John Crowley, Robert Graves, Diana Wynne Jones, James Blish Paperbacks

Little, Big, or The Fairies’ Parliament by John Crowley. Got this about 1980, read it, and was blown away. The interweaving of children’s books, Celtic Twilight, family history, social upheaval, theosophy, and fairy lore is such a complex and mesmerizing knot and carried out by such solid characters that it is hard to fully describe the impact. Each new source and reference I recognized only made me fonder and fonder of the book. It seemed to have been expressly written for my reading habits, from grade school on up. Although I’ve read many if not all of his works since then, nothing before and nothing since then has equaled it. This is my original copy and has my initials on the copyright page. Spine a little cracked from so much use but binding still tight. Ranking: Essentially Essential. File Code: Fantasy. Novel. Paperback.

Beasts, by John Crowley. Re-issued in the wake of the success of “Little, Big”, “Beasts” is Crowley’s first novel, and this edition shares a cover-style and artist with that book. In the near future, the country has been torn apart by civil war. In the chaos, a group of man/lion hybrids, created by science, seek to live on their own, free of the conventions of men that would entrap them. Entertaining, poetic, and a rumination on Nature and Man’s separation from it. Ranking: Keeper. File Code: Science Fiction. Novel. Paperback.

The Deep, by John Crowley. Re-issued in the wake of the success of “Little, Big”, this edition shares a cover-style and artist with that book. Into a flat world upheld by a creature called Leviathan falls a strange traveler. The fall damages his memory, and he must wander a land riven with power struggles between the Red and White factions to try to rediscover his purpose. The world-building of this … fantasy? … ultimately science fiction? … carries it along with its nomenclature, lore, and War-of-the-Roses-like conflict. Kind of reminds me of “The Man Who Fell to Earth” and I picture the androgynous Traveler as David Bowie. Ranking: Keeper. File Code: Fantasy. Novel. Paperback.

Engine Summer, by John Crowley. Ah, now this, this book is a wonder, and a worthy precursor to “Little, Big” (again, in a similar cover style). Set in a post-collapse future, when most people have forgotten the past but still use puzzling fragments of old culture, the young man named Rush seeks for the answers to old stories and in the process makes a story for himself, which he then becomes. It shows a slower, gentler world, and examines the way different groups have adapted to the leftovers as the world slowly heals itself. “Always Coming Home” reminded me of this book when it came out. A poetic work, evoking the feelings of the season its title invokes. Raking: Essential. File Code: Novel. Science Fiction. Paperback.

I, Claudius, by Robert Graves. After having seen the mini-series on PBS and borrowing Mrs. Hardcastle’s copy for a while, I got my own books (including “Claudius the God”) at Hastings. This was my junior year. Thus started my rambles with Robert Graves. Claudius was just the sort of hero I identified with, a clever man, but something of a dunce at living, and misunderstood by all but his closest friends (and not always by them). In the cold-blooded, ambitious figure of Livia I saw a prophetic portrait of Nanny. Often pronounced “Clavdivs” as a joke in our family and a little overshadowed by the television production. I remember trying to pass it off as “historical reading” in my freshman year of college. Ranking: Essential. File Code: Novel. Historical. Paperback.

Claudius the God, by Robert Graves. Graves admitted that he intended to stop the story with Claudius becoming Emperor, and then when his publishers clamored for more, he had to produce another unexpected book. He plumped it up with the history and character of Herod and with the infidelities and sexual exploits of Messalina. In the end, for all his good intentions, Claudius cannot fight fate: he is poisoned by Agrippina and succeeded by Nero. Not quite as convoluted or detailed as the first book (since it mostly deals with Claudius’ reign and not the Caesar family history). Ranking: Essential. File Code: Novel. Historical. Paperback.

Howl’s Moving Castle, by Diana Wynne Jones. “I have been aware of Diana Wynne Jones since at least 1982, when I bought and read A Reader's Guide to Fantasy from cover to cover in search of new wonders. The short summations supplied there did nothing to tempt me, and the bouquet of her Nomenclature (I tend to judge an author to some extent on the surety of their Naming of characters, places, and things) seemed very plain. I have since come to find this style of Nomenclature in the hands of a fine author like Diana Wynne Jones is a delicate, simple, and transparent method that does not get in the way of the storytelling. There was always plenty of Ms. Jones to be had. Every time I would search the shelves, I would pass a huge wodge of books I would automatically jump over, cursing her (unfairly) for taking up space while the books I wanted were elsewhere. There are as of today (depending on how you count them) about fifty volumes to her credit. Of course, the comic, karmic flipside for me is that now that I want them, they are locally rather thin on the ground. At the time, as I said, they were merely unwanted filler. Hayao Miyazaki's animated adaptation of Jones' book Howl's Moving Castle came out ... I love Miyazaki's work, and this was one of his best. If she could inspire this, I thought, maybe there's something to her stuff after all. Still, by the time I saw the film out on DVD, a copy of the book was hard to come by, so I temporized. Then I got a copy of Jones' A Tough Guide to Fantasyland. I had heard good things about it, and it turned out to be as advertised: a hilariously funny parodic encyclopedia of the clichés of Fantasy writing. I laughed and groaned as I recognized my own past sins time and time again, from the perils of STEW to the plain facts about BOOTS and HORSES. Still, it was not a sample to judge her storytelling chops from. When I finally did get a copy of Howl's Moving Castle and sat down to read it, I found it was not a fair experience. I went in looking for the movie, and it made the book hard to see. The movie had, of course, simplified the plot somewhat and the characters a lot; the book had more leisure (not fat) with its story, the movie had changed, merged, and excluded many characters and their fates. I came away from the encounter not totally convinced, but momentum in Jones' favor was building. It came to a head with Castle in The Air. This was a sequel to HMC, and in the same format as my copy. I decided to buy it and give it a shot. And my enthusiasm just took off. I was able to go back and read HMC again on its own merits, and this time enjoyed it immensely.” - Power of Babel, June 2010. Ranking: Essential. File Code: Novel. Fantasy. Paperback.

Castle in the Air, by Diana Wynne Jones. Sequel to “Howl’s Moving Castle”, with a different character focus and an Arabian-style setting. Reminds me a little of “The Horse and His Boy” in that the heroes from the earlier book wander into the life and story of the character focus. Read in 2010, part of my DWJ mania. Ranking: Essential. File Code: Novel. Fantasy. Paperback.

Doctor Mirabilis, by James Blish. The first in his “After Such Knowledge” trilogy, in which Blish examines the pursuit and cost of secular knowledge. This is a straight historical novel about Roger Bacon, a scholar only reputed to be a magician, and it is full of politics and religious thought, but no fantasy. I must admit I’ve found the reading rather dry and long and haven’t ever sat down to read the book straight through. Ranking: Essential to the collection. File Code: Novel. Historical. Paperback.

Black Easter, by James Blish. This book, with its continuation, “The Day After Judgement”, is considered the second ‘volume’ of the “After Such Knowledge” trilogy. A bored industrialist hires a black magician to release a horde of demons on the world, just to see what they’ll do, while the representative of some monkish ‘white magicians’ try to hinder them. Fascinating for its portrayal of ritual magic, exactly as described in medieval grimoires, and its interaction in the modern world. The most chilling moment (for someone who has been tempted) is when Theron Ware reveals that all magic, even so-called ‘white’ magic, is evil and forbidden. For lore, fascinating characters, and high-stakes storytelling, this book really engages. Ranking: Essential. File Code: Fantasy. Novel. Paperback.

The Day After Judgement, by James Blish. Book 2 of the second book of the “After Such Knowledge” trilogy. The Apocalypse, initiated by the release of 42 demons on Easter, has come and gone, and apparently Satan has won. Four men who witnessed that releasing ritual now travel across the world, viewing the devastation and going to confront the new Lord of the World. All the action and suspense of the first part, as Satan’s victory seems to be somehow incomplete and might be challenged, some dancing on the grave of the world, and a surprise ending that’s quite surprising. References to C. S. Lewis and Milton spice things up for the nerd in me. Ranking: Essential. File Code: Fantasy. Novel. Paperback.

A Case of Conscience, by James Blish. Science fiction this time, in the third volume of the “After Such Knowledge” trilogy. When a scientific priest visits a planet where it seems the reptilian Lithians have achieved morality through entirely rational means, he suspects a Satanic trap for Mankind. Can real virtue be obtained without Divine revelation? And is the Lithian creature he escorts back to Earth a new serpent in the Garden of Eden, meant to undo the work of redemption? If rational beings can achieve virtue from Reason alone, what need have they for a Redeemer? A fascinating fable, the conclusion allows wiggle room for both faith and skepticism. Ranking: Essential. File Code: Science Fiction. Novel. Paperback.