Top 100 Science-Fiction, Fantasy Books

[Michael Bailey]

James Kyllo  wrote:
> The books that stand out in my memory are "The Left Hand of Darkness"
> and "The Word for World is Forest" (I see there is a novel version of
> this - it's the novella, in "Again, Dangerous Visions" that I've
> read).  Some of the others don't really transcend their eco-wimmin-sf
> genre, but are doubtless still better than the other inhabitant of
> that genre which comes to mind - Marge Piercy's "Woman on the Edge of
> Time"
>

I dunno why anybody would want to transcend the eco-wimmin-sf
genre...it's got everything needed to sustain life...

but anyway:

1976 was when I read the LHoD - I liked the snowy world, the cult of
ignorance, and I seem to remember she did something interesting with
gender.  Plus the edition I had, had an intro by her that I remember
as being worthwhile, in terms of introducing new ideas or helping to
grok the book, and sort of made me like her if that makes sense

there is a series of sorcery and sorcery (maybe a little bit of sword
too) that she wrote which was pretty fun.  Tales of Earthsea -- I read
those as an over 40 adult and still enjoyed them - a teen or preteen
who read those instead of or alongside Tokien would be well served,
fictionwise, I opine!

the Dispossessed is supposed to be really great, there was this
anarchist dude in the Infoshop bookstore in Kansas City with a
Lenin-looking beard who chose his email name from that book - ie,
people like it.  I haven't read it.

Always Coming Home had a table or insert at the end or beginning of
the book where ruling metaphors of life were the independent variable
and then for each it would list the respective variables - so like if
your ruling metaphor is business then yada yada -- anyway, great chart
- the rest of the book was great for noodling around in which was
perfect for me in the late 80s when I read it...actually I still do a
fair amount of noodling

That's really all I've read of hers or have to say about that although
I rate her pretty high.  I wouldn't mind rereading any of her books
that I've read (although  I didn't like the Lathe of Heaven movie very
much.)

There was a whole issue of the Fifth Estate, an anarchist magazine,
recently devoted to her and she contributed to it.

Last but not least: there's apparently a set
http://www.amazon.com/Always-Coming-Home-Ursala-Guin/dp/B0014EW6EE/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1313393026&sr=8-2
with a cassette tape which I'd like to hear

Wikipedia's bibliography shows there are a lot of her books that I
haven't read.  Cool!