sovay | You're open to interpretation, like the trapdoor underneath your tousled throne

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You're open to interpretation, like the trapdoor underneath your tousled throne

Just got back from seeing The Prestige with my parents, and I remember a course from college that would have been delighted to include this film. All the different kinds of doubling made me happy. (Which makes it not so inappropriate, I suppose, that when I saw Roger Rees as Owens, the solicitor, my first thought was: "But Edward Everett Horton's been dead for years!") And Tesla in Colorado Springs. And the mechanism of the transported man, that must be disguised as a clever illusion; because if the revelation of a trick is a disappointment, how much more terrible is the realization that it's no trick at all—that the magic is real. No one comes to the carnival to see a real unicorn. I might have to see this movie again.

My contributor's copies of Best New Fantasy, which reprints my short story "The Dybbuk in Love," arrived this afternoon. This is happiness. I am looking forward to checking out the other stories, too.

And lastly, at the request of

muchabstracted, I have put together a list of my fifty most significant science fiction and fantasy novels, 1953—2002. Caveat lector.

(Cut for lots of early influence. Well, and some recent.)

This is not the same thing as a list of my fifty most significant books. I'm sure there are omissions that will annoy me when I remember them. In keeping with the original parameters, I have excluded plays, poetry, graphic novels, and nonfiction, as well as collections of retold myths and folklore like the D'Aulaires' Norse Gods and Giants (1967) or Virginia Hamilton's The People Could Fly (1985), no matter how much of an impression they may have left on me. Similarly, while there are several writers on this list whose entire corpora are reasonably central to my life, I have made an effort to restrict their presence here to the one or two books that either sparked my initial interest or seem to have had the most lasting effect. I have included a few short story collections and occasionally considered a series to be a single entity; I have kept to the Science Fiction Book Club's set dates, and certainly that has changed the look of this list somewhat. But so far as I can determine, here are fifty books whose existence has in some way been critical to my life—if you want the list of fifty books I consider critical to the field of fantasy and science fiction, I will have to compile another. The order is alphabetical, for simplicity's sake. Dates of publication included because I am a geek.

1. A Necklace of Raindrops (1968), Joan Aiken

2. The Haunting of Cassie Palmer (1980), Vivien Alcock

3. The Prydain Chronicles (1964—1970), Lloyd Alexander

4. A Fine and Private Place (1960), Peter S. Beagle

5. The Last Unicorn (1968), Peter S. Beagle

6. The Coming of Pout (1966), Peter Blair

7. The Golden Apples of the Sun (1953), Ray Bradbury

8. The Halloween Tree (1972), Ray Bradbury

9. The Master and Margarita (1967), Mikhail Bulgakov

10. The Bloody Chamber (1979), Angela Carter

11. Wise Children (1991), Angela Carter

12. The Deep Range (1957), Arthur C. Clarke

13. The Dark Is Rising (1965—1977), Susan Cooper

14. Seaward (1983), Susan Cooper

15. So You Want To Be A Wizard (1983), Diane Duane

16. Angry Candy (1988), Harlan Ellison

17. Shatterday (1980), Harlan Ellison

18. The Owl Service (1967), Alan Garner

19. Rats and Gargoyles (1990), Mary Gentle

20. Moonwise (1991), Greer Gilman

21. A Judgment of Dragons (1980), Phyllis Gotlieb

22. Mythago Wood (1984), Robert Holdstock

23. God Stalk (1984), P.C. Hodgell

24. Howl's Moving Castle (1986), Diana Wynne Jones

25. The Lives of Christopher Chant (1988), Diana Wynne Jones

26. The Gammage Cup (1959), Carol Kendall

27. Tales of Pain and Wonder (2000), Caitlín R. Kiernan

28. A Wind in the Door (1973), Madeline L'Engle

29. Buffalo Gals and Other Animal Presences (1987), Ursula K. Le Guin

30. The Left Hand of Darkness (1969), Ursula K. Le Guin

31. The Secret Books of Paradys (1988—1993), Tanith Lee

32. The Silver Chair (1953), C.S. Lewis

33. Dragonsinger (1977), Anne McCaffrey

34. The Stones Are Hatching (2000), Geraldine McCaughrean

35. The Riddle-Master Trilogy (1976—1979), Patricia McKillip

36. The Sorceress and the Cygnet (1991), Patricia McKillip

37. Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast (1978), Robin McKinley

38. The Integral Trees (1984), Larry Niven

39. The Darkangel (1982), Meredith Ann Pierce

40. The Perilous Gard (1974), Elizabeth Marie Pope

41. Norstrilia (1975), Cordwainer Smith

42. The Crystal Cave (1970), Mary Stewart

43. Some of Your Blood (1961), Theodore Sturgeon

44. Venus Plus X (1960), Theodore Sturgeon

45. Psion (1982), Joan D. Vinge

46. Kingdoms of Elfin (1977), Sylvia Townsend Warner

47. The Winter Prince (1993), Elizabeth E. Wein

48. The Book of the Long Sun (1993—1996), Gene Wolfe

49. Neptune Rising: Songs and Tales of the Undersea Folk (1982), Jane Yolen

50. Sister Light, Sister Dark (1990), Jane Yolen

Yes, there are a lot of children's books on this list. Or books that I read as a small child, regardless of their intended audience—I read Buffalo Gals and Other Animal Presences the year it came out, and God knows what that did to my brain; the same with Sister Light, Sister Dark, which I am almost sure influenced my decision to take up archery in seventh grade. Not a lot of science fiction that stayed with me, which is interesting in itself. Or there are authors that I remember I read through voraciously, like Lucius Shepard or Alfred Bester, but to whom I still don't return the same way. Hmm. I may have to re-think this list in a day. Or at least draw up another one.

What the hell: here are some of the books I listed off the top of my head, but had to cut because of publication dates or genre.

The Napoleon of Notting Hill (1904), G.K. Chesterton

A Tale of Two Cities (1859), Charles Dickens

The Valley of Song (1951), Elizabeth Goudge

I, Claudius (1934), Robert Graves

The Life and Opinions of the Tomcat Murr, Together with a Fragmentary Biography of Kapellmeister Johannes Kreisler on Random Sheets of Waste Paper (1819—1821), E.T.A. Hoffmann

The Last of the Wine (1956), Mary Renault

The Mask of Apollo (1966), Mary Renault

The Eagle of the Ninth (1954), Rosemary Sutcliff

We (1924), Yevgeny Zamyatin

Questions, comments, howls of outrage . . . ?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Yay! Many thanks, I now have more books to look for at the library. I probably did read a similar number to the other fellow's list, but I liked the ones on your list more.

I'll need to go find the Joan Aiken; I have many fond memories of her books. I found Neptune Rising for a dollar at a yard sale, which was tremendously exciting. I'd never seen it before. I gloated. Rats and Gargoyles was good, and tremendously comlicated.

My other thoughts consist of things like, "Darkangel!", "Psion, I remember that, but I don't remember having a strong reaction to it," and "Hmmm, Sylvia Townsend Warner, I liked that one short story I read by her."

"Psion, I remember that, but I don't remember having a strong reaction to it,"

It exists in two versions: it was published first as a slightly bowdlerized young adult novel and then reprinted with the preferred, original text. I'm not sure if this would make any difference to your reaction. I like all three of Vinge's novels about Cat, the others being Catspaw (1988), Dreamfall (1996), and the novella "Psiren" in Phoenix in the Ashes (1985), and have always been sorry that she seems to have abandoned the character (on a cliffhanger, no less). Her language is believably telepathic.

Ah, that would explain it. I read the young adult version, which I recall being fun but unexceptional.

I have never heard of The Coming of Pout, A Judgment of Dragons, The Gammage Cup, or The Stones Are Hatching. Do you think I would like any of them, and how desperately should I be looking for them at the library if I would?

Hmm. The Coming of Pout is wildly uneven: it has a wonderful trickster (and one who impressed upon me deeply as a child) and a real sense of eerie time and complexity, but it implodes so badly in the last chapter that the entire story never recovers; see discussion here. A Judgment of Dragons is a novel formed of four interlinked novellas all in the same future, and it is perhaps the only book I have ever read in which the telepathic, intelligent cat-protagonists are entirely believable. The lead novella, "Son of the Morning," is simply one of my favorite science fiction stories; and one of my favorite stories in the tradition of Yiddish literature of the fantastic, which it manages at the same time. The Gammage Cup involves a set of characters considered so weird by their village that they are outlawed so as not to become an embarrassment in an upcoming municipal competition, and of course it's these outlaws whom they turn out to need most, but it wins points with me for the characterizations of the five outlaws, who are not all artistic-dreamy types, and some of the nicer satirical details—the ruling family of the village, for example, seems to have gotten its names out of a book of abbreviations and shorthand. (You try pronouncing "&.") And The Stones Are Hatching follows an unwilling boy as he tries to avoid the duty his name seems to have chosen for him: to destroy the Stoor Worm, the ancient dragon of Orkney legend, whom the guns of the First World War have woken from her millennial sleep; as all around her, the old weirdness of the British Isles is also stirring awake.

Of the four, I would recommend A Judgment of Dragons and The Stones Are Hatching first—their language alone is worth reading; Phyllis Gotlieb is primarily a poet, and Geraldine McCaughrean writes like she has a hotline to the otherworld—and then the other two if you can find them. You will probably recognize immediately the reasons I like these books, but I will be curious to hear your opinions of them.

I would recommend ... and The Stones Are Hatching first ... Geraldine McCaughrean writes like she has a hotline to the otherworld

I remember

livredor reading The Stones Are Hatching back when we were in college and being very enthusiastic about it and telling me that I would be even more enthusiastic about it. I really should go try and find a copy somewhere.

I really should go try and find a copy somewhere.

You really should. It is an exceptional book; I'd have imprinted on it if it had been around when I was small, and it still hit all of my archetype buttons as it is.

Shortening, just the ones that I've read, with the ones that were a Very Significant Influence on me in bold:

3. The Prydain Chronicles (1964—1970), Lloyd Alexander
8. The Halloween Tree (1972), Ray Bradbury
13. The Dark Is Rising (1965—1977), Susan Cooper
14. Seaward (1983), Susan Cooper
15. So You Want To Be A Wizard (1983), Diane Duane
19. Rats and Gargoyles (1990), Mary Gentle [Along with most other Mary Gentle, really.]
24. Howl's Moving Castle (1986), Diana Wynne Jones
25. The Lives of Christopher Chant (1988), Diana Wynne Jones
28. A Wind in the Door (1973), Madeline L'Engle
32. The Silver Chair (1953), C.S. Lewis [The series in general, definitely an influence; most of all Voyage of the Dawn Treader, though, not this one so much if I recall correctly.]
33. Dragonsinger (1977), Anne McCaffrey
35. The Riddle-Master Trilogy (1976—1979), Patricia McKillip [Not a significant influence, but some of her others like The Changeling Sea definitely are. I mean, that's my favorite book ever on many levels, so how could it not be?]
36. The Sorceress and the Cygnet (1991), Patricia McKillip
42. The Crystal Cave (1970), Mary Stewart
45. Psion (1982), Joan D. Vinge [I'd have to go with The Snow Queen, personally.]
50. Sister Light, Sister Dark (1990), Jane Yolen

And there are definitely others of those which are sitting unread on my shelf. :)

[Along with most other Mary Gentle, really.]

Well, yeah. Rats and Gargoyles just happens to be the first piece of her work that I read.

[The series in general, definitely an influence; most of all Voyage of the Dawn Treader, though, not this one so much if I recall correctly.]

Er. I fell in love with Puddleglum at a young age . . .

[Not a significant influence, but some of her others like The Changeling Sea definitely are. I mean, that's my favorite book ever on many levels, so how could it not be?]

See, I read The Riddle-Master of Hed for the first time while still in elementary school, and so I'm pretty sure it just hardwired into my brain; I found The Sorceress and the Cygnet early in high school, but it also caught me immediately. I do love The Changeling Sea, for obvious reasons, and Something Rich and Strange as well.

[I'd have to go with The Snow Queen, personally.]

I didn't read The Snow Queen until a couple of years ago; when I liked it, but didn't find it the best retelling of the fairy tale I'd ever seen. I think if I'd found it earlier, I might have felt differently.

Rats and Gargoyles just happens to be the first piece of her work that I read.

Yeah, I think the first one I read was Golden Witchbreed, followed by Scholars & Soldiers. Which makes Rats & Gargoyles even weirder on a first reading, I think, since you have some of the not-exactly-background to muddle you around. :)

See, I read The Riddle-Master of Hed for the first time while still in elementary school

I'm not sure when exactly I picked up The Changeling Sea, but it was probably middle school, maybe late elementary school. I fell firmly in love with it (and will happily cite McKillip as my favorite author, or at least one of them, even to this day), but didn't care for the Riddle-Master trilogy when I first tried it, at around the same age. Going back to it much later, after having consumed scads of the rest of her work, I could clearly see it as containing all of the elements that would one day manifest into the style that I love so much. I naturally agree with you on Something Rich and Strange (and am entirely unsurprised that you love it), plus all of her recent stuff — have you read A Song for Basilisk? (I've read what I can of her older stuff, though The Night-Gift is as yet sitting unread on my shelf.)

but didn't find it the best retelling of the fairy tale I'd ever seen

For whatever reason, when I read it I didn't have Andersen tale in mind, despite it being an obvious connection, book title aside. I think that made me like it more, probably.

Which makes Rats & Gargoyles even weirder on a first reading, I think, since you have some of the not-exactly-background to muddle you around.

I loved it—I tracked down Scholars and Soldiers just for the two White Crow and Casaubon stories it contained. I think Golden Witchbreed was probably the second I read, and then Ancient Light, and then Ash: A Secret History came out and I was very happy. : )

Going back to it much later, after having consumed scads of the rest of her work, I could clearly see it as containing all of the elements that would one day manifest into the style that I love so much. I naturally agree with you on Something Rich and Strange (and am entirely unsurprised that you love it), plus all of her recent stuff — have you read A Song for Basilisk?

I am ambivalent about many of her recent novels, although A Song for the Basilisk is one that I do like; Ombria in Shadow is another and, once I got over the retrofitting of Winter Rose to North America, Solstice Wood.

The Night-Gift is as yet sitting unread on my shelf.)

I found it a very weird book, not for any intrinsic strangeness, but because it's a non-supernatural young adult novel . . . written by Patricia McKillip. I kept expecting strangeness to manifest and it never did. The House on Parchment Street and Stepping from the Shadows, on the other hand, are fabulous.

and, once I got over the retrofitting of Winter Rose to North America, Solstice Wood.

That's one that I own but haven't yet read, mostly because I read Winter Rose long enough ago that I'd rather like to reread it before I dive into Solstice Wood.

The House on Parchment Street and Stepping from the Shadows, on the other hand, are fabulous.

Haven't read (don't even own!) the first one, but I both own and have read the second, and I attempted to use it to convince my mother to read some McKillip. But she just can't be convinced that anything not concretely and wholly in this world is worth reading/watching/enjoying, regardless of the character development (which is what she usually professes to go by). It's doubly sad because she used to enjoy such things — for example, when she was about my age she really loved Dune.

Have you read Fool's Run? Reading sci-fi by her is also a rather odd experience.

Haven't read (don't even own!) the first one

It's another early young adult novel: the protagonist comes to stay with relatives in England and discovers a ghost in the basement, which naturally she and her cousin—who start off spectacularly on the wrong foot with one another—feel honor-bound to investigate. The plot is not anything to write home about, but the secondary characters are much more interesting than they might otherwise be, and of course it has her language. If you can find a copy, it might make an interesting double-feature with Peter S. Beagle's Tamsin.

Have you read Fool's Run? Reading sci-fi by her is also a rather odd experience.

Fool's Run is another one of my favorites; I didn't find it jarring, perhaps because the story is so intensely mythological (katabasis!), but the ways in which technology filters through her style are fascinating. I would certainly read any science fiction she wrote, but beyond Moon-Flash and The Moon and the Face and a few odd short stories, I'm not sure there's been any.

What an interesting mixture; thank you for posting them.

You're welcome. I'm sure this list explains some things about how I turned out . . .

I think the Science Fiction Book Club's list is a pretty defensible one, if the criterion is significance to the field and resonance in popular culture. I have encountered enough execrable fantasy and science fiction that I never read it unless one of two things are true:

- It has been quoted, alluded to, and had other work based on it to the point where the importance of its ideas and (hopefully) the quality of its writing are manifest. This accounts for why I have read about 75% of the books on the SFBC list.

- It has been recommended by someone whose opinions I value. This accounts for why there are forty-seven books I have now to read. Of the books on your list, I've read only Lewis, L'Engle and Le Guin.

This accounts for why there are forty-seven books I have now to read.

Heh. Thank you! I hope you like them . . .

thanks for posting this list. I now quite like the look of some of the ones I hadn't previously read. ^_^

I now quite like the look of some of the ones I hadn't previously read.

You're welcome. I hope you enjoy them!

You don't think "Lord of the Rings" was one of the most significant fantasy books? Maybe it's not among your 50 favorites, but it's probably the most significant, in that it got the most people interested in fantasy, and is even now the most well-known fantasy series.

I've read 5 books off your list, as compared to 4 from the original list. I have no appreciation for the classics.

Maybe it's not among your 50 favorites, but it's probably the most significant, in that it got the most people interested in fantasy, and is even now the most well-known fantasy series.

If I were doing a list of external significance, definitely I'd put The Lord of the Rings on there. I just know that it wasn't one of the books that got me into fantasy: I was already in high school by the time I discovered it.

I've read 5 books off your list, as compared to 4 from the original list.

Which five and which four?

I have no appreciation for the classics.

Hey, you introduced me to The Sandman . . .

When you said "my most significant novels", I thought you meant the ones you thought were the most significant in general, not the ones most significant to you. In that case, it makes sense.

I've read the Prydain chronicles, "So You Want to be a Wizard", both Harlan Ellison, and the Pern book. In middle school I was in online RPGs based on both the Prydain books and the Pern books. I'm pretty sure that I even helped found the Prydain one.

Well, this works out perfectly. I was telling you I wanted to gather together all the authors/books I've pulled from various posts, and now you have a nice list here I can simply print up. So glad you revised the meme!

I'm going to put it on my refrigerator and anyone wanting to buy me something can select what they want from it, then I'll put checks by the ones I've read, etc., etc., and it will be wonderful!

(Heh, the list is a bit like a gift in itself.)

I was telling you I wanted to gather together all the authors/books I've pulled from various posts, and now you have a nice list here I can simply print up. So glad you revised the meme!

You're welcome! I hope you enjoy the books!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

You're open to interpretation, like the trapdoor underneath your tousled throne

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