Such as: Deathslaker by Simon Green, the first book of his Deathslaker series.
Renegades of Fern by Anne McCaffrey. A new series, how exciting. It must be about genetically engineered plants used to fight off the menace from the underground caves of Fern, a planet colonized by environmentalists banished from Earth in the future.
(I wish people would double check these lists before printing them out in mass quantities and sending them to libraries, who then get volunteers like myself to wade through them to find out what they have. Funny, we don’t have either of the above.)
I am also guilty of misreading book titles at first glance. I was convinced there was a book called The Invisible Map. I don’t remember what the title actually turned out to be (it wasn’t the Invisible Man ), but now I’ve imagined a children’s book about a map that you can only see with your eyes closed. Maybe I’ll write it myself.
Most works mentioned by Jorge Luis Borges. He describes a lot of fictional books in his short stories. On top on the list: A first Encyclopaedia of Tlön (in Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius).
In The World According to Garp, the title character is an author and there is mention of some of the novels and stories this character writes. There are even some passages from these stories included in the real novel, but I remember that as I was reading Garp I kept thinking, “I’d really like to read more of what Garp has written.” Even though he’s just a fictional character.
In The World According to Garp, the title character is an author and there is mention of some of the novels and stories this character writes. There are even some passages from these stories included in the real novel, but I remember that as I was reading Garp I kept thinking, “I’d really like to read more of what Garp has written.” Even though he’s just a fictional character.
I suppose The King In Yellow wouldn’t be a bad one to have on the shelf.
But then I’d get tempted to read it and fall into an opium stupor, unaware that the undead dwelling-challenged individual I’d passed every night was creeping into my house on broken fingers to kill me.
Don’t let Philip Jose Farmer see this thread . . . last time he heard of a fake book (Venus on the Half Shell by Kilgore Trout), he actually bothered to write it himself.
Timequake One by Kurt Vonnegut sounded damned cool. I don’t remember why he only wound up publishing the sequel.
Buttercup’s Baby by Stephen King. The citizens of Florin decided that King would be a better person to translate the sequel to The Princess Bride after William Goldman butchered the original.
All the spread beavers must make anything by Kilgore Trout a good read…
I’m guessing that all the books by Princess Irulan would be interesting. So would the Bene Gesserit manuals.
The Wudan Mountain Fighting Manual that Jade Fox couldn’t read… I MUST get that!
I do this all the time, but I can only think of one incident at the moment: After spending way too much time at a Sanrio shop, I went into the nearby book store. I saw Chocolat, and my first thought was, “Wow, someone wrote a novel about Chococat !”
As for books that are only alluded to in other works of literature, TV shows, etc.: I’d really like to read Charlotte Light and Dark from Six Feet Under.
), but now I’ve imagined a children’s book about a map that you can only see with your eyes closed. Maybe I’ll write it myself.