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Last week, Devilstower introduced the Saturday Evening Geek Out: S.E.G.O. -- Science Fiction You Should Be Reading, and while I don't have his expertise (or writing ability), I've been arguing with the likes of Larry Niven since the 70's when I was a SF geek in college (I went to an engineering school, and we had strong opinions about what was real and what was not, and on the engineering side, what ought to be included and what ought to be thrown away.)

Now, these days there's more eclectic choices. You can get sucked in to the newest Final Fantasy video game (the franchise is up to thirteen), just out a few days, or turn to English translations of Japanese graphic novels ("It's not a comic book, it's a graphic novel!!") like Rurouni Kenshin by Nobuhiro Watsuki, my favorite of the genre, though you gotta love Bone. And there's always The Crow and Watchmen, though if you only know them from the movies, you've missed the best parts.

But if you lean towards the fantasy side of sci fi the way I do, there's got to be a place on your shelf for the early twentieth century masters. One of my favorites is Ernest Bramah (Kai Lung's Golden Hours):  

The first edition included a preface by Hilaire Belloc, which has also been a feature of every edition since. Its importance in the history of fantasy literature was recognized by its reissuing by Ballantine Books as the forty-fifth volume of the celebrated Ballantine Adult Fantasy series  in April, 1972. The Ballantine edition includes an introduction by Lin Carter.

which I discovered as a teen when the Ballentine paperback reissues came out in the 70's. Peter Wimsey, Dorothy Sayer's great detective (and erudite romantic interest, as she fell in love with her own character - but mysteries are for another day) was familiar with Kai Lung, mentioning it in both Busman's Honeymoon and Gaudy Night.

Another great author from the era, short story writer Clark Ashton Smith, was introduced by the Ballantine series, and I still have decaying copies of Zothique (my favorite, lots of magic, baleful wizardry, necromancers and the like), Hyperborea (if you want barbarians, there's always Robert E. Howard's classic Conan series, finished by modern authors), Xiccarph (Ashtom Smith's most science fiction-y stories) and Poseidonis (really, tales of lost Atlantis.) Ashton Smith published his stories in Weird Tales, and with the likes of Howard, Lord Dunsany (pure fantasy, like The King of Elfland's Daughter), HP Lovecraft (horror, my favorite being At the Mountains of Madness), the 30's were a golden era of that kind of fiction.

In fact, you can tell from the above that I really like the short story as a vehicle for fantasy and SF.

You can also look for modern equivalents and parallels, if you wish. For example, I found Barry Hughart's Master Li and Number Ten Ox series thoroughly delightful and very reminiscent of Bramah's work. Hughart found the publishing biz tough going, so there are only three novels in the series.

And if I had to vote for a modern fantasy master, I'd list Roger Zelazny (Amber series) and Jack Vance (The Green Pearl) among the greats, and with George R.R. Martin making his way into the pantheon (assuming that J.R.R. Tolkien is his own category.)

Finally, I have to make mention of the sword and sorcery genre, encapsulated by the works of Michael Moorcock (Elric and the eternal hero cycles) and Fritz Lieber (Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser.) Lots of necromancers here, too, though usually the focus is more on enchanted weapons and Joe (the swordsman) Sixpack's task of staying alive in a world full of evil banksters enchanters and evil politicians kings.

By the way, there was a fun response to Deviltower's diary here: The Other Science Fiction: A Response to Devilstower by hepsheba.

I'm sure you have your own favorite list of things you like to read when you're sick of reading about Republican obstructionism, and we'd love to hear about them. After all, if it's Saturday, it's S.E.G.O.