I finished reading Jack Vance’s THE GREY PRINCE, but I actually read it in serial form as THE DOMAINS OF KORYPHON in two issues of a science fiction magazine called AMAZING STORIES from 1974. These zines were part of two huge boxes filled with sf magazines given to me by a former science teacher at PHS named Rich Faber. Most of them are issues of ANALOG MAGAZINE from the mid-1960s through the early 1970s, but some were part of the line of Ziff-Davis magazines such as AMAZING, FANTASTIC and several dozen of their reprint zines.

I actually keep those boxes in the basement, not having room for them on my own shelf of science fiction magazines, which consists of a complete line of GALAXY MAGAZINE from 1950 through 1980, FANTASY AND SCIENCE FICTION from 1970 through 1995, ASIMOV’S from 1980 through 1995, WORLDS OF IF from 1961 through 1974, and WORLDS OF TOMORROW from 1963 through 1972. I don't read any zines regularly anymore since they got too time-consuming and were taking away from all the wonderful books I want to buy and read!

I love Jack Vance’s fiction, because he combines his wondrous worlds and societies with truly fascinating people, both alien and humans, making for the type of wondrous reading that I really enjoy. I don’t think it’s surprising that my two favorite sf novels of the past dozen years were Dan Simmons’ HYPERION CANTOS and China Mieville’s NEW CORBUZON books, since both writers are very creative and their worlds truly exotic. It is also not surprising that I prefer reading historical novels which are set in cultures very different from our own. After all, I have lived in the contemporary world for five decades, why the heck do I want to spend my leisure time reading about it? ☺

CURRENT LISTENING: KING OF THE NEW YORK STREETS, a boxed set by Dion DiMucci. Yes, THAT Dion, who actually got better after his period of pop icon status ended in the mid-1960s. His music combines rock and roll with folk rock and is truly top-notch.