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I prefer Shepard's shorter works, to his novels, by quite a margin - the three collections : The Jaguar Hunter, Barnacle Bill the Spacer, & To the Ends of the Earth, show his talents at their best. Not sure if it's intentional of not, but there's a lot of ambiguity in his novels - maybe plotting a novel is one Shepard's weak points....it's doesn't bother me that much, because I like his writing - if you read his novels as a journey instead of a clear-cut story, you will find them enjoyable - but if the reader wants coherent plot, he might be left unsatisfied.... Start with his short stories.

Sounds kind of like the real life book the serpent and the rainbow by Wade Davis where he discovered that the zombies of Haitian Vodou myth were actually just a result of tetrodotoxin and superstitious ritual. It was popular around the time of the book in '84 or '85 so it might have had some influence on it.

Sounds like someone never learned their lesson from Herbert West: Reanimator. 😂

Another great video Richard! You keep bringing to my attention classic SF novels that have escaped me. I'm looking forward to your reviews of the rest of the series! I'll have to read some of these, but I will probably pass on this one. Which is why I love watching your videos. You let me know which ones to focus on and which ones to avoid!

I've read "Life During Wartime" and generally enjoyed it, though I didn't fully understand all aspects of the story. Some passages are vividly memorable. Shepard's prose is rich and evocative, but I often found the plot and character motivations unclear. I also own the same edition of "Green Eyes" and plan to read it next year maybe. Currently, I'm about a third of the way through Shepard's short story collection, "The Jaguar Hunter." However, I've temporarily set it aside because I was having difficulty following the plot of one of the stories. I'll try to return to it this year and attempt to finish it. I'm guessing that Shepard is the type of writer you need to read twice to fully understand, but life is short lol and I want to understand books on first reading.

I was actually really interested in his commentary on the removal of "cruel and unusual" punishments and about how "we" (as in us right now in the 20th century) stopped it. I wonder if that attitude of 'bring back the cane' has always been prevalent?

Mexico controls the Gulf Coast? HAHAHA

I like how Randy was not the best person in the real world but after the bombings he became a great leader. I saw this idea repeated in The Walking Dead with Darrells character and so much more in other works. This book was Pat Franks crowning achievement for sure.

I'm so excited to find this video. I've read many books in this genre and Alas Babylon is by far the best. I give it 10 out of 10 however some of his other books leave something to be desired. This is a title I read a few times a year. I love to return to this world and view these peoples reality. It's hopeful and very realistic. I like that most of the characters didn't descend into darkness and evil. The people who did ended badly.

Really love Leiber's work. Very interesting hearing this and in general discussing things like short story collections -- my favourites are often not the favourites of others and vice versa. Not just in short form though in this case. never heard anyone say before that they preferred You're All Alone to the Big Time, but hey, i can dig it. I do think that, to paraphrase Roger Zelazny, the best writers don't write the kind of books you can have a "one-night stand" with, and, indeed, they "want" to be re-read. leiber's stuff does benefit from being returned to. Most often I've come back to the Fafhrd and Grey Mouser stories, because they're just so much damn fun, but I've also revisited many of the shorts in this collection, and the book Conjure Wife, which despite a premise that is hard to explain to anyone without making it come across as very sexist, is a really excellent book that is basically kept alive by the believability of the protagonist couple. Leiber talked and lived a lot like he wrote, and according to people like Judith merril, when you read his work it's his real voice you are hearing (there are some interviews you can listen to on youtube from the 70s, where you can actually hear him, too)...a lot of the stuff he wrote, even though it may contain supernatural or science fiction stuff, contains a lot of his real life experience, including the acting and theatre stuff of course, which he was totally immersed in for most of his youth, but also his bouts with severe alcoholism, romantic challenges and so on. Its' not often that you see a writer in these genres who seems so willing to put himself out there and, i guess, be ki9nd of vulnerable through his characters, and also writes so damn well.

As a California native myself, this book sounds spot on for anyone who lives in the Golden State. I'll definitely have to find a copy. And yes, many Californians have speculated on California secession.

Slogan...oh boy! Wow, what a coincidence. That's pretty amazing and great review as always Richard!

I have read the trilogy a few years ago. I liked the Martian trilogy better.

You could honestly narrate audiobooks.

'The Wild Shore' is another one that I missed. I need to rectify that. I had forgotten that "Make America Great Again" was also used by Reagan. It is, apparently, one of those slogans that, while devoid of real meaning, sounds glorious enough to be repeated by lying, incompetent, leaders. </personal opinions>

looks like ursula gave it a thumbs up and no wonder given its pastoral, community, political focus. 🎉

This one's going on my list. Thanks for the review, Richard!

This one sounds interesting! Going to keep my eye out for that TOR essentials copy! Thanks, Richard!

FYI- "Make America Great Again" was not only one of the slogans that catapulted Reagan to office, but it was used at least twice before in American history as well. What would Santayana say?

I've had the same edition on my shelf for awhile. I'll have to dust it off soon

This story sounds interesting Richard. Thank for the interesting review!

Great review ! I’d not not heard of this trilogy it sounds quite intriguing i do like a good post apocalyptic tale . I shall keep a lookout for at least The wild shore.

One of my favorite book of this universe. I was really moved when the main character explained that in his language they had no word for murder before the men arrived... History has proven that white western world is based on oppression, plunder and murder. Until now. No wonder some many countries hates us. But let's get back to the book. Of course, no Avatar without The word for world is Forest :) Even the name of the book is inspiring. Imagine living in such a world, where the harmony between all living creature is raised to such a level. I wish everyone could see how disconnected we became from our World, from Gaïa. Thanks again for the review.

hi, thanks for the video. Currently reading it and I do share your comments and perspective. For me the beauty, so to speak, of this unique universe is that it was never meant to be united in terms of narrative. I never hear words like canon or any of this stuff because she made it open. Each story on it's own but with the same frame of reference which is this universe. It will bear a special place in my heart. It is also, for me, a testimony that this is literature. Putting things into boxes of this is SciFi, or Crime, or any oher box is non sense. This is just good stories that carries you, makes you think, changes your mind from the daily routines of business. Thanks again

William Gibson is credited with being the father of Cyberpunk but do you know when and where the name 'Cyberpunk' was coined? In 1983 or 1984 Willie Siros, who chaired Armadillocon in Austen, Texas, invited William Gibson to attend the con. Gibson, a cash-strapped beginning author replied that he couldn't afford to attend. Fortunately, one of the fans in the Armadillocon orbit was lead engineer in a computer startup and had received a load of cash and company stock, so he paid for Gibson's trip. Willie then contacted Ellen Datlow, editor of Omni magazine, whom Armadillocon had been trying to get to come to the con, and told her that William Gibson would be there. Datlow, who had published 'Burning Chrome', had been pining to meet Gibson, so she decided to come. News of Datlow's attendance got out and a whole load of authors, eager to meet the editor of Omni, showed up. A lot of them, lead by Bruce Sterling, were big fans of Gibson. So, during the con, the authors got together and, almost by accident, a movement was born. At the final panel, it was announced that the group was formed and would be writing a new style of SF named 'Cyberpunk'. (My suggestion for the name, 'Art Techo', which was actually pretty descriptive of the field at the time, was deemed not edgy and gritty enough.) William Gibson was the leader and inspiration, Bruce Sterling was was the high prophet and philosophical guide, and others like Lewis Shiner, Pat Cadington, wrote the fiction and spread the word. For a while, Cyberpunk even eclipsed the New Wave. So you have Gibson's 'Neuromancer' on your TBR pile. I'm looking forward to your review. Sadly, nothing by Sterling made the series, which is a shame.

I love Earth Abides. It is my favorite novel. I have a degree in geography and I adore the fact that the novel has an ecologist as its protagonist. It was recommended to me by my favorite geography professor. One thing that is subtly fit in is the fact that Emma is either black or biracial, an astounding choice for a female love interest in 1949! I reread this novel every few years. It is also the favorite novel of my oldest son who is active in nature restoration. You can find on the internet a two part adaptation of "Earth Abides" done for the radio series "Escape" on CBS in the 1950s. It is very good and a faithful adaptation. Stewart also wrote "Names on the Land" explaining how the American landscape got its various names interestingly this book was also adapted for radio on "Cavalcade of America". Everyone I have recommended this novel to loves it. A novel that is both a half-century ahead of its time and timeless.

Fantastic intro to the third series! Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on all of these!

Very enjoyable video.

Great background info. I love editor/author introductions in books that give context to the genre during the times. Very much looking forward to your reviews! I've only read Neuromancer and The Wild Shore.

Neuromancer is the book that got me into science fiction. I was purely a fantasy reader before. Gibson's unique prose and gnarly world building showed me SF was more than cold hard science and space-stuff.

Good video Richard! I'm looking forward to your reviews on these Ace SF Specials. Especially since I'm only familiar with one of these books!

Although I don't think I've read any of these Richard, I'll be interested in your take on them. I am familiar with most of the authors, but I must say that I'm not particularly interested in reading their stories. The type of story just doesn't float my boat if you get my meaning. 😊

Thank you for the introduction, and especially thank you for reading us Terry's words of introduction. I've got a few of those, so I'm especially looking forward to those reviews.

I'm not sure why RUclips didn't show me this video before, and is only serving it up now, but, as you know, love me some Michael Moorcock! I particularly like how independent this particular series individual books are - although connected, they are not interdependent. I particularly enjoyed you reading passages from it. You don't do that in all your reviews.

You have a nice voice

This is a great book ! I read a lot of Greg bears work in the 80s and enjoyed most of it .

Why SF is a superior genre to Fantasy is an interesting topic for discussion. Admittedly, I have not read a ton of fantasy -Hobbit, LofTRings, Stormlight, Witcher- but to me, it is much more than just the fact that SF is grounded in science (or possible science) that makes it better. I may, of course, have a bit of a bias. 😂

I certainly avoided fantasy when i got back into reading as an adult. Having only previously read Forgotten Realms novels and Harry Potter I had a bias against fantasy once i started reading SF and it really clicked with me. But various Science Fantasy books piqued my interest and ever since i delve into Fantasy now and then and am just as blown away as i am with SF. In fact my favorite novel, Perdido Street Station, is Fantasy, although not without a couple SF elements. Eternal Champion wise I've only read the first Corum trilogy and enjoyed it but suspect the Elric tales are something special. I should get to them soon! Great topic of discussion too!

I came to Elric quite early in my SF reading career and instantly fell in love. Like two of my other favourite characters, The Shadow and Batman, he exuded that dual personality trait which I find appealing. Schizophrenic but not quite. I recently read the entire saga that Gollancz did, chronologically, in paperback around 2013 plus the 2022 book Citadel of Forgotten Myths. Thoroughly enjoyed them all. If you have the time . . . .?

Wonderful book that I am so joyed my grandfather introduced me to Alas, Babylon.

I love the Erekose story called The Eternal Champion. It is the most honest, brutal story about the hypocrisy, lies and insanity of war I have ever read and what war does to, and expects of, its heroes… and I absolutely love Erekose’s response to it. “Goodbye, queen. You have lost your champion now!”

The best sci-fi show out there to me is Babylon 5, way better than Star Trek.

Elric was interesting, but I always preferred Corwin from Roger Zelazny's Chronicles of Amber series.

Elric blew my teenage mind back in the day.

I think I discovered SF in the form of Tom Swift but shortly after discovered "real" SF in middle school and loved it. It was only a short time later that I found Andre Norton who did a wonderful job of blending the two genres together. Since then, I've enjoyed both. Have you tried the Amber series by Roger Zelazny?

My bookish journey was from horror to fantasy to science fiction. I was looking for more monsters and weird tales and I found them in abundance.

There is enough difference in our ages, Richard, that my story of Science Fiction and Fantasy is a bit different than yours. Most of the SF you saw on TV came after I was grown up. The only one that come on when I was a boy was Star Trek and we didn't have a TV set then, so I only saw occasional episodes when I was at a friend's house. I had to make do with the SF I found in the libraries. Then, in my Junior year of high school, I fount 'The Hobbit' by J.R.R. Tolkien among the books from Scholastic Books being sold in the high school library. I loved it and saved my lunch money in my senior year to buy The Lord of The Rings. So, unlike you, I was eager to read fantasy books. The problem was that they were not being published at the time. L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter had not yet brought the Robert E. Howard's Conan books back into print but de Camp did edit a couple of sword and sorcery anthologies. I was able get 'The Fantastic Swordsmen' in the book rack at the drugstore. That was where I was introduced to Elric, as well as Conan, Fahfrd & The Grey Mouser by Fritz Leiber, and the incomparable fantasies by Lord Dunsany. I got the first two collections of Elric stories in 1972 and enjoyed them very much. I read the first couple of followup books but, they didn't sit well with me. Since Elric died in the final story of the second collection, I felt the story was told and trying to cram more stories into his life was a waste of time. By that time, though, Ace was bringing the Fahfrd & Grey Mouser stories into print. You might want to give them a look. They are definitely vintage. The Conan books from Lancer started being issued in 1966, which are also in the vintage era. Lin Carter was editing the Ballantine Adult Fantasy series which brought a number of classic fantasy books back into print. A lot of them are worth looking at. Lord Dunsany was probably the greatest fantasy author of the early 20th century. A number of his books are available on Project Gutenberg. Read the first story in 'The Sword of Welleran and Other Stories' to get an idea of what he could do. You can also find print copies of 'The King of Elfland's Daughter', one of his few novels. It is one of the classics. Audio versions of some his books are available on RUclips. Of the modern fantasy writers, my favorite is Terry Pratchett. His stories are social commentary, using fantasy to reflect our times through a funhouse mirror. His stories are also incredibly funny. A few of his books were made into shows for British TV. My wife and I watch 'Hogfaher' every Christmas season. As far as blinders go, I grew up with a serious dislike of serious 'Lit-rah-Chah', perhaps because its advocates always looked down on me for liking that lowly skiffy trash I was always reading. I'm getting better, but I still have to make a conscious effort to read it. Any way, welcome to the world of fantasy.

I myself have owned the old Fantasy Masterworks compilation for many years but have never read it, along with two later novels in hardback which I purchased from an antiquarian shop because I thought they were very nicely printed and designed.

When I started reading SF seriously (or seriously enough) when I was 12 I understood fantasy was simply the “twin” of SF even if they operated by different rules. My first fantasy novel as a serious genre reader was by the late Terry Pratchett, an institution in Britain for many decades. A great service to me I’m that period was the Escape Pod podcast, which after a couple of years was joined by its fantasy counterpart Pod Castle (it had long had a horror counterpart in Pseudopod, which I only listened to on occasion). By the the time I was fifteen I would switch fairly readily between the two, before becoming more of a horror fan in my mid-to-later teens.