I grew up reading SF in the '80s, and Del Rey books were such a huge part of my life -- along with Tor and Ace, they were the big three logos I'd see on the spine of all the paperbacks in the stores I liked, and I used that logo as much as anything else to point me to more stuff to read. My tastes are more varied these days -- I'd say SF/F makes up maybe 20% of my reading at most -- but I still have very fond memories of Del Rey.
I have been reading fantasy almost exclusively lately, is there a stand alone novel that you recommend of the genre and maybe from this publishing house? great story as well
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Oh, man -- fantasy is so filled with series, and Del Rey (especially during Judy's time) was all about non-standlones. Pern, Shanara, and Xanth were all from her time, and are still going. But if you haven't read it, The Princess Bride really is a fantastic novel, one that offers a lot more than the (fantastic) movie it was adapted into.
Other standalone fantasy that I've loved includes Charles de Lint's The Little Country and Emma Bull's War for the Oaks.
Sadly, most of that 20% sf/f I read tends to be SF these days, with the exception of some ongoing series like Steve Brust's books. One of the few recent standalones I can recall enjoying would be Race the Sands by Sarah Beth Durst (who mostly writes YA, but this one's definitely not).
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Del-Ray books, holy smokes that takes me back. I have read so many from that publishing house!
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We owe her a debt for bringing The Princess Bride to prominence. For those who have only seen the movie (which is an all-time great) the book is even better.
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