Missing out Heinlein?! “The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress” and “Stranger in a Strange Land” I’d have in there anyway.

The Robots books by Asimov (especially “Caves of Steel” & “Naked Sun”)

More from Clarke, particularly some of the great short stories. I’m also a big fan of “Fall of Moondust” for some reason, even though it’s not his classic type. I loved Rama (well, up til he did a Dune series on it)

I’d have “Ringworld” as the first Niven choice. “The Mote in God’s Eye” is pretty good too.

Talking about great short stories collection, “Anthonology” from Piers Anthony, and AE van Goet has some brilliant stuff (“The Weapon Shop” etc)

+1 on the txtspk comment.

Cheers,
Alastair.

There’s a great book I was introduced to a little while ago called Timescape by Gregory Benford. It’s in a more hard SF vein but I’d definitely recommend it and think it deserves a place on your list!

When it comes to LeGuin I’m partial to The Dispossessed and where’s Joe Haldeman? Forever War’s a little hamfisted in parts but has some great passages.

Cats Cradle was really great, but I always thought Neuromancer and Foundation (which I nearly didn’t finish) were completely underwhelming.

Re: Neuromancer, my bad, a typo – if an unfortunate one.

Re: The moon is a harsh mistress, I’ve always avoided the book as the politics piss me off.

Re: Le Guinn, yeah there are a few titles on there that are broadly speaking ‘realist fantasy’, but in the grand scheme of things I find these books to have a much closer relationship to the spirit of SF than say the current crop of ‘new weird’ titles. Plus I just enjoy those books!

Re: Rama, totally agree. It’s as barren a book as 2001 is a film, but it’s a classic of the genre, and holds a place in my heart.

Re: Mars Trilogy, I see where you’re coming from (and this is true doubly for the CJ Cherryh), however I quite enjoy the political / sociological nature of these books. They are predictive (in a utopian kind of vein), in the way that SF which ignores how people think, and societies change can never be.

For the rest, mostly I just haven’t read the books you suggest! I’ve only managed to get through two Samuel Delaney titles, Nova and Babel 17, and Babel was infinitely superior.

Took a look at your site.. Can I make two minor suggestions, which you are completely free to ignore?

1) Fix the side bar, an unconfigured CMS looks bad, it could be a spam blog or similar.

2) Don’t use text speak. It’s completely non-standard online, and most readers over 15 (and many under) won’t make the effort required to read it. If you’re using it deliberately, based on some complex psychlinguistic justification – make this clear in a piece of English language text thats front and centre on your site.

3) Show full posts, or at least large chunks. It’s very difficult to judge what your brief excerpts are about.

I’d have picked Delany’s EMPIRE STAR rather than BABEL-17 (more high-tech, easier to read, shorter, faster-paced, funnier, an epic story in 110 pages), and Bradbury’s brilliant(!) MARTIAN CHRONICLES rather than FAHRENHEIT, but still….

Always have thought Clarke’s RENDEZVOUS WITH RAMA was awfully dry, and; the characters in it are ‘blah’. LeGuin’s LEFT HAND OF DARKNESS would be more science-fictiony, but WIZARD OF EARTHSEA is easier to read. I’m sure you already know Gibson’s book is actually called NEUROMANCER — the guy who invented (or at least predicted) the Internet!

Kim Stanley Robinson’s MARS TRILOGY is so down to Earth and; realistic, the lack of Drama has stopped me, but his short-story collection in the same setting, THE MARTIANS, has some great stuff in it. Dick’s THREE STIGMATA would be challenging for a newcomer to the field; I find Dick very hard to read but worth it. How bout Ballard’s VERMILLION SANDS rather than those other two challenging titles? It’s very mellow and; dreamy, even funny!

Ellison’s DANGEROUS VISIONS has some great stuff in it — and; his own writing is a scream! DEATHBIRD STORIES is Specially good. If you’d consider adding Heinlein, I’d push for THE MOON IS A HARSH MISTRESS — great stuff! Some of his other novels are really overrated, and; of course the original DUNE is brilliant, one of SF’s all-time best.
How bout one of my favourites, George R.R. Martin? His DYING OF THE LIGHT is a great space-opera, beautiful writing, gorgeous moody settings, great characters, moving ending. Easy to read, too!

No Bob Silverberg? I’m shocked. DYING INSIDE would be a good choice — uses one of the classic SF themes: telepathy, and a moving character portrait it is, too.

No John Brunner? STAND ON ZANZIBAR would be a real challenge for a beginner, but overpopulation is one of the classic SF themes. Brunner’s THE SHEEP LOOK UP would be good for a beginner — ecology / pollution / disaster, told in a very high-tech, fast-paced way. Fred Pohl’s GATEWAY would be a very good “fairly” recent choice (only thirty two years old….)
Don’t mean to nitpick. I don’t see any bad books in your list, among the one’s I’ve read. But like you say, it’s a huge field….

Well, enough. Thanks for letting me spout off a little. I’ve wanted to review more SF at my own website/blog, so I couldn’t resist checking out your list. Please feel welcome to visit.

Best,
– TAD,
Port Orchard, Washington, USA

Quite a few of the books listed are actually YA, specifically..

The Ceres Solution, The Stainless Steal Rat, Earth Sea / Dark is Rising books, Virtual Mode, and arguably Cat’s Cradle.

Which reminds me, Le Guin’s book on writing is supposed to be quite useful – ‘Steering the Craft’ – might be worth checking out at next book-buying binge?

Actually, aren’t the Susan Cooper books fantasy also? Where oh where is the good kids/YA scifi? (Starfleet Academy series of books does not count.)