Collecting Science Fiction REFERENCE Books: How To Become A True SF Expert

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

Well, I obviously made a scheduling error with this one...was supposed to be Saturday's video- never mind, better early than late!

[@chocolatemonk]

I love your scheduling errors . . .it means 2 for 1 Outlaw

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

@@chocolatemonk ...I hate them, as it puts me under pressure to make more ahead of my schedule. A man gets tired, you know....

[@LawrenceOnlineEnglish]

A pleasant surprise Thank you and your error.

[@LawrenceOnlineEnglish]

Sorry I posted before seeing your reply above. Stress is the mind killer as they never said in Dune but should have

[@stephenwalker2924]

I don't post as much as I'd like to - as I'm busy working my way through your vast back catalogue of videos - but I must say, Steve, this was a great crash course in what one has to read to gain something like your level of understanding in SF. Bravo. [For any newbies to SF out there, like me, I'd highly recommend starting with the Adam Roberts, 'The History of Science Fiction' (published in the Palgrave Histories of Literature Series) that was mentioned briefly by Steve in this video. How Roberts defines what Science Fiction actually is in the introductory chapters was a personal revelation to me and has helped my reading and understanding considerably. Cheers.]

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

Adam is THE MAN!

[@waltera13]

What A great Idea! You may have to pin this at the top of your channel, or as the anchor to a playlist to a number of reference vids you've already made! I'll have to wait to watch as I can't do a random hour vid in the middle of the day, but still, excited for this, and for you! So many vids this week! I was almost caught up!

[@strelnikoff1632]

Another really fine episode. You've got to get well. The world needs you Stephen! Tell me again the affliction with your leg when you get a chance as I was interested to look into it.

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

Polymyalgia Rheumatica.

[@comicbookcrazy]

Just another amazing video, Steve. For me, there’s nothing better than you, a camera, and a pile of books. I really enjoy hearing your thoughts on all things SF, Efendi, I’ll definitely be looking for some of the books you mentioned here.

[@willk7184]

As always an informative and refreshing viewpoint about an interesting niche of the literary world. As I make my way through some of your other recommendations I may sprinkle a few of these intriguing non-fiction selections in between.

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

Cheers

[@TheRetroEngine]

Nice early video here. I don't have many SF reference books, I'd have to check. Do a room show and tell!!!!

[@beastrabban5991]

Fascinating look at books on the history of the genre and its writers. One recent book on the subject that I really enjoyed was Alec Nevala-Lee's 'Astounding', subtitled 'John W. Campbell, Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlein, L. Ron Hubbard and the Golden Age of Science Fiction'.

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

Yeah, I mentioned that briefly in the video. It was a good one.

[@thekeywitness]

Excellent video. My TBR grows yet again! 😂

[@miljenkoskreblin165]

Steve, I can honestly say that this is the best video that you have ever done. Absolutely brilliant. I read some of these books - Pringle, Broderick & Di Fillipo, On Sf, Hell's Cartographers, Silverberg, Ballard's and Ellison's biographies, Adam Roberts... There are good biographies of Asimov and Clarke written by Michael White and Neil Mcaller, Adam Roberts wrote very good biography of H.G. Wells. I'm a little surpriesd that you don't have Worlds Beyond the Hill by Panashins or Roberts's Sibilant Fricatives. I recently read Evaporating Genres by Gary K. Wolfe. Brilliant stuff. I strongly recomend it. Serbian writer Zoran Zivković wrote, what was very popular book in former Yugoslavia, Suvreminici Buducnosti (Contemproraries of the Future), a series of essays about leading sf writers of the era. It was great stuff, but sadly long out of print.

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

As I think I said, there are quite a few nonfiction books on SF from my library I didn't show here as they were inaccessible and/or I couldn't recall where I'd put them (I found many this afternoon in an odd corner). I have generally stopped buying SF reference works now as I know myself- it's an area I could keep on collecting in and I'm trying to stop. Thanks for the compliment though!

[@miljenkoskreblin165]

@@outlawbookselleroriginal Yeah, sorry about that. I actually started watching the first fifteen minutes yesterday morning than had to stop. The rest I watched today, so I guess I forgot. My bad.

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

@@miljenkoskreblin165 No problem.

[@Nopogo537]

I've been trying to merge my interests in non-fiction and SF recently, but it's hard to know what works are worth the time. These recommendations came at the perfect time for me, Steve, thanks so much!

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

The key books EVERYONE should have are 'the Encyclopedia..' by Clute & Nicholls (2nd edition), Pringle's book, Aldiss' history. After that it's personal choice and specialist interest, but those are monumentally important.

[@MichaelM-ev9ek]

Thanks for the early video. I usually have stuff to do on the weekend, but it's nice to have something to watch during the week.

[@showaikawa8170]

An amazing video. ✌

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

Very kind of you, do watch more here.

[@CelticChief1979]

Just when I was about to head to bed .... Great idea, and backdrop looking on point!

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

There are something like 700 SF hardcovers behind me, almost all firsts with about 2 exceptions, probably 150 of them signed.....I have to do a clearout next year....

[@leakybootpress9699]

A great video, Steve! I have many of those, but by no means all. The one I really want is that big, thick Moorcock one, which I'm sure you promised to send to me. I still buy books about SF when they're published at sensible prices, but, as you know, many of them are aimed at the academic market and are therefore overpriced, which is short-sighted of publishers because there is a wider market.

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

Yeah, it's a shame. I didn't fit everything I have that way in as I'm now so laden with books it's getting beyond a joke. I have to clear some out in the new year, which will be painful but necessary- oh for a larger house!

[@leakybootpress9699]

​@outlawbookselleroriginal You won't want wbat I have for you then! Hahaha!

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

@@leakybootpress9699 You never know...the high quality stuff will still get through!

[@SciFiFinds]

I recently picked up David Pringle's book and found Moorcock's foreword to be really amusing since he takes a swipe at the golden age and Heinlein in particular. Thanks for the educational content as always

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

Heinlein was the whipping boy of British New Wave SF writers - they hated him both as a poor literary stylist and also his politics.

[@broken1394]

My goodness Steve, you always stimulate and speak so passionately. A tad off topic, i do wonder if you thoughts on Peter Haning? He was at the helm as editor on so many interesting books in my formative years. I would move mountains to have PKD's letters in an accesible format. Thanks and hope you are well. ❤

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

Yeah, I've mentioned him once or twice here. Good editor/anthologist. His 'Five Great Horror Novels Vol 1' was something I bought circa 1977 and it was a seminal book for me.

[@adammolnar2239]

just finished reading 100 best horror books. reading the different review styles by the 100 different contributors was a tour de force. intros and bios were great too. massive cheers to the editors overall

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

Yes, it's a great book.

[@stephenwalker2924]

If you enjoyed it so much, there was a sequel published in 2005, just in case you didn't know. It's called Horror: Another 100 Best Books. It's out of print, of course, but I'm sure Ebay will provide...

[@stephenwalker2924]

@@outlawbookselleroriginal If you enjoyed it so much, there was a sequel published in 2005, just in case you didn't know. It's called Horror: Another 100 Best Books. It's out of print, of course, but I'm sure Ebay will provide...

[@adammolnar2239]

@@stephenwalker2924 thanks

[@MaidhcOD]

I would gouge out eyes for KSR's PKD book! And half the books you have shown here 🤤 Beauties!

[@PaulSaether]

But if you gouged out your eyes...

[@MaidhcOD]

@PaulSaether I said nothing about 'my' eyes 😏

[@PaulSaether]

@@MaidhcOD So you did not. That serves me right.

[@carltaylor6452]

I only have a handful of non-fiction books about SF (aside from JGB and WSB). I just picked up a copy of Trillion Year Spree, having heard about it from your good self. I have two literary histories of SF by Roger Luckhurst, one from BL and another from Polity; he's a very good cultural historian and I just buy everything he publishes as a matter of course. Stableford's Scientific Romance in Britain 1890-1950 is, as you say, prohibitively expensive now, but back in 2016 it was scanned and published in PB in four volumes under the title New Atlantis by Wildside Press. I picked up all four a few years ago and it's brilliant. You need to buy them all, though, as the contents are in vol1 and the index in vol4. They aren't especially attractive, but the content is worthwhile.

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

That's often the way with the serious academic stuff.

[@localmo88]

Speaking of Bob... A few funny coincidences as I just picked up a mint hard cover copy of Silverbergs Kingdoms of The Wall in NZ. Lovely looking edition Yesterday I finished reading Lawrence Sutin's biography of Philip K Dick: "Divine Invasions", which was a good read. Sutin's Selected Writings book re: PKD from Vintage publishing, was also excellent, the one containing the unreleased opening chapter of a potential High Castle sequel. Is Sutin well regarded? His aforementioned PKD biography seemed to be well referenced Thanks again for the great content, hope your well

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

I think the Sutin is definitive, personally. I showed this and the other book you refer to in the video, mentioning the fact that it includes the two extant chapters from the unfinished 'Castle' sequel...maybe you missed some of this video....

[@localmo88]

Hi Steve Srry on the travel atm... saw first 15 mins from PK to Aldiss Trillion Year, will watch rest today. Many thanks

[@themainideais]

Great video! I'm curious: what did you think of Anne Dick's memoir?

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

Haven't read it, never got around to it. I'm a 'lapsed Dick scholar'. LOL

[@picturepainter]

Regarding reference books, a personal favourite for me is "The Science In Science Fiction", edited by Peter Nicholls. Contributors are David Langford and Brian Stableford. The book talks about all the familiar concepts covered in SF, with examples by writers and film-makers, and some background detail about the real-life science that inspired the stories. For instance, when discussing the creature in Ridley Scott's "Alien", we get a little biology lesson about the life-cycle of the ichneumon fly and how it lays its eggs in the live body of a paralysed caterpillar. Accompanied by a photo of a grub emerging from its dying host. Overall, it's a very informative book. When I was at university I used to get it out of the library all the time. Some years later I was able to buy my own copy when I found it at a second-hand book fair.

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

I recall that. I don't really go down the SF film reference rabbit hole, though, as I consider SF film far less important than books- though I do have my favourites. I have a big collection of books on Cronenberg's SF, for example.

[@dougparsley9022]

That was amazing. Thanks. Just one thing. Has Samuel R. Delaney published non fiction about SF?

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

Yes, and I forgot to include it! He's done quite a bit of this kind of writing and I have his first two very important SF criticism books somewhere....

[@paulcampbell6003]

The New Wave is something I am very much interested in. A few months ago I started the Greenland volume. Oh boy, what a slog! 🙄 After a month I was only half way through it (and it's not even a long book). I have a few unread novels by him; I do hope he is a better fiction writer than a non-fiction one. Brian Aldiss or John Clute he most certainly is not. It will go back and finish it... But that's the thing: if I do it will be out of a sense of duty or completism and not out of pleasure. As you yourself Steve would say, "I'm just not feeling it."

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

I have to say I think it's good, but it is quite a dry book and it has to be remembered an academic one. His early Fantasy novels are very elegant, if a little limpid and his first SF novel 'Take Back Plenty' is an enjoyable romp.

[@disconnected22]

I have John Clute’s edition, found it useful, though my copy stops at 2003. Stephen, I wanted to ask you: the edition from 1977 that you mentioned, is that the one with introductions by a bunch of different authors to the themes? And it’s printed densely, edge to edge, like a fanzine? I think I saw it in a shop the other day, now feeling like I should’ve picked it up.

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

I'm assuming you're referring to 'the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction'. The first edition was edited overall by Peter Nicholls and yep, is densely printed.

[@salty-walt]

HOLY SHIT! WHAT THE **ACTUAL** FUCK!? HOW HAS THE EXISTENCE OF "Into the Media Web: Selected Short Non-fiction" been hidden from me? WHY THIS THIS NOT IN PRINT/UNAVAILABLE??? Only one listed on all the net for over a grand? OK, NOW I have a book I'd beg you to look for & I'll pay. OY.

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

Small print run. Savoy;s hardcovers were always small print runs and are very good indeed. Like a berk I sold my copy of 'Zenith The Albino' by Anthony Skene and it's now worth over £200 argh!

[@waltera13]

Especially since Stephen mentioned it probably 2 years ago in another video. . .

[@salty-walt]

@@outlawbookselleroriginal cheapest I've seen Zenith so far was $280 . The only thing is I know I wouldn't read it right away, so I can wait. . . But seriously, you've got a better chance of coming across a random one of those then I do over here. Stay in touch. . .

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

@@salty-walt The thing is, 'Zenith The Albino' seriously needs a mass market paperback release. It's entertaining and of great interest to any fans of Elric and Jerry Cornelius in particular. As MM and Mark Hodder have a new Zenith novel/book in preparation, maybe the publishers will be interested in issuing Skene's classic.

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

@@waltera13 It's in one of my recent videos posted since I returned from Paris, as Mike gave me this copy.