Science Fiction's Best Books

[David]

Mike (the Paladin) wrote: "There's some of it in the book's basic assumptions. That said the list was for people to add the books they wanted. I read Battlefield Earth and it's a pretty good sci/fi read no matt..."

Having that type of a base for a novel is fine. If you read Slaves of Sleep and its sequel Masters of Sleep, you'll find Slaves is a pretty good pulp tale, while Masters every now and then will have a character come out with a non sequitur comment directing the reader to try Dianetics. It has absolutely nothing to do with the story.It very quickly becomes overbearing and annoying to the point where you don't much care about the story any more.

[Mike (the Paladin)]

Sure, Card does that in some books. Terry Goodkind's books became very heavy handed as they went along. It's why we disagree on what books are best and so on. I find some books incredibly annoying, others like them.

Life.

[David]

Mike (the Paladin) wrote: "Sure, Card does that in some books. Terry Goodkind's books became very heavy handed as they went along. It's why we disagree on what books are best and so on. I find some books incredibly annoying,..."

I've never read Terry Goodkind but I've read a fair amount of Card. I don't remember him ever having a character come right out and say something like. "You should try the Church of the Latter-Day Saints," or "Turn to page 99 to order the book of Mormon." That's what Hubbard does in Slaves of Sleep & The Masters of Sleep, which is a fantasy novel with some pretty decent world building. It totally comes apart due to 40's style advertising slogans imbedded in the text for his, then, new religion. At that point it isn't, does one reader like the book and another doesn't. It's just bad for the story and pulls you right out of it.

[Mike (the Paladin)]

Yeah but we were talking about Battlefield Earth. I will say that Speaker for the Dead came across very much as a tutorial in Mr. Card's beliefs, though he buried it in the story and never Proselytes openly.

Hubbard didn't in Battlefield Earth either.

I was just saying that some books are based on belief systems and some writers do it more heavily handed than others. While some of Hubbard's books are openly attempts to convert or recruit readers into Scientology the book under discussion is simply a story told using his basic beliefs as assumptions.

[mark, personal space invader]

I'm at 30. a mere novice compared to David & Richard!

[Packi]

Lord of Light - Roger Zelazny
Stand on Zanzibar - John Brunner
Dune - Frank Herbert
Foundation - Isaac Asimov
Hyperion - Dan Simmons
Dragonflight - Anne McCaffrey
Spin - Robert Charles Wilson
Rendezvous with Rama - Arthur C. Clarke
The Martian Chronicles - Ray Bradbury
Speaker for the Dead - Orson Scott Card
Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card
A Canticle for Leibowitz - Walter Miller Jr.
The Rediscovery of Man - Cordwainer Smith
A Fire Upon the Deep - Vernor Vinge
Ubik - Philip K. Dick
The Forever War - Joe Haldeman
Frysepunket (English title: Freezing Down) - Anders Bodelsen
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? - Philip K. Dick
The Windup Girl - Paolo Bacigalupi
Childhood's End - Arthur C. Clarke
The Stars My Destination - Alfred Bester
Downbelow Station - C.J. Cherryh
Stardance - Spider and Jeanne Robinson
The Mote in Gods Eye - Niven/Pournelle
Frankenstein - Mary Shelley
Old Man's War - John Scalzi
The Warrior's Apprentice - Lois McMaster Bujold
Gateway - Frederik Pohl
Stranger in a Strange Land - Robert Heinlein
Consider Phlebas - Iain Banks
Altered Carbon - Richard K. Morgan
The Fifth Head of Cerberus - Gene Wolfe
Adiamante - L.E. Modesitt Jr.
The Left Hand of Darkness - Ursula K. Le Guin
Dawn - Octavia E. Butler
Neuromancer - William Gibson
Damnation Alley - Roger Zelazny
The Diamond Age - Neal Stephenson
Methuselah's Children - Robert A. Heinlein
Way Station - Clifford D. Simak
Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury
Pandora's Star - Peter F. Hamilton
Battlefield Earth - L. Ron Hubbard
The Sparrow - Mary Doria Russell
Startide Rising - David Brin
To Your Scattered Bodies Go - Phillip Jose Farmer
Ringworld - Larry Niven
The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
The Paradox Men - Charles L. Harness
Voyage of the Space Beagle - A.E. van Vogt
Native Tongue - Suzette Haden Elgin
Dhalgren - Samuel R. Delany
Diaspora - Greg Egan
Cities in Flight - James Blish
Schismatrix - Bruce Sterling
The City and The Stars - Arthur C. Clarke
The Time Machine - H.G. Wells
Glimpses - Lewis Shiner
Cat's Cradle - Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
Judas Unchained - Peter F. Hamilton
The Caves of Steel - Isaac Asimov
Dying Inside- Robert Silverberg
The Demolished Man - Bester
The Engines of God - McDevitt
War of the Worlds - H.G. Wells
Nineteen Eighty-Four(1984) - George Orwell
The Gone-Away World - Nick Harkaway
The Shadow of the Torturer - Gene Wolfe
Snow Crash - Neal Stephenson
The Unit by Ninni Holmqvist
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
When Gravity Fails- George Alec Effinger
The Drowned World - J.G. Ballard
Blindsight - Peter Watts
Red Moon - David S. Michaels
Tower of Glass - Robert Silverberg
I am Legend - Richard Matheson
The Player of Games - Iain M. Banks
The Invincible - Stanislaw Lem

[Alexa]

No, no, no, sorry, but I call foul! First, you only get to add one title, not three, and second, you already added one, back in August, #137, when you added Blindsight.

[Alexa]

Larry wrote: "Need to add Dispossessed by Ursula Le Guin to the list."

Larry made this addition, back in April, but he didn't make it in the correct format, so it got ignored (and he never made any other addition). I believe he is correct, that it is a dismal oversight - could we add it to the list?

[LindaJ^]

Alexa is, I believe, right -- only one book person. And, I support her comment about Larry's addition.

I am sure that Mark will settle the issues!! Nice to start off the new year with some interest in the list!

[Jill]

Alexa is correct in message 160, so I removed the last 3. I can't believe the list has gotten this far without any Kim Stanley Robinson, so I'm adding Red Mars. Kim Stanley Robinson, William Gibson, and Robert Charles Wilson are my 3 favourite living SF authors. I kinda feel guilty that all 3 are white north american males, but I know that everything they write will be a good kick to the head.

Lord of Light - Roger Zelazny
Stand on Zanzibar - John Brunner
Dune - Frank Herbert
Foundation - Isaac Asimov
Hyperion - Dan Simmons
Dragonflight - Anne McCaffrey
Spin - Robert Charles Wilson
Rendezvous with Rama - Arthur C. Clarke
The Martian Chronicles - Ray Bradbury
Speaker for the Dead - Orson Scott Card
Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card
A Canticle for Leibowitz - Walter Miller Jr.
The Rediscovery of Man - Cordwainer Smith
A Fire Upon the Deep - Vernor Vinge
Ubik - Philip K. Dick
The Forever War - Joe Haldeman
Frysepunket (English title: Freezing Down) - Anders Bodelsen
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? - Philip K. Dick
The Windup Girl - Paolo Bacigalupi
Childhood's End - Arthur C. Clarke
The Stars My Destination - Alfred Bester
Downbelow Station - C.J. Cherryh
Stardance - Spider and Jeanne Robinson
The Mote in Gods Eye - Niven/Pournelle
Frankenstein - Mary Shelley
Old Man's War - John Scalzi
The Warrior's Apprentice - Lois McMaster Bujold
Gateway - Frederik Pohl
Stranger in a Strange Land - Robert Heinlein
Consider Phlebas - Iain Banks
Altered Carbon - Richard K. Morgan
The Fifth Head of Cerberus - Gene Wolfe
Adiamante - L.E. Modesitt Jr.
The Left Hand of Darkness - Ursula K. Le Guin
Dawn - Octavia E. Butler
Neuromancer - William Gibson
Damnation Alley - Roger Zelazny
The Diamond Age - Neal Stephenson
Methuselah's Children - Robert A. Heinlein
Way Station - Clifford D. Simak
Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury
Pandora's Star - Peter F. Hamilton
Battlefield Earth - L. Ron Hubbard
The Sparrow - Mary Doria Russell
Startide Rising - David Brin
To Your Scattered Bodies Go - Phillip Jose Farmer
Ringworld - Larry Niven
The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
The Paradox Men - Charles L. Harness
Voyage of the Space Beagle - A.E. van Vogt
Native Tongue - Suzette Haden Elgin
Dhalgren - Samuel R. Delany
Diaspora - Greg Egan
Cities in Flight - James Blish
Schismatrix - Bruce Sterling
The City and The Stars - Arthur C. Clarke
The Time Machine - H.G. Wells
Glimpses - Lewis Shiner
Cat's Cradle - Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
Judas Unchained - Peter F. Hamilton
The Caves of Steel - Isaac Asimov
Dying Inside- Robert Silverberg
The Demolished Man - Alfred Bester
The Engines of God - McDevitt
War of the Worlds - H.G. Wells
Nineteen Eighty-Four(1984) - George Orwell
The Gone-Away World - Nick Harkaway
The Shadow of the Torturer - Gene Wolfe
Snow Crash - Neal Stephenson
The Unit by Ninni Holmqvist
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
When Gravity Fails- George Alec Effinger
The Drowned World - J.G. Ballard
Blindsight - Peter Watts
Red Moon - David S. Michaels
Tower of Glass - Robert Silverberg
Red Mars - Kim Stanley Robinson

[Packi]

Ok I forgot about the one book limitation. Those are great books though, someone add them. ;)

[Timday]

Lord of Light - Roger Zelazny
Stand on Zanzibar - John Brunner
Dune - Frank Herbert
Foundation - Isaac Asimov
Hyperion - Dan Simmons
Dragonflight - Anne McCaffrey
Spin - Robert Charles Wilson
Rendezvous with Rama - Arthur C. Clarke
The Martian Chronicles - Ray Bradbury
Speaker for the Dead - Orson Scott Card
Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card
A Canticle for Leibowitz - Walter Miller Jr.
The Rediscovery of Man - Cordwainer Smith
A Fire Upon the Deep - Vernor Vinge
Ubik - Philip K. Dick
The Forever War - Joe Haldeman
Frysepunket (English title: Freezing Down) - Anders Bodelsen
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? - Philip K. Dick
The Windup Girl - Paolo Bacigalupi
Childhood's End - Arthur C. Clarke
The Stars My Destination - Alfred Bester
Downbelow Station - C.J. Cherryh
Stardance - Spider and Jeanne Robinson
The Mote in Gods Eye - Niven/Pournelle
Frankenstein - Mary Shelley
Old Man's War - John Scalzi
The Warrior's Apprentice - Lois McMaster Bujold
Gateway - Frederik Pohl
Stranger in a Strange Land - Robert Heinlein
Consider Phlebas - Iain Banks
Altered Carbon - Richard K. Morgan
The Fifth Head of Cerberus - Gene Wolfe
Adiamante - L.E. Modesitt Jr.
The Left Hand of Darkness - Ursula K. Le Guin
Dawn - Octavia E. Butler
Neuromancer - William Gibson
Damnation Alley - Roger Zelazny
The Diamond Age - Neal Stephenson
Methuselah's Children - Robert A. Heinlein
Way Station - Clifford D. Simak
Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury
Pandora's Star - Peter F. Hamilton
Battlefield Earth - L. Ron Hubbard
The Sparrow - Mary Doria Russell
Startide Rising - David Brin
To Your Scattered Bodies Go - Phillip Jose Farmer
Ringworld - Larry Niven
The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
The Paradox Men - Charles L. Harness
Voyage of the Space Beagle - A.E. van Vogt
Native Tongue - Suzette Haden Elgin
Dhalgren - Samuel R. Delany
Diaspora - Greg Egan
Cities in Flight - James Blish
Schismatrix - Bruce Sterling
The City and The Stars - Arthur C. Clarke
The Time Machine - H.G. Wells
Glimpses - Lewis Shiner
Cat's Cradle - Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
Judas Unchained - Peter F. Hamilton
The Caves of Steel - Isaac Asimov
Dying Inside- Robert Silverberg
The Demolished Man - Alfred Bester
The Engines of God - McDevitt
War of the Worlds - H.G. Wells
Nineteen Eighty-Four(1984) - George Orwell
The Gone-Away World - Nick Harkaway
The Shadow of the Torturer - Gene Wolfe
Snow Crash - Neal Stephenson
The Unit by Ninni Holmqvist
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
When Gravity Fails- George Alec Effinger
The Drowned World - J.G. Ballard
Blindsight - Peter Watts
Red Moon - David S. Michaels
Tower of Glass - Robert Silverberg
Red Mars - Kim Stanley Robinson
Carve the Sky- Alexander Jablokov

[mark, personal space invader]

per above comments, adding Dispossessed by Ursula Le Guin

[mark, personal space invader]

Lord of Light - Roger Zelazny
Stand on Zanzibar - John Brunner
Dune - Frank Herbert
Foundation - Isaac Asimov
Hyperion - Dan Simmons
Dragonflight - Anne McCaffrey
Spin - Robert Charles Wilson
Rendezvous with Rama - Arthur C. Clarke
The Martian Chronicles - Ray Bradbury
Speaker for the Dead - Orson Scott Card
Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card
A Canticle for Leibowitz - Walter Miller Jr.
The Rediscovery of Man - Cordwainer Smith
A Fire Upon the Deep - Vernor Vinge
Ubik - Philip K. Dick
The Forever War - Joe Haldeman
Frysepunket (English title: Freezing Down) - Anders Bodelsen
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? - Philip K. Dick
The Windup Girl - Paolo Bacigalupi
Childhood's End - Arthur C. Clarke
The Stars My Destination - Alfred Bester
Downbelow Station - C.J. Cherryh
Stardance - Spider and Jeanne Robinson
The Mote in Gods Eye - Niven/Pournelle
Frankenstein - Mary Shelley
Old Man's War - John Scalzi
The Warrior's Apprentice - Lois McMaster Bujold
Gateway - Frederik Pohl
Stranger in a Strange Land - Robert Heinlein
Consider Phlebas - Iain Banks
Altered Carbon - Richard K. Morgan
The Fifth Head of Cerberus - Gene Wolfe
Adiamante - L.E. Modesitt Jr.
The Left Hand of Darkness - Ursula K. Le Guin
Dawn - Octavia E. Butler
Neuromancer - William Gibson
Damnation Alley - Roger Zelazny
The Diamond Age - Neal Stephenson
Methuselah's Children - Robert A. Heinlein
Way Station - Clifford D. Simak
Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury
Pandora's Star - Peter F. Hamilton
Battlefield Earth - L. Ron Hubbard
The Sparrow - Mary Doria Russell
Startide Rising - David Brin
To Your Scattered Bodies Go - Phillip Jose Farmer
Ringworld - Larry Niven
The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
The Paradox Men - Charles L. Harness
Voyage of the Space Beagle - A.E. van Vogt
Native Tongue - Suzette Haden Elgin
Dhalgren - Samuel R. Delany
Diaspora - Greg Egan
Cities in Flight - James Blish
Schismatrix - Bruce Sterling
The City and The Stars - Arthur C. Clarke
The Time Machine - H.G. Wells
Glimpses - Lewis Shiner
Cat's Cradle - Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
Judas Unchained - Peter F. Hamilton
The Caves of Steel - Isaac Asimov
Dying Inside- Robert Silverberg
The Demolished Man - Alfred Bester
The Engines of God - McDevitt
War of the Worlds - H.G. Wells
Nineteen Eighty-Four(1984) - George Orwell
The Gone-Away World - Nick Harkaway
The Shadow of the Torturer - Gene Wolfe
Snow Crash - Neal Stephenson
The Unit by Ninni Holmqvist
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
When Gravity Fails- George Alec Effinger
The Drowned World - J.G. Ballard
Blindsight - Peter Watts
Red Moon - David S. Michaels
Tower of Glass - Robert Silverberg
Red Mars - Kim Stanley Robinson
Carve the Sky - Alexander Jablokov
The Dispossessed - Ursula K. Le Guin

[mark, personal space invader]

also just wanted to add that I love this list! I really like when I get a notification about a new post on this thread because it means another opportunity to just eyeball the list itself.

[Rotuma]

I have read 15 on the list ...

I am surprised, no Poul Anderson fans yet???

[Michael]

Lord of Light - Roger Zelazny
Stand on Zanzibar - John Brunner
Dune - Frank Herbert
Foundation - Isaac Asimov
Hyperion - Dan Simmons
Dragonflight - Anne McCaffrey
Spin - Robert Charles Wilson
Rendezvous with Rama - Arthur C. Clarke
The Martian Chronicles - Ray Bradbury
Speaker for the Dead - Orson Scott Card
Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card
A Canticle for Leibowitz - Walter Miller Jr.
The Rediscovery of Man - Cordwainer Smith
A Fire Upon the Deep - Vernor Vinge
Ubik - Philip K. Dick
The Forever War - Joe Haldeman
Frysepunket (English title: Freezing Down) - Anders Bodelsen
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? - Philip K. Dick
The Windup Girl - Paolo Bacigalupi
Childhood's End - Arthur C. Clarke
The Stars My Destination - Alfred Bester
Downbelow Station - C.J. Cherryh
Stardance - Spider and Jeanne Robinson
The Mote in Gods Eye - Niven/Pournelle
Frankenstein - Mary Shelley
Old Man's War - John Scalzi
The Warrior's Apprentice - Lois McMaster Bujold
Gateway - Frederik Pohl
Stranger in a Strange Land - Robert Heinlein
Consider Phlebas - Iain Banks
Altered Carbon - Richard K. Morgan
The Fifth Head of Cerberus - Gene Wolfe
Adiamante - L.E. Modesitt Jr.
The Left Hand of Darkness - Ursula K. Le Guin
Dawn - Octavia E. Butler
Neuromancer - William Gibson
Damnation Alley - Roger Zelazny
The Diamond Age - Neal Stephenson
Methuselah's Children - Robert A. Heinlein
Way Station - Clifford D. Simak
Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury
Pandora's Star - Peter F. Hamilton
Battlefield Earth - L. Ron Hubbard
The Sparrow - Mary Doria Russell
Startide Rising - David Brin
To Your Scattered Bodies Go - Phillip Jose Farmer
Ringworld - Larry Niven
The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
The Paradox Men - Charles L. Harness
Voyage of the Space Beagle - A.E. van Vogt
Native Tongue - Suzette Haden Elgin
Dhalgren - Samuel R. Delany
Diaspora - Greg Egan
Cities in Flight - James Blish
Schismatrix - Bruce Sterling
The City and The Stars - Arthur C. Clarke
The Time Machine - H.G. Wells
Glimpses - Lewis Shiner
Cat's Cradle - Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
Judas Unchained - Peter F. Hamilton
The Caves of Steel - Isaac Asimov
Dying Inside- Robert Silverberg
The Demolished Man - Alfred Bester
The Engines of God - McDevitt
War of the Worlds - H.G. Wells
Nineteen Eighty-Four(1984) - George Orwell
The Gone-Away World - Nick Harkaway
The Shadow of the Torturer - Gene Wolfe
Snow Crash - Neal Stephenson
The Unit by Ninni Holmqvist
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
When Gravity Fails- George Alec Effinger
The Drowned World - J.G. Ballard
Blindsight - Peter Watts
Red Moon - David S. Michaels
Tower of Glass - Robert Silverberg
Red Mars - Kim Stanley Robinson
Carve the Sky - Alexander Jablokov
The Dispossessed - Ursula K. Le Guin
Nexus - Ramez Naam

[Andrea]

I'm confused . . . where's the original list? It's very clumsy to try to scroll through all this.

[Maggie, space cruisin' for a bruisin']

All of theses are the list!
The idea is that everyone in the group add one title to the list, so the list in post 170 is the most recent....

[Rion]

The Unit by Ninni Holmqvist. Read the synopsis for this book and I know I've seen it adapted somewhere before. It's driving me batshit crazy because I can't find who or what adapted this story.

[Louise]

Lord of Light - Roger Zelazny
Stand on Zanzibar - John Brunner
Dune - Frank Herbert
Foundation - Isaac Asimov
Hyperion - Dan Simmons
Dragonflight - Anne McCaffrey
Spin - Robert Charles Wilson
Rendezvous with Rama - Arthur C. Clarke
The Martian Chronicles - Ray Bradbury
Speaker for the Dead - Orson Scott Card
Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card
A Canticle for Leibowitz - Walter Miller Jr.
The Rediscovery of Man - Cordwainer Smith
A Fire Upon the Deep - Vernor Vinge
Ubik - Philip K. Dick
The Forever War - Joe Haldeman
Frysepunket (English title: Freezing Down) - Anders Bodelsen
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? - Philip K. Dick
The Windup Girl - Paolo Bacigalupi
Childhood's End - Arthur C. Clarke
The Stars My Destination - Alfred Bester
Downbelow Station - C.J. Cherryh
Stardance - Spider and Jeanne Robinson
The Mote in Gods Eye - Niven/Pournelle
Frankenstein - Mary Shelley
Old Man's War - John Scalzi
The Warrior's Apprentice - Lois McMaster Bujold
Gateway - Frederik Pohl
Stranger in a Strange Land - Robert Heinlein
Consider Phlebas - Iain Banks
Altered Carbon - Richard K. Morgan
The Fifth Head of Cerberus - Gene Wolfe
Adiamante - L.E. Modesitt Jr.
The Left Hand of Darkness - Ursula K. Le Guin
Dawn - Octavia E. Butler
Neuromancer - William Gibson
Damnation Alley - Roger Zelazny
The Diamond Age - Neal Stephenson
Methuselah's Children - Robert A. Heinlein
Way Station - Clifford D. Simak
Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury
Pandora's Star - Peter F. Hamilton
Battlefield Earth - L. Ron Hubbard
The Sparrow - Mary Doria Russell
Startide Rising - David Brin
To Your Scattered Bodies Go - Phillip Jose Farmer
Ringworld - Larry Niven
The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
The Paradox Men - Charles L. Harness
Voyage of the Space Beagle - A.E. van Vogt
Native Tongue - Suzette Haden Elgin
Dhalgren - Samuel R. Delany
Diaspora - Greg Egan
Cities in Flight - James Blish
Schismatrix - Bruce Sterling
The City and The Stars - Arthur C. Clarke
The Time Machine - H.G. Wells
Glimpses - Lewis Shiner
Cat's Cradle - Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
Judas Unchained - Peter F. Hamilton
The Caves of Steel - Isaac Asimov
Dying Inside- Robert Silverberg
The Demolished Man - Alfred Bester
The Engines of God - McDevitt
War of the Worlds - H.G. Wells
Nineteen Eighty-Four(1984) - George Orwell
The Gone-Away World - Nick Harkaway
The Shadow of the Torturer - Gene Wolfe
Snow Crash - Neal Stephenson
The Unit by Ninni Holmqvist
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
When Gravity Fails- George Alec Effinger
The Drowned World - J.G. Ballard
Blindsight - Peter Watts
Red Moon - David S. Michaels
Tower of Glass - Robert Silverberg
Red Mars - Kim Stanley Robinson
Carve the Sky - Alexander Jablokov
The Dispossessed - Ursula K. Le Guin
Nexus - Ramez Naam
Star Maker - Olaf Stapledon

[Crisel]

Lord of Light - Roger Zelazny
Stand on Zanzibar - John Brunner
Dune - Frank Herbert
Foundation - Isaac Asimov
Hyperion - Dan Simmons
Dragonflight - Anne McCaffrey
Spin - Robert Charles Wilson
Rendezvous with Rama - Arthur C. Clarke
The Martian Chronicles - Ray Bradbury
Speaker for the Dead - Orson Scott Card
Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card
A Canticle for Leibowitz - Walter Miller Jr.
The Rediscovery of Man - Cordwainer Smith
A Fire Upon the Deep - Vernor Vinge
Ubik - Philip K. Dick
The Forever War - Joe Haldeman
Frysepunket (English title: Freezing Down) - Anders Bodelsen
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? - Philip K. Dick
The Windup Girl - Paolo Bacigalupi
Childhood's End - Arthur C. Clarke
The Stars My Destination - Alfred Bester
Downbelow Station - C.J. Cherryh
Stardance - Spider and Jeanne Robinson
The Mote in Gods Eye - Niven/Pournelle
Frankenstein - Mary Shelley
Old Man's War - John Scalzi
The Warrior's Apprentice - Lois McMaster Bujold
Gateway - Frederik Pohl
Stranger in a Strange Land - Robert Heinlein
Consider Phlebas - Iain Banks
Altered Carbon - Richard K. Morgan
The Fifth Head of Cerberus - Gene Wolfe
Adiamante - L.E. Modesitt Jr.
The Left Hand of Darkness - Ursula K. Le Guin
Dawn - Octavia E. Butler
Neuromancer - William Gibson
Damnation Alley - Roger Zelazny
The Diamond Age - Neal Stephenson
Methuselah's Children - Robert A. Heinlein
Way Station - Clifford D. Simak
Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury
Pandora's Star - Peter F. Hamilton
Battlefield Earth - L. Ron Hubbard
The Sparrow - Mary Doria Russell
Startide Rising - David Brin
To Your Scattered Bodies Go - Phillip Jose Farmer
Ringworld - Larry Niven
The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
The Paradox Men - Charles L. Harness
Voyage of the Space Beagle - A.E. van Vogt
Native Tongue - Suzette Haden Elgin
Dhalgren - Samuel R. Delany
Diaspora - Greg Egan
Cities in Flight - James Blish
Schismatrix - Bruce Sterling
The City and The Stars - Arthur C. Clarke
The Time Machine - H.G. Wells
Glimpses - Lewis Shiner
Cat's Cradle - Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
Judas Unchained - Peter F. Hamilton
The Caves of Steel - Isaac Asimov
Dying Inside- Robert Silverberg
The Demolished Man - Alfred Bester
The Engines of God - McDevitt
War of the Worlds - H.G. Wells
Nineteen Eighty-Four(1984) - George Orwell
The Gone-Away World - Nick Harkaway
The Shadow of the Torturer - Gene Wolfe
Snow Crash - Neal Stephenson
The Unit by Ninni Holmqvist
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
When Gravity Fails- George Alec Effinger
The Drowned World - J.G. Ballard
Blindsight - Peter Watts
Red Moon - David S. Michaels
Tower of Glass - Robert Silverberg
Red Mars - Kim Stanley Robinson
Carve the Sky - Alexander Jablokov
The Dispossessed - Ursula K. Le Guin
Nexus - Ramez Naam
Star Maker - Olaf Stapledon
Crystal Singer - Anne McCaffrey

[Metaphorosis]

I can't believe the list has gotten this far without including Stephen Donaldson, Sheri Tepper, Steven Brust, George R. R. Martin, Jack Vance, John Christopher, etc. That's pretty hard to correct with only one book, but I'll choose strategically - perhaps not my favorite all time SF book, but a book and author that definitely deserve inclusion. See next post

[Metaphorosis]

Lord of Light - Roger Zelazny
Stand on Zanzibar - John Brunner
Dune - Frank Herbert
Foundation - Isaac Asimov
Hyperion - Dan Simmons
Dragonflight - Anne McCaffrey
Spin - Robert Charles Wilson
Rendezvous with Rama - Arthur C. Clarke
The Martian Chronicles - Ray Bradbury
Speaker for the Dead - Orson Scott Card
Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card
A Canticle for Leibowitz - Walter Miller Jr.
The Rediscovery of Man - Cordwainer Smith
A Fire Upon the Deep - Vernor Vinge
Ubik - Philip K. Dick
The Forever War - Joe Haldeman
Frysepunket (English title: Freezing Down) - Anders Bodelsen
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? - Philip K. Dick
The Windup Girl - Paolo Bacigalupi
Childhood's End - Arthur C. Clarke
The Stars My Destination - Alfred Bester
Downbelow Station - C.J. Cherryh
Stardance - Spider and Jeanne Robinson
The Mote in Gods Eye - Niven/Pournelle
Frankenstein - Mary Shelley
Old Man's War - John Scalzi
The Warrior's Apprentice - Lois McMaster Bujold
Gateway - Frederik Pohl
Stranger in a Strange Land - Robert Heinlein
Consider Phlebas - Iain Banks
Altered Carbon - Richard K. Morgan
The Fifth Head of Cerberus - Gene Wolfe
Adiamante - L.E. Modesitt Jr.
The Left Hand of Darkness - Ursula K. Le Guin
Dawn - Octavia E. Butler
Neuromancer - William Gibson
Damnation Alley - Roger Zelazny
The Diamond Age - Neal Stephenson
Methuselah's Children - Robert A. Heinlein
Way Station - Clifford D. Simak
Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury
Pandora's Star - Peter F. Hamilton
Battlefield Earth - L. Ron Hubbard
The Sparrow - Mary Doria Russell
Startide Rising - David Brin
To Your Scattered Bodies Go - Phillip Jose Farmer
Ringworld - Larry Niven
The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
The Paradox Men - Charles L. Harness
Voyage of the Space Beagle - A.E. van Vogt
Native Tongue - Suzette Haden Elgin
Dhalgren - Samuel R. Delany
Diaspora - Greg Egan
Cities in Flight - James Blish
Schismatrix - Bruce Sterling
The City and The Stars - Arthur C. Clarke
The Time Machine - H.G. Wells
Glimpses - Lewis Shiner
Cat's Cradle - Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
Judas Unchained - Peter F. Hamilton
The Caves of Steel - Isaac Asimov
Dying Inside- Robert Silverberg
The Demolished Man - Alfred Bester
The Engines of God - McDevitt
War of the Worlds - H.G. Wells
Nineteen Eighty-Four(1984) - George Orwell
The Gone-Away World - Nick Harkaway
The Shadow of the Torturer - Gene Wolfe
Snow Crash - Neal Stephenson
The Unit by Ninni Holmqvist
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
When Gravity Fails- George Alec Effinger
The Drowned World - J.G. Ballard
Blindsight - Peter Watts
Red Moon - David S. Michaels
Tower of Glass - Robert Silverberg
Red Mars - Kim Stanley Robinson
Carve the Sky - Alexander Jablokov
The Dispossessed - Ursula K. Le Guin
Nexus - Ramez Naam
Star Maker - Olaf Stapledon
Crystal Singer - Anne McCaffrey
The Gate to Women's Country - Sheri S. Tepper

[Scott]

I wish GRRM would go back to writing SF stories.

[Metaphorosis]

Scott wrote: "I wish GRRM would go back to writing SF stories."

I came really close to choosing Dying of the Light or one of his story collections, but I went with Tepper to even out the gender balance a bit. I like Song of Ice and Fire well enough, but his short stories are far better.

[Scott]

Metaphorosis wrote: "I came really close to choosing Dying of the Light or one of his story collections, but I went with Tepper to even out ..."

Would you believe I didn't even know he had written an SF novel? I've read two of his short story collections though and they are excellent, often beautiful works. I just have no interest in epic, indefinitely long fantasy.

[Metaphorosis]

Oh, you should definitely pick up Dying of the Light, then. I read it in serial, abridged form in an SF magazine in the 70s, and it blew me away. I can't begrudge him the boatloads of money he must be making now, but the current work is not his best.

[Scott]

Added. Thanks for the rec!

[Dan]

I'm glad you picked Sheri S. Tepper. I had forgotten all about her. I read one of her novels new when it was published: The Visitor. It was an SFBC selection I forgot to decline. I was amazed by the depth and originality of the plot and beauty of the writing, almost Margaret Atwood like in its composure, though it was challenging at times. The last third of the book was a slight disappointment for going off on tangents that were not so interesting, but the main story was magic.

Soon after finishing The Visitor I picked up The Family Tree by Tepper and tried to get past the first part of the book maybe three times, all unsuccessfully. The story kept introducing seemingly random characters with random motivations. I couldn't figure out what was going on. The writing was dense and hard to follow. I gave up on Tepper after those unsuccessful attempts.

Having seen your recommendation, I am reminded of how much I enjoyed the better moments of The Visitor, and thinking maybe I will give The Gate a try. Thanks.

[Metaphorosis]

I think Tepper is a terrific writer, if definitely opinionated, blunt, and sometimes a bit obsessive. I don't agree with all her points, but they're interesting. Skip the Plague of Angels series and The Revenants, but much of the rest is good.

If you're looking for interesting politics and ideas, The Gate to Women's Country is a great start. If you just want good story without quite so much philosophical overhead, try her True Game series.

[Tad]

Grass by Sheri S. Tepper is also excellent and was nominated for a Hugo award. So many good books of hers to choose from.

[Alexa]

Just got to warn you, the politics in The Gate to Women's Country is over-the-top. Personally, I love it, but it is not to everyone's taste. Many people (men in particular) find Grass much more to their taste. We just read that here last year.

[mark, personal space invader]

I really loved the first half of Grass. after that, I thought it went downhill fast and I ended up frustrated and disappointed.

[Dan]

Among those who cared enough to write a review of The Gate to Women's Country, I noticed that all but one of the men gave it 3 or 4 stars. Many women gave the book just 1 or 2 stars. Interesting.

[Alexa]

I find that fascinating! You compared her to Atwood, if you read and enjoyed The Handmaid's Tale you might well enjoy this.

[Metaphorosis]

I didn't care that much for Grass, I admit, but haven't re-read it. The Gate to Women's Country, on the other hand, was a real eye-opener. I'd never realized until reading and thinking about the book that there were people who really thought men and women should live apart. Not something I agree with, but I like SF that makes you think.

[mark, personal space invader]

I'm reminded of Suzy McKee Charnas' excellent Walk to the End of the World

[Alexa]

Now that series I found absolutely repulsive!

[mark, personal space invader]

The entire series, even the novels that focused almost solely on women, like Motherlines? I can definitely understand why people would find the first book to be repulsuve or just difficult to enjoy since the first three-quarters were told from the oppressive, deluded male perspectives. But the rest of the relatively woman-centric series? I'm surprised and curious.

[Metaphorosis]

Alexa wrote: "Now that series I found absolutely repulsive!"

Haven't read Charnas, but that sounds like the Gor series... Even as a young teen I found those impossible to swallow. But I do recall an "oppressive, deluded male perspective".

[Scott]

Always kind of wanted to read one of the Gor books just for fun.

(The older editions had great covers, too.)

[Metaphorosis]

Scott wrote: "Always kind of wanted to read one of the Gor books just for fun."

A friend of mine loved them, but the one I read was terrible. When my friend got to 'Slave Girl of Gor', I burst out laughing, it was so ludicrous. But maybe I missed something.

[Mike (the Paladin)]

They're basically soft core bondage porn. I read a few when I was like 16 or something.

[mark, personal space invader]

Metaphorosis wrote: "Haven't read Charnas, but that sounds like the Gor series..."

I assure, they are NOT! the two series have literally nothing in common. Charnas' goals in her series is to study the gender divide in a serious way. it can be hard to read at times, and the first book is especially difficult. her series has more in common with Atwood's work than the trashy Gor series. the Charnas series is very far from trash and I highly recommend it to fans of serious speculative fiction.

[Alexa]

Ok, it's been a while and my memory is sketchy. I do remember finding a used copy of book #2 and then searching for ages before I got my hands on book #1 - which I desperately wanted because it so totally looked like something I would love (and I couldn't dream of reading them out of order). I then read those two back to back. I couldn't have been that horribly turned off by #1 or I wouldn't have continued? It was the female-centric society that appalled me. They seemed to feel that their mistreatment at the hands of men allowed them an unlimited license. I just recall a strong visceral reaction of disgust. Yet several people have recently been so surprised by my reaction that I've almost convinced myself I need to go back and take another look. In comparison Gate to Women's Country is idyllic! (And those men's complaints are so petty in comparison!)

[Dan]

I have to retract any negative comment I made about The Family Tree by Sheri S. Tepper. On the basis of this discussion I pulled it off my shelf in order to find out just what was wrong with it. The answer is "nothing". It's a delightful story so far. None of the male characters in the first quarter of the book are the least bit likable, which I guess is par for the course for Tepper, but the writing style, plot ideas, and world-building is so incredibly rich.

[Metaphorosis]

mark wrote: I assure, they are NOT! the two series have literally nothing in common. Charnas' goals in her series is to study..."

Sounds like I should check these out. But maybe skip book one. Not sure if I can do that...

[mark, personal space invader]

Alexa wrote: "Ok, it's been a while and my memory is sketchy. I do remember finding a used copy of book #2 and then searching for ages before I got my hands on book #1 - which I desperately wanted because it so..."

I did not expect the visceral reaction of disgust to be regarding Motherlines! I am definitely one of those surprised people.

it's been so long since I've read the trilogy that I'm not sure I have anything else to add. I do want to re-read the first book though, it has stood out in my memory as one of the more disturbing pieces of science fiction that I've read.

[Alexa]

I applaud your reaction, that you want to re-read "one of the more disturbing pieces of science fiction that I've read." I guess maybe I should too, it seems I may have totally twisted things. (view spoiler)[Wasn't there some cannibalism going on there? (hide spoiler)]

Although I think perhaps the most disturbing ones I've read were The Sparrow and Children of God, and I definitely want to re-read those one of these days.