Honor roll:Fantasy books of the 1980s

Little, Big

John Crowley

• 1982 Mythopoeic-Adult winner
• 1982 WFA–Novel winner
• 1982 Hugo-Novel nominee
• 1981 Nebula nominee
• Score: 32.32

Little, Big tells the epic story of Smoky Barnable—an anonymous young man who meets and falls in love with Daily Alice Drinkwater, and goes to live with her in Edgewood, a place not found on any map. In an impossible mansion full of her relatives, who all seem to have ties to another world not far away, Smoky fathers a family and tries to learn what tale he has found himself in—and how it is to end.

The Claw of the Conciliator: Volume 2 of The Book of the New Sun

Gene Wolfe

• 1981 Nebula winner
• 1982 Hugo-Novel nominee
• 1982 Mythopoeic-Adult finalist
• 1982 WFA–Novel nominee
• Score: 28.31

The Claw of the Conciliator continues the saga of Severian, banished from his home, as he undertakes a mythic quest to discover the awesome power of an ancient relic, and learn the truth about his hidden destiny.

The Silence of the Lambs: A Novel

Thomas Harris

• 1989 Anthony-Novel winner
• 1988 Stoker–Novel winner
• 1989 WFA–Novel nominee
• Score: 26.39

A serial murderer known only by a grotesquely apt nickname—Buffalo Bill—is stalking women. He has a purpose, but no one can fathom it, for the bodies are discovered in different states. Clarice Starling, a young trainee at the FBI Academy, is surprised to be summoned by Jack Crawford, chief of the Bureau’s Behavioral Science section. Her assignment: to interview Dr. Hannibal Lecter—Hannibal the Cannibal—who is kept under close watch in the Baltimore State Hospital for the Criminally Insane.

Dr. Lecter is a former psychiatrist with a grisly history, unusual tastes, and an intense curiosity about the darker corners of the mind. His intimate understanding of the killer and of Clarice herself form the core of The Silence of the Lambs—an ingenious, masterfully written book and an unforgettable classic of suspense fiction.

Tea With the Black Dragon

R.A. MacAvoy

• 1983 Philip K Dick citation
• 1984 Hugo-Novel nominee
• 1984 WFA–Novel nominee
• 1983 Nebula nominee
• Score: 26.33

Martha Macnamara knows that her daughter Elizabeth is in trouble, she just doesn’t know what kind. Mysterious phone calls from San Francisco at odd hours of the night are the only contact she has had with Elizabeth for years. Now, Elizabeth has sent her a plane ticket and reserved a room for her at San Francisco’s most luxurious hotel. Yet she has not tried to contact Martha since she arrived, leaving her lonely, confused and a little bit worried.

Into the story steps Mayland Long, a distinguished-looking and wealthy Chinese man who lives at the hotel and is drawn to Martha’s good nature and ability to pinpoint the truth of a matter. Mayland and Martha become close in a short period of time and he promises to help her find Elizabeth, making small inroads in the mystery before Martha herself disappears. Now Mayland is struck by the realization, too late, that he is in love with Martha, and now he fears for her life. Determined to find her, he sets his prodigious philosopher’s mind to work on the problem, embarking on a potentially dangerous adventure.

The Many-Colored Land

Julian May

• 1983 Prometheus finalist
• 1982 Hugo-Novel nominee
• 1982 Mythopoeic-Adult finalist
• 1981 Nebula nominee
• Score: 24.33

When a one-way time tunnel to Earth’s distant past, specifically six million B.C., was discovered by folks on the Galactic Milieu, every misfit for light-years around hurried to pass through it. Each sought his own brand of happiness. But none could have guessed what awaited them. Not even in a million years….

Seventh Son: Book 1 of Tales of Alvin Maker

Orson Scott Card

• 1988 Mythopoeic-Adult winner
• 1988 Hugo-Novel nominee
• 1988 WFA–Novel nominee
• Score: 22.38

From the author of Ender’s Game, an unforgettable story about young Alvin Maker: the seventh son of a seventh son. Born into an alternative frontier America where life is hard and folk magic is real, Alvin is gifted with the power. He must learn to use his gift wisely. But dark forces are arrayed against Alvin, and only a young girl with second sight can protect him.

The Shadow of the Torturer: Volume 1 of The Book of the New Sun

Gene Wolfe

• 1981 WFA–Novel winner
• 1981 Campbell 3rd
• 1980 Nebula nominee
• Score: 22.31

The Shadow of the Torturer is the tale of young Severian, an apprentice in the Guild of Torturers on the world called Urth, exiled for committing the ultimate sin of his profession—showing mercy toward his victim.

Ursula K. Le Guin said, “Magic stuff…a masterpiece…the best science fiction I’ve read in years!”

The White Hotel

D.M. Thomas

• 1981 LATimes–Fiction winner
• 1982 WFA–Novel nominee
• 1981 Booker shortlist
• Score: 22.31

By turns a dream of electrifying eroticism recounted by a young woman to her analyst, Sigmund Freud, and a horrifying yet calmly unsensational narrative of the Holocaust, this PEN Silver Pen winner is now recognized as a modern classic that reconciles the nightmarish with the transcendent.

Jem

Frederik Pohl

• 1980 NBA–SciFi winner
• 1980 Hugo-Novel nominee
• 1979 Nebula nominee
• Score: 22.3

There were too many people and too few resources on Earth. The old alliances had crumbled, and three global alignments now coexisted uneasily. Then, in a nearby star system, the Earthlike planet Jem was discovered. Its untapped resources might bring a renaissance to Earth—or bring on the final apocalypse.

Richard Matheson: Collected Stories

Richard Matheson

• 1990 WFA–Collection winner
• 1989 Stoker–Collection winner
• Score: 20.4

Richard Matheson: Collected Stories is the gathering together of 86 Richard Matheson short stories, beginning with “Born of Man and Woman” from 1950 and ending with “Duel” from 1971. The stories were arranged by Matheson himself roughly in chronological order of original publication. There are also several tributes to Richard Matheson throughout the volumes from admirers such as Stephen King, Ray Bradbury, Robert Bloch, William F. Nolan, and others. Finally, Matheson wrote a deeply revealing Introduction for the collection. As Matheson himself states in this Introduction, “A twenty-year period of creativity reduced to the psychological background of my output of fantasy and science-fiction stories. If this were a thesis, that would be my premise”.