Two things to set clearly straight: that's FREDERIK Pohl, and
since both titles have been mentioned, TIGER! TIGER! and THE
STARS MY DESTINATION by Alfred Bester are the same novel
(common UK and US titles, respectively).
As Graham Powell noted, Algis Budrys's work is perhaps the
epitome of HB SF, certainly his novels of the '50s: ROGUE
MOON (Gold Medal, 1959; republished by
Budrys--revised?--under his own title, THE DEATH MACHINE, in
2001) being the capstone, but WHO? (Lion? '56?) being a good
second (also SOME WILL NOT DIE and THE FALLING TORCH). The
only Budrys book of the period I can't recommend is the
slight MAN OF EARTH (Ballantine '58?), which definitely means
I recommend the short story collection of the time, and the
ones since. His most recent novel, HARD LANDING, from
six-eight years back has been unjustly neglected. Budrys won
or was up for the Edgar, iirc, for his ultragrim "The Master
of the Hounds" (not to be confused with Ellison's Kitty
Genovese fantasy "The Whimper of Whipped Dogs" noted
below).
Kim Newman's THE NIGHT MAYOR deserves mention here, an sf
frame for a pastiche of hb film/fiction. His ANNO DRACULA
series of novels/stories are almost by definition noirish and
usually have criminous and detective aspects.
Similarly Les Daniels's "Don Sebastian" novels. I suppose
this inevitably brings us to Laurel Hamilton, and less
obviously to Ron Goulart's Max Kearney stories, most
collected in GHOST BREAKER.
In the event anyone can find Allen Kim Lang's short fiction,
particularly such items as the early '60s "Thaw and Serve,"
it's as relevant here as anything by Ellison. Perhaps it's
not irrelevant that one was published in THE MAGAZINE OF
FANTASY AND SCIENCE FICTION when it was edited by Avram
Davidson.
William Kotzwinkle's THE GAME OF THIRTY and perhaps THE EXILE
are relevant here.
Daniel Galouye has been mentioned, though his work is, I
fear, all out of print.
Edward Wellen, with HIJACK among others, contributed to
near-future hb sf.
Directly relevant Fritz Leiber: "I'm Looking for Jeff"; "The
Night He Cried"
Robert Bloch. At very least, "The Yougoslaves" or "The Weird
Tailor" for bleak noirish horror; not a little else.
[mailto:
owner-rara-avis@icomm.ca]On Behalf Of William Denton
Sent: Sunday, November 30, 2003 7:29 PM To: RARA-AVIS
Subject: RARA-AVIS: January will be HB SF month
Giving January 2004 (when the list will turn seven) an SF
(the preferred term for science fiction, speculative fiction,
fantasy, etc.) theme sounds great. I noted some titles that
were mentioned and I'll add this list to the reminder:
John Barnes, KALEIDOSCOPE CENTURY (1995) Neal Barrett, Jr.,
THROUGH DARKEST AMERICA (1986);
DAWN'S UNCERTAIN LIGHT (1989) Greg Bear,
QUEEN OF ANGELS (1990) Alfred Bester, THE DEMOLISHED MAN
(1952) Michael Blumlein, THE MOVEMENT OF MOUNTAINS (1987)
Leigh Brackett's science fiction David Brin, KILN PEOPLE (or
KIL'N PEOPLE) (2003) Philip K. Dick, FLOW MY TEARS, THE
POLICEMAN SAID (1974);
DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP?
(1968); A SCANNER DARKLY (1977) Harlan Ellison, "A Boy and
His Dog" (1969);
"The Whimper of Whipped Dogs" (1973) M.J.
Engh, ARSLAN (aka A WIND FROM BUKHARA) (1976) William
Gibson's cyberpunk, e.g. NEUROMANCER (1984) Russell M.
Griffin, THE TIMESERVERS (1985) K.W. Jeter, DR. ADDER (1984);
THE GLASS HAMMER (1985); DEATH ARMS
(1989); FAREWELL HORIZONTAL (1989) Richard
Matheson, I AM LEGEND (1954) Richard K. Morgan, ALTERED
CARBON (2002) Curt Siodmak, DONOVAN'S BRAIN (1942) Bruce
Sterling's cyberpunk Theodore Sturgeon Jack Womack, RANDOM
ACTS OF SENSELESS VIOLENCE (1993) (prequel to the
Terraplane series)
Drop me some mail if there are any others you'd recommend.
Personally, I didn't like the Brin or Morgan books, but
they're very Chandlerish. I can't remember how hardboiled or
noirish PKD's FLOW MY TEARS is, but if you haven't read
anything by him the others are good places to start
(though A SCANNER DARKLY is near the top of his freaked-out
paranoid books). Bester's THE DEMOLISHED MAN is a
classic.
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