FOUNDATION by Issac Asimov
Like mo
st kids in the 60s-70s, Asimov was my introduction to sci-fi with these books. A brilliant example of total world building traces a man's effort to save a crumbling empire by establishing a foundation to preserve the intellectual achievements of the empire.
DUNE by Frank Herbert
Come
on, the first Dune book is a staggering piece of imagination, and a thrilling story. Ignore all movie versions, and if you want to read the endless Dune books that follow, go for it but be forewarned: each book in the series gets worse and worse and worse and ...
FLOWERS FOR ALGERNON by Daniel Keyes
Poign
ant story of a simple man with an IQ of 68. Charlie becomes the first human test case for an intelligence increasing surgery. As Charlie's IQ increases to 185 his life completely changes and he ultimately discovers, the surgery is not permanent ... he will revert to his former, simple self after reaching amazing heights of intellectual and emotional achievement. Powerful and sad.
HYPERION by Dan Simmons
A sci-fi
Canterbury Tales. The story weaves the interlocking tales of a diverse group of travelers sent on a pilgrimage to the Time Tombs on Hyperion. The travelers have been sent by the Shrike Church and the Hegemony (the government of the human star systems) to make a request of the Shrike. As they progress in their journey, each of the pilgrims tells their tale. Simmons is a powerful writer.
THE MOON IS A HARSH MISTRESS by Robert A. Heinlein
This is stil
l one of my all-time favorite books, sci-fi or not. The moon has become a penal colony for criminal and political exiles from Earth. Problem is, anyone who stays longer than a few months undergoes "irreversible physiological changes and can never again live in comfort and health in a gravitational field six times greater than that to which their bodies have become adjusted. That leads to unrest and then ...
ENDER'S GAME by Orson Scott Card
One of
the greatest books of the past 50 years. Years ago Earth barely survived the invasion of an alien race called The Buggers. Now, Earth is preparing to defend itself again for a second coming invasion by creating super genius children through a breeding program on Earth. The kids are sent to Battle School to prepare to defend their planet. Eight-year old Ender Wiggen becomes the focus of the Battle School administrators as their best hope as a supreme commander.
The genius of this novel is that it is told from the view point of an intellectually brilliant child, but a child nonetheless, so he is unaware of the machinations around him. Quite simply ... a must read.
DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP by Philip K. Dick
The m
ost famous Dick novel is typical ... bleak, clever and just when you think you know what is happening, Dick proves you foolish.
TO SAY NOTHING OF THE DOG by Connie Willis
In 20
57, Ned Henry, an Oxford expert in the 20th century, jumps back and forth from the 1940s to correct a loose screw in the works of the time continuum .... the madcap almost screwball intensity makes this a fun ride.
THE MOTE IN GOD'S EYE by Larry Nevin and Jerry Pournelle
Well-writt
en hard science fiction about an alien race called The Moties. When I bought this paperback in 1978, I read it straight through until I was finished. Nevin is a brilliant hard science fiction writer, but b-o-r-i-n-g. Pournelle is a good scientist but a much better writer so they make a good team. Try reading a Larry Nevin book (Ringworld is a good test) and see how much more boring his solo books are.
TO YOUR SCATTERED BODIES GO by Philip Jose Farmer
Sir Richard
Burton wakes after death to find himself in a strange world which is made up of a never-ending river. He discovers that the inhabitants of the Riverworld are from the history of Earth - from Neolithic Age to the 21st century. The search is on to find the end of the river and the powers behind the resurrections. His partner? Hermann Goring.
LORD VALENTINE'S CASTLE by Robert Silverberg
Okay, so
me of you will argue that this is more epic fantasy than science fiction, but I think it has enough hard sci-fi in its storyline to be bone fide. Set on an immense planet teeming with alien races and magical creatures, Valentine wakes one morning with no memory of who he is. He joins a troupe of traveling circus performers and gradually begins to realize he is the rightful ruler of the planet, except no one else believes him.
SPIN by Robert Charles Wilson
One nigh
t the stars go out. The book follows how that event affects the lives of three friends - coming-of-age tale, a love story, a literary triumph, and an ecological and apocalyptic warning.
BRING THE JUBILEE by Ward Moore
Written in 19
53, one of the first (and the best) of the alternative history novels that ask: What if the South won the Civil War? Politically complex, astute and endlessly fascinating.
TIMESCAPE by Gregory Benford
It's 19
98, and a physicist in Cambridge, England, attempts to send a message backward in time. Earth is falling apart, and a government faction supports the project in hopes of diverting or avoiding the environmental disasters beginning to tear at the edges of civilization. It's 1962, and a physicist in California struggles with his new life on the West Coast, office politics, and the irregularities of data that plague his experiments. Then he receives an unusual message ...
THE FOREVER WAR by Joe Haldeman
Mandella
starts out as a foot soldier in man's thousand-year war against the Taurans and ends as a reluctant major. Spanning the stars at faster than light speeds, Mandella and his comrades age only months as the centuries zip by on an earth that becomes increasingly foreign. But few soldiers will return to the altered home planet; in battles fought with powered suits and other stranger weapons, the odds for survival approach zero. This is a splendid, thoughtful adventure.
LORD OF LIGHT by Roger Zelany
The science-
fiction Siddhartha, with a twist. Earth is long since dead. On a colony planet, a band of men has gained control of technology, made themselves immortal, and now rules their world as the gods of the Hindu pantheon. Only one dares oppose them: he who was once Siddhartha and is now Mahasamatman. Binder of Demons. Lord of Light. Trickster. Very fun.
Like mo
st kids in the 60s-70s, Asimov was my introduction to sci-fi with these books. A brilliant example of total world building traces a man's effort to save a crumbling empire by establishing a foundation to preserve the intellectual achievements of the empire.DUNE by Frank Herbert
Come
on, the first Dune book is a staggering piece of imagination, and a thrilling story. Ignore all movie versions, and if you want to read the endless Dune books that follow, go for it but be forewarned: each book in the series gets worse and worse and worse and ...FLOWERS FOR ALGERNON by Daniel Keyes
Poign
ant story of a simple man with an IQ of 68. Charlie becomes the first human test case for an intelligence increasing surgery. As Charlie's IQ increases to 185 his life completely changes and he ultimately discovers, the surgery is not permanent ... he will revert to his former, simple self after reaching amazing heights of intellectual and emotional achievement. Powerful and sad.HYPERION by Dan Simmons
A sci-fi
Canterbury Tales. The story weaves the interlocking tales of a diverse group of travelers sent on a pilgrimage to the Time Tombs on Hyperion. The travelers have been sent by the Shrike Church and the Hegemony (the government of the human star systems) to make a request of the Shrike. As they progress in their journey, each of the pilgrims tells their tale. Simmons is a powerful writer.THE MOON IS A HARSH MISTRESS by Robert A. Heinlein
This is stil
l one of my all-time favorite books, sci-fi or not. The moon has become a penal colony for criminal and political exiles from Earth. Problem is, anyone who stays longer than a few months undergoes "irreversible physiological changes and can never again live in comfort and health in a gravitational field six times greater than that to which their bodies have become adjusted. That leads to unrest and then ...ENDER'S GAME by Orson Scott Card
One of
the greatest books of the past 50 years. Years ago Earth barely survived the invasion of an alien race called The Buggers. Now, Earth is preparing to defend itself again for a second coming invasion by creating super genius children through a breeding program on Earth. The kids are sent to Battle School to prepare to defend their planet. Eight-year old Ender Wiggen becomes the focus of the Battle School administrators as their best hope as a supreme commander.The genius of this novel is that it is told from the view point of an intellectually brilliant child, but a child nonetheless, so he is unaware of the machinations around him. Quite simply ... a must read.
DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP by Philip K. Dick
The m
ost famous Dick novel is typical ... bleak, clever and just when you think you know what is happening, Dick proves you foolish.TO SAY NOTHING OF THE DOG by Connie Willis
In 20
57, Ned Henry, an Oxford expert in the 20th century, jumps back and forth from the 1940s to correct a loose screw in the works of the time continuum .... the madcap almost screwball intensity makes this a fun ride.THE MOTE IN GOD'S EYE by Larry Nevin and Jerry Pournelle
Well-writt
en hard science fiction about an alien race called The Moties. When I bought this paperback in 1978, I read it straight through until I was finished. Nevin is a brilliant hard science fiction writer, but b-o-r-i-n-g. Pournelle is a good scientist but a much better writer so they make a good team. Try reading a Larry Nevin book (Ringworld is a good test) and see how much more boring his solo books are.TO YOUR SCATTERED BODIES GO by Philip Jose Farmer
Sir Richard
Burton wakes after death to find himself in a strange world which is made up of a never-ending river. He discovers that the inhabitants of the Riverworld are from the history of Earth - from Neolithic Age to the 21st century. The search is on to find the end of the river and the powers behind the resurrections. His partner? Hermann Goring.LORD VALENTINE'S CASTLE by Robert Silverberg
Okay, so
me of you will argue that this is more epic fantasy than science fiction, but I think it has enough hard sci-fi in its storyline to be bone fide. Set on an immense planet teeming with alien races and magical creatures, Valentine wakes one morning with no memory of who he is. He joins a troupe of traveling circus performers and gradually begins to realize he is the rightful ruler of the planet, except no one else believes him.SPIN by Robert Charles Wilson
One nigh
t the stars go out. The book follows how that event affects the lives of three friends - coming-of-age tale, a love story, a literary triumph, and an ecological and apocalyptic warning.BRING THE JUBILEE by Ward Moore
Written in 19
53, one of the first (and the best) of the alternative history novels that ask: What if the South won the Civil War? Politically complex, astute and endlessly fascinating.TIMESCAPE by Gregory Benford
It's 19
98, and a physicist in Cambridge, England, attempts to send a message backward in time. Earth is falling apart, and a government faction supports the project in hopes of diverting or avoiding the environmental disasters beginning to tear at the edges of civilization. It's 1962, and a physicist in California struggles with his new life on the West Coast, office politics, and the irregularities of data that plague his experiments. Then he receives an unusual message ...THE FOREVER WAR by Joe Haldeman
Mandella
starts out as a foot soldier in man's thousand-year war against the Taurans and ends as a reluctant major. Spanning the stars at faster than light speeds, Mandella and his comrades age only months as the centuries zip by on an earth that becomes increasingly foreign. But few soldiers will return to the altered home planet; in battles fought with powered suits and other stranger weapons, the odds for survival approach zero. This is a splendid, thoughtful adventure.LORD OF LIGHT by Roger Zelany
The science-
fiction Siddhartha, with a twist. Earth is long since dead. On a colony planet, a band of men has gained control of technology, made themselves immortal, and now rules their world as the gods of the Hindu pantheon. Only one dares oppose them: he who was once Siddhartha and is now Mahasamatman. Binder of Demons. Lord of Light. Trickster. Very fun.
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