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 ...
dittos...I liked Dune...”Midnight at the well of souls” by Jack Chalker should be read by all sci-fi enthusiasts.
Also...I loved “1984” definitely should be read by everyone on FR.
Ditto. I've been reading "must read/watch/listen to" lists for half a century. Sometimes they put good stuff on their lists, but many times it's just a collection of works the list preparer likes. It reflects their very unwarranted large ego. (It sounds like many of the books on that list are positively missable.
Ah! Thank you for the clarification.
Spot on.
What are you, 6?
J/K FRiend, J/K...
Ditto. From reading a ton of fiction when I was younger, I just about never read fiction now. Too many important non-fiction books out there.
Every central planner believes they’re Hari Seldon. Even today you have Malcolm Gladwell, Freakonomics, 538, and Krugman who think they can get it right, just give them long enough reins and a sharp whip.
Any list that doesn’t include at least one Heinlien is bogus
Agree
I attended a Science Fiction Writers of America meeting in Los Angeles many years ago, and met Harry Harrison there. I told him that story was one of the funniest things I ever read. I read it while on a plane from Washington to the West Coast, and it was all I could do to keep from laughing out loud on the plane. He said he was having fun with one writer after another.
I read that when I was an 8-year old kid. It was a lot of fun. I read it again a couple of years ago, and, while still fun, it’s pretty naive in the political machinations. I never really gave a damn about the Scientology aspects, though they are in there.
Yess! The best SF story I ever read, I think, although Pohl Anderson's Brain Wave is up there too. Both were novellas, not actual novels.
Most Arthur Clark, A Canticle for Leibowitz are up there too.
Some Heinlein is up there too. Some is not.
I happened to have liked A Torrent of Faces by Blish and Knight. I liked it so much, I ordered a used copy of it on Amazon. Not nearly as good as a 60-year-old as it was as a 13-year-old. Oh well.
Also the novel Nova by Samuel R. Delany was quite good. Contained this line, which I will always remember:
"While I will grasp at night and morning, I will win the noon."
“Have space suit- Will travel”
“The moon is a harsh mistress”
“Star ship Troopers”
“Friday”
“Job-A comedy of justice”
All Heinlein...All great.
If you want to talk commitment and fantasy in the same breath, there’s always Wheel of Time...just started book 8 last night.
Any list that doesn’t contain “The Stars My Destination” is to be ignored.
One author that gets short shrift but who is one of the best is Jack Vance. His “Planet of Adventure” series is as good as scifi gets.
I also highly recommend “Star Smashers of the Galaxy Rangers” by Harry Harrison for a different view of space opera.
Well hell since I got started I have a bunch that are my faves.
Startide Rising/The Uplift Wars - David Brin
The Demon Princes Series - Jack Vance
A Fire Upon the Deep - Vernor Vinge
Hyperion - Dan Simmons
A Talent For War -Jack McDevitt
Abyss of Light Series - Kathleen O’Neal
The greatest time travel story ever written: Dinosaur Beach - Keith Laumer
I’m not not navel-gazing scifi at all so most of the novels on these critics’ lists are too self-absorbed for me.
“Starship troopers” is credited with the idea of the Iron Man suit (Marvel comics) and modern exo-skeletons.
But no one brings up that pro-military novel’s impact on technology, instead point to Star Trek for tricorders and cell-phones.
ADD drugs and anti-depressants prescribed on a wide scale, too, make Brave New World very prescient.
The “Infinite Space, Infinite God” sci-fi anthology series is also Christian science fiction.
Is that the guy who wrote “Jonathan Livingston Seagull”?
Yep, same guy who wrote Johnathan Livingston Seagull. Illusions is a better book.
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