Axler.UPenn%UDel-Relay@sri-unix.UUCP (05/25/83)
Relay-Version:version B 2.10 5/3/83; site harpo.UUCP
Message-ID:<1563@sri-arpa.UUCP>
Date:Wed, 25-May-83 16:28:00 EDT
From: David Axler <Axler.UPenn@UDel-Relay>
Brian Marick asks what people recommend for the novice SF reader. I find
that there are three books I keep handy for such situations. The first two are
the pair of "Reader's Guides" (one "to SF", the other "to Fantasy") produced by
Baird Searles and his colleagues. [NB: Baird, in addition to being a reviewer
for F&FS, runs a sf bookstore in NYC, and is very knowledgeable] Usually, a
novice will say something along the lines of, "I just read [...] and liked/hated
it. What do you recommend instead?" These two guides (both in paper) actually
have sections on 'If you like x, try y', and come in quite handy.
The third book I keep around (one copy in my office, for filling in answers
to sf-lovers questions; one at home for myself) is Peter Nicholls' "Science
Fiction Encyclopedia". It's a few years out of date, but it's great for getting
lists of all an author's books, bibliographic data, and also contains some very
well-organized articles with lots of references on themes in sf and fantasy.
The latter is quite handy when a friend asks for "time-travel" stories, or the
like.
Another thing I've been doing for about the last 18 months is keeping a
log of all my reading (novels only at present), with some ratings, so I can keep
track of what's new and good. It also comes in handy when it's Hugo time.
Dave Axler <axler@upenn>