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  • Clarke Award Finalists 1988

    From James Nicoll@21:1/5 to All on Mon Mar 10 13:24:31 2025
    Which 1988 Clarke Award Finalist Novels Have You Read?
    Drowning Towers (variant of The Sea and Summer) by George Turner
    Fiasko by Stanislaw Lem
    Ancient of Days by Michael Bishop
    Grainne by Keith Roberts
    Memoirs of an Invisible Man by H. F. Saint
    Replay by Ken Grimwood
    AEgypt by John Crowley

    All but the Lem and the Roberts, both of which were undoubtedly better
    than the Saint.
    --
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  • From Robert Woodward@21:1/5 to James Nicoll on Mon Mar 10 10:14:23 2025
    In article <vqmp6f$pse$1@reader1.panix.com>,
    jdnicoll@panix.com (James Nicoll) wrote:

    Which 1988 Clarke Award Finalist Novels Have You Read?
    Drowning Towers (variant of The Sea and Summer) by George Turner
    Fiasko by Stanislaw Lem
    Ancient of Days by Michael Bishop
    Grainne by Keith Roberts
    Memoirs of an Invisible Man by H. F. Saint
    Replay by Ken Grimwood
    AEgypt by John Crowley

    All but the Lem and the Roberts, both of which were undoubtedly better
    than the Saint.

    In this case, none (I just scanned 2 decades of nominees and I had only
    read 2).

    --
    "We have advanced to new and surprising levels of bafflement."
    Imperial Auditor Miles Vorkosigan describes progress in _Komarr_. ‹-----------------------------------------------------
    Robert Woodward robertaw@drizzle.com

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  • From Christian Weisgerber@21:1/5 to James Nicoll on Mon Mar 10 18:43:53 2025
    On 2025-03-10, James Nicoll <jdnicoll@panix.com> wrote:

    Which 1988 Clarke Award Finalist Novels Have You Read?
    Fiasko by Stanislaw Lem

    That one, in German translation.

    --
    Christian "naddy" Weisgerber naddy@mips.inka.de

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  • From Titus G@21:1/5 to Cryptoengineer on Tue Mar 11 16:56:47 2025
    On 11/03/25 14:49, Cryptoengineer wrote:
    On 3/10/2025 9:24 AM, James Nicoll wrote:
    Which 1988 Clarke Award Finalist Novels Have You Read?
    Drowning Towers (variant of The Sea and Summer) by George Turner
    Fiasko by Stanislaw Lem
    Ancient of Days by Michael Bishop
    Grainne by Keith Roberts
    Memoirs of an Invisible Man by H. F. Saint
    Replay by Ken Grimwood
    AEgypt by John Crowley

    Only the Lem.

    pt

    Replay earned one star from me.

    I thought that Keith Roberts' Pavane was brilliant but I have never
    heard or read any of his other novels. Fantastic Fiction lists many.
    Does someone please have a recommendation? Thank you.

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  • From Titus G@21:1/5 to William Hyde on Wed Mar 12 16:51:33 2025
    On 12/03/25 06:26, William Hyde wrote:
    Titus G wrote:
    On 11/03/25 14:49, Cryptoengineer wrote:
    On 3/10/2025 9:24 AM, James Nicoll wrote:
    Which 1988 Clarke Award Finalist Novels Have You Read?
    Drowning Towers (variant of The Sea and Summer) by George Turner
    Fiasko by Stanislaw Lem
    Ancient of Days by Michael Bishop
    Grainne by Keith Roberts
    Memoirs of an Invisible Man by H. F. Saint
    Replay by Ken Grimwood
    AEgypt by John Crowley

    Only the Lem.

    pt

    Replay earned one star from me.

    I thought that Keith Roberts' Pavane was brilliant but I have never
    heard or read any of his other novels. Fantastic Fiction lists many.
    Does someone please have a recommendation? Thank you.

    How embarrassing.

    I was a huge Roberts fan, but somehow I stopped reading him about 1990.
    No idea why. So much to read, so little  time!

    Next to Pavane, my favourite work of his is a novelette,
    "Weinachtsabend".  Very dark.

    There's quite a bit of early work, when he was perfecting his trade
    and/or paying the bills.  The Anita series is about a teenage witch and
    her grandmother, "The Furies" is a Wyndham-style disaster novel, and so forth.  All very readable and he would still be remembered if he'd
    carried on in this vein.

    "The Chalk Giants" is another linked set of stories, this time set
    around an apocalypse.  I read most of the stories as they came out in
    New Worlds so I'm not sure how they work when read all together.  For
    what it's worth, I liked them.

    "Molly Zero" is written in second person.  I probably preferred it to anything except "Pavane" among his writings, but I am relying on old
    memories here as I've not reread it.

    And aside from various short stories that, alas, is where my knowledge
    stops.

    Thank you for the detailed reply. I couldn't find Weinachtsabend easily
    so have a copy of Molly Zero instead, thank you.

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  • From Titus G@21:1/5 to Titus G on Sat Apr 5 16:18:50 2025
    On 12/03/25 16:51, Titus G wrote:
    On 12/03/25 06:26, William Hyde wrote:
    Next to Pavane, my favourite work of his is a novelette,
    "Weinachtsabend".  Very dark.

    "Molly Zero" is written in second person.  I probably preferred it to
    anything except "Pavane" among his writings, but I am relying on old
    memories here as I've not reread it.

    Thank you for the detailed reply. I couldn't find Weinachtsabend easily
    so have a copy of Molly Zero instead, thank you.

    It didn't take long for me to realise that I had read this but forgotten
    it. I reread it and enjoyed it, thank you, though it is really a YA book.

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