John M. Ford: Books, Part I

[rachelmanija]

John M. Ford was a marvelous writer, one of my favorites. I never met him, but was a great fan of his work; so my memorial will be to see if I can stir up a bit of discussion about his books

Comments

[alicebentley]

There are 32 copies of The Scholars of Night listed at www.abebooks.com, about half at under $10.

Thank you for the listing of books!

[kate_nepveu]

So there are. Thank you very much.

[desayunoencama]

GROWING UP WEIGHTLESS is also told with no chapter breaks, as I recall.

[nbardsley]

And almost in a single long tracking shot.

[lnhammer]

Not only no chapter breaks, but no scene breaks. It's a marvel.

---L.

[kate_nepveu]

Off the top of my head: _The Dragon Waiting_ is an alternate history about diverse characters resisting the expansion of Byzantium in ways mundane and magical that eventually focus down into Richard III's England (the version Shakespeare told).

(I'm still not sure I understand the middle section at the inn, but I think I have the rest of it.)

I have yet to re-read _Growing Up Weightless_ since the adult plot was explained to me, but it had me in absolute floods of tears the last time I read it nonetheless.

[kate_nepveu]

So what the heck is going on in the adult plot? I read it, then reread it, then interviewed Ford for an online magazine and asked a couple questions about it and still didn't get it.

[kate_nepveu]

ROT 13:

gur zbba arrqf jngre, gurer'f fbzr jnl gb trg vg gung vaibyirf gur qrngu bs gur cvybg, gur sngure srnef gur fba jvyy ibyhagrre orpnhfr gung'f jung ur jbhyq unir qbar.

[mdevnich]

I owned Growing Up Weightless once-- it was one of the books that I discarded when I was culling books for a cross-country move. I regret that now. I didn't get much out of it at the time (your rot-13 spoiler, for example, completely escaped me) but I think that's because I was too young and unliterary to realize everything he had going on.

The Dragon Waiting has been sitting on my to-read shelf for several months, but since the various comments (vampires! I had no idea!) it is now next, after I finish my current book.

[nbardsley]

I did not know you were lacking JMF books. Other than SCHOLARS, which ones are needed?

--Nathan

[rachelmanija]

I think just Scholars, Heat of Fusion, and From the End of the Twentieth Century now. But it turns out that Scholars is not as hard to find as I had thought (see above) so I will order myself a copy.

[nbardsley]

Just in case anyone didn't know...

From the End of the Twentieth Century is from NESFA Press on the occasion of JMF being the Boskone GoH in 1997. Cheap second hand copies are likely to be uncommon, but the book is available directly from NESFA, and others.

Heat of Fusion has only had the initial Tor hardcover release I think, and has already been remaindered. I suppose it's possible remainder copies are still around in the big chain stores. There's probably a good number of used/second-hand copies around, as well as new copies from SF&F specialists.

There's no overlap between the two collections, I seem to recall that NESFA coordinated with Tor as to the contents, e.g., NESFA published the Alternities stories, Tor "Winter Solstice, Camelot Station".

[kate_nepveu]

There's no overlap between the two collections

Not quite; they have "Preflash" (which I have never understood) and "The Lost Dialogue" in common. Which is little enough that both should be bought, without question.

maybe spoiler?

[cyberpilate]

Whoa! Someone ELSE has read How Much for Just the Planet?
I have a enormus library of Star Trek paperbacks and that one was a sincere favorite of mine. I didn't even know there was another book out by him (oh, and the non-ST fiction. =) )

I used the bit about the two kids playing sci-fi heroes when I was in junior high for an in-class writing project. =D