#141. DYING OF THE LIGHT By George R R Martin

Published : 1977
Pages : 350
Overall Mark : 8/10

Dirk t’Larien has been summoned back to Worlorn, and a love he thinks he lost. But Worlorn is a dying world, and Gwen Delvano is no longer the woman he once knew. She is bound to another man, a barbarian, and needs Dirk’s protection. He will do anything to keep her safe, but an impenetrable veil of secrecy surrounds them all, making allies indistinguishable from enemies. In this dangerous triangle, one is hurtling toward escape, another toward revenge, and the last toward a brutal, untimely demise.

GEORGE R. R. MARTIN (1948-)
George R. R. Martin published his first story in 1971 and won four Hugo and two Nebula Awards in quick succession before turning his attention to fantasy. He has won every major award in the field and his bestselling A Song of Ice and Fire series is redefining epic fantasy for a new generation, and is the basis for the hit HBO series Game of Thrones. He lives in New Mexico.

VERDICT
This was the first George R. R. Martin book I’d ever read, and also the first he wrote, and I was instantly drawn in by his characterisations. That being said, the plot of this story is almost non-existent, which shows what a fine writer he is to keep me engrossed in a story that amounts to nothing. He manages to create a world of characters who have their own cultures and diversity, and a story filled with love and hate on a world that is hurtling to its doom, yet it is the very idea that from the start we know the characters are dying that makes the tale as a whole so effective, and the events of the story so inconsequential.

#140. THE WIND’S TWELVE QUARTERS & THE COMPASS ROSE By Ursula K Le Guin

Published : 1975 & 1982
Pages : 561
Overall Mark : 8/10

Ursula K. Le Guin has been recognised for almost fifty years as one of the most important writers in the SF field – and beyond. These two collections bring together some of her finest short fiction, including Award-winners ‘The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas’, ‘The Day Before the Revolution’. ‘Sur’ and the Hugo-nominated ‘Winter’s King’, which gave readers their first glimpse of the world later made famous in her Hugo- and Nebula-winning masterpiece The Left Hand of Darkness.

URSULA K. LE GUIN (1929-)
Ursula K. Le Guin is one of the finest writers of our time. Her books have attracted millions of devoted readers and won many awards, including the National Book Award, the Hugo and Nebula Awards and a Newbery Honour. Among her novels, The Left Hand of Darkness, The Dispossessed and the six books of Earthsea have already attained undisputed classic status. She lives in Portland, Oregon.

VERDICT
THE WIND’S TWELVE QUARTERS
The majority of the stories in this collection are easily worthy of five stars and well worth reading, but there are a handful that simply aren't very good. Fans of Earthsea and The Hainish Cycle will enjoy some of the short stories related to the series, and even those unfamiliar with them should get some enjoyment out of them.

THE COMPASS ROSE
This could have been a five star collection if not for one or two subpar stories. The remainder are so imaginative and take the reader on a short journey of wonder that differs between pages at such a varying rate it just goes to prove what an imagination Le Guin truly has.

#139. NIGHT LAMP By Jack Vance

Published : 1996
Pages : 380
Overall Mark : 8/10

Jaro Fath’s past is lost – and his future is in peril.

Found as a child with no memory of his past, adopted by a scholarly couple who raise him as their own, Jaro never quite fit into the rigidly defined society of Thanet. When his foster parents are killed in am mysterious bombing, Jaro Fath sets out to discover the truth of his origins – a quest that will take him across light years and into the depths of the past...

JACK VANCE (1916-2013)
Jack Vance served in the merchant navy during World War II. He published his first story in 1945 and his first major work, The Dying Earth, in 1950. He has won the Hugo, Nebula and World Fantasy Awards, among others, and in 1997 was named a Grand Master by the Science Fiction Writers of America.

VERDICT
Vance takes what could have been a simple story of revenge and twists it into a satirical look at how society compartmentalises people into strict groups that they can never escape from. The characterisation of Jaro is fun, and the supporting characters expertly assist him through his journey to discover what happened to his family and, indeed, who they were. Filled with witty rejoinders and sideways looks at the world, this is an entertaining and multi-layered read.

#138. HARD TO BE A GOD By Arkady & Boris Strugatsky

Published : 1964
Pages : 231
Overall Mark : 6/10

Anton is an undercover operative from future Earth, who travels to an alien world whose culture has not progressed beyond the Middle Ages. Although in possession of far more advanced knowledge than the society around him, he is forbidden to interfere with the natural progress of history. His place is to observe rather than interfere – but can he remain aloof in the face of so much cruelty and injustice...?

ARKADY STRUGATSKY (1925-1991)
BORIS STRUGATSKY (1931-2012)
The Strugatsky brothers began to collaborate in the early 1950s. Arkady worked as a technical translator and editor, and Boris was a computer mathematician at Pulkova astronomical observatory. Their work includes Hard To Be A God, Definitely Maybe, The Snail On The Slope and Monday Starts On Saturday. Andrei Tarkovsky's much admired film, Stalker, was based on their most famous work, Roadside Picnic.

VERDICT
This story is a fun concept, and I like the idea of a story about humans observing aliens whilst disguising themselves to fit in with their society, but at times this element of the story was so subtle I almost completely missed it. The characters are both dark and fun, and some of the scenes made me laugh out loud (the sex scene in particular), but it's possible that many of the subtleties have gotten lost in translation somewhere along the line, which is a real shame.

#137. THE WORD FOR WORLD IS FOREST By Ursula K Le Guin

Published : 1976
Pages : 128
Overall Mark : 7/10

When the inhabitants of a peaceful world are conquered by the bloodthirsty yumens, they find themselves forced into servitude, at the mercy of their brutal masters. Eventually, desperation causes them to abandon their strictures against violence and rebel against their captors. But in doing so, they have endangered the very foundation of their society. For every blow against the invaders is a blow to the humanity of the Athsheans. And once the killing starts, there is no turning back.

URSULA K. LE GUIN (1929-)
Ursula K. Le Guin is one of the finest writers of our time. Her books have attracted millions of devoted readers and won many awards, including the National Book Award, the Hugo and Nebula Awards and a Newbery Honour. Among her novels The Left Hand of Darkness, The Dispossessed and the six books of Earthsea have already attained undisputed classic status. She lives in Portland, Oregon.

VERDICT
Le Guin is an expert when it comes to turns of phrase, and this short book is filled with wonderful examples of her expertise. It is interesting to make comparisons between the treatment of the aliens in this book and the treatment of the Vietnamese people, as this book first came to light during the Vietnam War. The story starts off slowly, but gets much better towards the end of the book. Fans of James Cameron’s Avatar may be interested in reading this, as many comparisons can be made between the two.

#136. HER SMOKE ROSE UP FOREVER By James Tiptree Jr

Published : 1990
Pages : 508
Overall Mark : 8/10

For a decade Alice Sheldon produced an extraordinary body of work under the pseudonym James Tiptree Jr, until her identity was exposed in 1977. This volume presents the finest of these stories and contains the Nebula Award-winning 'Love Is the Plan, The Plan Is Death'. Hugo Award-winning novella 'The Girl Who Was Plugged In', 'Houston, Houston, Do You Read?' – winner of both the Hugo and Nebula – and, of course, the story for which she is best known: 'The Woman Men Don’t See'.

JAMES TIPTREE JR (1915-1987)
One of science fiction’s most important feminist voices, Alice Sheldon wrote most of her fiction as James Tiptree, Jr – making a point about sexist assumptions and also keeping her US government employers from knowing her business. Most of her books are collections of short stories, of which Her Smoke Rose Up Forever is considered to be her best. She died tragically in 1987.

VERDICT
It's incredibly difficult to judge a short story collection, as some stories will be great and others will be weak. On the whole the bulk of this collection is enjoyable, mainly due to the fact that the standout stories for me, 'A Momentary Taste of Being' and 'Houston, Houston, Do You Read?' are also two of the longest, though the subject matter for many of the stories are incredibly similar, focussing on sexuality more often than not. The stories towards the end of the book are probably the weakest, and it's sad when a collection actually becomes less enjoyable as you progress, but by no means let me put you off reading this thoroughly fascinating collection.

#135. THE GODWHALE By T J Bass

Published : 1973
Pages : 286
Overall Mark : 8/10

Rorqual Maru was a cyborg – part organic whale, part mechanised ship – and part god. A vast plankton harvester, abandoned by mankind when the seas died. So she selected an island for her grave, hoping to keep her carcass visible for salvage. All through the long years, she wanted to server, longing for the sound of a human voice, missing the hearty hails, the seat and the laughter. She needed mankind. But all humans were long gone... or were they?

T.J. BASS (1932-2011)
Thomas Joseph Bassler was an American science fiction writer and doctor, principally known for his ‘Hive’ stories. The first of these, published in Galaxy Science Fiction and If, were combined into the novel Half Past Human, which was nominated for the Nebula Award in 1972. Loose sequel, The Godwhale, was also nominated three years later. His work explored the theme of overpopulation and was notable for its strong command of biological extrapolation. He died in 2011.

VERDICT
This was a vast improvement on Half Past Human, with the characters feeling much more likeable and realistic. The plot might be just as confusing, but at least the subplots are well rounded and feature humour and drama in equal measure.

#134. THE LONG TOMORROW By Leigh Brackett

Published : 1955
Pages : 237
Overall Mark : 8/10

‘No city, no town, no community of more than one thousand people or two hundred buildings to the square mile, shall be built or permitted to exist anywhere in the United States of America.’ – Thirtieth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States

Two generations after the nuclear holocaust, rumours persist about a secret desert hideaway where scientists work to understand the forbidden past – even if it means threatening the future...

LEIGH BRACKETT (1915-1978)
Leigh Brackett was an accomplished and prolific writer of fantasy and SF, as well as a Hollywood screen writer. She worked on scripts for films such as The Big Sleep, The Long Goodbye and Rio Bravo, and received a posthumous Hugo Award for the script for The Empire Strikes Back.

VERDICT
This book does nothing futuristic in its vision of a future where technology has been left in the past to avoid past mistakes. The characters have troubles outside of the obvious, and their journey to discover a secret town that possesses technology and the hope for a future similar to that left behind manages to be appealing while also acting as a warning to those that might wish to destroy the world around them by misusing their gifts. A solid tale that leaves us with a distinct feeling of ambiguity.

#133. HALF PAST HUMAN By T J Bass

Published : 1971
Pages : 260
Overall Mark : 7/10

Tinker was a good citizen of the Hive – a model worker, But when he was allowed sexual activation he found Mu Ren who, like him, harboured forbidden genes. And so began the cataclysm.

But in a world where half-wild humans are hunted for sport – and food – can anyone overthrow the Hive? Greater by far than its stunted, pink-blooded citizens, the Hive is more than prepared to rise and crush anyone who challenges its supremacy...

T.J. BASS (1932-2011)
Thomas Joseph Bassler was an American science fiction writer and doctor, principally known for his ‘Hive’ stories. The first of these, published in Galaxy Science Fiction and If, were combined into the novel Half Past Human, which was nominated for the Nebula Award in 1972. Loose sequel, The Godwhale, was also nominated three years later. His work explored the theme of overpopulation and was notable for its strong command of biological extrapolation. He died in 2011.

VERDICT
I can see the appeal of this sci-fi novel, describing the conflict between two factions of humanity, but I didn’t really feel connected to the characters involved. The views on women seem a little outdated, but perhaps this is the view of Bass that women would once again become a repressed minority worthy of only breeding and home-making. Reading like a poor man’s Arthur C Clarke, this novel has its merits, but is on the whole a little to wordy to be anything more than interesting.