Some new old books

[Deleted]

So just yesterday I accompanied my sister and brother in-law on a trip to a local thrift store and was perusing the well organized book selection they had and picked up a small number of books. As I have yet to begin reading them I thought I would like to share my new treasures with the boards.

First off I found two different editions of C.S. Lewis's Out of the Silent Planet, one being a 6th printing (1962) Pan Books Ltd. and a second printing (1965) Macmillan Paperbacks Edition.

Next up I finally found my first Conan book, Conan the Buccaneer by de Camp and Carter tenth printing (1985).

I also found A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin shown without an edition number but with the latest date being 1986 for the cover art. (what can I say I'm a stickler for edition)

Furthermore I found eight Stories from the Rest of the Robots by Isaac Asimov 6th printing (1974).

The last book was a true treasure entitled readings from English and American literature by Walter Taylor field with a copyright of 1919.

All the books seem to be very interesting and I am exited to dive into one of them but do not know which one to pick as my first reading. The last book is designated for light reading here and there when I'm up for it, though of the other three I cannot decide. I remember seeing the studio Ghibli adaptation of Earthsea several years ago so I have a bit of grounding with that, though the same can be said for Conan as I have seen all the films many times (granted neither film adaptations will likely compare to the books)  .

I guess what I am asking is if there are any other board members here who have read any of these books and could give my their thoughts on the quality of the writing and or story without giving away anything (no spoilers). What would you guys recommend I start with sci-fi or fantasy ?

[geoffrey]

I do not think that Conan book was written by Robert E. Howard, so I wouldn't put it first on my list.

I have found Asimov to be a bit "thin", so again I wouldn't put it first on my list.

I would go with Out of the Silent Planet by C. S. Lewis. It is an intriguing book, and it is followed by one of my favorite books, Perelandra.

[Merctime]

Slightly off-topic, but I can't recommend Howard's actual books enough if you want Conan. Del Rey, and probably other publishers, have a three-volume set that cover all of his Conan short stories collected and are in my opinion incredible reads; Definitely worth a look if you like that character. The only other author I feel did Conan justice, personally, was the guy who wrote the 'wheel of time' series, Robert Jordan... Finding his Conan yarns would not be remiss, also!

And thank you for this post! I wasn't aware of C.S. Lewis' other work outside of Narnia. I'll have to look out for this 'Out of Silent Planet' and 'Peralandra'. Cheers!

[Deleted]

So the C.S. Lewis book for starters then eh? Sounds good and I too will need to look for Perelandra afterwards.

[jeff]

I've heard good things about LeGuin's Earthsea stuff...but I've not read it personally.