Engine Summer
by John Crowley · first published 1979
75% recommend25% neutral
From back cover Bantam paperback March 1980: RUSH THAT SPEAKS Born into the community of Truthful Speakers one thousand years after the Storm, he was raised on stories of the old days -- a world filled with saints, a world in which all things were possible, a world which finally destroyed itself. In love with a beautiful woman, Rush journeys far and learns much. Taken into the society of Dr. Boots's List, attached to the old mysteries, Rush grows closer to a sainthood he could never have imagined.
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Yes, John Crowley is great, "Engine Summer" is one of my favorite futuristic novels.
on “Obsidian mirror used by Elizabeth I’s court astrologer has Aztec origins” ↗…fantasy writer who was also recognized by the mainstream establishment. Harold Bloom included Little, Big in his "The Western Canon", for example. I've not read the later Crowley works, but The Deep, Engine Summer, and Little, Big are all among my favorite books.
on “John Crowley Has Died” ↗"Engine Summer", by John Crowley, about 15 times so far.
on “Ask HN: Which book have you re-read the most times? how many times?” ↗…contemporaries. I would especially suggest: * John Crowley. Widely recognized as actual an Author of real Literature, though only his earliest works could be called science fiction. Start with The Deep and Engine Summer. * Harlan Ellison. Some of his stories ("I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream", "Jeffty Is Five", etc.) are simply masterfully written. * Samuel Delaney. He's an acquired taste and certainly gets a bit…
on “The Essential Philip K. Dick” ↗…The Crystal World (1966) Joanna Russ - We Who Are About To… (serialized 1976; in book form, 1977) John Brunner - Stand on Zanzibar (1968). John Brunner - The Sheep Look Up (1972) John Crowley - Engine Summer (1979) John Crowley - The Deep (1975). John Sladek - Roderick at Random (1983) John Sladek’s - The Müller-Fokker Effect (1970) John Varley - The Ophiuchi Hotline (1977) John Wagner, Alan Grant,…
on “New Wave Sci-Fi: 75 Best Novels of 1964–1983” ↗