Monday, December 07, 2009

B is Blish, Banks & Butler.

Here’s the ‘B’ section from my SFF collection. I’m a little bit annoyed upon having gone through this lot. One of my very favourite books is missing: Half-Past Human by T J Bass. Doubtless I loaned it to someone and that someone hasn’t bothered to return it.




IAIN M BANKS

CONSIDER PHLEBAS

THE PLAYER OF GAMES

INVERSIONS

LOOK TO THE WINDWARD

CLIVE BARKER

WEAVEWORLD

THE GREAT & SECRET SHOW

T J BASS

THE GODWHALE

BARRINGTON J BAYLEY

THE PILLARS OF ETERNITY

& THE GARMENTS OF CAEN

GREG BEAR

SONGS OF EARTH & POWER

QUEEN OF ANGELS

THE FORGE OF GOD

EON

BENFORD & BRIN

HEART OF THE COMET

JAMES BLISH

THE QUICUNX OF TIME

JACK OF EAGLES

THE WARRIORS OF DAY

THE CLASH OF CYMBALS

A CASE OF CONSCIENCE

MIDSUMMER CENTURY

FALLEN STAR

EARTHMAN COME HOME

ANYWHEN

THE TESTAMENT OF ANDROS

BEN BOVA

COLONY

VOYAGERS II

VENGEANCE OF ORION

KINSMAN

AS ON A DARKLING PLAIN

MARION ZIMMER BRADLEY

THE SHATTERED CHAIN –

DARKOVER LANDFALL

THE SPELL SWORD

THE WINDS OF DARKOVER

STAR OF DANGER

THE BLOODY SUN

THE SWORD OF ALDONES

JOHN BRUNNER

THE CRUCIBLE OF TIME –

THE TIDES OF TIME

THE DRAMATURGES OF YAN

TOBIAS BUCKELLL

CRYSTAL RAIN

MARK BUDZ

CLADE

KENNETH BULMER

ON THE SYMB-SOCKET CIRCUIT

TO OUTRUN DOOMSDAY

OCTAVIA BUTLER

MIND OF MY MIND –

CLAY’S ARK

IMAGO

DAWN






18 comments:

Inchy said...

How bored have you been today?!

Grim's Reality said...

How mad is that. I'm re-reading the Godwhale right now. Last time I read it would have been twenty odd years ago. And how odd reading it to see the episode revolving around Larry’s bud grown clone to grow him a bottom half, and how it was done by taking embryonic pituitary cells.

I don't know how far back stem cell research goes, but I'll assume that in 1975, when the book was first published that it was way out there on the very farthest horizon of science, and yet now, the actual science is with us, but using bone marrow or embryonic stem cells.

Neal Asher said...

Inchy, plumbers in the house makes concentrating on writing not so easy. However, the photograph is from the weekend when I decided to start noting down what books I have in my collection.

Graeme, check out T J Bass's biography and you'll see why he's on the medical stuff. He has been very prescient though - his 'Sharps Committee' is our HSE.

Clockwork Zeppelin said...

Hi Neal

My favourite Greg Bear book is 'Slant'. Very much a 1990's product of its age....brilliant description of a team of assassins chucking a bottle of 'military grade nano' at the limo they just exited which proceeds to use its component atoms to make some quite nasty flesh shredding machines in very short order. Brilliant

Giant68 said...

I decided to catalogue my collection and found freebie software to do from the isbn. Now I just can't bring myself to work thru' a couple of thousand books. life is too short. I'll just add the new ones as and when I buy them!

Anonymous said...

And here I've read: Eon & Crystal Rain...

Neal Asher said...

Paul, I think I've read it. What I've got in my collection is a fragment of what I've read.

Giant68, and if you look closely at the picture here you'll see one of the penalties of not keeping up-to-date on what you have -- doubling up on copies of books.

That all Mark?

brent said...

there are 2 followups to crystal rain out, check them out if you have the time!

buckell is a fellow ohio-an so i must pimp his books when i can.

Anonymous said...

Neal - yep, just the two. I must admit that I just haven't read many of the older sci-fi books, something I really must remedy...

vaudeviewgalor raandisisraisins said...

Tobias who-huh?

i second the sediments on Slant.

packrat54 said...

No Stephen Baxter?!? I just wish I'd bought the ones I've read which I think I listed on Mark's blog (Ring, Exaltant and Transcendant). I took them out at my local library. I do have "Origin" that I bought used but I need to find the two earlier books in the series. BTW, it was that library where I found the first book of yours that I read, "Cowl."

Neal Asher said...

tea-time, yes, I read the next one in the series.

Mark, a couple of recommendations for you out of those shown: Mind of my Mind by Octavia Butler, The first two Iain M Banks plus another by him: Use of Weapons. Blish will maybe feel dated to you, and the Zimmer-Bradleys were a teenage reading jag for me.

Packrat54, yup, same with me: read from the library.

Anonymous said...

Thansk Neal, I've added Mind of my Mind to my Amazon wish list as a reminder to pick it up next time I'm ordering.

As for Banks, I've got Consider Phlebas sitting on the shelf to read (and Matter too), but I didn't think much of The Algebraist so haven't been that keen to try more from him.

Neal Asher said...

Mark, it's Banks early SF that, in my opinion, is the best: Consider Phlebas, The Player of Games & Use of Weapons. Excession is pretty good too as is the short story collection State of the Art.

vaudeviewgalor raandisisraisins said...

did you read 'Against a Dark Background'? that blew me away in scope and the encompassing triptych. took a while to read, clunky in parts. i still recommend it tho to the more sophisticated buddies.

Neal Asher said...

I did read 'Against a Dark Background' some years ago, Vaude. Still, in my opinion, not as good as the three I previously mentioned.

Incidentally, I don't much go for Banks 'contemporary' stuff, but Wasp Factory is fucking brilliant.

Phil Ackerman said...

I am reading a "B" at the moment 'Mission to the Heart Stars' by Blish, great book so far.

My Favourite Banks has to be Player of Games and Excession. (did not like Feersum Endjinn)

I did a spread sheet a while back of all mine and kept it up to date. Need this when at charity shops or car boot sales else end up with loads of copies of books.

Recomend getting ride of books at ReadItSwapIt.com

Neal Asher said...

Phil, that's my aim too. Of course I'll need to go and buy some nice techy toy to keep the list on as well.