The IBIC Guide to Books By Vernor Vinge

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Remarks from the IBIC Editor's Journal

November 20, 1994

An exam-time homework-avoidance rereading of A FIRE UPON THE DEEP by Vernor Vinge (Tor) (one of the most popular r.a.sf.written books of 1993) left me with mixed feelings about this Hugo winner's lasting stature. On the plus side, it is not a book you can just dip back into and hit the high points. The world it describes is complex and interesting enough that you have to reread it from start to finish. The Tines, especially, are one of the best alien races ever created in SF. On the minus side, the human culture of Sjandra Kei is pretty boring, and I had a hard time getting past the Norwegian shtick.

The verdict? Too soon to tell. I think the ultimate reputation of AFUTD will depend on what Vinge does with the Zone universe in future books.


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Editor's Recommendations, Summer 1996

In this inaugural edition of IBIC's Featured Books, I'd like to draw your attention to several titles which have helped to shape my life and thinking.

  • When I was around fifteen, I came across Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle's science fiction novel, INFERNO. This '70s remake of Dante's classic describes science fiction writer Allen Carpentier's descent into Hell. It's still a very fresh, accessible take on the classic. What a great movie it would make!
  • The Niven/Pournelle INFERNO immediately inspired me to read the original Divine Comedy. I've read a number of translations over the years, but my favorite is the one by Dorothy Sayers (INFERNO; PURGATORY; PARADISE). The notes are excellent, and Sayers had such a knowledgeable and witty mind that reading her prose is a pleasure in itself. (For those interested in a more contemporary translation, I should mention that Robert Pinsky received excellent notices for his 1995 THE INFERNO OF DANTE : A NEW VERSE TRANSLATION; it's a very handsome book.)
  • I also want to tell you about the late Henry Fairlie's THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS TODAY, which probably did more than any other single book to galvanize me into a lifetime interest in Christianity that led me, eventually, to faith. Ironic, because Fairlie was a self-proclaimed agnostic socialist! But reading between the lines of this insightful and deeply feeling book, one realizes that the love of God cannot have been far from Fairlie's heart.
  • Finally, I should draw to your attention a more recent acquisition, the very handsome NIV STUDY BIBLE (10TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION) from Zondervan, indexed and bonded in leather in IBIC's theme color, burgundy (black and brown are also available). The notes to this Bible are amazing. They appear to provide you with a very substantial portion of what you need to know to have an intelligent layman's appreciation of the linguistic and historical issues involved in understanding Scripture.

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