Ten Books That Have Stayed With Me

imyril: Haunting and horrifying.

imyril: I read this very young and it introduced me to the concept of satisfactory but unhappy endings. Also, the Earldelving. Gah.

imyril: One of the first dystopian novels I ever read, which plays on several themes that are close to my heart.

imyril: This could as easily have been Triffids. Wyndham introduced me to apocalypse fiction, and I love both books for their evocative descriptions of a ruined London.

imyril: Enlightening, enthralling and inspiring.

imyril: The only Tolkien I still dip back into. It shaped so much to follow, and shaped so many of my preferences.

jillmwo: His beautiful creation story -- I just love it.

imyril: My Latin teacher made us read it. We were all deeply grateful, and then teased him mercilessly. Wonderfully dark, angst-ridden, alienating and alluring. Such prose and singular characters.

imyril: My fascination with the Byzantine empire started here, when I realised how much of the fiction was history. Plus it's GGK, whose prose and characters I love.

imyril: I think I mostly just loved the idea of Jesuits in space, but I also loved the characters and the prose. Knowing it will end badly just added to the bittersweet pleasure.

imyril: This stays with me for its haunting implications. Sad, sentimental, yet satisfying.