# 50 Essential Science Fiction Novels for a Public Library **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 28, 2014, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-essential-science-fiction-novels-for-a-public-library/687193 "2014-04-28T15:42:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2014, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-essential-science-fiction-novels-for-a-public-library/687193/121 "2014-05-03T20:45:56Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > Waaaaaaaay back in the 60’s, a few of us girls were into science fiction, yes, hard to believe… Ooh, lady, ooh lady - space? Gotta go to space. Wait, I know, I know. Spaaaace! Hey, where are we goin? ---
**Author:** ![justrob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a9adbd/32.png) [@justrob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/justrob)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2014, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-essential-science-fiction-novels-for-a-public-library/687193/122 "2014-05-04T00:46:19Z")
It looks like a pretty good list. My one criticism. I love Lucifer’s Hammer and re-read it every few years but I don’t think it’s one of the 50 Essential Science Fiction Novels. Someone mentioned earlier, and I’d agree, the list would be improved if you swapped it out for a collection of Niven’s short stories. I’ll suggest N-Space but realize there might be a better collection. Lucifer’s Hammer would be a great candidate for the second list though. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2014, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-essential-science-fiction-novels-for-a-public-library/687193/123 "2014-05-04T06:04:00Z")
If you’re going to do a collection of short stories, one author, you have to include _The Essential Ellison_, the Harlan Ellison anthology. It really is a shame that he is left out, possibly the most glaring author omission. Sturgeon is another (as is Silverberg), and I’m really surprised _Flowers for Algernon_ didn’t make the final list. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2014, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-essential-science-fiction-novels-for-a-public-library/687193/124 "2014-05-04T18:54:31Z")
Philip K. Dick, The Unteleported Man can’t figure why there is so little Dick in this thread. Another vote for Solaris as possibly the greatest SciFi novel ever. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2014, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-essential-science-fiction-novels-for-a-public-library/687193/125 "2014-05-04T21:41:54Z")
I just realized that On the Beach is still on the list! I thought I had taken it off. I guess I have an extra spot. > [@justrob](#): > > My one criticism. I love Lucifer’s Hammer and re-read it every few years but I don’t think it’s one of the 50 Essential Science Fiction Novels. Someone mentioned earlier, and I’d agree, the list would be improved if you swapped it out for a collection of Niven’s short stories. I’ll suggest N-Space but realize there might be a better collection. > > Lucifer’s Hammer would be a great candidate for the second list though. I’ve thought about cutting Lucifer’s Hammer, actually. I’ll just see how it goes and I work through group 2. > [@JohnT](#): > > If you’re going to do a collection of short stories, one author, you have to include _The Essential Ellison_, the Harlan Ellison anthology. > > It really is a shame that he is left out, possibly the most glaring author omission. Sturgeon is another (as is Silverberg), and I’m really surprised _Flowers for Algernon_ didn’t make the final list. Remember that this is a list of books, not authors. There can be no such thing as an author ommission from group 1. That said, I do want to get some Ellison in group 2, but it’s a tough call because he has no novel or short story collection that particularly stands out. The Essential Ellison doesn’t count because it is a “best of,” but I might make an exception in this case. Thanks for the tip. This does not mean the door is open to making sure other important short stories are on the list. Starting with the short stories would expand the scope of the project way beyond feasibility. Maybe down the road, but not now. I have 1570 books on my spreadsheet to sort through as it is. > [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > Philip K. Dick, The Unteleported Man can’t figure why there is so little Dick in this thread. Maybe because there are two Dick novels on the list already? > [@Measure\_for\_Measure](#): > > ETA: What are the genres of sci fi and fantasy anyway? I’m guessing somebody here knows of a good annotated internet list. (I’d google for it, except that I couldn’t assess quality.) This question deserves a thread all its own, but to start, here are a few well-known subgenres of sci fi: - Apocalyptic/Post-Apocalyptic - Takes place during and/or after some cataclysmic event usually leading to widespread death and breakdown of the social order. (Lucifer’s Hammer, World War Z, Alas, Babylon) - Cyberpunk - Humans and technology, often involving virtual realities and artificial intelligences. (Snow Crash, Neuromancer) - Dystopian - Usually a near-future setting in a tightly controlled society where things are pretty awful for many or most people, but there are variations on this. I’m not exactly sure where to draw the line between a dystopia and a world where things just suck. (Nineteen Eighty-Four, The Handmaid’s Tale) - Alternate History - Less a genre _of_ science fiction than one that often overlaps it, alternate history depicts a world where something that happened in the past caused the world to develop differently than our own. (The Man in the High Castle, The Yiddish Policemen’s Union) - Space Opera - Action and adventure in outer space! I don’t know that anything on the list of 50 is part of this subgenre, so let’s use the Honor Harrington series as an example. The author calls it “Horatio Hornblower in outer space.” Star Wars and Star Trek can also be considered space opera. ---
**Author:** ![Sleel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/73ab20/32.png) [@Sleel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleel)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2014, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-essential-science-fiction-novels-for-a-public-library/687193/126 "2014-05-05T12:08:11Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > It’s a great book and definitely deserves to be on the list, but the gender-shifters are humanoid aliens, not humans. Nope, Earth and basically all of the other worlds she mentions were seeded by the Hainish. Humans are their genetic descendants. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2014, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-essential-science-fiction-novels-for-a-public-library/687193/127 "2014-05-05T12:10:40Z")
OK, Antartic explorers discover proofs of an ancient extra-terrestrial society on Earth, which has survivors which may extend much further around the planet… how is H.P. Lovecraft’s At the Mountains of Madness not a worthy SciFi novel? Or, if you are allowing single-author anthologies, a collection of HPL’s SciFi stories? For the record, I’d say Bradbury’s The Martian Chronicles is more SciFi than F-451. I’d question Atwood’s Handmaid’s Tale as SciFi at all. No Andre’ Norton? ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2014, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-essential-science-fiction-novels-for-a-public-library/687193/128 "2014-05-06T13:24:18Z")
I subbed in The Martian Chronicles for On the Beach for Group 1. I have an early draft of Group 2 done. I’m not near happy with it yet, but I figured I should throw it out there. I relaxed the parameters a bit with group 2. I also decided to limit the number of books per author to 4 between the two lists, then immediately violated that by putting two Clarke on instead of one. I also tried to get closer to representing a variety of styles/subgenres/authors, but that is not a major concern. I’m also processing through all the suggestions in this thread as there are so many good ones to research/ponder. Feel free to reiterate something if you feel strongly that something ought to be on here or not on here. Remember that these have to be amongst the best-known works and not the ones you personally feel are an author’s overlooked treasures. “S1” means “Series 1,” or the first book in a series. [c] means it’s a collection of stories. Spoiler-boxed for space reasons… Aldiss, Brian - Helliconia Spring (S1) Asimov, Isaac - The Gods Themselves Atwood, Margaret - Oryx and Crake (S1) Ballard, J.G. - The Drowned World Banks, Iain M. - Consider Phlebas (Culture Series S1) Bear, Greg - Darwin’s Radio Bear, Greg - The Forge of God Bellamy, Edward - Looking Backward, 2000-1887 Benford, Gregory - Timescape Bester, Alfred - The Demolished Man Brunner, John - Stand on Zanzibar Bujold, Lois McMaster - Shards of Honor (Vorkosigan Saga S1) Butler, Octavia - Kindred Card, Orson Scott - Speaker for the Dead Cherryh, C.J. - Downbelow Station Christopher, John - The Death of Grass (AKA No Blade of Grass) Clarke, Arthur C. - The City and the Stars Clarke, Arthur C. - The Fountains of Paradise Clement, Hal - Mission of Gravity Delany, Samuel R. - Dhalgren Dick, Philip K. - Ubik Ellison, Harlan - The Essential Ellison [c] Haldeman, Joe - Forever Peace Hamilton, Peter F. - The Reality Dysfunction Harrison, Harry - The Stainless Steel Rat (S1) Keyes, Daniel - Flowers For Algernon King, Stephen - The Stand Lem, Stanislaw - Solaris Matheson, Richard - I Am Legend McIntyre, Vonda N. - Dreamsnake Mieville, China - Perdido Street Station Mieville, China - The City & The City Moore, Alan and Gibbons, Dave - Watchmen Morgan, Richard - Altered Carbon Norton, Andre - Star Man’s Son Pangborn, Edgar - Davy Robinson, Kim Stanley - Red Mars (Mars Trilogy S1) Russ, Joanna - The Female Man Shute, Nevil - On the Beach Smith, E.E. - Triplanetary (Lensman S1) Stephenson, Neal - Anathem Stephenson, Neal - The Diamond Age Stewart, George R. - Earth Abides Sturgeon, Theodore - More Than Human Tepper, Sheri S. - The Gate to Women’s Country Varley, John - Titan Weber, David - On Basilisk Station (Honor Harrington S1) Wyndham, John - The Day Of The Triffids Zamyatin, Yevgeny - We Zelazny, Roger - Lord of Light Have fun! ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2014, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-essential-science-fiction-novels-for-a-public-library/687193/129 "2014-05-06T17:50:54Z")
I don’t remember whether it’s been mentioned yet or not, but Pohl & Kornbluth’s _The Space Merchants_ really needs to be on one of these lists! ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2014, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-essential-science-fiction-novels-for-a-public-library/687193/130 "2014-05-06T18:12:52Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > I don’t remember whether it’s been mentioned yet or not, but Pohl & Kornbluth’s _The Space Merchants_ really needs to be on one of these lists! Yeah, it really does. Any thoughts on what to cut from Group 2? ---
**Author:** ![a35362](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@a35362](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a35362)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2014, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-essential-science-fiction-novels-for-a-public-library/687193/131 "2014-05-06T18:35:30Z")
I used to own a copy of _Science Fiction: The 100 Best Novels 1949 - 1984_, which I found a good starting point. Now of course there’s a sequel, _Science Fiction: The 101 Best Novels 1985 - 2010_. These might give you some ideas. If you look them up on Amazon and “Look Inside!”, you can see the titles in the books without buying the books. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2014, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-essential-science-fiction-novels-for-a-public-library/687193/132 "2014-05-06T20:28:20Z")
> [@FriarTed](#): > > how is H.P. Lovecraft’s At the Mountains of Madness not a worthy SciFi novel? Great story, but not a novel. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2014, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-essential-science-fiction-novels-for-a-public-library/687193/133 "2014-05-06T20:32:31Z")
As much as I argued for Mieville, I’m not sure that I’d put Perdido Street Station on a science fiction booklist: it’s definitely new Weird, but it’s more on the fantasy side than on the SF side of that line. I really disliked Oryx and Crake: it looked to me like a literary author slumming in the SF field, a second-rate effort from a first-rate author. OTOH, much as I dislike Michael Crichton, I wonder whether something like **The Andromeda Strain** belongs on the list; it’s pretty famous, often referenced (at least it used to be), and isa major player in the major disease genre. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2014, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-essential-science-fiction-novels-for-a-public-library/687193/134 "2014-05-06T21:44:15Z")
Oh, good you added Zamyatin, Yevgeny - We Though the spaceflight plot is a bit dated now (not surprising) the dystopia and plot in general are amazingly modern. It doesn’t have the same influence as 1984 and Brave New World, but I liked it better. Excellent choice! ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2014, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-essential-science-fiction-novels-for-a-public-library/687193/135 "2014-05-07T17:47:22Z")
> [@a35362](#): > > I used to own a copy of _Science Fiction: The 100 Best Novels 1949 - 1984_, which I found a good starting point. > > Now of course there’s a sequel, _Science Fiction: The 101 Best Novels 1985 - 2010_. > > These might give you some ideas. If you look them up on Amazon and “Look Inside!”, you can see the titles in the books without buying the books. Also, the lists are reproduced on various blogs and so forth. I’ve consulted Pringle’s list, but I didn’t know about the update. [Pringle’s list is good](http://www.listology.com/list/david-pringles-best-100-science-fiction-novels). I wonder whether he’d make some different choices for the same period if he were to re-make the list today, but there is a ton of great stuff on the list. I plan to get it from the library or buy it because I want to read what he has to say about everything. [The newer list is…odd](http://readerslist.wordpress.com/2012/10/08/science-fiction-the-101-best-novels-1985-2010/). About half of the 101 titles on it weren’t even in my database, which is pretty weird at this point. I don’t know if it contains a bunch of lesser-known treasures or whether the choices are just wacky, but I figure if somebody cares enough to put it in an actual book and publish it, it’s worth looking into. > [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > As much as I argued for Mieville, I’m not sure that I’d put Perdido Street Station on a science fiction booklist: it’s definitely new Weird, but it’s more on the fantasy side than on the SF side of that line. I’ll look farther into Perdido Street Station’s status. I’ve seen it on many sci-fi only lists, but it definitely looks like it has feet in both worlds. (I haven’t read it) If something is “science-fantasy,” I don’t necessarily consider that a disqualification, as long as the sci fi elements are strong, but it is a minus. > [@](#): > > I really disliked Oryx and Crake: it looked to me like a literary author slumming in the SF field, a second-rate effort from a first-rate author. I disliked it too, especially since I felt like I had read it before many times. It also doesn’t seem to be held in as high regard as it was when it was newer (published 2003). The fact that it’s known to non-SF readers is a plus, but it’s a good candidate to be knocked down into group 3. > [@](#): > > OTOH, much as I dislike Michael Crichton, I wonder whether something like **The Andromeda Strain** belongs on the list; it’s pretty famous, often referenced (at least it used to be), and isa major player in the major disease genre. There are a lot of books that I would consider science fiction based on setting/plot/elements, but that are rarely regarded as such. As much as people here have quibbled about whether various entries on the top 50 are “really” science fiction, the fact is that they are widely regarded as such, particularly by those knowledgeable about the field, or else they wouldn’t have been on there. For other works, it’s not so easy. For some, their or their author’s association with some other genre so far exceeds their association with science fiction that I’m perfectly happy to bump them into a lower category regardless of how major or how genuinely science-fictiony they are. Atlas Shrugged would be one of these. Michael Crichton, Stephen King, and Robin Cook are all authors who are simply not considered science fiction writers, even though they have written an awful lot of it. Yet I can’t shake the feeling that they don’t belong on a “science fiction essentials” list. I made an exception for The Stand because it is one of the two or three most major players in the post-apoc genre. The Andromeda Strain is referenced much more rarely, but I agree that it is very important in that subgenre, and will keep it in mind. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2014, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-essential-science-fiction-novels-for-a-public-library/687193/136 "2014-05-07T18:05:23Z")
I never thought of Crichton as anything _other_ than a sci-fi writer. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2014, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-essential-science-fiction-novels-for-a-public-library/687193/137 "2014-05-07T18:54:02Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > I never thought of Crichton as anything _other_ than a sci-fi writer. Me, too–especially given that his most famous work is arguably Jurassic Park, and his next most famous probably Andromeda Strain, and after that is probably Sphere, and all of these are SF. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2014, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-essential-science-fiction-novels-for-a-public-library/687193/138 "2014-05-07T20:45:23Z")
My point exactly. Many of his novels ARE sci fi, but as an author he gets lumped into the “thriller” or “techno-thriller” group. You can’t always fight city hall, you know? In the end, all of his sci fi works are being included in the more comprehensive list, so I don’t suppose it matters too much. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2014, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-essential-science-fiction-novels-for-a-public-library/687193/139 "2014-05-08T18:09:59Z")
> [@Green\_Bean](#): > > My point exactly. Many of his novels ARE sci fi, but as an author he gets lumped into the “thriller” or “techno-thriller” group. You can’t always fight city hall, you know? In the end, all of his sci fi works are being included in the more comprehensive list, so I don’t suppose it matters too much. Your list, your rules, but if the focus is supposed to be on books and not on authors, I’d put several of his books–including Andromeda Strain–in SF. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2014, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-essential-science-fiction-novels-for-a-public-library/687193/140 "2014-05-08T18:15:30Z")
Don’t forget this isn’t a list of “essential SF novels” but a list of “essential SF novels that we have to budget for, and if we can get wedge some SF’ novels onto the budgets of the ‘mainstream’ books (like King, Rand, and Crichton), therefore allowing us to have more SF than the original budgeted-for 50, so much the better.” That’s the way I’ve been understanding the rules… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-essential-science-fiction-novels-for-a-public-library/687193.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-essential-science-fiction-novels-for-a-public-library/687193.md?page=8)