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 ...
“Lucifer’s Hammer” is a great book, only a little dated. The astronauts arguing over global warming and global cooling is incredibly prescient.
I’d also add “Fallen Angels” by Niven and Pournelle. An ice age has started, and environmentalists have taken over the government, requiring energy rationing and banning genetically engineered foods, everyone has ethanol vehicles, while the space station struggles to hang on, when two air scoop pilots fall to Earth ...
Definite thumbs up for the great Jack Vance’s Demon Princes. Maybe the greatest revenge epic of all time? The ending of ‘The Face’ is one of the best endings ever.
I’ll add Book of the New Sun by the still living Gene Wolfe.
Freegards
I generally like his work but Ranks of Bronze is among my favorites. Roman Legion. aliens. Battles. Whats not to like?
I’ve probably read Lucifers Hammer 5-7 times since i bought it when it first came out.
Riders of the Purple wage is a good read-shows all the ridiculous nonsense of a welfare society.
The children’s rhyme of Christ, Marx, Wood and Wei is catchy and chilling.
I’m glad you enjoyed This Perfect Day-I enjoy reading about Chip’s awakening, and ultimate triumph every time I read the book and it always lifts my spirits-I read a long time ago that Levin based the story on the premise of a Soviet-Chinese communist-type society being in control-hence, the pre-decided occupations, controlled reproduction, same approved pictures, etc being everywhere, the same carefully designed museum exhibits, controlled public events and leisure travel, beehive housing, the same food, clothing. etc-the ultimate wet dream of the USSR of that time.
The pic of Wei addressing the scientists was in King’s office, among other places...
exactly why are we supposed to read them?
to complete our PC education?
The leftists have taken the Starcruiser, their going to take out the sun! They found out it was the greatest contributor to “climate change” and must die!
Oh noes... someone has to save the human race, again.
Favorite Drake book ever: Ranks of Bronze.
I have literally given that one away several times and repurchased it after. You lend that one out, it never comes back
Why read 1984 when we are living it?
Oh, i love the entire Hammers Slammers series, and if i hade to choose just one Drake story out of them all? Birds of Prey. Loved it, wish it could have gone on forever.
Dune is one of the greats - like many others on this thread I could not read the sequels.
Foundation was originally published as a series of stories that Asimov later stitched together - one reason why some can’t get into it. It’s also quite dated for readers of today - Asimov’s galactic future lacks technology we have today. I rejected the premise of psychohistory - there are too many variables in the population of a single planet to make the future predictable to the degree specified, let alone a galaxy of different worlds. Still enjoyed the books, but have never been tempted to reread them.
1984, of course, is a classic - Huxley just underestimated the time it would take for the rats to gain power.
Tried to read Dhalgren when I was very young, couldn’t make heads or tails of it so I never finished it. I should try to read it again. Same with Olaf Stapledon’s books.
Never heard of the others.
I would add:
SF:
Pebble in the Sky - Asimov
Riverworld - Philip Jose Farmer
The Boat of a Million Years - Poul Anderson
The Mote in God’s Eye - Niven & Pournelle
Ringworld - Niven
The Robots of Dawn - Asimov
Lest Darkness Fall - L. Sprague DeCamp
The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress - Heinlein
Rendezvous with Rama - Clarke
Way Station - Clifford D. Simak
Earth Abides - George R Stewart
Nine Princes in Amber - Roger Zelazny
A Canticle for Liebowitz - Walter M. Miller
Little Fuzzy - H. Beam Piper
First Lensman - Doc Smith
After Things Fell Apart - Ron Goulart
Witch World - Andre Norton
Fantasy:
Lord of the Rings
Gormenghast - Mervyn Peake
The Eye of the World - Robert Jordan
Swords in the Mist - Fritz Leiber
The Magic of Recluse - L.E. Modesitt
Voyage of the Fox Rider - Dennis L. McKiernan
Hel’s Crucible - McKiernan
The Dragonbone Chair - Tad Williams
Arrows of the Queen - Mercedes Lackey
Conan of Cimmeria - Howard / DeCamp / Carter
I read “second Foundation”, then went back to the first two, Couldn’t get into either, but I liked “Second Foundation” a lot.
One of the things that kills the Foundation series for modern readers is that chaos theory really puts the big kibosh on the entire idea of ‘psychohistory’. Funny thing is, chaos theory was derived by folks attmpting to work out long-term weather prediction among others. The more honest scientists of the time understood the writing on the wall when they saw it and recognised that the dream of weather control and prediction in any chaotic system like the earth’s atmosphere was ultimately futile. Sadly, many ‘scientists’ today have decided to completely disregard the lessons learned, in order to push their pet theories.
Next time you are arguing with a AGW supporter, ask them if they have ever heard of the phrase “sensitive dependence upon initial conditions”. Then laugh at their blank look.
Easy answer is that it is epic just like Heinlein's Future History series.
Prelude to Foundation (1988)
Forward the Foundation (1993)
Foundation (1951)
Foundation and Empire (1952)
Second Foundation (1953)
Foundation's Edge (1982)
Foundation and Earth (1986)
The series is set in the same universe as Asimov's first published novel, Pebble in the Sky, although Foundation takes place about 10,000 years later. Pebble in the Sky became the basis for the Empire series. Then, at some unknown date (prior to writing Foundation's Edge) Asimov decided to merge the Foundation/Empire series with his Robot series. Thus, all three series are set in the same universe, giving them a combined length of 15 novels, and a total of about 1,500,000 words. The merge also created a time-span of the series of around 20,000 years.
I, Robot (1950)
The Caves of Steel (1953)
The Naked Sun (1955)
The Robots of Dawn (1983)
Robots and Empire (1985)
I have read all of Heinlein and Asimov and in my opinion, nothing else comes close.
For escapist fun, I always liked Anne McCaffrey and Andre Norton. These ladies earned their Grand Master titles.
And, by the way, Janet Kagan died way to young.
... and on the gripping hand....
I've never seen the movie. The idea that the aliens .. the Psychlos .. would have the appearance that they showed John Travolta depicting was nonsense. I figured that, if they couldn't come close to the book in that regard, it couldn't have been reflective of how the Psychlos were described in the book.
Additionally, it was pretty well panned by all concerned .. even by those whose opinion I respect on FR .. almost without exception. So I figured "Why waste my time". After all, the "movie" of it in my mind's eye that was running while I read it was perfectly acceptable to me anyway.
Agreed about Weber. Some of his latest Harrington book have lots of words but do not really advance the plot much. They could have been distilled down to a good sized short story and nothing would have really been lost.
Gotta say though that Everything I’ve read by Ring has rockdd. The Aldenata series is most excellent on every level.
I take it you are another one of us few who know much more about leprosy than we ever wanted to.
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