Best All-Time Sci-fi Novel?

[afv011]

Originally Posted by Timoleon

A few more:

Kim Stanley Robinson's Red/Green/Blue Mars Series --- truly epic, and very well written.

I don't know, I have read the first 2, and couldn't find the courage to start the 3rd. I find them too tedious, I couldn't take more of Coyote and his ramblings while driving the rover - those passages take forever.

[aecardenas]

Dune by Frank Herbert
The Stars My Destination (aka Tyger! Tyger!) by Alfred Bester
The Einstein Intersection and Dahlgren by Samuel R. Delany
Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny
Hyperion and The Fall of Hyperion by Dan Simmons
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Leguin
The Man in the High Castle and UBIK by Philip K. Dick

[bill_mchale]

I know several people have posted Bester's The Stars My Destination, but I thought I would mention that Bester's other masterpiece, The Demolished Man, might in some respects be even more important. Certainly it influenced Babylon 5.

I love how it showed how a society might deal with the reality of mind reading law enforcement.

--
Bill

[aecardenas]

Originally Posted by bill_mchale

I know several people have posted Bester's The Stars My Destination, but I thought I would mention that Bester's other masterpiece, The Demolished Man, might in some respects be even more important. Certainly it influenced Babylon 5.

--
Bill

I love the Demolished Man, too. And I probably should have put it on my list, too. But I have to say, in terms of the sheer power of its Story, Themes, and Characters, i have to go with The Stars My Destination as being Bester's greatest work...which even after all these years doesn't seem dated at all to me. And Gully Foyle...is just simply one of the greatest characters in modern fiction. "I kill you filthy!" Love it.

And The Demolished Man was definitely an influence on Babylon-5. But I think it's biggest influence was probably E. E. Smith's Lensman Series mixed in with The Lord of the Rings, because of the whole "First Ones" playing games against each other using the younger races as pawns in their grand scheme.

[Bookpossum]

"The Left Hand of Darkness"
"The Dispossessed"
both by Ursula Le Guin

They have each been mentioned before but I just wanted to add another vote for each.

[bill_mchale]

Originally Posted by aecardenas

And The Demolished Man was definitely an influence on Babylon-5. But I think it's biggest influence was probably E. E. Smith's Lensman Series mixed in with The Lord of the Rings, because of the whole "First Ones" playing games against each other using the younger races as pawns in their grand scheme.

Oh, I never denied that there are other influences. Babylon-5 clearly was written by a man who knew Science Fiction fairly well.

--
Bill

[efindel]

I'll throw in some love for Stephen Gould's Jumper, the best novel is the subgenre of "what if someone actually had a superpower?" subgenre I've ever read. (For those who have seen the movie, but not read the book, the only real relationship between them is the premise of "what if someone could teleport?" and a few character names.)

It looks like everything else I'd like to mention has already been mentioned several times. :-)

[Joshua.P]

1. THE ROBOT SERIES, ISAAC ASIMOV
2. THE FOUNDATION TRILOGY, ISAAC ASIMOV
3. THE TIME MACHINE, H.G. WELLS
4. THE LOST WORLD, SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE

*Sorry for including series.

[alishajordan]

I'll throw a few out there that haven't been mentioned:

This Alien Shore by C.S. Friedman
Nightfall by Isaac Asimov and Robert Silverberg
Darwin's Radio by Greg Bear
Darwin's Children (sequel) by Greg Bear

(Links got to Wikipedia articles for the books).


My boyfriend wants me to add Neuromancer by William Gibson, Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson, and Earth by David Brin, but I can't vouch for them directly.

[VaporPunk]

Best novel(s)

The Forever War
Canticle For Liebowitz
Fahrenheit 451
Slaughterhouse-Five
+
Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy (OK, so its not that great but it still makes me laugh )

Best Series

Dan Simmon's Hyperion Cantos
Asimov's Foundation
Herbert's Dune (the first cycle)
+
Wolfe's Book of the New Sun (though its probably more fantasy)

[steven522]

Originally Posted by VaporPunk

Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy (OK, so its not that great but it still makes me laugh )

It's "not that great"?

Blasphemy! Shun! Shu-u-u-u-un!

[VaporPunk]

Originally Posted by steven522

It's "not that great"?

Blasphemy! Shun! Shu-u-u-u-un!

(Puts on serious face) I meant as a work of literature, of course.

[tubemonkey]

Dune - Frank Herbert

[BenG]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Dune - Frank Herbert

Ditto

[jtdolphins]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Dune - Frank Herbert

I was really looking forward to getting this book, but the price tag and editing issues for kindle have kept me from reading it. Somehow I missed in my sci-fi reading spree in college.