# Is this a decent list of SF reads? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 8, 2006, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-decent-list-of-sf-reads/347535 "2006-03-08T13:51:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2006, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-decent-list-of-sf-reads/347535/41 "2006-03-08T21:54:14Z")
**Silenus** , Well, any list that _doesn’t_ have Delany on it is suspect. (Smith over Delany. :smack: ) **Tamerlane** , Connie’s first solo novel wasn’t until 1987, so she’s too new. Same with Nancy Kress, as her first sf (as opposed to fantasy) novel wasn’t until 1988. (Yet both are earlier than Tepper’s _Grass_ but I had to set some limit.) I only looked at novel dates, not short stories. That would put both of them earlier, but since the list is only reprinting novels (for the simple reason that collections of short stories don’t sell) I didn’t see the point. **What Exit?** , your not knowing half of a list of the best classic female sf writers speaks volumes about the field and its audience. It’s little wonder that C. L. Moore hid behind initials (so did U. K. LeGuin for her first publication in Playboy) and James Tiptree Jr. behind a pseudonym. Nor it is surprising that so many females turned to fantasy so they could compete on equal terms. The reality is that there’s a stigma among the audience for sf which means that they won’t read anything with “girl cooties”\* on it. - Not my term, but one used by female sf writers to describe their plight. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2006, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-decent-list-of-sf-reads/347535/42 "2006-03-08T22:06:27Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > I would consider the bolded ones to be “great.” The others may be good (or not). Depends on taste, as I said. Personally, I think any list that has Delany on it to be suspect from the get go. 😃 You think Anne McCaffery is a more “great” author than C. J. Cherryh? I mean, I ain’t saying I didn’t read an awful lot of her books, when I was a teenager. But man, if the list includes _A Canticle for Leibowitz_, _The Stars My Destination_, etc., then we’re talking about _grownup_ books here. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2006, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-decent-list-of-sf-reads/347535/43 "2006-03-10T15:56:16Z")
Looks like a pretty good list to me - but not perfect. Asimov wasn’t that skilled at characterization, true, but any list which omits him from the SF Greats is automatically suspect. I would add _I Robot, The Caves of Steel_ or _The Foundation Trilogy_ (unless that would count as three?). Didn’t see any Ray Bradbury. Where’s _The Martian Chronicles_ or _The Illustrated Man_? And a personal favorite, which I wish everyone would read: George R.R. Martin’s _Tuf Voyaging_. Masterful. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2006, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-decent-list-of-sf-reads/347535/44 "2006-03-10T18:31:29Z")
So the consensus is too much Dick and not enough women. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2006, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-decent-list-of-sf-reads/347535/45 "2006-03-10T18:37:47Z")
> [@Little Nemo](#): > > So the consensus is too much Dick and not enough women. I swear Gloria Steinem said this during the Watergate hearings. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![slaphead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@slaphead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slaphead)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2006, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-decent-list-of-sf-reads/347535/46 "2006-03-11T14:11:51Z")
So basically, it’s a decent enough list but there’s PLENTY more out there. Go read all of them, and then all the other ones mentioned here. When you’re done, start a thread called ‘what obscure but fantastic SF book should I read now’ and another reading assignment will be set… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2006, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-decent-list-of-sf-reads/347535/47 "2006-03-11T16:51:27Z")
> [@Little Nemo](#): > > So the consensus is too much Dick and not enough women. As I type there is a Google ad for “Quality Lesbian Fiction” 😛 I’m guessing too there is no place on the list for books that are part of anthologies where its more important than not to read the next book in the series. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2006, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-decent-list-of-sf-reads/347535/48 "2006-03-11T16:53:49Z")
> [@Pushkin](#): > > I’m guessing too there is no place on the list for books that are part of anthologies where its more important than not to read the next book in the series. Or a designator to indicate those novels where it is imperative that you **not** read the next book! (I’m looking at you, Niven!) ---
**Author:** ![FlyingRamenMonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@FlyingRamenMonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingRamenMonster)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2006, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-decent-list-of-sf-reads/347535/49 "2006-03-11T17:05:55Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > Too much Dick. Should replace **The Fifth Head of Cerberus** with one of Wolfe’s less opaque works like **The Book of The New Sun**. The Book of the New Sun is already in Fantasy Masterworks. Yeah, not where I’d put it, either. ---
**Author:** ![Snag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/94ad74/32.png) [@Snag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snag)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2006, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-decent-list-of-sf-reads/347535/50 "2006-03-12T08:08:28Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > No love for Connie Willis :)? > > - Tamerlane Yeah. Some of her short stories are among my favorites. BTW, I heard a very funny version of “Even the Queen” as a Harlan Ellison produced radio play. The pacing of the overlapping conversations at the brunch were really well done. If you started listening in the middle of it, it might take a bit before you realized it was a play and not a recording of a group of women in conversation. In fact the dialogue seemed quite faithful to the original story; it translated really well into a script. ---
**Author:** ![chorpler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chorpler/32/2888_2.png) [@chorpler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chorpler)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2006, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-decent-list-of-sf-reads/347535/51 "2006-03-13T07:10:03Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Or a designator to indicate those novels where it is imperative that you **not** read the next book! (I’m looking at you, Niven!) I agree! _Ringworld’s Children_ was just too good for mortal eyes! ---
**Author:** ![burundi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3ec8ea/32.png) [@burundi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burundi)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2006, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-decent-list-of-sf-reads/347535/52 "2006-03-13T12:56:01Z")
**What Exit?** I definitely recommend that you check out Tiptree’s short stories. I read “The Screwfly Solution” recently and couldn’t sleep afterwards. It’s hands-down one of the creepiest stories I’ve ever read. Unlike some of her other work, this one doesn’t come off as at all dated. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2006, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-decent-list-of-sf-reads/347535/53 "2006-03-13T13:31:47Z")
Zelazny’s Lord of Light and Herbert’s Dune are two of my favorite books. I found Lord Of Light tough to read the first time (actually Dune too) but the second read made it all worth while. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2006, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-decent-list-of-sf-reads/347535/54 "2006-03-13T14:22:35Z")
> [@burundi](#): > > **What Exit?** I definitely recommend that you check out Tiptree’s short stories. I read “The Screwfly Solution” recently and couldn’t sleep afterwards. It’s hands-down one of the creepiest stories I’ve ever read. Unlike some of her other work, this one doesn’t come off as at all dated. I’ll look for it. I have bought 90% of my books used over the last 15 years and I have never seen her stuff show up. Jim [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-decent-list-of-sf-reads/347535.md?page=2)