Reviewed by Ted Gioia
Here's a synopsis of the first eight pages of A. E.
van Vogt's novel Slan:
We learn that an ostracized race, known as Slans,
lives in hiding from the police in a totalitarian
society. Slans have telepathic powers, which allow
them to detect enemies at a
distance. Despite this skill,
a Slan female cannot escape
her pursuers when she is
identified during a visit to
the capital city. Before she
is killed, she tells her nine-
year-old son Jommy, that
he must go into seclusion,
complete his dead father's
unfinished project, and
then assassinate Kier Gray,
dictator of the planet.
The police capture and kill Jommy's mother. He
grieves for the duration of one sentence. Chased by
police, the boy evades them by jumping on to the
back of a passing car. But this automobile carries
John Petty, sinister chief of police for the
dictatorship. Passersby spot the youngster
precariously balanced on the rear bumper of the car,
and phone in reports to the authorities, who send
out an all points bulletin to apprehend him.
Meanwhile Petty and his chauffeur also detect
Jommy, and chase him on foot through a rundown
residential area. Jommy is injured by a stray bullet,
and seeks for a hiding place amidst a stack of old
crates. Here he find—a heaven-sent miracle!—a
hole in the wall, where he can escape from the
police and citizens who are chasing him.
A ten thousand dollar reward is offered for the
capture of the youngster. The military is called in to
assist in the manhunt.
And we are only halfway through chapter one.
No, the pace does not slow down. Over the course
of the next twenty pages, you will encounter a
kidnapping, an attempted murder, a failed
government takeover, a secret midnight council of
leaders, a rapidly assembled firing squad…and on
and on and on.
Welcome to the world of A.E. van Vogt, the
madcap storyteller who goes through plots faster
than an otolaryngologist uses up tongue
depressers. If writing fiction were simply a matter
of setting up conflicts and resolutions, which lead
to more conflicts and resolutions…well, van Vogt
would have won the Nobel Prize in literature. As
it stands, his books are more slapdash than sublime,
yet captivating in their sheer manic energy.
If I had to sum up van Vogt's oeuvre in a single
phrase, I would opt for: "never a dull moment."
This might even have been his personal mantra. No
author had less faith in his readers' attention span
than A.E. van Vogt. He refuses to give them a
chance to get bored, inserting some death-defying
stunt or crazy galactic escapade every few
paragraphs. Sometimes he must abandon other
lesser (on van Vogt's scale, if not yours) virtues—
coherence, character development, plausible
motivations, stylish prose—in the process. But he
never, ever lets his story lag.
At the time van Vogt came of age as a writer, the
serial film was at the height of its popularity. These
were adventure movies, broken into around a dozen
or so individual episodes. Each week, one of the
installments would be shown at movie theaters
around the US as an interlude between the feature
films. This chapter in an on-going story would last
roughly fifteen minutes, and invariably end with a
cliffhanger—some unresolved plot twist that would
entice the audience to return the following week to
see the next episode.
Of all the science fiction authors of the Golden
Age, van Vogt came closest to transferring the
roller-coaster pacing of the movie serial on to the
printed page. Before Slan reaches its surprise
conclusion—and, yes, it’s fitting, given the
tendencies of this author, that he tosses out another
unexpected plot twist in the final sentence—van
Vogt has gone through more generations of
weaponry than a decade of Department of Defense
expenditures. His story has taken us underwater,
underground, inside mountains, and off to outer
space. Various love interests arrive on the scene,
but rarely last for more than few paragraphs. Just
as a marathon runner can't afford to linger and
enjoy the scenery, van Vogt refuses to slacken his
pace. No, he won’t even look over his shoulder to
gauge the competition. Onward the story rushes, in
a breathless race to the finish line.
What is the most outlandish plot twist here? I must
admit a fondness for the moment when Jommy
arrives at a top security space launch site just
twelve minutes before takeoff, with no specific plan
of attack, but with confidence that he will find a
way of hijacking the spaceship. Of course, he
succeeds. But even better is when Jommy shows up
at the highly fortified presidential palace stark naked
and ready to take on 10,000 opposing troops. Yes,
he wins that encounter too. And if you like fight
scenes, you must savor the moment Jommy matches
up single-handedly against a fleet of spaceships
equipped with nuclear weapons, including a ten-
million ton behemoth of a mothership a half-mile
in diameter and chuck full of the latest assault
technology. Hint: bet on Jommy.
I would like to give van Vogt credit for the socio-
historical resonance of his work. Published in
magazine form during the interlude between the
start of World War II in Europe and the attack on
Pearl Harbor, Slan can be read as a cautionary tale
about the racialist demonizing that made the
Holocaust possible. But I fear I may be giving our
author too much credit, and if anything the mutant
Slans who are the heroes of his book have more in
common with the Arayan self-proclaimed master
race than the Jewish diaspora. Here, as elsewhere
in van Vogt's oeuvre, he shows an unhealthy
fascination with forceful political leaders who
trample on democratic institutions. Yet if one peers
deeply enough into this novel, a theme of tolerance
and non-violence can be dimly detected—often
hidden behind scenes filled with intolerance and
gratuitous violence. Let's hope that a few of the
many teenagers who have read this book over the
decades paused at least long enough to notice.
Ted Gioia's latest book is The Birth (and Death) of
the Cool.
Here's a synopsis of the first eight pages of A. E.
van Vogt's novel Slan:
We learn that an ostracized race, known as Slans,
lives in hiding from the police in a totalitarian
society. Slans have telepathic powers, which allow
them to detect enemies at a
distance. Despite this skill,
a Slan female cannot escape
her pursuers when she is
identified during a visit to
the capital city. Before she
is killed, she tells her nine-
year-old son Jommy, that
he must go into seclusion,
complete his dead father's
unfinished project, and
then assassinate Kier Gray,
dictator of the planet.
The police capture and kill Jommy's mother. He
grieves for the duration of one sentence. Chased by
police, the boy evades them by jumping on to the
back of a passing car. But this automobile carries
John Petty, sinister chief of police for the
dictatorship. Passersby spot the youngster
precariously balanced on the rear bumper of the car,
and phone in reports to the authorities, who send
out an all points bulletin to apprehend him.
Meanwhile Petty and his chauffeur also detect
Jommy, and chase him on foot through a rundown
residential area. Jommy is injured by a stray bullet,
and seeks for a hiding place amidst a stack of old
crates. Here he find—a heaven-sent miracle!—a
hole in the wall, where he can escape from the
police and citizens who are chasing him.
A ten thousand dollar reward is offered for the
capture of the youngster. The military is called in to
assist in the manhunt.
And we are only halfway through chapter one.
No, the pace does not slow down. Over the course
of the next twenty pages, you will encounter a
kidnapping, an attempted murder, a failed
government takeover, a secret midnight council of
leaders, a rapidly assembled firing squad…and on
and on and on.
Welcome to the world of A.E. van Vogt, the
madcap storyteller who goes through plots faster
than an otolaryngologist uses up tongue
depressers. If writing fiction were simply a matter
of setting up conflicts and resolutions, which lead
to more conflicts and resolutions…well, van Vogt
would have won the Nobel Prize in literature. As
it stands, his books are more slapdash than sublime,
yet captivating in their sheer manic energy.
If I had to sum up van Vogt's oeuvre in a single
phrase, I would opt for: "never a dull moment."
This might even have been his personal mantra. No
author had less faith in his readers' attention span
than A.E. van Vogt. He refuses to give them a
chance to get bored, inserting some death-defying
stunt or crazy galactic escapade every few
paragraphs. Sometimes he must abandon other
lesser (on van Vogt's scale, if not yours) virtues—
coherence, character development, plausible
motivations, stylish prose—in the process. But he
never, ever lets his story lag.
At the time van Vogt came of age as a writer, the
serial film was at the height of its popularity. These
were adventure movies, broken into around a dozen
or so individual episodes. Each week, one of the
installments would be shown at movie theaters
around the US as an interlude between the feature
films. This chapter in an on-going story would last
roughly fifteen minutes, and invariably end with a
cliffhanger—some unresolved plot twist that would
entice the audience to return the following week to
see the next episode.
Of all the science fiction authors of the Golden
Age, van Vogt came closest to transferring the
roller-coaster pacing of the movie serial on to the
printed page. Before Slan reaches its surprise
conclusion—and, yes, it’s fitting, given the
tendencies of this author, that he tosses out another
unexpected plot twist in the final sentence—van
Vogt has gone through more generations of
weaponry than a decade of Department of Defense
expenditures. His story has taken us underwater,
underground, inside mountains, and off to outer
space. Various love interests arrive on the scene,
but rarely last for more than few paragraphs. Just
as a marathon runner can't afford to linger and
enjoy the scenery, van Vogt refuses to slacken his
pace. No, he won’t even look over his shoulder to
gauge the competition. Onward the story rushes, in
a breathless race to the finish line.
What is the most outlandish plot twist here? I must
admit a fondness for the moment when Jommy
arrives at a top security space launch site just
twelve minutes before takeoff, with no specific plan
of attack, but with confidence that he will find a
way of hijacking the spaceship. Of course, he
succeeds. But even better is when Jommy shows up
at the highly fortified presidential palace stark naked
and ready to take on 10,000 opposing troops. Yes,
he wins that encounter too. And if you like fight
scenes, you must savor the moment Jommy matches
up single-handedly against a fleet of spaceships
equipped with nuclear weapons, including a ten-
million ton behemoth of a mothership a half-mile
in diameter and chuck full of the latest assault
technology. Hint: bet on Jommy.
I would like to give van Vogt credit for the socio-
historical resonance of his work. Published in
magazine form during the interlude between the
start of World War II in Europe and the attack on
Pearl Harbor, Slan can be read as a cautionary tale
about the racialist demonizing that made the
Holocaust possible. But I fear I may be giving our
author too much credit, and if anything the mutant
Slans who are the heroes of his book have more in
common with the Arayan self-proclaimed master
race than the Jewish diaspora. Here, as elsewhere
in van Vogt's oeuvre, he shows an unhealthy
fascination with forceful political leaders who
trample on democratic institutions. Yet if one peers
deeply enough into this novel, a theme of tolerance
and non-violence can be dimly detected—often
hidden behind scenes filled with intolerance and
gratuitous violence. Let's hope that a few of the
many teenagers who have read this book over the
decades paused at least long enough to notice.
Ted Gioia's latest book is The Birth (and Death) of
the Cool.
| Click on image to purchase |
| conceptual fiction |
Slan
By A. E. van Vogt
By A. E. van Vogt
| Related article: Fix-Up Artist: The Chaotic SF of A.E. van Vogt |
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Great literary works
published since 1985
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Reviews of current books
Postmodern Mystery
Experimental works of mystery
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Fractious Fiction
Radical, unconventional and
experimental fiction
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Conceptual Fiction:
A Reading List
(with links to essays on each work)
Home Page
Abbott, Edwin A.
Flatland
Adams, Douglas
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Aldiss, Brian
Barefoot in the Head
Aldiss, Brian
Hothouse
Aldiss, Brian
Report on Probability A
Allende, Isabel
The House of the Spirits
Amado, Jorge
Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands
Amis, Martin
Time's Arrow
Apuleius
The Golden Ass
Asimov, Isaac
The Foundation Trilogy
Asimov, Isaac
I, Robot
Atwood, Margaret
The Handmaid's Tale
Banks, Iain M.
The State of the Art
Ballard, J.G.
The Atrocity Exhibition
Ballard, J.G.
Crash
Ballard, J.G.
The Crystal World
Ballard, J.G.
The Drowned World
Barth, John
Giles Goat-Boy
Bester, Alfred
The Demolished Man
Blish, James
A Case of Conscience
Borges, Jorge Luis
Ficciones
Bradbury, Ray
Dandelion Wine
Bradbury, Ray
Fahrenheit 451
Bradbury, Ray
The Illustrated Man
Bradbury, Ray
The Martian Chronicles
Bradbury, Ray
Something Wicked This Way Comes
Brockmeier, Kevin
The View from the Seventh Layer
Bulgakov, Mikhail
The Master and Margarita
Bunch, David R.
Moderan
Burgess, Anthony
A Clockwork Orange
Card, Orson Scott
Ender's Game
Carpentier, Alejo
The Kingdom of This World
Carroll, Lewis
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Chabon, Michael
The Yiddish Policemen's Union
Chiang, Ted
Stories of Your Life and Others
Clarke, Arthur C.
Childhood's End
Clarke, Arthur C.
A Fall of Moondust
Clarke, Arthur C.
2001: A Space Odyssey
Clarke, Susanna
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
Crowley, John
Little, Big
Danielewski, Mark Z.
The Fifty Year Sword
Danielewski, Mark Z.
House of Leaves
Davies, Robertson
Fifth Business
Delany, Samuel R.
Babel-17
Delany, Samuel R.
Dhalgren
Delany, Samuel R.
The Einstein Intersection
Delany, Samuel R.
Nova
Dick, Philip K.
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
Dick, Philip K.
Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said
Dick, Philip K.
The Man in the High Castle
Dick, Philip K.
Ubik
Dick, Philip K.
VALIS
Disch, Thomas M.
Camp Concentration
Disch, Thomas M.
The Genocides
Doctorow, Cory
Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom
Donoso, José
The Obscene Bird of Night
Ellison, Harlan (editor)
Dangerous Visions
Ellison, Harlan
I Have No Mouth & I Must Scream
Esquivel, Laura
Like Water for Chocolate
Farmer, Philip José
To Your Scattered Bodies Go
Fuentes, Carlos
Aura
Gaiman, Neil
American Gods
Gaiman, Neil
Neverwhere
Gibson, William
Burning Chrome
Gibson, William
Neuromancer
Grass, Günter
The Tin Drum
Greene, Graham
The End of the Affair
Grossman, Lev
The Magicians
Haldeman, Joe
The Forever War
Hall, Steven
The Raw Shark Texts
Harrison, M. John
The Centauri Device
Harrison, M. John
Light
Heinlein, Robert
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress
Heinlein, Robert:
Stranger in a Strange Land
Heinlein, Robert
Time Enough for Love
Helprin, Mark
Winter's Tale
Herbert, Frank
Dune
Hoffman, Alice
Practical Magic
Huxley, Aldous
Brave New World
Keret, Etgar
Suddenly, A Knock at the Door
Keyes, Daniel
Flowers for Algernon
Kundera, Milan
The Book of Laughter and Forgetting
Kunzru, Hari
Gods Without Men
Lafferty, R.A.
Nine Hundred Grandmothers
Le Guin, Ursula K.
The Dispossessed
Le Guin, Ursula K.
The Lathe of Heaven
Le Guin, Ursula K.
The Left Hand of Darkness
Leiber, Fritz
The Big Time
Leiber, Fritz
Conjure Wife
Leiber, Fritz
Swords & Deviltry
Leiber, Fritz
The Wanderer
Lem, Stanislaw
His Master's Voice
Lem, Stanislaw
Solaris
Lethem, Jonathan
The Fortress of Solitude
Lewis, C. S.
The Chronicles of Narnia
Link, Kelly
Magic for Beginners
Malzberg, Barry N.
Herovit's World
Mann, Thomas
Doctor Faustus
Márquez, Gabriel García
100 Years of Solitude
Markson, David
Wittgenstein's Mistress
Matheson, Richard
Hell House
Matheson, Richard
What Dreams May Come
McCarthy, Cormac
The Road
Miéville, China
Perdido Street Station
Miller, Jr., Walter M.
A Canticle for Leibowitz
Millhauser, Steven
Dangerous Laughter
Mitchell, David
Cloud Atlas
Moorcock, Michael
Behold the Man
Moorcock, Michael
The Final Programme
Morrison, Toni
Beloved
Murakami, Haruki
1Q84
Murakami, Haruki
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the
End of the World
Nabokov, Vladimir
Ada, or Ardor
Niffenegger, Audrey
The Time Traveler's Wife
Niven, Larry
Ringworld
Noon, Jeff
Vurt
Obreht, Téa
The Tiger's Wife
O'Brien, Flann
At Swim-Two-Birds
Okri, Ben
The Famished Road
Percy, Walker
Love in the Ruins
Pohl, Frederik
Gateway
Pratchett, Terry
The Color of Magic
Pynchon, Thomas
Gravity's Rainbow
Rabelais, François
Gargantua and Pantagruel
Robinson, Kim Stanley
Red Mars
Rowling, J.K.
Harry Potter & the Sorcerer's Stone
Rushdie, Salman
Midnight's Children
Russ, Joanna
The Female Man
Saramago, José
Blindness
Sheckley, Robert
Dimension of Miracles
Sheckley, Robert
Mindswap
Sheckley, Robert
Store of the Worlds
Shelley, Mary
Frankenstein
Silverberg, Robert
Dying Inside
Silverberg, Robert
Nightwings
Silverberg, Robert
The World Inside
Simak, Clifford
City
Simak, Clifford
The Trouble with Tycho
Smith, Cordwainer
Norstrilia
Smith, Cordwainer
The Rediscovery of Man
Stephenson, Neal
Snow Crash
Spinrad, Norman
Bug Jack Barron
Stross, Charles
Glasshouse
Sturgeon, Theodore
More Than Human
Sturgeon, Theodore
Some of Your Blood
Swift, Jonathan
Gulliver's Travels
Thomas, D.M.
The White Hotel
Tiptree, Jr., James
Warm Worlds and Otherwise
Tolkien, J.R.R.
The Hobbit
Updike, John
The Witches of Eastwick
Van Vogt, A.E.
The Mixed Men
Van Vogt, A.E.
Slan
Van Vogt, A.E.
The Voyage of the Space Beagle
Van Vogt, A.E.
The World of Null A
Vance, Jack
Emphyrio
Verne, Jules
Around the Moon
Verne, Jules
From the Earth to the Moon
Verne, Jules:
Journey to the Center of the Earth
Vonnegut, Kurt
Cat's Cradle
Vonnegut, Kurt
The Sirens of Titan
Vonnegut, Kurt
Slaughterhouse-Five
Wallace, David Foster
Infinite Jest
Walpole, Horace
Hieroglyphic Tales
Wells, H.G.
The First Men in the Moon
Wells, H.G.
The Island of Dr. Moreau
Wells, H.G.
The Time Machine
Wilson, Robert Anton & Robert Shea
The Illuminatus! Trilogy
Winton, Tim
Cloudstreet
Woolf, Virginia
Orlando
Zabor, Rafi
The Bear Comes Home
Zelazny, Roger
Lord of Light
Zelazny, Roger
This Immortal
Special Features
Notes on Conceptual Fiction
When Science Fiction Grew Up
Ray Bradbury: A Tribute
The Year of Magical Reading
Remembering Fritz Leiber
A Tribute to Richard Matheson
Samuel Delany's 70th birthday
The Sci-Fi of Kurt Vonnegut
Curse You, Neil Armstrong!
Robert Heinlein at 100
A.E, van Vogt Tribute
The Puzzling Case of Robert Sheckley
The Avant-Garde Sci-Fi of Brian Aldiss
Science Fiction 1958-1975: A Reading List
Links to related sites
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www.twitter.com/tedgioia
Conceptual Fiction:
A Reading List
(with links to essays on each work)
Home Page
Abbott, Edwin A.
Flatland
Adams, Douglas
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Aldiss, Brian
Barefoot in the Head
Aldiss, Brian
Hothouse
Aldiss, Brian
Report on Probability A
Allende, Isabel
The House of the Spirits
Amado, Jorge
Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands
Amis, Martin
Time's Arrow
Apuleius
The Golden Ass
Asimov, Isaac
The Foundation Trilogy
Asimov, Isaac
I, Robot
Atwood, Margaret
The Handmaid's Tale
Banks, Iain M.
The State of the Art
Ballard, J.G.
The Atrocity Exhibition
Ballard, J.G.
Crash
Ballard, J.G.
The Crystal World
Ballard, J.G.
The Drowned World
Barth, John
Giles Goat-Boy
Bester, Alfred
The Demolished Man
Blish, James
A Case of Conscience
Borges, Jorge Luis
Ficciones
Bradbury, Ray
Dandelion Wine
Bradbury, Ray
Fahrenheit 451
Bradbury, Ray
The Illustrated Man
Bradbury, Ray
The Martian Chronicles
Bradbury, Ray
Something Wicked This Way Comes
Brockmeier, Kevin
The View from the Seventh Layer
Bulgakov, Mikhail
The Master and Margarita
Bunch, David R.
Moderan
Burgess, Anthony
A Clockwork Orange
Card, Orson Scott
Ender's Game
Carpentier, Alejo
The Kingdom of This World
Carroll, Lewis
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Chabon, Michael
The Yiddish Policemen's Union
Chiang, Ted
Stories of Your Life and Others
Clarke, Arthur C.
Childhood's End
Clarke, Arthur C.
A Fall of Moondust
Clarke, Arthur C.
2001: A Space Odyssey
Clarke, Susanna
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
Crowley, John
Little, Big
Danielewski, Mark Z.
The Fifty Year Sword
Danielewski, Mark Z.
House of Leaves
Davies, Robertson
Fifth Business
Delany, Samuel R.
Babel-17
Delany, Samuel R.
Dhalgren
Delany, Samuel R.
The Einstein Intersection
Delany, Samuel R.
Nova
Dick, Philip K.
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
Dick, Philip K.
Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said
Dick, Philip K.
The Man in the High Castle
Dick, Philip K.
Ubik
Dick, Philip K.
VALIS
Disch, Thomas M.
Camp Concentration
Disch, Thomas M.
The Genocides
Doctorow, Cory
Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom
Donoso, José
The Obscene Bird of Night
Ellison, Harlan (editor)
Dangerous Visions
Ellison, Harlan
I Have No Mouth & I Must Scream
Esquivel, Laura
Like Water for Chocolate
Farmer, Philip José
To Your Scattered Bodies Go
Fuentes, Carlos
Aura
Gaiman, Neil
American Gods
Gaiman, Neil
Neverwhere
Gibson, William
Burning Chrome
Gibson, William
Neuromancer
Grass, Günter
The Tin Drum
Greene, Graham
The End of the Affair
Grossman, Lev
The Magicians
Haldeman, Joe
The Forever War
Hall, Steven
The Raw Shark Texts
Harrison, M. John
The Centauri Device
Harrison, M. John
Light
Heinlein, Robert
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress
Heinlein, Robert:
Stranger in a Strange Land
Heinlein, Robert
Time Enough for Love
Helprin, Mark
Winter's Tale
Herbert, Frank
Dune
Hoffman, Alice
Practical Magic
Huxley, Aldous
Brave New World
Keret, Etgar
Suddenly, A Knock at the Door
Keyes, Daniel
Flowers for Algernon
Kundera, Milan
The Book of Laughter and Forgetting
Kunzru, Hari
Gods Without Men
Lafferty, R.A.
Nine Hundred Grandmothers
Le Guin, Ursula K.
The Dispossessed
Le Guin, Ursula K.
The Lathe of Heaven
Le Guin, Ursula K.
The Left Hand of Darkness
Leiber, Fritz
The Big Time
Leiber, Fritz
Conjure Wife
Leiber, Fritz
Swords & Deviltry
Leiber, Fritz
The Wanderer
Lem, Stanislaw
His Master's Voice
Lem, Stanislaw
Solaris
Lethem, Jonathan
The Fortress of Solitude
Lewis, C. S.
The Chronicles of Narnia
Link, Kelly
Magic for Beginners
Malzberg, Barry N.
Herovit's World
Mann, Thomas
Doctor Faustus
Márquez, Gabriel García
100 Years of Solitude
Markson, David
Wittgenstein's Mistress
Matheson, Richard
Hell House
Matheson, Richard
What Dreams May Come
McCarthy, Cormac
The Road
Miéville, China
Perdido Street Station
Miller, Jr., Walter M.
A Canticle for Leibowitz
Millhauser, Steven
Dangerous Laughter
Mitchell, David
Cloud Atlas
Moorcock, Michael
Behold the Man
Moorcock, Michael
The Final Programme
Morrison, Toni
Beloved
Murakami, Haruki
1Q84
Murakami, Haruki
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the
End of the World
Nabokov, Vladimir
Ada, or Ardor
Niffenegger, Audrey
The Time Traveler's Wife
Niven, Larry
Ringworld
Noon, Jeff
Vurt
Obreht, Téa
The Tiger's Wife
O'Brien, Flann
At Swim-Two-Birds
Okri, Ben
The Famished Road
Percy, Walker
Love in the Ruins
Pohl, Frederik
Gateway
Pratchett, Terry
The Color of Magic
Pynchon, Thomas
Gravity's Rainbow
Rabelais, François
Gargantua and Pantagruel
Robinson, Kim Stanley
Red Mars
Rowling, J.K.
Harry Potter & the Sorcerer's Stone
Rushdie, Salman
Midnight's Children
Russ, Joanna
The Female Man
Saramago, José
Blindness
Sheckley, Robert
Dimension of Miracles
Sheckley, Robert
Mindswap
Sheckley, Robert
Store of the Worlds
Shelley, Mary
Frankenstein
Silverberg, Robert
Dying Inside
Silverberg, Robert
Nightwings
Silverberg, Robert
The World Inside
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This Immortal
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