Posted on 12/13/2013 8:49:04 PM PST by Kip Russell
Everybody (well, everybody who reads sf/fantasy) has their favorite novels in each genre...which are usually a bunch of other people's favorite novels as well. This only makes sense, since cream rises to the top.
But even so, there are plenty of obscure books that for whatever reason, never really caught on. They might well be great reads, but no one seems to have heard of them...so what's your favorite sf and fantasy novel that still lies in not-so-deserved obscurity?
With any luck, we'll all discover a bunch of great books that we've never heard of before!
I'll start off with mine: for sf, "The Killing Star" by Charles Pellegrino and George Zebrowski.
In the late 21st Century, our solar system is attacked by aliens using "relativity missiles"...boulder-sized hunks of metal accelerated to 90% of the speed of light. Thousands of them. 99.9999% of humanity is wiped out in a few hours. There's no need for a spoiler warning, this happens in the first 20 pages. The rest of the novel follows the desperate struggle of the few survivors spread throughout the solar system.
For fantasy, "A Personal Demon" by Richard Brown, David Bischoff, and Linda Richardson.
When Willis Baxter, a frustrated professor at a New England university with a penchant for drink and remarkable talent for failure in romantic relationships, got too drunk at his own party, unexpected results ensued. Instead of just impressing his guests with his knowledge of obscure magic rituals, he summoned an absolutely stunning female half-demon, Anathae. The demon, who looks like a naked sixteen year-old redhead with small horns, hooves and a tasteful tail, has been unhappy in Hell, and is extremely grateful to her "liberator". Luckily, most guests attribute the summoning to a party trick, with amusement value pretty much divided by gender.
Hilarity ensues. "I Dream of Jeannie" meets Faust...
I’d get banned for answering ;)
[Alfred Bester, 1956]
I had the Encyclopedia Britannica short film at one time to that has (alas) been lost over the years. Wonderful, wonderful short story. Ones by Ray Bradbury aren't bad either (my very favorite SciFi author).
Excellent choice! I've read that series at least 4 times, and it's very obscure!
A post-apocalyptic Earth, set 5,000 years in the future. Civilization is just starting to reform, each in its own isolated area, but humans (and some animals, like bear, beaver, etc.) have developed psionics. Mental attacks and defenses are frequent in the book. There is Evil in the form of a branch of humanity that revels in mental techniques that are not used by Good.
Anyway, a small civilized enclave up in north central Kanda (Canada) sends an explorer-warrior/telepath-priest to the distant south (former USA) to locate a "computer," to find out if it can help them. Civilization, you see, is under siege, and might become stillborn, as there seems to be a coordinated assault on civilizational enclaves.
A rollicking good read if you like action. My wife loved it. My son loves it, so it crosses generational boundaries.
Also, most any of the short stories by Lord Dunsany.
So here is a puzzle. I don’t remember the title or author, but it had a parrot-like creature that lived on diamonds, and unitron field pistols, a planet that was city to the core (completely artificial planet) and an assassination plot. Anyone remember?
Great to see a shout out to Lovecraft. He was very popular when I was in college back in the 70s and a lot of us read (and loved) his work. Pretty obscure today, I don’t know anyone who has read his books.
Here’s a non-obscure Godwin: “The Cold Equations”.
I liked The Survivors a lot.
This was one of the first David Weber novels that I ever read. I found it at Fort Knox's Barr Library and read it in less than a day. Since then I've gotten my own copy and have read it at least two more times.
I also recommend "Path of the Fury" and/or its expanded version, "In Fury Born".
I read that!
Heinlein’s “Farnam’s Freehold”. Truer every day.
The Witches of Karres
First real science fiction novel I ever read (I think I was eight)!
I bought that book for my brother in 1980. I never saw it again.
Is this the same Keith Laumer who wrote the “Bolo” books?
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