Meetings with remarkable books.
There are books that have changed the trajectory of my life.
Today I’ll start with science fiction and fantasy.
Granted, my reading tastes are on the eclectic side, but there are certain books that made a profound impression on me. They opened my eyes, expanded my mind and my horizons and pushed me along paths I never anticipated, altering both the way I live my life, the way I view my life and the way I write my books.
Dune, by Frank Herbert, is one such book. If my life is a pyramid, then Dune is the base. I read it when I was fourteen years old and it forever altered my view of science fiction, religious fanaticism, human evolution and the uses and abuses of power. Don’t bother with any of the sequels,, just read Dune. Oh, and skip the movie version.
Stranger In a Strange Land, by Robert A. Heinlein -close to a science fiction bible. If you’d like to grok the meaning of the word grok, read this book, then you can skip Malcolm Gladwell’s derivative albeit very entertaining book, Blink.
Ringworld, by Larry Niven. I consider this book to be one of the most, if not the most, dynamic examples of world building in the entire science fiction realm.
A Wrinkle in Time, A Wind in the Door and A Swiftly Tilting Planet, by Madeleine L’Engle - YA at its best. I like C.S. Lewis, but Madeleine L’Engle has him beat by a mile. Read the series and weep.
The Left Hand of Darkness, by Ursula LeGuin, a brilliant futuristic science fiction work involving issues of gender identity and feminism - a book you should not walk by without a second look.
A Canticle for Leibowitz, written by Walter A. Miller. OMG…a unique take on our post-apocalyptic world - In my humble opinion, A Canticle for Leibowitz was/is the prototype for the post-apocalyptic novels we see today.
I have to toss in here Mary Stewart’s heartbreaking version of the Arthurian legend with her books, The Crystal Cave, The Hollow Hills, and The Last Enchantment. Another brilliant and violent retelling of the story, released as a trilogy by Bernard Cornwall, includes The Winter King, Enemy of God, and Excalibur.
Then there are the usual suspects like The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Handmaid’s Tale, The Children of Men - all of which I love, none of which changed my life - aside from watching Aragorn and Legolas in Peter Jackson’s film version. Ahhhhh, Legolas….swoon….
Tomorrow…philosophy, followed by mythology and the classics! Yee-hah!
