science fiction books I've read before
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These are books I read before I ever started writing reviews for my website. Maybe eventually I'll reread some of them and write proper reviews, but probably not all of them. But I still want to at least mention as many books that I've read as I can recall.


City, by Clifford D. Simak (pub. 1952)
Amazon; B&N; Goodreads; TV Tropes; Wikipedia

This was one of four books I once got in a grab bag I ordered from the Science Fiction Book Club. I don't remember much of anything about it now, but I think I found it vaguely interesting, but it wasn't something I was wild about. Still, it's quite possible that if I reread it now, I'd like it more than I did the first time.


Cobra, by Timothy Zahn (pub. 1986)
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In the early to mid 90s, I read Zahn's "Thrawn Trilogy" (see lower this page), which is how I must have first heard of him. Sometime later I saw this book, the first in an earlier, unrelated series, at a flea market, I think. Since I was a fan of his later books, I bought this one, and I must have read it, but now I don't remember anything about it at all. Except I'm fairly sure I wasn't impressed, and had no interest in reading any more of the series.


The Complete Stories, vols. 1 & 2, by Isaac Asimov (pub. 1990 & 92)
Amazon (vol. 1); Amazon (vol. 2); B&N (vol. 1); B&N (vol. 2); Goodreads (vol. 1); Goodreads (vol. 2); Wikipedia

Two rather large collections of Asimov's short stories, though they don't contain all his stories. Anyway, I'm sure there were some stories in these books that I quite liked ("The Immortal Bard" is one of my all-time favorite stories by anyone), but most of them I don't remember. I'm sure I'll reread the books, someday. And I should probably look into maybe obtaining other collections that might contain stories that aren't included here.


The Corridors of Time, by Poul Anderson (pub. 1965)
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Not sure exactly when I read this, but I reckon it must've been sometime in the 90s. Also don't remember where I got the book, but it's pretty tattered now (and it was probably pretty tattered back then, too). I don't remember anything about the story, but I think this is what led me to obtain and read Anderson's "Time Patrol" and "The Shield of Time" (see below), though I don't believe those books are at all related to this one. (It's also possible that I read this after those books, but I doubt it.)


Dinosaur Fantastic (pub. 1993)
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One of the numerous books I think might have been in the grab bag I once ordered from the Science Fiction Book Club, but which I think is much more likely I specifically ordered itself. Anyway, it's a collection of stories by various authors, all at least tangentially related to dinosaurs. And I believe the stories were all written specifically for this collection. It contains the story Evolving Conspiracy, by Roger MacBride Allen, which turned out to be possibly my favorite short story ever. That's the only story I specifically remember from the collection, but the others were probably good, too. I'll probably get around to rereading this, someday.


Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, by Douglas Adams (pub. 1987)
Amazon; B&N; DouglasAdams.com; Goodreads; Simon & Schuster; TV Tropes; Wikipedia

Not sure exactly when I read this (and its sequel, The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul), but I'm sure I liked them. And I definitely intend to reread them both, eventually. I guess I didn't like them quite as much as Adams's Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series, but they were still funny and interesting. Even if I don't remember anything specific about the plots.


The Gods Themselves, by Isaac Asimov (pub. 1972)
Amazon; B&N; Goodreads; Random House; TV Tropes; Wikipedia

I don't remember when exactly I read this. Possibly when I was in high school, possibly earlier. I don't remember quite what I thought about it, but it certainly wasn't among my favorite things Asimov has written. I don't remember anything really specific about the plot, but I suspect if I read it now, it would make more sense to me and I might enjoy it more than I did the first time. But it's not something I feel really motivated to reread.


Iceworld, by Hal Clement (pub. 1953)
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I have no recollection of where I got this book or when exactly I read it, but I reckon it probably must have been sometime in the 90s. I probably thought it was okay, but now I don't really remember anything specific about it, except some aliens came to Earth, which I guess was too cold for them. Or something.


Lords Temporal, by Joseph H. Delaney (pub. 1987)
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This is something I guess I read in 1999, after buying it at a used bookstore, as mentioned in my Anti-Wyckoff Info Database. It's a sci-fi book. That's all I really remember. I may have kind of liked it, but probably not enough to ever read it again. I dunno, though, I still have my copy, so we'll see.


Mind Snare, by Gayle Greeno (pub. 1997)
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I believe one of my cousins gave this to me one year either for my birthday or Christmas. The only thing I remember about it now is the title, and I don't think I still have it. I'm pretty sure it didn't interest me much.


The Pit Dragon Trilogy, by Jane Yolen (pub. 1982-87)
Amazon; B&N; Goodreads; JaneYolen.com; TV Tropes; Wikia; Wikipedia

When I was a kid in the 80s, one of my favorite episodes of CBS Storybreak was "Dragon's Blood," which was an adaptation of the first book in this series. Some years later, when I was in high school, I saw a copy of that book in my school library, so I borrowed it and read it. And I still have it. I should probably get that back to the school, if I'm ever there again. Which I probably won't be. Anyway, sometime after that, I saw an omnibus of "The Pit Dragon Trilogy" offered by the Science Fiction Book Club, so I ordered that. The books are definitely good, if somewhat darker than the animated version I saw on TV, all those years ago. Anyway, I definitely need to reread these and write reviews. Also, I see that there's now a fourth book in the series, so it's been renamed "The Pit Dragon Chronicles." I should read that someday, too.


Ringworld, by Larry Niven (pub. 1970)
Amazon; B&N; Goodreads; Larry Niven Wiki; Random House; Templeton Gate; TV Tropes; Wikipedia

This is the first book in a series, but it's the only one I've read. Don't remember where I got it (maybe a friend gave it to me) or when I read it (but probably sometime in the Aughts). I know it's kind of a modern classic of science fiction, but I don't think I was wild about it. I probably thought it was okay, but now I don't remember anything specific about it. I might reread it someday, but it's a low priority.


The Road to Mars, by Eric Idle (pub. 1999)
Amazon; B&N; Goodreads; Random House; TV Tropes; Wikipedia

Idle is, of course, best known as a member of the Monty Python comedy troupe. So you'd expect the book to be funny. Which it probably was, but I really can't remember a damned thing about it. It probably wasn't as good as I was hoping, but... I'll probably reread it someday. And compare it (less than favourably) to the works of Douglas Adams.


Shadows of the Empire, by Steve Perry (pub. 1996)
Amazon; B&N; Goodreads; Random House; TV Tropes; Wikipedia; Wookieepedia

I think that this is the only Star Wars book, aside from the Thrawn Trilogy (see below), that I've actually read. Now that I'm writing this little entry about it, I see on Wikipedia that it was part of a multimedia thing including comic books and a video game, which all together told the full story. This is not something I believe I was aware of when I read the book, nor do I remember feeling the story it presented was in any way incomplete. But I may have, I forget. Anyway, I liked it, and I'll probably reread it someday (though I'd probably want to get the comic books before doing so; I have no intention of ever playing the game).


The Snow Queen, by Joan D. Vinge (pub. 1980)
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I have no idea when I read this, actually. But I have a sequel called "The Summer Queen," which I haven't read. If I recall correctly, the sequel was probably one of four books I got in a grab bag I ordered at some point from the Science Fiction Book Club. Of course, I could be mistaken; maybe I got Summer Queen somewhere else, but I'm fairly sure it's not something I chose to buy, myself. Whatever the case, I'm pretty sure I bought a used copy of Snow Queen to read first. And now I don't really remember anything specific about the story, except there was one line I liked, about indifference, which I later included in my list of The Great Forces of Life, the Universe, and Everything. (Though I wrote that page of my website years ago, so I'd have to reread it to be sure how much of it I still agree with.) But I digress. Aside from that line, the one thing I really remember about the book is that there was too much sex in it for my taste. So I decided I'd probably never bother reading the sequel. I don't actually remember how much sex was in the first book, and it's quite possible most readers would say there was hardly any. And they might be right. But I'm kind of a prude, so my feeling is that any sex is too much sex, in the books I read. Aside from that, I probably thought the story was okay, but since I don't remember it anymore... it's clear that I wasn't wild about it, sex or no sex. But hey, a lot of people definitely liked the book, and I'm sure they're right.


The Thrawn Trilogy, by Timothy Zahn (pub. 1991-93)
Amazon; B&N; Goodreads; Random House; TV Tropes; Wikipedia; Wookieepedia

I've been a Star Wars fan for as long as I can remember, but before these three books (Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising, and The Last Command), I don't think I ever really read any Star Wars books. And indeed, they are generally credited with rekindling fans' interest in reading such books, and started a new trend of Star Wars books being, you know, good. Alas, I still haven't read many books in that universe other than these, but there are tons I'd like to read, eventually. Anyway, when I read these I remember really wishing George Lucas would adapt them into a new movie trilogy. But I don't know that that's going to happen. Anyway... this isn't the place for me to try to review the books, I'd have to reread them first. (And I definitely hope to do that, someday.) For now, I'll just say I loved them. And they kind of inspired me to create some of my own characters for fanfic... which I never got around to writing. Ah well, maybe someday....


The Time Patrol, by Poul Anderson (pub. 1955-91)
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The book I have was published in 1991, and is a collection of nine stories Anderson had originally published separately, I guess. I also have a book called The Shield of Time, published in 1990, which is the tenth entry in the series. It appears there's another story from 1995, which I have never read, unfortunately. So... these books are basically about a big temporal war. I must have read them sometime in the 90s, and I'm sure I really liked them, so I'll probably reread them someday.


Timeline, by Michael Crichton (pub. 1999)
Amazon; B&N; Goodreads; Random House; TV Tropes; Wikipedia

A time travel book, which I must have read sometime in the Aughts, probably around the time the movie came out (which was 2003), though it may have been anywhere up to a few years later than that. And I've never actually seen the movie. And... I don't remember any details of the book, but I probably thought it was okay. I have no idea if I'll ever reread it. (Though to be honest, this is one of those books that I can see on my shelf and think, "Wait, did I ever get around to reading that, or not?" So... maybe I didn't.)


The Timeline Wars, by John Barnes (pub. 1997)
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This is one of those books that I can see on my shelf and think, "Wait, did I read this or not?" Especially since I've read any number of books that involve time travel. Or alternate histories, or whatever. But anyway, this is actually an omnibus that contains three books: Patton's Spaceship, Washington's Dirigible, and Caesar's Bicycle. And those titles sound vaguely familiar, so I'm thinking there's a good chance I did read it. But I'd have to read (or reread) it to be sure.



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