Updates: Recent Science Fiction Purchases No. CCCXL (Philip José Farmer, L. Sprague de Camp, George Alec Effinger, and an Anthology of SF by Women)
A selection of SF volumes acquired over winter break!
Which books/covers/authors intrigue you? Which have you read? Disliked? Enjoyed?
1. Flesh, Philip José Farmer (1960)
- Gerald McConnell’s cover for the 1st edition
From the back cover: “Spaceman by DAY… MONSTER by night!
Peter Stagg was caught in the vilest trap ever devised–his own lust-driven body! For FLESH is the pulse-stirring story of a space explorer’s return from the strangest voyage man had ever made–to the strangest world the universe had ever seen–his own Earth!
This was an Earth that worshipped the lusts of FLESH–where a maiden’s most pious hope was to be chosen for a perverse mass orgy–where the temples were houses of carnal rites–where science was devoted to generating uncontrollable sexual passions. Into this FLESH-adoring world Peter Stagg was plunged, to find himself changed by this queer new science into something part man, part beast, part god. His FLESH was stronger than ten men’s, his desires were driven by alien hormones in his blood, and each morning his tortured mind recoiled from the memory of what his body had done the night before!
Initial Thoughts: I need to read more of Farmer’s early fiction (his glory period in my view). My reviews of Strange Relations (1960) and “The Lovers” (1952). And the cover on this volume… how could I not acquire a first edition?
2. Rogue Queen, L. Sprague de Camp (1951)
- Uncredited (Dean Ellis?) cover for the 1972 edition
From the back cover: “‘When the Rogue Queen wears a crown of light / The Golden Couch shall be over thrown; When the gods descend from heaven’s height / Shall the seed be sown.’
Worker Iroedh was confused. Though she was a lover of antiquity, she really could put no faith in the Oracle’s prophecy. It was true that strange human beings, Terrans, had come from beyond the heavens. But these ‘men’ were no gods. Had not she seen them making fools of themselves over a silly think called ‘love’? Was this the action of the gods?
Certainly no god of the Avtini would carry on like this. Avtini gods would ‘love’ only a Community, with self-respecting groups of workers and drones and its highly productive Queen.
And as for Queens, why no Avtini Queen would go rogue. Only a few mad drones had ever been known to desert the Community. And their lives were the price of this antisocial action.
No, Iroedh could not understand the prophecy and so it must be false.
But Iroedh was soon to learn that prophecy has a way of coming true, and that even the most unassuming, antiquarian Worker might be born to rule.”
Initial Thoughts: L. Sprague de Camp is a complete hole in my SFF knowledge. I’ve seen Rogue Queen (1951) described as exploring similar issues to Farmer’s “The Lovers” (1952). Although, I suspect in a less revolutionary way.
3. Idle Pleasures, George Alec Effinger (1983)
- David Mattingly’s cover for the 1st edition
From the back cover: “THE ALIENS’ FIRST WORDS WERE ‘LET’S PLAY BAL!’
Ice hockey with an entire planet for a rink.
A chess competition where the rules change with every move.
No-holds-barred basketball with the blue Cobae.
And other stories from the Wide Universe of Sports by one of today’s most astonishing Masters of Imaginative fiction.”
Contents: “Naked to the Invisible Eye” (1973), “From Downtown at the Buzzer” (1977), “The Exempt” (1977), “25 Crunch Split Right on Two” (1975), “The Pinch Hitters’ (1979), “Breakaway” (1981), “The Horse with One Leg” (1974), “Heartstop” (1974).
Initial Thoughts: As I’ve mentioned in various reviews in the past, “I am (generally) not a fan of sports [other than soccer]. I am a fan of science fiction about sports. More specifically, I’m a proponent of sports as a SF vehicle for social commentary on commercialism, trauma, alienation, and violence.” Effinger’s “25 Crunch Split Right on Two” (1975) is a great example of what these stories can do. I look forward to exploring his other stories on the intersection of sports and SF ruminations on heady issues.
4. Cassandra Rising, ed. Alice Laurance (1978)
- One Plus One Studio’s cover for the 1st edition
From the inside flap: “The world of science fiction–long dominated by male writers who created male heroes always ready to rescue a damsel in distress–is feeling the influence of top-notch women writers. This anthology contains nineteen original stories by some of the most exciting talents in science fiction today–who happen to be women.
Here are unusual and stimulating visions of politics, time travel, motherhood, nature, war and peace, courage, survival of the fittest–and a few choice examples of the heroine in action.”
Contents: Ursula K. Le Guin’s “SQ” (1978), Kay Rogers’ “Flirtation Walk” (1978), Joan Bernott’s “Troll Road” (1978), Zenna Henderson’s “There Was a Garden” (1978), Katherine MacLean’s “Night-Rise” (1978), Kathleen Sky’s “Motherbeast” (1978), Rachel Cosgrove Payes’ “Escape to the Suburbs” (1978), Josephine Saxton’s “Alien Sensation” (1978), Grania Davis’ “Last One in Is a Rotten Egg” (1978), Raylyn Moore’s “The Way Back” (1978), Alice Laurance’s “Schlossie” (1978), Anne McCaffrey’s “Lady in Waiting” (1978), Steve Barnes’ “Impact” (1978), Barbara Paul’s “The Slow and Gentle Progress of trainee Bell-Ringers” (1978), Sydney J. Van Scyoc’s “Nightfire” (1978), Beverly Goldberg’s “Selena” (1978), Juanita Coulson and Miriam Allen deFord’s “Uraguayen and I” (1978), Jacqueline Lichtenberg’s “The Vanillamind Tapestry” (1978), Chelsea Quinn Yarbro’s “Space/Time Arabesque” (1978).
Initial Thoughts: This anthology contains multiple authors that are unknowns to me–Joan Bernott, Steve Barnes, Alice Laurance, Beverly Goldberg, etc. I look forward to this one. And I still have not read a story by Zenna Henderson.
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#1950s #1960s #1970s #AnneMcCaffrey #books #fiction #GeorgeAlecEffinger #horror #KatherineMacLean #LSpragueDeCamp #movies #paperbacks #PhilipJoséFarmer #sciFi #scienceFiction #SydneyJVanScyoc #UrsulaKLeGuin #ZennaHenderson
