What was your favourite science-fiction book that you've read?
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Rickover (
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August 16th, 2010
What was your favourite science-fiction book that you’ve read?Mine was Frank Herbert’s “Dune” (6 volumes).
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That’s a had one for me. I have read and loved so many. I guess that I would have to say the first one that I ever read, which was Andre Norton’s Catseye
“The Chronicles Of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever” without doubt! This was a set of three trilogies, for a total of nine books, and I loved them all! : ))
There are so many. I guess I’d say the Foundation series by Asimov was my favorite.
It’s an oldie but forever a goody… THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES by Ray Bradbury. No light sabers or warp drive, just great stories about real people and Earth’s quest to colonize the Red Planet.
I love the dialogue between father and son in the last story. Standing beside a Martian canal, the boy asks, “When will I see a Martian?” and the father replies, “Just look into the water.” (Not a word-for-word quote.)
Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, followed closely by Asimov’s Robot series (starting with Caves of Steel)
Day of the Triffids by John Windham.
How to choose? I could list a million and still leave something out… so let’s just name one that I like to re-read every so often.
Connie Willis’ “Doomsday Book”
It mixed sci-fi and the Black Plague, and that kind of thinking always gets props with me. ^_^
HHGTTG, but thats probably because its the only sci-fi book(s) i’ve read as I mostly read non-fiction.
One that my brother is currently writing. lol
As for already available, perhaps Tomorrow’s Children.
I would have to say the two books, Fire in the Deep and Deepness in the Sky by Vernor Vinge. But I’m like @Seek_Kolinahr in that I’ve read hundreds. And I like space opera.
Red Dwarf (Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers)
If we’re talking sci-fi and not fantasy.
Man – everyone’s listing great stories! One of my (many) favorites – Ender’s War, by Orson Scott Card. I’ve read it many times (why does that not sound grammatically correct?). Or the Chanur series by CJ Cherryh. Or… or…
@llewis I love Ender’s War too, but I’m more fond of the Shadow series that followed it. :-)
@llewis It’s Ender’s Game, not Ender’s War, but it’s a good book.
“The City and the Stars” by Arthur C Clarke is a favourite. It is set one billion years in the future in a city called Diaspar. That was all I needed to know to get interested and I was not disappointed.
@Rarebear thank you for that. I knew it sounded wrong, but I couldn’t think of the right title when I replied.
Dune by Frank Herbert. Hands down best book I have ever read.
@filmfann, re: Day of the Triffids. the two movies were great too—one general release, the other mde-for-TV. Scary premise.
The Tripods set. It was my first introduction to sci-fi literature. I recently re-read them before passing them on to a young lad who loves to read.
Asimov’s Foundation is right up there. And I loved the concepts in Starchild Triology. Riverworld.
@Rarebear – I got it as a two-book volume from a book club, and can never remember which was the real book title and which was the book club volume title. The other part of the volume was Speaker For The Dead, but I liked the first one better.
Roger Zelezny’s Lord of Light. That one gets the Desert Island award.
I could never pick a favorite and so many good ones have already been listed, so I’m going to take the opportunity to recommend The Prestige by Christopher Priest. The movie was a pretty damn good adaptation, but the book is even better (big surprise).
I think my absolute favorite would be A Canticle for Liebowitz by Walter M. Miller, Jr.
However I also have a continuing fondness for two books because of their theme—-
second chances:
Door Into Summer—Robert Heinlein
The Girl, the Gold Watch, and Everything—John D. MacDonald
Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy was great, too, as was Childhood’s End by Arthur C. Clarke.
The Uplift series by David Brin. Fascinating concept.
Though there were many, growing up and being given father’s finished books, I’d say I Grok stuff today because of the timing of haveing read a certain tome.
I liked the Jerry Cornelius books by Michael Moorcock, too. I guess those could be considered science fiction. Oh, and Behold the Man, too.
I’d have to say that for most read, any of the Fuzzy books by H. Beam Piper (Little Fuzzy, Fuzzy Sapiens, etc…)
For recent books that I adore, I’d have to say the Honor Harrington series by David Weber.
(don’t get me into fantasy, there are way too many to name)
The Forever War by Joe Haldeman.
Starship Titanic. I believe the story was written by Terry Jones, but the game is by Douglas Adams.
I’m a big fan of quite a few that have already been mentioned, but I’ll add: C.S. Lewis’s Space Trilogy.
They’re not at the top of my list, but Burroughs’ Martian series and Doc Smith’s Lensmen series are giants of the genre. Theirs were the shoulders that Heinlein, Asimov and Clarke stood upon.
I like Pournelle’s Falkenberg series; not so much science fiction, but well-written narratives of the great military campaigns of history, transposed into the future.
Niven and Pournelle teamed up to write some blockbusters. Lucifer’s Hammer is a great “end of the world” survivalist story. The Mote in God’s Eye and its sequel The Gripping Hand are great “first contact with aliens” stories.
H. Beam Piper’s “Fuzzy” stories are sentimental favorites of mine.
Lucifer’s Hammer, by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
Geez, I forgot all about the Little Fuzzies.
Earth, by David Brin
Dune, by Frank Herbert
Stranger in a Strange Land, by Robert Heinlein
Kiln People, by David Brin
Phule’s Company, by Robert Asprin
Island in the Sea of Time trilogy, by S. M. Sterling
Just to name a few…
Dimension of Miracles by Robert Sheckley. And everything else Sheckley ever wrote. Rest in peace.
Since we’re on the subject I’ll say that the Hugo and Nebula ward compilations are generally pretty great. There was a great short story in one of them called: At The Rialto, which I would recommend to anyone who wanted to read a cool concept and laugh at the same time. It was one of the best stories I’ve ever read in any category.
@Trillian Escape Pod produces audio versions of the Hugo nominees for Best Short Story each year. ♥ them.
@MeinTeil I’m willing to bet money that you’ve never read that book. It’d be like giving a vampire a crucifix made of garlic.
Z for Zachariah by Robert C O’Brien I read it as a child and I will never forget how I couldnt put it down!
“Flood” and “Ark” by Stephen Baxter.
“Pushing Ice” by Alastair Reynolds
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