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Okay Jen, you seem to be the expert.

Here's my summer reading list, so far:

The Two Towers (again)
The Chronicles of Narnia (again)
Books 8&9 in "The Left Behind" series (I know, but easy reads and I just want to see what they do with them)

I'll probably pick up some theology works and a biography or two. But, if you were to add to my science fiction list for this summer, what would you add?

(others may play too, but I'd like Jen's list)

Well, first I'd approve of the Narnia and say "Agh! Left Behind! Noooo - read something that is actually worthwhile!" But that's just me...

Um, I'd say, try a smattering of different authors. Pick up Heinlein's Double Star or Starship Troopers. Connie Willis - Doomsday Book (depressing but really good) or To Say Nothing of the Dog. Or both. Dune, if you haven't read it. Asimov's Foundation series, but not Foundation's Edge or Foundation and Earth, IMO. Any of Arthur Clarke's short stories. Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. Code of the Lifemaker, James Hogan.

I could go on...

But, if you were to add to my science fiction list for this summer, what would you add?

Just chiming in with some of my science fiction experience, which started nearly 50 years ago, during a couple of week's hospitalisation. I read some of the classics, including Stapleton's 'Last and First Men', along with Welles and Verne. Some short stories, including Blish's 'Surface Tension' and Azimov's 'Nightfall' I found completely spell binding. Some of the novels of the early 1950's, including Bester's 'The Demolished Man', and Heinlein's (?) 'The Stars My Destination' were interesting and different from more recent formulaic SF.

Naturally Heinlein's future history stories, which recorded an alternate history 20th century, and Azimov's Foundation series, and the 'prequels' which were worked into the sequence of the history of the Galactic Empire based on Trantor, and its collapse, and rebuilding by the Foundation project were totally fascinating to a history buff.

Anderson and Niven are always fine, as are the military themed stories of Gordon Dickson (sp?) (The Dorsai stories), and Hal Clement for super-hard SF. I liked Zelazny's early stuff too, and Laumer's Retief stories are a hoot. If you haven't read the classics of the 40's and 50's, the summer is a good time to build a good 'foundation' (forgive the pun) in the nature of SF.

For TV SF, the only way to travel is by Stargate (without the bad guys of that series, of course), and the only previous real captain of the Enterprise was Jean Luc Picard!

Now if I can't get a flame war going here with some of these opinions, I don't know what will!