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10 Books You Pretend to Have Read (And Why You Should Really Read Them) (science fiction/fantasy)
io9 ^ | July 30, 2015 | Charlie Jane Anders

Posted on 08/01/2015 1:29:27 PM PDT by EveningStar

Science fiction and fantasy offer a rich legacy of great books--but that abundant pile of reading material can also be daunting. So sometimes, it's easier to fake it. We asked some of our favorite writers, and they told us the 10 books that everyone pretends to have read. And why you should actually read them.

From Asimov to Pynchon, science fiction contains some fantastic, ambitious works of genre fiction. But a lot of us get overwhelmed. And it's not that hard to fake a first-hand knowledge of these books, because they're everywhere, and we've heard people talk about them so many times. We SF fans are good at pretending. But these books are classics for a reason -- and they're worth reading.

(Excerpt) Read more at io9.com ...


TOPICS: Books/Literature
KEYWORDS: 1984; books; cryptonomnicon; dhalgren; dune; fantasy; firstandlastmen; foundationtrilogy; gravitysrainbow; infinitejest; jonathanstrange; sciencefiction; scifi; starmaker; thelongtomorrow
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To: EveningStar

For newer science fiction, I really enjoyed “The Unincorporated Man.” I’m going to start Dune after I finish “Tragedy and Hope.”


61 posted on 08/01/2015 2:42:43 PM PDT by Sawdring
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To: EveningStar

Cryptonomnicon - read it, very good.

Dune - Read most of the series, starts great, stops being great

Gravity’s Rainbow - never read it

Foundation - read all but the last, just couldn’t do it anymore. The older Asimov got the thinner he spread his plots and the more he was just killing trees for the sake of killing trees.

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell - Just finished watching the BBC TV show. Pretty good. Not good enough to make me want to read the book.

1984 - Read it in school. yeah.

And actually don’t know about the rest.


62 posted on 08/01/2015 2:43:33 PM PDT by discostu (It always comes down to cortexiphan)
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To: Freedom_Is_Not_Free

Foundation is part of a trilogy and the overarching story is why you read it.

Fun


63 posted on 08/01/2015 2:45:15 PM PDT by Chickensoup (We lose our freedoms one surrender at a time)
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To: BlueLancer

Yes, but how often do you watch the movie? :)


64 posted on 08/01/2015 2:45:29 PM PDT by FreeperinRATcage (I am free because I know that I alone am morally responsible for every thing I do. - R. A. Heinlein)
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To: doorgunner69
"Thank God they Left Stranger in a Strange Land off the list."

Couldn't grok it?

65 posted on 08/01/2015 2:48:12 PM PDT by GoneSalt
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To: Pontiac

And Total Recall.


66 posted on 08/01/2015 2:48:30 PM PDT by cripplecreek (Sad fact, most people just want a candidate to tell them what they want to hear)
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To: Pontiac

My children had a have to read list, for highschool

In this order:

Animal Farm
Brave New World
1984
The Earth Abides
The Long Walk

They have thanked me for having them read them. I have tried to get them interested in SF. It is best read while young.


67 posted on 08/01/2015 2:48:57 PM PDT by Chickensoup (We lose our freedoms one surrender at a time)
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To: Mercat
My all time favorite scifi is C.S.Lewis’s trilogy:
Out of the Silent Planet, Paralandra; and That Hideous Strength.

Outstanding books! And high density Christian Wisdom within

Spelled Perelandra

68 posted on 08/01/2015 2:49:05 PM PDT by HangnJudge (Cthulhu for President, why vote for a lesser Evil)
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To: BlueLancer

Thanks for the reply, but that’s not it.

The one I’m thinking about had a story line more on the order of Lucifer’s Hammer, which got great reviews here for awhile, but I found it to be not all that great.

And, when I said years ago, I’m guessing 10+.

Thanks again.


69 posted on 08/01/2015 2:49:30 PM PDT by VMI70
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To: trisham; Radagast the Fool

Ditto.


70 posted on 08/01/2015 2:50:52 PM PDT by GoneSalt
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To: Islander7
“Rendezvous With Rama” - Aurthur C. Clark

My brother was reading this, back in the day, so I picked it up and read the last page.

BWAHAHAHAHAHA!

71 posted on 08/01/2015 2:51:50 PM PDT by dr_lew
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To: All


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72 posted on 08/01/2015 2:52:20 PM PDT by musicman (Until I see the REAL Long Form Vault BC, he's just "PRES__ENT" Obama = Without "ID")
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To: Chickensoup

I’ve read Animal Farm, 1984 and Brave New World. I’ve never heard of the other two.


73 posted on 08/01/2015 2:53:07 PM PDT by trisham (Zen is not easy. It takes effort to attain nothingness. And then what do you have? Bupkis.)
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To: Sawdring

Newer stuff?

David Weber...pretty much anything by him including the Honor Harrington series and its spin offs, the Safehold series (one of my favorites), Empire of man series, and so on...

John Ringo’s “Black Tide Rising” series fascinated me some how, I’m not sure why. I would definitely recommend it to anyone interested in post apocalyptic fiction. His Posleen War series was also very good, though some of the spin-offs got a bit tedious. His Council Wars series was definitely a different spin on a forced return to pre-industrial age society, and lastly his “Paladin of Shadows” series quite rightly sparked the “Oh John Ringo, No!” meme a few years ago, but I still liked them ;)


74 posted on 08/01/2015 2:55:09 PM PDT by FreeperinRATcage (I am free because I know that I alone am morally responsible for every thing I do. - R. A. Heinlein)
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To: Mom MD

Personally I liked Prey better than Timeline, but both are good. State of Fear is a great debunk of global warming.


75 posted on 08/01/2015 2:55:54 PM PDT by Hugin ("Do yourself a favor--first thing, get a firearm!",)
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To: EveningStar

My favorite SF writers are Silverberg, Vance, George Alec Effinger, and Gardner Duzois.

I just started reading The Martian.


76 posted on 08/01/2015 2:56:59 PM PDT by GSWarrior (Click HERE to skip this tag line.)
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To: HangnJudge
" As fantasy is included... "

If fantasy is included, one series that left me spellbound, enwrapt in delicious literary bondage, was The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever by Stephen R. Donaldson.

10 books to tell the tale; it is not for the commitment-phobic ;)

77 posted on 08/01/2015 2:57:48 PM PDT by GoneSalt
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To: GoneSalt
I got sick of RAH and his "If it feels good, do it" crap. His tacit endorsement of easy sex wherever with whoever that threaded through his later books was too much. only later did i read about his personal life and it made sense where it came from.

No wonder the hippies revered him. Free love, indeed! Blecchhh.

78 posted on 08/01/2015 2:58:31 PM PDT by doorgunner69
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To: EveningStar

I liked Footfall. I also started to read Lucifer’s Hammer but lost the book midway through. I’ll have to get a copy and finish it sometime.


79 posted on 08/01/2015 2:59:07 PM PDT by Hugin ("Do yourself a favor--first thing, get a firearm!",)
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To: VMI70

“Footfall”?

Invasion story, asteroid impact, plucky american heroes, and same authors as “Lucifer’s Hammer”.


80 posted on 08/01/2015 2:59:20 PM PDT by FreeperinRATcage (I am free because I know that I alone am morally responsible for every thing I do. - R. A. Heinlein)
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