From Book Riot: 5 Great Older SFF Books To Revisit
I will say up front, I find this post surprising, and not in a good way. I bet you can guess why, can’t you? That’s right, it’s because the definition of “older” on display in this post is rather startlingly non-older.
These may be fine books, but older, no. Their first choice? The Haunting of Tram Car 015, which was first published in 2019. SIX YEARS AGO. Raise your hand if you think six years is enough to justify dropping this book into the category “older SFF.” Anybody?
Nor is this a fluke. The second and third books on the list — 2015. The fourth and fifth books — 2020. It’s as though the person who put this list together thinks SFF sprang into existence in 2010 and we are therefore looking back a loooong way when we look all the way back to 2015.
Now, this isn’t wholly astonishing to me, because Book Riot’s definitions of categories can be somewhat idiosyncratic. I swear I did not set out to find another Book Riot post with a weird definition of some normal category, but here we are.
Naturally, this makes me want to mention five SFF novels that deserve revisiting that are actually older. I’ll just note that I’m picking works because I liked them or admired them, with no attempt to figure out what works by the same author were actually the earliest. These are all in the order they occurred to me, so in other words, in no order.
Gaia trilogy — John Varley — published 46 years ago. I thought of this series first because Varley gets my vote as “older author most certain to be popular today if his books were just now being published.”
Chanur series — CJC — Pride of Chanur published 44 years ago.
The Integral Trees — Niven — published 42 years ago. It’s the setting, not the story, as far as I’m concerned. On the other hand, it’s a stunning setting.
Public Service Message to Publishers: IF YOU HAVE A WHELAN COVER, NEVER CHANGE IT. You will never again have a cover as good as the Whelan cover you threw away. Just a tip! Here’s the art for the original cover of The Integral Trees.
The Dispossessed — Le Guin — published 51 years ago.
Up the Walls of the World — “James Tiptree Jr.” — published 47 years ago. Wow, I loved this novel. I skipped all the human parts of the story because I was far more interested in the aliens. Not sure how old I was before I read the novel properly, from front to back, without skipping the human parts.
Xenogenesis — Octavia Butler — published a mere 38 years ago, so maybe I shouldn’t have included it. Of course many of her books were written earlier, I just particularly love this series. Well, let me make up for the youth of this choice by adding —
Instrumentality of Mankind — Cordwainer Smith — “Scanners Live in Vain” was published 75 years ago. Now THERE is an older SF story that is worth seeking out. Modern readers who have never encountered Cordwainer Smith have missed something unique in the field.
Oh, wait, I overshot the five I planned on linking because oops, there are SO MANY OLDER SF NOVELS THAT IT’S HARD TO STOP. It’s not like it’s difficult to think of great books from that era. There is no need to stick a trembling hand back five years, tap a book that just barely came out yesterday, and say, “Here, modern readers shouldn’t forget older novels,” as though five years is a noticeable stretch of time. Honestly, every time I blink, there goes another five years.
For crying out loud, MY first novel was published SEVENTEEN years ago, and I don’t go around saying it’s OLDER FANTASY.
What ARE some OLDER fantasy titles? Well, let me see what immediately springs to mind. I’m not trying to pick anything in particular, just works that occur to me that I think readers today would probably like a lot if they weren’t so focused on the past ten years that everything before that is (apparently) completely beyond any possibility of consideration. All right, five titles –>
Amber series — Zelazny — Nine Princes in Amber was published 55 years ago.
Dark is Rising — Cooper — published 52 years ago.
Tombs of Atuan — Le Guin — published 55 years ago. It’s sort of cheating to mention Le Guin twice, but the fact is, I didn’t like The Dispossessed. I included it because Le Guin is a genuinely important author from that time. I did like THIS book, so I’m including it, even though I would say that objectively it was not one of her important or primary works. But I really love it and have read it many times, so here it is.
Riddlemaster of Hed — McKillip — published 49 years ago.
And you know what, since I’ve mentioned Book Riot and it’s therefore on my mind:
Watership Down — Adams — published 53 years ago.
It’s astounding that anyone would call novels published in 2020 “older.”
All right, what is one older SFF novel you think should be drawn to the attention of younger readers?
Please Feel Free to Share:
Lud-in-the-Mist. 1926.
My introduction to SF was through Robert Heinlein’s juvenilia; though his mysogyny and militaristic libertarianism gets very problematic in his later SF written for adults, some of his books for teens (like Have space suit will travel, Citizen of the Galaxy, and a few more) can probably still be read by modern teens without too much cringing.
And Jules Verne, dad had a whole shelf of his books as well as half a shelf of Heinleins; and some of them are science-fiction of its time. But I don’t really remember them and didn’t read the whole shelf, so can’t say I’d recommend any specifically to modern readers (I did read all his Heinlein juvenilias as a teen, and those did trigger my interest in SF).
My introduction to grown-up fantasy was with Tolkien’s The hobbit and Peter S.Beagle’s The last unicorn, then Roger Zelazny, and some Lord Dunsany which I have forgotten.
Before that I already enjoyed a lot of great childrens’ and teens’ fantasy books: the Narnia series by C.S.Lewis, the Green Knowe series by Lucy M.Boston (1954), ‘The little white horse’ and ‘Linnets and Valerians’ by Elizabeth Goudge (1927), the Moomin books by Tove Jansson (1960s), ‘Groundsel and necklaces’ and ‘Lord of the Rushie river’ by Cicely M. Barker (1938, 1946, better known for her flower fairy books), and the fantastic books by Dutch author Tonke Dragt, most of which haven’t been translated; and of course fairy tales and their adaptations.
I think the fantasy category progresses fairly seamlessly from picture books for very young kids through MG and YA to adult books, nowadays, but has much older roots in the younger categories.
The SF category started later both in time (history) and in the age of its readers, aimed at teens (at first just teen boys) and adults; books for younger kids about rocket ships and astronauts and such sciency fiction are, on this timeline, a lot more recent.
Maybe The hobbit should be categorised in the (younger) teens reading; then The Lord of the Rings would be my first fantasy written for adults.
It set a high standard for my expectations right from the start.
Gordon R Dickson’s The Dragon and the George (1976) and its sequels were a staple of my childhood. When I was young I also read a lot of Katherine Kurtz, Piers Anthony, the older Mercedes Lackey books, Anne McCaffrey, Isaac Asimov, etc. I’m not sure how many of these really count as “older.” My favorite older fantasy author is George MacDonald – he really knew how to make a new fairy tale.
Like Hanneke, I grew up reading Narnia and also Susan Cooper and Alexander Key. I remember loving George McDonald, and, like everyone, was obsessed with LOTR around age 12. I found Anne McCaffrey in the university library when I was 14, but I just looked it up, and it was published in 1968–I found it in 1977. Enders Game was 1985, and GGK also put out The Summer Tree around that time. When I think of ‘older’ books, I think of those sci fi anthologies I read in the seventies. I love how sci fi and fantasy has exploded. I love the worlds that authors create.
For sci-fi, I’d add the Chronicles of Solace by Roger MacBride Allen, Timothy Zahn’s books, and also The Time Machine by H.G. Wells (I didn’t enjoy it, but it certainly made an impression). Not sure it if counts as sci-fi or just weird, but also Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. I haven’t read a lot of ‘older’ sci-fi necessarily, but those ones are at least 30-40 years old.
I love The Dark is Rising and also The Boggart by Susan Cooper, Lloyd Alexander’s fantasies, George MacDonald’s oevre, and The Wood Beyond the World by William Morris. Oh, and The King of Elfland’s Daughter by Lord Dunsany.
The children’s librarian for our small town was awesome and kept older books in surprisingly good repair, so I read a lot of books that had been published 50-100 years before I was born, usually from second or third editions. They got rid of a lot of them when they rebuilt our town library, which would have been a sad loss except that they did a series of book sales, so many of the copies I read when I was young came home with me.
There were SFish books for younger children than teens back when I was growing up: Matthew Looney, Danny Dunn, Alvin Fernald. Then for somewhat older – MG, I guess, these days – things like the Mushroom Planet books (which held up well when I revisited. The Teen really likes them, too, after finding them while in single digits. We have all five, and the short story.) And for a bit older still, Jean and Jeff Sutton’s books, along with some Andre Norton – all flavors: sf, fantasy, historical and blends – I think I read Norton before I found Heinlein. Tended to prefer Norton and Sutton, although I didn’t dislike Heinlein. Although when I revisited Heinlein some years back I bounced hard. I should try a different one.
I have the impression there’s more SF for younger than teens than there used to be, but it wasn’t non-existent, even if the science was pretty handwavy.
Wow, all of Elaine’s additions are new to me, as well as one of Kathryn’s and E.C.’s – I’ll have to try looking some of them up.
A good idea, spotlighting the older stories for those who didn’t meet them at the time!
I remember enjoying Danny Dunn and also the Mushroom Planet books. Andre Norton was one of my early entry points though I liked her SF (The Time Traders, Beast Master) more than her fantasy. I also agree that Have Space Suit, Will Travel is a Heinlein juvenile that holds up pretty well.
Not yet mentioned: Zenna Henderson’s People books. Ingathering is a compilation of them all.
At about the same time I was reading Danny Dunn I also read all of Edward Eager’s books, e.g. Half Magic.
We talked about Zilpha Keatley Snyder here not long ago.
I think I have mentioned one of my lesser-known older favorites, Knee Deep in Thunder by Sheila Moon.
I wonder how I managed to not mention Henderson. I tracked all the collections, and was very pleased when NESFA pulled all the People stories together in one volume. Word of advice – don’t just sit down and read that collection all at once. Change it up with other books, otherwise some strong similarities in the stories may affect your enjoyment.
In some ways, these days, I prefer her other stories. She did some excellent non-horrific horror. horror in the implications, such as “hush”. I think she’s tagged mentally as fantasy, and I was specifically trying to dredge up science fiction. (speaking of which, for the not quite MG I think: Miss Pickerell goes to Mars. And for older kids, Sylvia Engdahl’s Enchantress from the Stars, and her others. They didn’t hold up nearly as well as some when I revisited them, though.)
Oh, I liked Knee-Deep in Thunder, though even as kid I caught some of the Jungian stuff that snuck in. (at some point, in an about the author probably, I read that she was a Jungian psychiatrist. When I first found the books I could tell there was something, running across that tidbit let me label it.) Did you ever read the sequels? Close to those on the library shelves was Joan North whose The Light Maze, The Whirling Shapes, and The Cloud Forest, I read multiple times. Never had the thought of looking for them as an adult, though.
In way pre-internet days, I was delighted several times to find a new-to-me People story in an anthology. No doubt a librarian could have helped me there, but it never occurred to me to ask.
Mrs. Pickerell, yes!
I bought the sequels to Knee Deep in Thunder within the past couple of years but they’re still in my TBR.
I also enjoyed the Lucky Starr books by Isaac Asimov under the Paul French pseudonym. I have not tried to reread them and am not sure how they would hold up.
What a fun walk down memory lane to revisit the stuff I read as a kid. I also loved Susan Cooper, Watership Down, Robert Heinlein, Katherine Kurtz, Lloyd Alexander. I’ll add to that Lawrence Yep (what a pioneer in Asian American fantasy!), Neuromancer, Madeleine L’engle, the Phantom Tollbooth <3
Okay, so 1) trying not to mention anything mentioned thus far and 2) using the definition of “older” = “older than me”:
Terry Brooks’ “Magic Kingdom For Sale/Sold!” (just squeaks in with a publication date of 1986, but it was the book sale misshelving of my LIFE – it was the one that *sent* me careening into the Adult Fantasy library section as a child! – so although it’s just a light fantasy and YES it’s not the best or most-original you could get, I have a huge soft spot for it. And it beats his “Shannara” hollow – mostly, I think, because he *wasn’t* trying for Tolkienesque High Fantasy – so if you’ve read Shannara and groaned in disappointed disgust, don’t dismiss Landover out of hand.)
“The Little White Horse” by Elizabeth Goudge (1946)
“Red Moon and Black Mountain” by Joy Chant (1970)
“Momo” by Michael Ende (1973) – his “The Neverending Story” is still widely known, probably because of the film, but I prefer this one.
“The 13 Clocks” by James Thurber (1950) – this was one of the inspirations for “The Last Unicorn”, and if Peter Beagle hadn’t mentioned it in the foreword I never would have found it. Best read out loud. (Seriously.)
“Dogsbody” by Diana Wynne Jones (1975). Again, she has more famous books – “Howl’s Moving Castle”, the “Chrestomanci” series – but, again, I prefer a slightly less-known one.
“A Book of Dwarfs” by Ruth Manning-Sanders (1963). There’s also one about Wizards which I have lost somewhere along the line from childhood to adulthood and really must try to refind, as well as Witches and Giants which I haven’t read but want to. These are just collected tellings of fairytales like Rumplestiltskin and Tom Thumb, but there’s something about the writing in this version that’s absolutely charming. I couldn’t tell you what it is.
Avram Davidson’s short story “Or All the Seas with Oysters” (1958) – the only one that falls more to sci-fi than fantasy in my whole list. Only four pages long in print format and an absolute frigging GENIUS concept. (Also, probably best not read late at night.) I can’t stay with this author for any more than about six pages – I have TRIED – but many of his short stories are like nothing I’ve ever seen before. https://avramdavidson.com/or-all-the-seas-with-oysters/
Or take my favourite spec-fic story of his that I’ve read so far: “Or the Grasses Grow” (also 1958). This one’s fantasy, and breathtakingly, ironically *ouch*. But I can’t find a link to it.
And finally one that does not squeak in, but is still last century and was one of my absolute favourites growing up: Jostein Gaarder’s “The Christmas Mystery” (1992). Again, another one is better-known (Sophie’s World), but that one wasn’t to my taste at all.
The Face in the Frost by John Bellairs. I read this around 1980 or so, but it was first published in 1969. It’s a tricky book to classify. It’s fantasy, but it’s not quite dark fantasy, not quite comic fantasy, not quite epic fantasy. I don’t think I’ve ever read anything quite like it. I don’t know if most of today’s readers would enjoy it, but I suspect the readers here might.
@Robert – eek, yes, I’ve tried that. Really scary. The moths stuck in my head for ages: although I think from vague memory that they were probably a small part, my brain latched on. (Absolutely, definitely NOT a reread. My tolerance for horror is *extremely* low.) But I agree, I’ve never read anything else quite like it (thankfully…) and yes, it’s hard to classify. I mean, you said epic/dark/comic – and from what I remember, I would put it squarely under Horror but with an amusing tone, and the Horror came through more and more as the book went on.
Still, good suggestion – definitely something that people might not have heard of!
People here might recognize John Bellairs as the author of gothics-for-kids such as The House With a Clock in its Walls. Covers illustrated by Gorey, which was honest marketing. I quite liked The Face in the Frost. Whatever makes some writing give me the creeps isn’t in it, although objectively it probably ought to be horror by the end. But anything that starts out with:
Doesn’t take itself too seriously and it does keep that juxtaposition of weird and practical that makes for humor. Hey, it’s got a prologue, too. I’d forgotten, since I usually open to the first chapter.
Remembered another older science fiction for younger than teens: John Christopher’s Tripods trilogy and The Sword of the Spirits trilogy. His writing was cold, but I reread them more than once.
I read The Face in the Frost when I was young enough not to recognize the reference to Shakespeare’s Prospero. Bellairs writing style was so clear that it worked equally well for adults and children. I thought it was great. The House with the Clock in its Walls, however, kept me up late checking for monsters lurking under the bed. Very spooky.
Oh, Phantom Tollbooth! Wow, that takes me back. Great story, clever, ought to be left sitting around in MG classrooms because honestly, lots of kids would surely love it.
I personally wasn’t bothered by repetition in The People stories, but there aren’t THAT many of them. If I’d read a hundred, one right after another, I might have started to think, Okay, enough is enough. As it is, I never reached that point.
I’m always happy to see Dogsbody pulled out as a favorite DWJ. I’ve never heard of The Christmas Mystery … in fact, there are quite a few in the comments here that I either haven’t heard of or haven’t read. Including The Face in the Frost.
*Making a list.*
What great books and authors have already been mentioned! I can add a few, mostly fantasy, all for kids/teens:
Sylvia Engdahl, Enchantress From the Stars, 1971
E. Nesbit
Patricia Wrightson, The Nargun and the Stars, 1973
Philippa Pearce, Tom’s Midnight Garden, 1958
Alan Garner, The Owl Service, 1968
Ruth Nicols, A Walk Out of the World, 1969
Natalie Babbit, Tuck Everlasting, 1975
Oh, what about The Chrysalids, John Wyndham, 1955! And the Day of the Triffids, 1951. Oh, oh, and Z is for Zachariah, 1974, Robert O’Brian, who also wrote Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh, 1971 (Loved that book!).
There’s some Sci Fi for you!
I’m a bit startled to see two different people mentioning Enchantress from the Stars, which I liked a lot. I also agree with Elaine that although I still like Engdahl’s books in memory, I don’t think they hold up as well for adult readers as, say, E Nesbit. Mrs Frisby and the Rats of Nimh was completely delightful. A lot of these, I haven’t heard of, though!
Any one else here read A.M. Lightner’s SF? (I’m still sticking to science fiction – fantasy is a lot easier to recall.) she wrote a couple I still remember fondly: the Space Olympics and Day of the Drones. Judging by what’s on Amazon they were never reprinted, though.
huh, here’s one for dog lovers: Star Dog, summary from goodreads:
Another review says the aliens are looking for their missing crew… anyway, if one runs across it, it may be worth a look.
Oh, I LOVED Star Dog when I was a kid! I might even have a copy still on my shelves! Wow, I haven’t thought of that one in YEARS. I would never have known who the author is, but now I think I’ll look under L on my shelves when I get a chance.