MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - 20 Sc-Fi Fiction Novels that will change your life

plantedbypiggies · 04-14-2008, 01:22 AM

For my $0.02 --

Dune by Frank Herbert -- For my money, I think this book has had the biggest cultural impact. I'm currently listening to it as an audiobook. This is my third time through this particular volume, and every time I revisit it, I find more to be amazed with. The world building, the philosophy, the political intrigue, every bit of it is fascinating.
Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe -- This one could swing either way as either fantasy or science fiction. It feels like a fantasy world, but there are flying saucers and time travelers. This is probably the best example of a faulty 1st person narrator that I could imagine.
Faded Sun Trilogy by C.J. Cherryh -- She does such a great job building an alien culture. I read this as a young teen and it probably influenced my love of space opera quite a bit.
Space Trilogy by C.S. Lewis -- I read Narnia when I was nine, and then my parents gave me this series as a follow-up because they knew how much I liked that. Totally different target audience, but I persisted, and it was quite rewarding.
Planet of the Apes by Pierre Boulle -- An excellent morality tale about racism and discrimination.
Chasm City by Alastair Reynolds -- I really liked this one. I'm a sucker for the unreliable narrator, and this one (combined with a really freaky ending) left quite the impression on my mind. I also liked the descriptive language he used describing posthumans.

I'm sure there's more.

I don't know if I'd consider Perdido Street Station on that list. It's solidly fantasy (I could do a really long fantasy list).

I do want to point out about Brin's Uplift books, the first trilogy is really rock solid, and should be held in the highest esteem. The second Uplift trilogy, though, shows a marked drop-off in quality. I never could get through it.

04-14-2008, 01:22 AM	#25
plantedbypiggies oink! Posts: 44 Karma: 127 Join Date: Feb 2008 Device: Ebookwise 1150	For my $0.02 -- Dune by Frank Herbert -- For my money, I think this book has had the biggest cultural impact. I'm currently listening to it as an audiobook. This is my third time through this particular volume, and every time I revisit it, I find more to be amazed with. The world building, the philosophy, the political intrigue, every bit of it is fascinating. Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe -- This one could swing either way as either fantasy or science fiction. It feels like a fantasy world, but there are flying saucers and time travelers. This is probably the best example of a faulty 1st person narrator that I could imagine. Faded Sun Trilogy by C.J. Cherryh -- She does such a great job building an alien culture. I read this as a young teen and it probably influenced my love of space opera quite a bit. Space Trilogy by C.S. Lewis -- I read Narnia when I was nine, and then my parents gave me this series as a follow-up because they knew how much I liked that. Totally different target audience, but I persisted, and it was quite rewarding. Planet of the Apes by Pierre Boulle -- An excellent morality tale about racism and discrimination. Chasm City by Alastair Reynolds -- I really liked this one. I'm a sucker for the unreliable narrator, and this one (combined with a really freaky ending) left quite the impression on my mind. I also liked the descriptive language he used describing posthumans. I'm sure there's more. I don't know if I'd consider Perdido Street Station on that list. It's solidly fantasy (I could do a really long fantasy list). I do want to point out about Brin's Uplift books, the first trilogy is really rock solid, and should be held in the highest esteem. The second Uplift trilogy, though, shows a marked drop-off in quality. I never could get through it.