The only one I have read is 1984 and that only because we were required to do so in school.
I do very little reading anymore but I have read all 4 of Travis McGee’s books.
I have read or skimmed all of Winston Churchill’s
History of WWII”.
Now that I think about it, I have read a lot of books, just none on the list.
Made it through Dhalgren in high school, that is one messed up book.
I am out of touch. I only read Dune. I am reading Foundation and I keep putting it down. Very readable, but I just have no clue where its going and the multi-generational character changes make me shift gears to often. So far, I really don’t understand why this book is so highly esteemed. If I can stick with it to the end, maybe I will understand why.
In the early 1960’s our high school required that we read “Brave New World” and “1984”. Sadly the future described in both of these books is or has come true despite our being warned about it. If today’s students read them, I fear they would accept the conditions described as the norm, not something to be feared.
As fantasy is included...
The Lord of the Rings - Tolkien
The Space Trilogy - CS Lewis ( only Christian SF ever written )
This is an opportunity I’ve been waiting for...
Years ago, someone posted here on F R, a book about the negative consequences of a successful SETI contact.
It sounded fascinating, but I’ve searched here and Google, etc., and I’ll be damned if I can find it. Does anyone here know or remember it? If so, please post.
Thanks in advance.
Cryptonomicon is a long and difficult read but worth it
If one adds precursor SF types
The HP Lovecraft Necronomicon bases series are very good for their time
House of Suns
The Fractal Prince (Bk 1)
The Quantum Thief (Bk 2)
The Causal Angle (Bk 3)
The Foundation Trilogy
Dune
Neuromancer
All four books of the Hyperion Cantos
And so many more...
I was reading “The Note In God’s Eye” by Larry Niven when I went to boot camp. My Drill Sargent took it from me before I finished it.
Years later I found it and finished it. It was worth the wait.
I read four out of the ten and although I’m an obsessive re-reader, I have not read any of them more than once, except maybe Dune but it was a long time ago and I may just be remembering one of the sequels.
I don’t know what hard core scifi folks stick to but I did enjoy The Hunger Games series and the Divergent series. Although I doubt I’ll read them again. I read them because my teenager read them.
My all time favorite scifi is C.S.Lewis’s trilogy: Out of the Silent Planet, Paralandra; and That Hideous Strength.
For the most part I prefer fantasy.
Gormanghast Trilogy
Worm Ouroborus
For newer science fiction, I really enjoyed “The Unincorporated Man.” I’m going to start Dune after I finish “Tragedy and Hope.”
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.
My favorite SF writers are Silverberg, Vance, George Alec Effinger, and Gardner Duzois.
I just started reading The Martian.
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.
I heard of Dune and 1984 and was not impressed with either one.
OTOH, I really like Clarke’s earlier works: 2001: a Space Odyssey, Childhood’s End, and The City and the Stars.
Dan Simmons’ Hyperion series was awesome.
Free Science Fiction Novels (Good Stuff)
http://www.baenebooks.com/c-1-free-library.aspx
There are a few books about distinctly conservative value worlds in the collection...I’ll let you discover them ;)
Had a hard time getting through Infinite Jest. I didn’t even know it was considered science fiction/fantasy. Next time I go on hard drugs, I’ll give it another try.