Friday, December 31, 2010

V is for Vance and Van Vogt.

Another load from my collection. There really should be more Vernor Vinge books here, since they're bloody excellent.


JACK VANCE:
SERVANTS OF THE WANKH
CITY OF THE CHASCH
THE DIRDIR
THE PHNUME
THE ASUTRA
THE ANOME
SLAVES OF KLAU
EMPHYRIO
RHIALTO THE MARVELLOUS
THE HOUSES OF ISZM
THE BLUE WORLD
SON OF THE TREE
MARUNE ALASTOR 993
THE NARROW LAND
THE FACE
GALACTIC EFFECTUATOR
THE AUGMENTED AGENT
THE DYING EARTH

A. E. VAN VOGT:
AWAY AND BEYOND
EMPIRE OF THE ATOM
SUPERMIND
MORE THAN SUPERHUMAN
THE GRYB
THE FAR-OUT WORLDS OF …
ROGUE SHIP
CHILDREN OF TOMORROW
THE BOOK OF PTATH
THE MIND CAGE
THE WIZARD OF LINN
EARTH’S LAST FORTRESS

JOHN VARLEY:
MILLENIUM
STEEL BEACH
WIZARD
DEMON
TITAN

VERNOR VINGE:
ACROSS REALTIME

JOAN D VINGE:
WORLD’S END
PSION
PHOENIX IN ASHES
SNOW QUEEN
EYES OF AMBER

10 comments:

vaudeviewgalor raandisisraisins said...

what a weird cover for Vance's 'Emphyrio'. how they choose these covers to represent must be:

a) price
b) random grabs out of a garbage can

how is 'Psion' by Joan Vinge? i couldn't finish it. just one cliche after another.

my problem (moot) with Vernor Vinge is that he humanizes his aliens a little too much. great reads though.

KJ Mulder said...

I haven't read anything by Vernor Vinge yet, but I have A Fire Upon the Deep and A Deepness in the Sky waiting on my bookshelf.

I think I'll make one of his novels my first read of 2011. At 600+ pages it should help nicely in the 50,000 pages reading challenge I'm attempting.

Any recommendations for reading order? I see A Deepness in the Sky was written later but is indicated as the first book in the series.

Alpharius said...

You're missing a lot of REALLY good Vance books!

I can't recommend EYES OF THE OVERWORLD and CUGEL'S SAGE highly enough (and don't miss RHIALTO THE MARVELLOUS either!), and even though ECCE AND OLD EARTH and THROY aren't quite as good as ARAMINITA STATION, the CADWAL CHRONICLES trilogy is all kinds of awesome too!

Oh, and the LYONESSE Trilogy too!

vaudeviewgalor raandisisraisins said...

one thing i have only seen in Britain was the 'Fantasms and Magics' book of short Vance stories. worth the 2 pounds i paid in '77.

has his most messed up story: 'The Men Return' at the end.

Neal Asher said...

It's been a long time since I read those Joan Vinge books, Vaude.

Not sure what order is best, Crusader, I just remember having that 'I wish I'd written that' feeling while reading them.

Alpharius, The Eyes of the Overworld was the first Jack Vance book I ever read. It belongs to my brother which is why you don't see it here.

Alpharius said...

Same here - " The Eyes of the Overworld" was my first Vance too, and I was off and running after that!

Now, your books are on the top of my "Must Buy Immediately, Even in Hardcover" list as well - a short list indeed these days, what with two young daughters to raise!

And, I've also turned a few friends at work on to your books as well - though they remain annoyingly difficult to find in the US, at least when they're first released...

Neal Asher said...

Alpharius, as I've told US buyers here before, try http://bookdepository.co.uk where you can get my books often with a discount and with zero shipping costs.

Alpharius said...

Thanks for that link - I'm off there now to purchase The Technician!

KJ Mulder said...

Just finished A Fire Upon the Deep and I loved it.

Vernor Vinge is great. It's a definite must read if you haven't done so already.

Unknown said...

Hi Neal,

I got Prador Moon for Xmas and now am reading through the rest of your work. Wonderful stuff.

Anyway, looking at these Jack Vance books takes me back to my reading of Gridlinked; the part where Stanton and Pelter go to pick up Mr. Crane at the Pelter mansion. That scene where they encounter Mr. Crane in the wine cellar reminds me so much of Adam Reith's the first encounter with a Phung in Jack Vance's Planet of Adventure books (in the first one, City of the Chasch). Mr Crane reminds of a Phung, but the whole mood of that particular scene took me back to the Vance book.

That's all, no question really, just an observation.

Mr. Crane is awesome.