The Greks Bring Gifts was originally published in 1964 and reprinted in paperback in 1968 (the cover above). It is a classic science fiction tale of apparently benevolent aliens who turn out to be not so.
Murray Leinster (pseudonym of William F. Jenkins) was a prolific early science fiction writer with literally hundreds of stories, articles, radio plays, television scripts, and other works. He published his first story in 1916 and his last novel in 1969. He also wrote other genre fiction during the heyday of the pulps and would use variations of William Jenkins if a magazine already had one of his stories under the Leinster name! His stories include one of the first mentions of a universal translator ("First Contact" 1945) and one of the first descriptions of a computer ("A Logic Called Joe" 1946). He also won a Hugo award for his novelette "Exploration Team" in 1956. Greks is available on Biblio for as little as $3.97, including shipping. From the back of The Greks Bring Gifts: They came to Earth in their space ship, bearing fabulous gifts - such as machines that did any day job automatically, and fertilizer that made plants shoot up overnight. But they presented their gifts with contempt, and with a look in their eyes that made people feel "creepy". Still, because of the brave new world they promised, they Greks could be forgiven anything - until they left and people discovered the machines were breaking down. Then their only choice was to beg the Greks to come back, on their own terms. And they knew the terms would be hard...
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This fine, short novel won the Newbery Award in 1961 and is O'Dell's most recognized work. As with most historical novels it maintains its relevance well.
The novel, like many of O'Dell's stories, is based on actual history, in this case the story of Juana Maria who was stranded on San Nicolas Island from 1835-1853. It is a story that showcases how close to the edge of mortality primitive societies live. It features sharp, painful loss as well as triumph and growth. The main character, Karana, of necessity, assumes both the traditional roles of men and women. She builds a friendship with a woman who comes to the island with a band of Aleuts, a tribe with whom Karana's tribe had fought. She also finds companionship with the animals of the island, particularly two dogs. Very well crafted, The Island of the Blue Dolphins is a highly recommended tale of adventure, adversity, resourcefulness and perseverance. O'Dell was also a runner-up for the Newbery three other times, with The King's Fifth (1966), The Black Pearl (1967), and Sing Down the Moon (1970). I can recommend The King's Fifth from personal experience. All four are available on Biblio for less than $4.00 including shipping. The Long Way Home was originally published as a serial novel with the title No World of Their Own in the magazine Astounding in 1955. It was printed in book form in 1978 with the return of some parts that had been edited out of the serial version by Tor.
The story revolves around a crew of four humans who had embarked on an experimental hyperspace-drive equipped spaceship for a one year mission. They find many planets and aliens in their journey and even add one alien to the crew - the feline-looking humanoid on the cover. However, upon their return they find that the premise of the drive was false and that 5000 years have passed since their departure. Most of the novel concentrates on the crew and the alien, Saris, and how they manage to unwind a cold war between Earth and its Centauri colonies (with aliens of their own) and the oppressive rule of a computer known as the Technon. There is a significant part of the story told from the alien perspective of Saris making it one of the first with that kind of plot line. It was written over half a century ago. Despite that it still has over 160 ratings on Goodreads. It does get poor marks, generally, for the characters; with the caveat that Anderson's characters usually have more depth. It does get high marks for premise and plot and the science, though not perfect, has a lot of elements that are still believable (or actual) in the current state. Overall it is a recommended hard science fiction read from the "classic" era. It can be snatched up on Biblio for as little as $3.97 including shipping. Pawn of Prophecy is the first of a ten-volume epic fantasy first published in 1982. The set is broken into two five-volume groups The Belgariad and The Mallorean. It is high fantasy and quite literally designed around the concept of a Game of Destiny.
It does have many concepts of classic fantasy - a protagonist who does not know his destiny, swords, shapechangers, magic, gods, prophecy, and destiny. It does have multi-faceted characters as well like Kheldar who presents as a merchant but who is a spy, a prince, and a thief all wrapped into one. Eddings paints a rich world with political intrigue, religion, and interaction between gods, humans, and magic. It lacks the language that Tolkien provides to his trilogy - no elvish or orcish - but in other aspects the world is perhaps even fuller. Pawn of Prophecy is the coming of age story of Garion and introduces the full pantheon, including the evil antithesis Torak, and the varied "fellowship" that will carry through, with additions and subtractions, the next nine volumes in the battle between good (who sometimes have rifts to overcome) and evil. David Eddings did have Tolkien in mind when he wrote the series; he was consciously trying to add elements to the classic epic fantasy of Tolkien. One sees this in the world of Aloria. One sees this in the story of Torak. And one sees it in the interplay of the characters and the religions. This book has over 77,000 ratings on Goodreads with an average of 4.16. The other books of the series are also highly rated, all between 4.1 and 4.2. It is available on Biblio for as little as $3.94 including shipping. In honor of Blume's Day (or Blumesday), which, for those of you who don't know, is February 4 in honor of Judy Blume, I thought to Throwback to an arbitrary (by which I mean a list based on the books I read as a tween and remember as an adult) list of the top ten books for teens that might be deemed "classics".
In keeping with our honoree, Tales of a Fourth-Grade Nothing is still in print, still loved by uncountable kids and leads of to the rest of the "Fudge" series, introducing several memorable characters including Fudge himself and Sheila Tubman. The Newbery-winning Charlotte's Web is also a book I remember fondly, has been made into a movie and, most importantly, is a book my children read, on their own, and also loved. E.B. White wrote many other things but this is the work he is most remembered for. Mister God, This is Anna by Fynn is an inspirational and heart-warming tale. It tells of simple, unconditional love and trust and belief. A Cricket in Times Square is a complex story that includes some of the same themes but also touches on family and responsibility. George Selden mixes a bit of superstition has animals telling the story which is often quite appealing. Finally, rounding out my short list, is Beverly Cleary's The Mouse and the Motorcycle. Cleary is a master storyteller and anyone who can juxtapose a mouse and a motorcycle in a story for young boys has a winner. Of course there are many more books that could join the list but the fact that these come so easily to mind some 35-45 years after I first read them means that, for me anyway they fit the term of classic - works to be remembered and cherished from one generation to the next. Want to mention your particular favorite? Please leave a comment, let us know! Better late than never. On this special Friday edition of Throwback Thursday...
Sherlock Holmes is possibly the most well-known fictional detective in the world. He is so famous that over 100 years from his introduction he has his own television show and the books retelling his many cases are still in print and in demand. Homes made his debut in the short novel A Study in Scarlet in 1887. Eventually Doyle would publish 56 short stories and 4 novels featuring Holmes, the last 40 years after A Study in Scarlet. Doyle famously was annoyed by the success of Holmes, wanting to spend time on other writing projects. Doyle was a prolific writer and diverse. He wrote seven historical novels, nine other novels, multiple plays, and literally hundreds of short stories. He considered his historical novels his best work, though few could name them today. A Study in Scarlet mixes many things, like all of the Holmes stories it is a complex tale. Narrated by the inimical Dr. Watson, it mixes love, religion (the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints, the Mormons, are a prominent part of the story), the American West, and industrial age England. It introduces the Baker Street Irregulars, essentially street urchins employed by Holmes to scout the environs. It brings forth Inspector Lestrade of Scotland Yard and, in the end, the recurring theme that the police get the credit while Holmes takes a back seat. I first read the Holmes stories as a teenager and have a facsimile copy of the Strand stories on my book shelf. You could definitely read worse! A Study in Scarlet is plentifully available in multiple editions starting at only $3.94 including shipping on Biblio. The Candlelight Ecstasy Supreme series was published by Dell during the heyday of the serial romance. They were longer than the original Candlelight Ecstasy series and thus the stories could have more depth. This was the third book in a series that would eventually run to 188 titles.
Donna Kimel Vitek wrote 34 romance novels between 1979 and 1987, starting with four short romances for Macfadden Encore (as Donna Alexander), then ten for Silhouette (as Donna Vitek) before moving on to Candlelight (as Donna Kimel Vitek). When Dell shut down the Candlelight series she stopped writing. Her popularity is shown by being one of the authors being invited to step up from the base Ecstasy series to the Ecstasy Supreme series. Synopsis: "She'd worked hard to get to the top--to become an associate producer. When a malicious scandal forced her to switch networks, Juliet York swore that unfounded rumors would never threaten her reputation again. "But she'd no sooner arrived at Union Broadcasting than superstar anchorman Marc Tyner made it clear that he wanted more than a working relationship. Being thrown together on a dangerous investigative assignment in a small town meant double jeopardy: Marc would use every wile to get his story--and his way. How could she protect herself when his merest touch triggered her deepest desires? How could she know if this was the love of a lifetime or a dangerous diversion--no rumor but a real affair that could break her heart and destroy her career?" Warmed by the Fire is available on Biblio for as little as $5.99. Today would have been Alan Alexander Milne's 136th birthday. Better known as A. A. Milne and best known for his children's character the affable Winnie-the-Pooh, or Pooh for short, Milne was actually an accomplished writer of fiction, non-fiction, poetry, as well as plays and newspaper reports. He served in the British military in both World Wars.
Pooh made his first appearance in print in 1924 in the poem "Teddy Bear" in Punch magazine. This poem and many other poems for children were first published in book form later that same year in the collection pictured above, When We Were Very Young. As many of you may know Pooh was Milne's son's teddy bear and most of his friends - Piglet, Eeyore, Kanga, Roo, Tigger - were also young Christopher Robin Milne's stuffed toys. Pooh's first prose adventures were published in 1926, eponymously. Milne only published two other children's books, one of poetry and one of prose, and he and his son both came to resent the continuing popularity of the stories. Despite this and possibly because the Disney corporation had a stake in the rights to the characters almost from the time of Milne's death, the books and the characters are enduring favorites in England and the United States. When We Were Very Young is still in print and can be had for as little as $3.94, including shipping, online. A first edition, published by Methuen in London in 1924, can fetch hundreds of dollars. So Christmas is always a time for matching books to people. Not always easy when personal libraries in my immediate circle run into the thousands of volumes. However there is a private little warm spot in my heart for buying children's books, especially books I enjoyed as a child. This is one such. And, even though I didn't buy a copy this year my musings about it did spark some interesting discussion.
Millions of Cats won the Newbery Award in 1929 and is one of very few picture books to have done so. In fact, the controversy about awarding the literature prize to a picture book at least indirectly brought about the introduction of the Caldecott Medal in 1938. Millions of Cats has the distinction of being the oldest American picture book still in print. The story itself is rather grim but the repetitive rhyming text is irresistible. I remember myself giggling when it was read to me and the same reaction from my children: "Hundreds of cats, thousands of cats, millions and billions and trillions of cats!" It was that line I repeated at work in front of some more junior colleagues eliciting both smiles of remembrance and smiles of hooked confusion from those without an American childhood who had never heard that lilting cadence. I recommend this book not for the story, nor for Ms. Gag's art (which is also somewhat busy and grim) but for the smiles and giggles the rhythmic jingle of the text is sure to bring forth. I read this book when I was a teen and it must have made an impression because I still remember it. Unlike some of the other books featured on Throwback, Snow Bound has had a lot of buzz on Goodreads with 317 ratings and 57 reviews.
I felt it appropos, given the massive snowstorm across the eastern half of the country today, to feature this book. The basic plot is two teens become stranded in a remote area of upstate New York in a snowstorm and must find a way to cooperate with each other to survive. Both are woefully unprepared but somehow find out a lot about themselves. This is a survival story but it is also a finding yourself and personal growth story. The protagonists, Tony and Cindy, find out a lot about themselves and grow significantly over the course of their experiences. The book is short (144 pages in the paperback) but is gripping and, from multiple reviews, accurately describes the perils of upstate New York in winter if you happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Harry Mazer wrote 22 novels for young adults, all of which can be characterized as "realistic" fiction. His wife was Norma Fox Mazer, also a prolific author of young adult fiction, including a Newbery Award. Their daughter, Anne Mazer, is also an author. Snow Bound is recommended for reading in front of a warm fire with the wind howling outside and the snow deep on the yard and fields. It is available on Biblio.com for as little as $3.97. |
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