<< "There was a bookcase filled with review copies, ... I a quick flyby, I saw some hot young authors - David Brin, Dan Simmons, Sharyn McCrumb..." I like almost everything that I read by the first one, very much don't like the second one and have no idea who is the third. Help, pls? >>
I don't much care for horror, so I'm not a fan of everything by Simmons. On the other hand, his HYPERION books are some of the finest science fiction I've ever read, and that includes by everyone. Sharyn McCrumb mostly writes mysteries (as far as I know), but two of her mysteries were directly sci-fi related: BIMBOS OF THE DEATH SUN (murder at a sci-fi con of a writer bearing more than a little resemblance to Harlan Ellison) and ZOMBIES OF THE GENE POOL (terrific recreation of the 'Golden Age' of science fiction). I enjoyed both of them very much. Tom Beck "I always knew I'd see the first man on the Moon. I didn't realize I'd also see the last." - Jerry Pournelle
