OK.
Let me wing a few things.
I'll name a few titles.
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First science fiction
book I ever read
was Robert A. Heinlein's
Have Space Suit--
Will Travel, which was given
to me when I was, I don't know,
11 years old or
something like that.
Up to that point I'd been
almost entirely a reader
of comic books.
After that, I started splitting
my weekly $1 allowance
between comic books
and an occasional $0.35
paperback, which meant I had
to give up four comic books.
But still, it was worth it.
Have Space Suit-- Will Travel
is a special book for me.
And one that I will
always cherish.
Roger Zelazny.
His masterpiece
was a book called
Lord of Light, which is a
science fictional treatment
of Hindu and Buddhist
mythology set
on another planet,
written in this incredibly
beautiful and witty style.
I always cite that when they
ask me what's the best science
fiction book ever.
I can't answer that
question with one book.
I answer it usually with five.
Lord of Light is always in
contention there for best
science fiction book ever done.
Another book, Alfred Bester's
The Stars My Destination.
Much earlier book
written in the early 50s.
It's basically a science
fictional retelling
of the Count of Monte Cristo.
It's a revenge story where
Gully Foyle, the hero of it,
is this brutal, coarse,
uneducated spaceman who's
on a wrecked ship.
And most of his crew is dead.
He's dying.
And another ship passes
by and could rescue him.
But they choose
not to rescue him.
They just leave
him there to die.
Well, he does make his way back.
He doesn't die.
And he seeks out
revenge on the people
on the ship that left
him there to die.
And in the process of
it, he transforms himself
from this uneducated,
brutal lout
that he was in the beginning
to a global billionaire
and sophisticate and
adopts identities.
It's a brilliant book.
It's a wonderful read.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
