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Here be dragons

Through me you go into a city of weeping; through me you go into eternal pain; through me you go amongst the lost people

I really need to stop doing this

The Men Return
Perhaps this one is a flavour of what people seem to love about The Dying Earth , but I found it to be almost entirely impenetrable. It's set in a world where cause and effect have seemingly broken down and we're following a creature called a 'Relict' who is navigating bizarre landscapes and interacting with other 'organisms'. Vance is either a genius or he was smoking crack.

The Moon Moth
A representative from Earth's government is sent to the distant planet of Sirene to track down a notorious criminal. This endeavour proves difficult since all of the Sirenese people wear masks, which are widely varied in line with their social status. Not only that, but this culture communicate through song, using a range of unusual instruments to intimate tone. A really compelling story.

The World Between
When human explorers arrive on a barren world in an distant solar system to terraform it, the neighbouring alien race claim ownership over it and threaten to start a war if they do not leave. A stubborn mission leader calls their bluff, inciting a battle fought through ecological means. Vance explores interstellar conflict through a unique lens here, leading to a satisfying conclusion.

We're in the endgame now.

I've hit such a rocky patch with this list where all of my recent selections have been poor to average. The good thing is that I've saved some books by incredible authors like PKD, Disch, Malzberg and Ballard so hopefully I can pick up some steam with it again.

Looking forward to writing and filming both a worst-to-best ranking and a retrospective on the list and its contents at some point next year.

I have six pages of notes on this already that I'm going to need to try to distil into a video, and I'm only just over halfway...

The big Stepper is cooking with oil so far

Reading this one in preparation for a discussion that I'll be having with Robin on the YouTube channel BookSpin.

I want to DNF this so badly but I have to finish it for the 100-book challenge I'm doing on the channel

What an incredible book title