# Favorite Science Fiction Novels/Short Stories?



## kamalayka (Sep 8, 2012)

As an aspiring science fiction writer, I can't get enough of it.

My all time favorites include:

1.)* The Last Question, *by Isaac Asimov

A short story which chronicles the life and times of an eternal, ever-expanding computer.

2.) *All You Zombies*, by Robert Heinlein

This story chronicles a young man (later revealed to be intersex) taken back in time and tricked into impregnating his younger, female self (before he underwent a sex change); he thus turns out to be the offspring of that union, with the paradoxical result that he is his own mother and father.

3.) *And He Built A Crooked House*, By Robert Heinlein

A mathematician-turned-architect designs a house which collapses into the fourth dimension.

4.) *Flatland*, by Edwin A. Abbot

Beings in a two-dimensional universe have their first encounter with a three-dimensional object, a sphere, and are unable to comprehend its existence.


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## mmsbls (Mar 6, 2011)

I haven't read much science fiction in awhile, but I used to read it quite often. I haven't read the Heinlein, but I have read the other 3 in your list and definitely enjoyed them. I probably would have also listed Asimov's _The Last Question_ as my favorite short story. I love stories that examine the _really_ big picture.


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

In my younger days I read a _lot_ of science fiction, by a lot of authors - including those you mention. Too many of them to have a favorite.

A while back I picked up "The Year's Best Science Fiction", 21st Annual Edition, apparently celebrating the year 2003. It was all dreck. Just another indication that civilization is on its way to the pits.


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## arpeggio (Oct 4, 2012)

Asimov: _Foundation_

John W. Campbell: _Who Goes There?_


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

I used to love Asimov as a child, and then later Arthur C Clarke and some of Robert Heinlein.

My favourite recent one is Margaret Atwood: _Oryx and Crake_. I also like Nancy Kress's _Sleepless _series.


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## samurai (Apr 22, 2011)

Any H.G. Wells and Ray Bradbury short story collections.


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## clavichorder (May 2, 2011)

Man, this topic both excites me and makes me realize that I could not answer properly right now. Vague answer: Asimov, lots of Asimov, lots of recently written science fiction books, I came around with Dune, still have to read the last two of the six Herbert books, 2001 by Clarke, and plenty of others.(the genre is very much alive both as more story telling of a medium, and in its rawest sense, though so much ground has already been broken, science keeps moving). Will get more specific later.

For one Asimov novel, I'll put in my word for "The God's Themselves." Its been a long time since I read it, but I still feel okay recommending it as a really interesting book.


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## drpraetorus (Aug 9, 2012)

Wells: The Time Machine, War of the Worlds, Invisible Man, Island of Dr. Moreau.
Lovecraft: The Colour out if Space, At the Mountains of Madness, The Whisperer in the Darkness, The Case of Charles Dexter Ward. 
Shakespear, The Tempest and it's Sci-Fi variation "Forbiden Planet".


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

Science Fiction is my life. It's what I'm all about, and sometimes get to illustrate it professionally if I'm lucky. I lean toward the harder science stories.

Arthur C. Clarke is my favorite, with an obscure book, The City and the Stars being my favorite among his works. It's the old pulse pounding sense of wonder stuff.

Larry Niven - all the Known Space stories, especially Ringworld.

For a guilty pleasure I also have a great fondness for good old fashioned space opera, and there are few better than the Alan Dean Foster Humanx Commonwealth / Flinx and Pip series starting with The Tar-Aiym Krang. I love that stuff with its 10 thousand year old alien artifacts and quirky loveable characters.

This is just a few. I could go on for ages, but I'll spare you. Yes, indeed. This is what my life is really about.


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## clavichorder (May 2, 2011)

re space opera as a guilty pleasure, I share that: I have some books by Peter F. Hamilton, "The Common Wealth" which is basically a massive joined novel, Pandoras Star with Judas Unchained. I read part of it, and my dad read them and described them to me quite well, so I am pretty fascinating with Hamilton's sprawling imagination without having yet completed a book of his. I have "The Void" books as well and "Fallen Dragon" and "Reality Dysfunction"(part of a newer trilogy I think). Perhaps Commonwealth books will be the next thing I read.


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## kv466 (May 18, 2011)

Hmmm, can't say I've read much but I would have to say, The Library Policeman by S.K.


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## OboeKnight (Jan 25, 2013)

I'm just gonna say this because I feel I must...ANIMORPHS FOR THE WIN. That is all.


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## Guest (Feb 1, 2013)

I go in and out with sci-fi, but there are definite favorites of mine.

I love the original Foundation Trilogy from Asimov, as well as the robot stories (I, Robot; The Caves of Steel; The Naked Sun; The Robots of Dawn).

Frank Herbert's Dune series is incredible, although the later books (especially from God Emperor of Dune on) are tougher nuts to crack. Still, the entire story is a great one. I will cautiously recommend the "prequels" and "conclusions" that his son wrote together with Kevin Anderson. By themselves, they are enjoyable enough, but I still have my doubts that they are really what Frank had in mind.

Heinlein's The Moon is a Harsh Mistress is one of my favorites.

William Gibson's Neuromancer is a great story, and fans of The Matrix should definitely read it.


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## kv466 (May 18, 2011)

Dune...Arrakis...desert planet.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Asimov - Foundation trilogy, The end of eternity, The gods themselves
Heinlein - The moon is a harsh mistress, Glory road, Stranger in a strange land, Time enough for love
Herbert - Dune, Dune Messiah, Children of Dune


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## Guest (Feb 1, 2013)

kv466 said:


> Dune...Arrakis...desert planet.


Ahhh, the movie (David Lynch version) is a guilty pleasure, but it really was crap. Book is so much better. I lump it in with 2001 as movies that make the stories unintelligible.


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

I'll just mention a couple of obscurities - didn't used to be, but are now:

Stories by Ted Sturgeon. Some are better than others, but...

A novel/novella - "The Jape", one of the little-bit-off stories by a guy who is now a cult-figure.

ps. The first couple novels in Herbert's 'Dune" series are worth serious study by anyone who wants to write fiction effectively. The art in moving the reader's focus among several characters by entering their thought processes, _and revealing their emotions_, but never quite going to the first person, is (besides too long a sentence) a major feat of immersion.


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## kv466 (May 18, 2011)

DrMike said:


> Ahhh, the movie (David Lynch version) is a guilty pleasure, but it really was crap. Book is so much better. I lump it in with 2001 as movies that make the stories unintelligible.


I knew the entire film verbatim before I read the book and so reading it only made it come into light and that much better for me. Sure, I agree that the movie does the book no justice but it will always hold a special place in my heart.


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## GGluek (Dec 11, 2011)

Dune and Dune Messiah are terrific. Series then goes downhill.
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress (Heinlein)
Doomsday Book (Connie Willis)
The Stars My Destination (Alfred Bester)
Ringworld (but not its sequels)
Most stories by James Tiptree Jr. (best of them in collection: Her Smoke Rose Up Forever)
Humorous short stories in collection Robots Have No Tails by "Louis Padgett" (Henry Kuttner)
Gateway by Frederick Pohl (sequels less good)
Dying Inside by Robert Silverberg
Almost any short story by Asimov, Clarke, Fritz Leiber, Bradbury, Heinlein . . .


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## GGluek (Dec 11, 2011)

Also:
Scientists disparage him because he was a dreaded "popularizer" -- but Carl Sagan's "Contact" is surprisingly good (as is the movie).


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

I would recommend an "older" (written in the 1980's - lol) classic of the genre:

Brian Aldiss: the Helliconia trilogy;
Helliconia Spring
Helliconia Summer
Helliconia Winter

I found them completely engaging and more than rewarding.


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## cwarchc (Apr 28, 2012)

Philip K Dick
Kurt Vonnegut


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## Salix (Dec 18, 2012)

I really really like Terry Pratchett. The goofy humor in his books and imaginative ways with names are fun. 

When in the proper mood a book-a-night isn't unusual. The authors mentioned above by others are noted and will be saved for later. Thanks for the new SF book list.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

My all time favourite is 'The War of the Worlds' & got a bit obsessed with it! I've visited Horsell Common and walked some of the Thames Path along the route of the Journalist. Chertsey, Shepperton, Walton etc. Didn't find any red weed though.

I don't want to see any film version but I do like Jeff Wayne's musical version. It's the only non-opera/classical music I have on my mp3 player.


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

I was a huge Sci Fi fan in junior high and read every book from the genre in the library. I really liked Ray Bradbury; his vision of the future had people who still remembered the past. (I remember his pithy description of a beautiful woman: "A plentitude above, an amplitude below.")

I wish I had time to read, but that's not the case anymore. But once 20 years ago NPR had someone reading Bob Shaw's _Light of Other Days_, and it's stayed with me ever since.


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

Salix said:


> I really really like Terry Pratchett. The goofy humor in his books and imaginative ways with names are fun.
> 
> When in the proper mood a book-a-night isn't unusual. The authors mentioned above by others are noted and will be saved for later. Thanks for the new SF book list.


The Pratchet stories are favorites of mine too. They aren't SF though. They are philosophy made palatable; social ills made fun of. They are fantasies complete with sharp points - made sharper with humor. I save the paperbacks when I've read them, and come back to them after a few years to be delighted again. If Terry Pratchet hasn't been knighted, the queen has been ill-advised.


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## ptr (Jan 22, 2013)

Used to read ton's of SF in my teens, but there's really only one that has stayed with me, Eric Frank Russell's "And Then There Were None"!

/ptr


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

Hilltroll72 said:


> The Pratchet stories are favorites of mine too. They aren't SF though.


I've never understood how two seemingly opposite genres got lumped together as inseparable in our culture, but it's undeniable. Even I with my love of science and hard science fiction appreciate fantasy almost as much, especially the high fantasy in the Tolkien tradition, or the thud and blunder of sword and sorcery. I guess they fulfill the same literary function - some would say escapism, but it's far more than that.

I do wish bookstores would get this stupid sparkly vampire tripe out of my science fiction section though. That belongs in romance.


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

ptr said:


> Used to read ton's of SF in my teens, but there's really only one that has stayed with me, Eric Frank Russell's "And Then There Were None"!
> 
> /ptr


Here's a bit of trivia.

Back in the old days before Star Wars, "SF," as ptr has used it above, was the proper term for the genre, . "Sci-Fi" denoted dumbed-down Hollywood or mainstream perceptions of the field, and anyone using it was revealed as an outsider. It's a bit like the word "song" to a classical music buff. Since the genre has taken off to become so ubiquitous and has lost much of its esoteric in-crowd appeal, I guess "SF" will fall by the wayside. But it is still used in anthologies such as the various annual "Year's Best SF"" series.


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## clavichorder (May 2, 2011)

Art Rock said:


> The end of eternity, The gods themselves


Yes please! Asimov's most ingenious stand alone books, wonderfully original despite some flaws(bad romance story in "End of Eternity" and the time concept was a bit confusing(there was a sort of counter theory of inertia to the "butterfly effect" in which one minor thing's impact eventually is likely to make no difference rather than cascading out of control so easily as we typically imagine(Bradbury's "Sound of Thunder" where stepping in the wrong place alters the future very significantly, whereas there is much more subtlety to Asimov's conceptions of altering the past), and the story uses some lingo that makes it not quite as easy of a read as you would hope. But it remarkably can be tied into the entire Foundation and Robot universe, and very optionally. Basically an organization of men who are trying to further humanity in a very different way than what would have happened if space travel had happened before this particular brand of time travel was discovered. Constantly re adjusting centuries that happen after the invention of "Eternity" sometime in the late 20th century or early 21st.

The "God's Themselves" is less flawed perhaps, but still just as fascinating, though perhaps not quite as thrilling a concept(still up there). Getting unlimited energy from a parallel universe, the imaginative writing about the aliens in that universe(unlike any I have ever encountered in another science fiction story), and the fascinating idea of physics in parallel universes(the older the universe, the more flexible atomic boundaries are and the easier nuclear fusion happens; reverse with younger universes). And of course, the threat this poses to the Earth's sun, and the clever but very human way in which this has to be solved(would be a spoiler of me to say more).

Both these are well worth the read, and not too long.


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

It would be really amiss to omit C. S. Lewis from this thread! Yes, the selfsame author of the Narnia Chronicles wrote some more than decent "SF."

The Space Trilogy:
Out of the Silent Planet
Perelandra
That Hideous Strength


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Weston said:


> Arthur C. Clarke is my favorite, with an obscure book, The City and the Stars being my favorite among his works. It's the old pulse pounding sense of wonder stuff.


I think (with my failing memory) that there is an earlier version of this fine tale, "Against the Fall of Night."

Re Herbert, I have read -- somewhere -- that "Dune" benefitted from ruthless editing by John Cambell. After the first novel in the series, Campbell's help was no longer available and the sequels suffered in quality, at least by comparison.

More recently, the novels of C. J. Cherryh are quite fine, if sometimes overly-complex and political. Cyteen is a good start, but be ready to spend some serious time and attention!


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

KenOC said:


> I think (with my failing memory) that there is an earlier version of this fine tale, "Against the Fall of Night."


Your memory serves you well. I enjoy The City ans the Stars more. I think it delivers more in the way of setting and mood and goosebump moments.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

The gom jabbar is at your neck -- can you remain human while your hand is burned off? What are the Bene Gesserit playing at? And what in the universe is the Kwisatz Hederach?

A huzzah for Dune, some of the best world-building ever undertaken.


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## david johnson (Jun 25, 2007)

favorite stories?
farewell to the master by harry bates (basis for 'day the earth stood still') 
the black destroyer by a. e. van vogt
genious loci by clark ashton smith (more weird than sf)
a work of art by james blish (richard strauss is resurrected to again compose)
the star conquerors by ben bova (his first novel)


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## AClockworkOrange (May 24, 2012)

Some of my favourites at present (though there still authors and "classic" novels I am still working towards reading, I am very behind on my reading at present):

A Clockwork Orange by A. Burgess - Ever since I studied the book at A-Level, it has remained one of my favourite novels ever written. The use of language, the perspective you are placed in and the layers of depth are simply incredible. It still surprises me how much sympathy I end up feeling for Alex. Also made for a good film (despite missing the last chapter...)

The Day of the Triffids by J. Wyndham - Another A-Level novel. I love this story, the setting, the characters, the themes. It never fails to absorb me whenever I re-read it.

Starship Troopers by Heinlein - Fantastic novel, interesting politics to say the least and an incredible setting. Again, led to an interesting film but as is always the case, the novel is superior. I'm going to have to re-read this soon.

I could go on but finally, a release which has me hooked is Blackbirds by Chuck Wendig, book 1 of the Miriam Black series. Very strong characters, strong setting and interesting premise. Excellent dialogue and a flowing writing style make it a joy to read. If you aren't bothered by profanity, I would recommend this book highly. Book 2 Mockingbird is out now and so far is maintaining Blackbirds' standards.


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## drpraetorus (Aug 9, 2012)

Oddly enough, i forgot to mention Frankenstein.


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

A couple of other favorites:

Alfred Bester - The Stars My Destination
David Brin - Startide Rising 
(_Someone I need more coffee to remember_) - Flowers for Algernon
Clifford Simak - Way Station

Where I come from a couple means more than one.


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## ptr (Jan 22, 2013)

Weston said:


> Clifford Simak - Way Station


I remember reading Simak's "City" as a teenager, haven't thought about it in ages, but when You mention his name I remember that it made a huge impression on me, I'll have to dig it out and read it again right away!

/ptr


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Weston said:


> Alfred Bester - The Stars My Destination.


I'd add to that Bester's Demolished Man, for sure.


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## clavichorder (May 2, 2011)

PetrB said:


> It would be really amiss to omit C. S. Lewis from this thread! Yes, the selfsame author of the Narnia Chronicles wrote some more than decent "SF."
> 
> The Space Trilogy:
> Out of the Silent Planet
> ...


I have only read the first one, but found it very interesting in both its visual and imaginative appeal, as well as its very clever and original take on Christian principals.


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## Guest (Feb 5, 2013)

KenOC said:


> The gom jabbar is at your neck -- can you remain human while your hand is burned off? What are the Bene Gesserit playing at? And what in the universe is the Kwisatz Hederach?
> 
> A huzzah for Dune, some of the best world-building ever undertaken.


I agree that the quality fell off a bit after the first novel, and especially after the 3rd. But it really is a must to read the whole thing through and finally see what the entire "Golden Path" is and really grasp the whole concept that Herbert was laying out. Plus there are some really quirky things that just make you scratch your head - at the risk of spoiling things, I'll just say how many times can you kill Duncan Idaho, and what the crap is the whole thing with the Jews?


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

I think I stopped reading the Dune books after maybe Children of Dune? The one having people moving around the planet by jumping really high or something. If that was a metaphor I was too young to pick up on it at the time. I've read the first book a couple of times though.


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## clavichorder (May 2, 2011)

Weston said:


> I think I stopped reading the Dune books after maybe Children of Dune? The one having people moving around the planet by jumping really high or something. If that was a metaphor I was too young to pick up on it at the time. I've read the first book a couple of times though.


"God Emperor" is where I left off. Just two more to go with the Frank Herbert Dune books. Its extremely twisted and strange, but very interesting(Giant Worm emperor, memories of the lives of his ancestors, gholas(clone type beings). Taking all the Dune books I've read in as a whole, it is probably the first true "Space Opera" series.

Have we any great admirers of 2001 Space Odyssey, the novel by Arthur C. Clarke?


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## GGluek (Dec 11, 2011)

2001: The book came out after the movie, and since I'm not a fan of novelizations (even by the original screenwriter), I didn't read it. I did, however, see the movie when it first came out -- on a huge curved screen in Boston. (I treated myself for an 18th birthday present.) I know I make up a minority of one -- but I thought then, and have thought ever since even through multiple viewings -- that it was boring, pretentious, and self-indulgent. Had no "soul" -- like many of Kubrick's films.


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## clavichorder (May 2, 2011)

GGluek said:


> 2001: The book came out after the movie, and since I'm not a fan of novelizations (even by the original screenwriter), I didn't read it. I did, however, see the movie when it first came out -- on a huge curved screen in Boston. (I treated myself for a 16th birthday present.) I know I make up a minority of one -- but I thought then, and have thought ever since even through multiple viewings -- that it was boring, pretentious, and self-indulgent. Had no "soul" -- like many of Kubrick's films.


I think that's a misnomer actually. Kubrick and Clarke "cowrote" the story of 2001. They collaborated. While Clarke was working on the novel(which was his idea originally, I think, since it grew out of an earlier short story of his), Kubrick contributed his ideas. The movie just happened to come out first in its completed form. But Clarke's 2001 is in no was a "novelization" of a movie. It is its own thing. And it really explains a lot more than the movie, which makes an "art film" out of the idea. The book makes so much more sense and rather than "killing the magic" it enhances it(in my opinion). I found it one of the most inspiring reads at the time I read it.

Also, my Dad had always been a big fan of the movie, but not me. I found it boring for the most part. And it focuses too much on the HAL part. There are more interesting things at work in Clarke's novel, and his writing style is full of life and kind of effortless to read, as a lot of older English science fiction authors tend to be.


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## Guest (Feb 6, 2013)

clavichorder said:


> "God Emperor" is where I left off. Just two more to go with the Frank Herbert Dune books. Its extremely twisted and strange, but very interesting(Giant Worm emperor, memories of the lives of his ancestors, gholas(clone type beings). Taking all the Dune books I've read in as a whole, it is probably the first true "Space Opera" series.
> 
> Have we any great admirers of 2001 Space Odyssey, the novel by Arthur C. Clarke?


While the plots really got twisted and strange, when you read the final two, it all starts to make sense. The essence of the Golden Path that Leto II was trying to accomplish was to free humanity from the slavery they had to the spice. By becoming a tyrant and hoarding all the spice, he drove humanity to rebel against him and the monopoly on the spice, breaking down that barrier to their perpetuation. They learned new ways to thrive and to travel that were not dependent on spice. CHOAM and the Bene Gesserit lost their stranglehold on humanity. That was what Leto II's sacrifice enabled. And it turns out that Jews were able to survive, as a people, clear through until that time - one of the more bizarre twists I think I have ever seen.


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## Guest (Feb 6, 2013)

GGluek said:


> 2001: The book came out after the movie, and since I'm not a fan of novelizations (even by the original screenwriter), I didn't read it. I did, however, see the movie when it first came out -- on a huge curved screen in Boston. (I treated myself for an 18th birthday present.) I know I make up a minority of one -- but I thought then, and have thought ever since even through multiple viewings -- that it was boring, pretentious, and self-indulgent. Had no "soul" -- like many of Kubrick's films.


I agree that the movie was boring. The book is better, and makes it much more intelligible. I had no clue what the hell to make of the monolith, or the chimps, or the, "My God, it's full of stars!." Once you read the book, you really understand what the monolith is, and that there is actually an intelligence behind it, with a purpose. I enjoyed 2001, somewhat enjoyed 2010, and really didn't care as much for what came after (I am talking about the books).

Someone else mentioned Philip K. Dick, and I was remiss in not mentioning him as well. His books and short stories are incredible. Some I haven't understood as well as others, but they are great stories. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep was, of course, the inspiration for the movie Bladerunner (there are numerous similarities, but the movie does veer a bit from the story line). There are numerous other stories of his that have been made into movies - Minority Report, Paycheck, A Scanner Darkly, Total Recall, Screamers, Impostor, Next, The Adjustment Bureau. I think there are a couple more. His book "The Man in the High Castle" is also a must read of his - great alternate reality story.


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## clavichorder (May 2, 2011)

Some day, I will get around to the final two books. Last thing I was reading when school started, was "The Hobbit." Somehow that upset my momentum with reading and now I'm just browsing through non fiction little by little.


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## EddieRUKiddingVarese (Jan 8, 2013)

Me I like the The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton









or for Ozzy flavour ....Angels of Vengeance by John Birmingham


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

Those who like 2001:a space odyssey, the novel, which is indeed not remotely a novelization, might really enjoy the Arthur C. Clarke / Stephen Baxter collaboration "The Light of Other Days." This is an astonishing work so crammed with ideas it set my imagination reeling for years afterward.


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

EddieRUKiddingVarese said:


> Me I like the The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton
> 
> View attachment 12762
> 
> ...


Speaking of Crichton books... have you read _"Next"_? Interesting extrapolation on a scientific trend (makes it SF), and should be scary... but I found it hilarious.


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## SiegendesLicht (Mar 4, 2012)

I've read _Next_ and loved it (but my favorite ones are _State of Fear _ and _Timeline_). Now, has anyone read _Micro_, Crichton's very last book?


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

SiegendesLicht said:


> I've read _Next_ and loved it (but my favorite ones are _State of Fear _ and _Timeline_). Now, has anyone read _Micro_, Crichton's very last book?


I tried to. The style doesn't work for me. For me, fiction must be written so that I can 'live it' while doing my version of speed-reading. The process is much different than what is necessary for reading non-fiction, wherein the 'arguments' must be ordered.


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## Chrythes (Oct 13, 2011)

I haven't read much fiction, but the books I most enjoyed from this genre are Solaris by Stanislaw Lem, 2001 Space Odyssey By Arthur C. Clarke, and War with the Newts by Capek which is an hilarious satire of basically everything. I've also started reading 
The Day of the Triffids and I'm quite enjoying it.


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## clavichorder (May 2, 2011)

I gotta read Solaris one of these days.


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## EddieRUKiddingVarese (Jan 8, 2013)

Hilltroll72 said:


> Speaking of Crichton books... have you read _"Next"_? Interesting extrapolation on a scientific trend (makes it SF), and should be scary... but I found it hilarious.


No - I'll have to give it a go

Only just re read Andromeda Strain recently- it's a bit dated but a good read.

Just read *Sex on the Moon* which is freaky- not fiction but still science.


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## Sonata (Aug 7, 2010)

*"There Will Come Soft Rains" by Ray Bradbury*, a short story I first read in high school English class, and gives me the chills to this day. It's a story set in a future where everything is automated for people; houses have robots to cook, clean, even read one's favorite poetry. In the story, humanity is dead, but the house is still running the typical daily routine. I can't do it justice, but read it. It's incredible.


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## drpraetorus (Aug 9, 2012)

Here's a tough question: How do you define Science Fiction especially as opposed to Horror or Sci-Fi horror.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

drpraetorus said:


> Here's a tough question: How do you define Science Fiction especially as opposed to Horror or Sci-Fi horror.


Not sure there is a difference. An early example: John W. Campbell's "A Walk in the Dark." Somewhat later, Sturgeons's "Some of Your Blood."


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## clavichorder (May 2, 2011)

Isaac Asimov has this really silly short story called "Left to Right" that reads like an elaborate joke. Its worth it just for the "wtf" value.

I think I read it in the "Gold" anthology of Asimov stories and writings.


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## clavichorder (May 2, 2011)

I think this link will be specific and take you to the story "Left to Right," but the entire "Gold" anthology of Asimov is available online. http://books.google.com/books?id=E3...QL1iYCYBA&ved=0CDMQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false

Left to Right is less than three pages long so I recommend anybody who catches this post read it. Very unusual for Asimov.


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