"OUTSTANDINGLY WEIRD" SCIENCE FICTION: K.W. Jeter, 'Dr Adder' :100 Must Read Science Fiction Novels 

Yes, Shirley is great, something coming up here soon about his work- we've interacted a bit at a distance, he supplied a quote for the cover of one of my books and once sent me a copy of his then newest novel, great guy.

I'd go back to the 70s tomorrow....

@@outlawbookselleroriginal If only....

Yes, I read 'Bladerunner 2' when it was first published. It's interesting, refers to both the film and the original novel - eveything JW does is interesting- but you have to remember these things are done for commercial reasons, not aesthetic ones. I don't consider it 'canonical' as such as the canon I'm interested in is PKD's novels. More interesting is Alan E Nourse's novel 'The Bladerunner' and William S Burroughs screen treatment of the same, both of which precede the film 'Blade Runner'- my first Cardiff bookshopping video, in which I buy and Allen E Nourse book, covers this. Great to hear from someone in Hamburg!

@@outlawbookselleroriginal I've always avoided the Bladerunner books, as to me they are 'product'. Licensed stuff is often an unappealing mix of work for hire and helping companies putting stakes in possibly otherwise shaky IP rights. That said, a good writer can do something with them, I loved the Games Workshop Dark Future Books written by Jack Yeovil (Kim Newman) as they seemed to be perfect pulp, taking what was a Cars Wars/Mad Max rip-off into weirder and more interesting territory.

Still an incorrigible Bohemian really. Used to own Korg and Moog axes myself....

Pleasure. Anyone who says 'I'm working my way through the backlist' makes my day, I can tell you. Let me know how you get on with the various titles you buy as you read 'em.

Hopefully you will get home at some point.

Cripes!

Yep, I recall buying my hardcover first of 'Farewell Horizontal' when it was new from a specialist too, happy days!

You MUST buy it if you see it, as it can always be sold on, though I'd never part with either of my copies- It's tough, original and a total landmark.

Nice! I

I read all of those, as you'd expect...Adder is Cronenbergian, yes.

I think he's hugely underrated and his absence from reprint schedules only underlines the neglect of truly radical SF there is these days- everyone interested in SF and Horror as literary forms should engage with KW, I feel. Keep searching...

@@outlawbookselleroriginal well-said, and thank you

I'm sure he must have been a Ballardian. I like Powers and Blaylock, but to me Jeter is far superior, but as you say, not so commercial- I think 'Dr Adder' and 'Wolf Flow' are both magnificent and lots of his other stuff works for me too..

Well, Allan, I don't know what I'll be covering next week yet LOL but clearly great minds think alike! I bought 'Infernal Devices' in hardcover when it first came out way back around 85. It's a fun, but minor Jeter, but it is real Steampunk of the proper California Dreamer school (Jeter, Blaylock, Powers) so it's a treat....

Good for you - it's pretty intense. The first chapter is pretty disorienting, but stick with it and remember my reading as a guide to Limmit's situation at the start of the novel. Hope you enjoy it- it's an experience!

@@outlawbookselleroriginal I am very much looking forward to it. Really appreciate you bringing it to my attention.

It arrived in the post today. It’s the Grafton, Panther Science Fiction from 1987 edition. Formerly belonged to the Edinburgh University Science Fiction and Fantasy Society.

@@markanthonypearce1204 - Let us all know how you get on with it here!

@@outlawbookselleroriginal I will do. I have a good feeling I will enjoy it a great deal.

It is really something, especially when you think it was written around 1972. One of the few SF novels pre-80s that genuinely showed the influence of Burroughs, other than notable exceptions in the British new Wave movement.

'Sh*tfire,' indeed! Yes, 'Dr Adder' clearly displays the kind of wildness that was only in writers like William S Burroughs then and it still stands up. Years and years ahead of the curve! I'm pretty disgusted that it isn't a Gollancz Masterwork, but it's probably a bit much for the politically correct types of today. Glad you enjoyed it. I like most of KW's stuff, but his Horror novels are probably his finest tranche of books -'Wolf Flow' is a great one. Good to hear from you, mate.

He did a couple of Star Trek books I think, don't think he did Star Wars novels.

@@outlawbookselleroriginal Jeter wrote at least a Star Wars book The Mandalorian Armor, maybe also sequels to it. And there is a Finnish translation of Dr. Adder; Tohtori Kyy, published by Jalava, 1991. Soft cover. The translation has a cover art of its own, I guess you can find it with web search.

@@eksobit -His 'Star Wars' work was of course only done for money, artistically it's irrelevant to his own true oeuvre.

I have 'Noir' aside for when I'm in a KW mode, not read it yet. Where does 'Glass Hammer' and 'Death Arms' fit in? Well, they broaden the background that is partially hinted at in 'Adder' and contain such joys as a gun that once fired, sends a slow bullet that will always track down its target...

It's an anthology of original novellas- all crime stories set around the cocaine trade , all by Italian crime authors- the best ones, in fact - Gianrico Carofiglio, Massimo Carlotto and Giancarlo De Cataldo. Italian crime fiction has been amazing over the last 20 years, it's not all like Inspector Montalbano....

@@outlawbookselleroriginal dang! I feel like I need to pick that up now 🕵️

@@mario6279 I'd suggest getting hold of Gianrico Carofiglio's novel 'The Past Is A Foreign Land', Massimo Carlotto's novel 'The Goodbye Kiss' and watching the TV series or feature film of De Cataldo's 'Suburra' first.

@@outlawbookselleroriginal Dude i appreciate your replies so much 🙏 thank you for those suggestions!!!

His books are not in print as the sales of physical copies declined over time to a point when printing them was no longer financially viable for the publishers. This is why any books go out of print- sales. However, publishers are often no good at assessing what they should reprint. Jeter is a weird writer, which is why he's such a good SF writer- formulaic SF writers can be popular, but they are rarely any good by SF standards- they lack originality and an ability to present something new, essential in good SF. His 'Blade Runner' books go on sale for high values as the market is collectors coming in from the film end of things. His other books are far better. These days Jeter is writing crime novels which are published as ebooks - he also published a Star Trek novel which sold over a million copies, so he doesn't need to worry about the money.

@@outlawbookselleroriginal so they are limiting his blade runner books by design so that they can get higher prices? i guess my question is: why arent there ebook versions of his books so that people can at least buy ebooks more cheap? arent there laws regarding this? i am not a big ebook guy myself. i only buy ebooks if the physical ones are too expensive for me or if i want to read the first part in a series and see if its worth getting into the series. in my opinion there should be ebook versions for every book out there. it should be regulated by law.

@@DanielRumbacher -No, the books are out of print, which means the publishers don't have any stock left, they've sold out. The high prices you are seeing are people selling secondhand copies. As for ebooks, it depends on if the publisher think there is a market for the books, same as print editions. If they don't think there is, they won't proudce e-versions. It's impractical for every book published to become an ebook, since literally millions of titles are published worldwide every year.

Jeter has as far as I'm aware always been keen to distance himself from Cyberpunk - in fact, his coining of the term 'Steampunk' was a satirical jibe at the increasing tendency to try and label everything with the punk suffix. The reason why people -including me - nod to Cyberpunk re 'Dr Adder' is because of its Punk content - the raw attitude, abrasiveness and uncaring atmosphere. You say there's no world-changing motif in the story- no final concenptual breakthrough- but the point of Adder is that the people are doing shit things for no reason because of the manner in which their lives and consciousness has been altered by the tech and politics: this is Jeter's central message to me - 'if this goes on,'- he's showing the effects after the causes and depicts a spiral descent that is going ever downward. Your point re the prostitute/pimp 'learned otherwise' doesn't hold water- young women worldwide are still falling for this oldest scam in the book - if they weren't, there would not be the truly appalling situation of countless young girls strung out, abused and on street corners looking for tricks. Literature has not affected this and for a writer to avoid writing about a situation like this now-because it still exists- is head in the sand. Jeter is a moralist at the end of the day. Clearly, we disagree about the merits of this book and Jeter. The fact, however, that he prompts such a strong reaction, coupled with his critical cachet and support of PKD underlines his importance. He also fulfills one of the cardinal aspects of great SF- he awakens the reader, shakes her up and gives you food for thought rather than escapism. Not pleasant, I agree, but bracing and necessary.

How much would I pay for what book? I tend not to rewatch videos posted a long time back and I don't script these clips and keep the scripts. Be clear.

@@outlawbookselleroriginal what is going rate for such a book