In Which We Discuss Fantasy

I love Gollancz SF and Fantasy Masterworks series.

For those unfamiliar with them, the SF and Fantasy Masterworks series are great fantasy and sci-fi novels, reprinted by Gollancz in covers that look really, really pretty on a shelf together. Each one has a number - I think they initially released one every month or so, although they seem to have stopped at just over sixty for both - and comes in pretty colours which complement each other.

What I really like about the series is that it's encouraged me to read books that I might not have picked up otherwise. My logic is that I like most of the books in the series, so there's a pretty good chance that I'll like the rest of them.

I picked up my first, Hope Mirrlees' Lud-in-the-Mist in a charity shop a few years back. I got Sheri Tepper's Beauty in Waterstones, mostly because I'm a big fan of Tepper, ever since I found a copy of Jinian Footseer in another charity shop years ago. Those are both in the Fantasy series, numbers 11 and 14 respectively. I decided then to try to get the rest, since I enjoyed both of those.

Then I picked up another Tepper, Grass, in the SF series, and decided to collect those. I usually think of myself as more of a sci-fi than a fantasy fan, but I seem to have much more of those.

I'm going to list down the novels in two tables, in another post, so I can keep track of what I've got, and which ones I need.

Initially, I began this post to talk about Jack Williamson's Darker than you Think. I love the title - whenever I read it, I imagine David Bowie in Labyrinth. You know that line where he says "it's further than you think"? Well, exactly the same tone.

Random trivia; my middle name is Jareth.

Anyway, the book's got a pretty interesting take on werewolves and vampires, and other mythical creatures. It's a little hard to explain, but the explanation is essentially mathematical, and links to probability and telepathy. It's fascinating. But far too short.

Anyway, off to make tables.