What I’m Reading
This is a list of books I am reading or have [recently] read.
Note: “audio book” listings may include audio dramas and radio plays in some cases. The line can blur a bit, so sometimes I categorize some audio dramas as “audio books”.
Currently reading:
- Stumbling on Happiness, Dr. Daniel Gilbert
- King Solomon’s Mines, H. Rider Haggard
Recently read ( * = highly enjoyed):
- Iceberg, Clive Cussler (audio book)
- Labyrinths, Jorge Luis Borges
- The Mediterranean Caper, Clive Cussler (audio book)
- Use of Weapons, Iain M. Banks (audio book)
- The Player of Games, Iain M. Banks (audio book)
- The Diving Universe 2: City of Ruins, Kristine Kathryn Rusch (audio book)
- Alien, Alan Dean Foster
- The Dosadi Experiment, Frank Herbert (audio book)
- The Ghostbuster Diaries, BBC Radio 4 (audio drama)
- Pizza Marguerita
- The Wall
- The Toilets at the End of the Hemisphere
- The Last Words of Van Helsing
- My Three Ladies
- The Parasite, Arthur C. Clarke (audio book)
- The Diving Universe 1: Diving into the Wreck, Kristine Kathryn Rusch (audio book)
- The Death Gate Cycle, Volume 6: Into The Labyrinth, Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman (audio book) *
- Twilight Zone: 19 Original Stories on the 50th Anniversary, ed. Carol Serling
- Forged, Bart D. Ehrman (audio book)
- The Death Gate Cycle, Volume 5: Hand of Chaos, Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman (audio book) *
- The Death Gate Cycle, Volume 4: Serpent Mage, Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman (audio book) *
- Conan: The Ultimate Guide to the World’s Most Savage Barbarian, Roy Thomas
- The Death Gate Cycle, Volume 3: Fire Sea, Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman (audio book) *
- Ghost Zone, Marty Ross (audio drama)
- Aliens in the Mind, Rene Basilico (audio drama)
- The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde (audio drama)
- The Death Gate Cycle, Volume 2: Elven Star, Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman (audio book) *
- Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson (audio book)
- The Death Gate Cycle, Volume 1: Dragon Wing, Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman (audio book) *
- The Spy Who Came In From The Cold, John le Carré (audio book) *
- Alfred Hitchcock’s and Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazines: Mean Streets & A Vacation to Die For: Great Mystery Series,Various (audio book)
- Mean Streets
- Out The Window, Lawrence Block
- August Body, Bill Crenshaw
- Time Exposure, John Lutz
- In The Bag, Ralph McInerny
- Fast Burn, Loren Estleman
- A Vacation To Die For
- The Spy Who Took A Vacation, Edward D. Hoch
- The Fever Tree, Ruth Rendell
- A Cast With Character, Charles Nicolo
- Milk Run, Mary Higgins Clark
- Coin Of The Realm, Stanbley Ellin
- As Good As A Rest, Lawrence Block
- Mean Streets
- The Late Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Various (audio book)
- The Waxwork, A.M. Burrage
- Sredni Vashtar, Saki
- The Perfectionist, Margaret St Clair
- Being a Murderer Myself, Arthur Williams
- The Dancing Partner, Jerome K Jerome (audio book)
- Who P-P-P-Plugged Roger Rabbit?, Gary K. Wolf (audio book)
- Who Censored Roger Rabbit?, Gary K. Wolf (audio book)
- The Keep, Paul F. Wilson (audio book)
- Killdozer!: Volume III: The Complete Stories of Theodore Sturgeon, ed. Paul Williams
- Blabbermouth, Theodore Sturgeon
- Medusa, Theodore Sturgeon
- Ghost of a Chance, Theodore Sturgeon
- The Bones, Theodore Sturgeon
- The Hag Séleen, Theodore Sturgeon
- Killdozer!, Theodore Sturgeon
- Abreaction, Theodore Sturgeon
- Poor Yorick!, Theodore Sturgeon
- Crossfire, Theodore Sturgeon
- Noon Gun, Theodore Sturgeon
- Bulldozer is a Noun, Theodore Sturgeon
- August Sixth, 1945, Theodore Sturgeon
- The Chromium Helmet, Theodore Sturgeon
- Memorial, Theodore Sturgeon
- Mewhu’s Jet, Theodore Sturgeon
- The Keep, F. Paul Wilson (audio book)
- Fear: 13 Stories of Suspense and Horror, ed. R.L. Stine (audio book)
- Welcome to the Club, R.L. Stine
- She’s Different Tonight, Heather Graham
- Suckers, Suzanne Weyn
- The Perfects, Jennifer Allison
- Shadow Children, Heather Brewer
- Poison Ring, Peg Kehret
- Dragonfly Eyes, Alane Ferguson
- Jeepers Peepers, Ryan Brown
- Piney Power, F. Paul Wilson
- Night Hunter, Meg Cabot
- Tuition, Walter Sorrells
- Tagger, James Rollins
- Ray Gun, Tim Maleeny
- Isaac Asimov’s All-Time Favorite Science Fiction Stories – Volume 1, ed. Isaac Asimov (audio book)
- Captive Market, Philip K. Dick
- The Last of the Deliverers, Poul Anderson
- Isaac Asimov’s All-Time Favorite Science Fiction Stories – Volume 2, ed. Isaac Asimov (audio book)
- World of a Thousand Colors, Robert Silverberg
- Impostor, Philip K. Dick
- Isaac Asimov’s All-Time Favorite Science Fiction Stories – Volume 3, ed. Isaac Asimov (audio book)
- Silent Brother, Algis Budrys
- Ishmael In Love, Robert Silverberg
- Isaac Asimov’s All-Time Favorite Science Fiction Stories – Volume 4, ed. Isaac Asimov (audio book)
- The Victim from Space, Robert Sheckley
- Honorable Enemies, Poul Anderson
- Pyramids, Terry Pratchett (audio book)
- Flashforward, Robert J. Sawyer (audio book)
- Human Operators, Harlan Ellison and A.E. van Vogt (audio book)
- The Dreams a Nightmare Dreams, Harlan Ellison (audio book)
- Soldier, Harlan Ellison (audio book)
- Jefty is Five, Harlan Ellison (audio book)
- Midnight in the Sunken Cathedral, and Other Stories, Harlan Ellison (audio book)
- In Lonely Lands, Harlan Ellison
- S.R.O., Harlan Ellison
- Midnight in the Sunken Cathedral, Harlan Ellison
- Isaac Asimov Presents: Volumne 7, ed. Isaac Asimov (audio book)
- Why Johnny Can’t Speed, Alan Dean Foster
- Allamagoosa, Eric Frank Russell
- The Last Monster, Poul Anderson
- Isaac Asimov’s Stories from the Science Fiction Magazine, ed. Isaac Asimov (audio book)
- Strike Breaker, Isaac Asimov
- Sitting Around The Pool, Soaking Up The Rays, Frederick Pohl
- It’s Such A Beautiful Day, Isaac Asimov
- Ghost Stories Of Walter De La Mare(audio book)
- All Hallows, Walter De La Mare
- Crewe, Walter De La Mare
- Seaton’s Aunt, Walter De La Mare
- A Recluse, Walter De La Mare
- The Almond Tree, Walter De La Mare
- Classic Tales Of Horror(audio book)
- My Own True Ghost Story, Rudyard Kipling
- The Man in The Bell, W.E. Aytoun
- Caterpillars, E.F. Benson
- Narrative Of The Ghost Of A Hand, J. Sheridan Le Fanu
- The Mezzotint, M.R. James
- Dr Heidegger’s Experiment, Nathanial Hawthorne
- The Masque Of The Red Death, Edgar Allen Poe
- A Terribly Strange Bed, Wilkie Collins
- Sector General Omnibus, James White (audio book)
- Beginning Operations, James White
- Hospital Station, James White
- Star Surgeon, James White
- Major Operation, James White
- Alien Emergencies, James White
- Ambulance Ship, James White
- Sector General, James White
- Star Healer, James White
- General Practice, James White
- Galactic Gourmet, James White
- Final Diagnosis, James White
- Mind Changer, James White
- Beginning Operations, James White
- Others, James Herbert (audio book)
- Dream Park, Larry Niven and Steven Barnes (audio book)
- The Skin Map, Stephen R. Lawhead (audio book)
- The Year’s Top Ten Tales of Science Fiction, ed. Allan Kaster (audio book)
- The Ray-Gun: A Love Story, James Alan Gardner
- Fixing Hanover, Jeff VanderMeer
- The Dream of Reason, Jeffrey Ford
- The City of the Dead, Paul McCauley
- The Art of Alchemy, Ted Kosmatka
- Turing’s Apples, Stephen Baxter
- 26 Monkeys, Also the Abyss, Kij Johnson
- Shoggoths in Bloom, Elizabeth Bear
- Exhalation, Ted Chiang
- Five Thrillers, Robert Reed
- Other Kingdoms, Richard Matheson (audio book)
- Superiority, Arthur C. Clarke
- Make Room! Make Room!, Harry Harrison (audio book)
- Consider Phlebas, Iain M. Banks (audio book)
- The Plant People, Dale Carlson
- Planet of the Damned, Harry Harrison (audio book)
- Best of Science Fiction and Fantasy, ed. Richard Curtis (audio book)
- Breaking Strain, Arthur C. Clarke
- A Pail of Air, Fritz Leiber
- Someday, Isaac Asimov
- Blood Music, Greg Bear
- Sing, Kristine Rusch
- Ado, Connie Willis
- Green Messiah, Jane Yolen
- Vanni Fucci is Alive and Well and Living in Hell, Dan Simmons
- The Man Who Hated Gravity, Ben Bova
- Story Child, Kristine Rusch
- Critical Cats, Susan Shwartz
- Jupiter 5, Arthur C. Clarke (audio book)
- Classic Victorian & Edwardian Ghost Stories, ed. Rex Collings
- The Tapestried Chamber, Sir Walter Scott
- The Spectre of Tappington, Richard Harris Barham
- The Botathen Ghost, R.S. Hawker
- The Tell-Tale Heart, Edgar Allan Poe
- The Squire’s Story, Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell
- The Story of Mary Ancel, William Makepeace Thackeray
- The Story of the Bagman’s Uncle, Charles Dickens
- To Be Taken with a Grain of Salt, Charles Dickens
- An Account of Some Strange Disturbances in Aungier Street, Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu
- Narrative of a Ghost of a Hand, Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu
- Fisher’s Ghost, John Lang
- The Traveller’s Story of a Terribly Strange Bed, Wilkie Collins
- The Phantom Coach, Amelia B. Edwards
- Eveline’s Visitant, Miss Braddon
- Markheim, Robert Louis Stevenson
- Man-Size in Marble, Edith Nesbit
- The Canterville ghost, Oscar Wilde
- The Haunted Doll’s House, Montague Rhodes James
- A School Story, Montague Rhodes James
- Thurnley Abbey, Perceval Landon
- In the Cliff Land of the Dane, Howard Pease
- Laura, Saki (H.H. Munro)
- Story of Euphemia Hewit, James Hogg
- A Ghostly Manifestation, A Clergyman
- Correspondence on ‘A ghostly manifestation’, A Clergyman
- Ghost in the tower, Edmund Lenthal Swifte
- The Callahan Chronicles, Spider Robinson (audio book)
- The Ophiuchi Hotline, John Varley (audio book)
- Have Space Suit — Will Travel, R.A. Heinlein (audio book)
- The Stonehenge Gate, Jack Williamson (audio book)
- The Black Sun, Jack Williamson (audio book)
- The Monster-God of Mamurth, Edmond Hamilton
- The Eye of Argon, Jim Theis
- Pseudopod(horror fiction podcast)
- Bag Man, Scott Sigler
- Good Advice, Richard E. Dansky
- Little Boy Leg Bone, Richard Warren
- Returning My Sister’s Face, Eugie Foster
- Sacred Skin, Michael Stone
- What Dead People Are Supposed to Do, Paul E. Martens
- Drawing the Moon, Janni Lee Simner
- Indications, Richard S. Crawford
- Counting From Ten, Michael Montoure
- Turista, Joel Arnold
- Killing Jars, Matt Wallace
- Skinwalker: Deception, M.B. Nelson
- Redmond’s Private Screening, Kevin J. Anderson
- Virginia Woods, Janni Lee Simner
- Regis St. George, Maria Deira
- Medicinal, Peter King
- Upon The Midnight Clear, Stephen Dedman
- Oranges, Lemons and Thou Beside Me, Eugie Foster
- Through the Many Corridors, Douglas F. Warrick
- What You Wish For, Stephen Dedman
- Fetal Position, Joel Arnold
- Them Eyes, Nicholas Ozment
- Civilized Monsters, Johnny Compton
- Honest Ghosts, Stephen Dedman
- Fetching Pepe’, K.A. Patterson
- Flat Diane, Daniel Abraham
- My Caroline, Matt Wallace
- Lorna, Alasdair Stuart
- Light Like Knives Dragged Across the Skin, Paul Jessup
- Seller’s Market, Joel Arnold
- Last Respects, Dave Thompson
- Stitching Time, Stephanie Burgess
- The Sounds That Come After Screaming, Ian Creasey
- Bliss, James Michael White
- Locked Doors, Stephanie Burgis
- Liberation, Kevin Anderson
- We Are All Very Lively, Richard A. Becker
- Hell’s Daycare, D. Richard Pearce
- Some Things Don’t Wash Off, Joel Arnold
- WantingtoWant, Eugie Foster
- Fingerbones Hung Like Mobiles, Paul Jessup
- Full Moon Over 1600, Christopher Michael Cummings
- Everything Is Better With Zombies, Hannah Wolf Bowen
- Stockholm Syndrome, David Tallerman
- Goon Job, G. W. Thomas
- Hanging At Christmas Bridge, David E. Hilton
- Akropolis, Matt Wallace
- The Disciple, David Barr Kirtley
- Big Boy, Ron McGillvray
- Everyone Carries a Shadow, Stephen Gaskell
- Brothers, J. C. Hay
- That Old Black Magic, John R. Platt
- The Apple Tree Man, Joel Arnold
- Toothache, James Maddox
- Dead Dog, Nicholas Ozment
- Crab Apple, Patrick Samphire
- Tenant’s Rights, Sean Logan
- Among Their Bright Eyes, Alaya Dawn Johnson
- Fever, David Malki !
- The Heart of Tu’a Halaita, Tara Kolden
- The Keeper, Ken Goldman
- Faith in Sips and Bites, Michael Chant
- The Western Front, Patrick Samphire
- Connecting Door, Richard E. Dansky
- Doghead, Craig A. Strickland
- Finding Allison, Glen Krisch
- Memories of the Knacker’s Yard, Ian Creasey
- Across the Darien Gap, Daniel Braum
- The Excavation, Ben Thomas
- Rapunzel’s Room, John Dodds
- The Intrusion, Joel Arnold
- Heavy Rains, Andrew Nicolle
- Blood, Gridlock, and PEZ, Kevin Anderson
- Tumble, Trent Jamieson
- The Mill, Tom Brennan
- Tales of the White Street Society, Grady Hendrix
- Merlin’s Bane, GW Thomas
- In a Right and Proper Place, Holly Day
- Ice, Heather Hatch
- Votary, M.K. Hobson
- It’s Easy to Make a Sandwich, S.L. Bickley
- The Language of Crows, Mary E. Choo
- Heartstrung, Rachel Swirsky
- The Sons of Carbon County, Amanda Spikol
- Living in Sepia, D. Richard Pearce
- The Wild Y, Teej Grant
- A Place of Snow Angels, Matt Wallace
- The Guardian, Michael Anthony
- Wounds, Celia Marsh
- The Exhibition, Melinda Selmys
- Caesar’s Ghost, Eugie Foster
- The Sloan Men, David Nickle
- The Land Of Reeds, Patrick Samphire
- The Skull-Faced Boy, David Barr Kirtley
- No Tomorrows, Steve Cooper
- The Cutting Room, Shane Jiraiya Cummings
- Mrs. Branson Calling, Johnny Compton
- Among the Moabites, Michael Hartford
- Photo Finish, Adam La Rusic
- The Music of Erich Zann, H.P. Lovecraft
- Homecoming, B.J. West
- Dear Killer, Vinnie Hansen
- Geist, Chandler Kaiden
- The Book in the Earth, Lavie Tidhar
- Pattern Masters, Jeff Carlson
- Jihad Over Innsmouth, Edward Morris
- Front Row Seats, Scott William Carter
- The Teacher, Paul G. Tremblay
- In the Coils of the Serpent, William Meikle
- Spurling’s Virus, Michael Savastano
- Radiodemonology, John Medaille
- Periods, Florence Ann Marlowe
- Furnace Room Lullaby, Leah Bobet
- The Cellar, Stephen Owen
- Clockwork, Trent Jamieson
- Sick Day, Michael Chant
- Deep Red, Floris M. Kleijne
- Lala Salama, Gill Ainsworth
- Pran’s Confession, Joel Arnold
- Iowa Highway, Brendan Detzner
- Blood, Snow, and Sparrows, Joshua Alan Doetsch
- Let Them Bleed, Lilah Wild
- Bone Sigh, Tim Pratt
- Scavenger, Jonathan Kuhn
- The Interview, Mike Norris
- The Ashen Thing, Paul Mannering
- The Garden and the Mirror, Tim W. Burke
- Bone Mother, Maura McHugh
- Bottle Babies, Mary A. Turzillo
- The Greatest Adventure of All, Ian McHugh
- The Corpse Army of Khartoum, Grady Hendrix
- The Valknut, Dan Dworkin
- Grave of Ships, Richard Marsden
- Bait, Joel Arnold
- The Duel, Michael James McFarland
- The Eyes of the Crowd, Bruce Boston
- Reign of the Wintergod, Eugie Foster
- Come to My Arms, My Beamish Boy, Douglas F. Warrick
- Old Ways, Dan Dworkin
- The Man Who Sank, Colin P. Davies
- “Jordan, when are you going to settle down, get married and have us some children?”, J.R.
- Thinking About Polar Bears, Mike Battista
- Exit Exam, Section III: Survival Skills, Question #7, David Erik Nelson
- Camp, Jeremy C. Shipp
- The Looking Men, James R. Kristofich
- The Inevitability of Earth, David Nickle
- Infestation, Matthew Piskun
- The Button Bin, Mike Allen
- Orifice, John F.D. Taff
- Graffiti, K.S. Dearsley
- Mira, Michael James McFarland
- Break the Vessel, Vylar Kaftan
- The Undoing, Sarah Totton
- Hometown Horrible, Matthew Bey
- The Hay Devils, Colin P. Davies
- Raising Eddie, Mark Felps
- The Worm that Gnaws, Orrin Grey
- The Leviathan, Blake Vaughn
- Wave Goodbye, Felicity Bloomfield
- Regulars, Frank Oreto
- Reservation Monsters, Jim Bihyeh
- Got Milk?, John Alfred Taylor
- Fourth Person Singular, Dale L. Sproule
- Suicide Notes Written by an Alien Mind, Ferrett Steinmetz
- I Am Your Need, Mort Castle
- Linda’s Appointment, Mike Norris
- The Copse, Robert Mammone
- Something There Is, Joe Nazare
- Love Like Thunder, Jim Bihyeh
- El Dentisto que Corta, Mike Norris
- The Disconnected, David Steffen
- The Sultan of Meat, James B. Pepe
- Napier’s Bones, Stephen Gaskell
- The Dude Who Collected Lovecraft, Mamatas and Pratt
- Bophuthatswana, Lavie Tadhar
- The Primakov, R.J. Hobbs
- The Desert, Tom Leveen
- Benefits, John Robinson
- Bird in a Wrought Iron Cage, John Alfred Taylor
- The Blessed Days, Mike Allen
- Turning the Apples, Tina Connolly
- The Tamga, Maura McHugh
- Fading Light, Simon Strantzas
- The Getalong Gang, Barrie Darke
- Spirit of Nationalism, Richard Marsden
- The Dreaming Way, Jim Bihyeh
- Learning to Fly, Garth Upshaw
- The Identifier, Mark Patrick Morehead
- Charlie Harmer Looks Back, Brendan Detzner
- Ankor Sabat, C. Deskin Rink
- Oded the Merciless, Tina Starr
- The Dark Level, John F.D. Taff
- Gretel, Camille Alexa
- Wearing the Dead, Alan Smale
- Acceptable Losses, Simon Wood
- The Radejastians, David Nickle
- Bed of Scorpions, Silvia Moreno-Garcia
- Crawl, Lee Thompson
- The Engine of Desire, Livia Llewellyn
- The Hand You’re Dealt, Frank Oreto
- Set Down This, Lavie Tadhar
- The Mother and the Worm, Tim W. Burke
- Broken Bough, Daniel I. Russell
- Oil of Dog, Ambrose Bierce
- The Horror of the Heights, Arthur Conan Doyle
- Shadow Chaser, Simon Wood
- Eye Spy, K. A. Dean
- My Body Your Banquet, C.S.E. Cooney
- Sight Unseen, R. Scott Shanks, Jr.
- The Lot, C.M. Harris
- Her Collection of Intimacy, Paul Haines
- Gulls, Tim Pratt
- A Natural, Sylvia Hiven
- Shadows’ Bride, Marie Brennan
- Is This a Horror Story?, Scott Edelman
- Papa Was a Gypsy, Shannon Celebi
- The Evil-Eater, Peadar Ó Guilín
- Corvus Curse, Barry J. Northern
- The Nimble Men, Glen Hirshberg
- About 77 Degrees West of Nassau, Don Norum
- The Poisoner, Holly Day
- Hexagon, Jason Rizos
- Wendigo, Micaela Morrissette
- Man, You Gotta See This!, Tony Richards
- Oral Tradition, Angel Leigh McCoy
- Sweet Little Memory, Antony Mann
- ‘M’ Is for Manhattan, A. Nathaniel Jones
- The Snow-White Heart, Marie Brennan
- Hoofprints in the Snow, Nathaniel Tapley
- The Moon and the Mesa, Daniel Braum
- The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian, Robert E. Howard (audio book)
- The Phoenix on the Sword, Robert E. Howard
- The Frost Giant’s Daughter, Robert E. Howard
- The God in the Bowl, Robert E. Howard
- The Tower of the Elephant, Robert E. Howard
- The Scarlet Citadel, Robert E. Howard
- Queen of the Black Coast, Robert E. Howard
- Black Colossus, Robert E. Howard
- Iron Shadows in the Moon, Robert E. Howard
- Xuthal of the Dusk, Robert E. Howard
- The Pool of the Black One, Robert E. Howard
- Rogues in the House, Robert E. Howard
- The Vale of Lost Women, Robert E. Howard
- The Devil in Iron, Robert E. Howard
- Those Three Wishes, Judith Gorog
- H.P. Lovecraft Omnibus Volume 2: Dagon and Other Macabre Tales, H.P. Lovecraft (audio book) *
- Dagon, H.P. Lovecraft
- The Tomb, H.P. Lovecraft
- Polaris, H.P. Lovecraft
- Beyond the Wall of Sleep, H.P. Lovecraft
- The Doom That Came to Sarnath, H.P. Lovecraft
- The White Ship, H.P. Lovecraft
- Arthur Jermyn, H.P. Lovecraft
- The Cats of Ulthar, H.P. Lovecraft
- Celephais, H.P. Lovecraft
- From Beyond, H.P. Lovecraft
- The Temple, H.P. Lovecraft
- The Tree, H.P. Lovecraft
- The Moon-bog, H.P. Lovecraft
- The Nameless City, H.P. Lovecraft
- The Other Gods, H.P. Lovecraft
- The Quest of Iranon, H.P. Lovecraft
- Herbert West – Reanimator, H.P. Lovecraft
- The Hound, H.P. Lovecraft
- Hypnos, H.P. Lovecraft
- The Festival, H.P. Lovecraft
- The Unnamable, H.P. Lovecraft
- Imprisoned With the Pharaohs, H.P. Lovecraft
- He, H.P. Lovecraft
- The Horror at Red Hook, H.P. Lovecraft
- The Strange High House in the Mist, H.P. Lovecraft
- In the Walls of Eryx, H.P. Lovecraft
- The Evil Clergyman, H.P. Lovecraft
- The Beast in the Cave, H.P. Lovecraft
- The Alchemist, H.P. Lovecraft
- Poetry and the Gods, H.P. Lovecraft
- The Street, H.P. Lovecraft
- The Transition of Juan Romero, H.P. Lovecraft
- Azathoth (fragment), H.P. Lovecraft
- The Descendant (fragment), H.P. Lovecraft
- The Book (fragment), H.P. Lovecraft
- The Thing in the Moonlight (fragment), H.P. Lovecraft
- Supernatural Horror in Literature (essay), H.P. Lovecraft
- Alfred Hitchcock’s Monster Museum, ed. Alfred Hitchcock
- Slime, Joseph Payne Brennan
- The King of the Cats, Stephen Vincent Benét
- The Man Who Sold Rope to the Gnoles, Margaret St. Clair (as by Idris Seabright)
- Henry Martindale, Great Dane, Miriam Allen deFord
- “Shadow, Shadow, on the Wall . . .”, Theodore Sturgeon
- Doomsday Deferred, Murray Leinster (as by Will F. Jenkins)
- The Young One, Jerome Bixby
- The Desrick on Yandro, Manly Wade Wellman
- The Wheelbarrow Boy, Richard Parker
- Homecoming, Ray Bradbury
- The Mammoth Book of Mindblowing SF, ed. Mike Ashley
- Out of the Sun, Arthur C. Clarke
- The Pevatron Rats, Stephen Baxter
- The Edge of the Map, Ian Creasey
- Cascade Point, Timothy Zahn
- A Dance to Strange Musics, Gregory Benford
- Palindromic, Peter Crowther
- Castle in the Sky, Robert Reed
- The Hole in the Hole, Terry Bisson
- Hotrider, Keith Brooke
- Mother Grasshopper, Michael Swanwick
- Waves and Smart Magma, Paul Di Filippo
- The Black Hole Passes, John Varley
- The Peacock King, Ted White & Larry McCombs
- Bridge, James Blish
- Anhedonia, Adam Roberts
- Tiger Burning, Alastair Reynolds
- The Width of the World, Ian Watson
- Our Lady of the Sauropods, Robert Silverberg
- Into the Miranda Rift, G. David Nordley
- The Rest is Speculation, Eric Brown
- Vacuum States, Geoffrey A. Landis
- Pump Six and Other Stories, Paolo Bacigalupi(audio book)
- Pocketful of Dharma, Paolo Bacigalupi
- The Fluted Girl, Paolo Bacigalupi
- The People of Sand and Slag, Paolo Bacigalupi
- The Pasho, Paolo Bacigalupi
- The Calorie Man, Paolo Bacigalupi
- The Tamarisk Hunter, Paolo Bacigalupi
- Pop Squad, Paolo Bacigalupi
- Yellow Card Man, Paolo Bacigalupi
- Softer, Paolo Bacigalupi
- Pump Six, Paolo Bacigalupi
- Dark Terrors, ed. Stephen Jones & David Sutton (audio book)
- More Tomorrow, Michael Marshall Smith
- The Puppets, Ramsey Campbell
- Sampled, Steve Rasnic Tem
- The Hungry Moon, Graham Masterton
- Love Eats, Lisa Morton
- Uzzi, Brian Lumley
- Splatter Of Black, Charles A. Gramlich
- The Laundry Imp, Christopher Fowler
- Food for Thought, Mandy Slater
- Screens, Terry Lamsley
- All My Friends Are Here, Charles Wagner
- Eternity Ltd., Mark Morris
- The Lagoon, Nicholas Royle
- At the Crossroads, Burying the Dog, Jeff VanderMeer
- The Travelling Salesman’s Christmas Special, C. Bruce Hunter
- A Feast At Grief’s Table, Roberta Lannes
- Bleed, Richard Christian Matheson
- Where the Bodies Are Buried 3: Black and White And Red All Over, Kim Newman
- I’ve Come to Talk With You Again, Karl Edward Wagner
- Fee, Peter Straub
- The Voice From The Edge, Vol. 1, Harlan Ellison (audio book)
- I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream, Harlan Ellison
- Laugh Track, Harlan Ellison
- Grail, Harlan Ellison
- “Repent, Harlequin!” said the Ticktockman, Harlan Ellison
- The Very Last Day of a Good Woman, Harlan Ellison
- Paladin of the Lost Hour, Harlan Ellison
- The Lingering Scent of Woodsmoke, Harlan Ellison
- A Boy and His Dog, Harlan Ellison
- The Night of the Triffids, Simon Clark (audio book)
- Jesus, Interrupted: Revealing the Hidden Contradictions in the Bible (And Why We Don’t Know About Them), Bart D. Ehrman (audio book)
- The Day of the Triffids, John Wyndham (audio book)
- The Isle of the Torturers, Clark Ashton Smith (audio book)
- Alien Plot, Piers Anthony (audio book)
- Alien Plot, Piers Anthony
- Nonent, Piers Anthony
- Twenty Years, Piers Anthony
- December Dates, Piers Anthony
- Ship of Mustard, Piers Anthony
- Soft Like a Woman, Piers Anthony
- Imp to Nymph, Piers Anthony
- E van S, Piers Anthony
- Vignettes, Piers Anthony
- Hearts, Piers Anthony
- Revise and Invent, Piers Anthony
- Baby, Piers Anthony
- Cloister, Piers Anthony
- Love 40, Piers Anthony
- Kylo, Piers Anthony
- Plague of Allos, Piers Anthony
- Think of the Reader, Piers Anthony
- Selected Stories of Philip K. Dick – Volume 2, Philip K. Dick (audio book)
- Colony, Philip K. Dick
- Upon The Dull Earth, Philip K. Dick
- The Short Happy Life of the Brown Oxford, Philip K. Dick
- Faith of Our Fathers, Philip K. Dick
- The Days of Perky Pat, Philip K. Dick
- The Variable Man, Philip K. Dick
- I Hope I Shall Arrive Soon, Philip K. Dick
- Selected Stories of Philip K. Dick – Volume 1, Philip K. Dick (audio book)
- Autofac, Philip K. Dick
- Progeny, Philip K. Dick
- The Exit Door Leads In, Philip K. Dick
- A Little Something for Us Tempunauts, Philip K. Dick
- The Last of the Masters, Philip K. Dick
- The Preserving Machine, Philip K. Dick
- Novelty Act, Philip K. Dick
- The War with the Fnools, Philip K. Dick
- The Electric Ant, Philip K. Dick
- The End of the World: Stories of the Apocalypse, ed. Martin H. Greenberg
- The Hum, Rick Hautala
- Salvador, Lucius Shepard
- We Can Get Them For You Wholesale, Neil Gaiman
- The Big Flash, Norman Spinrad
- Kindness, Lester del Rey
- The Underdweller, William F. Nolan
- Lucifer, Roger Zelazny
- To The Storming Gulf, Gregory Benford
- The Feast of Saint Janis, Michael Swanwick
- The Wheel, John Wyndham
- Jody After The War, Edward Bryant
- Salvage, Orson Scott Card
- By Fools Like Me, Nancy Kress
- The Store of the Worlds, Robert Sheckley
- Dark, Dark Were the Tunnels, George R.R. Martin
- “If I Forget Thee, Oh Earth”, Arthur C. Clarke
- Afterward, John Helfers
- When We Went To See The End Of The World, Robert Silverberg
- Flight to Forever, Poul Anderson
- The Lost Fleet: Victory, Jack Campbell (audio book) *
- The Lost Fleet: Relentless, Jack Campbell (audio book) *
- The Lost Fleet: Valiant, Jack Campbell (audio book) *
- The Lost Fleet: Courageous, Jack Campbell (audio book) *
- The Lost Fleet: Fearless, Jack Campbell (audio book) *
- Dark Universe, Daniel F. Galouye (audio book)
- The Lost Fleet: Dauntless, Jack Campbell (audio book) *
- The Stars, My Brothers, Edmond Hamilton (audio book)
- Richard Matheson: Collected Stories, Vol. 3, Richard Matheson
- Big Surprise, Richard Matheson
- The Creeping Terror, Richard Matheson
- Deadline, Richard Matheson
- Mantage, Richard Matheson
- No Such Thing As a Vampire, Richard Matheson
- Crickets, Richard Matheson
- Day of Reckoning, Richard Matheson
- First Anniversary, Richard Matheson
- From Shadowed Places, Richard Matheson
- Nightmare at 20,000 Feet, Richard Matheson
- Finger Prints, Richard Matheson
- The Likeness of Julie, Richard Matheson
- Mute, Richard Matheson
- Deus Ex Machina, Richard Matheson
- Girl of My Dreams, Richard Matheson
- The Jazz Machine, Richard Matheson
- Shock Wave, Richard Matheson
- Tis the Season To Be Jelly, Richard Matheson
- Interest, Richard Matheson
- A Drink of Water, Richard Matheson
- Therese, Richard Matheson
- Prey, Richard Matheson
- Button, Button, Richard Matheson
- By Appointment Only, Richard Matheson
- The Finishing Touches, Richard Matheson
- Till Death Do Us Part, Richard Matheson
- The Near Departed, Richard Matheson
- Buried Talents, Richard Matheson
- Duel, Richard Matheson
- Watchmen, Alan Moore
- Conan the Liberator, L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter (audio book)
- Conan the Conqueror, Robert E. Howard & L. Sprague DeCamp (audio book) *
- The Fantasies of Robert A. Heinlein, Robert A. Heinlein (audio book) *
- Magic, Inc., Robert A. Heinlein
- “—And He Built a Crooked House—”, Robert A. Heinlein
- They, Robert A. Heinlein
- Waldo, Robert A. Heinlein
- The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag, Robert A. Heinlein
- Our Fair City, Robert A. Heinlein
- The Man Who Traveled in Elephants, Robert A. Heinlein
- —All You Zombies—, Robert A. Heinlein
- Maus: A Survivor’s Tale, Art Spiegelman
- The Shimmer, David Morrell (audio book)
- A Study in Scarlet, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (audio book)
- Richard Matheson: Collected Stories, Vol. 2, Richard Matheson
- Slaughter House, Richard Matheson
- Trespass, Richard Matheson
- The Wedding, Richard Matheson
- Wet Straw, Richard Matheson
- Being, Richard Matheson
- The Conqueror, Richard Matheson
- The Curious Child, Richard Matheson
- Dear Diary, Richard Matheson
- Descent, Richard Matheson
- The Doll That Does Everything, Richard Matheson
- The Man Who Made the World, Richard Matheson
- The Test, Richard Matheson
- The Traveller, Richard Matheson
- When Day is Dun, Richard Matheson
- Dance of the Dead, Richard Matheson
- The Funeral, Richard Matheson
- Miss Stardust, Richard Matheson
- One for the Books, Richard Matheson
- Pattern for Survival, Richard Matheson
- A Flourish of Strumpets, Richard Matheson
- A Splendid Source, Richard Matheson
- Steel, Richard Matheson
- A Visit to Santa Claus, Richard Matheson
- The Children of Noah, Richard Matheson
- The Holiday Man, Richard Matheson
- Lemmings, Richard Matheson
- Old Haunts, Richard Matheson
- The Distributor, Richard Matheson
- The Edge, Richard Matheson
- Final Reckonings (The Complete Stories of Robert Bloch, Volume 1), Robert Bloch (audio book)
- Mannikins of Horror, Robert Bloch
- Almost Human, Robert Bloch
- The Beasts of Barsac, Robert Bloch
- The Skull of the Marquis de Sade, Robert Bloch
- The Bogey Man Will Get You, Robert Bloch
- Frozen Fear, Robert Bloch
- The Tunnel of Love, Robert Bloch
- The Unspeakable Betrothal, Robert Bloch
- Tell Your Fortune, Robert Bloch
- The Head Man, Robert Bloch
- The Shadow from the Steeple, Robert Bloch
- The Man Who Collected Poe, Robert Bloch
- Lucy Comes To Stay, Robert Bloch
- The Thinking Cap, Robert Bloch
- Constant Reader, Robert Bloch
- The Pin, Robert Bloch
- The Goddess of Wisdom, Robert Bloch
- The Past Master, Robert Bloch
- Where the Buffalo Roam, Robert Bloch
- I Like Blondes, Robert Bloch
- You Got To Have Brains, Robert Bloch
- A Good Imagination, Robert Bloch
- Dead-End Doctor, Robert Bloch
- Terror in the Night, Robert Bloch
- All on a Golden Afternoon, Robert Bloch
- Founding Fathers, Robert Bloch
- String of Pearls, Robert Bloch
- The John Varley Reader, John Varley (audio book)
- Picnic on Nearside, John Varley
- Overdrawn at the Memory Bank, John Varley
- In the Hall of the Martian Kings, John Varley
- Gotta Sing, Gotta Dance, John Varley
- The Barbie Murders, John Varley
- The Phantom of Kansas, John Varley
- Beatnik Bayou, John Varley
- Air Raid, John Varley
- The Persistence of Vision, John Varley
- Press Enter, John Varley
- The Pusher, John Varley
- Tango Charlie and Foxtrot Romeo, John Varley
- Options, John Varley
- Just Another Perfect Day, John Varley
- In Fading Suns and Dying Moons, John Varley
- The Flying Dutchman, John Varley
- Good Intentions, John Varley
- The Bellman, John Varley
- Bitter Ends (The Complete Stories of Robert Bloch, Volume 2), Robert Bloch (audio book)
- Water’s Edge, Robert Bloch
- The Real Bad Friend, Robert Bloch
- Man With a Hobby, Robert Bloch
- Welcome, Stranger, Robert Bloch
- Terror Over Hollywood, Robert Bloch
- Luck Is No Lady, Robert Bloch
- Crime in Rhyme, Robert Bloch
- The Cure, Robert Bloch
- Sock Finish, Robert Bloch
- Broomstick Ride, Robert Bloch
- Daybroke, Robert Bloch
- Betsy Blake Will Live Forever, Robert Bloch
- Terror in Cut-Throat Cove, Robert Bloch
- Word of Honor, Robert Bloch
- That Old Black Magic, Robert Bloch
- The Deadliest Art, Robert Bloch
- The Screaming People, Robert Bloch
- The Hungry Eye, Robert Bloch
- Show Biz, Robert Bloch
- The Gloating Place, Robert Bloch
- The Man Who Knew Women, Robert Bloch
- The Big Kick, Robert Bloch
- Night School, Robert Bloch
- Sabbatical, Robert Bloch
- The Funnel of God, Robert Bloch
- ‘Til Death Do Us Part, Robert Bloch
- The Show Must Go On, Robert Bloch
- A Matter of Life, Robert Bloch
- Pin-Up Girl, Robert Bloch
- The Baldheaded Mirage, Robert Bloch
- The Masterpiece, Robert Bloch
- Death Troopers, Joe Schreiber (audio book)
- Hell House, Richard Matheson (audio book)
- Stainless Steel Rat, Harry Harrison (audio book)
- The Drowned World, J.G. Ballard (audio book)
- The Lost World, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (audio book)
- The Terror, Dan Simmons (audio book)
- The Path of Daggers, Robert Jordan
- The Horror Stories of Robert E. Howard, Robert E. Howard (audio book)
- In the Forest of Villefère, Robert E. Howard
- A Song of the Werewolf Folk, Robert E. Howard
- Wolfshead, Robert E. Howard
- Up, John Kane!, Robert E. Howard
- Remembrance, Robert E. Howard
- The Dream Snake, Robert E. Howard
- Sea Curse, Robert E. Howard
- The Moor Ghost, Robert E. Howard
- Moon Mockery, Robert E. Howard
- The Little People, Robert E. Howard
- Dead Man’s Hate, Robert E. Howard
- The Tavern, Robert E. Howard
- Rattle of Bones, Robert E. Howard
- The Fear That Follows, Robert E. Howard
- The Spirit of Tom Molyneaux, Robert E. Howard
- Casonetto’s Last Song, Robert E. Howard
- The Touch of Death, Robert E. Howard
- Out of the Deep, Robert E. Howard
- A Legend of Faring Town, Robert E. Howard
- Restless Waters, Robert E. Howard
- The Shadow of the Beast, Robert E. Howard
- The Dead Slaver’s Tale, Robert E. Howard
- Dermod’s Bane, Robert E. Howard
- The Hills of the Dead, Robert E. Howard
- Dig Me No Grave, Robert E. Howard
- The Song of a Mad Minstrel, Robert E. Howard
- The Children of the Night, Robert E. Howard
- Musings, Robert E. Howard
- The Black Stone, Robert E. Howard
- The Thing on the Roof, Robert E. Howard
- The Dweller in Dark Valley, Robert E. Howard
- The Horror from the Mound, Robert E. Howard
- A Dull Sound as of Knocking, Robert E. Howard
- People of the Dark, Robert E. Howard
- Delenda Est, Robert E. Howard
- The Cairn on the Headland, Robert E. Howard
- Worms of the Earth, Robert E. Howard
- The Symbol, Robert E. Howard
- The Valley of the Lost, Robert E. Howard
- The Hoofed Thing, Robert E. Howard
- The Noseless Horror, Robert E. Howard
- The Dwellers Under the Tomb, Robert E. Howard
- An Open Window, Robert E. Howard
- The House of Arabu, Robert E. Howard
- The Man on the Ground, Robert E. Howard
- Old Garfield’s Heart, Robert E. Howard
- Kelly the Conjure-Man, Robert E. Howard
- Black Canaan, Robert E. Howard
- To a Woman, Robert E. Howard
- One Who Comes at Eventide, Robert E. Howard
- The Haunter of the Ring, Robert E. Howard
- Pigeons from Hell, Robert E. Howard
- The Dead Remember, Robert E. Howard
- The Fire of Asshurbanipal, Robert E. Howard
- Fragment, Robert E. Howard
- Which Will Scarcely Be Understood, Robert E. Howard
- Golnor the Ape, Robert E. Howard
- Spectres in the Dark, Robert E. Howard
- The House, Robert E. Howard
- The Draco Tavern, Larry Niven (audio book) *
- Deathworld, Harry Harrison (audio book)
- City, Clifford D. Simak (audio book)
- The Black Cloud, Fred Hoyle (audio book)
- Richard Matheson: Collected Stories, Vol. 1, Richard Matheson
- Born of Man and Woman, Richard Matheson
- Third From the Sun, Richard Matheson
- When the Waker Sleeps, Richard Matheson
- Blood Son, Richard Matheson
- Clothes Make the Man, Richard Matheson
- Dress of White Silk, Richard Matheson
- Return, Richard Matheson
- The Thing, Richard Matheson
- Through Channels, Richard Matheson
- Witch War, Richard Matheson
- Advance Notice, Richard Matheson
- Brother to the Machine, Richard Matheson
- F–, Richard Matheson
- Lover When You’re Near Me, Richard Matheson
- Mad House, Richard Matheson
- Shipshape Home, Richard Matheson
- SRL Ad, Richard Matheson
- To Fit the Crime, Richard Matheson
- Death Ship, Richard Matheson
- Disappearing Act, Richard Matheson
- The Disinheritors, Richard Matheson
- Dying Room Only, Richard Matheson
- Full Circle, Richard Matheson
- The Last Day, Richard Matheson
- Lazarus II, Richard Matheson
- Legion of Plotters, Richard Matheson
- Little Girl Lost, Richard Matheson
- Long Distance Call, Richard Matheson
- Scavenger, David Morrell (audio book)
- Microcosmic God: Volume II: The Complete Stories of Theodore Sturgeon, ed. Paul Williams
- Cargo, Theodore Sturgeon
- Biddiver, Theodore Sturgeon
- Poker Face, Theodore Sturgeon
- Shottle Bop, Theodore Sturgeon
- Two Percent Inspiration, Theodore Sturgeon
- Nightmare Island, Theodore Sturgeon
- Microcosmic God, Theodore Sturgeon
- Yesterday Was Monday, Theodore Sturgeon
- The Haunt, Theodore Sturgeon
- Brat, Theodore Sturgeon
- The Golden Egg, Theodore Sturgeon
- Artnan Process, Theodore Sturgeon
- The Anonymous, Theodore Sturgeon
- Completely Automatic, Theodore Sturgeon
- The Jumper, Theodore Sturgeon
- Two Sidecars, Theodore Sturgeon
- The Purple Light, Theodore Sturgeon
- Assorted Sci-fi Short Story Audio Books From Librivox.org
- …After a Few Words…, Gordon Randall Garrett
- …Or Your Money Back, Gordon Randall Garrett
- 2BR02B, Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
- A Choice of Miracles, James A. Cox
- A Filbert Is a Nut, Rick Raphael
- A Matter of Magnitude, Al Sevcik
- A Matter of Proportion, Anne Walker
- A Prize for Edie, Jesse Bone
- A Scientist Rises, Desmond Winter Hall
- A Transmutation of Muddles, Horace Brown Fyfe
- Accidental Death, Peter Baily
- Acid Bath, Vaseleos Garson
- Advanced Chemistry, Jack G. Huekels
- All Cats are Gray, Andre Norton
- All Day September, Roger Kuykendall
- An Incident on Route 12, James H. Schmitz
- An Ounce of Cure, Alan Edward Nourse
- And All the Earth a Grave, C.C. MacApp
- Arm of the Law, Harry Harrison
- As Long as You Wish, John O’Keefe
- Attention Saint Patrick, Murray Leinster
- B-12′s Moonglow, Charles A Stearns
- Bad Medicine, Robert Sheckley
- Belly Laugh, Gordon Randall Garrett
- Beyond Lies the Wub, Philip K. Dick
- Beyond Pandora, Robert J. Martin
- Beyond the Door, Philip K. Dick
- Blessed Are the Meek, G.C. Edmondson
- Bolden’s Pets, Floyd L. Wallace
- Bread Overhead, Fritz Leiber
- Breakaway, Stanley Gimble
- Cat and Mouse, Ralph Williams
- Celebrity, James McKimmey Jr.
- Cerebrum, Albert Teichner
- Circus, Alan Edward Nourse
- Citadel, Algis Budrys
- Cogito Ergo Sum, John Foster West
- Competition, James Causey
- Control Group, Roger Dee
- Cost of Living, Robert Sheckley
- Crossroads of Destiny, H. Beam Piper
- Cry from a Far Planet, Tom Godwin
- Cully, Jack Egan
- Foundling on Venus, John & Dorothy de Courcy
- Dead Ringer, Lester del Ray
- Dead World, Jack Douglas
- Dearest, H. Beam Piper
- Death of a Spaceman, Walter M. Miller Jr.
- Devil’s Asteroid, Manly Wade Wellman
- Divinity, William Morrison
- Double Take, Richard Wilson
- Droozle, Frank Banta
- Earthmen Bearing Gifts, Fredric Brown
- Egocentric Orbit, John Cory
- Faithfully Yours, Lou Tabakow
- Flamedown, Horace B Fyfe
- Flight From Tommorow, H. Beam Piper
- Flight Through Tomorrow, Stanton A. Coblentz
- Gambler’s World, Keith Laumer
- Goliah, Jack London
- Grove of the Unborn, Lyn Venable
- Hall of Mirrors, Fredric Brown
- Happy Ending, Fredric Brown & Mack Reynolds
- Hard Guy, H. B. Carelton
- Has Anyone Here Seen Kelly?, Bryce Walton
- He walked around the horses, H. Beam Piper
- Heist Job on Thizar, Randall Garrett
- Hellhounds of the Cosmos, Clifford D. Simak
- History Repeats, George Oliver Smith
- Homesick, Lyn Venable
- I Like Martian Music, Charles E. Fritch
- I’m A Stranger Here Myself, Mack Reynolds
- Image of the Gods, Alan Edward Nourse
- Impact, Irving E. Cox
- In the Avu Observatory, H.G. Wells
- In the Year 2889, Jules Verne
- Instinct, George O. Smith
- Invasion, Murray Leinster
- It’s a Small Solar System, Allan Howard
- Jimsy and the Monsters, Walt Sheldon
- Keep Out, Fredric Brown
- Lease To Doomsday, Lee Archer
- Letter of the Law, Alan Edward Nourse
- Longevity, Therese Windser
- Lost in the Future, John Victor Peterson
- Man Made, Albert R. Teichner
- Martian V.F.W., G.L. Vandenburg
- Master of None, Neil Goble
- Matians Never Die, Lucius Daniel
- McIlvaine’s Star, August Derleth
- Meeting of the Board, Alan Edward Nourse
- Mex, Laurence M. Janifer
- Micromegas, Voltaire
- Missing Link, Frank Herbert
- Moment of Truth, Basil Wells
- Monkey On His Back, Charles V. De Vet
- Mr. Chipfellow’s Jackpot, Dick Purcell
- My Father, the Cat, Henry Slesar
- My Friend Bobby, Alan Edward Nourse
- Navy Day, Harry Harrison
- No Moving Parts, Murray F. Yaco
- No Pets Allowed, M. A. Cummings
- Now We Are Three, Joe L. Hensley
- Of Time And Texas, William F. Nolan
- Old Crompton’s Secret, Harl Vincent
- Old Rambling House, Frank Herbert
- One Out of Ten, J. Anthony Ferlaine
- One-Shot, James B Blish
- Operation Haystack, Frank Herbert
- Operation Lorelie, William P. Salton
- Operation R.S.V.P., H. Beam Piper
- Out Around Rigel, Robert H. Wilson
- Out of This World Convention, Forrest James Ackerman
- Pandemic, J.F. Bone
- Pleasant Journey, Richard F. Thieme
- Postmark Ganymede, Robert Silverberg
- Problem, Alan Edward Nourse
- Pushbutton War, Joseph Paul Martino
- Pygmalion’s Spectacles, Stanley Grauman Weinbaum
- Pythias, Frederik Pohl
- Question of Comfort, Les Collins
- Quiet, Please, Kevin Scott
- Regeneration, Charles Dye
- Reluctant Genius, Henry Slesar
- Resurrection, Robert Shea
- Revenge, Arthur Porges
- Rex Ex Machina, Frederic Max
- Salvage in Space, Jack Williamson
- Satellite System, Horace B Fyfe
- Scrimshaw, Murray Leinster
- Second Landing, Floyd Wallace
- Second Sight, Alan Edward Nourse
- Service With A Smile, Charles L. Fontenay
- Sjambak, Jack Vance
- Small World, William F. Nolan
- Sodom and Gomorrah, Texas, Raphael Aloysius Lafferty
- Solander’s Radio Tomb, Ellis Parker Butler
- Solar Stiff, Chas. A. Stopher
- Solomon’s Orbit, William Carroll
- Some Words with a Mummy, Edgar Allan Poe
- Something Will Turn Up, David Mason
- Sorry: Wrong Dimension, Ross Rocklynne
- Spawn of the Comet, Harold Thompson Rich
- Stairway To The Stars, Larry Shaw
- Star Mother, Robert F. Young
- Stop, Look and Dig, George O. Smith
- Stopover, William Gerken
- Stopover Planet, Robert E. Gilbert
- Story of the Late Mr Elvesham, H.G. Wells
- Stowaway, Alvin Heiner
- Strange Alliance, Bryce Walton
- Subjectivity, Norman Spinrad
- Such Blooming Talk, L. Major Reynolds
- Suite Mentale, Randall Garrett
- Summit, Mack Reynolds
- Sweet their blood and sticky, Albert R. Teichner
- Teething Ring, James Causey
- Test Rocket, Jack Douglas
- Texas Week, Albert Hemhuter
- The 4-D Doodler, Graph Waldeyer
- The Adventurer, C. M. Kornbluth
- The Aggravation of Elmer, Robert Arthur
- The Altar at Midnight, C. M. Kornbluth
- The Alternate Plan, Gerry Maddren
- The Answer, H. Beam Piper
- The Barbarians, Algis Budrys
- The Beast of Space, F. E. Hardart
- The Bell Tone, Edmund H. Leftwich
- The Big Bounce, Walter S. Tevis
- The Big Fix, George O. Smith
- The Big Trip Up Yonder, Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
- The Blue Tower, Evelyn E. Smith
- The Burning Bridge, Poul Anderson
- The Calm Man, Frank Belknap Long
- The Carnivore, Katherine as G A Morris MacLean
- The Coffin Cure, Alan Edward Nourse
- The Coming of the Ice, G. Peyton Wertenbaker
- The Cosmic Express, Jack Williamson
- The Country of the Blind, H. G. Wells
- The Crystal Crypt, Philip K. Dick
- The Crystal Egg, H. G. Wells
- The Dark Door, Alan Edward Nourse
- The Day of the Boomer Dukes, Frederik Pohl
- The Day Time Stopped Moving, Bradner Buckner
- The Defenders, Philip K. Dick
- The Demi-Urge, Thomas M. Disch
- The Diamond Maker, H. G. Wells
- The Doom from Planet 4, Jack Williamson
- The Doorway, Evelyn E Smith
- The End of Time, Wallace West
- The Eternal Wall, Raymond Z. Gallun
- The Eyes Have It, Philip K. Dick
- The First One, Herbert D Kastle
- The Flying Cuspidors, V. R. Francis
- The Fourth Invasion, Henry Josephs
- The Gallery, Rog Phillips
- The Game of Rat and Dragon, Cordwainer Smith
- The Gate to Xoran, Hal K. Wells
- The Gift Bearer, Charles L Fontenay
- The Golden Judge, Nathaniel Gordon
- The Good Neighbors, Edgar Pangborn
- The Guardians, Irving Cox
- The Gun, Philip K. Dick
- The Hands, Richard Sternbach
- The Happy Unfortunate, Robert Silverberg
- The Hated, Frederik Pohl
- The Helpful Robots, Robert Shea
- The Hills of Home, Alfred Coppel
- The Hoofer, Walter M.Miller Jr.
- The Hour of Battle, Robert Sheckley
- The Hunted Heroes, Robert Silverberg
- The Indulgence of Negu Mah, Robert Arthur
- The Infra-Medians, Sewell Peaslee Wright
- The Invaders, Benjamin Ferris
- The Junkmakers, Albert Teichner
- The Jupiter Weapon, Charles L. Fontenay
- The K Factor, Harry Harrison
- The Last Evolution, John W. Campbell Jr.
- The Last Supper, T. D. Hamm
- The Leech, Phillips Barbee
- The Link, Alan Edward Nourse
- The Long Voyage, Carl R Jacobi
- The Love of Frank Nineteen, David C Knight
- The Man from Time, Frank Belknap Long
- The Man Who Hated Mars, Gordon Randall Garrett
- The Man Who Saw the Future, Edmond Hamilton
- The Mathematicians, Arthur Feldman
- The Measure of a Man, Randall Garrett
- The Meteor Girl, Jack Williamson
- The Mightiest Man, Patrick Fahy
- The Misplaced Battleship, Harry Harrison
- The Moon Is Green, Fritz Leiber
- The Most Sentimental Man, Evelyn E. Smith
- The Native Soil, Alan Edward Nourse
- The New Accelerator, H. G. Wells
- The Next Logical Step, Ben Bova
- The Nothing Equation, Tom Godwin
- The Perfectionists, Arnold Castle
- The Plattner Story, H. G. Wells
- The Professional Approach, Charles Leonard Harness and Theodore Lockhard Thomas
- The Putnam Tradition, Sonya Dorman
- The Pygmy Planet, Jack Williamson
- The Quantum Jump, Robert Wicks
- The Radiant Shell, Paul Ernst
- The Repairman, Harry Harrison
- The Risk Profession, Donald E. Westlake
- The Sargasso of Space, Edmond Hamilton
- The Second Satellite, Edmond Hamilton
- The Servant Problem, Robert F Young
- The Shadow and the Flash, Jack London
- The Skull, Philip K. Dick
- The Sky Trap, Frank Belknap Long
- The Smiler, Albert Hernhunter
- The Sound of Silence, Barbara Constant
- The Star, H. G. Wells
- The Stoker and the Stars, Algis Budrys
- The Success Machine, Henry Slesar
- The Talkative Tree, Horace Brown Fyfe
- The Troubadour, Robert Augustine Ward Lowndes
- The Ultimate Experiment, Thornton DeKy
- The Untouchable, Stephen A.Kallis Jr.
- The Velvet Glove, Harry Harrison
- The Vortex Blaster, E. E. Doc Smith
- The White Feather Hex, Don Peterson
- The Worshippers, Damon Knight
- The Yillian Way, John Keith Laumer
- There is a Reaper, Charles V. De Vet
- They Also Serve, Donald E. Westlake
- They Twinkled Like Jewels, Philip Jose Farmer
- This is Klon Calling, Walt Sheldon
- Tight Squeeze, Dean Charles Ing
- Time and Time Again, H. Beam Piper
- Toy Shop, Harry Harrison
- Traders Risk, Roger Dee
- Trees are where you find them, Arthur Dekker Savage
- Two Plus Two Makes Crazy, Walt Sheldon
- Two Timer, Fredric Brown
- Unborn Tomorrow, Dallas McCord Reynolds
- Unspecialist, Murray F. Yaco
- Untechnological Employment, E. M. Clinton Jr.
- Vanishing Point, C.C. Beck
- Viewpoint, Randall Garrett
- Vital Ingredient, Gerald Vance
- Von Kempelen and his Discovery, Edgar Allan Poe
- Warm, Robert Sheckley
- Warning from the Stars, Ron Cocking
- Waste Not, Want, Dave Dryfoos
- We Didn’t Do Anything Wrong, Hardly, Roger Kuykendall
- Weak On Square Roots, Russell Burton
- What’s He Doing in There?, Fritz Leiber
- When I Grow Up, Richard E. Lowe
- Where The World Is Quiet, Henry Kuttner
- Where There’s Hope, Jerome Bixby
- Wind, Charles Louis Fontenay
- With No Strings Attached, Gordon Randall Garrett
- Wizard, Larry M. Harris
- Year of the Big Thaw, Marion Zimmer Bradley
- Youth, Isaac Asimov
- A Crown of Swords, Robert Jordan
- Inferno, ed. Ellen Datlow
- Riding Bitch, K. W. Jeter
- Misadventure, Stephen Gallagher
- The Forest, Laird Barron
- The Monsters of Heaven, Nathan Ballingrud
- Inelastic Collisions, Elizabeth Bear
- The Uninvited, Christopher Fowler
- 13 O’Clock, Mike O’Driscoll
- Lives, John Grant
- Ghorla, Mark Samuels
- Face, Joyce Carol Oates
- An Apiary of White Bees, Lee Thomas
- The Keeper, P. D. Cacek
- Bethanys Wood, Paul Finch
- The Ease With Which We Freed The Beast, Lucius Shepard
- Hushabye, Simon Bestwick
- Perhaps the Last, Conrad Williams
- Stilled Life, Pat Cadigan
- The Janus Tree, Glen Hirshberg
- The Bedroom Light, Jeffrey Ford
- The Suits at Auderlene, Terry Dowling
- Tales of Terror, Edgar Allen Poe (audio book) *
- The Tell-Tale Heart, Edgar Allen Poe
- The Black Cat, Edgar Allen Poe
- The Cask of Amontillado, Edgar Allen Poe
- The Pit and the Pendulum, Edgar Allen Poe
- The Masque of the Red Death, Edgar Allen Poe
- The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar, Edgar Allen Poe
- Hop Frog, Edgar Allen Poe
- The Fall of the House of Usher, Edgar Allen Poe
- The Murders in the Rue Morgue, Edgar Allen Poe
- Platinum Pohl,Frederik Pohl (audio book)
- The Merchants of Venus, Ferederik Pohl
- The Things That Happen, Ferederik Pohl
- The High Test, Ferederik Pohl
- My Lady Green Sleeves, Ferederik Pohl
- The Kindly Isle, Ferederik Pohl
- The Middle of Nowhere, Ferederik Pohl
- I Remember a Winter, Ferederik Pohl
- The Greening of Bed-Stuy, Ferederik Pohl
- To See Another Mountain, Ferederik Pohl
- The Mapmakers, Ferederik Pohl
- Spending a Day at the Lottery Fair, Ferederik Pohl
- The Celebrated No-Hit Inning, Ferederik Pohl
- Some Joys Under the Star, Ferederik Pohl
- Servant of the People, Ferederik Pohl
- Waiting for the Olympians, Ferederik Pohl
- Criticality, Ferederik Pohl
- Shaffery Among the Immortals, Ferederik Pohl
- The Day the Icicle Works Closed, Ferederik Pohl
- Saucery, Ferederik Pohl
- The Gold at the Starbow’s End, Ferederik Pohl
- Growing Up in Edge City, Ferederik Pohl
- The Knights of Arthur, Ferederik Pohl
- Creation Myths of the Recently Extinct, Ferederik Pohl
- The Meeting, Ferederik Pohl & C.M. Kornbluth
- Let the Ants Try, Ferederik Pohl
- Speed Trap, Ferederik Pohl
- The Day the Martians Came, Ferederik Pohl
- Day Million, Ferederik Pohl
- The Mayor of Mare Tranq, Ferederik Pohl
- Fermi and Frost, Ferederik Pohl
- By His Bootstraps, Robert A. Heinlein (audio book) *
- Invasion, Robin Cook (audio book)
- Leiningen versus the Ants, Carl Stephenson
- The Complete Ghost Stories of M.R. James(volumes 1 & 2) (audio book)
- A Neighbour’s Landmark, M.R. James
- A View From a Hill, M.R. James
- A Vignette, M.R. James
- A Warning to the Curious, M.R. James
- After Dark in the Playing Fields, M.R. James
- An Episode of Cathedral History, M.R. James
- An Evening’s Entertainment, M.R. James
- Ash Tree, M.R. James
- Canon Alberic’s Scrapbook, M.R. James
- Casting the Runes, M.R. James
- Count Magnus, M.R. James
- Lost Hearts, M.R. James
- Martin’s Close, M.R. James
- Mezzotint, M.R. James
- Mr Humphreys and His Inheritance, M.R. James
- Number 13, M.R. James
- Oh Whistle and I’ll Come to You My Lad, M.R. James
- Rats, M.R. James
- Rose Garden, M.R. James
- School Story, M.R. James
- Stalls of Barchester Cathedral, M.R. James
- Diary of Mr Poynter, M.R. James
- The Experiment, M.R. James
- The Fenstanton Witch, M.R. James
- Haunted Dolls’ House, M.R. James
- Malice of Inanimate Objects, M.R. James
- Residence at Whetminster, M.R. James
- Story of a Disappearance and an Appearance, M.R. James
- The Uncommon Prayer-book, M.R. James
- There Was a Man Dwelt By a Churchyard, M.R. James
- Tractate Middoth, M.R. James
- Treasure of Abbot Thomas, M.R. James
- Two Doctors, M.R. James
- Wailing Well, M.R. James
- Modern Classic Short Novels of Science Fiction, Gardner Dozois (audio book)
- The Miracle Workers, Jack Vance
- The Longest Voyage, Poul Anderson
- On the Storm Planet, Cordwainer Smith
- The Star Pit, Samuel R. Delany
- Total Environment, Brian W. Aldiss
- The Merchants of Venus, Frederik Pohl
- The Death of Doctor Island, Gene Wolfe
- Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang, Kate Wilhelm
- Souls, Joanna Russ
- A Traveler’s Tale, Lucius Shepard
- Sailing to Byzantium, Robert Silverberg
- Mr. Boy, James Patrick Kelly
- And Wild for to Hold, Nancy Kress
- Economics in One Lesson, Henry Hazlitt
- On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society, Lt. Col. Dave Grossman
- Over the River and Through the Woods, Clifford D. Simak (audio book)
- A Death in the House, Clifford D. Simak
- The Big Front Yard, Clifford D. Simak
- Good Night, Mr. James, Clifford D. Simak
- Dusty Zebra, Clifford D. Simak
- Neighbor, Clifford D. Simak
- Over the River and Through the Woods, Clifford D. Simak
- Construction Shack, Clifford D. Simak
- The Grotto of the Dancing Bear, Clifford D. Simak
- Classic Tales of Ghosts & Vampires(audio book)
- The Upper Berth, by F. Marion Crawford
- Was it a Dream?, by Guy de Maupassant
- An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge, by Ambrose Bierce
- The Lost Ghost, by Mary E. Wilkins-Freeman
- Man-Size in Marble, by E. Nesbit
- Dracula’s Guest, by Bram Stoker
- Luella Miller, by Mary E. Wilkins-Freeman
- The Phantom Coach, by Amelia B. Edwards
- The Moonlit Road, by Ambrose Bierce
- For the Blood Is the Life, by F. Marion Crawford
- The Signalman, by Charles Dickens
- The Shadow, by E. Nesbit
- The Damned Thing, by Ambrose Bierce
- The Bodysnatcher, by Robert Louis Stevenson
- The Vampyre, by John Polidori
- The Statement of Randolph Carter, by H.P. Lovecraft
- Song of Kali, Dan Simmons
- Haunted, Chuck Palahniuk (audio book)
- Lord of Chaos, Robert Jordan
- The Forbidden Zone, Whitley Strieber (audio book)
- Worlds Enough & Time: Five Tales of Speculative Fiction, Dan Simmons (audio book)
- Looking for Kelly Dahl, Dan Simmons
- Orphans of the Helix, Dan Simmons
- The Ninth of Av, Dan Simmons
- On K2 with Kanakaredes, Dan Simmons
- The End of Gravity, Dan Simmons
- Creepers, by David Morrell (audio book)
- A Practical Guide to Racism, C H Dalton
- The Fires of Heaven, Robert Jordan
- The Naked Jape, Jimmy Carr & Lucy Greeves
- Crime and Punishment, Fyodor Dostoevsky
- Gulliver’s Travels, Jonathan Swift
- The Shadow Rising, Robert Jordan
- The Zombie Survival Guide, Max Brooks
- I am America (and So Can You), Stephen Colbert
- The Mysterious Stranger, Mark Twain *
- Time Out of Joint, Philip K Dick
- The Cambridge Quintet, John L. Casti
- Clans of the Alphane Moon, Philip K Dick
- The Dragon Reborn, Robert Jordan
- The Mammoth Book of Monsters, ed. Stephen Jones
- Visitation, David J. Schow
- Down There, Ramsey Campbell
- The Man He Had Been Before, Scott Edleman
- Calling All Monsters, Dennis Etchison
- The Shadmock, R. Chetwynd Hayes
- The Spider Kiss, Christopher Fowler
- Cafe Endless: Spring Rain, Nancy Holder
- The Medusa, Thomas Ligotti
- In the Poor Girl Taken by Surprise, Gemma Files
- Downmarket, Sydney J. Bounds
- The Horror from the Mound, Robert E. Howard
- Fat Man, Jay Lake
- The Thin People, Brian Lumley
- The Hill, Tanith Lee
- Godzilla’s Twelve Step Program, Joe R. Lansdale
- .220 Swift, Karl Edward Wagner
- Our Lady of the Sauropods, Robert Silverberg
- The Flabby Men, Basil Copper
- The Silvering, Robert Holdstock
- Someone Else’s Problem, Michael Marshall Smith
- Rawhead Rex, Clive Barker
- The Chill Clutch of the Unseen, Kim Newman
- The Mammoth Book of New Terror, Stephen Jones
- Fruiting Bodies, Brian Lumley
- Needle Song, Charles L. Grant
- Turbo-Satan, Christopher Fowler
- Talking in the Dark, Dennis Etchison
- The Circus, Sydney J. Bounds
- Foet, F. Paul Wilson
- The Candle in the Skull, Basil Copper
- The Chimney, Ramsey Campbell
- Dark Wings, Phyllis Eisenstein
- Reflection of Evil, Graham Masterton
- Mirror of the Might, E.C. Tubb
- Maypole, Brian Mooney
- Under the Crust, Terry Lamsley
- Tir Nan Og, Lisa Tuttle
- A Living Legend, R. Chetwynd-Hayes
- Wake-up Call, David J. Schow
- The Fourth Seal, Karl Edward Wagner
- Unlocked, Tanith Lee & John Kaine
- Closing Time, Neil Gaiman
- It Was The Heat, Pat Cadigan
- Fodder, Tim Lebbon & Brian Keene
- Open Doors, Michael Marshall Smith
- Andromeda Among the Stones, Caitlin R. Kiernan
- Flowers On Their Bridles, Hooves In The Air, Glen Hirshberg
- Amerikanski Dead at the Moscow Morgue or: Children of Marx and Coca-Cola, Kim Newman
- Among the Wolves, David Case
- Happiness: Lessons from a New Science, Richard Layard
- The Great Hunt, Robert Jordan
- Watership Down, Richard Adams *
- The Mammoth Book of Science Fiction, Mike Ashley
- Ulla, Ulla, Eric Brown
- Deathday, Peter F. Hamilton
- The Infinite Assassin, Greg Egan
- Anachron, Damon Knight
- Firewatch, Connie Willis
- At the “Me” Shop, Robert Reed
- Vinland the Dream, Kim Stanley Robinson
- A Ticket to Tranai, Robert Sheckley
- The Exit Door Leads In, Philip K. Dick
- What Have I Done?, Mark Clifton
- Finis, Frank L. Pollock
- The Last Days of Earth, George C. Wallis
- Approaching Perimelasma, Geoffrey A. Landis
- The Pen and the Dark, Colin Kapp
- Inanimate Objection, H. Chandler Elliott
- The Very Pulse of the Machine, Michael Swanwick
- High Eight, Keith Roberts
- Shards, Brian W. Aldiss
- Except My Life³, John Morressy
- Into Your Tent I’ll Creep, Eric Frank Russell
- A Death in the House, Clifford D. Simak
- Refugium, Stephen Baxter
- The Mammoth Book of Terror, Stephen Jones
- The Last Illusion, Clive Barker
- Bunny Didn’t Tell Us, David J. Schow
- Murgunstrumm, Hugh B. Cave
- The Late Shift, Dennis Etchison
- The Horse Lord, Lisa Tuttle
- The Jumpity-Jim, R. Chetwynd-Hayes
- Out Of Copyright, Ramsey Campbell
- The River Of Night’s Dreaming, Karl Edward Wagner
- Amber Print, Basil Copper
- The House Of The Temple, Brian Lumley
- The Yugoslaves, Robert Bloch
- Firstborn, David Campton
- The Black Drama, Manly Wade Wellman
- Crystal, Charles L. Grant
- Buckets, F. Paul Wilson
- The Satyr’s Head, David A. Riley
- Junk, Stephen Laws
- Pig’s Dinner, Graham Masterton
- The Eye of the World, Robert Jordan
- Jesus Has Left the Building, Paul Vieira
- Ender’s Game, Orson Scott Card *
- The Mote in God’s Eye, Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
- The Christ Clone Trilogy, James BeauSeigneur *
- Logan’s Search, William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson
- Logan’s World, William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson
- Logan’s Run, William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson
- The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkein
- The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkein
Did Not Finish:
- Feed, Mira Grant (audio book) ~40%
- Winter’s Heart, Robert Jordan ~60%
- The Horror Stories of Robert E. Howard, Robert E. Howard (audio book)
Nathan said
Excellent choice on Crime and Punishment. My favorite thing about Dostoevsky is that he gives a voice to various world views and philosophies in different characters. It’s not quite as blatant in Crime and Punishment as it is in The Brothers Karamazov though. He was totally ahead of his time as far as existentialism is concerned and nearly prophetic in his prediction of the end of Tsarist Russia.
Don Dueck said
Yes, Crime and Punishment was a good book (I just finished it). At times it was a little hard for me to follow the characters because of their unfamiliar, multiple, and sometimes very similar (at least, for someone not familiar with Russian) names. I wasn’t used to seeing people referred to by their first and middle names, so it looked like an entirely new character entered the story when the author referred to someone by their other names (“Raskolnikov, meet Rodion Romanovitch. And I’m sure you are both familiar with my dear friend, Rodya? Excellent!”)
I did notice the “voices given to various world views” with characters like Lebezyatnikov and the painter who falsly admits to the murder. I think Raskolnikov’s theory was the most interesting, though. I particularly liked this paragraph from the epilogue:
Crime and Punishment was quite a bit different in another way from many others I’ve read in the past. Dostoevsky wove some story threads very loose for a long time, making it seem like they were separate subplots unrelated to the main character until some pivotal moment when it eventually touches upon Raskolnikov’s life. I was left wondering for a long time what some characters, like Svidrigailov, had to do with anything. Most other writers (at least the ones I’ve read) seem to keep the important characters a lot closer together, story-wise, so that they don’t appear to be ancillary at first. This wasn’t a bad thing; just different.
Other things I liked about the Crime and Punishment: the way the story started and the way it ended.
It starts right away with the main character thinking about killing the old pawnbroker before establishing anything else, but without coming right out and saying it until a ways in.
Now, I knew beforehand what the story was about, but I wonder how such a story would read to someone unfamiliar with the work and not quite so jaded with decades of experience in stories involving murder.
And the ending was so perfect. After chapters and chapters of build up and mental stress and whatnot, it just falls like a hammer:
Bam! That’s it. The end. And a proper use of the “epilogue” afterwards wraps the story up nicely, telling of Raskonikov’s eventual fate (I was honestly unsure of what would happen to him until the very last page).
I don’t know is Crime and Punishment is really something I’d consider “fun” reading, which is mostly what I do since years of forced reading in high school has kind of turned me off of “heavier” books, but I recognize why it’s regarded so highly, and I’m glad to have read it.
Don Dueck said
Inferno, edited by Ellen Datlow, completely sucked. Maybe one or two decent stories in it, but the vast majority were just *bad*.
Don Dueck said
I am very pleasantly surprised with the quality of the stories from the Librivox sci-fi short story collections. So far, almost all the stories have been great!
Don Dueck said
The Drowned World, J.G. Ballard was just a terrible, terrible book. I found it very difficult to hold my interest. Nothing really happens, and the story just doesn’t really make any sense. The Drowned World was originally a novella; expanding it to a novel probably introduced a lot of suck. Then again, the story itself is really weak, so… :-P
Don Dueck said
I’m getting really tired of the Wheel of Time books by Robert Jordan. They’ve really gone down in quality since about the fourth book. So much useless, repeated crap could be edited from these books. They could really be improved by being cut down to about a quarter in size.
I’ve taken to occasionally just skimming through pages, reading the first and last sentence of a paragraph, or skipping chunks of text in between dialogue. Seriously: I don’t care what someone is wearing — or what the character who is looking at them thinks about their clothes — if it has absolutely nothing to do with the story.
Flavor text is fine, but I don’t care that Schlomo the peasant boy who fetches someone’s horse and is never heard from again has a runny nose because the house he lived in was poorly insulated due to his parent’s poor income thanks to some unimportant battle a generation ago affecting the local economy. I do. Not. Care.
It’s getting to the point where I’ll just stop reading altogether and, instead, read the Wheel of Time FAQ to learn what happens.
Don Dueck said
The Robert Bloch short stories I’ve been listening to are, overall, pretty good. Some of them would make good Twilight Zone episodes.
The John Varley stories were less entertaining. A number of them are set in his “Eight Worlds” universe (a future where humans have colonized the other planets in our solar system), and there’s a running “transgender” theme in them that I don’t really buy. I’m not convinced that everyone would simply shed gender as being a part of their core identity if the technology existed to allow one to switch genders at the drop of a hat. It got really annoying to have this idea thrown at you again and again with no real evidence given to support it.
Not all of Varley’s stories sucked, however. I remember liking Overdrawn at the Memory Bank and Press Enter. The Barbie Murders had a neat premise, that being the difficulty in tracking down a murder in a colony where everyone genetically modifies themselves to look identical in every way, but it suffered from the whole “gender doesn’t really mean anything” theme (even though there were “deviants” in the story to whom gender was important).
Don Dueck said
Stainless Steel Rat was a good read. Harry Harrison is becoming one of my favorite SF authors. I enjoy how many of his stories have to do with the protagonist cleverly outsmarting his foes.
Don Dueck said
The Richard Matheson: Collected Stories volumes suffer from poor editing. For shame, Stanley Wiater…
Don Dueck said
I would give The Shimmer, by David Morrell, a C. It was good enough to pass the time, but if I went back in time to relive the days I spent listening to this, I would have chosen not to.
Don Dueck said
I tried — I really tried — to like Mira Grant’s zombie novel Feed, but I just couldn’t take it anymore. It was really just a book about bloggers on an election campaign trail. I’m not kidding.
Ugh.
Don Dueck said
Maus: A Survivor’s Tale, by Art Spiegelman is a graphic novel about the author’s father’s time as a Jew in Poland and in Auschwitz just before and during WWII. It’s a true story, but still so unbelievable. Living in such a comfortable environment as I have done for all my life, it’s so difficult to believe that these events actually occurred not that long ago.
Don Dueck said
I think I’ve had it with Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series. The last few books have been extremely tedious to read; I just couldn’t take any more. At this point, the books are mostly filler. You could literally read the first and last sentence of each paragraph in much of the book and know completely what is going on. I am dead serious. Entire paragraphs filled with stale garbage.
And nothing happens through 90% of the book. You’re lucky if you get two or three interesting paragraphs at the end of a chapter.
I think the Wheel of Time ends now.
Don Dueck said
As always, Heinlein does not fail to deliver with his collection of short stories entitles. The Fantasies of Robert A. Heinlein. —All You Zombies— and Magic, Inc. were especially good. Regarding —All You Zombies—: Heinlein really knows how to write a good time travel story (see also By His Bootstraps).
Don Dueck said
Conan the Liberator and Conan the Conqueror were both solid reads. Definitely looking forward to reading/listening to more Conan books.
Don Dueck said
I mostly read Alan Moore’s Watchmen because I enjoyed the movie so much. Although I thought the minor changes made in the movie actually improved the overall story, I can totally see how this comic was so influential when it came out in the mid-80s.
Don Dueck said
I’m finally done reading through all the Richard Matheson collections. His stories were kind of hit-and-miss, but, overall, most weer entertaining enough. It was interesting to see the differences between some of the stories as they appeared in print vs. their television adaptations.
Don Dueck said
I really enjoyed the first book in Jack Campbell’s The Lost Fleet series. Very well written. Great action and interesting interpersonal relationships.
I think the space battles in these books are the most realistic I’ve ever come across. Starships engage each other at distances of millions of kilometers, and the timing of weapons fire is done by computer as ships pass by each other almost faster than humans can see. Captains target their weapons on where they think the enemy will be — using lasers, autonomous missiles, and “grape shot” consisting of large metal balls — based on “time-late” information (that is, because of the distances involved, enemy ships are always seen where they were seconds or minutes ago, not where they are “now”).
Can’t wait to read the rest of the books in the series.
Don Dueck said
Daniel F. Galouye’s Dark Universe was very well done. The author does a great job of bringing you into a post-apocalyptic subterranean world where people have adapted, over several generations, to live in the dark.
Don Dueck said
Philip K. Dick: always a pleasure to read (though a couple of his stories aren’t all that great). I didn’t realize he wrote Colony, which was made into a great episode of the old-time radio show X-Minus One (October 10, 1956).
Don Dueck said
The End of the World: Stories of the Apocalypse, compiled by Martin H. Greenberg, was not very good. The second story wasn’t even about any sort of apocalypse, for goodness’ sake! Some of the stories were all right, though.
As for Jack Campbell’s The Lost Fleet series, they were consistently good right through to the end!
Don Dueck said
Piers Anthony’s short stories in Alien Plot were hit-and-miss (mostly miss). The title story wasn’t bad — and the stories Soft Like a Woman and Imp to Nymph were really good — but too many of the stories were just silly.
Don Dueck said
I read John Wyndham’s 1951 novel The Day of the Triffids when I was in grade school and I loved it (there are far too few stories about carnivorous plants). I primarily wanted to read it again to prepare for the sequel written by Simon Clark in 2001 (dubbed The Night of the Triffids). After listening to the first few chapters I am very glad at having revisited this book.
Don Dueck said
The Isle of the Torturers, by Clark Ashton Smith, was pretty short and very dark. The copy I listened to had music and some minor sound effects here and there which really helped create the nightmarish mood of the story. I think that perfectly sums up the feel of the story, actually: it feels like a nightmare.
Don Dueck said
The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham was as good as I remembered it. I was struck, again, by how little a role the triffids play in the story overall. They end up being more of a general hazard than the typical ‘monster threat’, and the story focuses more on the collapse of society after most people in the world are struck blind. A good post-apocalypse story.
The sequel, The Night of the Triffids by Simon Clark, did a decent followup job. Again, the triffids take on a lesser role, but there are just some elements of the story I didn’t quite like. The rapid evolution of the triffids was kind of lame. It’s definitely an overused trope in fiction. And the whole development of a natural immunity to triffid poison really took the edge off the long-term threat they should have continued to pose.
Don Dueck said
The Harlan Ellison short stories read by the author himself were a mix of good and bad. Actually, the only two that really stand out in my mind as being any good were I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream and A Boy and His Dog. There was even a separate audio track of Ellison saying how Grail was one of his best works and how he didn’t understand how it was so overlooked. I’m guessing he never bothered to read Grail.
Also, just from his voice you can tell Ellison must be a terrible person to deal with. I have no doubt in my mind whatsoever that his reputation as a major asshole must be justly earned.
Don Dueck said
Jesus, Interrupted by Bart D. Ehrman really opened my eyes to the origins of the books of the New Testament. His research and reasoning answered a lot of questions that have been in my mind for a long time. I strongly recommend this book to anyone interested in New Testament theology at any level. The content of the book is very accessible to the average reader and easy to understand.
Don Dueck said
The Dark Terrors book of horror short stories was mostly garbage.
Don Dueck said
Paolo Bacigalupi’s mostly dystopian short stories are well written and interesting, but were just a little too depressing (probably because the setting is all-too-likely to happen).
Don Dueck said
Those Three Wishes, Judith Gorog (available here at the time of this posting) is a neat little [very] short story about the old trope of “wishing for more wishes”.
Don Dueck said
The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian, Robert E. Howard: a good read of the earliest Conan stories from the original author.
Don Dueck said
After listening to two hundred episodes of the Pseudopod horror fiction podcast, I found it to be a very mixed bag. There were a good number of terrible stories, many average ones, and not-really-enough good ones. Horror fiction is one of those genres in which is is very easy to write poor quality stories, however.
Don Dueck said
Regarding Alfred Hitchcock’s Monster Museum: the stories in this book are really targetted at a younger audience (i.e. pre- and early teens). As such, many of the stories were not all that disturbing, and they really telegraphed their endings. The collection is wrapped up by a piece of Bradbury shit at the end, which was a huge disappointment.
I finally got to read Slime by Joseph Payne Brennan, which was the only reason I bought this book (used, through AbeBooks.com). Again, it is more of a kids’ story — I originally thought it to be more of an adult horror story — but it was interesting nonetheless.
Don Dueck said
The Mammoth Book of Mindblowing SF had some memorable and interesting stories in it. I do not regret reading it.
Don Dueck said
The Eye of Argon truly is the awful masterpiece everyone says it is.
Don Dueck said
The Black Sun, by Jack Williamson, just wasn’t all that good. The story read like the author didn’t really think things through regarding how a commercial space program of launching a series of small colony ships would actually work. Many parts just didn’t feel “real” — by that I mean many events felt like they would never happen in real life the way they did in the story. Eventually, the story just devolves into a typical “psychic-magic in place of actual science-fiction” story.
I’m going to give another Jack Williamson book a try to see whether or not I should bother with his stories again.
Don Dueck said
Well, it’s official: I don’t like Jack Williamson’s work. I just finished listening to The Stonehenge Gate and it suffered from the same flaws as The Black Sun, i.e. unrealistic behavior, over-repetition of themes, noticeable lack of adjective variety in parts.
Here are two examples off Williamson’s irritating writing the top of my head:
The main characters come upon an area in the Sahara containing some megaliths they were searching for (which they had previously espied on satellite reconnaissance photos). While examining said stones, one of the characters disappears behind a rock. His companions start searching for him but fail to find him. He later reappears, falls unconscious for a time, then, after regaining consciousness, describes his brief disappearance in a way that makes it sound like he fell into a sink hole or underground chamber. The immediate consensus is that he was transported to and from another dimension. Right.
One of the main characters speaks of his great-grandmother telling tall tales of having been to heaven and hell. Subsequently, every single world the main characters travel to elicits the comment “Maybe this is ‘little momma’s’ hell?” after the first discomfort is felt. I am not joking.
The bulk of the story boils down to a tired “black vs white” racism/slavery story set on another world, with nothing particularly innovative about the theme (and this was written in 2005). *Yawn*.
And now I learn that Williamson was the second person to receive the Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award for science fiction writing, right after Heinlein. Just take a look at the list and see how many greats he beat out for the award as its second recipient. I don’t get it.
Maybe some of his earlier work is better, but I’m hesitant to even try it. It could be that he’s just overrated (and, if so, he would not be the first *cough*Bradbury*cough*).
Don Dueck said
Don Dueck said
Make Room! Make Room!, by Harry Harrison, was the novel the movie Soylent Green was based off of. It was kind of disappointing because a) what little plot there is doesn’t really go anywhere, and b) there’s no Soylent Green(!) — that was made up completely for the movie. These facts make it one of those rare cases — like Logan’s Run — in which the movie is better than the book.
Don Dueck said
Don Dueck said
The Spy Who Came In From The Cold was absolutely fantastic. It’s novels like this that exemplify the difference between books and literature, so to speak.
Don Dueck said
I finally got back into reading a fantasy series with the first book of The Death Gate Cycle. I found it quite enjoyable. It went a long way to repairing the damage that the Wheel of Time series did to me. I hope the rest of the books in the series are as good.
I’ve also been slogging through Neal Stephenson’s book Snow Crash. Ugh, what a dull book. There just doesn’t seem to be any real reason to care about the few main characters in the book. I don’t really know why it’s on Time Magazine’s All Time Top 100 Novels list. It’s currently a contender for my DNF list…
Don Dueck said
Well, it almost killed me, but I finally finished Snow Crash. Good lord, what a boring book.
Don Dueck said
Just finished listening to BBC’s audio dramatization of Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray. Good story.
Don Dueck said
Aliens in the Mind by Rene Basilico: Peter Cushing and Vincent Price. What’s not to like?
Ghost Zone by Marty Ross: Terrible.
Don Dueck said
Conan: The Ultimate Guide to the World’s Most Savage Barbarian could have used an editor. There were some spelling and punctuation errors throughout the book. At one point, the end of a paragraph was cut off(!). The writing suffered a bit from excessive adjective use that is common with more amateurish writing.
Don Dueck said
The Deathgate Cycle books are still going strong. The writers do a fantastic job of keeping your interest high throughout the series. Well written and very entertaining so far. Lots of mysteries yet to be revealed.
Don Dueck said
Honestly, I’m having a little trouble with the Borges book. I’m currently a little less than a third of the way through. So far, I have read:
Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius
Pierre Menard, Author of the Quixote
The Circular Ruins
The Lottery in Babylon
The Library of Babel
The Garden of Forking Paths
The writing is very dense and I find it is often difficult to follow. I don’t know if this is an issue with the translations or if it was Borges’ style (assuming the translations are accurate). I’m suspecting it’s more a case of the former because the stories are translated by different people.
The Lottery in Babylon, translated by John M. Fein, was, so far, the easiest to read (and the one I’ve most enjoyed, so far). Sadly, after thumbing through the book, it appears that a fellow with the initials J.E.I. is responsible for most of the translations; the stories translated by him have been the hardest to follow.
Then again, Borges’ writing style may also be an issue. It’s harder to read paragraphs that span an entire page(!) and run-on sentences that can go on for ten lines. If this is how Borges’ originally wrote, then I suppose that’s a bit of a strike against him. :-x
Also, sometimes I feel like there are cutural contexts that I don’t quite get. I found the story Pierre Menard, Author of the Quixote to be especially opaque because of this.
The feeling I’ve been getting with his works so far is: confusion and vagueness for most of the story, then some illumination as something is more clearly stated near the end, and finally, at completion, a feeling like I kind of understand what the story is about, but that I am somewhat underwhelmed at the road that led to that point of understanding. Stated another way, it’s like, at the end, I feel “hey, that’s a neat idea, but I didn’t really enjoy the actual story”.
I’ve been looking up on wikipedia the “official” understandings of the stories I’ve read, and it seems that I have been understanding the points of the stories so far. I guess one reason why Borges’ works aren’t clicking with me is that they are much more allegorical than the stories I typically read and enjoy.
It seems I prefer stories where the primary point of the telling is to convey the story itself (for entertainment, enlightenment, whatever) as opposed to stories where the primary point of the telling is to convey a meaning that the story itself only represents (i.e. the story being just a vehicle to express something more profound). I think this preference may be in part because I prefer things that are straightforward as opposed to things that are vague or ambiguous. Also, a complete understanding of allegorical stories like the ones Borges’ writes require stepping into one of my most despised territories: literary criticism. But that’s a “whole ‘nother ball of wax”.
Still, I’m determined to read through it all. I may stumble across more stories, like The Lottery in Babylon, which I’ll enjoy more.
Don Dueck said
The Dosadi Experiment by Frank Herbert was not all that entertaining. Then again, I’m not all that big of a fan of Frank Herbert’s work.
This was one of the books I’d just as soon never have read.