Tikistitch, PZ Myers and John Wilkins are going through a list of "Most Significant SF & Fantasy Books of the Last 50 Years".
Considering I am a big SF reader, I was surprised as to how few of those I have read (only around 15!). Most of the titles on the list are just around 40-50 years old. I guess my preferences tend to be for either much older stuff or the most recent stuff (and no Fantasy, please).
I also tend to latch onto an author and read a lot by the same person. So, growing up I had my Heinlein phase, Bradbury phase, LeGuin phase, etc. More recently, I had a Greg Bear phase, a John Kessel phase, a Vernon Vinge phase, a Connie Willis phase, etc.
Anyway, instead of going through the excercise of bolding or not the titles on the list, I'll point you to my own old list here for a taste of the stuff I like.
Update: Orac, Joseph, Moomin' Light, Afarensis and Rob join in the fun. So do John Lynch, Jim Lippard and Mark CC. And Sandra and Chad chime in. Karmen and Steinn as well.
Comments
Have you read anything by C. J. Cherryh yet? I am a big fan of her Invader series (which begins with a novel by that title). It's all about culture clashes (humans are a rather unwelcome minority on the alien world where some of them crash-landed, but they are tolerated because they gradually trade some of their advanced technology to the indigenous atevi culture). The central character is a long-suffering envoy who lives alone in the atevi culture as the humans' sole representative. Lots of political intrigue and feuds in a feudal culture being wracked by the growing effects of human technology. Wonderfully fascinating characters with oddly conflicted loyalties.
Posted by: Zeno | March 10, 2007 11:31 PM
I put her on my Amazon wishlist (which has grown huge, but has other SF I hope to get one day).
Posted by: coturnix | March 10, 2007 11:44 PM
I looked at your list, and was glad to see that you included Stanislaw Lem, and that you did not think Solaris was his greatest work.
Posted by: Joseph j7uy5 | March 11, 2007 12:10 AM
I had a Lem phase when I was much younger and I felt Solaris was one of the weekest. The Invincible is amazingly good - I have read it a few times (which I rarely do with SF fare).
Posted by: coturnix | March 11, 2007 12:14 AM
The only Sci-Fi/Fantasy Book that I was really able to say I completely enjoyed was Only Forward by M.Smith. I'll check out some of those books though.
Posted by: joltvolta | March 11, 2007 1:13 AM
Definitely check out the Budrys, the Brunner, and a few others. The list's time scale is ridiculous, with many of the books being older than 50 years. And if you can, read Sturgeon's shorts, and Kuttner, rather than the Sturgeon novel.
Posted by: Prup aka Jim Benton | March 11, 2007 12:43 PM
The problem with being involved in some branches of science is that you tend to find all the mistakes in SF work that borders on your field. Sadly, Greg Bear, hits me like fingernails on chalkboard.
Posted by: Sandra Porter | March 11, 2007 9:11 PM
I was also glad that you included Stanislaw Lem, but I actually liked "Solaris" very much and I thought it was better than "The Invincible." I don't even remember the story of "The Invincible" and I don't have the copy of it with me now, but "Solaris" is in my bookshelf and I still reread it occasionally.
I was also happy to see "Momo" by Michael Ende in your list. I loved both "Momo" and "The Never Ending Story" and reread them so many times.
Inclusion of "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood is also a good call.
It is nice to see non-English writers as well as someone like Atwood, who is usually not considered a SF writer, included in your list.
Posted by: HI | March 11, 2007 10:14 PM
No Iain M. Banks in your list? They're all good, but 'Excession' is the best.
Posted by: iain | March 12, 2007 8:18 AM
From your original post's question on Huxley's Ape and Essence. The best way to describe it is by saying if Brave New World was Huxley's optimistic book before WWII, Ape and Essense was his worldview after the war. It's good, but not something I'd call happy reading.
Posted by: bsci | March 13, 2007 1:09 AM