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Sci-fi Classics Challenge

July 9, 2007 at 9:40 pm · Filed under Book Reviews

A new challenge: to read 25 classic works of science fiction by June 30, 2008.

This challenge arose from my realization that, although I enjoy sci-fi novels, I actually haven’t read all that many of the “classics”. When writers like Asimov, Heinlein, and Le Guin are mentioned, I always think about reading some of their more famous novels, but I never actually do it. But during this challenge, I will read 25 10 of the more famous science fiction novels, with just a few restrictions.

I’ve decided not to count more than two novels from any one author. Novels published in the 21st century will not be included, and very few, if any, from the 1990’s. I’m going to try to read an author’s most famous book(s), or the first book in his or her most famous series. In-progress series will not be included, not even if the first book can stand on its own. I’m trying not to include juvenile or YA fiction unless the book made a significant impact on the genre.

Read so far:

  1. Dune » Frank Herbert (1965) [nebula] [hugo]
  2. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy » Douglas Adams (1979)
  3. The Time Machine » H.G. Wells (1895)
  4. Frankenstein » Mary Shelley
  5. The Left Hand of Darkness » Ursula K. Le Guin (1969) [nebula] [hugo]
  6. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? » Philip K. Dick (1968)
  7. Ender’s Game » Orson Scott Card (1985) [nebula] [hugo]
  8. The Demolished Man » Alfred Bester (1952) [hugo]
  9. Speaker for the Dead » Orson Scott Card (1986) [nebula] [hugo]
  10. Foundation » Isaac Asimov (1951)

Without further ado, the list of possibilities (books I’ve already read are in italics):

  • Frankenstein » Mary Shelley (1818)
  • 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea » Jules Verne (1870)
  • The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde » Robert Louis Stevenson (1886)
  • A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court » Mark Twain (1889)
  • The Time Machine » H.G. Wells (1895)
  • The War of the Worlds » H.G. Wells (1898)
  • The Lost World » Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1912)
  • Brave New World » Aldous Huxley (1932)
  • 1984 » George Orwell (1949)
  • I, Robot » Isaac Asimov (1950)
  • The Martian Chronicles » Ray Bradbury (1950)
  • The Dying Earth » Jack Vance (1950)
  • Foundation » Isaac Asimov (1951)
  • The Day of the Triffids » John Wyndham (1951)
  • The Demolished Man » Alfred Bester (1952) [hugo]
  • Fahrenheit 451 » Ray Bradbury (1953) [hugo]
  • More Than Human » Theodore Sturgeon (1953)
  • A Saucer of Loneliness » Theodore Sturgeon (1953)
  • Childhood’s End » Arthur C. Clarke (1953)
  • The Midwich Cuckoos » John Wyndham (1957)
  • A Case of Conscience » James Blish (1958) [hugo]
  • A Canticle for Leibowitz » Walter M. Miller (1960) [hugo]
  • Stranger in a Strange Land » Robert A. Heinlein (1961) [hugo]
  • The Man in the High Castle » Philip K. Dick (1962) [hugo]
  • Dune » Frank Herbert (1965) [nebula] [hugo]
  • The Moon is a Harsh Mistress » Robert A. Heinlein (1966) [hugo]
  • Flowers for Algernon » Daniel Keyes (1966) [nebula]
  • Babel-17 » Samuel R. Delany (1966) [nebula]
  • Lord of Light » Roger Zelazny (1967) [hugo]
  • Dangerous Visions » Harlan Ellison, ed. (1967) [nebula] [hugo]
  • Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? » Philip K. Dick (1968)
  • Rite of Passage » Alexei Panshin (1968) [nebula]
  • The Left Hand of Darkness » Ursula K. Le Guin (1969) [nebula] [hugo]
  • Ringworld » Larry Niven (1970) [nebula] [hugo]
  • Rendezvous with Rama » Arthur C. Clarke (1972) [nebula] [hugo]
  • The Forever War » Joe Haldeman (1974) [nebula] [hugo]
  • Dhalgren » Samuel R. Delany (1975)
  • Gateway » Frederik Pohl (1977) [nebula] [hugo]
  • Dreamsnake » Vonda McIntyre (1978) [nebula] [hugo]
  • The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy » Douglas Adams (1979)
  • The Snow Queen » Joan D. Vinge (1980) [hugo]
  • The Shadow of the Torturer » Gene Wolfe (1980) [world fantasy award]
  • Downbelow Station » C.J. Cherryh (1981) [hugo]
  • Neuromancer » William Gibson (1984) [nebula] [hugo]
  • Ender’s Game » Orson Scott Card (1985) [nebula] [hugo]
  • Speaker for the Dead » Orson Scott Card (1986) [nebula] [hugo]
  • Cyteen » C.J. Cherryh (1988) [hugo]
  • Hyperion » Dan Simmons (1989) [hugo]

This list came mostly from the Classics of Science Fiction list; I just went through and picked out all the books whose title or author I recognized. Please feel free to make suggestions for changes or additions!

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6 Comments »

Mike wrote, on September 12th, 2007 at 9:49 pm:

Wow. You’ve hit quite a few. Since you have only a year, you don’t have to add these, but you should check them out at your earliest convenience:

My Favorite Author, Gene Wolfe:
The Fifth Head of Cerberus

The next 4 comprise a single novel in 4 parts (kinda like the Lord of the Rings) collectively known as the Book of the New Sun:
The Shadow of the Torturer
The Claw of the Conciliator
The Sword of the Lictor
The Citadel of the Autarch

My other favorite author, Neal Stephenson:
Snow Crash
The Diamond Age
Cyrptonomicon

And, if you are going to read Jim Blish’s A Case of Conscience, you must read (even though not strictly SF) Black Easter and The Day after Judgement.

Good Stuff!

Mike wrote, on September 12th, 2007 at 10:06 pm:

The more I think on “classics” the more that come to mind. Of the ones I mentioned first, the Book of the New Sun and Snow Crash are classics.

More classics, in no particular order:

Neuromancer - William Gibson
The Mote in God’s Eye - Jerry Pournelle and Larry Niven
The City and the Stars — and the earlier (and I think better) version,
Against the Fall of Night - Aurthur C. Clarke
Starship Troopers - Robert A. Heinlein
the Ophiuchi Hotline - John Varley

Hey, you already had the Shadow of the Torturer… sorry. You still need the other three though, or it won’t make sense. The Fifth Head of Cerberus may be a better place to start, since it’s all in one book.

I could go on, but I’m disgusting myself. Can you tell I’m a fanboy? A really old one?

Poodlerat wrote, on September 12th, 2007 at 10:16 pm:

No, no, this is exactly the kind of thing I want—advice from people who know the genre really well, and can tell me which are the best and most enduring novels.

I’ll actually be reading Neuromancer for a science fiction course this term, along with The Left Hand of Darkness and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, all classics.

There are actually several books on the list which are firsts in a series; I’ve only put the first book on the list, since I don’t intend to count more than one or two books from a single author toward the challenge, and because if I don’t like the first book, I probably won’t go on to read the rest. Which is why The Shadow of the Torturer is there without its sequels.

Poodlerat wrote, on September 12th, 2007 at 10:16 pm:

(Oh, and in case I didn’t make it clear—thank you for the recommendations!)

Mike wrote, on September 12th, 2007 at 11:39 pm:

You know what? My advice is USELESS. Your taste will vary. All I can tell you is that I liked a lot of the stuff on your source list, and the rest was OK.

(OK, I can’t resist. Judging from your comments on Dune, you MIGHT like Delaney, Varley, Tiptree. Ooh, you don’t have Varley on your list. You should correct that. Ophiuchi Hotline, maybe, or Titan/Wizard/Demon. No Tiptree either. Mostly short stories. Nom de plume of Alice B. Sheldon. Google her.)

I would say its a mistake just to stick to the ones you’ve heard of, though. Some of the ones you didn’t post are pretty fine stuff indeed. Bester. Swanwick. Aldiss. Disch. Brunner. Moorcock (although he is better in Fantasy). Here I go again.

Poodlerat wrote, on September 13th, 2007 at 10:06 pm:

Sticking to the people I’ve heard of was just a way to narrow the list down; since the challenge is only to read 25, a list of possibilities running into the hundreds would be more intimidating than helpful to me. I don’t say I’ll never get ’round to reading any of the other authors, but I wanted to start with books and authors I hear mentioned in discussions of sci-fi but have never read.

That’s why I’m not too worried about whether I will or won’t like the books you recommend. If I try, say, a Tiptree novel and I hate it, well…then I’ll know I don’t like Tiptree.

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