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Thread: My Somewhat-Arbitrarily-Numbered Top 50 SF Books

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    What is best in life? D_Davis's Avatar
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    My Somewhat-Arbitrarily-Numbered Top 50 SF Books

    My Somewhat-Arbitrarily-Numbered Top 50 SF Books

    I've never made an official book list before. Seems hard. This list was birthed from the general book thread, in which I declared my apathy towards 1984 and Brave New World. I think that, for many people, these two books (along with Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451) represent their only exposure to the SF genre. These three books are taught in many American high schools, and many people hold them in high regard.

    I don't.

    And I love SF.

    Think of this list as a syllabus I might create if I were teaching a SF class. The numbering will be mostly arbitrary - I won't even promise you that book #37 is better than book #45, nor will I try to quantify the rankings. Some of these books are in here because they are "important" works of genre-lit, while others are on here simply because they spin a fantastic yarn.

    Another way to look at this list:

    50 SF Books I Like More Than 1984, Brave New World and Fahrenheit 451


    Master List

    50. Dangerous Visions - ed. Harlen Ellison (1967)
    49. The Stainless Steel Rat - Harry Harrison (1961)
    48. City - Clifford D. Simak (1952)
    47. A Treasury of Great Science Fiction (1959) - ed. Anthony Boucher
    46. The Tripods Trilogy (1967-1968) - John Christopher
    45. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (1982 - 1994) - Hayao Miyazaki; Akira (1982 - 1990) - Katsuhiro Otomo; Grey (1985-1987) - Yoshihisa Tagami
    44. The War of the Worlds and The First Men in the Moon (1898 and 1901) - H.G. Wells
    43. Destroying Angel (1992) - Richard Paul Russo
    42. Out of the Silent Planet (1938) - C.S. Lewis
    41. Gateway (1977) - Pohl
    40. The Adventures of Samurai Cat (series) (1984-1998) - Mark Rogers
    39. The Gods Themselves (1972) - Isaac Asimov
    38. RIM (1994) - Alexander Besher
    37. The Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1955) - Jack Finney
    36. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1979) - Douglas Adams
    35. Dr. Bloodmoney, or How We Got Along After the Bomb (1965) - Philip K. Dick
    34. Mindbridge (1977) - Joe Haldeman
    33. I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream - Harlan Ellison
    32. The October Country (1955) - Ray Bradbury
    31. Headcrash (1995) - Bruce Bethke
    30. The Ware Series (1982-2000) - Rudy Rucker
    29. Solaris - Stanislaw Lem
    28. Souls - Joanna Russ
    27. The Dreaming Jewels (1950) - Theodore Sturgeon
    26. Calculating God (2000) - Rober J. Sawyer
    25. The Big Jump (1955) - Leigh Brackett
    24. Flowers for Algernon (1959) - Daniel Keyes
    23. Martian Time Slip (1964) - Philip K. Dick
    22. Ship of Fools - Richard Paul Russo
    21. Virtual Unrealities (1997) - Alfred Bester
    20. The Forever War (1974) - Joe Haldeman
    19. City Come A-Walkin' (1980) - John Shirley
    18. The Lathe of Heaven - Ursula K. LeGuin
    17. Godbody - Theodore Sturgeon
    16. The Martian Chronicles (1950) - Ray Bradbury
    15. UBIK (1969) - Philip K. Dick
    14. Concrete Island (1975) - JG Ballard
    13. A Canticle for Leibowitz - Walter M. Miller Jr.
    12. The Demolished Man (1953) - Alfred Bester
    11. More Than Human (1953) - Theodore Sturgeon
    10. The Ninth Configuration (1978) - William Peter Blatty
    9. White Light (1980) - Rudy Rucker
    8. A Scanner Darkly (1977) - Philip K. Dick
    7. Einstein's Dreams (1992) - Alan Lightman
    6. Way Station (1964) - Clifford D. Simak
    5. Sirius (1944) - Olaf Stapledon
    4. To Marry Medusa (aka The Cosmic Rape) (1958) - Theodore Sturgeon
    3. The Best Short Stories of J.G. Ballard (1977)
    2. The Stars My Destination (1956) - Alfred Bester
    1. The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch (1965) - Philip K. Dick

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    The Artist as Monster Eleven's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting Daniel Davis (view post)
    And I love SF.
    Yeah, well, you've never given us this impression before!
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    What is best in life? D_Davis's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting Eleven (view post)
    Yeah, well, you've never given us this impression before!
    Quiet you!


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    The Artist as Monster Eleven's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting Daniel Davis (view post)
    Quiet you!

    Next thing is you'll be saying you like kung-fu flicks!

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    50. Dangerous Visions - ed. Harlen Ellison (1967)



    An instrumental and monumental force in the realm of SF. These stories helped usher in the New Wave; they helped to move SF out of the realms of rocket ships, laser blasters, and juvenile adventure stories into territories marked with strong social commentary and darker narratives. These stories touch upon topics such as the taboo of incest (Theodore Sturgeon's "If All Men Were Brothers, Would You Let One Mary Your Sister?") and others written by authors who were doing their part to break down the walls many people had built around SF and what it could accomplish in terms of narrative and literary style.

    This is one of those important SF books, and while there are a few miss-fires included, it is none-the-less a worthy read. You can also find copies of this for next to nothing at almost any used book store.

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    49. The Stainless Steel Rat - Harry Harrison (1961)



    At the complete opposite end of the literary spectrum from Dangerous Visions comes Harry Harrison's The Stainless Steel Rat. While Harrison is no stranger to socially conscious SF (Make Room! Make Room! aka Soylent Green), he has more fully embraced the pure pulp style of rambunctious yarn-spinning.

    James Boliver DiGriz, aka Slippery Jim, aka The Stainless Steel Rat, is the universe's most bad ass thief and all around scallywag, but with a heart of gold; I'd bet dollars to donuts that old Jim was the basis for Han Solo. This is the first book in a long series of tales, although they were written out of chron order, and they don't connect in anyway except for the recurring characters.

    It's James Bond, meets Lupin III and Han Solo in space, mixed with a ton of high-flying adventure, and some great jokes. Sure, the books are juvenile, but they're just so much fun. Purely a guilty pleasure that delivers the goods.

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    The Pan Qrazy's Avatar
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    You know which book pissed me off? Heinlein's I Will Fear No Evil. Man that sucked. Stranger in a Strange Land was great though.

    Have you read any Greg Bear D? Eon is out of this world! Har har chuck chuckle.
    The Princess and the Pilot - B-
    Playtime (rewatch) - A
    The Hobbit - C-
    The Comedy - D+
    Kings of the Road - C+
    The Odd Couple - B
    Red Rock West - C-
    The Hunger Games - D-
    Prometheus - C
    Tangled - C+

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    The Pan Qrazy's Avatar
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    I haven't read any Harlen Ellison but after seeing A Boy and his Dog I'd be willing to give him a whirl.
    The Princess and the Pilot - B-
    Playtime (rewatch) - A
    The Hobbit - C-
    The Comedy - D+
    Kings of the Road - C+
    The Odd Couple - B
    Red Rock West - C-
    The Hunger Games - D-
    Prometheus - C
    Tangled - C+

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    Not a praying man Melville's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting Qrazy (view post)
    You know which book pissed me off? Heinlein's I Will Fear No Evil. Man that sucked. Stranger in a Strange Land was great though.
    Stranger in a Strange Land also sucked.
    I am impatient of all misery in others that is not mad. Thou should'st go mad, blacksmith; say, why dost thou not go mad? How can'st thou endure without being mad? Do the heavens yet hate thee, that thou can'st not go mad?

    lists and reviews

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    What is best in life? D_Davis's Avatar
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    And I should point out that I do not consider myself an expert in the field of SF lit. Not even close. For every book I've read and loved, there are a dozen that I should read. And my exposure to the tried and true "classics" is somewhat limited, especially the stuff from pre-1960. I've always gravitated towards certain authors and styles, and it's only been in the last few years that I've expanded my SF horizons.

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    The Pan Qrazy's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting Melville (view post)
    Stranger in a Strange Land also sucked.
    It was great when I read it as a child so there.
    The Princess and the Pilot - B-
    Playtime (rewatch) - A
    The Hobbit - C-
    The Comedy - D+
    Kings of the Road - C+
    The Odd Couple - B
    Red Rock West - C-
    The Hunger Games - D-
    Prometheus - C
    Tangled - C+

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    What is best in life? D_Davis's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting Qrazy (view post)
    I haven't read any Harlen Ellison but after seeing A Boy and his Dog I'd be willing to give him a whirl.
    I've got an Ellison collection coming up on the list that is worth checking out.

    His story in Dangerous Visions, The Prowler in the City at the Edge of the World, is pretty good.

    I can only read so much Ellison before I start to get really angry and pissed off at the world. His world view and mine don't often match up - he's so misanthropic, and dark. However, in small doses he is amazing.

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    What is best in life? D_Davis's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting Qrazy (view post)
    You know which book pissed me off? Heinlein's I Will Fear No Evil. Man that sucked. Stranger in a Strange Land was great though.

    Have you read any Greg Bear D? Eon is out of this world! Har har chuck chuckle.
    Quote Quoting Melville (view post)
    Stranger in a Strange Land also sucked.
    I haven't read a ton of Heinlein. That dude was insanely prolific. And it appears to me that a lot of the stuff he wrote was kind of crappy. I don't know - probably shouldn't make any judgments, yet. I've liked some his short stories I've read, one of his novels will appear here, but I've disliked more than I've liked. I read Stranger in high school and I don't remember how I felt about it.

    I finally finished Eon - it took me a couple of tries to crack, and read it in chunks over a long period of time. I liked it. It was epic. I'd like to read more Bear, although I am not super into the hard SF stuff.

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    48. City - Clifford D. Simak (1952)



    Clifford D. Simak is totally old school. Imagine if Norman Rockwell and Garrison Keillor teamed up to write SF. That's Simak. His pastoral style is steeped in old fashioned Americana, brimming with nostalgia, and a possesses a longing for the good old days, even when those days are in the future.

    If you dig this sort of thing you will dig Simak. I do.

    City is part of a sub-genre of SF known as future-history. These are stories that present a survey of the future of mankind. This, along with Olaf Stapledon's Darkness and the Light and Last and First Men are among the most popular examples of this sub-genre.

    City is a collection of connected novellas detailing mankind's last days on Earth, and our relationship with the robots we built and the intelligent, talking dogs we genetically created. The novellas are connected through a series of small vignettes told from the POV of a canine historian who is looking back at the legends of humankind.

    While it starts off a little slow, City picks up momentum by the 2nd novella and continues to be interesting and entertaining through the end.

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    The Pan Qrazy's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting Daniel Davis (view post)
    I haven't read a ton of Heinlein. That dude was insanely prolific. And it appears to me that a lot of the stuff he wrote was kind of crappy. I don't know - probably shouldn't make any judgments, yet. I've liked some his short stories I've read, one of his novels will appear here, but I've disliked more than I've liked. I read Stranger in high school and I don't remember how I felt about it.

    I finally finished Eon - it took me a couple of tries to crack, and read it in chunks over a long period of time. I liked it. It was epic. I'd like to read more Bear, although I am not super into the hard SF stuff.
    Check out Blood Music. It's a short read and a great concept. I've also read the sequel to Eon, Eternity. It wasn't nearly as good as the first but it was worthwhile as a continuation of the general mythos. I guess I might as well read the last book.

    I quite like hard sci-fi but I haven't read that much. I think I've read more Fantasy than sci-fi but I read both before I approached art systematically so I'm sure I read a lot of mediocrity that I thought I was good. I think I should dive back into both genres and try to hit up some of the major names now that I'm a bit older.
    The Princess and the Pilot - B-
    Playtime (rewatch) - A
    The Hobbit - C-
    The Comedy - D+
    Kings of the Road - C+
    The Odd Couple - B
    Red Rock West - C-
    The Hunger Games - D-
    Prometheus - C
    Tangled - C+

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    What is best in life? D_Davis's Avatar
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    I'll add Blood Music to the list.

    Have you read any Alastair Reynolds? He seems to be a modern favorite of hard SF.

    I think I should dive back into both genres and try to hit up some of the major names now that I'm a bit older.
    I started doing this awhile ago. I started reading through the Hugo and Nebula winners to expand my stable of authors.

    Like Sturgeon's Law says: 99% of everything is crap. And there is a lot of crap in SF. It's hard to wade through it all to get to the good stuff.

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    The Pan Qrazy's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting Daniel Davis (view post)
    I'll add Blood Music to the list.

    Have you read any Alastair Reynolds? He seems to be a modern favorite of hard SF.
    Nope. I'll try to check it out. I should just go to the library but I haven't in a long time. I have a bookstore near me and just tend to purchase random books I've heard of that happen to be in the dollar section.

    Quote Quoting Daniel Davis (view post)
    I started doing this awhile ago. I started reading through the Hugo and Nebula winners to expand my stable of authors.

    Like Sturgeon's Law says: 99% of everything is crap. And there is a lot of crap in SF. It's hard to wade through it all to get to the good stuff.
    Yeah I think I just won't revisit the old stuff and let it live on fondly in nostalgia (Stranger in a Strange Land).
    The Princess and the Pilot - B-
    Playtime (rewatch) - A
    The Hobbit - C-
    The Comedy - D+
    Kings of the Road - C+
    The Odd Couple - B
    Red Rock West - C-
    The Hunger Games - D-
    Prometheus - C
    Tangled - C+

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    What is best in life? D_Davis's Avatar
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    47. A Treasury of Great Science Fiction (1959) - ed. Anthony Boucher



    If you want to get into classic SF, there probably isn't a better place to start than with this two-volume anthology. I haven't read everything included, so I can't vouch for all of the stories, but what I have read has been great, and I'm looking forward to reading more.

    This really is a great place to start a literary journey. Boucher compiled a killer list of authors for this collection, including: Sturgeon, Wyndham, Bester, Clarke, Anderson, Dick and many others.

    While most (all?) of these stories have been published elsewhere, it's just great to have so many classics in two-volumes.

    Also included is the complete Bester novel The Stars My Destination - one of the all time great SF books (to appear on this list much later) - and Theodore Sturgeon's novella The [Widget], the [Wadget], and Boff - a great example of Sturgeon's didactic style that explores his theme of love and asking the next question really well.

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    46. The Tripods Trilogy (1967-1968) - John Christopher




    ***WARNING***WARNING***
    ***NOSTALGIA ALERT***

    I read these books as a kid and loved them. I have not read them as an adult, and so I cannot vouch for them now. However, based upon my recollection, my fond memories, and based upon other people who have read them as adults, I think it is safe to declare the greatness of these books.

    I was first introduced to this world in the Boy Scout's magazine Boy's Life. The novels were serialized in comic form. I soon discovered that my mom had the original books, and so I read them. And I loved them.

    The narrative is a classic tale of friendship, betrayal, survival, and revolution. It's a Boy's Own adventure styled tale with a number of great protagonists and even better antagonists. It's a great alien invasion story, fast paced, suspenseful, and tense.

  20. #20
    I'm in the milk... Mara's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting Daniel Davis (view post)
    46. The Tripods Trilogy (1967-1968) - John Christopher

    WOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOO!

    Have reread these a few times, and they remain very cool. I think The City of Gold and Lead is my favorite.
    ...and the milk's in me.

  21. #21
    What is best in life? D_Davis's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting Mara (view post)
    Have reread these a few times, and they remain very cool. I think The City of Gold and Lead is my favorite.
    That book is so depressing. I remember feeling really heavy while reading it. The heat and oppression was palpable.

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    The Pan megladon8's Avatar
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    Sweeeet. I will be writing many titles down, me-thinks.
    "All right, that's too hot. Anything we can do about that heat?"

    "Rick...it's a flamethrower."

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    What is best in life? D_Davis's Avatar
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    45. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (1982 - 1994) - Hayao Miyazaki
    Akira (1982 - 1990) - Katsuhiro Otomo
    Grey (1985-1987) - Yoshihisa Tagami









    I'm a little leery of including comic books here. Not because I dislike comic books and not because I don't think they have any artistic worth. It's simply because I think they are different from novels, and I don't like to compare the two. I don't think we need to cram the 'graphic' novel in with the prose novel in order to sing its praises.

    However, when it comes to SF stories, some of the best examples are comic books, and these three are my favorite in terms of story and art, and all for different reasons.

    Nausicaa exists in a classic sub-genre of SF: the ecological disaster sub-genre. Man versus nature is a common trope in fiction, and Miyazaki's tale is a classic example. The narrative is epic, and the art is unique, owing more to the styles of the French than it does to its Japanese brethren.

    Akira is one of my favorite post-apocalyptic tales. It's interesting to think that Japan is the only post-apocalyptic nation on Earth. That is remarkable. So it should come as no surprise to discover that some of the best example of this sub-genre come from Japan. Japanese culture is fascinated with the depictions of the destruction of Japan, and boy does Akira ever destroy Japan. Akira is a marvel in every regard. It's narrative is epic, the characters are well written, and the art is evocative and detailed.

    Grey is a very small story. It's creator, Yoshihisa Tagami, is more known for his horror manga Horobi. However, it is Grey that I love. The main character in this powerful tale of survival is named Grey Death. His mission is to enter the military and fight in a war so that he may become a citizen and enjoy a life of relative luxury. Along the way he looses friends, most of his body, and just about everything else that is important to him. And his final discovery is a revelation made in hell.

    All of these could probably rest easily in the post-apocalyptic sub-genre of SF. Akira deals with it more directly, where as Nausicaa deals with it in the distant past, and Grey looks at it in terms of modern warfare.

  24. #24
    What is best in life? D_Davis's Avatar
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    I'm also going to include one more, non-Japanese, comic later. I just realized that it needs to be mentioned.

  25. #25
    What is best in life? D_Davis's Avatar
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    A couple of big, fatty, experimental and important SF books I need to read:

    Delany's Dhalgren and Brunner's Stand on Zanzibar.

    Both are considered classics of the New Wave. Delany's book has no beginning or end. It starts in the middle of a sentence and ends with the beginning of that sentence. There are supposedly many points throughout the novel that you can jump in at. Brunner's novel utilizes a number of post-modern techniques including commercial breaks, news reports, and random "found" writing. It sounds more like a deejay construct than a proper novel.

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