I edited Greg Bear’s City at the End of Time several months ago, but when the book finally went on sale last week I flipped through it to savor again some of my favorite passages. I love, love, love a book that leaves me feeling smarter than when I’d started reading it, and City at the End of Time definitely did that for me.
What, exactly, is a sense of wonder?
In science fiction, particularly, it's that feeling of amazement that infuses a reader when he/she comes across a mind-expanding concept. Suddenly a door opens in the reader's mind, understanding floods in, and the universe can never look quite the same again. This can occur as the result of a major plot twist, or on a smaller scale with the perfect ending to a story. City at the End of Time--in which, by the way, Bear returns to the epic science fiction he became known for with Eon and Queen of Angels, for example--postulates a far-future universe in which all choices have finally been explored; no branching possibilities remain. This idea of being caught in this last of all possible timelines really struck my imagination. (For a terrific intro to his far-future world, visit Greg Bear's website, www.cityattheendoftime.com.)
Here are some other books and short stories that have thrilled my sense of wonder over the years. This is by no means exhaustive--I hope never to run out of great reads! What are some of yours?
Ringworld, Larry Niven
Anything by Peter F. Hamilton. The man throws out seven amazing concepts on every page. Try especially The Reality Dysfunction and its sequels, and Pandora's Star.
Little, Big by John Crowley
On the Beach by Nevil Shute
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
Behold the Man by Michael Moorcock
The short fiction contained in Dark Matter, edited by Sheree Thomas. This groundbreaking anthology of fantastic fiction
"One Ordinary Day, With Peanuts" by Shirley Jackson (truly, one of my all-time favorite authors)
"Aye, and Gomorrah" by Samuel R. Delany
Oh gosh, too many others to name. But this is a start.
Dune, clearly. Also, um, anything by Ray Bradbury. Anything. (Specifically Something Wicked This Way Comes, however.)
John Crowley's Aegypt, over and over again. And the gorgeously mind-blowing "Perdido Street Station."
Actually, QUEEN OF ANGELS was one of those mind-blowing reads for me. It's one of the most difficult books I've ever read, but man, it was worth it. But Bear's short story "Sisters" and Phillip K. Dick's "The Father-Thing" *bent my brain* when I was a kid, and I never have recovered. In a good way. :)
-Catie