# Suggest some awesome science fiction books **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 13, 2008, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-some-awesome-science-fiction-books/467790 "2008-10-13T23:26:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Green\_Cymbeline](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_cymbeline/32/9244_2.png) [@Green\_Cymbeline](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Cymbeline)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2008, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-some-awesome-science-fiction-books/467790/61 "2008-10-15T06:51:39Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Beware! **On The Beach** is a tremendous downer. I’d start with TMIAHM, then ACFL. Make your first two SF books absolute classics. Yes, thanks for the advice, that is exactly what I will do. I know OTB is a downer, but I like stories like that - I guess it makes my life look not-so-bad in comparison! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2008, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-some-awesome-science-fiction-books/467790/62 "2008-10-15T07:05:23Z")
> [@lizardling](#): > > If we’re going to talk about Earth Abides, I’ll toss in **Alas, Babylon** by Pat Frank. Both are classic postapocalyptic books, I think. However, they do both have their share of warts. There’ve been discussions about Earth Abides before, more specifically about gender roles and the protagonist, but I can’t remember specifically about the latter book. Yeah, I was gonna mention **Earth Abides** , but I realized that I just didn’t like it all that much. I recently re-read Robert McCammon’s **Swan Song** , which isn’t easily classifiable as sci-fi, but is an engaging (if very obviously written during the cold war) post-apocalyptic story. It’s often compared to **The Stand** , and I’d make it a favorable comparison. Joe ---
**Author:** ![MarcusF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/67e7ee/32.png) [@MarcusF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MarcusF)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2008, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-some-awesome-science-fiction-books/467790/63 "2008-10-15T09:42:04Z")
> [@nyctea scandiaca](#): > > Ok, so I leave for my trip tomorrow, and there were so many good suggestions it was hard to make a choice, but here’s what I got: > > [The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, Robert Heinlein](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Moon_is_a_Harsh_Mistress) > > [A Canticle for Leibowitz, Walter Miller](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Canticle_for_Leibowitz) > > [On the Beach, Nevil Shute](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Beach_(novel)) > > [Dies the Fire, S.M. Stirling](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dies_the_Fire) > > Now which one will I start first??! 😉 Probably _The Moon is a Harsh Mistress_ since it seems to have gotten the most overwhelming response here. > > Of course, keep the suggestions coming, because I will be relying on this thread again to inform my future book choices. > > p.s. _Earth Abides_ also made my short list, but the bookstore was out of it at the moment… Get back to us once you’ve read them. I’ll be interested in your responses, particularly to \*The Moon is a Harsh Mistress \*and _Dies the Fire_. TMiaHM (which would be top of my list) as it has been praised to the skies and that, with me, can lead to a reaction and disappointment. DtF (again one of my favourites) because it raises very mixed reactions around here. Some people loath it with a passion. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Some\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ad7895/32.png) [@Just\_Some\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Some_Guy)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2008, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-some-awesome-science-fiction-books/467790/64 "2008-10-15T12:43:10Z")
> [@nyctea scandiaca](#): > > Ok, so I leave for my trip tomorrow, and there were so many good suggestions it was hard to make a choice, but here’s what I got: > > [The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, Robert Heinlein](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Moon_is_a_Harsh_Mistress) > > [A Canticle for Leibowitz, Walter Miller](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Canticle_for_Leibowitz) > > [On the Beach, Nevil Shute](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Beach_(novel)) > > [Dies the Fire, S.M. Stirling](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dies_the_Fire) > > Now which one will I start first??! 😉 Probably _The Moon is a Harsh Mistress_ since it seems to have gotten the most overwhelming response here. > > Of course, keep the suggestions coming, because I will be relying on this thread again to inform my future book choices. > > p.s. _Earth Abides_ also made my short list, but the bookstore was out of it at the moment… You listed them in the order of how much I like them (and I wouldn’t call any of them bad) but that’s a a lot of world ending in one batch. I’d break things up a bit and start with _Canticle_ or _On the Beach_ then swing over to _Moon_. I’d save _Dies the Fire_ for the end since it is the most recent novel and one that, as noted, gets mixed reactions. I’m interested in your reactions. You have a very wide variety of novels in terms of style there… ---
**Author:** ![CutterJohn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/91b2a8/32.png) [@CutterJohn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CutterJohn)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2008, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-some-awesome-science-fiction-books/467790/65 "2008-10-15T13:27:42Z")
I recommend just starting in on the Hugo and Nebula award winners and reading them all. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Some\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ad7895/32.png) [@Just\_Some\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Some_Guy)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2008, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-some-awesome-science-fiction-books/467790/66 "2008-10-15T13:39:52Z")
> [@CutterJohn](#): > > I recommend just starting in on the Hugo and Nebula award winners and reading them all. I’d recommend it for a SF fan who wants an interesting project covering the entire scope of the genre but not a newcomer. Having recently finished reading every single Hugo and Nebula winning novel (and closing in fast on finishing reading every short fiction work that has won) I found that I liked roughly a third and thought a third weren’t bad but not to my taste. Then there was a healthy contingent, particularly the winners selected in the 1990’s, where I strongly questioned the sanity of the people handing out the awards (Robert J. Sawyer, I’m looking at you). ---
**Author:** ![slaphead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@slaphead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slaphead)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2008, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-some-awesome-science-fiction-books/467790/67 "2008-10-15T14:54:51Z")
> [@CutterJohn](#): > > I recommend just starting in on the Hugo and Nebula award winners and reading them all. Agreed. A great way of coming across wonderful work you’d never normally touch. Other books worth considering, by authors who have other stuff well worth reading \*\*Gridlinked \*\*by Neal Asher **Cyteen** by CJ Cherry (note that she does ‘kids’ stuff as well as more adult works, and sci-fi as well as fantasy - but she is really good.) **Only Forward** by Michael Marshall Smith ---
**Author:** ![ryobserver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b2d939/32.png) [@ryobserver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ryobserver)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2008, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-some-awesome-science-fiction-books/467790/68 "2008-10-15T23:18:38Z")
> [@CutterJohn](#): > > I recommend just starting in on the Hugo and Nebula award winners and reading them all. This is better advice for a newcomer if taken very literally: start with the books\* that won the Hugo AND the Nebula. It’s a fairly short list, and (no surprise) includes several books already mentioned in this thread. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List\_of\_joint\_winners\_of\_the\_Hugo\_and\_Nebula\_awards](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_joint_winners_of_the_Hugo_and_Nebula_awards) \*And shorter works. Don’t overlook the shorter works; some of the best and most influential SF is shorter than novel length. Some of the great novels started as novellas: \*\*The Forever War \*\*and **Ender’s Game** , to name two. Oh, and if you like downers, don’t miss **Flowers for Algernon**. ---
**Author:** ![Typo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5fc32e/32.png) [@Typo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2008, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-some-awesome-science-fiction-books/467790/69 "2008-10-15T23:27:08Z")
The Dangerous Visions anthologies are really interesting stuff. Ellison’s a hell of an editor - I enjoy his work in that regard more than his writing, personally. I have a lot of sf anthologies. In all these years, there’s never been an anthology with _nothing_ I liked in it. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-some-awesome-science-fiction-books/467790/70 "2008-10-16T05:04:18Z")
I second Hiero’s Journey. But it’s barely sci fi. It really feels more like sword and sorcery with a science fiction mask. Hiero’s Journey has a sequel, Unforsaken Hiero, and there were clearly intended to be more sequels, but they were never written. I second The Science Fiction Hall Of Fame. Nightfall is disappointing. The Cruel Equations is disappointing. Fondly Fahrenheit is magnificent. The Country Of The Kind is fabulous. The Quest For Saint Aquin is inspirational. **Memoirs Found In A Bathtub- Stanislaw Lem.** It’s a post apocalyptic novel. An alien virus is destroying all paper. With bureaucracy crumbling, a secret Pentagon is built. They lock themselves away from the world, and that’s where the story begins. I’ve read it many times. It’s so well written I’m still not sure of the answers to the major questions of the book. **The Frankenstein Diaries-By HM Venables** Here Victor’s insanity is convincingly portrayed. Is his creation evil or is that just Victor’s crazed view? Unlike Shelly’s monster, who just needs love, this one may be homicidal from the start. Or he may just need love. Again, I’ve read it many times and I’m still not sure. **The Left Hand Of Darkness- Ursula K LeGuin** The planet Winter must have been colonized as a genetic experiment. For the humans there are unique. Most of the time they are in somer, having no gender at all. But one week out of four they are in kemmer, becoming either male or female. The father of one person may be the mother of another. Now The Ecumen, a great federation of planets, has sent an emissary to Winter to convince them to join. The book is an exploration of sex and gender. It’s very much a story of people causing the plot to happen rather than the plot happening and people reacting. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Cymbeline](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_cymbeline/32/9244_2.png) [@Green\_Cymbeline](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Cymbeline)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-some-awesome-science-fiction-books/467790/71 "2008-10-16T06:16:08Z")
So I’ve been travelling all day and am well into **The Moon is a Harsh Mistress**. I am liking it a lot so far! I am very interested in the characters, am really liking Mike the computer, and the development of the plans for the rebellion. I am so glad I had this book with me today or I would have gone crazy - it’s been a nightmare trip so far. Our connecting flight from Houston to New Orleans sat on the runway for over 3 hours waiting to depart in bad weather. We missed the family dinner we had planned for tonight, which was a major bummer. I would have been thoroughly miserable had I not been so immersed in my book. Keep the suggestions coming! You guys are awesome. ---
**Author:** ![RunSilent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e0b2c6/32.png) [@RunSilent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RunSilent)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-some-awesome-science-fiction-books/467790/72 "2008-10-16T11:56:37Z")
Yeah, my recommendations are old books without hard science, but try “Earth Abides” by George R. Stewart, and, though he is not read much anymore, try John Wyndham’s “Day of the Triffids.” Wyndham wrote quite a few other books that are really, really good stories. ---
**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:** [October 17, 2008, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-some-awesome-science-fiction-books/467790/73 "2008-10-17T04:29:16Z")
You really can’t go wrong by working your way through the Heinlein juveniles. Then try Arthur Clarke’s **Tales From The White Hart**. ---
**Author:** ![trapezoidal\_jellyfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6f9a4e/32.png) [@trapezoidal\_jellyfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/trapezoidal_jellyfish)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2008, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-some-awesome-science-fiction-books/467790/74 "2008-10-17T06:23:52Z")
I’m not sure exactly what genre it falls into, but **Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency** by Douglas Adams is massively entertaining. I liked it more than the hitchhiker books. ---
**Author:** ![Truus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ccd318/32.png) [@Truus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Truus)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2008, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-some-awesome-science-fiction-books/467790/75 "2008-10-17T13:30:15Z")
I started with what was contemporary stuff at the time. Many of the authors named in this thread are considered classics but they are dated in various ways. If you want to get into this genre from a historical perspective and want to read the oldies first, a good way to find out whether the particular ways in which authors are dated is off putting or not, is to start with anthologies of short stories. Short stories were very big at the time and fondly remembered. As a bonus, many new anthologies of old stuff have lots of background information about authors and how they fit in the genre. This might also help as a guide to search for complete novels that might be to your liking. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2008, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-some-awesome-science-fiction-books/467790/76 "2008-10-17T13:54:17Z")
> [@](#): > > If you want to get into this genre from a historical perspective and want to read the oldies first, a good way to find out whether the particular ways in which authors are dated is off putting or not, is to start with anthologies of short stories. As I suggested upthread. I still strongly recommend it. And you can use anthologies for more current writers, as well. Many anthologies appear every year, and of particular interest are the “Best of the year” anthologies. ---
**Author:** ![Truus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ccd318/32.png) [@Truus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Truus)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2008, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-some-awesome-science-fiction-books/467790/77 "2008-10-17T16:47:05Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > As I suggested upthread. I still strongly recommend it. Sorry, so you did. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Buran](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a88e57/32.png) [@Buran](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buran)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2008, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-some-awesome-science-fiction-books/467790/78 "2008-10-19T13:43:16Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > I’ll chime in with Gateway, by Frederik Pohl. > \* I recently read a short collection of stories where the authors set new stories in their classic story-worlds _(‘Far Horizons’ by Robert Silverberg)_. One of them was a story set in the Gateway universe by Frederick Pohl where the protaganist actually meets the legendary Heechee. It was the only story in the collection I really disliked, are the original books better? ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2008, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-some-awesome-science-fiction-books/467790/79 "2008-10-19T14:04:55Z")
I just finished the Hugo Award winning “Yiddish Policeman’s Union” and it was a fantastic book. I’d argue strongly that it isn’t SF/Fantasy, but the Hugo Committee disagrees with me. But I like Michael Chabon. His “kid’s” book - “Summerland” is also very good - easier to read (he can write very poetic prose), and more SF/Fantasy-ish. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2008, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-some-awesome-science-fiction-books/467790/80 "2008-10-19T14:51:46Z")
I dug [Spin](http://www.amazon.com/Spin-Robert-Charles-Wilson/dp/076534825X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1224427777&sr=8-1) by Robert Charles Wilson. Interesting characters, good ideas, and fun read. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-some-awesome-science-fiction-books/467790.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-some-awesome-science-fiction-books/467790.md?page=5)