# Favorite SF/Fantasy books that no-one else has heard about **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 29, 2000, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-sf-fantasy-books-that-no-one-else-has-heard-about/43187 "2000-11-29T15:03:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Screwtape](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Screwtape](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Screwtape)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2000, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-sf-fantasy-books-that-no-one-else-has-heard-about/43187/21 "2000-11-29T18:58:24Z")
If I were to quibble (which I never do) I’d say that some of those don’t qualify, because I’ve heard of 'em. Let’s see if you know these: _ **Fantasy:** _ **Little, Big** by John Crowley. Run out and get it now! Then cancel the cable and the phone - you’re going to be away a while. It will change you. **Faerie Tale** by Raymond Feist. Before all the urban-fantasy (which is mostly wank) came along, this was a deeply scary book. **The Drawing of the Dark** by Tim Powers. I’d like this even if I didn’t usta drink beer with the author when he was running a tobacco shop. Very engaging characters and prose. About the only “behind the scenes of a historical event” story that I liked. _ **Science Fistion:** _ **Making History** by Stephen Fry. That’s right - the same Stephen Fry who played Jeeves, and several parts in the Blackadder series. Easily the best time-manipulation book I’ve ever read. **Expendable** by James Alan Gardner. The uncool, unattractive members of society get the scut jobs - like exploration. I’m sure more will come to me after I post this. Cheers! ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2000, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-sf-fantasy-books-that-no-one-else-has-heard-about/43187/22 "2000-11-29T19:03:17Z")
> [@](#): > > A Fine and Private Place > > Curious…that’s the title of a Peter Beagle fantasy novel. It’s a line from Andrew Marvell’s [To His Coy Mistress](http://www.math.washington.edu/~cokus/Diane/Marvell.html), which has provided several other titles for books. One editor, tongue in cheek, suggested that any author stuck for a title can go to that poem. (BTW, the word “quaint” in the poem is a very risque pun.) ---
**Author:** ![Screwtape](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Screwtape](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Screwtape)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2000, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-sf-fantasy-books-that-no-one-else-has-heard-about/43187/23 "2000-11-29T19:03:17Z")
FIC-tion. Science FIC-tion. Why, oh why, won’t the edit feature work with my account? ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2000, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-sf-fantasy-books-that-no-one-else-has-heard-about/43187/24 "2000-11-29T19:11:02Z")
Gerrold’s The Man Who Folded Himself was pretty good, though he drew heavily on Robert Heinlein - By His Bootstraps and at least one other short story I can’t name offhand. I’d recommend The Doomfarers of Coramonde and sequel The Starfollowers of Coramonde by Brian Daley. I’m rereading them now - first read 10 or 12 years ago. Very interesting parallel worlds fantasy. There’s sorcery, warfare, medieval politics, good vs. evil, sex, and even a rather inventive use of an armored personnel carrier. ---
**Author:** ![Uniball](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Uniball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uniball)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2000, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-sf-fantasy-books-that-no-one-else-has-heard-about/43187/25 "2000-11-29T19:12:29Z")
TERRA!, by italian writer Stefano Benni. Funnier than Douglas Adams. MILLENIUM, by John Varley. They did a crappy movie about it. Forget the movie, the book rules. ENDER’S GAME, by Orson Scott Card SLAPSTICK, by Kurt Vonnegut. Heck, practially anything by K.V. rocks. And Robert Sheckley, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Maeglin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Maeglin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maeglin)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2000, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-sf-fantasy-books-that-no-one-else-has-heard-about/43187/26 "2000-11-29T19:16:24Z")
> [@](#): > > ENDER’S GAME, by Orson Scott Card \ I think everyone and his mother has read Ender’s Game. And Vonnegut, too. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2000, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-sf-fantasy-books-that-no-one-else-has-heard-about/43187/27 "2000-11-29T20:16:28Z")
I like Varley’s work but the _Titan_ trilogy was written on a downhill slide. _Titan_ was great, _Wizard_ was good, and _Demon_ was bad. Varley’s problem is that when his usual inventiveness fails him, he resorts to self-parody. I’ll second the recommendations of _Replay_ and _Bridge of Birds_. I’d also recommend seeking out Christopher Hinz, Donald Kingsbury, Kim Newman, David Palmer, and Robert Charles Wilson. ---
**Author:** ![Mofo\_Rising](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Mofo\_Rising](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mofo_Rising)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2000, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-sf-fantasy-books-that-no-one-else-has-heard-about/43187/28 "2000-11-29T20:56:04Z")
I’m trying to collect all the works of Robert Rankin, but for some reason the books are incredibly expensive. The only two I’ve found are [They Came And Ate Us - Armageddon II: The B-Movie](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0552138320/qid=975530542/sr=1-24/105-1819014-2932745) and [The Antipope](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/055213841X/qid=975530542/sr=1-5/105-1819014-2932745). Which were both excellent. The first is a completely ridiculous romp through a hallucinogenic end-of-the-world. The second is, well, let me quote from the back of the book: _“Wonderful. . . A heady mix of Flann O’Brien, Douglas Adams, Tom Sharpe and Ken Campbell, but with an inbuilt irreverence and indelicacy that is unique - and makes it the long-awaited, heavy smoker’s answer to **The Lord of the Rings**.” -Time Out_ Or you could say Robert Rankin is what Douglas Adams would write like if he had an incredible knowledge of the occult and drank a lot. I recommend him highly. ---
**Author:** ![Flutterby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Flutterby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flutterby)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2000, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-sf-fantasy-books-that-no-one-else-has-heard-about/43187/29 "2000-11-29T22:56:19Z")
Ohhh more books to add to my reading list! Yah! Okay here are my contributions… The Romance of Atlantis by Taylor Caldwell She wrote this when she was 12 and it is a really interesting book about Atlantis and life there as well as how it was destroyed etc. The Keltiad by Patricia Kenneally-Morrison It’s a series, actually several series’ that are set on a place called Keltia. One of the books starts here on Earth telling how they got to Keltia. She takes lots of old Celtic mythology and mixes some of it up. According to the storyline the Kelts were originally from Atlantis and before that from some other planet. When Christianity came to Ireland (and the other Keltic places there ie Scotland, Wales etc) they had to rediscover space travel and moved to settle out in the world. It goes from there… very fascinating if you like Celtic stuff. The Forever King, The Broken Sword and World Without End by Molly Cochran and Warren Murphy. The first two books are versions of King Arthur only they are set in our time period and assuming that Arthur has been reborn. They are chasing after the Holy Grail which is still around and Merlin is helping him and Hal who is a reincarnation of… um I forget his name but the pure Knight that sat in the seat that was supposed to be death? He is also supposedly the son of Launcelot? But it’s quite interesting to read that. World Without End is another Atlantis story but it has to do with esp the Greek gods and stuff like that. It’s a little confusing at first (at least that’s how I found it) But once you get into it it gets interesting. Those are the ones I’ve read that I haven’t seen mentioned around here yet. Happy reading! ---
**Author:** ![Danimal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bb73d2/32.png) [@Danimal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Danimal)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2000, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-sf-fantasy-books-that-no-one-else-has-heard-about/43187/30 "2000-11-29T23:07:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Balance \* > My hands-down all-time favorite fantasy is _Godstalk_ by P.C. Hodgell. It’s dark, often funny, with extremely engaging characters in an incredibly rich setting.(Yike! Too many modifiers!) Ahem. I really like the book, and its sequels. I’m impatiently awaiting the next one. > \*\* \*God Stalk \* isn’t my favorite ever, but I did enjoy it; it’s certainly the best fantasy novel I’ve read that nobody else has heard about. About as good as Robert Jordan, who’s much better known; considerably superior to Terry Goodkind, who’s also better known. Sequels? As in plural? I didn’t know Hodgell had done any books after _Dark of the Moon._ ---
**Author:** ![Suo\_Na](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/898d66/32.png) [@Suo\_Na](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suo_Na)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2000, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-sf-fantasy-books-that-no-one-else-has-heard-about/43187/31 "2000-11-29T23:20:10Z")
Dammit, **RealityChuck** you beat me to _Only Begotten Daughter_. I couldn’t remember the author, though. I always liked the idea that everyone goes to hell when they die. More: _100 Short Short Fantasy Stories_, edited by Isaac Asimov. It’s not in print anymore, my copy was stolen, and no used bookstores have it, so I’m assuming no one’s heard of it. _Native Tongue_ by Suzette Haden Elgin. I like the linguistics aspect of it, not necessarily the feminism. It spawned its own artificial language, Laadan. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2000, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-sf-fantasy-books-that-no-one-else-has-heard-about/43187/32 "2000-11-29T23:35:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Screwtape \* > **Faerie Tale** by Raymond Feist. Before all the urban-fantasy (which is mostly wank) came along, this was a deeply scary book Eek! Stephen King wannabe bollocky crap! But anyhoo… **Dave Duncan.** Why has nobody else read Dave Duncan? Why is it so hard for me to find his books on any shelves? Why do the mainstream bookshops not stock him? He is the coolest writer, who answers his email personally. Wonderful! I read a couple of series by someone named **Phyllis Eisenstein** once. They were great! As far as I can tell, she has only written these four books. She reminds me a lot of Jack Vance, only better. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2000, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-sf-fantasy-books-that-no-one-else-has-heard-about/43187/33 "2000-11-30T00:12:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by GuanoLad \* > [B **Dave Duncan.** Why has nobody else read Dave Duncan? Why is it so hard for me to find his books on any shelves? Why do the mainstream bookshops not stock him? He is the coolest writer, who answers his email personally. Wonderful! > \*\* Duncan is great, and, as you say, a true gentleman who answers his e-mail. Even though he dashed my deepest fanboy hopes: I wrote to him and asked him about a plot-hole I thought I’d found in A HANDFUL OF MEN and told him I’d love to see a story set 1000+ years in the future of that world. What happened with no more source of magic? Regarding the plot hole (it seemed to be a truck-sized hole and I was asking if I’d missed an explaination for it) he laughed and said that he hadn’t caught it and also said that he wasn’t going to be revisiting that world, which is a shame. A great writer and a nice guy. Fenris ---
**Author:** ![sk8rixtx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/858c86/32.png) [@sk8rixtx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sk8rixtx)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2000, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-sf-fantasy-books-that-no-one-else-has-heard-about/43187/34 "2000-11-30T00:15:36Z")
Imajica by Clive Barker ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2000, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-sf-fantasy-books-that-no-one-else-has-heard-about/43187/35 "2000-11-30T00:26:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Danimal \* > \*God Stalk \* isn’t my favorite ever, but I did enjoy it; it’s certainly the best fantasy novel I’ve read that nobody else has heard about. About as good as Robert Jordan, who’s much better known; considerably superior to Terry Goodkind, who’s also better known. If Robert Jordan would just finish that damnable series, I’d consider reading it. Until then, I won’t make a comparison. I think the reason _Godstalk_ appeals to me so much is that, disturbingly, I identify very strongly with Jame. \ Er…why did half the city just spontaneously collapse into ruin? 😉 > [@](#): > > Sequels? As in plural? I didn’t know Hodgell had done any books after _Dark of the Moon._ _Seeker’s Mask_ came out in a limited edition from Hypatia Press around 1-1.5 years ago, and I snapped up a copy. Now Hodgell’s turned the books over to Meisha Merlin Publishing, and you can get _Dark of the Gods_ (_Godstalk_ and _Dark of the Moon_ bound together) from [Amazon.com](http://Amazon.com). [_Seeker’s Mask_](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1892065347/o/qid=975543626/sr=8-1/ref=aps_sr_b_1_3/102-7856400-7832955) should be available in February, 2001. SM is nearly as good as GS, and better than DotM. ---
**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2000, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-sf-fantasy-books-that-no-one-else-has-heard-about/43187/36 "2000-11-30T00:34:42Z")
_To The Vanishing Point_ by Alan Dean Foster is a great little book. Cross-reality adventure in a RV. David Gerrald has been mentioned before. Has anyone else noticed that he tends to reuse his good ideas? He proposed a script for the original Trek that they rejected, then re wrote into an independent novel ( forget the name) and then Re-rewrote it as Trek novel _The Galactic Worldpool_. He did “tribbles” then did the same thing for the animated Trek, and then wrote the exact same story for the animated Real Ghostbusters-with thousands of little slimers running around. This is not criticism, just observation. Man, does that guy know how to get mileage from an idea! ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2000, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-sf-fantasy-books-that-no-one-else-has-heard-about/43187/37 "2000-11-30T00:35:30Z")
Green Eyes by Lucius Shepard. Most of you are probably familiar with his more (ahem) intellectual stuff (Jaguar Hunter, Life During Wartime, The Scalehunter’s Beautiful Daughter), but Green Eyes is his “friendliest” book. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Zero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@Saint\_Zero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Zero)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2000, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-sf-fantasy-books-that-no-one-else-has-heard-about/43187/38 "2000-11-30T01:04:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Fenris \* > \*\*Bridge of BirdsBarry Hugart: The story of Number 10 Ox and Master Li in a China that never was…but should have been. It’s nothing like The Princess Bride but I think it’ll appeal to the same audience. > \*\* I’ve read two or three in that group. All great books. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2000, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-sf-fantasy-books-that-no-one-else-has-heard-about/43187/39 "2000-11-30T01:06:47Z")
Yeah, I liked “Green Eyes.” Probably the second best of Terry Carr’s New Ace Science Fiction Specials (after “Neuromancer,” which doesn’t belong on this list 🙂 ). BTW, if you want to find what authors wrote what books and when (at least for authors in the past 20 years or so), you should go to the Locus Books Received Database at [The Locus Index to Science Fiction: Site Directory](http://www.locusmag.com/index). There’s also the Internet Science Fiction Database at [http://www.sfsite.com/isfdb/](http://www.sfsite.com/isfdb/) ---
**Author:** ![Uniball](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Uniball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uniball)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2000, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-sf-fantasy-books-that-no-one-else-has-heard-about/43187/40 "2000-11-30T01:16:57Z")
So you want unknown authors? Okay. Adam H. Szantini’s THE SPIRAL UNIVERSE Theodore Feldwebel’s FADING SUNS William Tork’s PHASE Gerard Weisenbacken’s OLD RULES FOR THE NEW GODS Adrienne Culvin’s THE INNING John Calvet’s TWILIGHT GIRL and NOT EVEN A WORLD Cordwainer Smith’s THE CENTER DOESN’T HOLD and last, but not least, Bob Wolcaine’s SILENT WHITE [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-sf-fantasy-books-that-no-one-else-has-heard-about/43187.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-sf-fantasy-books-that-no-one-else-has-heard-about/43187.md?page=3)