My Somewhat-Arbitrarily-Numbered Top 50 SF Books

[Dead & Messed Up]

I stopped after about forty pages of Neuromancer for many of the reasons you cited, D. It was awfully flat, too in love with its inventions and ideas to actually buckle down and tell a story.

I've read very little of what you mentioned so far - possibly just one. Which is War of the Worlds, which is great fun.

I hope to see a little of Arthur C. Clarke on this list. In the meantime, I'm gonna see if I can track down a cheap copy of The Stars My Destination.

[D_Davis]

I hope to see a little of Arthur C. Clarke on this list. In the meantime, I'm gonna see if I can track down a cheap copy of The Stars My Destination.

Haven't read a lot of Clarke, and what I have read I only merely liked - didn't love. I definitely plan on reading more though, and have quite a few of his books in my queue.

Pay whatever you need to for The Stars My Destination (but it can be picked up for cheap) - it is a bona fide masterpiece. I have no problems with all the people who declare it the best SF book ever written. It shames almost anything its compared to. Bester is untouchable.

[megladon8]

D, have you read Gibson's book "Spook Country"? It got great reviews, and since it's been out for about 2 years now, all the hardcover copies are on the reduced racks at bookstores now, often for $3 or $4.

I've passed up buying it several times.

Another author I'm curious to know your stance on is Larry Niven. I really loved "Ringworld".

[D_Davis]

D, have you read Gibson's book "Spook Country"? It got great reviews, and since it's been out for about 2 years now, all the hardcover copies are on the reduced racks at bookstores now, often for $3 or $4.

No - but I want to. His book Pattern Recognition is also really good.

Another author I'm curious to know your stance on is Larry Niven. I really loved "Ringworld".

I've only read some Niven short stories, never one of his novels. However, I have Ringworld, and I plan on reading it.

[megladon8]

I practically have this thread book-marked.

Give me mooooore!

[D_Davis]

37. The Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1955) - Jack Finney



A classic that deserves it's status. It's simultaneously entertaining, well written, poignant, and topical. While it's social commentary was originally focused on the communist scare, it is none-the-less still relevant today. There will always be an 'other' to be made fearful of, and humanity has a tendency to find this 'other' in our immediate surroundings. After 9/11 the 'other' in America are the terrorists; they are the ones (who are they, anyhow?) our government is telling us to fear. Your neighbor could be one! You could be one and not even know it!

Fear is a powerful tool, and Finney explores this concept with great skill.

The narrative is gripping and thrilling, sometimes bordering on horror. It's just good fiction.

[megladon8]

Yes! Wonderful choice, D.

I have a beautiful hardcover copy of it from the Science Fiction Book Club. They had a thing for a while (may still be ongoing) where they were releasing horror classics under the "Stephen King Horror Library", and King wrote intros and notes in all of the books in the series.

[D_Davis]

36. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1979) - Douglas Adams



Nothing really needs to be said about this one. It's funny, insightful, and really cynical. It's almost too cynical for me, but I still love it. I don't believe humanity is nearly as stupid as Adams did (so long as I stay away from YouTube comments), but then again Adams and I would disagree on just about everything that is important.

However, it doesn't change the fact that this book is awesome. It's clever and inventive, irreverent and snarky.

My favorite version of the story is the original radio drama, although I also like the BBC television mini-series, the Hollywood movie, and the old text adventure.

[megladon8]

Another great choice!

Someone stole my copy :sad:

[D_Davis]

35. Dr. Bloodmoney, or How We Got Along After the Bomb (1965) - Philip K. Dick



The first of many PKD novels to appear on this list, and one of the best post-apocalyptic novels I've read. I remember when The Road was on everybody's mind, and I read reviews of it in which the reviewers would write stuff like, "FINALLY! Sci-Fi we can take seriously!" or "FINALLY! Someone has elevated the Post-Apocalyptic genre to a literary level!" Or other such nonsense (I'm sure I'm exaggerating a bit, but not by much).

I haven't read The Road, and I don't know if I ever will (although I'm pretty sure I'd dig it - CM is a great writer). But what I do know is that SF authors have been writing great post-apoc-lit for many decades; both this and a soon-to-be-mentioned novel are more than worthy of any reader's time. I always have a problem with mainstream authors who try their hand at genre fiction, because they always seem to get the critical and mainstream praise while so many genre authors just as deserving remain in the ghetto.

Anyhow, if you enjoyed The Road and want to read another post-apoc book teeming with interesting characters and pathos, written by an author who truly understood human beings at the their wits ends, then check out PKD's Dr. Bloodmoney.

This novel is amazing. Simply stunning. It's bursting with ideas.

What I said in my original review:

If you've ever wondered what kind of stories Garrison Keillor might write if he were a drugged-out, paranoid new-wave science fiction author living in Berkley, California, during the 1960s, well I reckon old Phil Dick's Dr. Bloodmoney is a close approximation.

It's a post-apocalyptic home companion.

A slice of this post-nuclear American life.

It has a pastoral feel to it, bringing to mind the works of William Saroyan and John Steinbeck, if, of course, those authors wrote about deformed characters with powerful mental abilities, mutant animals, botched space flight, and nuclear war.

It's among Dick's richest books in terms of character; it is quite “literary” in the way it deals with the drama. This book is not driven by a thrilling plot or any kind of strong SF impetus beyond the end of the world scenario and some mutant-like things born from the destruction. Instead, Dr. Bloodmoney is entirely character driven, and each character, out of a very large cast, is given the time and room to grow.

Dr. Bloodmoney is a post-apocalyptic novel, although one that is as different from Mad Max and other more mainstream examples as is Walter M. Miller Jr.'s A Canticle for Liebowitz. It is most definitely a product of its time; the fear of the Cold War hangs heavy over Dick's narrative, and the constant threat and promise of nuclear devastation is demonstrated expertly. Dick creates a frightening sense of chaos and destruction once the bombs start dropping, and he also illustrates his post-apocalyptic society with an equal amount of skill.

While Dick's version of the scenario is bleak and rife with turmoil, he does not predict a total breakdown of human society. Instead, he takes a decidedly optimistic approach to the tragedy of a nuclear-war torn world. Dick presents a group of survivors who retain their humanity towards one another even when faced with outlandish and dire circumstances. Not all of the characters are as eager to get along as the best of them, but enough are that I would place the book among Dick's more hopeful and positive works. There is actually a gleam of hope in the book, one that rings with strong emotional truth.

Many of Dick's more important works (which this is) deal with God, religious mysticism, and Gnosticism. I find it strange that here, in one of his only truly post-apocalyptic offerings, Dick seems to skirt the subjects all together - he focuses only on humanity, not offering any kind of divine intervention. It is as if in Dick's mind, the destruction of the world has divorced his characters from any kind of Godly influence - the characters never even mention God; out of sight, out of mind. The characters in this novel seem to be in some kind of purgatory, one where only their physical bodies have survived.

Dr. Bloodmoney - just read it.

[D_Davis]

34. Mindbridge (1977) - Joe Haldeman



I'm not usually a fan of action in books. I hate reading about big battles - it's so totally boring. However, Mindbridge contains the single greatest scene of action of I've ever read in a book. It's only a few pages long, and it's the only scene of action in the entire book. It's like this big extremely-well executed exclamation point right in the middle of the book that turns the tables on the situation and demands your full attention. It's crafted with the expertise of a true wordsmith; it's tense, short, and exciting.

The rest of the book is just as good.

Haldeman, forever scarred by his time spent in Vietnam, knows how to write military-based SF that focuses on the characters and their personal drama, and not military tech or jargon.

I don't know which book I like best: this, or The Forever War. On this list I'm ranking the later a bit higher, if only because of its legendary status. However, Mindbridge is just as good, and it's not as widely read.

[Qrazy]

Stranger in a Strange Land also sucked.

Actually I'm going to need more than this because I remember liking it quite a bit and many consider it a classic, so what did you dislike about it?

[Qrazy]

So D I downloaded a torrent which includes 13,000 Science Fiction and Fantasy books. I just finished Restaurant at the End of the Universe, and onto the fourth and fifth books now since I'd already read the first and third.

[D_Davis]

So D I downloaded a torrent which includes 13,000 Science Fiction and Fantasy books. I just finished Restaurant at the End of the Universe, and onto the fourth and fifth books now since I'd already read the first and third.

You're a book pirate!




Cool stuff. I've never read the 4th and 5th books from cover to cover. I always loose interest at this point.

[megladon8]

D, have you read Haldeman's "All My Sins Remembered"?

[D_Davis]

D, have you read Haldeman's "All My Sins Remembered"?

Nope - but I have it.

I've read:

Mindbridge
Forever War
Forever Peace
The Hemingway Hoax
Dealing in Futures

[Qrazy]

How do you feel about these lists?


One.

Two.

[D_Davis]

How do you feel about these lists?


One.

Two.

#1 looks pretty good, although there is way to much Heinlein on there. Only 1 Sturgeon, and no Ballard? No Ballard is simply insane. However, many of those books are great. Good selection of years and styles. Of course I disagree with a lot of their placements, but such is the nature of lists. Also, a couple of never heard of, so that's cool.

Pringle's List (#2) is one I've consulted many times. Although placing 1984 at #1 is baffling. It's just not that good. That he includes Simak of couple of times is great. Lot's of Dick, a couple of Sturgeon's, and lot's of Ballard - including Ballard automatically makes his list better. Pringle's list is one of my favorites. I've got lots of stuff from it that I still need to read; he includes some more unqiue entries. Although it does contain a number of books that I don't really care for: The Unreasoning Mask, Neuromancer, The Fifth Head of Cerebus, Non-Stop, Nova, A Case of Concious...

His list feels more personal, and I like that.

I'd say go with my list first....then Pringle's, then the other one.

[D_Davis]

33. I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream - Harlan Ellison



The title story of this short story collection is one of the famous and widely read stories of the genre. It should be one of the most famous and widely read stories regardless of genre. It's a true classic, a bona fide masterpiece of short fiction.

It's also incredible grim, brutal, depressing, frightening, and frustrating.

HATE. LET ME TELL YOU HOW MUCH I'VE COME TO HATE YOU SINCE I BEGAN TO LIVE. THERE ARE 287.44 MILLION MILES OF PRINTED CIRCUITS IN WAFER THIN LAYERS THAT FILL MY COMPLEX. IF THE WORD HATE WAS ENGRAVED ON EACH NANOANGSTROM OF THOSE HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF MILES IT WOULD NOT EQUAL ONE ONE-BILLIONTH OF THE HATE I FEEL FOR HUMANS AT THIS MICROSECOND FOR YOU. HATE. HATE.

You will never forget AM. Quite possible the most evil antagonist ever committed to the printed page.

Only Joe R. Lansdale gives Ellison a run for his money in the misanthropy department. Each of these guys makes Mark Twain look like a friendly, cuddly old wisecracker.

Buy this book for the title story, and then stick around for the rest.

[megladon8]

I love all the covers you've been choosing to display each title, D.

[D_Davis]

32. The October Country (1955) - Ray Bradbury



One of the author's best collections. The October Country contains a number of Bradbury's darker and more sinister tales. It begins with a story that has haunted me for 10 years, since I first read it: "The Dwarf." Nobody captures the milieu of carnivals and circuses like Bradbury, and this is one of his best. The stories continue from this point to get stranger and more macabre. Imagine being attacked by your own skeleton, or imagine if you were raised to be God. My favorite story is "The Small Assassin." It's a twisted little tale, the less said the better.

If you ever need proof of Bradbury's acclaim and greatness, of why he is often considered among the (if not the) best author of short fiction of his generation, then start here. You won't soon forget.

[D_Davis]

I love all the covers you've been choosing to display each title, D.

I wish I had all of these books with those covers. It's true that old SF covers were often better. Especially in the '60s.

[megladon8]

I wish I had all of these books with those covers. It's true that old SF covers were often better. Especially in the '60s.

So were old sci-fi movie posters.

If I ever won the lottery, I'd have a room in my house covered from floor to ceiling in vintage sci-fi and horror movie posters.

[D_Davis]

31. Headcrash (1995) - Bruce Bethke



In 1980, Bruce Bethke wrote a short story called "Cyberpunk."

I'll let that sink in.

In 1995, in his debut novel, Bethke coined the word "Spam" to define electronic junk mail.

This novel also won the Philip K. Dick award.

It's been referred to as Dilbert meets Neuromancer, and that is a great description. One of my least favorite things about the cyberpunk sub-genre as a whole is how damn serious it all is. All too often cyberpunk authors depict their subjects without an ounce of humor, treating their stories and characters with very little humanity. That is not the case here; Headcrash is hilarious. And it's also very entertaining.

It does suffer from the all too familiar problem associated with the sub-genre. Like a PC, once opened and enjoyed the ideas and narrative are somewhat out of date; the jargon is tired, and the tech seems silly now.

The story takes place in 2005...it's now history.

However, I think enough time has passed now that we can look back at Headcrash as a relic of its time and appreciate it for what it was. It's a witty, fast paced, irreverent, and hard hitting look at the immediate future as seen from a techno-shaman during the 1990s, a time of pure energy and excitement during the Information Age.

[Dukefrukem]

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

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Show Spoiler

On with the list!

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Firs time posting in this thread. I LOLed at this.

I'd start my own list, but I know I'd never finish it. I can't even finish my comic book movie list.