Of course I know that the inquiry may very well turn into fewer copies by the time we get to order-placing, but – wow.

I strongly suspect that this is a result of the book being made available at the Boy Scout’s 100th Jamboree in DC from a few weeks ago, the distributor is the first paintball company to be allowed to sponsor scouting events (paintball is still a prohibited scouting activity but something tells me that’s going to change…; scouting prohibits it because you have to fire a projectile at another person).

The book was a hybrid standard-publishing/self-publishing project; I picked up the copyediting costs, cover art & etc., arranged for the distribution, while the publisher (Liaison Press – non-fiction arm of Creative Guy Publishing, a small press in Canada – go visit them for some good genre stuff) agreed to pick up the printing, layout work based on the fact that I’d already arranged to sell some). Kind of like an established author having a market and wanting to do something different – no advance, but no out of pocket for the author (even though I had a small amount out of pocket).

It was also an experiment in placing ads within the body of the text; I’d say that experiment was marginally successful. I suspect it will be VERY successful if the clients know 25k copies are being distributed to an entirely new market…

Too bad its not one of my SF novels….

Yeah, yeah. Gift horses. Mouths. I know, I know.

SFSignal’s MindMeld this week (next big thing in SF) plays into this a bit as well.

So many writers these days (fans as well) are of the ‘educated by Heinlein’ generation that it comes as no surprise that his biography is generating lots of thoughts, words and introspection.

My own contribution was to re-read one of my favorites – The Door Into Summer. I’m pleased to see that it is others favorite as well.

It’s a time travel story, an invention story and Heinlein’s first dabble with the ‘waiting until someone is older to marry them’ theme. In this case it is a sedate step-daughter of an army buddy (not mom, lol).

It also puts on full display Heinlein’s love of and respect for cats. One of the main characters is Pete (Petronious), a tom that accompanies Dan Davis, the lead.

For me, TDIS is one of those nostalgic comfort reads. Takes all of a couple of hours to get through, takes me to an interesting place (a mid 1950s view of 1970 and later 2001 – all three eras I have now lived through) and is an excellent novel for dissecting RAH’s prognosticory abilities.

Which in this case were pretty far off (mechanics, rote electronic memory and limited application of printed circuits are the tech of the day).

But, and this is an interesting ‘but’, Heinlein does something very unusual in this novel. His character is an engineer who is responsible for developing household robots; Dan Davis is the “Edison of his day”, gets swindled out of his inventions and company and spends most of the rest of the novel setting things right.

At one point late in the story, Dan has occasion to look up his patents, and here is where it gets unusual; Heinlein actually lists a patent number. In this case it is Pat. No. 4,307,910, titled “the first Drafting Dan”.

What’s unusual here is that he did not have to list a specific number, and most SF authors of his era were pretty careful not to list specifics like this that could pin down and “date” their story.

My guess is that since he’d already set the story specifically in 1970 (and later, specifically, in 2000 and 2001) that he figured he’d just chuck all caution to the wind.

Unlike the story, I did not have to write letters to the national archives (now located in Denver at Carlsbad Caverns) to obtain copies of “all expired patents” – all I had to do was hop on the internet (technology grossly lacking in this novel), head on over to the USPTO’s website and plug the number into the patent number search field.

“Railway wheels and light weight axles” a ‘Drafting Dan’ do not make.

Furthermore, the real patent in question was filed in 1980, not 1970.

Ahh well. Dashed were my hopes that RAH had some kind of real window into the future; until the search at the USPTO completed, I was fully prepared to see drawings for an automated drafting table, with a filing date of 1970.

Heinlein really wasn’t that far off. He invented that patent number out of whole cloth back in 1955-56 when he wrote the original draft. Patent numbers didn’t get into the 4 millions until 1977 (they were in the 3.4 million range in 1970).

Off by half a million issues fourteen years earlier? Not bad.

Now as for the other thing mentioned earlier – SFSignal’s Mindmeld this week. I have to say I am SORELY disappointed in my fellow travelers. Not a single one of them suggested the following:

the next big trend will be stories written by award winners who are no longer with us, using supercomputers and software that has analyzed their style, plot, characterization & etc.. The only sticking point is the licensing fee for using the name….

It’s been quite a while since I’ve been able to do any star or planet gazing (I used to have a pretty nice 3″ reflector and was heading for a Dobsonian before the budget collapsed) and, while I knew that the viewing experience with the little five buck wonder was not going to be any great revelation, I was still looking forward to it.

This morning things were just about perfect: a near full moon at sunrise, accompanied by Jupiter. Clear skies and everything was happening where it was visible from the back porch.

The scope – she is not so good. The finder is Waaaaaay out of alignment (and I can’t find any adjustments, lol); the mount is a simple pan and tilt camera mount, plastic, stiff when you want it loose, loose when you want it stiff.

I was getting pretty frustrated for a few minutes until I lucked into getting old Luna lined up perfectly.

Despite the numerous decades that have past since I last gazed upon her face, she hasn’t changed. Tycho was bright as heck and there was a line of mountains in the (adjusted for flipside) upper right quadrant that was magnificently highlighted against the dark blue sky.

Gave Karen a looksee (she’s never seen the Moon through a scope before) and was rewarded with “COOL!”

I then turned my attention to Jupiter (much smaller, much more frustrating to find when reflected moonlight is almost overwhelming the field and your “fine” adjustments amount to the equivalent of bashing on the thing with a hammer) and managed to get it centered also.

2″ reflector with a 12.5x objective really doesn’t let you see more than a white/yellowish disk (no red spot, no bands – I used to love to stare at those and imagine that Discovery would come into view), but then I was rewarded with a wonderfully clear view of the four Galilean moons lined up above (below) the planet. Io, Ganymede, Callisto and Europa were clear and even showing tiny disks.

I’ll have to check and see when the next transit is going to take place and hopefully I’ll actually be able to see the shadow.

While waiting to answer comments over on GFTW (my monthly column premiered there today) I found this meme link from The World in the Satin Bag blog from Michio – who’s always positing wonderful concepts from the science side of science fiction. I figured I’d play along:

(From Big Think)Which ideas from Science Fiction would you most like to see become reality and why?

Regular and easy space travel. I don’t care if it’s to orbit, other planets or other stars. I want to go down to the local space port, buy a 50cr ticket and go OUT THERE.

What is your favorite Science Fiction movie and why?

Hmmm. Too many are my favorite. If I’m allowed more than one, I’d probably say I’d be happy on a desert island with the following: Forbidden Planet, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Destination Moon, This Island Earth, 2001: A Space Odyssey. (Original versions of there are remakes of any btw)

Who is your favorite Science Fiction character and why?

Whoever is starring in my current read. If I had to pick one – Commodore John Grimes, Astronautical Superintendent of the Rim Runners shipping line.

What is your favorite Science Fiction device, machine or weapon?

A personal jetpack (mounted on my personal spacesuit, which is stored in my personal long-range space cruiser that happens to be parked just a few thousand clicks off the Rinworld – and not on an interception course!)

www.graspingforthewind.com

John does crazy stuff like creating popular memes out of thin air…

I’m still mired in paintball business stuff. No (business) plan ever survives contact with the enemy. Like nearly every war the US has ever gotten ‘in’ to, it takes a lot longer to get out than you thought it would.

However, I’m managing to squeeze out a little time here and there and I’ll be making a tentative return to “genre blogging” now. I’m committing to weekly over here and I have accepted a monthly gig with none other than John Ottinger’s

GRASPING FOR THE WIND blog.

Expect some fireworks over there on the 21st as my introductory piece goes up and I take aim at EVERY SINGLE MAJOR GENRE ISSUE of the past couple of years.

In the meantime, hang in there. I may be coming back stronger than before!

2 – I Am Legend – Richard Matheson

3 – Cities in Flight – James Blish

4 – Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? – Philip K. Dick

5 – The Stars My Destination – Alfred Bester

6 – Babel-17 – Samuel R. Delany

7 – Lord of Light – Roger Zelazny

8 – The Fifth Head of Cerberus – Gene Wolfe

9 – Gateway – Frederik Pohl

10 – The Rediscovery of Man – Cordwainer Smith

11 – Last and First Men – Olaf Stapledon

12 – Earth Abides – George R. Stewart

13 – Martian Time-Slip – Philip K. Dick

14 – The Demolished Man – Alfred Bester

15 – Stand on Zanzibar – John Brunner

16 – The Dispossessed – Ursula K. Le Guin

17 – The Drowned World – J. G. Ballard

18 – The Sirens of Titan – Kurt Vonnegut

19 – Emphyrio – Jack Vance

20 – A Scanner Darkly – Philip K. Dick

21 – Star Maker – Olaf Stapledon

22 – Behold the Man – Michael Moorcock

23 – The Book of Skulls – Robert Silverberg

24 – The Time Machine and The War of the Worlds – H. G. Wells

25 – Flowers for Algernon – Daniel Keyes

26 – Ubik – Philip K. Dick

27 – Timescape – Gregory Benford

28 – More Than Human – Theodore Sturgeon

29 – Man Plus – Frederik Pohl

30 – A Case of Conscience – James Blish

31 – The Centauri Device – M. John Harrison

32 – Dr. Bloodmoney – Philip K. Dick

33 – Non-Stop – Brian Aldiss

34 – The Fountains of Paradise – Arthur C. Clarke

35 – Pavane – Keith Roberts

36 – Now Wait for Last Year – Philip K. Dick

37 – Nova – Samuel R. Delany

38 – The First Men in the Moon – H. G. Wells

39 – The City and the Stars – Arthur C. Clarke

40 – Blood Music – Greg Bear

41 – Jem – Frederik Pohl

42 – Bring the Jubilee – Ward Moore

43 – VALIS – Philip K. Dick

44 – The Lathe of Heaven – Ursula K. Le Guin

45 – The Complete Roderick – John Sladek

46 – Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said – Philip K. Dick

47 – The Invisible Man – H. G. Wells

48 – Grass – Sheri S. Tepper

49 – A Fall of Moondust – Arthur C. Clarke

50 – Eon – Greg Bear

51 – The Shrinking Man – Richard Matheson

52 – The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch – Philip K. Dick

53 – The Dancers at the End of Time – Michael Moorcock

54 – The Space Merchants – Frederik Pohl and Cyril M. Kornbluth

55 – Time Out of Joint – Philip K. Dick

56 – Downward to the Earth – Robert Silverberg

57 – The Simulacra – Philip K. Dick

58 – The Penultimate Truth – Philip K. Dick

59 – Dying Inside – Robert Silverberg

60 – Ringworld – Larry Niven

61 – The Child Garden – Geoff Ryman

62 – Mission of Gravity – Hal Clement

63 – A Maze of Death – Philip K. Dick

64 – Tau Zero – Poul Anderson

65 – Rendezvous with Rama – Arthur C. Clarke

66 – Life During Wartime – Lucius Shepard

67 – Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang – Kate Wilhelm

68 – Roadside Picnic – Arkady and Boris Strugatsky

69 – Dark Benediction – Walter M. Miller, Jr.

70 – Mockingbird – Walter Tevis

71 – Dune – Frank Herbert

72 – The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress – Robert A. Heinlein

73 – The Man in the High Castle – Philip K. Dick

74 – Inverted World – Christopher Priest

75 – Kurt Vonnegut – Cat’s Cradle

76 – H.G. Wells – The Island of Dr. Moreau

77 – Arthur C. Clarke – Childhood’s End

78 – H.G. Wells – The Time Machine

79 – Samuel R. Delany – Dhalgren (July 2010)

80 – Brian Aldiss – Helliconia (August 2010)

81 – H.G. Wells – Food of the Gods (Sept. 2010)

82 – Jack Finney – The Body Snatchers (Oct. 2010)

83 – Joanna Russ – The Female Man (Nov. 2010)

84 – M.J. Engh – Arslan (Dec. 2010)

Available June 22, 2010
ECCO/Harper Collins
254 pages
$23.99

Larry Doyle is the author of I Love You Beth Cooper and a former writer on the team that weekly brings us The Simpsons. It should come as no surprise then that his latest novel – Go Mutants – is hilarious. Humorous even. Side-splittingly funny, to borrow a phrase older than LOL, which is fitting since most of the action takes place in an ersatz, alternate-reality fifties-esque reality.

Go Mutants is much more than a funny science fiction tale though. It is a glorious, messy, convoluted mish-mash and send up of:

Cold war America
Fifties and sixties era music
Teenaged angUFOology
Armageddon (almost)
Sexual repression in puritanical America
And fifties era B grade horror and science fiction films.

Every Single One of them.

Literally. I’ve got a pretty good head and memory for most of the classic films in those genres – not to mention a special place in my heart for the really cheesy ones – and although I’ve not yet sat down to catalog each and every reference, I know that Larry himself is currently doing so (the index will be appearing on his fabulous website for the novel – www.larrydoyle.com) and every challenge I’ve tossed in his direction has been met with a page number and a paragraph.

Half the fun of reading Go Mutants is finding out just how many of these cultural touchstones you can catch – from Gort (The Day the Earth Stood Still) who’s day job is not one you’d expect, all the way through to The Man From Planet X and The Creature From the Black Lagoon (soon to be appearing at drive-ins in your town!)

Doyle isn’t satisfied with riffing off of old films only; there’s a wealth of references to early rock-n-roll, television shows, political personalities and happenings, all woven together like the largest, tightest, knottiest ball of string you’ve ever seen.

All of this would be more than enough for any fan of genre classics, but Doyle’s encyclopedia of twisted history merely serves as the backdrop for a multi-layered tale of teen angst, coming of age, acceptance and redemption, sex, love, politics and sex. (Did I mention sex?)

Go Mutants takes place in the town of Manhattan and at Manhattan High, where J!m (not a typo) is wrestling with his identity, his place in the world, his personal relationships with girl friends, wannabe girl friends, friends and bullies.

J!m feels alienated like any teenager should. Especially when that teenager is an alien, complete with oily blue skin, random snaky appendages and a bulging, translucent cranium. J!m has decided that since he doesn’t fit in, he’s not going to bother even trying. He’ll just mark time until graduation, after which he hopes to go to film school where he’ll specialize in B Grade gore fests. (The novel could in fact be one of J!m’s scripts.)

Our alien hero’s problems are not entirely due to raging teen hormones, identity crises and agonizing self-examination though. J!m’s problems are complicated by the fact that his father really did try to destroy the Earth after delivering ye olde proclamation from orbit. At least that’s what the PLEX (Doyle’s annoying and advertising-laden standin for the internet) says.

We soon learn that J!m’s father was captured, or killed, or captured and then killed (history has a way of getting muddled in the PLEX) through the liberal use of ATOMIC WEAPONS!

And this is where the novel really begins to shine. Doyle takes America’s love-hate relationship with the bomb and turns it into a saccharine love-love relationship, positing a world in which nuclear armageddon has come and gone and left a wild beach party in its wake.

The book is also biting (fang and tentacle-driven biting) satire of our current society. Consider all of the definitions there are for ‘alien’, throw in a fifties world in which sexual repression simply does not exist (as if the world went straight from Ozzie and Harriet to Woodstock with no stops in between), throw in a dash or two of unabashed American Imperialism and you’ll get some idea of where Doyle is heading and what he has to say.

The pacing is fabulous: had I not been interrupted by mundane concerns, I’d have been able to finish this off in a single sitting (and I wanted to!). I also wanted to mention that Doyle has a fine way with puns (he hallmark of a really good SF comedy). One of them floored me with simultaneous laughter and groans.

Further details deponent sayeth not. Except to note that I was almost as thrilled with the typography, layout and cover art as I was with the story. It was meant to evoke late nite at the drive in double feature (B horror flicks naturally) and did an admirable job of conveying that feel.

Go Mutants is not only destined to be appearing at a (drive in) theater near you, I expect it’s going to be nominated for not a few awards along the way. Don’t miss this one, or Larry Doyle will melt your brain!

And don’t forget to visit Larry’s “world’s most needlessly elaborate book website”

Norm is one of my ‘new wave faves’ (anyone who can write the alt history/SF tale The Iron Dream as a stand-in for Hitler the SF author is doing something special); I’m still amazed that no one has put a political/interview show on TV arranged like the show in Bug Jack Barron!

Men in the Jungle, Riding the Torch, A World Between and his later works. Norman has a VIEW of things that is entirely different and amazing to be let in on through his writings.

I’m very glad to see that he has a positive prognosis and wish him a speedy recovery.

~~~

The Big Paintball Project is back in the negotiations phase and is closing in on being completed. Life-changing this will be, seriously, if it goes through. Been here before, so I’m tamping down on my expectations (which may be requiring more energy than actually working on the project). This phase does not require my active participation (except for emergency phone calls at any hour, lol), so I’m able to return here and devote a few minutes. Speaking of which:

IO9 (which I do read occasionally – hey, I’m not immune to train wrecks) has been running a series of pieces on ‘the best year of SF’. Presumably based on films released. Today they covered 1968 which included Planet of the Apes and 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Serendipitously, Bob Eggleton (master artist of all things fantastical and who’s work I hope to own originals of some day) mentioned that one of his favorite flicks is the mid-seventies film Silent Running. (Which is linked to on the Class SF Channel btw).

The thread that connects both IO9 and Bob’s post on Facebook are the comments from what I believe to be the younger crowd. (Ankle biters, every one!), which are ye tired olde ‘it’s old! it’s dated! it’s slow! It’s CRAP!’

I currently lack the resources to conduct a survey of proper magnitude, but the back of my brain is itching with the theory that there really is something to the idea that post CGI/MTV aged audiences either:

lack the ability to inject their own imagination into a story
have been educated to passively receive
have been born into an era of such sensory overload that they actually experience sensory deprivation when watching older materials

or any combination thereof, which would be an explanation as to why there is such a seemingly sharp divide between fans on a generational basis (exceptions accepted).

Of course, I’m guessing at the ages of those who comment (though it’s pretty easy to guess that the commentor who identified 1968 as ‘the year we landed on the moon’ was not around when we did land on the moon in 1969) and it’s also pretty easy to guess that anyone who makes the statement that 2001: A Space Odyssey ‘wasted time on playing music while we watched a spaceship dock at a spacestation’ did not watch the movie when originally released.

Usually accompanying the negative comments is a dismissal out of hand, an entrenched ‘anything created before I was born is not worth wasting time on’, which is what pisses me off more than just about any other aspect of the whole thing. That attitude prevents real discussion and education from taking place.

The participant who complained about how slow 2001 was will never bother to do a little background checking, he/she won’t ever have a chance to learn that this was in theaters as the country was preparing for the greatest adventure that mankind had ever engaged in and that (among other things) Kubrick was showing us all where the Apollo program would be leading us – to wheeled space stations, Pan Am space shuttles and missions to Jupiter.

Failing to look this up, said participant will never be in a position to even begin to appreciate the historical context of the film and will continue to dismiss it – for all of the wrong reasons.

~~~

The other bone I have to pick with the pundits at IO9 this morning is that the piece tries to connect the films released in 1968 to the cultural events taking place at the same time.

1968 was a year of social upheaval — student protests and civil rights activists challenged the status quo around the globe. In the realm of science fiction, posthuman forces upended human hegemony. This is not to suggest that all these scifi works were cut from the same ideological cloth as the progressive movements, but it’s rather uncanny how the humanity of 1968’s speculative fiction — hobbled by its own hubris and technology — gave up the mantle of alpha species.

The films they list are: 2001: A Space Odyssey, Planet of the Apes and Night of the Living Dead, Charly. Fiction listed is: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream and Ironman’s own book.

Hmm. Let’s see. “…After various false starts and twelve-hour talkathons, by early May 1964 Stanley agreed that “The Sentinel” would provide good story material” (Clarke from The Making of 2001).

The Sentinal was published in 1948. I don’t think any of the other stories used or considered were published after 1957 or so.

Planet of the Apes was published in 1963 and has a much more 50s sensibility about it than a 60s one.

Charly is based on the short story (made into a novel) Flowers For Algernon, which was written in 1958.

My first, overall and final comment is: I guess someone forgot that it takes time to make movies and that the year they are released is hardly ever the year that they were conceived.

I’m not surprised at the way the graph looks.  My off the cuff explanation of the general ‘U’ shape is that most of the contributors have been exposed (in one fashion or another) to a grounding in the classics and believe, as did their educators, that those early works are seminal and important.  Almost to an individual, each recommended at least one work from the early years.

The second peak comprising much later works represents what is current and immediate; each contributor also listed a contemporary work or two.

Here’s the graph:

All of the works (including the individual contents of anthologies, collections and fix-ups) are included below.

Fun stuff.

I discovered what may be a working formula for determining someone’s age based on the books they recommend.

Interestingly enough, it incorporates the “the golden age of science fiction is 12/16″ quip.

It does include a fudge factor, but a reasonable one I think.  Here’s how the formula works.

Ask someone to recommend the ten SF works that “ought to be on everyone’s bookshelf”

Look up their original publications dates.

Throw out any obvious “outliers” (like the one novel from 1818 or some such)

Average out the rest.

Subtract 12 or 16 from the result (I prefer 16 since that’s the version of the saying I first heard)

The resulting year will be pretty darned close to that person’s birthdate.

I did two “test cases” using Jim Freund’s and Jennifer Marie Brissett’s lists.  Jim I know, Jennifer, not at all.

Jim’s result was 1955.  Jennifer’s was 1985.

Jim was actually born just a couple of year’s earlier.  Jennifer’s b-day is not publicly available, but her background info mentions that she’s a graduate student, so there’s a good possibility that ‘85 is also within a couple of years.  (Only Jennifer knows for sure, lol).

Try it for yourselves and let me know how it works out.

Expanded SF Bookshelf Recommendations list

1800s Five

1818 Frankenstein – Shelley
1845 The Count of Monte Cristo – Dumas
1869 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea – Verne
1887 The Goophered Grapevine (Darkmatter – Chestnutt) – Thomas
1895 The Time Machine – Wells
1898 The War of the Worlds – Wells

1920s One

1920 The Comet (Darkmatter – Du Bois) – Thomas

1930s Ten

1931 Black No More (Darkmatter – Schuyler) – Thomas
1933 Shambleau (The Best of C. L. Moore) – C L Moore
1934 Black Thirst (The Best of C. L. Moore) – C L Moore
1934 The Bright Illusion (The Best of C. L. Moore) – C L Moore
1934 The Black God’s Kiss (The Best of C. L. Moore) – C L Moore
1936 Tryst in Time (The Best of C. L. Moore) – C L Moore
1937 Star Maker – Stapledon
1939 Misfit (The Past Through Tomorrow) – Heinlein
1939 Life-Line (The Past Through Tomorrow) – Heinlein
1939 Greater Than Gods (The Best of C. L. Moore) – C L Moore

1940s Fifty Six

1940 Robbie (I, Robot) – Asimov
1940 The Roads Must Roll (The Past Through Tomorrow) – Heinlein
1940 Requiem (The Past Through Tomorrow) – Heinlein
1940 If This Goes On (The Past Through Tomorrow) – Heinlein
1940 Coventry (The Past Through Tomorrow) – Heinlein
1940 Blowups Happen (The Past Through Tomorrow) – Heinlein
1940 Fruit of Knowledge (The Best of C. L. Moore) – C L Moore
1941 Reason (I, Robot) – Asimov
1941 Liar! (I, Robot) – Asimov
1941 Universe (The Past Through Tomorrow) – Heinlein
1941 Methuselah’s Children (The Past Through Tomorrow) – Heinlein
1941 Logic of Empire (The Past Through Tomorrow) – Heinlein
1941 – We Also Walk Dogs (The Past Through Tomorrow) – Heinlein
1942 The Encyclopedists (Foundation) – Asimov
1942 Bridle and Saddle (Foundation) – Asimov
1942 Runaround (I, Robot) – Asimov
1944 Catch That Rabbit (I, Robot) – Asimov
1944 The Wedge (Foundation) – Asimov
1944 The Big and the Little (Foundation) – Asimov
1944 No Woman Born (The Best of C. L. Moore) – C L Moore
1944 Census (City) – Simak
1944 Desertion (City) – Simak
1944 Huddling Place (City) – Simak
1945 Dead Hand (Foundation and Empire) – Asimov
1945 The Mule (Foundation and Empire) – Asimov
1945 Escape! (I, Robot) – Asimov
1945 The Watchers (The Martian Chronicles) – Bradbury
1946 Evidence (I, Robot) – Asimov
1946 The Million-Year Picnic (The Martian Chronicles) – Bradbury
1946 Daemon (The Best of C. L. Moore) – C L Moore
1946 Vintage Season (The Best of C. L. Moore) – C L Moore
1946 Hobbies (City) – Simak
1946 Paradise (City) – Simak
1947 Little Lost Robot (I, Robot) – Asimov
1947 Rocket Summer (The Martian Chronicles) – Bradbury
1947 Interim (The Martian Chronicles) – Bradbury
1947 Space Jockey (The Past Through Tomorrow) – Heinlein
1947 It’s Great To Be Back (The Past Through Tomorrow) – Heinlein
1947 The Green Hills of Earth (The Past Through Tomorrow) – Heinlein
1947 Aesop (City) – Simak
1948 Now You See It – (Second Foundation) – Asimov
1948 The Earthmen (The Martian Chronicles) – Bradbury
1948 Mars is Heaven (The Martian Chronicles) – Bradbury
1948 And the Moon Be Still As Bright (The Martian Chronicles) – Bradbury
1948 The Off Season (The Martian Chronicles) – Bradbury
1948 Dwellers in Silence (The Martian Chronicles) – Bradbury
1948 Ordeal in Space (The Past Through Tomorrow) – Heinlein
1948 The Long Watch (The Past Through Tomorrow) – Heinlein
1948 Gentlemen, Be Seated (The Past Through Tomorrow) – Heinlein
1948 The Black Pits of Luna (The Past Through Tomorrow) – Heinlein
1949 And Now You Don’t (Second Foundation) – Asimov
1949 The Summer Night (The Martian Chronicles) – Bradbury
1949 The Martian (The Martian Chronicles) – Bradbury
1949 The Silent Towns (The Martian Chronicles) – Bradbury
1949 Delilah and the Space Rigger (The Past Through Tomorrow) – Heinlein
1949 1984 – Orwell

1950s Fifty

1950 And Now You Don’t (Second Foundation) – Asimov
1950 The Evitable Conflict (I, Robot) – Asimov
1950 The Taxpayer (The Martian Chronicles) – Bradbury
1950 Ylla (The Martian Chronicles) – Bradbury
1950 The Settlers (The Martian Chronicles) – Bradbury
1950 The Green Morning (The Martian Chronicles) – Bradbury
1950 Night Meeting (The Martian Chronicles) – Bradbury
1950 The Locusts (The Martian Chronicles) – Bradbury
1950 The Shore (The Martian Chronicles) – Bradbury
1950 The Musicians (The Martian Chronicles) – Bradbury
1950 Way in the Middle of the Air (The Martian Chronicles) – Bradbury
1950 The Naming of Names (The Martian Chronicles) – Bradbury
1950 Usher II (The Martian Chronicles) – Bradbury
1950 The Old Ones (The Martian Chronicles) – Bradbury
1950 The Luggage Store (The Martian Chronicles) – Bradbury
1950 There Will Come Soft Rains (The Martian Chronicles) – Bradbury
1950 The Martian Chronicles (Collection) – Bradbury
1940 The Man Who Sold the Moon (The Past Through Tomorrow) – Heinlein
1950 Report on the Barnhouse Effect (Welcome to the Monkey House) – Vonnegut
1950 Epicac (Welcome to the Monkey House) – Vonnegut
1951 Foundation (Collected The Foundation Series) – Asimov******
1951 The Foster Portfolio (Welcome to the Monkey House) – Vonnegut
1951 All the King’s Horses (Welcome to the Monkey House) – Vonnegut
1951 More Stately Mansions (Welcome to the Monkey House) – Vonnegut
1951 The Euphio Question (Welcome to the Monkey House) – Vonnegut
1951 The Day of the Triffids – Wyndham
1952 Foundation and Empire (Collected The Foundation Series) – Asimov
1952 The Trouble with Ants (City) – Simak
1952 City (collected works & new material) – Simak
1953 Second Foundation (Collected The Foundation Series) Asimov
1953 Fahrenheit 451 – Bradbury
1953 The Sword of Rhiannon – Brackett
1953 Childhood’s End – Clarke
1953 Tom Edison’s Shaggy Dog (Welcome to the Monkey House) – Vonnegut
1953 D.P. (Welcome to the Monkey House) – Vonnegut
1955 Next Door (Welcome to the Monkey House) – Vonnegut
1955 Deer in the Works (Welcome to the Monkey House) – Vonnegut
1955 The Kid Nobody Could Handle (Welcome to the Monkey House) – Vonnegut
1954 The Caves of Steel – Asimov
1954 Adam (Welcome to the Monkey House) – Vonnegut
1954 Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow (Welcome to the Monkey House) – Vonnegut
1956 The Stars My Destination – Bester
1956 Miss Temptation (Welcome to the Monkey House) – Vonnegut
1957 The Menace From Earth (The Past Through Tomorrow) – Heinlein
1958 Needle – Clement
1958 Have Spacesuit, Will Travel – Heinlein
1958 The Manned Missiles (Welcome to the Monkey House) – Vonnegut
1959 Starship Troopers – Heinlein
1959 Flowers For Algernon (short) – Keyes
1959 A Canticle for Leibowitz – Miller

1960s Thirty Five

1960 Cat’s Cradle – Vonnegut
1960 Long Walk to Forever (Welcome to the Monkey House) – Vonnegut
1961 Stranger in a Strange Land – Heinlein
1961 Harrison Bergeron (Welcome to the Monkey House) – Vonnegut
1961 Who Am I This Time? (Welcome to the Monkey House) – Vonnegut
1962 A Clockwork Orange – Burgess
1962 The Man in the High Castle – Dick
1962 Ubik – Dick
1962 Searchlight (The Past Through Tomorrow) – Heinlein
1962 A Wrinkle in Time – L’Engle
1962 They Walked Like Men – Simak
1962 Go Back to Your Precious Wife and Son (Welcome to the Monkey House) – Vonnegut
1962 The Lie (Welcome to the Monkey House) – Vonnegut
1963 Way Station – Simak
1964 Where I Live (Welcome to the Monkey House) – Vonnegut
1965 The Maker of Universes (World of Tiers) – Farmer******
1965 Dune – Herbert
1966 The Gates of Creation (World of Tiers) – Farmer
1966 The Moon is a Harsh Mistress – Heinlein
1966 Flowers For Algernon (novel) – Keyes
1966 New Dictionary (Welcome to the Monkey House) – Vonnegut
1967 Aye, And Gomorrah (Darkmatter – Delaney) – Thomas
1967 The Past Through Tomorrow (collection) – Heinlein*
1967 Weyr Search (Dragonflight) – McCaffrey
1967 Dragonflight (Dragonflight) – McCaffrey
1967 Lord of Light – Zelazny
1968 Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? – Dick
1968 A Private Cosmos (World of Tiers) – Farmer
1968 Dragonflight (fix-up collected in Dragonriders of Pern) – McCaffrey
1968 Pavane – Roberts
1968 Welcome to the Monkey House (Welcome to the Monkey House) – Vonnegut
1968 Welcome to the Monkey House (collection) – Vonnegut
1968 The Hyannis Port Story (Welcome to the Monkey House) – Vonnegut
1968 Unready to Wear (Welcome to the Monkey House) – Vonnegut
1969 The Left Hand of Darkness – Le Guin

1970s Twenty

1970 Behind the Walls of Terra (World of Tiers) – Farmer
1970 Dragonquest (Dragonriders of Pern) – McCaffrey
1973 Epilog (City) – Simak
1973 The Death of Doctor Island (The Locus Awards – Wolfe) – Brown/Strahan
1974 Dhalgren – Delaney
1974 The Forever War – Haldeman
1975 The Day Before the Revolution (The Locus Awards – Le Guin) – Brown/Strahan
1974 Ark of Bones (Darkmatter – Dumas) – Thomas
1974 The Dispossessed – Le Guin
1974 The Cyberiad – Lem
1976 Mindbridge – Haldeman
1977 Jefty is Five (The Locus Awards – Ellison) – Brown/Strahan
1977 The Lavalite World (World of Tiers) – Farmer
1977 The Best of C L Moore – Moore*
1978 Cassandra (Women of Wonder – Cherryh) – Sargent
1978 White Dragon (Dragonriders of Pern) – McCaffrey
1978 The Persistence of Vision (The Locus Awards – Varley) – Brown/Strahan
1979 The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy- Adams
1979 The Way of Cross and Dragon (The Locus Awards – Martin) – Brown/Strahan
1979 The Thaw (Women of Wonder – Lee) – Sargent

1980s Thirty Five

1980 Abominable (Women of Wonder – Emshwiller) – Sargent
1980 Scorched Supper on New Niger (Women of Wonder – Charnas) – Sargent
1980 Riddley Walker – Hoban
1981 Valis – Dick
1981 Bluewater Dreams (Women of Wonder – Van Scyock) – Sargent
1982 The Complete Robot – Asimov*
1982 Souls (The Locus Awards – Russ) – Brown/Strahan
1982 The Cabinet of Edgar Allen Poe (Women of Wonder – Carter) – Sargent
1982 Future Christmas (Darkmatter – Reed) – Thomas
1983 The Harvest of Wolves (Women of Wonder – Gentle) – Sargent
1984 Bloodchild (Women of Wonder – Butler) – Sargent & (The Locus Awards – Varley) – Brown/Strahan
1984 The Final Reflection – Ford**
1984 Neuromancer – Gibson
1984 Fears (Women of Wonder – Sargent) – Sargent
1984 Gimmile’s Son (Darkmatter – Saunders) – Thomas
1985 Ender’s Game – Card****
1985 Webrider (Women of Wonder – Carr) – Sargent
1985 The Only Neat Thing To Do (The Locus Awards – Tiptree) – Brown/Strahan
1986 Shards of Honor (Miles Vorkosigan saga) – Bujold
1986 Ethan of Athos (Miles Vorkosigan saga) – Bujold
1986 The Warrior’s Apprentice (Miles Vorkosigan saga) – Bujold
1986 Reichs Peace (Women of Wonder – Finch) – Sargent
1986 Alexia and Graham Bell (Women of Wonder – Love) – Sargent
1986 The Dragonriders of Pern (omnibus) – McCaffrey
1986 Soldier of the Mist – Wolfe
1987 The Evening and the Morning and the Night (Darkmatter – Butler) – Thomas
1987 Rachel in Love (Women of Wonder – Cadigan) – Sargent & (The Locus Awards – Varley) – Brown/Strahan
1987 Angel (Women of Wonder – Cadigan) – Sargent
1988 The Scalehunter’s Beautiful Daughter (The Locus Awards – Shepard ) – Brown/Strahan
1989 Game Night at the Fox and Goose (Women of Wonder – Fowler) – Sargent
1989 Tiny Tango (Women of Wonder – Moffett) – Sargent
1989 Grass – Tepper
1989 At The Rialto (Women of Wonder – Willis) – Sargent

1990s Thirty

1990 Use of Weapons – Banks
1990 Bears Discover Fire (The Locus Awards – Bisson) – Brown/Strahan
1990 Midnight News (Women of Wonder – Goldstein) – Sargent
1991 Immaculate (Women of Wonder – Constantine) – Sargent
1991 Buffalo (The Locus Awards – Kessel) – Brown/Strahan
1991 And While For To Hold (Women of Wonder – Kress) – Sargent
1991 A Fire Upon the Deep – Vinge
1992 The Space Traders (Darkmatter – Bell) – Thomas
1992 China Mountain Zhang – McHugh
1992 Red Mars – Robinson
1992 Even the Queen (The Locus Awards – Willis) – Brown/Strahan
1993 More Than Fire (World of Tiers) – Farmer
1993 Farming in Virginia (Women of Wonder – Ore) – Sargent
1994 Yet Do I Wonder (Darkmatter – Miller) – Thomas
1995 The Monophonic Response (Darkmatter – Butler) – Thomas
1995 Women of Wonder (anthology) – Sargent
1995 Diamond Age – Stephenson
1996 Rhythm Travel (Darkmatter – Baraka) – Thomas
1996 Gone (The Locus Awards – Crowley) – Brown/Strahan
1996 The Stone Canal – MacLeod
1996 Buddy Bolden (Darkmatter – Salaam) – Thomas
1996 Bellwether – Willis
1997 To Say Nothing of the Dog – Willis
1998 Racism and Science Fiction (Darkmatter – Delaney) – Thomas (non-fiction)
1998 Maneki Neko (The Locus Awards – Sterling) – Brown/Strahan
1998 Six Moon Dance – Tepper
1998 Dark Matter – Thomas*
1999 Border Guards (The Locus Awards – Egan) – Brown/Strahan
1999 Black to the Future (Darkmatter – Mosley) – Thomas (non-fiction)
1999 Starfish – Watts

2000s Thirty Nine

2000 Twice, at Once, Separated (Darkmatter – Addison) – Thomas
2000 The Woman in the Wall (Darkmatter – Barnes) – Thomas
2000 Lilith’s Brood – Butler******
2000 Parable of the Sower – Butler
2000 Like Daughter (Darkmatter – Due) – Thomas
2000 The Astral Visitor Delta Blues (Darkmatter – Feming) – Thomas
2000 Chicago 1927 (Darkmatter – Gomez) – Thomas
2000 The Becoming (Darkmatter – Hope) – Thomas
2000 Greedy Choke Puppy (Darkmatter – Hopkinson) – Thomas
2000 Ganger (Ball Lightning) (Darkmatter – Hopkinson) – Thomas
2000 The African Origins of UFOs (Darkmatter – Joseph) – Thomas
2000 Butta’s Backyard Barbecue (Darkmatter – Medina) – Thomas
2000 Hussy Strutt (Darkmatter – Patterson) – Thomas
2000 The Pretended (Darkmatter – Smith) – Thomas
2000 Sister Lilith (Darkmatter – Jeffers) – Thomas
2000 Tasting Songs (Darkmatter – Ross) – Thomas
2000 At Life’s Limits (Darkmatter – Salaam) – Thomas
2000 Can You Wear My Eyes (Darkmatter – Salaam) – Thomas
2000 Calculating God – Sawyer
2000 At the Huts of Ajala (Darkmatter – Shawl) – Thomas
2000 separation anxiety (Darkmatter – Shockley) – Thomas
2001 Hell Is the Absence of God (The Locus Awards – Chiang) – Brown/Strahan
2001 A Woman’s Liberation – Willis/Williams*
2002 The Ultimate Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – Adams*****
2002 The Skinner – Asher
2002 Stories of Your Life and Others – Chiang
2002 October in the Chair (The Locus Awards – Gaiman) – Brown/Strahan
2002 Stone – Roberts
2003 Oryx & Crake – Atwood***
2003 Cosmos Latinos – Bell/Molina-Gavilan*
2004 The Locus Awards – Brown/Strahan(2)*
2004 Market Forces – Morgan
2005 Accelerando – Stross
2006 The Android’s Dream – Scalzi
2006 Blindsight – Watts(2)
2008 The Gabble and Other Stories – Asher*
2008 The Automatic Detective – Martinez
2008 Implied Spaces – Williams
2009 Finch – VanderMeer