Undiscovered Sci-fi Gems

I’m making a quick post from ApolloCon in Houston. There were lots of good panels here, but my favorite was “Undiscovered Gems.” On the panel were A.T. Campbell, Scott Cupp, Bradley Denton and Chris Nakashima-Brown, writers and fans all. (There was a fourth panelist, but she wasn’t on the program and I couldn’t see her placard — my apologies.)

The title of the panel could have well as been “Forgotten and Undiscovered Gems” for many of the books were well received decades ago but seem to have been forgotten by younger (under 30-35) readers. There was also some discussion as to the sad state of the NY publishing industry which has become, like Hollywood, afraid to take a chance on experimental fiction. That explains why we get so much crap Vampire Romance novels. The publishing industry has become conservative and hide-bound.

Anywhere, here’s a partial list. Feel free to comment or email me if you have additions:

Red Moon and Black Mountain by Joy Chant

Celestial Matters by Richard Garfinkle

The Goat Without Horns by Thomas Burnett Swann

Way Station by Clifford D. Simak

More Than Human by Theodore Sturgeon

The Queen’s Gambit: A Novel by Walter Tevis

Blind Voices by Tom Reamy

Wizard of the Pigeonsby Megan Lindholm

Cosmic Banditos by A. C. Weisbecker

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick (and practically anything written else by him)

KW Jeter was a protégé of PK Dicks; many of his books, but particularly Dr. Adder, Morlock Night, were both recommended by the panel.

A Mirror for Observers by Edgar Pangborn

The Last Starship from Earth by John Boyd

Sex and the High Command by John Boyd

anything Michael Bishop wrote

Nortstrilia by Cordwainer Smith

Lifekeeper by Mike McQuay.

Memories by Mike McQuay

A Little bit of me

Someone made a comment on an older post (Argh! Scope this out) about the surgeon-cam version of my shoulder surgery. The good news is the shoulder is healed and there was no discernible scar. See, here’s the shoulder…..

…..well, there was a tiny one, but it looks like a blemish above Tara’s left eyebrow. Damn, if I can figure out a zombie tie-in to this. Let’s see, vanity? No, zombies are anything but vain. Something about the zombie-like impulse to get tats today. No, that’s an ungainly metaphoric stretch. If I’d been thinking ahead, I guess I should have had a zombie version of Tara (Buddhist goddess of enlightenment) done instead of a 1950’s pinup version.

Robert B.