Book time.

[crows]

I am not promising to take any of the following recommendations. But I might!

Right now, I'm reading and nearly through with Shirley Jackson's short novel, We Have Always Lived in the Castle. It's excellent. I think I'd like to read science fiction next... and can't really shake out of my head any major recommendations for science fiction that I've had lately. As a general rule, I tend to prefer books that tuck off into the odd corners of genres, and I'm not apt to enjoy your basic throw-away, pew-pew space opera adventure story. I like magical realism, post apocalypse, distopias...I like Burgess and Borges and Gregory Maguire and Ambrose Bierce.

Any ideas, oh internot hive-mind?

Comments

[crackedmoon.livejournal.com]

i recommend The Bridge by Iain Banks. it's not exactly sci-fi, but it has a lot of sci-fi-fantastical-dreamy elements to it.

[joeyclaren.livejournal.com]

Tim Powers - Last Call (also, Expiration Date)

Connie Willis - Doomsday Book

can't remember the author, but

Gun, With Occasional Music

[featherynscale.livejournal.com]

Any of China Mieville's New Crobuzon series: Perdido Street Station, The Scar, Iron Council. They roughly go in the order listed, but you can get the sense of the later ones without reading the earlier ones.

I like Tim Powers, too, but my favorite is his spy novel, Declare. (And On Stranger Tides, which is about pirates and voodoo.)

[kingtycoon.livejournal.com]

Ms. Jackson's book terrified me! I thought my house was haunted for days - it was spooky and hard to live alone!

Contemporary SF isn kind of... lame? the 70's produced my favorite:

I strongly Reccomend Stand on Zanzibar, The Sheep Look Up and The Shockwave Rider- by John Brunner

If you're maybe into a more fantasy type thing: The Wizard of Earthsea is phenomenal - Ursa LeGuin.

As for sweet books by dames- Oryx & Crake is strong SF & Post apocalyptic. That's by a Ms. Atwood.

You'd have a hard way to go without giving her a look. You might also try to find the truly fantastic, phenomenal actually work: Engine Summer by John Crowley - an amazing little book right there.

[alaskanmermaid.livejournal.com]

A crap load of ideas LOL See my previous posts ;D

[coagulated-hate.livejournal.com]

The Red Lion. Its about REAL magic and one mans horrible enlightenment. Best book I've ever.

[incommune.livejournal.com]

Thank you, everyone! You're all lovely.

Going back and glancing over my original post here, I feel like it reads a bit like a personal ad.

"I like long walks on the beach, post-apocalyptic distopias, and a man who will really listen to me (in between firing his gatling gun at the thought police)."

[williamlee.livejournal.com]

Another Ursula suggestion: The Left Hand of Darkness.