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Old 11-01-2011, 01:27 PM   #1
1611mac
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What is the best free (public domain) sci-fi book you have read?
What is the best free (public domain) sci-fi book you have ever read?
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Old 11-01-2011, 01:44 PM   #2
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Accelerando by Charlie Stross. It was free but not, if I recall correctly, public domain.
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Old 11-01-2011, 02:53 PM   #3
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Accelerando by Charlie Stross. It was free but not, if I recall correctly, public domain.
Correct, Accelerando, at least my copy, is copyrighted under Creative Commons 2.5 Attribution, Non-commercial, No Derivatives making it free to distribute at no charge and with no alterations but not public domain.

My vote for best PD Science Fiction (strict definition which disallows Fantasy) would be Mary Shelley's Frankenstein or, The Modern Prometheus.
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Old 11-01-2011, 02:56 PM   #4
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Yeah.. should have included CC books too.... Thanks!
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Old 11-01-2011, 03:44 PM   #5
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Sci Fi? H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds or E.R. Burroughs' "John Carter of Mars" books, probably. I am not a huge Sci Fi person, though. I love The Light Princess and The Day Boy and the Night Girl, both by George MacDonald but they are Fantasy.
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Old 11-01-2011, 04:19 PM   #6
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Originally Posted by covingtoncat73 View Post
Sci Fi? H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds or E.R. Burroughs' "John Carter of Mars" books, probably. I am not a huge Sci Fi person, though. I love The Light Princess and The Day Boy and the Night Girl, both by George MacDonald but they are Fantasy.
WotW was going to be my choice as well. I also listened to it on cassette tape (yes, really) on a car trip way back in the day. However, Lovecraft remains my all-time favorite author in PD.
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Old 11-01-2011, 11:54 PM   #7
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Two of the best free (public domain) books I have read are:

Philip Wylie - Gladiator
Harry Harrison - DeathWorld

Gladiator is a long time favourite of mine, so I was glad to find it in ebook format. It is the story of a boy who grows to manhood with superhuman strength and invincibility.

This book predates Superman and may have been an influence on Superman's creators. The story has great characters and is very evocative of an era.
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Old 11-02-2011, 12:35 AM   #8
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Four Day Planet by H. Beam Piper. He's a favorite author of mine, so hard to pick which is my favorite.

http://www.manybooks.net/titles/piperh1947819478-8.html

I think only PD in the US though...
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Old 11-02-2011, 12:55 AM   #9
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Great topic! The only PD sci-fi I've read was H.G. Well's The Time Machine. I liked it well enough. I've twice started and stopped The Invisible Man. I might have to skip it and move on.
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Old 11-02-2011, 05:24 AM   #10
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Four Day Planet by H. Beam Piper. He's a favorite author of mine, so hard to pick which is my favorite.

http://www.manybooks.net/titles/piperh1947819478-8.html

I think only PD in the US though...
Also Uller Uprising. One of my favorites by him.
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Old 11-02-2011, 06:53 AM   #11
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Sci Fi? H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds or E.R. Burroughs' "John Carter of Mars" books, probably. I am not a huge Sci Fi person, though. I love The Light Princess and The Day Boy and the Night Girl, both by George MacDonald but they are Fantasy.
I loved the Mars books! Burroughs was a hellofa adventure writer.
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Old 11-02-2011, 09:52 AM   #12
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Originally Posted by ebusinesstutor View Post
Two of the best free (public domain) books I have read are:

Philip Wylie - Gladiator
Harry Harrison - DeathWorld

Gladiator is a long time favourite of mine, so I was glad to find it in ebook format. It is the story of a boy who grows to manhood with superhuman strength and invincibility.

This book predates Superman and may have been an influence on Superman's creators. The story has great characters and is very evocative of an era.
While I enjoyed DeathWorld I wouldn't rate it as one of the very best. On the other hand, I recently read Gladiator and found it surprisingly good. It is too often overlooked.
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Old 11-02-2011, 12:44 PM   #13
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War of the Worlds ....

Books by Lovecraft - though one could argue they aren't science fiction as such ...

The Oolite saga (Drew Wagar) - last book expected in time for xmas ...
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Old 11-02-2011, 02:43 PM   #14
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It's fantasy, not sci-fi, but Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson is an excellent read. There is an HTML version available for free on his website.
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Old 11-02-2011, 02:48 PM   #15
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Cory Doctorow also makes his books available for free download.
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