robert a. heinlein
the ‘dean of science fiction’ - a truly fascinating polymath possessed of enormous wit, strong opinions, and a gold ear for dialogue - one of the great idea men of the golden age and one of the best writers - in this bookseller’s opinion easily the best of the ‘big three’ (the others being asimov and clarke) - here presented are three works from his early and middle periods - ‘beyond’ being his only published adult novel from the first third of his career - ‘starship’ being the latest in a long string of fantastic juveniles (all highly recommended) until it was summarily rejected by scrivener and became the first of his adult novels in his ‘middle’ period - and ‘glory road’ being a slight departure and an homage to edgar rice and others and in this bookseller’s opinion one of the unsung highlights of a long career - don’t be swayed by reductive and retroactive discursions on the man’s politics - read him for yourself
“beyond this horizon”
signet (date unknown). (c) 1948. suspected 7th printing. 12mo. 158pp. vg. very clean copy, with small chips on covers.
$10
“starship troopers”
berkley medallion 1968. 2nd thus. 12mo. 208pp. g+. tight copy, slightly worn spine, some foxing in otherwise clean pages. paul lehr cover.
$10
“glory road”
berkley medallion 1972. 4th thus. 12mo. 288pp. vg+. very clean fresh copy. very slight wear to tops and edges of cover. spine strong. paul lehr cover.
$10
j.r.r. tolkein
no introduction necessary - whether beloved or reviled - a great influence - this ‘reader’ of particular interest as it contains ‘on fairy-stories’ - an essay on speculative fiction that will intrigue both fans of the genre and the oxford prof himself - also contains a fine essay by peter s. beagle - and ‘the homecoming of beorhtnoth beorhthem’s son’ - and ‘leaf by niggle’ - and ‘farmer giles of ham’ - and ‘the adventures of tom bombadil - this edition predates the ‘ballantine adult fantasy’ collection but can be considered a companion piece - beautiful cover and in-copy illustrations by the great pauline baynes
“the tolkein reader”
ballantine 1966. 1st. 12mo. vg. a very clean copy with a tiny chip on top right of cover and two small smudges on back cover.
$15
peter s. beagle
a rather mystical gentleman - author of one of the greats - if you like ‘the princess bride’ - or ‘the phantom tollbooth - then you will like this fairy story - particularly recommended for the young at heart - this edition part of the legendary ‘ballantine adult fantasy’ series - with a gervasio gallardo cover and the trademark unicorn on the top right
“the last unicorn”
ballantine 1973. 6th us. 12mo. 248pp. g. cover chipped and creased. pages mostly clean.
$10
/SOLD
matt ruff
a rather lovely writer - this, his first novel - written when he was very young - a pastoral fantasy full of charm and melancholy and dogs - his second novel, involving robots, pirates, and ayn rand, is also highly recommended
“fool on the hill”
warner brothers 1989. 1st mm. 12mo. 436pp. vg. a very nice copy with some wear on the exterior of the spine.
$12
john crowley
in this bookseller’s opinion the most underrated writer of the 20th century - one of the greats - and, unrelatedly, this bookseller’s very favorite writer - make no mistake - he will be studied and beloved and ruined for centuries to come - his first four novels, his only four long-form fantasies - chess, lions, stories, country mice - ‘engine summer’ and ‘little, big’ - the latter the greatest fantasy of the 2nd half of the 20th - in particular stand as desert island picks - and this edition of ‘little, big”s cover is to be vastly preferred over harper’s ponderous reissue
“the deep”
bantam 1984. 12mo. 176pp. vg. a very clean copy with some rubbing on exterior lower fifth of spine.
$10
“beasts”
bantam 1978. 12mo. 211pp. g. somewhat worn and bent exterior. clean pages.
$10
“engine summer”
bantam 1980. 12mo. 209pp. vg. a very clean copy.
$20
“little, big”
bantam 1983. 12mo. 627pp. g+. front cover and spinned worn and in places chipped. clean pages.
$12
william gibson
the brand culture cyberpunk - true inventor of the internet, and the most humanist of the 20th century’s holy trinity of sanity-negators (the other gods being dick and ballard) - his first, his best, in the ultimate globalized wrapping paper - a dirty anonymous paperback
“neuromancer”
ace (date unknown, suspect 1986). 15th. 12mo. 271pp. g-. spine worn and weakening.
$10
david lindsay
the scottish gnostic - truly one of the strangest books of the 20th century - an influence to many that are great - and, for those who care, one of the few works of science fiction to make it into bloom’s ‘canon’
“a voyage to arcturus”
ballantine 1968. 1st mm. 12mo. 287pp. g+. spine worn. slight foxing. pages clean.
$15
/SOLD
ursula k. le guin
the anthropologist queen - one of the great works of political science fiction - for that special someone who overuses the word ‘capitalism’
“the dispossessed”
avon (date unknown - suspect 1975). (unknown printing suspect 11th). 12mo. 311pp. sensitive spine. pages clean. copyright page neatly torn out.
$10
philip k. dick
the philosopher king - inventor of the reality breakdown - two of his early 1960’s paranoias - simulacra, hallucination, nazis and the i ching
“the man in the high castle”
berkley 1982. 10th. 12mo. 249pp. g-vg. spine worn. pages clean.
$10
“martian time-slip”
ballantine 1976. 2nd. 12mo. 220pp. g-vg. spine worn. pages clean.
$10
