Where is the SF/Fantasy Collection?

The library’s SF/Fantasy Collection is located up the stairs at the back wall of the library. Hang a right turn at the photocopier and the collection is on your left. They’ve all got yellow stickers on their spines.

How much stuff have you got?

There’s over 4,200 SF/Fantasy novels in total, and we’re buying more all the time. Suggestions for new items are welcome! Just email the library or write it in our suggestions book at the desk. We’ll do our best to buy whatever you want, providing it’s in print and we don’t have to trek to the far reaches of another galaxy to get it (though we’d give it a red-hot go anyway, just for you). Let us know if books from a series are missing/disappeared – there’s nothing worse than a 15 part series with book 1 missing!

What sorts of SF/Fantasy do you have?

Many!
Fantasy-wise, some types include:

  • Epic fantasy – heroes and quests. There may be levels of sword involvement. Eg. Robert Jordan, Michael Moorcock, David Eddings.
  • Mythical fantasy – stories drawing on a mythology, often fairy tales or Arthurian legends. Eg. Robert Holdstock (whose Mythago cycle is ace if you like your myths all primal and gritty), Ursula le Guin, Juliet Marillier, Robin McKinley.
  • Contemporary fantasy – where magic and the supernatural appear in the present-day real world. Eg. Charles de Lint, J.K. Rowling, Sergei Lukyanenko, Neil Gaiman.
  • Historical fantasy – where magic is introduced to a real-world historical period. Like, dragons during the Napoleonic wars. Eg. Guy Gavriel Kay, Naomi Novik, Susanna Clarke.
  • Humorous fantasy – the funny stuff! Fantasy for laughs. Eg. Terry Pratchett (lord-on-high of humorous fantasy), Piers Anthony, Robert Asprin, Tom Holt.
  • Science fantasy – related to science fiction but with more elements of magic, or using science to explain the magic. Think elves in space ships. Eg. M. John Harrison, Gene Wolfe,.

On to Science Fiction, let’s move beyond the hard and soft SF to a bit more detail:

  • Apocalyptic/Post apocalyptic SF – There’s been a big bad. Civilisation; not so much around any more. Time to start again. Eg. Richard Matheson (whose “I Am Legend” now stars habitual world-saver Will Smith), Phillip Reeve, Neal Asher, Patrick Tilley, Isobelle Carmody.
  • Biopunk SF – in these stories there’s been underground experimentation with human genetics goin’ on. Government probably involved. Actual results may vary. Eg. Bruce Sterling, Paul Di Filippo, Paul McAuley.
  • Dying earth SF – the earth is winding down to a close. Humans clinging on, of course. Eg. Brian Aldiss, Philip Jose Farmer, H.G. Wells.
  • Military SF – War! Eg. Frank Herbert, David Drake, John Scalzi.
  • Steampunk SF – set in or inspired by eras when steam power was widely used (19th century/Victorian), but with SF elements. Eg. China Mieville, Stephen Hunt, Garth Nix, Philip Pullman.
  • Time travel SF – fairly self explanatory. They travel, in time. Sometimes involves a Delorean. Eg. Paul Levinson, Eric Flint, Connie Willis, H.G. Wells (can you guess which book?).
  • Space opera SF – not exactly a soap opera in space, but usually featuring exotic locations, larger-than-life characters and romantic adventures. So, actually, quite like a soap opera in space. Eg. Larry Niven, Catherine Asaro, Lois McMaster Bujold, Peter F. Hamilton.

How many can I borrow?

You can have 6 items on your card in total, so if you’ve got nothing else on loan, get yerself a pile of subgenre and they’re yours for 3 weeks.

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