The beat-up copy of 'The Left Hand of Darkness' I nearly passed on changed my mind about old sci-fi

I grabbed a 1976 paperback from a library sale bin for 50 cents last Saturday. The cover was half torn off and the pages were yellowed, but I figured I'd give it a shot since I always thought older sci-fi was stiff and outdated. About 30 pages in, the way Ursula Le Guin built that alien world without huge info dumps totally hooked me. It broke my assumption that older books can't feel fresh. Anyone else had a cheap find from a bin flip your opinion on an entire genre?

2 comments

2 Comments

diana_park12d ago

Totally agree, I did the same thing with a beat up copy of "Dune" I found at a thrift store for a dollar. Always thought old sci-fi would be boring and stiff but that book totally sucked me in and showed me how wrong I was.

patricia_rodriguez11d ago

@diana_park I have to disagree about Dune though. I actually found it pretty slow and hard to get through all the political stuff. Maybe I should give it another try since so many people love it, but first time around it just didn't click for me.