MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Please recommend Meaningful Sci-Fi

curtw · 02-26-2021, 10:22 AM

I enjoy a good space opera as much as the next human, but I'm getting tired of the same, shallow genre stories. I'm looking for something that will seriously challenge my world view, or give me insight into myself. I'm looking to you all for some good recommendations.

The "classics" certainly don't do that. Dune, Foundation, Rama. Sure, they're complex. But certainly not enlightening.

The most recent example that was held out to me as "groundbreaking" was Ann Leckie's Ancillary Justice. What a yawn. Just a gender gimmick, nowhere near as intelligent as Le Guin's The Left Hand of Darkness.

My favorites, and why?

Gateway, by Frederik Pohl. The narrator's mental instability seems explainable enough, until you realize that

Spoiler:

Riddley Walker, by Russell Hoban. Aside from the challenge of getting into the language, it truly picks up where books like A Canticle For Leibiwitz leave off--not just supposing that if humanity finds a way to destroy itself once, it will likely do so again, by exposing

Spoiler:

.

The Fifth Head of Cerberus, by Gene Wolfe. There's a whole other layer to the story, "hidden" in plain sight.

The Man in the High Castle, by Philip K. Dick. Almost 60 years ago, Dick tried to warn us how dangerously close America can be to sliding into fascism. Those who didn't "get it" actually went ahead in 2016 and put a candidate who could demonstrate it into the White House.

(You can safely assume that I've read most of the bibliography of these four authors.)

Some that have touched me because they touch on things that I've daydreamed about myself were Ken Grimwood's Replay and Lewis Shiner's Glimpses.

What have you got?

02-26-2021, 10:22 AM	#1
curtw Outside of a dog Posts: 871 Karma: 4457646 Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Houston, TX Device: Kindle Voyage	Please recommend Meaningful Sci-Fi I enjoy a good space opera as much as the next human, but I'm getting tired of the same, shallow genre stories. I'm looking for something that will seriously challenge my world view, or give me insight into myself. I'm looking to you all for some good recommendations. The "classics" certainly don't do that. Dune, Foundation, Rama. Sure, they're complex. But certainly not enlightening. The most recent example that was held out to me as "groundbreaking" was Ann Leckie's Ancillary Justice. What a yawn. Just a gender gimmick, nowhere near as intelligent as Le Guin's The Left Hand of Darkness. My favorites, and why? Gateway, by Frederik Pohl. The narrator's mental instability seems explainable enough, until you realize that Spoiler: by abandoning her at the event horizon of a black hole, he didn't just leave his lover to die, he is STILL KILLING HER, every single day Riddley Walker, by Russell Hoban. Aside from the challenge of getting into the language, it truly picks up where books like A Canticle For Leibiwitz leave off--not just supposing that if humanity finds a way to destroy itself once, it will likely do so again, by exposing Spoiler: what it is about Man that makes that part of our nature . The Fifth Head of Cerberus, by Gene Wolfe. There's a whole other layer to the story, "hidden" in plain sight. The Man in the High Castle, by Philip K. Dick. Almost 60 years ago, Dick tried to warn us how dangerously close America can be to sliding into fascism. Those who didn't "get it" actually went ahead in 2016 and put a candidate who could demonstrate it into the White House. (You can safely assume that I've read most of the bibliography of these four authors.) Some that have touched me because they touch on things that I've daydreamed about myself were Ken Grimwood's Replay and Lewis Shiner's Glimpses. What have you got?