UZ

[stoutfellow]

Just for the heck of it - and because I do things like this - I went through my library yesterday looking for works of science fiction or fantasy with one-word titles beginning with each letter of the alphabet. Here's what I came up with:

Arslan (M. J. Engh), Barrayar (Bujold), Cetaganda (Bujold), Dune (Herbert), Eon (Bear), Flameweaver (Margaret Ball), Grass (Tepper), Hogfather (Pratchett), Inheritor (Cherryh), Jingo (Pratchett), Komarr (Bujold), Lavondyss (Robert Holdstock), Madouc (Vance), Norstrilia (C. Smith), Orca (Brust), Pyramids (Pratchett), Quicksilver (Stephenson), Ringworld (Niven), Sourcery (Pratchett), Tamsin (Beagle), Valis (Dick), Wyrms (Card), Xenocide (Card), Yvgenie (Cherryh).

The attentive (or badly in need of stimulation) reader will note that the letters U and Z are missing.

Would anyone care to nominate the best (or, failing that, good) works of F/SF, with one-word titles, beginning with those two letters?

Comments

[toraks.livejournal.com]

Well, I can't find any single word titles except romances that start with "U". (this is within my book collection)

But, did come up with a science fiction/romance that's a "Z" that I really enjoy!! Zinnia by Jayne Castle (aka Jayne Ann Krentz).

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0671569015/qid=1126619903/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-7434716-5165731?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

Though Zinnia is the second in a trilogy (Amaryllis, Zinnia, and Orchid).

Can't say it has the best world building, but the romance is decent. I've had Tom read them, and he liked all three and the two more in a similar vein from the same author.

The books include some science fiction as well as some interesting psychic powers type concepts, which actually are pretty well thought out. Anyway, check it out online and see if it sounds interesting to you.

I wouldn't recommend it/them wholeheartedly to you, as I'm not that sure of your tastes, but again, I do enjoy them as fairly light reading!! :-)

[stoutfellow.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the suggestion; my tastes are broad enough that I'll give most things a try. (I've thought of a possible "U", but I'm hoping somebody else will come up with something better...)

[toraks.livejournal.com]

No problem! The books are a fun read, in my opinion! :-)

Do tell what the "U" is if you don't get any suggestions!!

[stoutfellow.livejournal.com]

Ubik, by Philip K. Dick. (I have nothing against Dick; I have his collected short stories and several of his novels, but... he's weird, often uncomfortably so.)

[hornedhopper.livejournal.com]

I am sad to report that my library does not include *any* titles of one word starting with U or Z!

[stoutfellow.livejournal.com]

Hey, wait a minute. Utopia!

[filkferengi]

If you don't mind more than one word, Andre Norton wrote titles starting with each letter of the alphabet.

This reminds me of the time I started the thread on the Bujold list, listing alphabetically all the shows we liked that immediately got cancelled. Iirc, we eventually got most of the alphabet.