# What is the quintessential science fiction novel? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 28, 2005, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-quintessential-science-fiction-novel/287022 "2005-01-28T00:37:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-quintessential-science-fiction-novel/287022/21 "2005-01-28T04:42:01Z")
My vote is for World of Null-A by A. E. van Vogt (and not just because he was Canadian, either). I read it when I was a callow youth, and it expanded my mind into thinking of things I had never thought of before. > [@](#): > > Science is organized, systemized wish-fulfillment, and Van Vogt’s stories are wish-fulfillments treated as if they were sciences. {From [this](http://vanvogt.www4.mmedia.is/intronul.htm) site.} ---
**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:** [January 28, 2005, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-quintessential-science-fiction-novel/287022/22 "2005-01-28T04:45:47Z")
It depends a lot on who your aiming this at. There’s a lot of books which people argue, even on these boards, aren’t science fiction, because, you know, they aren’t like _Star Trek_. _A Canticle for Leibowitz_, _The Man in the High Castle_, _Slaughterhouse-Five_, _Flowers for Algernon_, _Fahrenheit 451_, _Replay_, _A Clockwork Orange_. That puts them in a slightly different place than _Dune_ and _The Left Hand of Darkness_, two very fine novels under any circumstances but both set on other planets so that they look a little more like SF. What about newer novels. You could try epics like Dan Simmon’s _Hyperion_ or _Ilium_. Neal Stephenson has been writing novels that are sf in style and subject but not form, or is that form but not subject. _Cryptonomicon_ and _The Baroque Cycle_ read like mainstream but have the underlying sensibility of sf. Connie Willis I haven’t read lately, but everybody says that her _Domesday Book_ is fat and full of character. Or something near-futurey like _Distraction_ by Bruce Sterling. Or we could go odd and talk about less famous writers like Geoff Ryman who have already slipped over into the mainstream in some ways, as with _Was_ and _The Child Garden_. Or Lucius Shepherd and _Life During Wartime_. Sean Stewart with _Mockingbird_. Maureen McHugh and _China Mountain Zhang_. James Morrow, _Towing Jehovah_. Or just forget the whole thing and hand over the latest Harry Potter. ---
**Author:** ![SusanStoHelit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ab992/32.png) [@SusanStoHelit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SusanStoHelit)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-quintessential-science-fiction-novel/287022/23 "2005-01-28T04:49:45Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > The male chauvinist pig in me could have a field day here… > > Heinlein’s early works are some of the most influential SF ever written. Not necessarily influential on other authors…but they hooked more of us on SF than any other author. And that effect can never be understated. Yes, but do you really want him representing the genre, when there are equally talented authors out there whose books don’t undermine the last 50 years of work toward gender quality? ---
**Author:** ![SusanStoHelit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ab992/32.png) [@SusanStoHelit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SusanStoHelit)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-quintessential-science-fiction-novel/287022/24 "2005-01-28T04:51:56Z")
> [@Exapno Mapcase](#): > > Or just forget the whole thing and hand over the latest Harry Potter. Blasphemer! I’ll just pretend I didn’t read that. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-quintessential-science-fiction-novel/287022/25 "2005-01-28T04:52:36Z")
Heinlein was, by far the most influential science fiction author. Not just in science fiction, but society at large. Heinlein was a vastly influential American, period. I believe he is one of a handful of people responsible for the growth of Libertarianism as a philosophy. He pushed an awful lot of kids towards science and engineering. During the Apollo era, Heinlein was a very popular figure amongst NASA types, and was a guest commentator for one of the networks for Apollo 11. _Stranger in a Strange Land_ has been credited with having helped shape the '60’s era counterculture and ‘free love’ movement. He was also politically active, writing non-fiction and giving testimony to Congress. _Starship Troopers_ was required reading at the Annapolis Naval Academy. How many other authors in any field of literature have had that kind of influence? ---
**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:** [January 28, 2005, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-quintessential-science-fiction-novel/287022/26 "2005-01-28T04:53:56Z")
> [@SusanStoHelit](#): > > Yes, but do you really want him representing the genre, when there are equally talented authors out there whose books don’t undermine the last 50 years of work toward gender quality? Yes. He is that good. ---
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-quintessential-science-fiction-novel/287022/27 "2005-01-28T04:56:54Z")
How about “Childhood’s End” by Arthur C. Clarke. Beautiful, elegant writing. Extraordinary vision. The novel _seems_ to be about First Contact and LGM; but ends up showing us that we know as much about Life, The Universe, and Everything as a slug knows about the world beyond his puddle. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-quintessential-science-fiction-novel/287022/28 "2005-01-28T05:23:21Z")
I’d have to say \*\* The Mote in God’s Eye \*\* as the quintessential science fiction novel. It’s a roaring mix of Horatio Hornblower in space, entertaining characters, fantastic discoveries, heroism, deception, and a really good first contact story all in one book. Beyond that, **Gateway** , **Dune** , and \*\* Neuromancer \*\* are my next choices. Even though **Neuromancer** is a cyberpunk novel, it’s got all the right parts- good characters, science fictional setting to bring out conflicts, good story, good writing, etc… ---
**Author:** ![WaryEri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ea666f/32.png) [@WaryEri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WaryEri)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-quintessential-science-fiction-novel/287022/29 "2005-01-28T06:01:03Z")
> [@Tangent](#): > > **Childhood’s End** Seconded. Well, thirded, actually, since **K364** has also proposed it. I must admit, I’ve read very little Heinlein, and that little was a long time ago. Still, Childhood’s End was one of those books that sort of tinted the world for a while after I’d finished it, and it’s a rare book that does so for me. ---
**Author:** ![Revedge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecae2f/32.png) [@Revedge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revedge)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-quintessential-science-fiction-novel/287022/30 "2005-01-28T06:12:58Z")
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress Fahrenheit 451 Childhood’s End Canticle for Liebowitz Forever War Gateway Foundation Nightfall and Other Stories The Illustrated Man ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-quintessential-science-fiction-novel/287022/31 "2005-01-28T06:20:16Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > If you’re talking traditional literary quality, it’ll be Ursula K. LeGuin’s _The Left Hand of Darkness_. I second that nomination and add **The Dispossed** , her other great novel. Heinlein’s best novel is **The Moon is a Harsh Mistress**. ---
**Author:** ![LordVor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/90ced4/32.png) [@LordVor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LordVor)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-quintessential-science-fiction-novel/287022/32 "2005-01-28T06:33:35Z")
Taking the thread title into a different direction, I’d like to nominate **Fallen Angels** by Niven, Pournelle, and Barnes as the quintessential book _about_ science fiction. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-quintessential-science-fiction-novel/287022/33 "2005-01-28T06:37:46Z")
> [@sweetfreak](#): > > Female, and love R.A.H. > And…just for the record…what woman in her right mind would NOT want to stay at home while the man goes off to toil the day away? Lemme just prop my feet up, pop a weepy love story into the DVD, and gorge myself on chocolates. Ahhhh…sweet, sweet power! 😛 OK, but the moment I get home we gotta bang like bunnies, regardless of whether either of us is in the mood or not, because Heinlein women are like that, and so are practically all men real or fictional! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Nightime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Nightime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightime)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-quintessential-science-fiction-novel/287022/34 "2005-01-28T06:39:35Z")
> [@](#): > > Yes, but do you really want him representing the genre, when there are equally talented authors out there whose books don’t undermine the last 50 years of work toward gender quality? You’re definitely reading the wrong Heinlein books. I should know. _The Cat Who Walked Through Walls_ is the only book I have ever read halfway through and then quit. Then I read _The Moon is a Harsh Mistress_, _Double Star_, _Have Spacesuit, Will Travel_, and a few others. And they were fantastic. Still, in the end I agree with you on the _Foundation_ series. Asimov is the master. Also, the Elijah Baley novels should be mentioned. They’re right up at the top of the list too. ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-quintessential-science-fiction-novel/287022/35 "2005-01-28T08:37:52Z")
> [@SusanStoHelit](#): > > We need to decide on a book that can be our flagship to the literary universe, one that we can proudly point to when people say, “science fiction? Isn’t that, like, robots 'nd stuff?” It’s this sentence that makes me recommend, hands down, _Dune_. If you think about it, _Dune_ isn’t really a sci fi novel at all. It’s a medieval drama that just happens to be set thousands of years from now. My sister can’t (or rather couldn’t) stand sci fi, yet I bought her the book for her birthday and convinced her to read it. She loved it. The interplay between Houses Atreidedes, Harkonen, and Corrino, the Bene Gessuret, the Spacing Guild… Even if you take the sci fi elements out of it, it’s still one Hell of an epic\*. If you want to introduce somebody to Sci Fi, tell them to read _Dune_, and let them develop a small immunity to space travel and future technology. After that, you can start telling them about alternate views of the world, such as Ursala K. Le Guin. Or, possibly, far history like the _Foundation_ series. Just remember, if they were technophiles the would already be into sci fi. Start with _Dune_, see what they like about it, and go from there. \*But don’t let them read the sequels to _Dune_. That my kill any ember of interest they had. And if you see a copy of _God Emperor of Dune_ in their place, steal it and tell them dingoes ate it. ---
**Author:** ![Mycroft\_Holmes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a5b964/32.png) [@Mycroft\_Holmes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mycroft_Holmes)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-quintessential-science-fiction-novel/287022/36 "2005-01-28T11:42:06Z")
> [@Exapno Mapcase](#): > > _A Canticle for Leibowitz_ Considering that I grew up in a time where everyone was afraid of the bomb (I remember having nightmares as a kid, that looked just like the dream Sarah Conner has in _Terminator 2_), this is my personal pick for the quintessential Science Fiction novel (at least for my generation). Don’t go telling me it’s not SF, because it is! Also, who can resist the humour of a shopping list being a sacred relic. “Pound pastrami, can kraut, six bagels–bring home for Emma.” indeed. ---
**Author:** ![sweetfreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@sweetfreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweetfreak)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-quintessential-science-fiction-novel/287022/37 "2005-01-28T12:38:48Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > OK, but the moment I get home we gotta bang like bunnies, regardless of whether either of us is in the mood or not, because Heinlein women are like that, and so are practically all men real or fictional! 🙂 WOOOOO HOOOOOOO! Errrr…I meant…not tonight, honey, I gotta headache. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-quintessential-science-fiction-novel/287022/38 "2005-01-28T13:20:17Z")
_Ingathering: The Complete People Stories of Zenna Henderson_ is well worth mentioning, as it touches your heart whilst feeding your head. > **[Ingathering: The Complete People Stories of Zenna Henderson: Zenna Henderson,...](https://www.amazon.com/Ingathering-Complete-People-Stories-Henderson/dp/0915368587)** > > Ingathering: The Complete People Stories of Zenna Henderson \[Zenna Henderson, Mark Olson, Priscilla Olson, Elizabeth Finney\] on Amazon.com. \*FREE\* shipping on qualifying offers. Ingathering: The Complete People Stories of Zenna Henderson Buy it, dammit! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-quintessential-science-fiction-novel/287022/39 "2005-01-28T13:23:20Z")
For me it would be Dune. But a close second would Zelazny’s Lord Of Light. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-quintessential-science-fiction-novel/287022/40 "2005-01-28T14:29:30Z")
Stand on Zanzibar by John Brunner. A close second would be the aforementioned Doomsday Book. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-quintessential-science-fiction-novel/287022.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-quintessential-science-fiction-novel/287022.md?page=3)