STEVE'S LISTS AND LINKS

Things to think about and places to go

CHAPTER SIX

Hey, you've got guts to have come this far. As a reviewer I see a lot of books and magazines and the first question I always get is "what do you recommend?" Well, to help answer that question, I'd like to provide the following lists and links.

The lists fall into these basic categories;

Books you should have/must have/better have read:
New authors to watch for:
Books that are fun to read:
Short fiction.
What I recommend right now!

BOOKS YOU SHOULD HAVE READ. (You can't call yourself a science fiction/fantasy fan without having read at least ten of these.)

Dune (all of them, in order) by Frank Herbert
Foundation(only the original books mind you) by Isaac Asimov
Chronicles of Amber (all 10 books) by Roger Zelazny
The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury
The Faded Sun Series (3 books) by C. J. Cherryh
Dragon/Pern books by Anne McCaffrey
Lord Of The Rings along with The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien
Hammer's SlammersDavid Drake
The Forever War by Joe Haldeman
The Mists Of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley
The Chronicles Of Thomas Covenant by Stephen Donaldson
Ender's Game and the rest of the books (4 altogether) by Orson Scott Card
Ringworld by Larry Niven
Fafhrd And The Gray Mouser by Fritz Leiber
Beggars In Spain by Nancy Kress

Hey, you do ramble. What was I interested in again? Why did I come here? I'm confused. Yes, that's it! Dazed and confused! Better take me back to the beginning.
The beginning? No way! No, never again. I want out of here. Take me back to page one.

NEW AUTHORS TO WATCH FOR (and the books they write)

Ammonite by Niccola Griffith
Midshipman's Hope (and the rest of the series)by David Feintuch
The Baker's Boy (and the other 2 books) by J. V. Jones
Daughter Of Prophecy by Anne Kelleher Bush
Mindlight by Margaret Davis
The Dry Lands by Mary Rosenblum
Aggressor Six by Wil McCarthy

FUN (gasp) BOOKS

Wheel Of Time series by Robert Jordan
On A Pale Horse (read at least the first three books in this series) by Piers Anthony
Footfall by Jerry Pournelle & Larry Niven
The Magic Of Recluse by L. E. Modessett
The Phoenix Guards (and anything else in that series) by Steven Brust
The Wood Nymph And The Cranky Saint by C. Dale Brittain
The Paladin by C. J. Cherryh

Everything Jack Vance, has ever written

Everything Dave Duncan writes

The Regiment by John Dalmas

A Deeper Sea by Alexander Jablakov(actually everything Alex writes is pretty damn good but this book is exceptionally wonderful and thought provoking.

On and on and on you go. Granted you do seem to love the stuff, but please? How much am I expected to take? I still think there may be something worth looking at though. Let me look at the beginning one more time.
Psst. Hey you! Yeah, you. The one with the dazed look. For a fin I'll show you the secret way out; the way back to the beginning. Just put your money here.

SHORT FICTION (where it all began so long ago)

Analog--Still one of the best for hard SF.
F&SF--Absolutely the best for literate SF.
Locus--The newsmagazine of the Science Fiction field.
Absolute Magnitude--One of the new kids on the block but destined, perhaps, to take Analog's place.
Space & Time--One of the original small press zines. Very erratic producing issues but always worth it.
Pirate Writings--Another new kid that seems destined for greatness. Softer fiction, some mystery and horror make this well rounded.
Hardboiled--Great, old fashioned, shoot-em-up, detective fiction.
Tales Of The Unanticipated--Quirky annual mag with wonderful stories.
Shadow Sword--Wonderful fantasy mag with an emphasis on S&S.
Freezer Burn--Great little mag moving from horror to the surreal.

HEY, WHAT ABOUT POETRY?

Simply put, all I have to say can be summed up here. Takes a moment to load.

What I've just read and what I've got open right now.

R.A. Salvatore's, "The Dragon King"
Nancy Springer's, "Fair Peril"
Holly Lisle's, "Hunting The Corrigan's Blood"
Nancy Kress', "Beggar's And Choosers"
Patrick O'Leary's, "Door Number Three"
Jack Williamson's, "The Black Sun"
Ivan Cat's, "The Eyes Of Light And Darkness"
Tom Cool's, "Infectress"
Shariann Lewitt's, "Memento Mori"
Thomas Easton's, "Silicon Karma"

And what do I think of the above? You'll have to go back to page one and subscribe to one of the magazines I write for.

I think I missed something. Is this the way to the top? Yes? Okay, let's go.

Missed it? Only because it was not there. Viable content that is. I'm ready to step up and out. Where's that first page again? Right here?Excellent!

Links to other sites on the Web

Del Rey Books--One of the best places to find classic SF and also to find new authors.

Tor books--Hard SF and thought provoking fiction is the mainstream here.

Wildside Press--A specialty press that really publishes some wonderful material and could use the support.

Baen Books--Perhaps the premier publisher of military and adventure SF and Fantasy.

Avon Books--Cutting edge, undefineable except for saying that AvoNova books are almost always worth reading.

Chimera Publishing--An excellent place to pick up art; posters, prints, calendars. Science Fiction, Fantasy--and all the related old world masters who inspired todays artists.

Cascoly--reviews of books (some of which I write) which you can use as guides to actually purchasing. What a great idea!

I'm exhausted. Take me back to the first page
I'm not even breathing hard. I want to continue and see what's left. Rumor has it that another page exists.

Hey, have you sent me email yet? Have you even considered it? See how easy it really is? Click on the address below.

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