On Dec 13, 2013, at 5:43 AM, Alexis Duprey <[email protected]> wrote:
> There's so many new authors I have to check out because of this conversation! > It's like the old Peter Allen song, "Everything old is new again." When I tour I meet youngsters who just finished Magician for the first time. That's always fun. We're talking about a lot of the people who impacted my youth when I discovered science fiction, and later fantasy. The first SF novel I read was for an 7th grade book report. We were given a list from a school publication called "My Weekly Reader," which was around when I was in Junior High. Sort of a lightweight Time magazine for kids. Cycle of Fire by Hal Clement was the only title that looked remotely interesting and my first SF title. I was enthralled. A week later I'm at the drug store and find a copy of Eric Frank Russell's WASP and after that I was hooked. Along with Piper, I discovered James Blish, Poul Anderson, Andre Norton, Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein, Frank Herbert, Philip Jose Farmer, Jack Vance, C.L. Moore, Henry Knuter, John Brunner, A. Bertram Chandler, Fred Pohl, C.M. Kornbluth, Gordon R. Dickson, and a host of others, some who became acquaintances when I broke in. It's a good think, I think, that a lot of this stuff is going digital. Last time I looked a paperback of either Cycle of Fire or WASP went for about $300. Check some of them out, folks. Very good reads. Best, R.E.F.
