thank you!
Happy reading Grace!
Thank you! =D
I’ve been looking for Left Hand of Darkness for a while, but I haven’t been able to find it at B&N. Eventually I may have to break down and order it online (along with a couple of other books that they don’t seem to stock).
I can’t go into bookstores looking for anything specific, because they never seem to have what I came for. I ended up getting these books because B&N didn’t have the ones I was looking for, lol. I think they look awesome either way. I’m glad that ordering online is always an option!
I haven’t ever read any Anne Rice because I’m afriad I might like it, and then I won’t be able to make fun of people that read Anne Rice anymore.
Lol. I know the feeling! (my younger sister is a big Anne Rice fan)
“Daughter of the Forest” is one of my favorite books. Juliette Marillier is amazing. Have fun 🙂
Awesome. I’m looking forward to reading it; based on just reading the back it looked amazing!
oooh, the Left Hand of Darness is so good. I can’t wait for you to read it!
I’m excited!
I enjoyed all three of those. THE VAMPIRE LESTAT was my favourite book for years and years, while DAUGHTER OF THE FOREST made me sob wretchedly and THE LEFT HAND OF DARKNESS got me thinking about gender constructs in fiction. Enjoy!
Awesome! I’m hoping Daughter of the Forest isn’t too sad… it looked really good. I’m excited to read all three! (Darn papers due at the end of the week that are preventing me from starting them sooner)
I was seriously worried I wasn’t going to be able to comment intelligently on your blog. Then I found this post.
“The Left Hand of Darkness” is one of the books that turned me into a sci-fi junkie. I have read it many times though the years.
Sorcha is one of my much beloved fantasy characters. She is tragic and heroic all at the same time.
Personally, I liked “The Vampire Lestat” more than “Interview.” Anne Rice is always hard for me though.
Of the three, “The Left Hand of Darkness” is far and away my favorite, but I’m sure you will enjoy all three.
Thanks for visiting! I’m excited to read all three… I’m thinking that they’re jumping ahead of some of the other books that I have waiting to be read, because I’ve heard so many good things about them! =D