# Ten S-F Books for Complete Beginners... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 30, 2010, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-s-f-books-for-complete-beginners/545052 "2010-06-30T13:01:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![filling\_pages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b9bd4f/32.png) [@filling\_pages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filling_pages)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2010, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-s-f-books-for-complete-beginners/545052/21 "2010-06-30T16:45:02Z")
> [@BMalion](#): > > And I don’t care whether you’re young or old, John Christopher’s _Tripods_ trilogy is a real corker. I’d agree with you there. I read those in middle school and would suggest them to anyone, just starting to read sf or not. A few others, mostly aimed at precocious younger readers. Because that’s what I was (helpful, eh?): - _Green Hills of Earth_, Heinlein’s '51 short story collection. A good example of classic space-and-atomic-power sf. - _Tales of Pirx the Pilot_ by Stanislaw Lem (translated from Polish). Humorous in a slightly less… silly? way than Harry Harrison’s _Stainless Steel Rat_ or _Bill, the Galactic Hero series_. Lots of interaction between man and machine, but in a more human way than a lot of hard sf. - _Devil on my Back_ by Monica Hughes isn’t the best book in the world, but as a kid it was my favorite of the brain control/societal control sorts of works. More young adult than the rest of this list. - _Hitchhiker’s_, of course, I agree with that. - _Martian Chronicles_, because everyone should be exposed to the way Bradbury uses language and creates worlds. Okay, so that’s a few off the top of my head. ---
**Author:** ![MTCicero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a4c791/32.png) [@MTCicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MTCicero)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2010, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-s-f-books-for-complete-beginners/545052/22 "2010-06-30T16:48:45Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > Complete beginners? The Cat in the Hat has talking animals… Yes, but were they products of [**SCIENCE(!)**](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V83JR2IoI8k), strictly speaking? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2010, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-s-f-books-for-complete-beginners/545052/23 "2010-06-30T17:28:04Z")
You might want to find collections of short stories. Used book stores sometimes and online sources may have collections of SF magazines. Many of the noted novels were derived from short story work. There are an awful lot of SF themes. Some SF is rooted very strongly in science, while other forms are just fantasy with a scientific veneer. The quality of writing varies, and sometimes good SF works are written with no more style than the Helvetica fonts they are printed in, but still are still enjoyable based on the plot and background of the story. There are endless variations of common tropes, time-travel, aliens, post-apocalypse, parallel universe, AI. Some address real life topics of love and death, while others posit the problems of future societies. SF runs across media also. Some of it has been presented in comicbook form, television, movies, or all combined. So if SF doesn’t grab you from the start, stick to short stories, or at least short novels, until you’ve tried some variety. And as with all forms of literature, sometimes there’s a book you just don’t like, but that probably won’t cause you to stop reading altogether. ---
**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:** [June 30, 2010, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-s-f-books-for-complete-beginners/545052/24 "2010-06-30T17:30:59Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > I’m working this with my 10 year old girl right now. It’s a challenge. > > If I needed to name ten… > > Have Space Suit Will Travel by Robert Heinlein > The Mote in God’s Eye by Niven and Pournelle > Little Fuzzy by H. Beam Piper > Earth by David Brin > Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card > Cities in Flight by James Blish > The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester > The Caves of Steel by Isaac Asimov > The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury > > Well, that’s nine off the top of my head. > > There are better ones, to be sure, but I limited the choices by introduction value. Nothing too difficult to read and nothing too ‘out there’ for the novice to get put off by reading. I think this is a very good list (though personally, _The Stars My Destination_ just didn’t appeal to me). Since the OP didn’t specify novels, I’d lean toward including one anthology of short stories, since shorter works were so much a part of SF, especially during its “Golden Age.” And there probably isn’t a better collection than [The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume One](http://www.amazon.com/Science-Fiction-Hall-Fame-One/dp/0765305372/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1277918751&sr=1-1). ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2010, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-s-f-books-for-complete-beginners/545052/25 "2010-06-30T17:38:38Z")
Well when it comes to SF short story collections, you can’t do much better than Brian Aldiss’ “Billion Year Spree” and “Galactic Empires” collections. And if you run across any of the old Groff Conklin Sf short story collections, grab them … he had great taste. ---
**Author:** ![lalenin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@lalenin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lalenin)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2010, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-s-f-books-for-complete-beginners/545052/26 "2010-06-30T17:45:48Z")
It seems many of the recommendations are mostly classics of the genre. I’m not sure I think a complete beginner should start there. I’d recommend signing up for a subscription to Asimov’s or Analog and start there. You probably won’t find any classics, but you will find SF that is more contemporary. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2010, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-s-f-books-for-complete-beginners/545052/27 "2010-06-30T17:55:44Z")
If you’re not sure what they might like, you might want to serve [a sample platter](http://www.amazon.com/Great-Science-Fiction-Short-Stories/dp/0380507730). ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2010, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-s-f-books-for-complete-beginners/545052/28 "2010-06-30T18:22:14Z")
As far as I’m concerned, the best science fiction books for beginners are the same as the best for anyone else. To that end, I would list: _Ender’s Game_, by Orson Scott Card _Hyperion_, by Dan Simmons _The Face_, by Jack Vance _Araminta Station_, by Jack Vance _Wyst_, by Jack Vance _The Annals of Klepsis_. by R. A. Lafferty _The Prophecy Machine_, by Neal Barrett, Jr. _Snow Crash_, by Neal Stephenson _The Inverted World_ – I can’t remeber the author’s name at this moment. _The Menace from Earth_, by Robert Heinlein With the exception of the last one, by list doesn’t have anything by the widely known and accepted masters of science fiction. Arthur C. Clarke and Isaac Asimov are not good authors. Robert Heinlein had his ups and downs. Alfred Bester and Frank Herbert are decent but hardly worthy of a top ten list. Among the authors on my list, I would suggest starting with Jack Vance. His books are unique to science fiction and perfect in almost every way: outstanding writing, exciting story-telling, incredible imaginations, and lots of humor, something that is sorely lacking in most science fiction. Moreover, most of his books are short and sweet, in 100-200 page range. _Araminta Station_ is the exceptions; it’s roughly 600 pages. Lafferty and Barrett are extremely talented authors but their styles take some getting used to. Nonetheless their books are extremely rewarding for those willing to make the effort. Lastly I’ll give a shout-out to _The Inverted World_. I have never met any other person who’s read this book and I only know it because I selected it from a library shelf at random, but it’s a simply marvelous book that mixes a coming-of-age story, an adventure novel, and a truly unique science fiction background. ---
**Author:** ![Damfino](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Damfino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damfino)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2010, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-s-f-books-for-complete-beginners/545052/29 "2010-06-30T20:53:55Z")
> [@Evil\_Captor](#): > > Well when it comes to SF short story collections, you can’t do much better than Brian Aldiss’ “Billion Year Spree” and “Galactic Empires” collections. And if you run across any of the old Groff Conklin Sf short story collections, grab them … he had great taste. “Billion Year Spree” and its successor, “Trillion Year Spree” are histories and critiques of science fiction, not short story collections. I don’t know about the “Galactic Empires” books though. Groff Conklin seconded. ---
**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:** [June 30, 2010, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-s-f-books-for-complete-beginners/545052/30 "2010-06-30T22:49:56Z")
> [@Evil\_Captor](#): > > Well when it comes to SF short story collections, you can’t do much better than Brian Aldiss’ “Billion Year Spree” and “Galactic Empires” collections. And if you run across any of the old Groff Conklin Sf short story collections, grab them … he had great taste. Definitely agree about the Conklin - I have 25 or 30 of his anthologies, but I haven’t noticed one in a used book store in ages. However, in addition to the SF Hall of Fame, I’d recommend [Adventures in Time and Space](http://www.amazon.com/Adventures-Time-Space-Raymond-Healy/dp/0345289250/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1277937931&sr=1-1) which was the first great sf anthology. It defines the Golden Age, and shows the roots of most of what has come since. I think the classics are good for a beginner, because modern books assume a lot. Definitely agree that most Heinlein juveniles would be fine for adults, and I also recommend Clarke’s **The City and the Stars** as being very readable and a great leap of imagination. It is sf from over 50 years ago which we haven’t caught up to yet. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2010, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-s-f-books-for-complete-beginners/545052/31 "2010-06-30T23:11:00Z")
I would peruse this Wikipedia page: [History of Science Fiction.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_science_fiction) Six periods are discussed and important works mentioned – pick a few titles from each. Following that prescription I would recommend the following as being introductory to the genre and its themes and tropes, and as being, in most cases, damn fun to read: Early Science Fiction: _Frankenstein_ – Mary Shelley _The War of the Worlds_ – H.G. Wells _Looking Backward_ – Edward Bellamy Early 20th Century: _Odd John_ – Olaf Stapledon _Brave New World_ – Aldous Huxley _Nineteen Eighty-Four_ – George Orwell The Golden Age (has [its own page](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Age_of_Science_Fiction)): _Have Space Suit, Will Travel_ – Robert A. Heinlein _The Foundation Trilogy_ – Isaac Asimov _Childhood’s End_ – Arthur C. Clarke The New Wave ([has its own page](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Wave_%28science_fiction%29)): _The Dune Trilogy_ – Frank Herbert _The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress_ – Robert Heinlein _Ringworld_ – Larry Niven Science Fiction in the 1980s ([Cyberpunk](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyberpunk) has its own page): _The Sprawl Trilogy (Neuromancer, Count Zero, Mona Lisa Overdrive)_ – William Gibson _Islands in the Net_ – Bruce Sterling _Snow Crash_ – Neal Stephenson Contemporary Science Fiction ( see also [Postcyberpunk](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postcyberpunk#Postcyberpunk)): _The Diamond Age_ – Neal Stephenson I would also **highly** recommend perusing David Szondy’s [Tales of Future Past](http://davidszondy.com/future/futurepast.htm) website. Lots of SF tropes and early SF explored here. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2010, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-s-f-books-for-complete-beginners/545052/32 "2010-06-30T23:50:38Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Definitely agree that most Heinlein juveniles would be fine for adults, and I also recommend Clarke’s **The City and the Stars** as being very readable and a great leap of imagination. It is sf from over 50 years ago which we haven’t caught up to yet. I’d recommend Clarke’s earlier take on the same story, **Against the Fall of Night**. Clarke didn’t like it and rewrote it with somewhat more standard science fiction elements, but the earlier book is far better literature. Thirding the Conklin recommend. ---
**Author:** ![flano1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f14d63/32.png) [@flano1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flano1)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2010, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-s-f-books-for-complete-beginners/545052/33 "2010-07-01T01:44:30Z")
If you can find it the first volume of “The Hugo Winners” edited by Isaac Asimov is a brilliant anthology of SF short stories and novellas. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2010, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-s-f-books-for-complete-beginners/545052/34 "2010-07-01T01:58:05Z")
> [@Small\_Clanger](#): > > _Dune_ - Frank Herbert Only if you want the person to be so mind-numbingly bored, he’ll never pick up another SF book. ---
**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:** [July 1, 2010, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-s-f-books-for-complete-beginners/545052/35 "2010-07-01T02:30:59Z")
No kidding. _Dune_ is a snore. I would also steer clear of just about every book on **ITR champion** ’s list except the first and last. If someone is a complete beginner, give them books that were there at the beginning. Hell, I’d recommend _First Lensman_ as well. Doesn’t get any more basic than Galactic War. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2010, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-s-f-books-for-complete-beginners/545052/36 "2010-07-01T02:45:24Z")
I intentionally avoided listing more than one by any particular author otherwise there’d be more Heinlein on there, trust me. I also avoided the Lensmen books because, frankly, I think the culture of writing and reading has change enough to make them a challenge. For that matter I feel the same about Burroughs Barsoom books (and Huck Finn!). But Clarke as a terrible writer? That’s simply crazy. IMHO he’s a master. Making small strokes with small chapters that make a large work worth reading. His ‘Complete Stories’ is a masterpiece. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2010, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-s-f-books-for-complete-beginners/545052/37 "2010-07-01T03:47:56Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > If someone is a complete beginner, give them books that were there at the beginning. Hell, I’d recommend _First Lensman_ as well. Doesn’t get any more basic than Galactic War. But, that might give one the false impression that all (rather than most) SF writers are geniuses in imagination and idiots in prose style. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2010, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-s-f-books-for-complete-beginners/545052/38 "2010-07-01T05:03:21Z")
I would recommend **Rollback** by Robert Sawyer. Some forty years previous to the opening of the story, a transmission was received from extraterrestrial beings, a transmission the experts could not decode. It was posted on the Web so the world could work on it and a Canadian (natch) astronomer, Sarah Halifax, managed to do so. A reply is sent off and the aliens’ second message has just been received – encrypted. The world’s richest man wants Sarah, now in her eighties, to head up the effort to crack the encryption, craft the response, and await the reply to that. The only way this is feasible is for her to undergo a rollback, an expensive (like billions) procedure that will restore her physically to her early twenties. Fine, she says but not without Don, my husband of sixty years. Grudgingly, the patron agrees and they both undergo the procedure. His works; hers doesn’t. ---
**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:** [July 1, 2010, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-s-f-books-for-complete-beginners/545052/39 "2010-07-01T06:20:07Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > But, that might give one the false impression that all (rather than most) SF writers are geniuses in imagination and idiots in prose style. And idiots in characterization also. I read the Lensmen books at 15 or 16, which is just about right. I’m not sure an adult would react favorably - especially since we now have a lot of that stuff in movies. ---
**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:** [July 1, 2010, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-s-f-books-for-complete-beginners/545052/40 "2010-07-01T06:24:15Z")
The Man In The High Castle, Philip K. Dick. Or anything else by Dick. He wrote a lot of the best short stories in sci-fi history. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-s-f-books-for-complete-beginners/545052.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-s-f-books-for-complete-beginners/545052.md?page=3)