Literature
Top Ten Science Fiction Novels
"A truly great book should be read in youth, again in maturity and once more in old age, as a fine building should be seen by morning light, at
Here is a list of my top 10 Science Fiction Novels. It's purely subjective, based on what I have enjoyed most over the years. These are the ones that stand out for me as all time classics, that are worth reading and re-reading. In fact each time I read them, I discover something new.
Good SF, I believe, requires 3 factors to be present:
1. Ideas - SF is primarily the literature of ideas. They don't have to be completely original (though it helps), but they must be well thought through.
2. Characters - no different from any other fiction, strong characterisation is a pre-requisite for readable fiction, in my book (as it were!)
3. Good writing - again, just like in any other form of fiction, decent prose is essential, to hold the interest of an intelligent, literate readership (such as you good people reading this!)
You've got to have all 3. If you've just got No. 2 and 3 without 1 it's just not SF. If you've got No. 1 without 2 and 3 you've just got crap SF - the kind that gives the whole genre a bad name (and there's plenty of it out there, I'm afraid).
The following books do satisfy all of these conditions and in spades. I make no claims that this list is exhaustive or that it offers a representative sample of the genre. They're just great books that I happen to like at this moment in time, early in the 21st century. Next century I may feel differently.
In no particular order then, here they are:
> The Left Hand Of Darkness, by Ursula K. Le Guin
> Helliconia Spring, by Brian Aldiss
> Neuromancer, by William Gibson
> Red Mars, by Kim Stanley Robinson
> The Man In The High Castle, by Philip K. Dick
> The Book of The New Sun, by Gene Wolfe
> The Forever War, by Joe Haldeman
1. Dune, by Frank Herbert
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Space Opera on a grand scale. Herbert mixes politics, religion and ecology of the far future with great aplomb. Set in a feudally run universe, where the balance of power between emperor, nobles and other factions is all important. Technology is strictly constrained and thinking machines are anathema, as a result of an ancient abortive takeover bid by the computers. To compensate, human beings are trained to maximise their potential in various way by the different factions and power groups ( e.g. the all-female Bene Gesserit, The Spacing Guild, The Tleilaxu genetic engineers etc.)
On the desert planet of Arrakis, a duke's son, is forced to flee and take refuge with the tribal Fremen. The novel describes how he rises to their leadership and launches a holy war or jihad, on the established powers of the imperium. This campaign is greatly assisted by their control of the one substance upon which space travel (and therefore the cohesion of the human empire) depends - known as Spice.
The novel is full of great original ideas, for example:
- Giant sandworms, which can be ridden by those bold and skilled enough to dare;
- Personal shield generators which protect the wearer against projectile weapons but allow slower objects to penetrate, thereby reintroducing the arts of sword and knife play as essential skills for the up and coming survival oriented aristocrat.
- Mentats, or human computers, people trained from birth to perform calculations and analyses at speeds approaching those of computers, aided by drugs. Every Duke should have one (and does!).
None of this would be worth a hill of sandworm poo, of course, if there wasn't a decent plot. But there is. The writing is mature, fluent and complex. He gets you hooked from page one and won't let you go until hundreds of pages later.
There were several sequels which Herbert continued writing up to the end of his life (Dune Messiah, Children Of Dune etc.) of which the earlier ones were very strong, but to my mind none of them matched the stunning achievement of Dune itself.
If some of the ideas in Dune seem familiar these days, it is because huge chunks of them were lifted and recycled into the Star Wars films (Space Empire, desert planets, Imperial Stormtroopers etc.)
Also, writing back in the early 1960s, Herbert anticipated the modern day rise of Islam. The Fremen ("Zensunni wanderers", persecuted religious fundamentalists) wage a jihad (not a word as widely known then as it is now) against the Empire (= The West), aided by their control over a vital commodity Spice (=Oil). The Fremen language is heavily influenced by Arabic (while the imperialists speak an Anglo-Slavic derivative). And of course Herbert also pioneered the concept of Ecology in his fiction. A man ahead of his time.
The depth of the universe he created is virtually unparalleled, in terms of its history, languages and religions - you get a sense of a huge amount of background existing only in the author's mind. The only similar example I can think of, though totally different in origin and feel, is Tolkien's self created "Mythology For the English".
I like this book, as you might have gathered by now! Essential reading for anyone who considers themselves a Science Fiction enthusiast.
2. The Left Hand Of Darkness, by Ursula K. Le Guin
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This story is set on the planet Gethen, aka Winter, during an ice age. An envoy from Earth is the narrator and he describes the people and societies he meets.
The people are more or less human, distant cousins of ours, but with one important exception. Instead of being either male and female as we are, they are neuter for most of the time, except for a short period each 'month' when they go into 'kemmer' and differentiate into sexes on an arbitrary basis, for procreation and/or fun. The arbitrary nature of the change means that one person can be the father of some children and the mother of others.
Naturally, this means that their societies are organized on a totally different basis than ours, and the resulting implications are what Le Guin explores.
Le Guin herself is the daughter of two eminent anthropologists, and her work often seems to have a strong anthropological feel to it. Another of her recurring themes is Taoism – the tension and mutual dependence of opposites, again very strongly represented here ("Light is the left hand of darkness").
Of course, it's much more than an essay about what if …. This is a well crafted and moving story of a person on a strange world trying to come to terms with its ways, and about all the adventures, hardships and dangers he experiences. Rich characterisation, fully imagined cultures and some profound thinking about what it is to be human, make this book special for me.
3. Helliconia Spring, by Brian Aldiss
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Again, the first book in a series (the other two being Helliconia Summer and Helliconia Winter – what happened to autumn? I don’t know).
British author Aldiss, creates a planet where, due to its orbital periods round a multiple star system, the seasons last for hundreds of years.
There are two dominant species – humans and phagors (or ancipitals). Humans dominate the planet in the summer centuries, Phagors in the winter. Unfortunately for the humans, the civilisations they painstakingly build up every spring and summer, collapse during the harsh era of winter, allowing the less technologically advanced but physically tougher phagors to take over.
The books are essentially the story of the planet itself, very much influenced by the Gaia theory. It’s history, geography, flora, fauna and over all ecology are what gives rise to the events which unfold. This is SF in which the Science is very much to the fore. Which is not to say that it’s not a great and highly entertaining story, full of wit and invention.
4. Tschai, by Jack Vance
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Jack Vance is one of my favourite writers of all time. It's very difficult to select just one of his works, but I'll go his Tschai series. It was originally published as four separate books, under the appallingly banal heading "Planet Of Adventure" (his publishers neither knew nor cared about the true quality of his work).
A shipwrecked earthman lands on the planet Tschai, where he encounters four rival alien races: The ape-like Chasch, the amphibian Wankh (rather unfortunately named, but then Vance is American and wouldn't know any better!), the cheetah-like Dirdir and the insectoid Pnume. There are also humans present, but the alien races are vastly technologically superior and lord it over them.
The earthman Reith, teams up with a pair of disparate characters, the nomad boy Traz Onmale and Ankhe at Afram Anacho, a Dirdirman (each of he alien races maintains its own client race of modified humans), and sets off to find some way of building or acquiring a spaceship to take him back to earth.
As with much of Vance's work, a rambling picaresque series of adventures follows, where the dialogue and the descriptions of the many weird and wonderful societies encountered along the way, are entertaining as the story itself, or possibly more so. A wry and subtle humour pervades what is essentially a series of travellers' tales, with almost an eighteenth century feel to them. The language is erudite and expansive, and no-one can approach Vance for the sheer exuberance and creativity of his imagination when it comes to inventing bizarre yet internally self consistent human and/or alien cultures. On the surface they can appear totally absurd, yet you come away feeling that our own world would probably appear just as arbitrary and ritualised to an offplanet visitor.
Vance is a true magician with words, he make you laugh, makes you think and entertains you at the same time. Future generations, less hidebound by the literary conventions of mainstream vs genre fiction, will recognise him for the true genius that he is.
Side note: Jack Vance was a good friend of Dune author Frank Herbert. They once built a houseboat together, which promptly sank!
5. Neuromancer, by William Gibson
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Bill Gibson invented the whole “Cyberpunk” subgenre with this book, first published in the mid eighties.
Set in a seedy near future, with morally ambiguous characters more anti-hero than hero, Neuromancer tells the story of a computer hacker involved in crime against faceless mega-corporations in a world of globalised capitalism running out of control (so not too different to today’s world then!).
The ideas of cyberspace and the internet are anticipated here, rather strangely as Gibson is far from a techie, though he does appear to have an uncanny grasp of cultural trends and a talented SF writer’s gift for extrapolation.
In many ways, the book has the feel of Film Noir, and of Raymond Chandler detective novels from the 1940s. You could almost imagine Humphrey Bogart playing one of his characters – cynical, world weary, beaten down but still wisecracking.
In terms of the visuals, the film Blade Runner has got about right. Except that was a film of a completely different book – P.K.Dick’s Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?, strangely enough!
Gibson has gone on to write sequels and many other excellent stories of near future free market dystopias, but this one is the original and the best.
6. Red Mars, by Kim Stanley Robinson
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Robinson’s Mars trilogy consists of Red Mars, Green Mars and Blue Mars. It describes the colonisation of the planet by humans and their efforts to terraform it over a period of some centuries.
It’s pretty much pure “Hard” SF, in that it’s very firmly based on the scientific knowledge we have at present (no FTL, no aliens, no as yet undiscovered laws of physics). On the other hand, his characters are well developed and he has a feel for alien landscapes combined with a sense of the sheer awe and wonder of actually being on another world.
Robinson interestingly bypasses the story of the first man on Mars, deciding instead to devote a long section at the start of Red Mars to describing the months long voyage of the first 100 explorers and settlers, sent there on a one way trip.
The story continues to describe how the initial camps then settlements are established, how air and water are imported over time via asteroids, how settlement from earth increases and new communities are established, how anti terraforming eco-terrorist resistance movements emerge, how a space elevator to Phobos is built, how conflict with the home planet Earth develops, and much more.
Excellent storytelling, firmly grounded in real science and real ideas. Groups throughout the world are already planning a lot of these ideas for potential Mars missions. Robinson researched a lot of this work by spending time in research stations in
7. The Man In The High Castle , by Philip K. Dick
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Philip K. Dick was by and large totally underrated as a writer during his lifetime, his work treated by his publishers as cheap pulp trash. Nowadays, though, his work is much respected and several of his books have been made into films (Blade Runner, Minority Report, A Scanner Darkly etc.)
This book is not really typical of his work (if any of it could be described as typical) but it’s my personal favourite.
It’s an alternative history novel, set in a world in which the Nazis and the Japanese won World War II. It is the 1960s and
The Nazis have reintroduced slavery, are practising genocide on a huge scale in
Frank Frink, the protagonist is a humble working man, of Jewish origins, pushed along by forces much larger than himself.
But there is a book within the book. A writer called Abendsen has written an illegal and subversive alternative history called “The Grasshopper Lies Heavy” in which the Allies win the war. A clever touch. But when we see glimpses of that imaginary volume, the events there are quite different from our own version of the Allied victory. Even more subtle!
Dick also makes a lot of use of the I Ching in this story, the ancient Chinese method of divination through hexagrams. Why I don’t know, but it just fits the reflective mood of the piece perfectly.
A very subtle book, there’s something I can’t quite grasp about it, but I keep returning to it time and time again.
8. The Book of The New Sun, by Gene Wolfe
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I'm cheating here again, just slightly, by including a series of 4 novels. But you can't really separate them – it's all or nothing, I'm afraid!
The 4 component novels are:
- The Shadow Of The Torturer
- The Claw Of The Conciliator
- The Sword Of The Lictor
- The Citadel Of The Autarch (once mistakenly listed by the publishers as "
Castle OfThe Otter "!)
This is Wolfe's masterwork, epic and monumental, his Lord Of The Rings, his Dune.
Wolfe is supremely clever and a born trickster. The titles, covers, subject matter and style of these books fool you into thinking they are works of fantasy. (Perhaps there was more of a market for fantasy when they were published and it was a cynical ploy – but, no I'm sure it was much more than that!). They are not. It is pure SF. There is nothing magical or supernatural in them, everything has a rational, if speculative explanation.
It takes place on Urth in the far far distant future, when our sun is about to kick the bucket. Humanity clings on, having reverted to a more feudal and stratified society, in the last 'civilised' region known as The Commonwealth (thought to be located roughly where
The books follow the progress of a young apprentice of the Torturer's Guild as he learns and then loses his trade. We follow him from the sprawling and ancient city of
The book reads as if it was written in an earlier century, with rich, dense, evocative prose. Wolfe heightens this effect by his use of archaic and obsolete words from the English language, instead of inventing new terms, to describe 'posthistoric' phenomena. For example – peltasts, armigers, exultants, optimates, autocthones, eclectics, pandours, cacogens, destriers and pelerines.
None of it is spelt out for you, you have to work it out as you go along. Or perhaps on a second or third reading, If ever a book demanded an intelligent readership this was it.
So I'm sure you good folks can handle it! If you haven't yet visited Urth, I urge you to do so. I guarantee it will be like nowhere else you have ever been and you will emerge a changed person.
9. Pavane, by Keith Roberts
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Pavane is another work of alternate history. It is set in a version of England in the 20th century, but one in which the Spanish Armada succeeded in invading the country and restoring Catholicism as the state religion, both here and throughout Europe.
Roberts' premise is that as a result, the growth of science and technology was stifled by the Church, and that the advances of the industrial revolution happened incredibly slowly, if at all. Thus the most advanced form of transport is the land train - pulled by steam powered traction engines. And state of the art communications are provided by semaphore towers, manually controlled mechanical devices on hill tops.
But gradually things are starting to change and "Rebellion was once more in the air".
Marvellously atmospheric, the book captures the almost nostalgic feel of a lost age that never actually happened. It is set in the deep rural south of
Roberts was one of the great writers of English science fiction, by which I mean the country itself plays an important part in his work. He was also one of the most underrated ones, in my opinion. His books are well worth seeking out.
10. The Forever War, by Joe Haldeman
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To a certain extent inspired by Haldeman's experience of the Vietnam War, this is the story of a future space war of humanity vs aliens. The effects of time dilation due to travelling at relativistic speeds come very much into play here.
Each side does not know what technological advances will have been made by the other when they next meet, it will depend on how far each unit has travelled from its home world and at what speeds. Even returning to earth on leave can cause severe future shocks, as the conscripts find the world has changed drastically since they left.
I can't say too much more about the plot without including spoilers. Suffice it to say that it's beautifully written, well paced, filled with believable characters, plus a wealth of original and well thought out ideas. Exactly what decent science fiction should be like, in my opinion.
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103 comments for “Top Ten Science Fiction Novels”
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Hmm… my list is different:
1. The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin
2. Dune by Herbert
3. Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein
4. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
5. Armor by John Steakley
6. Alas Babylon by Pat Frank
7. The Forever War by Joe Haldeman
8. Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut
9. Foundation by Isaac Asimov
10. When Gravity Fails by George Alec Effinger
Kmuzu
Anything by Robert Heinlein
Anything by Arthur C Clarke
Anything by Isaac Asimov
Anything by Vonnegut
Anything by Ray Bradbury
Anything by H.G. Wells
Anything by Jules Vern
Contact (If for no other reason than a message from God hidden in Pye)
Dune
Clockwork Orange
1984
Do Androids dream of electric sheep?
Day of the Triffids
Brave New World
(I could go on!)
Nope, sorry boys, but it is impossible to keep this list down to 10.
Okay, my top ten, though in no particular order:
1) Dune
2) Neuromancer
3) Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep
4) The Mote in God's Eye
5) 2001
6) Rendevous With Rama
7) Lord of Light
8) Brave New World
9) A Wrinkle in Time
10) Heavy Weather
Honorable Mention: The Difference Engine
Compelling list, never read any of them, have just ordered all on Amazon. Looking forward to some good reading in these coming winter months.
Thanks for the list
I spent several hours with Phillip Dick in the late 60s during which he said he used the I Ching as a plotting device while writing the novel "Man in the High Castle." (My personal favorite of his books is "Martian Time Slip"). His best books flowed like mescaline trips and needed no such devices.
Time enough for love is all I gotta say
wheres Isaac Asimov
he defined sci-fi
I would add the Hyperion series by Dan Simmons and the Parable series by Octavia Butler. I, too, look forward to discovering the books on your list that I haven't yet read.
Anything by Heinlein
Any sf by Asimov
Any sf by Ellison
Anything by Stansilaw Lem
All of the Circus World series by Barry Longyear
The Norstrillia books by Cordwainer Bird
Dune series
Ringworld series
Bug Jack Barron!!!!!
Dangerous Visions series
I could keep going………….
Have to add a few more!!! Thanx for reminding me of the late
Octavia Butler's books, they're all great!
Philip K. Dick
A Canticle for Liebowitz!!!
Charly
any of the Oz books!!
Some of August Derleth's books (although most were horror!)
I better stop before I go into sf withdrawal……..
Lovley list–
Mine has some similarities–
1. Earth- By David Brin
2. Foundation by Isaac Asimov
3. The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K Leguin
4. Dune by Frank Herbert
5. The Sheep look up by John Brunner
6. Farenhieght 451 by Robert Heinlien
7. Slaughter House Five by Kurt Vonnegut
8. 2001 A Space oddesy by Arthur C Clarke
9. Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
10. Neuromancer William Gibson
Leaving this list at ten leaves me feeling empty inside as I have left off Bradbury, Niven, Silverberg, Chalker, Bova, Pohl, and many others of great importance.
I think that a well written, fast moving or intgriguing story can be written even if the character depth isn't perfect. I loved 'Rendezvous with Rama', but hated all the sequels. Sometimes characterization can become annoying detail that just turns a book into a soap-opera.
Characterization is important, but as with all story elements, sometimes deep-characterization can be traded off very effectively for other story elements.
how come no one has mentioned Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card?
oh how i miss reading in high school
this makes me happy
I can't believe no one mentioned Neal Stevenson's "Snow Crash." It's the best Cyberpunk novel not written by William Gibson. It's worth reading just for the fascinating conversations in cyberspace with the Librarian.
I would also endorse George Orwell's "1984" as well as "Animal Farm." If both of these were required reading in high schools our government would be far less arrogant and condescending.
I definitely agree with your appreciation of Philip K. Dick, vastly underrated.
P.S. Mr. Duey, Ray Bradbury deserves the credit for "Farenheit 451."
I cannot believe Ringworld by Larry Niven is absent from all your top 10s. "Known Space" and the evolution of earth society is the greatest concept I have read in Science Fiction
Finally! Somebody mentioned Ender's Game. Great compilation btw..
Thanks for all the feedback, people. You've mentioned some great books in your lists. Plus some ones which are new to me but sound intriguing - I'll have to check them out.
As I said before, lists like these are purely subjective and every true enthusiast will have their own strong ideas about what should be included. The arbitrary limit of 10 books forced me to leave out a lot of books and authors I love, but that's the way of these things!
Claudia - I am highly honoured to hear from someone who actually met Phillip K. Dick. Many thanks for that fascinating piece of information.
I'll be doing some more lists soon, but meanwhile thanks again everybody for all the great feedback.
It's been ages since I've been able to find a good SF book that grabs me. Now I know what to look for (I already have DUNER, and am yet to read it –shame on me!) I would have included the last one I read: NIGHTFALL by Asimov. Any particular reason you didn't include any of Asimov's work in the list?
You really though Neuromancer had decent characters? I couldn't even finish it. I was over 100 pages in and I honestly did NOT care whatsoever about what might happen to ANYONE in that book, so I stopped. That and there was an overly graphic sex-scene within the first 50 pages. It isn't that I'm touchy about stuff like that or it "offends" me, but it always make a book feel like a crappy Cinemax movie from the 80s or something. Maybe I should have stuck with it, though.
What about This Perfect Day by Ira Levin?
I was saddened that your list did not include Ender's Game… then I saw it in the comments… at least someone else on this forum has some Sci-Fi taste. Sheesh… not even a nod to Starship Troopers (though I did see some mentions to Heinlein). Ender's Game should be at the top of the list and anyone who says otherwise has never read the book… or they're nazis… whatever.
All a great read, but have any of you ever read Peter F. Hamilton? Although a prolific writer, my favorite is the
Nights Dawn Trilogy,The Reality Dysfunction (1996), The Neutronium Alchemist (1998) and The Naked God (2000).
Have you completely ignored Robert Heinlein?!? Methusela's Rising? Stranger in a Strange Land? Travesty my good man, travesty.
"Half of the people can be part right all of the time
Some of the people can be all right part of the time
But all of the people can't be all right all of the time
I think Abraham Lincoln said that
I'll let your book in my Top 10 SF list, if mine can be in yours"
I said that.
Bob Dylan
Thanks again for all the great feedback, folks!
Fantastic list, very interesting read. ty Gordon :)
Actually, it's a good list. I've already ordered The Forever War and it's shipping as we speak. It sounded very intriguing; most of the books did. I think I might also order the Phillip K. Dick book.
Good list - what about Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card? It's an amazing book!
Not a single Philip José Farmer mention? blasphemy!
Wow … you hit on 8 of my 10 best list. I'd drop the Vance (as wonderful as his works are) and the Roberts, adding Heinlein's Moon is a Harsh Mistress and C.J.Cherryh's Faded Sun trilogy (ok, it's cheating, but the three original volumes are available in an omnibus) to replace them. But still, 8 of ten hits …
Ender's Game would be in my top 20, so would Snow Crash (although I might replace that with the Crytonomicon), along with Greg Bear's Eon, Asimov's original Foundation trilogy, Farmer's Riverworld … Triffid by John Wyndham, Ammonite by Nicola Griffith, Joanna Russ' Female Man … but I digress :)
Great list, in my not particularly humble opinion!
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card, along with the following series, has to be the greatest science fiction series I've ever read…It disappoints me that such a brilliant storyline didn't make the list. Also, A Wrinkle in Time and its surrounding series has perfectly merged science fiction, theoretical physics, cosmology, and so many different different sciences and Religion, that an Atheist like me could completely appreciate it…
I do hope these two great classics simply slipped your mind at the time of this writing…;P
A couple of my favourites:
- "Stranger in a Strange Land" by Robert A. Heinlein
- "This Perfect Day" by Ira Levin (especially the first half, didn't care much for the action-packed other half)
- "Rendezvous with Rama" by Arthur C. Clarke
Jon Duey !
Farenheit 451 was written by Ray Bradbury, nor Robert Heinlein
- huge difference between those two guys - but both are
excellent !
They are both excellent, but I found Fahrenheit 451 quite a let down. After hearing endlessy positive reviews, I just didn't think it had enough depth to it to be a 'classic'. Maybe that's just me, but I was expecting a lot more.
It looks as though most of us have the same relative ideas. There are so many amazing and forward thinking sci-fi writers out there; Herbert, Heinlen, Card, Asimov, Dick, it goes on - we all recognize this. The importance is that we can all dredge up relevant and inspirational sci-fi to share with others. Works that may have changed our lives in one way or another.
Continue to list your favorites and we will continue to read.
Mine?
Dune
Speaker for the Dead (better than, although immaterial without, Enders Game)
Day of the Triffids
Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, et al
The Left Hand of Darkness
Forever War
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep
Martian Chronicles
Flatland
1984
And as an unofficial extra simply because of its classification as a short story: Harrison Bergeron
You must read Julian May's "Saga of the Pliocene Exile". It consists of 4 books and is the best work on psychic abilities that I have ever read.It begins a century or so from now, but spends most of the time six million years ago. Alien races, psychic amplifiers, battles,…Come on, what else do you need?
I would go with anything by Jack Womack as best cyberpunk not by Gibson.
Reasonably good list, a great many of my faves included. Of course Dune should always be at the top of every list. Also, Ender's Game is a serious omission.
I'd have liked to have some Iain M Banks in there, and Peter F Hamilton.
Coming into my top ten, very recently, is Market Forces by Richard Morgan. A tough read, very violent and chillingly near.
In addition to Joe Haldeman and Ursula le Guin i'd also mention
Phillip Jose Farmer - "Riverworld"
James Blish - "A case of conscience"
at least the first part of the book is amazing…
I really like the inclusion of "The Left Hand of Darkness", "The Man in the High Castle" and "The Forever War" but one novel that is missed when reading this list is "Solaris" by Stanislaw Lem. It is one of the most deep and philosophical pieces of science fiction ever written and I wouldn't be the person that I am today without it.
Like the list, however i was sad not to see Do Androids Dream of Electric sheep on there, also surprised not to see Brave New World ! Im currently doing a comparison of the two, focusing on dystopian societies, and our defenition of Humanity, both extremely deep novels. Those two books should be on any sci-fi list !
I think the idea was just to include authors once - but yeah, if it was up to me Androids would be up there instead of The Man in the High Castle.
Consider Phlebas by Iain M Banks
Moving Mars by Greg Bear
Anything else by Greg Bear :-)
Oh, I forgot - The Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. Because it's comedy people tend to forget it's science fiction, too
I have great respect for your list of great S.F. novels, but all short lists, by definition must miss selections that would appear on someone else's list. Where are Asimov's "Foundation" books, or Clarke's "Rama" series? Anyone out there for the "Ringworld" books, "Tau Zero", or "The Mote in God's Eye"?
I too would toss in a vote for Heinlein, though it would be pointless for me to make a top-10 list, as five of them would be Heinlein books (Stranger in a Strange Land, Moon is a Harsh Mistress, Time Enough for Love, Have Spacesuit Will Travel, Citizen of the Galaxy). By the time I got done with the three Grand Masters (Asimov, Clarke, and Heinlein), I don't think I would have any room left in the top-10. If I did, Dune would be the first in.
I see someone mentioned 2001 by Clarke. I would disqualify that book, since it was written alongside the movie script. Decent book and movie, but they had some serious differences, all of which Clarke ignored in 2010 by using the movie rather than the book as the original source (ex. the book had Saturn, not Jupiter as the destination)
And before anyone says "just limit yourself to one book per author"… screw that!
I think you are close in your definition of the elements of great sci-fi, but you do a bad job in matching those elements to the books you choose. The "ideas" you list for Dune, for example, are gimmicks at best. Yes, giant sandworms are an original idea — but so what? The sandworms, as important as they are to the Dune universe, are quite incidental to the events of the story. They could have been replaced by any number of simple plot devices and the story would have been just as great. And this is not to say that Dune doesn't deserve the spot you gave it — it probably does. But not for your reasons.
Also…sadly…most great sci-fi does not have great characters. "The Man in the High Castle," my 2nd favorite book of all time (next to VALIS, the much more deserving Dick novel that you ignored) has at best mediocre characters. Neuromancer has mediocre characters. Dune has good characters, but Dune also is nearly more fantasy than sci-fi, despite the fact that it's set in a futuristic world (you won't claim that Star Wars/Trek are great sci-fi, I hope, though they are set in futuristic worlds?).
Someone above said that Cryptonomicon ranks higher than Snow Crash as a sci-fi novel. How? Cryptonomicon isn't even real science fiction — it's historical fiction. It's a great book, but just because Barnes and Noble puts it on the science fiction shelf and it has a cool sciency-sounding name does not make it science fiction. Nothing about the book qualifies in that regard.
Jeff, why would you disqualify 2001? If you disqualify the book from this list then you'd have to disqualify the film from any top sci-fi films list. Kubrick and Clarke made a script, then Kubrick directed a film and Clarke wrote a book at the same time. Both are fantastic and well worthy of a place in a top 10 list.
Subjective. Well thought and written. Damn you should be writing SF and people like me would be reading it. Good Job!
Sorry forgot to put the comma after Damn. I'm not damning you in any way. Good analysis.
Wow. I am happy to see a thread full of the joy and wonder that great SF can invoke. Wonderful!
When I get the chance to discuss SF with people who don't read it I try to have them to think of it as 'Speculative Fiction' rather than just 'Science Fiction'. Heinlein use that definition and it does seem to more aptly describe the greatest works.
My list? Well… first let me suggest that any ranking of great fiction says more about where we are in our lives when we read it and therefore how open we were to the ideas contained within each page than it does about the actual fiction itself.
I'm happy to be the first to include a title by Roger Zelazny. One of the best.
I would say that each book here explores it's own particular theme as well as, and perhaps better than, any other work of fiction:
1. Speaker for the Dead - Orson Scott Card
2. Stranger in a Strange Land - Heinlein
3. The Mote in God's Eye - Niven/Pournelle
4. The Road - Cormac McCarthy
5. The Persistence of Vision - John Varley
6. Childhood's End - Arthur C. Clarke
7. Lord of Light - Roger Zelazny
8. Make Room! Make Room! - Harry Harrison
9. The Forever War - Joe Haldeman
10. The Time Machine - H G Wells
I agree with a few commenters, Ender's Game would definitely be on my list. I read it when I was 15, and it remains one of the favorite sci-fi books I've ever read.
These are all excellentlists. I don't know if I could list 10 books ranked in prefered order. I can list 10 great sci-fi books or series of books that are all favorites of mine.
- Dune 5 book series by Frank Herbert (NOT by his idiot son)
- Foundation trilogy by Isaac Asimov
- Enders Game the entire series by Orson Scott Card
- The Postman by David Brin
- Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein
- King David's Spaceship by Jerry Pournelle
- Saga of the Pliocene Exile by Julian May
- Island in the Sea of Time by SM Stirling
- Calculating God by Robert Sawyer
- Canticle for Liebowitz by Walter M. Miller
I'm sorry, but Orson Scott Card is a decent sci-fi writer, but far from being wirht of being on the top 10.
I would agree with many of the posters that the only thing the list lacks is something Asimov. I'm not exactly sure what I'd sacrifice to include Foundation… probably Helliconia Spring. Other than that, I think it's an excellent list.
~JW
Interesting list…
Good article. You've listed some great books, and I agree with your 3 points about what makes good sci-fi, except for one book, which would rank as my number one sci-fi novel, Star Maker, by Olaf Stapledon.
Star Maker is one of the most concept rich and mind-expanding books I have ever read. It's not as much a character driven story as a hard fictional history of the universe. For a book written in 1937, it's profoundly prescient.
I've read Forever War but didn't care much for it.
I have to say that you seem very passionate about the books on your list, so much so in fact that I have bookmarked your page to come back when I have some spare cash to buy them.
I would have a couple of others in there though, in no particular order…
The End of Eternity - Isaac Asimov
Gravity - Tess Geritsen
Excession - Ian M. Banks
and though some may cringe,
The 'Halo' books, just the ones that aren't the actual games, think thats just the ones by Alex Garland, they are good, easy on the brain pieces of scifi.
I couldn't understand some parts of this article nnial 2007 - salvatore iaconesi - del.icio.us poetry, but I guess I just need to check some more resources regarding this, because it sounds interesting.
Thanks Jeffery for mentioning A Canticle for Liebowitz by Walter M. Miller. I see you've also got Calculating God on that list; great choice. Even though its listed as general fiction, I'd also include the fabulist work by Gunter Grass, The Flounder.
A Canticle for Liebowitz, Walter M. Miller
Calculating God, Robert Sawyer
Enemy Mine, Barry Longyear
Years of Salt and Rice, Kim Stanley Robinson
The Flounder, Gunter Grass
Postman, David Brin
Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert Heinlein
The Persistence of Vision, John Varley
Hitch-hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
And what for number ten? Banks, Baxter, Brin… there's so much good stuff out there. Makes me wish I were younger so I could start all over again. Oh! Oh shoot!
Thanks All!
I'm glad a few people are saying A Canticle for leibowitz. I read that the other day and thought it was truly fantastic. Has anyone read Saint Leibowitz and the Wild Horse woman? Is it any good?
I thought long and hard about which Asimov book to include. Really hard. I thought and debated and made lists and scratched them out and started again, but each time it just seemed that no book belonged. Then I realized that I was mistaken. This list is a list of top ten speculative fiction BOOKS. In a top ten list of BOOKS, no Asimov title really belongs. At least not in my top ten. Were this a top ten series list, or top ten authors list, then undoubtedly Asimov would be there, maybe at the very top, but in a list for BOOKS, well, sorry.
To Richard,
I haven't read Saint Leibowitz and the Wild Horse Woman, but if the title is anything to go on, it sounds like a stinker.
I cant belive the forver war is 10.
should be 1 no doubt.
Rab - they're in no particular order. I think the numbers are just for neatness' sake.
Forever War is an awesome book..
Naw, naw…you missed:
Inferno, by Niven and Pournelle
To Your Scattered Bodies Go, by Farmer
Stranger in a Strange Land, by Heinlein
The Stainless Steel Rat, by Harrison
The Stars, My Destination, by Bester
The Dosadi Experiment, by Herbert
All My Sins, Remembered, by Haldeman
To Live Again, by Silverberg
Gateway, by Pohl
Titan, by Varley
I agree with all your choices of book and author - but I like far too many books for far too many reasons to try to list a top 10. Here are a few of the other authors I've really enjoyed - so if you like Gordon's list you'll enjoy some of these guys' books too, for their warm, human and intelligent insights and great stories:
Tim Powers. Christopher Rowley. Iain M. Banks. M.A.Foster. Elizabeth Moon. Ken McLeod. Ray Hammond. Sheri S Tepper.
No Alfred Bester? Haven't any of you read "Tiger, Tiger" (aka "The Stars My Destination") or "The Demolished Man"? Shame on you!
Also, check out "Glasshouse" by Charles Stross (particularly if you like Iain M Banks or Alistair Reynolds novels).
ares8989 - nice list. Stainless Steel Rat books are great fun, as is "Bill, the Galactic Hero".
Well, I cannot agree with the negative comment on Orson Scott Card. His Ender series is one of the best in SciFi hands-down.
But one set of books which really hasn't obtained fame yet–and this fact I cannot understand–is Dan Simmons Hyperion series (Beginning with Hyperion and ending with The Rise of Endymion). These four books are monumental in their scope and should be read by any and all SciFi fans for their complexity and scope. These books contain a world which is superiorly crafted by a master SciFi writer. Never pass up a chance to read these novels. As a matter of fact, go to Amazon and buy Hyperion today and begin reading it as soon as you get it. You won't be disappointed.
It's a good list and of course it's a personal one.
I would've definitely have included Foundation by Asimov ;)
I submit:
Doris Lessing - Shikasta and Briefing for a Descent Into Hell
Colin Wilson - The Mind Parasites
Gene Wolfe is mind-blowing. I'm glad you've put his name out there; so few people have heard of him.
Great list! I'm besotted with science fiction, read voraciously in other fields but always come back to it. In the 90s, I got worried because all of the good science fiction seemed to have been written a long time ago. So I was very happy when I discovered Peter F. Hamilton and Alastair Reynolds. Both authors write wonderful hard science fiction/space operas and extrapolate today's technologies as far as they will go. Fascinating! And worthwhile additions to all the glorious older books which have been mentioned. I look forward to going out and finding the ones I don't know yet, so thanks for your contributions!
There is no Space Opera like "Lyudi kak bogi" from Sergej Snegov.
Unfortunately there exists no english translation.
I'm amazed by the quality of the feedback I have received for this piece! Once again, many thanks folks.
I've been reminded of a number of great books that were left off the list, and some brilliant authors who didn't quite make it, due to the entirely arbitrary nature of this exercise.
But these are just the random ramblings of a lifelong enthusiast (I prefer that word to 'fan') and I make no pretension towards literary scholarship or even consistency in these lists. It's here just because I like it! No more, no less.
I'm thinking of posting a second list of SF books here, if anyone would be interested. And meanwhile, I'm already working on a list of Top 10 Fantasy Books to put here. (No suggestions needed thanks, I've got my titles already! Wait til it comes out please).
Watch this space.
Nice hearing from you people!
Against the Fall of Night by Arthur C. Clarke. This was his greatest work.
Simple-minded, no characters, but powerful stuff for someone growing up in the sputnik age: Donald Wollheim's Mike Mars series.
The late great Mme. L'Engle's Wrinkle in Time–glad someone else read and appreciated it. It was read to us by my fifth grade teacher and first crush. I'll never forget it–or her.
Heinlein's too Rudyard Kipling for my taste. His ripping space-yarns are OK.
Similarly, I salute Asimov, but he now leaves me cold. I thought his crowning volume of the Foundation series was dreadful and undermined the whole project.
How could we forget Theodore Sturgeon? Originality, good writing.
A sentimental favorite is James Blish's Cities in Flight series. He never was able to develop a convincing picture of life in a city roving in space, and the entire plot centered around a handful of characters.
Ray Bradbury's Dandelion Wine, but especially Something Wicked This Way Comes. Of course, that wickedness was puberty, but that added to the novel's power for this prepubescent reader.
Harlan Ellison was great. The novelette I Have No Mouth But I Must Scream about said it all for me.
Of course, Dune, the Lord of the Rings. Goes without saying. But who can forget Eddison's Worm Ouroborus series? Well, I guess everyone. (It has been posted online–www.sacred-texts.com/ring/two/index.htm.)
I stopped reading SF when I got to college, and have barely returned to it since. But I do get a twinge of nostalgia when I see a reader on the subway engulfed in a volume of a series set in some alternate universe.
What an amazing list. I don't consider myself a hardcore SF fan but I'm so glad that the Red, Green, Blue Mars trilogy was included. I would add Iain M Banks to the list, he doesn't seem to have had much of a mention.
I'm certainly going to track down the titles on your list. Once I've re-read Dune of course!
Thanks for the list. I'm going to keep my eyes open for some of these titles. The only one I was familiar with was Dune, though I've only watched the film. You seemed to stick to modern science fiction. What about Jules Verne? His Twenty Thousand Leagues is amazing. Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World is another good one. Not that I am saying it should be considered on the list, but C.S. Lewis' Space Trilogy also differentiates itself from the others. Possible his Great Divorce could be considered SF as well, with a firm placement in Platonic philosophy.
I always feel guilty about not loving neuromancer….I think I was turned off by playing a horrible pc adventure game in the early nineties before reading the book…anyone remember that game?
I must add to all the wonderful submissions, Schismatrix by Bruce Sterling.
I love the Eden Series ( West of Eden, Winter in Eden an Return to Eden ) by Harry Harrison. A half reptile half mammal Earth that´s what I call imagination…
I can't believe no one's mentioned Vernor Vinge's A Fire Upon the Deep, or A Deepness in the Sky
I can't be the only Vinge fan posting on this list, can I?
just want to second the Iain Banks mention. his culture series is fantastic. What a great concept for a civilization. love the idea of A.I.s as just equal members of the culture alongside people and not some Frankenstein morality tale a la 2001 etc. etc.
if you have only seen the dune film and not read the book you really don't have the true picture. The film was extremely shallow and nowhere close and on some points completely altered.
a travesty really.
Wow, I agree with everyone about the list! Personally, I would work in Tiptree and put Ellison at the top….at one time, I thought he was the apothesis of authors.
What really caught my mind was the quote. I think we readers of science fiction have a innate understanding of it's truth.
I read the "Caves of Steel" in the 8th grade and listened to it on disk 50 years later. The changes in my perspective and Asimov's manipulation of the story were whelming.
Thanks for all the great recommends. Not many I've missed but enough to make Deep Discount Books & DVDs a decent profit.
Hi folks.
My Top Ten Fantasy Books list is now posted on this site.
Have a look and let me know what you think.
Thanks.
BULL.
CRAP.
Didn't even bother reading comments. Because the top ten, without RAH? Must be a lot of pap-sucking, leftist, "lets all feel good" dumb asses.
No RAH?
BULL.
CRAP.
I submit:
Brothers Strugatsky.
"Stalker", anyone?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arkady_and_Boris_Strugatsky
I cannot believe how many lists did not have Niven books on them, shame on you alleged science fiction fans
Loved this blog. I'm a Stumbler and am fascinated by the 'faves' listed both of this author and the responders. My concurrence is strong with the 3 primary elements need for readable sci-fi (from the author's perspective) and it is understood that nobody has asked, but my preferences go as such…
Dune
Stranger In A Strange Land
Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?
The Time Machine
2001: A Space Odyssey
Chronicles Of Riddick (the collection)
The Robot Chronicles
Solaris
Red Planet
Few Remember
If one does a top ten list, the it HAS to contain the 1930-era novel: R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots). This is THE book that established the word and concept of a robot, and it dealt with the issues of being a robotic consciousness being as a second-class person. Definitive book to Science Fiction books following with robots.
Regards, whitecrow
WHAT ABOUT THE UTTERLY MAGNIFICENT STANISLAV LEM? HAS ANYONE READ HIM. HE'S A POLE, BUT I WOULDN'T HAVE THOUGHT HE IS THAT OBSCURE
Thanks for the list. I can't wait to read the Phillip K. Dick book.
Okay, I have once again come across a list that neglects Lois McMaster Bujold. You have never heard of her but she has won as many Hugo's as Heinlein and just about anything by her is worth inclusion on a top ten list. So my list would be:
The Vorkosigan Saga by Lois Mcmaster Bujold
The Caves of Steel by Isaac Asimov (actually that entire series)
Dune
Stranger in a Strange Land
A Canticle for Leibowitz
So Long and Thanks For All the Fish by Douglas Adams
The Eisenhorn Trilogy by Dan Abnett
We Few by John Ringo and David Weber
actually that's a lot more than ten so I'll stop now.
What, no Delany? Dhalgren is a huge favorite…
Really sad to see that there are no books by Iain M. Banks there. Love the "The Player of Games" and "Excession" in particular. Also, Michael Marshall Smith's "Only Forward" is a great read, maybe not top ten material though.
Helliconia Spring belongs on the list of 10 Worst Science Fiction Novels of all time. It's incredibly dull with characters that I kept hoping would die so that they would be put out of my misery.
I have not seen any mention of Vernor Vinge !! And far too few mentions of Iain M Banks !! and only a hint of Dan Simmons !!
A Fire Upon the deep - Vernor Vinge
A Deepness in the sky - Vernor Vinge
Across Real Time - Vernor Vinge
Rainbows End - Vernor Vinge
The Algabraist - Iain M Banks
Matter - Iain M Banks
The Player of games - Iain M Banks
Excession - Iain M Banks
Olympos - Dan Simmons
Ilium - Dan Simmons
Hyperion (series)- Dan Simmons
http://books.google.co.uk/books?as_auth=Vernor+Vinge&sa=X&oi=print&ct=title&cad=author-navigational&hl=en
http://books.google.co.uk/books?as_auth=Iain+M+Banks&sa=X&oi=print&ct=title&cad=author-navigational&hl=en
http://books.google.co.uk/books?as_auth=Dan+Simmons&sa=X&oi=print&ct=title&cad=author-navigational&hl=en
I have not gone for an all time favourite top ten because its just too hard to do, there are just too many to choose from…
But I seriously recommend reading Vinge, Banks and Simmons !!
Hugo
Nice to be here seeing so many ideas