

32 Sci-Fi novels that you should add to your reading list - socalsamba
http://howtosplitanatom.com/news/32-sci-fi-novels-you-should-read/

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cokekiller
The Orion SF Masterworks collection is much better, exhaustive, and actually
published as a series (not in the US unfortunately). Take a look lots of
awesome books you may or may not have read...
<http://www.sfsite.com/lists/orion01.htm>

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nazgulnarsil
it's been awhile since I've seen a sci-fi list with books i haven't read.
thanks for the link.

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huhtenberg
With all due respect, and it's a great novel, Animal Farm is not a _science_
fiction.

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xlnt
Neither is Atlas Shrugged.

anyway, who wants to add 32 books to their reading list all at once? it's more
useful to know which are the best 3.

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hugh
I think Atlas Shrugged might qualify -- it takes place in an alternative
universe and deals with the implications of a couple of fictional technologies
(Rearden metal and John Galt's engine). Animal Farm is really pushing the
definition, though.

Since I'm sure everybody's idea of the best three will differ, a list of 32
with summaries so you can pick out the three (out of those which you haven't
read) which are likely to appeal to you is probably more useful.

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byrneseyeview
In other words: 32 science fiction books by someone who has read most of the
bestsellers in the last few years, and a few classics. Or is there some other
reason that Accelerando and Spook Country are on the same list as PKD?

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omouse
Yeah, I haven't read _Spook Country_ but I did read _Pattern Recognition_...I
don't like the direction Gibson's going in. Idoru and the Bridge series or
whatever it was called was cool.

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socalsamba
So why did Timeline make the list?

I was thinking about leaving it off because it is really, really bad for
anyone who actually reads Sci-Fi. I put it on the list because despite the
fact that it's almost completely unreadable because the Wal*Mart set needs
their Sci-Fi too. I wanted the list to cover as broad a spectrum of sci-fi as
I could without making it 100 items long.

I left off a lot of greats including:

Vernor Vinge Dan Simmons Arthur C Clarke Iain M. Banks

and other works by Stross and a few others

Why is Rand on this list? Well, besides the Bible (go figure) Atlas Shrugged
is apparently the most influential book ever written. Do I agree with the
whole Objectivist shtick? Not hardly but it is still worth mentioning.

The Giver? Like Anthem it's Sci-Fi for grade schoolers, worth mentioning
because a lot of people were introduced to Sci-Fi with books like this.

Leave suggestions, as many as you want. If you don't see it on the list it
probably would have been there if I had remembered it while I was compiling.

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orib
Suggestions, eh?

I personally love Stanislaw Lem's books. Two of my favorites: \- The Cyberiad:
a set of short stories that read almost like silly little fairy tales,
complete with probabalistic dragons, poetry machines, and kings, and
electroknights. \- His Master's Voice: A rather cynical look at deciphering a
message from the stars.

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jcl
I'll second Cyberiad.

Also, I've heard some people describe Lem's "Solaris" as one of the few
science fiction novels that also qualify as great literature, although I must
admit I didn't enjoy it as much as Cyberiad.

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jm4
There are a couple odd choices on that list. I thought Timeline was pretty
entertaining, but it's a typical Michael Crichton made-for-tv story and
probably not worthy of such a list. I guess it sort of makes quantum physics
palatable to the average joe but you could hardly say it's pushed the
boundaries of the genre.

It's also worth mentioning that Minority Report isn't even a novel. It's a
short story than spans maybe thirty pages. Still, virtually anything by Philip
K. Dick could make it onto a list of the best sci-fi.

Anyway, there's still quite a bit of good stuff there- even the ones that
aren't exactly sci-fi.

There was also a list of the top 100 sci-fi books that was going around on
Reddit or Digg a while back that looked really good. Here's the link for
anyone interested:
[http://home.austarnet.com.au/petersykes/topscifi/lists_books...](http://home.austarnet.com.au/petersykes/topscifi/lists_books_rank1.html)

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kungfooey
Snow Crash is awesome. I finished it and "The Diamond Age" last week and I can
vouch for them as a worthy read.

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hugh
I really don't like Snow Crash much.

Firstly, it's dated quite badly, since it was written in the recent past about
roughly-now. He gets the technology pretty much right, but the speculation
about how that technology will change society pretty much all wrong.

Secondly, Mr Protagonist, as a protagonist, annoys me in that he seems more
like the kind of character that a fourteen-year-old boy would think was
awesome (greatest swordfighter in the world, for no good reason!) than
somebody I want to read a book about.

Cryptonomicon, on the other hand, is a must-read. I don't really even like
science fiction that much, but Cryptonomicon is a must-read.

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coffeeaddicted
About that "greatest swordfighter in the world" part - there is a real good
explanation for that one. He was the guy who wrote the software for the
swordfighting simulation.

To my knowledge I might still be the best racer in the world in some racing
game I wrote last year, so I can absolutely relate to that ;-)

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hugh
As I recall, in the end he also turns out to be a great swordfighter in real
life though.

Something about single-handedly assaulting an aircraft carrier using only his
katana? That was pretty much where the book lost me.

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coffeeaddicted
He also had the help of a railgun called Reason.

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sdp
"They won't listen to us, but they'll listen to R.E.A.S.O.N.!"

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nazgulnarsil
Here is a real list, shorter and MUCH higher quality: 1\. The Cyberiad 2\.
Babel-17 3\. The Stars My Destination 4\. The Sheep Look Up 5\. More Than
Human 6\. Lord of Light 7\. To Your Scattered Bodies Go 8\. Earth Abides 9\.
Dying Inside 10\. City 11\. Last and First Men 12\. Slan 13\. The World of
Null-A

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alex_c
The only one I've read from your list is The Cyberiad - but that's enough to
make me take the rest of your list seriously :)

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signa11
no greg-egan or ian-m-banks or arthur-c-clarke...what gives ?

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gaius
After _The Algebraist_ and _Matter_ I never want to read another word of
Iaiaain M Banks. _Consider Phlebas_ was genius, but he's lost it.

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signa11
try "use of weapons" and "excession". imho they are much much nicer than
"consider phlebas".

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gaius
I've read everything he's written to date. Which is why the last two were such
crushing disappointments.

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akkartik
Awesome, that had 3 books I hadn't read.

My list of remarkable sci-fi: <http://www.reddit.com/info/72lt/comments#c735f>

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Retric
Interesting list.

 _Timeline_ by Michael Crichton is only worth reading because of how it
portrays history. As sci-fi or entertainment it’s horrible and it basicly
assumes everyone is an stupid but it does show history far more accurately
than most books.

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marcus
The entire Timeline plot is a bit pathetic, your company builds a time machine
and what does it do with it? Go back to the 1960s and buy Berkshire Hathaway
stock? Of course not where is the money in that...

They go and study the 14th century using the time machine so they can build an
accurate historical theme park.

Fail

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william42
There's a 2004 movie called Primer where the main characters made a time
machine and the first thing they think of is making money off the stock
market(though at lower levels, since their machine can only go back to the
point it's turned on)

After that, though, it gets weird.

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goodgoblin
Neuromancer is even better than I remember. I saw it at a book sale for $1 and
picked it up and started re-reading it. Its awesome. Very believable - gritty
and messy like real life. Great characters and just flat out virtuoso writing
by Gibson.

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mhb
The Andromeda Strain is really, really dated. Shouldn't be on the list.

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cdr
It seems to be a list of "classics" more than necessarily a list of _good_
books or good scifi books.

I'd put Andromeda Strain on there before Timeline or Down and Out.

It's funny that Down and Out is one of the few modern books on there - it's
more notable for the buzz around its distribution than being any good.

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chuchurocka
Really, really glad to see that Down and out in the Magic Kingdom made the
list!

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sah
If you liked _Down and Out_ , you should try John Varley's short stories,
especially _The Phantom of Kansas_.

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chuchurocka
thanks!

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vaksel
most of those got turned into movies. Speaking of which, I'd love to see
Ender's game movie but it'll probably suck since it'll be a bunch of new young
actors

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LogicHoleFlaw
An Ender's Game movie is in pre-production now actually. Apparently it finally
happened because Orson Scott Card got a deal which included the level of
creative control he required.

A lot of films never make it past pre-production so whether this film is
actually finished is yet to be seen.

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jcl
Good to hear he's still working on it, although as I recall they've been
trying to get the movie made for decades now. (Meanwhile, Dune is being
adapted for the third time...)

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michael_dorfman
Where's "Dhalgren"?

