As we head into a busy weekend, here's a meme for you, courtesy of Brandon: Fifty Essential SF Authors. Just for reference, the last SF book we read here was The Martian, but before that it's hard to say because SF is a genre that's mostly dropped off our radar.
#MrsDarwin has read
On our shelves
(1) Mary Shelley: FRANKENSTEIN#
(2) A Square (Edwin Abbott) FLATLAND
(3) Jules Verne:
TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA#
FROM EARTH TO MOON
MASTER OF THE WORLD
(4) H.G. Wells:
THE WAR OF THE WORLDS
THE TIME MACHINE
THE ISLAND OF DR MOREAU
THE FIRST MEN IN THE MOON.
(5) E.M. Forster ‘The Machine Stops’
(6) David Lindsay VOYAGE TO ARCTURUS.
(7) Olaf Stapledon:
LAST AND FIRST MEN
STARMAKER.
(8) Jorge Luis Borges “Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius”
(9) George Orwell NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR#%
(10) Aldous Huxley A BRAVE NEW WORLD
(11) A Merritt
THE MOON POOL
THE METAL MONSTER.
(12) Edgar Rice Burroughs
A PRINCESS OF MARS#%
GODS OF MARS#
WARLORD OF MARS#
(13) E.E. ‘Doc’ Smith
SKYLARK OF SPACE
SKYLARK DUQUESNE
THE GALACTIC PATROL,
THE GRAY LENSMAN,
SECOND STAGE LENSMAN
CHILDREN OF THE LENS.
(14) Stanley G. Weinbaum ‘A Martian Odyssey’
(15) Jack Williamson:
‘With Folded Hands’
LEGION OF SPACE
LEGION OF TIME.
‘The Moon Era.’
(16) H.P. Lovecraft:
‘The Call of Cthulhu’#
‘A Whisperer in Darkness’#
‘Shadow Out of Time’#
(17) A.E. van Vogt:
‘The Black Destroyer’
SLAN
WORLD OF NULL-A
PLAYERS OF NULL-A.
THE WEAPON SHOPS OF ISHER.
(18) Isaac Asimov:
FOUNDATION#%
FOUNDATION AND EMPIRE#%
SECOND FOUNDATION#%
CAVES OF STEEL
THE NAKED SUN
(19) Robert Heinlein
“The Man Who Sold the Moon”%
“Requiem”%
“Green Hills of Earth”%
ORPHANS OF THE SKY%
HAVE SPACE SUIT WILL TRAVEL%
CITIZEN OF THE GALAXY#%
STARMAN JONES
STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND#
STARSHIP TROOPERS#%
(20) Joe Haldeman FOREVER WAR
(21) C.S. Lewis:
OUT OF THE SILENT PLANET #%
PERELENDRA #%
THAT HIDEOUS STRENGTH #%
(22) Arthur C Clarke:
CHILDHOOD’S END #%
2001 A SPACE ODYSSEY #
‘Against the Fall of Night’ aka CITY AND THE STARS %
RENDEZVOUS WITH RAMA %
(23) Clifford Simak:
CITY
WAY STATION
(24)Hal Clement MISSION OF GRAVITY %
(25) Poul Anderson:
‘The Man Who Counts’
‘The Queen of Air and Darkness ‘
BRAINWAVE,
TAU ZERO
HARVEST OF STARS.
(26) Alfred Bester
THE STARS MY DESTINATION
THE DEMOLISHED MAN.
(27) Keith Laumer DINOSAUR BEACH
(28) Fritz Leiber THE BIG TIME .
(29) Robert Silverberg ‘Nightwings’
(30) Philip Jose Farmer:
RIVERWORLD
WORLD OF TIERS
(31) Tom Godwin ‘The Cold Equations’
(32) Harlan Ellison ‘Repent Harlequin Said the Ticktockman’
(33) Philip K Dick THE MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE
(34) Roger Zelazny:
LORD OF LIGHT
NINE PRINCES IN AMBER.
(35) Ray Bradbury
FAHRENHEIT 451 #%
THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES #%
I SING THE BODY ELECTRIC
SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES %
(36) John Brunner STAND ON ZANZIBAR
(37) Michael Moorcock
THE JEWEL IN THE SKULL
ELRIC OF MELNIBONÉ
THE KNIGHT OF THE SWORDS.
(38) Daniel Keyes ‘Flowers for Algernon’
(39) Walter M. Miller A CANTICLE FOR LEIBOWITZ %
(40) Frank Herbert DUNE #
(41) Cordwainer Smith
‘Scanners Live in Vain’ #
‘The Dead Lady of Clown Town’ #
‘Alpha Ralpha Boulevard.’ #
(42) Ursula K LeGuin:
LEFT HAND OF DARKNESS
THE DISPOSSESSED.
(43) Jack Vance
‘The Dragon Masters’
‘The Last Castle.’
THE LANGUAGES OF PAO
EMPHYRIO.
THE DYING EARTH.
(44) Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle MOTE IN GOD’S EYE %
(45) Larry Niven
RINGWORLD
'Neutron Star'
(46) Gene Wolfe:
THE SHADOW OF THE TORTURER
THE SWORD OF THE LICTOR
THE CLAW OF THE CONCILIATOR
THE CITADEL OF THE AUTARCH
URTH OF THE NEW SUN
‘Fifth Head of Cerberus’.
(47) Walter Gibson NEUROMANCER
(48) Neal Stephenson
SNOWCRASH
THE DIAMOND AGE.
(49) Dan Simmons HYPERION
(50) Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons THE WATCHMAN
(1) Mary Shelley: FRANKENSTEIN#
(2) A Square (Edwin Abbott) FLATLAND
(3) Jules Verne:
TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA#
FROM EARTH TO MOON
MASTER OF THE WORLD
(4) H.G. Wells:
THE WAR OF THE WORLDS
THE TIME MACHINE
THE ISLAND OF DR MOREAU
THE FIRST MEN IN THE MOON.
(5) E.M. Forster ‘The Machine Stops’
(6) David Lindsay VOYAGE TO ARCTURUS.
(7) Olaf Stapledon:
LAST AND FIRST MEN
STARMAKER.
(8) Jorge Luis Borges “Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius”
(9) George Orwell NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR#%
(10) Aldous Huxley A BRAVE NEW WORLD
(11) A Merritt
THE MOON POOL
THE METAL MONSTER.
(12) Edgar Rice Burroughs
A PRINCESS OF MARS#%
GODS OF MARS#
WARLORD OF MARS#
(13) E.E. ‘Doc’ Smith
SKYLARK OF SPACE
SKYLARK DUQUESNE
THE GALACTIC PATROL,
THE GRAY LENSMAN,
SECOND STAGE LENSMAN
CHILDREN OF THE LENS.
(14) Stanley G. Weinbaum ‘A Martian Odyssey’
(15) Jack Williamson:
‘With Folded Hands’
LEGION OF SPACE
LEGION OF TIME.
‘The Moon Era.’
(16) H.P. Lovecraft:
‘The Call of Cthulhu’#
‘A Whisperer in Darkness’#
‘Shadow Out of Time’#
(17) A.E. van Vogt:
‘The Black Destroyer’
SLAN
WORLD OF NULL-A
PLAYERS OF NULL-A.
THE WEAPON SHOPS OF ISHER.
(18) Isaac Asimov:
FOUNDATION#%
FOUNDATION AND EMPIRE#%
SECOND FOUNDATION#%
CAVES OF STEEL
THE NAKED SUN
(19) Robert Heinlein
“The Man Who Sold the Moon”%
“Requiem”%
“Green Hills of Earth”%
ORPHANS OF THE SKY%
HAVE SPACE SUIT WILL TRAVEL%
CITIZEN OF THE GALAXY#%
STARMAN JONES
STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND#
STARSHIP TROOPERS#%
(20) Joe Haldeman FOREVER WAR
(21) C.S. Lewis:
OUT OF THE SILENT PLANET #%
PERELENDRA #%
THAT HIDEOUS STRENGTH #%
(22) Arthur C Clarke:
CHILDHOOD’S END #%
2001 A SPACE ODYSSEY #
‘Against the Fall of Night’ aka CITY AND THE STARS %
RENDEZVOUS WITH RAMA %
(23) Clifford Simak:
CITY
WAY STATION
(24)Hal Clement MISSION OF GRAVITY %
(25) Poul Anderson:
‘The Man Who Counts’
‘The Queen of Air and Darkness ‘
BRAINWAVE,
TAU ZERO
HARVEST OF STARS.
(26) Alfred Bester
THE STARS MY DESTINATION
THE DEMOLISHED MAN.
(27) Keith Laumer DINOSAUR BEACH
(28) Fritz Leiber THE BIG TIME .
(29) Robert Silverberg ‘Nightwings’
(30) Philip Jose Farmer:
RIVERWORLD
WORLD OF TIERS
(31) Tom Godwin ‘The Cold Equations’
(32) Harlan Ellison ‘Repent Harlequin Said the Ticktockman’
(33) Philip K Dick THE MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE
(34) Roger Zelazny:
LORD OF LIGHT
NINE PRINCES IN AMBER.
(35) Ray Bradbury
FAHRENHEIT 451 #%
THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES #%
I SING THE BODY ELECTRIC
SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES %
(36) John Brunner STAND ON ZANZIBAR
(37) Michael Moorcock
THE JEWEL IN THE SKULL
ELRIC OF MELNIBONÉ
THE KNIGHT OF THE SWORDS.
(38) Daniel Keyes ‘Flowers for Algernon’
(39) Walter M. Miller A CANTICLE FOR LEIBOWITZ %
(40) Frank Herbert DUNE #
(41) Cordwainer Smith
‘Scanners Live in Vain’ #
‘The Dead Lady of Clown Town’ #
‘Alpha Ralpha Boulevard.’ #
(42) Ursula K LeGuin:
LEFT HAND OF DARKNESS
THE DISPOSSESSED.
(43) Jack Vance
‘The Dragon Masters’
‘The Last Castle.’
THE LANGUAGES OF PAO
EMPHYRIO.
THE DYING EARTH.
(44) Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle MOTE IN GOD’S EYE %
(45) Larry Niven
RINGWORLD
'Neutron Star'
(46) Gene Wolfe:
THE SHADOW OF THE TORTURER
THE SWORD OF THE LICTOR
THE CLAW OF THE CONCILIATOR
THE CITADEL OF THE AUTARCH
URTH OF THE NEW SUN
‘Fifth Head of Cerberus’.
(47) Walter Gibson NEUROMANCER
(48) Neal Stephenson
SNOWCRASH
THE DIAMOND AGE.
(49) Dan Simmons HYPERION
(50) Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons THE WATCHMAN
7 comments:
Great list. I never thought of Flowers for Algernon as SF genre though. Jules Verne's books that are obviously SF from his own time point but the scientific background is not futuristic in our time and they did not feel like SF when I read them as a teenager. There are quite a few recommendations though, thank you!
I thought it was interesting how relatively little overlap between the two of you there was; only about a third, if I'm not mistaken.
Brandon,
That probably has a lot to do with the fact that both of our genre reading slowed down a lot starting in college, which is also when we met. Looking over the ones I've read, every single one is something I first read before meeting MrsDarwin, though I know a few of hers she read since meeting me.
I was thinking of SF books I read that aren't on the list, and while a lot of them are Hungarian and other Easten European authors unlikely to be ever translated to English, I miss Douglas Adams, and Michael Crichton's The Sphere and Andromeda Strain. Stanislaw Lem's Solaris affected me also, but probably because I saw the movie adaptation by Russian director A. Tarkovsky - the very rare case of a movie adaptation surpassing the book in emotional intensity and cathartic effect... at least for me.
Douglas Adams definitely seems like a significant omission to me. Crichton was probably left off because he's often classified as "mainstream" rather than science fiction even though a number of his books clearly deal with science fictional stories. (I'm not really sure why this is, other than that he sold more books than most SF authors and he tended to get shelved in the mainstream fiction section rather than the science fiction section in bookstores.)
I'd heard of (but not seen) the 2002 movie of Solaris, but I didn't realized there'd been two earlier ones. I'll have to look into Tarkovsky's film.
Oh well. I forgot that the list was of writers, not of individual books so Crichton may not be classified as "SF writer". Although, from this aspect, Jules Verne wrote quite a lot of adventure books not SF themed. A little off topic, but his novel "Mathias Sandorf" features a fictitious Hungarian freedom fighter around the 1848 European freedom and reform fights, and also is a tribute to Alexandre Dumas' The Count of Monte Cristo. I loved Verne's books on fights for freedom/justice/other noble causes as a child and teen but of course the one with Hungarian reference was one of the closest to my heart.
By the way, I'm not sure I understand how "mainstream" is defined as a separate genre, even if it is a separate section in bookstores.
I haven't seen the 2002 Solaris movie either. I'll have to look at it.
I think the list was intended as a foundation of Sci Fi, not an all-inclusive list of Sci Fi worth reading. The implication being that, if one wanted to be an informed critic (or writer!) of the genre, one would have to have at least read all these works.
Almost half-way through!
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