Treasures from a Library Sale

Our local library has a room that is stocked with books they are selling.  As books are sold, more are added so you never know when or what you will find.

Last week I found 2 science fiction collections that were on my want list.

First up is a "best of" collection of the short fiction of James Tiptree, Jr. called "Her Smoke Rose Up Forever".  Tiptree, who was really Alice Sheldon, was one of the best short fiction writers of the seventies (my golden age of magazine fiction).  Among the classics I remember that appear in this collection are:

"Houston, Houston Do You Read"
"The Screwfly Solution"
"The Girl Who Was Plugged In"
"And I Awoke and Found Me on the Cold Hill's Side"
"We Who Stole the Dream"

I look forward to reading all of the stories in this book.  I am sure that I will find many more classic Tiptree stories.

The other book I picked up is "The Hugo Winners Vol. 4 1976-1979" edited by Isaac Asimov.  Many of these bring back fond memories and I am anxious to re-read many of the stories.

"Home is the Hangman" by Roger Zelazny
"The Borderland of Sol" by Larry Niven
"By Any Other Name" by Spider Robinson
"The Bicentennial Man" by Isaac Asimov
"Tricentennial" by Joe Haldeman
"The Persistence of Vision" by John Varley

And that is just a list of ones I read when they were first published.

The authors and time period make these part of my remembrance of Bob Sabella's Visions of Paradise blog.

Short Story Sunday: She Sees Ghosts

Title:  Cassandra

Author:  C. J. Cherryh

First Publication:  The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, October 1978

Awards:  1979 Best Short Story Hugo Award,
1979 Best Short Story Locus Award, Nominee for 1979 Best Short Story Nebula Award

Cover Artists:  (1) Michael Whelan for "The Collected Short Stories of C. J. Cherryh", (2) David Hardy for "The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction"

From Visions of Paradise:  It was a deserving (Hugo) winner, the story of a woman who sees future dead people superimposed on the present, and what happens when she meets a man who is part of both images. A chilling story.

Back in my early days of reading the science fiction magazines, I was always excited to pick up the anniversary issues of "The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction".  The 29th anniversary special was one of the best.  In addition to Cherryh's "Cassandra", it also contained stories by Thomas M Disch, Stephen King (the first appearance of "The Gunslinger"), Terry Carr, and a classic by Michael Bishop ("Effigies").  Going up against tough competition, Cherryh managed to win the Best Short Story Hugo.

I hate to say much more than what was revealed in the quote from Bob Sabella's "Visions of Paradise" blog.  He did a perfect summary of this moving story.  From the tone of the story, the reader knows that this tale will not end well.  Cherryh does a great job of tapping in to the emotions and thoughts of someone with a talent that can be a gift and a curse at the same time.  It has appeared in many collections.  If you have not read it, I suggest hunting it down.  It was only the third non-novel written by Cherryh and it shows how good she is at any length.

I mentioned Bob Sabella's "Visions of Paradise" a few times.  You will also see that I added a label for it.  Bob passed away in late 2011.  I still find myself going back and revisiting his excellent blog.  Any time I review an author that I know he liked or a story that he discussed, I will add this label in memory of Bob.

I read this story as part of "Once Upon a Time VIII".