The Bodhisattva

Sorry for the slight delay, I have been busy getting several hundred of Silver Age comics ready to be sent to CGC. On to the list:

70. - Breathmoss and other Exhalations by Ian R. Macleod (2004)

I was trying to decide which Macleod book really represented my favorite by him as I have enjoyed both his novels and short fiction. It came down to his two collections for me (and both are outstanding) and I ultimately chose this one because the table of contents reads like a roll call of some of the best SF/F short fiction in recent years with stories like the title story, The Summer Isles (which in novel form is highly recommended as well), The Chop Girl, and New Light on the Drake Equation.

69. - The Knife Thrower and Other Stories by Steven Millhauser (1998)

Millhauser won the Pulitzer for his novel Martin Dressler, which I haven’t read (yet) and is a collection I too often forget to mention when people ask for recommendations. It’s a collection of the fantastic that doesn’t take us to new worlds and asks us to believe, it takes us and forces us to ask why not.

68. - Hidden Camera By Zoran Zivkovic (2005)

The first author to show up twice on the list in a story that shows the concept of reality television can actually be interesting, even if only in under-appreciated, absurdist SF novels.

67. - Thirst by Ken Kalfus (1999)

A collection of travelers, with great stories like Invisible Malls, a story that Polo would have told the Khan if he came to the west generations after and The Joy and Melancholy Baseball Trivia Quiz that any baseball fan will enjoy among others made this one of the most surprising pick-ups for me. I was expecting Cunninghamish airport reading and what I got instead was quality.

66. - The Labyrinth by Catherynne M. Valente (2004)

In times when it’s hard to differentiate one writer from another, there is something to be said about writers who write frame-worthy pages. There is a tendency for people to comfort themselves in thinking writers of unique quality are in fact hiding inadequacies in skin deep luster, but the problem itself is that they can see beyond the surface regardless - clever is not clever unless they can perceive it (which in most cases wouldn’t make it very clever at all). Sometimes not knowing what the hell is going is not only the point of fiction, but truth of reality - and often times these are the most enjoyable times. The Labyrinth is a journey, and while some great authors shows us wonders, the ones I truly enjoy also don’t forget to make us wonder.

65. - Midnight Robber by Nalo Hopkinson

Disregard all (the rightfully positive) reviews that want to act like they are championing some social cause for recommending this book and Hopkinson. Read the book because Hopkinson has three novels and a couple of collections to her credit and there isn’t one (okay, I haven’t read Under Glass) that shouldn’t be on your shelf for the good old fashioned (and only pertinent one I’m aware of) reason that they are simply damn good reads by an author who demands your attention.

64. - London Bone by Michael Moorcock (2001)

Why aren’t more people talking about this gem?

Moorcock is an author who transcends. As every time one wants to use him as a standard he goes off and establishes new standards, some of which we don’t realize until decades afterwards. Moorcock is in my mind the soul of SF/F - one we don’t know if is ascending or descending, but are assured no one better can chronicle that journey in-between.\par

For now we simply behold the man.

Stories like The Clapham Antichrist and The Cairene Purse shows an author not on top of the game, but playing one we aren’t invited to yet.

63. - The Fantasy Writer’s Assistant by Jeffrey Ford (2002)

The list is collection heavy (reflecting the amount of short fiction I have read recently) and this is another favorite. The first author I interviewed for FBS told me I need to be reading Jeffrey Ford and to start with this collection. It’s perhaps the best single author recommendation I have received.

62. - The Sea Came in at Midnight by Steve Erickson (1999)

No, not the author of the Malazan Book of the Fallen sequence (which I enjoy).

This is a case of seeing an author mentioned enough times by other authors (that write work I enjoy) that motivated me to make a purchase. My favorite is his Tours of the Black Clock, and you simply have to love a author always worthwhile and most of the times outstanding fiction in a lean package around 300 pages long that never lack for content. In some 2500 some-odd pages (or 2-3 epic fantasy tomes) he has put out eight books worth putting on the shelf that might be among the best in the last couple of decades. Frankly, I enjoy his body of work more than I do Pynchon’s (who I’m also a big fan of).

61. - Beluthahatchie and Other Stories by Andy Duncan (2000)

With the exception of belles and fried chicken, Southern-anything isn’t my cup of tea (although I do like ice tea in the south - and I’m becoming a fan of Cherie Priest), but don’t be fooled, Andy Duncan has written one of the strongest collections on this list.

Stories like The Pottawatomie Giant make Duncan just as astounding to me as the Links and Chiangs - which is the highest praise I can think of.*

*Note - I corrected this, after rereading the passage it seemed to infer that the story was in the collection, it’s not, I just wanted to give a sample of Duncan’s writing that is available online.

* Read 91-100 here.
* Read 81-90 here.
* Read 71-80 here.