Aaron's Book of the Week :: The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan

The Book of the Week is the hardcover first edition (but unfortunately not first printing) of The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan, cover art by Darryl Sweet. This is to honor Robert Jordan, the pen name of James Rigney, Jr., who passed away last week at the age of 58. In the 1980's, Jim Rigney wrote historical romances under the pseudonym Reagan O'Neal, a western under the name Jackson O'Reilly, and new adventures of Conan the Barbarian as by Robert Jordan. But it was The Eye of the World, first published in 1990, that rocketed him to prominence.

The Eye of the World is the first book in the Robert Jordan Wheel of Time series, a fantasy epic in the Tolkienesque mode, but even more densely detailed and intricately plotted than The Lord of the Rings. The series has been an immense commercial success -- the last five Wheel of Time books published have all reached #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. It is a testament to Jim Rigney's skills as a storyteller that the series has only gained in popularity, even as it climbed toward 8,000 pages in total length (10,000 in the paperback editions).

The Wheel of Time series was projected to cover twelve volumes (not counting the stand-alone prequel New Spring, the first appearance of which we will see next week), but only eleven have appeared to date. Knowing that his health was deteriorating from the rare blood disease amyloidosis, Rigney prepared detailed outlines of the final book in the series and had lengthy discussions with his wife, son, and other writers regarding its completion. It seems the Wheel of Time series will be finished, a fitting testimony that fantasy fans' devotion to Robert Jordan was mutual.

Aaron's Book of the Week :: A House Like a Lotus by Madeleine L'Engle

Continuing our tribute to the late Madeleine L'Engle, the Book of the Week is a signed first edition of L'Engle's A House Like a Lotus (1984).

A House Like a Lotus was the third of four novels following L'Engle's recurring character Polly O'Keefe. Strictly speaking, these novels are set in the same universe as A Wrinkle in Time but years later -- Polly O'Keefe is the daughter of Meg Murry, the protagonist of A Wrinkle in Time -- however the books have a more realist tone with only minor fantastic elements. A House Like a Lotus is arguably the best and certainly the most personal of the O'Keefe novels. It is the only one told in first person, and it deals frankly with Polly's first sexual experiences. My copy was signed by the author with the inscription "Saranam," a recurring term in the novel describing a place of refuge, which one hopes Madeleine L'Engle has found.

Unfortunately, next week's Book of the Week will pay tribute to another major fantasy author who recently passed away.

Aaron's Book of the Week :: A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle

The Book of the Week is A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle, to honor Ms. L'Engle, who passed away last week at the age of 88. Madeleine L'Engle authored some 60 books, many but not all for young adults, and was the 1998 recipient of the Margaret A. Edwards Award for lifetime contribution to juvenile fiction.

She is best remembered for A Wrinkle in Time, winner of the Newberry Award for best young adult novel of 1962. A Wrinkle in Time takes Meg Murry and her brother Charles Wallace through a tesseract to other worlds, where they search for their lost father while learning much about themselves. A Wrinkle in Time has become an all-time classic, selling approximately ten million copies to date, and over the years has given a great many young readers their first introduction to science fiction.

A Wrinkle in Time has achieved this success despite being rejected by dozens of publishers (it was rescued from obscurity by John Farrar of Farrar, Straus & Giroux, who bought the book even though FSG did not publish juvenile fiction at the time), and despite often appearing on banned book lists. It ranked # 22 in the American Library Association' s list of the 100 most frequently challenged books of 1990-2000, apparently because some find it anti-Christian. This is a very peculiar charge, since L'Engle was a lifelong Episcopalian who wrote widely about her religious faith, served for over 30 years as the church librarian of the St. John the Divine Cathedral in New York, and was named an honorary Doctor of Sacred Theology by the Berkeley Divinity School in Connecticut. A Wrinkle in Time quotes from the Bible in support of the novel's theme of the importance of love and morality, and lists Jesus among the humans who have done the most to promote these causes and battle against darkness. One wonders if any of the people offended by the book actually read it.

My copy of A Wrinkle in Time is a worthless later paperback printing, but never fear. Next week we will see a Madeleine L'Engle signed first edition.

Aaron's Book of the Week :: Rainbows End by Vernor Vinge

The Book of the Week is the hardback first edition of Rainbows End by Vernor Vinge, cover art by Stephan Martiniere.

Last weekend, in a ceremony at the World Science Fiction Convention in Yokohama, Japan, Rainbows End received the Hugo Award for best science fiction or fantasy novel of 2006. This was Vernor Vinge's fifth Hugo Award and his third for Best Novel. He is only the third person to win three or more Best Novel Hugos. The others are the late Robert A. Heinlein and Lois McMaster Bujold, who will be Guest of Honor next year when Denver hosts the World Science Fiction Convention.

While Vinge's first two Best Novel winners (A Fire Upon the Deep and A Deepness in the Sky) were space operas set very far in the future, Rainbows End takes place only 20 years in the future. The novel addresses in part a favorite concern of Vinge's: the possibility of a near-future "Singularity," in which computer science and/or biotechnology give rise to a super-human intelligence capable of advancing technology beyond the ability of ordinary humans to comprehend.

Next week we will pay tribute to the author of one of the all-time classic works of science fiction for young adults.

Aaron's Magazine of the Week :: Fantasy & Science Fiction Fall 1949

The Magazine of the Week is the first issue, Fall 1949, of the Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, cover by Bill Stone. This initial issue bore the title "Magazine of Fantasy," but the name was expanded by the second issue and has remained "Fantasy & Science Fiction" ever since. F&SF is still going strong, having published over 650 issues to date.

Under the direction of editors Anthony Boucher and J. Francis McComas, F&SF quickly emerged as one of the leading magazines in the field in the 1950's. However, this initial issue was rather unimpressive, filled with second-tier writers, reprints, and a pseudonymous story by Boucher. The issue's saving grace was a story by Theodore Sturgeon, "The Hurkle Is a Happy Beast," with its bizarre opening line, "This is Earth, and it once was horrible with wars, and murders, and young love in the spring."

Next week we will look to honor a Hugo Award winner, perhaps even one published in the Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction.

Aaron's Magazine of the Week :: Galaxy February 1951

The Magazine of the Week is the February 1951 issue of Galaxy magazine, with cover story "The Fireman" by Ray Bradbury, the original story which Bradbury later expanded into the classic Fahrenheit 451. The cover art -- totally unrelated to "The Fireman" even though that is the only story named on the cover -- is by Chesley Bonestell.

This was the fifth issue of Galaxy magazine, and it boasts a remarkable table of contents. In addition to the first version of Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, this issue contains part two of a serialized novel by Isaac Asimov later published under the title The Stars, Like Dust, as well as stories by major authors Clifford D. Simak, Lester del Rey, and Frank M. Robinson.

Galaxy was one of dozens of science fiction digest magazines to enter the marketplace as the pulps disappeared in the late 1940's and 1950's. Under the direction of editor Horace Gold, Galaxy quickly emerged as one of two digests that could consistently challenge market leader Astounding in quality. (Next week's magazine of the week will be the very first issue of the other.) Published from 1950 to 1980, Galaxy de-emphasized high-tech gadgetry in favor of stories like Fahrenheit 451 that addressed social issues. This change of focus was instrumental to the growth of the SF genre.

Aaron's Book of the Week :: Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

The Book of the Week is a signed first printing, paperback original of Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, cover art by Joe Mugnani. This is the most significant of all the landmark science fiction novels first published in 1953, and accordingly in 2004 it won a "Retro-Hugo," recognizing classic works of 1953 that might have won Hugo Awards if only they had been presented that year.

This original paperback edition of Fahrenheit 451 was issued a few weeks before the extremely rare first hardcover edition and the even more rare asbestos edition (no kidding). Since the publisher, Ballantine Books, did not know that Fahrenheit 451 would end up an all-time classic, and since the novel is rather short, all of the original editions contain two additional short stories to give readers their money's worth. Ray Bradbury signed my copy at last year's World Science Fiction Convention, which gives you an idea of the caliber of guest the Worldcon attracts, and hopefully will attract when the Worldcon comes to Denver in 2008.

Fahrenheit 451, set in a decadent future in which books are forbidden, is among the most famous dystopias ever written, standing with such classics as 1984 and Brave New World. While Fahrenheit 451 was first published in 1953, a shorter version of the story first appeared in 1951. You will see that original edition of the tale next week.

Amy's bookshelf :: Stardust by Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess

Continuing with the topic of Stardust, this item from my bookshelf is one of the graphic novels of Stardust, subtitled Being A Romance Within the Realms of Faerie, with story by Neil Gaiman and pictures by Charles Vess. This is book 3 of 4 in the series. It was published in 1998 by DC Comics Vertigo. It contains 48 pages, and although it's comic book sized, it has much more text than a comic book. It's basically a story accompanied by color illustrations.

Aaron's Book of the Week :: Stardust by Neil Gaiman

The Book of the Week is Stardust by Neil Gaiman. We will finish our recap of the classics of science fiction from 1953 next week, but I saw that the film version of Stardust opens this week, so I couldn't miss the chance to show off my signed hardcover first edition (preceded by the original illustrated version serialized in four comic books), cover design by Russell Gordon.

Stardust is the charming story of Tristran Thorn's quest to recover a fallen star to impress a lady, a task rendered more difficult by the star's reluctance to cooperate. (For more, see the book group's page on Stardust ) Neil Gaiman first became popular writing graphic novels (i.e., comic books), notably the landmark Sandman series. He has since proven himself an excellent prose writer as well, winning Hugo Awards for Best Novel for American Gods and Best Novella for Coraline (an animated film version of which is also in production), and reaching #1 on the New York Times bestseller list with Anansi Boys (see my review of Anansi Boys ). His short story "How to Talk to Girls at Parties" is a current Hugo finalist.

One should never expect much when Hollywood adapts written science fiction and fantasy, but the strong cast (Charlie Cox as Tristran, Claire Danes as the star, Peter O'Toole as the king, Michelle Pfeiffer as the witch, and Robert DeNiro as the pirate Captain Shakespeare) gives hope that Stardust will add to the recent trend of Hollywood treating SF/F with a bit more respect.

Aaron's Book of the Week :: The Caves of Steel by Isaac Asimov

The Book of the Week is the first paperback printing of The Caves of Steel by Isaac Asimov, cover art by Robert Schulz, another all-time classic of science fiction first published in 1953.

Isaac Asimov was one of the most beloved authors of science fiction ever, and The Caves of Steel is one of his best works. The Caves of Steel follows a murder investigation by a detective of the future and his robot sidekick. This was Asimov's first robot novel, preceded by the short stories collected in I, Robot. The Caves of Steel was an important early example of science fictional mystery, a sub-genre that has made a recent comeback, notably in the works of Richard K. Morgan. It also featured stronger characterization than much of Asimov's work and a host of social commentary, including using robots as a metaphor to examine racism. (See my book club's web page on The Caves of Steel for more information.)

As fine a book as The Caves of Steel was, there was an even more seminal science fiction novel that first appeared in 1953, as we will see next week.