| The Most Secretive Woman in the History of Science Fiction This month marks the centennial of sci-fi author James Tiptree, Jr., a man who was as fictional as his make-believe characters by Ted Gioia |
| conceptual fiction Exploring the Non-Realist Tradition in Fiction |
Who is the most mysterious sci-fi author of them all?
Maybe that fellow L. Ron Hubbard, who decided that a religion from outer
space had a better payback than stories about outer space? Or perhaps
Philip K. Dick, who was convinced he had been possessed by the spirit of
the prophet Elijah? And let’s not forget Cordwainer Smith, who apparently
believed that he lived part-time on an alien planet.
But I insist that we add James Tiptree, Jr. to this list.
August 24 marks the 100th anniversary of Tiptree's
birth, and it is an event well worth celebrating. One of
my favorite genre writers, Tiptree earned a shelf full
of major awards for short stories and novellas back
in the 1970s and 1980s. And Tiptree's fame lives
on posthumously. Three years ago, Tiptree was
inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame. Every
year the James Tiptree, Jr. Award is given to a work
of sci-fi and fantasy that explores gender roles.
But there never was a James Tiptree, Jr.
When Tiptree was a rising star of the science fiction
world, any fan who tried to phone the author learned
that no one by that name was listed in the directory.
No author photos could be found on the jacket sleeves of Tiptree’s books.
All requests for public appearances were declined. Influential sci-fi writers
and editors who hoped to meet Tiptree in person found their overtures
rebuffed.
David Gerrold, screenwriter for the famous "Trouble with Tribbles"
screenplay on Star Trek, even went to Tiptree's mailing address in
Alexandria, Virginia, a large rambling home in a wooded area. Knocking
on the door, he was greeted by a diminutive, middle-aged woman who
was puzzled by her visitor’s request to meet James Tiptree, Jr. She had
no idea who he was talking about.
But this absence of firsthand knowledge hardly stopped the sci-fi
community from speculating about the hot new writer on the scene.
Tiptree was "a man of 50 or 55, I guess, possibly unmarried, fond of
outdoor life, restless in his everyday existence," speculated Robert
Silverberg in his introduction to Tiptree's Warm Worlds and Otherwise.
Silverberg mentions in passing rumors that Tiptree might be a woman,
but was quick to dismiss these suggestions as "absurd"—then added:
"there is something ineluctably masculine about Tiptree's writings."
Readers who wanted the inside scoop on James Tiptree, Jr. would
have done better to skip Silverberg's introduction, and instead mull
over the title to one of the most provocative stories in the collection,
a tale named “The Women Men Don’t See.” That describes the writer
of these stories much better than any of the details in the standard
author's bio.
These smart, iconoclastic stories were actually
written by Alice B. Sheldon, who was almost sixty
years old when she won her first Hugo award for
the prescient 'virtual reality' novella "The Girl Who
Was Plugged In." Sheldon had never known anyone
named Tiptree—she found the name on a jar of
English marmalade. But it suited the debonair
persona she hoped to construct for her public image.
This wasn’t the first time Alice Sheldon had adopted
a secret identity. She had learned about secrecy from
the very best teachers while working for Army
intelligence and the CIA. In later life, she found that
these skills helped her in unexpected ways. When
she briefly left her husband in the mid-1950s, he
struggled to find any clue to her whereabouts—and
her spouse, Huntington D. Sheldon was a high-level
CIA spy! "I used my clandestine training to disappear,"
she later boasted. "In a day, I had a new name, a new bank account, had
rented a house and really destroyed all traces of my former personality."
Husband and wife later reconciled, but Alice Sheldon found that this
assumption of a new identity served as a test run for her eventual rebirth
as sci-fi author James Tiptree, Jr. She later denied any attempt to
mislead. "I can’t help what people think sounds male or female," she
complained. But Sheldon clearly put as much energy into creating the
Tiptree persona as she did into making her finely crafted stories.
I can’t blame Silverberg for asserting the masculinity of Mr. Tiptree. The
men in Sheldon’s stories are macho and lustful. They spend a lot of time
looking at women, or concerned with fighting and weapons. As a
youngster, Sheldon had traveled extensively, visiting Central Africa,
Southeast Asia and other far-flung locales, and she gave Tiptree a
similarly cosmopolitan background. Readers probably envisioned Tiptree
as a kind of sci-fi Hemingway, running with the bulls or off on an African
safari. The occasional hints of espionage—Tiptree would turn down a
request for a public appearance because of “secret business”—imparted
an additional 007-ish flavor to the author’s image.
Sheldon can hardly be faulted for this charade. We are familiar with authors
who hide their gender in order to reach a larger audience. But women in
science fiction have faced perhaps the greatest obstacles in gaining
credibility among the genre’s core audience—which has traditionally
been dominated by young males.
Back in 1949, a major science fiction magazine surveyed its fan base,
and learned that only 6.7% of its readers were female. Similar surveys from
the 1970s, when Tiptree started gaining recognition in the field, suggest
that women had grown to around a quarter of the audience for sci-fi. But
female writers still struggled to find acceptance in the field—1970s surveys
of 'all-time favorite' sci-fi stories gave all the top spots to men.
By taking on the Tiptree image, Sheldon bypassed the stereotypes and
biases that might have limited her otherwise. Many of her predecessors
in the field, such as Andre Norton or C.L. Moore, had already taken
similar steps. Sheldon no doubt recognized that attitudes were changing
in the 1970s—in fact, she corresponded with Ursula K. Le Guin and
Joanna Russ, who were enjoying success with an overtly feminist brand
of sci-fi during this period. But Tiptree had a different attitude. She was
sympathetic with feminism, joined NOW and at one point started referring
to other women as "sisters." She had romantic entanglements with women,
and saw herself as essentially bisexual. But she also delighted in her ability
to convince the leading men of sci-fi that she was one of their own. Above
all, she took pride in her skill in constructing a double life, and was reluctant
to give it up.
But eventually someone penetrated behind Tiptree’s façade. Sheldon had
shared some details about her mother, whom she had described as an
explorer living in Chicago. A fan used this information to track down an
obituary from the Chicago Tribune, which identified Alice B. Sheldon as
the only survivor of Mary Hastings Bradley, a noted travel writer. The details
of the deceased matched Tiptree's account of his mother, and the author
was soon confronted with the results of this successful sleuthing.
Related Essay:
When Science Fiction Grew Up
Sheldon decided to publicly acknowledge her real identity. She wrote
'coming out' letters to Le Guin and others, taking the opportunity to
apologize for deceiving her literary friends. But like a true master spy,
Sheldon disliked having her cover blown. She continued to publish works
under the name James Tiptree, Jr. and in later days grumbled about
researchers who wanted to write her life story. She even asked her
agent whether she could charge them money for answering their questions.
Sheldon’s final years were marred by illness, both her own and her
husband's. Her 1987 death was a shocking one—the result of a suicide
pact between the couple . After first shooting her husband in his sleep,
she calmly phoned her lawyer to describe what she had done, then turned
the gun on herself. She had been talking about suicide for many years—
the note she left explaining it was dated from 1979. When the police
arrived on the scene, they found the two bodies side-by-side, holding
hands.
Tiptree’s reputation has been in the ascendancy since the author’s death.
A full-scale Tiptree/Sheldon biography was published by Julie Phillips in
2006—and won the National Book Critics Circle Award. And I suspect
a Hollywood movie will eventually bring her story to an even larger
audience. If Alan Turing and Stephen Hawking deserve a bio-pic, why
not the remarkable Alice B. Sheldon?
The centennial of this author’s birth gives us an opportunity to marvel over
the extraordinary deception practiced by the most mysterious woman in
20th century genre fiction. I hope it also gives a few readers an excuse to
get familiar with her writing. But as much as I admire these works, I can't
help concluding that the most impressive fictional character created by
James Tiptree, Jr. was the author himself.
Ted Gioia writes on books, music and popular culture. His latest book Love Songs: The Hidden
History, is published by Oxford University Press.
This essay was published on August 23, 2015
Maybe that fellow L. Ron Hubbard, who decided that a religion from outer
space had a better payback than stories about outer space? Or perhaps
Philip K. Dick, who was convinced he had been possessed by the spirit of
the prophet Elijah? And let’s not forget Cordwainer Smith, who apparently
believed that he lived part-time on an alien planet.
But I insist that we add James Tiptree, Jr. to this list.
August 24 marks the 100th anniversary of Tiptree's
birth, and it is an event well worth celebrating. One of
my favorite genre writers, Tiptree earned a shelf full
of major awards for short stories and novellas back
in the 1970s and 1980s. And Tiptree's fame lives
on posthumously. Three years ago, Tiptree was
inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame. Every
year the James Tiptree, Jr. Award is given to a work
of sci-fi and fantasy that explores gender roles.
But there never was a James Tiptree, Jr.
When Tiptree was a rising star of the science fiction
world, any fan who tried to phone the author learned
that no one by that name was listed in the directory.
No author photos could be found on the jacket sleeves of Tiptree’s books.
All requests for public appearances were declined. Influential sci-fi writers
and editors who hoped to meet Tiptree in person found their overtures
rebuffed.
David Gerrold, screenwriter for the famous "Trouble with Tribbles"
screenplay on Star Trek, even went to Tiptree's mailing address in
Alexandria, Virginia, a large rambling home in a wooded area. Knocking
on the door, he was greeted by a diminutive, middle-aged woman who
was puzzled by her visitor’s request to meet James Tiptree, Jr. She had
no idea who he was talking about.
But this absence of firsthand knowledge hardly stopped the sci-fi
community from speculating about the hot new writer on the scene.
Tiptree was "a man of 50 or 55, I guess, possibly unmarried, fond of
outdoor life, restless in his everyday existence," speculated Robert
Silverberg in his introduction to Tiptree's Warm Worlds and Otherwise.
Silverberg mentions in passing rumors that Tiptree might be a woman,
but was quick to dismiss these suggestions as "absurd"—then added:
"there is something ineluctably masculine about Tiptree's writings."
Readers who wanted the inside scoop on James Tiptree, Jr. would
have done better to skip Silverberg's introduction, and instead mull
over the title to one of the most provocative stories in the collection,
a tale named “The Women Men Don’t See.” That describes the writer
of these stories much better than any of the details in the standard
author's bio.
These smart, iconoclastic stories were actually
written by Alice B. Sheldon, who was almost sixty
years old when she won her first Hugo award for
the prescient 'virtual reality' novella "The Girl Who
Was Plugged In." Sheldon had never known anyone
named Tiptree—she found the name on a jar of
English marmalade. But it suited the debonair
persona she hoped to construct for her public image.
This wasn’t the first time Alice Sheldon had adopted
a secret identity. She had learned about secrecy from
the very best teachers while working for Army
intelligence and the CIA. In later life, she found that
these skills helped her in unexpected ways. When
she briefly left her husband in the mid-1950s, he
struggled to find any clue to her whereabouts—and
her spouse, Huntington D. Sheldon was a high-level
CIA spy! "I used my clandestine training to disappear,"
she later boasted. "In a day, I had a new name, a new bank account, had
rented a house and really destroyed all traces of my former personality."
Husband and wife later reconciled, but Alice Sheldon found that this
assumption of a new identity served as a test run for her eventual rebirth
as sci-fi author James Tiptree, Jr. She later denied any attempt to
mislead. "I can’t help what people think sounds male or female," she
complained. But Sheldon clearly put as much energy into creating the
Tiptree persona as she did into making her finely crafted stories.
I can’t blame Silverberg for asserting the masculinity of Mr. Tiptree. The
men in Sheldon’s stories are macho and lustful. They spend a lot of time
looking at women, or concerned with fighting and weapons. As a
youngster, Sheldon had traveled extensively, visiting Central Africa,
Southeast Asia and other far-flung locales, and she gave Tiptree a
similarly cosmopolitan background. Readers probably envisioned Tiptree
as a kind of sci-fi Hemingway, running with the bulls or off on an African
safari. The occasional hints of espionage—Tiptree would turn down a
request for a public appearance because of “secret business”—imparted
an additional 007-ish flavor to the author’s image.
Sheldon can hardly be faulted for this charade. We are familiar with authors
who hide their gender in order to reach a larger audience. But women in
science fiction have faced perhaps the greatest obstacles in gaining
credibility among the genre’s core audience—which has traditionally
been dominated by young males.
Back in 1949, a major science fiction magazine surveyed its fan base,
and learned that only 6.7% of its readers were female. Similar surveys from
the 1970s, when Tiptree started gaining recognition in the field, suggest
that women had grown to around a quarter of the audience for sci-fi. But
female writers still struggled to find acceptance in the field—1970s surveys
of 'all-time favorite' sci-fi stories gave all the top spots to men.
By taking on the Tiptree image, Sheldon bypassed the stereotypes and
biases that might have limited her otherwise. Many of her predecessors
in the field, such as Andre Norton or C.L. Moore, had already taken
similar steps. Sheldon no doubt recognized that attitudes were changing
in the 1970s—in fact, she corresponded with Ursula K. Le Guin and
Joanna Russ, who were enjoying success with an overtly feminist brand
of sci-fi during this period. But Tiptree had a different attitude. She was
sympathetic with feminism, joined NOW and at one point started referring
to other women as "sisters." She had romantic entanglements with women,
and saw herself as essentially bisexual. But she also delighted in her ability
to convince the leading men of sci-fi that she was one of their own. Above
all, she took pride in her skill in constructing a double life, and was reluctant
to give it up.
But eventually someone penetrated behind Tiptree’s façade. Sheldon had
shared some details about her mother, whom she had described as an
explorer living in Chicago. A fan used this information to track down an
obituary from the Chicago Tribune, which identified Alice B. Sheldon as
the only survivor of Mary Hastings Bradley, a noted travel writer. The details
of the deceased matched Tiptree's account of his mother, and the author
was soon confronted with the results of this successful sleuthing.
Related Essay:
When Science Fiction Grew Up
Sheldon decided to publicly acknowledge her real identity. She wrote
'coming out' letters to Le Guin and others, taking the opportunity to
apologize for deceiving her literary friends. But like a true master spy,
Sheldon disliked having her cover blown. She continued to publish works
under the name James Tiptree, Jr. and in later days grumbled about
researchers who wanted to write her life story. She even asked her
agent whether she could charge them money for answering their questions.
Sheldon’s final years were marred by illness, both her own and her
husband's. Her 1987 death was a shocking one—the result of a suicide
pact between the couple . After first shooting her husband in his sleep,
she calmly phoned her lawyer to describe what she had done, then turned
the gun on herself. She had been talking about suicide for many years—
the note she left explaining it was dated from 1979. When the police
arrived on the scene, they found the two bodies side-by-side, holding
hands.
Tiptree’s reputation has been in the ascendancy since the author’s death.
A full-scale Tiptree/Sheldon biography was published by Julie Phillips in
2006—and won the National Book Critics Circle Award. And I suspect
a Hollywood movie will eventually bring her story to an even larger
audience. If Alan Turing and Stephen Hawking deserve a bio-pic, why
not the remarkable Alice B. Sheldon?
The centennial of this author’s birth gives us an opportunity to marvel over
the extraordinary deception practiced by the most mysterious woman in
20th century genre fiction. I hope it also gives a few readers an excuse to
get familiar with her writing. But as much as I admire these works, I can't
help concluding that the most impressive fictional character created by
James Tiptree, Jr. was the author himself.
Ted Gioia writes on books, music and popular culture. His latest book Love Songs: The Hidden
History, is published by Oxford University Press.
This essay was published on August 23, 2015
Alice Sheldon (aka James Tiptree, Jr.)
Alice Sheldon in Africa as a young girl
Follow Ted Gioia on Twitter at
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
Mandel, Emily St. John
Station Eleven
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
The Most Secretive Sci-Fi Author
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
The New Canon
Great Books Guide
Postmodern Mystery
Fractious Fiction
Ted Gioia's web site
Ted Gioia on Twitter
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Graeme's Fantasy Book Review
Los Angeles Review of Books
The Millions
Big Dumb Object
SF Novelists
More Words, Deeper Hole
The Misread City
Reviews and Responses
SF Signal
True Science Fiction
Tor blog
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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
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The Man in the High Castle
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Ubik
Dick, Philip K.
VALIS
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Camp Concentration
Disch, Thomas M.
The Genocides
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Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom
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The Obscene Bird of Night
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Dangerous Visions
Ellison, Harlan
I Have No Mouth & I Must Scream
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Like Water for Chocolate
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To Your Scattered Bodies Go
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Aura
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Neverwhere
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Burning Chrome
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Neuromancer
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The End of the Affair
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Light
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The Moon is a Harsh Mistress
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Time Enough for Love
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Winter's Tale
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Dune
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Practical Magic
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Brave New World
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Suddenly, A Knock at the Door
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Flowers for Algernon
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The Book of Laughter and Forgetting
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Gods Without Men
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Nine Hundred Grandmothers
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His Master's Voice
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Magic for Beginners
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100 Years of Solitude
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Wittgenstein's Mistress
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What Dreams May Come
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Dangerous Laughter
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Behold the Man
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Beloved
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1Q84
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Ada, or Ardor
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Vurt
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At Swim-Two-Birds
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Love in the Ruins
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Gateway
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City
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More Than Human
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Cat's Cradle
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Lord of Light
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