Approximate length: One volume, not very long (100-150 pages, if memory serves)
Where to find it: Local libraries or bookstores
What is it: A 1963 novel (and Hugo winner) about a Union soldier, Enoch Wallace, who is granted immortality in exchange for running what is basically an alien train station out of his home.
What I love about it: It's worth a read completely for the premise, which had me from the start, but in addition, it's also just a lovely book with clean, vivid prose that paints a fascinating picture of a vast and varied intergalactic society that Enoch gets to be a small part of. I love Enoch's open and curious and accepting attitude toward it all and the friendships he makes, particularly his friendships with Ulysses (the alien who first offers him the job) and Lucy Fisher (a local deaf and mute girl who ends up key to the overarching plot).
What I would request: Worldbuilding! So much worldbuilding! There's just enough sketched out and enough tantalizing hints at the greater universe to be fun to explore, especially with the way the station works and the immense variety of aliens who travel through it. Outside POV (human and/or alien) of the station and Enoch would be fantastic, or episodic worldbuilding - "5 Times Enoch Was Given Gifts He Didn't Understand + 1 Time He Figured It Out" is practically canon already, I'd love a ton of that kind of thing. More of Enoch's various guests, more of his friendship with Ulysses, maybe an AU where he helps Lucy out earlier and she decides to apprentice herself to him and learn how to run the station, or some postcanon adventures for both of them - there are a surprising number of possibilities!
Content notes: It was written in 1963, so there's some occasionally dated language/attitudes.
no subject
Medium: Book
Approximate length: One volume, not very long (100-150 pages, if memory serves)
Where to find it: Local libraries or bookstores
What is it: A 1963 novel (and Hugo winner) about a Union soldier, Enoch Wallace, who is granted immortality in exchange for running what is basically an alien train station out of his home.
What I love about it: It's worth a read completely for the premise, which had me from the start, but in addition, it's also just a lovely book with clean, vivid prose that paints a fascinating picture of a vast and varied intergalactic society that Enoch gets to be a small part of. I love Enoch's open and curious and accepting attitude toward it all and the friendships he makes, particularly his friendships with Ulysses (the alien who first offers him the job) and Lucy Fisher (a local deaf and mute girl who ends up key to the overarching plot).
What I would request: Worldbuilding! So much worldbuilding! There's just enough sketched out and enough tantalizing hints at the greater universe to be fun to explore, especially with the way the station works and the immense variety of aliens who travel through it. Outside POV (human and/or alien) of the station and Enoch would be fantastic, or episodic worldbuilding - "5 Times Enoch Was Given Gifts He Didn't Understand + 1 Time He Figured It Out" is practically canon already, I'd love a ton of that kind of thing. More of Enoch's various guests, more of his friendship with Ulysses, maybe an AU where he helps Lucy out earlier and she decides to apprentice herself to him and learn how to run the station, or some postcanon adventures for both of them - there are a surprising number of possibilities!
Content notes: It was written in 1963, so there's some occasionally dated language/attitudes.