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Sci Fi Literature 101?
ohlaadee asks: "My niece (she's 13) wants to start reading science fiction. I do too. I gave us both Asimov's _The Foundation_ for Christmas. We'll read it together. I suppose we could spend the rest of our lives just reading Asimov, but I'm wondering what books and movies you folks would come up with? What does the /. recommended Science Fiction 101 list include?"
The first volume contains 6 loosely connected stories, which give a good, broad introduction to the genre. They are all connected in the second volume (_Fall of Hyperion_).
Just a single warning, Dan Simmon is primarily a horror-writer, and some of the stories in _Hyperion_ are very creepy (others are just as touching).
Favorites that I find I can re-read, all on
...
my SF "must read"
Foundation - Azimov, already mentioned
Dune - Frank Herbert
(later parts of series less and less interesting
for these)
Neuromancer - William Gibson
Protector, Tales of Known Space - Larry Niven
Permutation City, Axiomatic - Greg Egan
Farenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury
Starship Troopers, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress -
the Robert Heinlein I enjoy
Downbelow Station - CJ Cherryh
Consider Phlebas, Excession - Ian M Banks
... and then personal faves
Icerigger, The Tar-Ayim Krang, Nor Crystal Tears -
Allen Dean Foster
Dragonflight, The Ship Who Sang, Crystal Singer -
Anne Mcaffry - (notice how the first of each
of her sequences is worthwhile?)
"I went to see the pool of wisdom but it was empty. Someone has drained the pool of wisdom." - Todd Jones
- 'Cordelia's Honor' by Lois McMaster Bujold.
- 'The Moon is Hell' by John W. Campbell. (Although that's pretty hard to find these days)
- 'On Basilisk Station' by David Weber. (A good introduction to SF, and available free online! See the Baen Webscription site. (Free registration required).
- 'A Fire Upon the Deep' by Vernor Vinge
For the slightly older beginning reader (or if you don't mind so much about adult themes):- 'Hyperion' by Dan Simmons
- 'Steel Beach' by John Varley
- 'The Moon is a Harsh Mistress' by Robert A. Heinlein
Not that any of those will really warp someone's mind, but some people are sensitive. A good place to look for books to read is the list of Hugo winners. The Hugo is the award given for the best Science Fiction novel of the year, and the list is a good collection of the best of SF.Robert Ewing Visit the ANU Film Group home page http://www.anufg.org.au Australia's largest film society.
- The Door Into Summer by Robert A. Heinlein
- Ringworld by Larry Niven
- Snowcrash by Neal Stephenson
- The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein
- A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge
- Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
- The Sentinel by Arthur C. Clarke
- The Humanoids by Jack Williamson
- Heart of the Comet by Gregory Benford and David Brin
- Dragon's Egg by Robert L. Forward
- The Giants Novels (trilogy) by James P. Hogan
- Voyagers by Ben Bova
- Blood Music by David Brin
Sorry that I don't have time to write any details about these!Lucifer's Hammer is my favorite book (by far), I read it a couple of times a year. Also almost anything by Larry Niven or James P. Hogan. (Some of Hogan's books might be difficult for a 13 year-old, but they are a great read.) For an easy quick read, the Star Trek novels are pretty good.
I think you have to start with true classics. War of the Worlds, The Time Machine, and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea for example. 2001: A Space Odyssey has to be one of the ones to read. I would read Ringworld first among Niven simply because it is his most popular, which is the sort of thing you typically read first to establish a foundation in just about any discipline. The hardest choice for me would be whether to include Vonnegut. His stuff has a different appeal than most sci-fi. When you get to Heinlein, I suggest starting with Starship Troopers and some of the other juvenile series, then progressing to The Door into Summer and Friday, then to some of the Lazarus Long stuff. Don't even bother with Stranger in a Strange Land until later unless the child is extraordinarily sophisticated.
"Logic . . . merely enables one to be wrong with authority"
Logic ... merely enables one to be wrong with authority. -- Doctor Who
I can't beleave no one has mentioned him yet. Piers Anthony has done a LOT more than the just juvinile fantasy.
The "Bio of a space tyrant" series is good,
as is "Macroscope" and also "Ghost". "Ghost" is a bit mature for a young reader, and "Bio of a space tyrant" also deals with some mature themes. I'd suggest you read them first, and decide yourself if she is old enough to read them.
Also, his fantasy work is quite good, often mixing Science Fiction in. Read the Split Infinity series and it's sequels. It's about someone who lives on a world with a "Curtain" that allows him to cross from a Fantasy world to a Sci-Fi world, and its VERY interesting, although I'd say not for an immature audience either. I read them when I was 13.
And I have to agree with the people who have mentioned Robert A. Heinlein, whom never published a bad book in my opinion, and also John Varley's "Steel Beach" which is one of the best books I have ever read, Sci-Fi wise. Nice tribute to Heinlein in the book.
Hey Rob, Thanks for that tarball!
"Going to war without France is like going deer hunting without your accordion." - Jed Babbin
Man's unique agony as a species consists in his perpetual conflict between the desire to stand out and the need to blend in.
72656B636148206C72655020726568746F6E41207473754A
Great polish master Stanislaw Lem would be my favorite, with books like "Solaris", "Fiasco" etc... ... well away form computers.....
Of course this would lead you to another big artist
rusian filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky... and meditation after this could lead you
Although the first Science Fiction I ever read was a collection of short stories intended for adolescents, which may have been entitled "Way Out!", the first actual novel I remember reading was Ray Bradbury's "Martian Chronicles".
It's a collection of unrelated and loosely-related short stories and novellas about mankind's initial exploration of, colonization of, and eventual abandonment of Mars.
I also find myself often re-reading E.E. "Doc" Smith's Lensmen series, which is currently available from the Science Fiction Book Club in a two-volume set that I highly recommend.
Mainly classics; by date of publication. Not all are fit for 13-years old people.
The links are to detailed reviews of the linked books.
- Tal Cohen
I'd recommend the Enders Game series :Enders Game, Speaker for the Dead, Xenocide and Children of the Mind -- I haven't read the new 'parallquel' yet.
Unlike Asimov, Card can really write about people. Asimov is very good at producing scientifically believable scenarios, whereas Card deals with philosophical issues.
(Warning though, I started various people in my house on the series and we've started having clashes as people wait for the next book to be available)
Well, I just started reading Sci-Fi this past summer and started with the Foundation series too. Fantastic series. By the way, read Forward the Foundation last. Chronologically it's second, but gives away a lot. Definitely last.
Dune by Frank Herbert is good stuff, but you probably don't want to bother with the whole series - I quit around the 4th book because it was getting too repetitive for me.
William Gibson is great as far as visualization and the worlds he creates go. A few of the scenes are a bit more than you might want your 13 year-old daughter to read, but there's nothing that bad. By him, I've read Idoru (his best, in my opinion), Neuromancer (classic, you'll want to "jack in" too), Count Zero (pretty good), and Mona Lisa Overdrive (not fantastic, but still decent).
Neal Stephenson - Cryptonomicon. READ.
Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451. Good stuff.
Heller's Catch-22 is great. So is Burgess's Clockwork Orange, but that's almost definitely more mature than you want to read with your daughter.
Then there's George Orwell. I don't know if he's really Sci-fi, but he's definitely worth reading. Animal Farm, 1984, and Coming up for Air are all really good.
Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game is one of the best books I've ever read.
If you've got a while to spare, and you're in the mood for some fantasy reading, there's The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, but those are pretty hardcore.
Hope this was helpful. Have fun reading.
I never did like to do anything simple when I could do it ass-backwards. - Neuromancer
Surely you could throw in at least 2001 and Childhood's End.
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from a rigged demo
--Andy Finkel (J. Klass?)
For a young reader I would definately reccomend Asimov's Robot series. These really explore the funadamentals of science fiction very well and are also great introductions to logic problems, too. I, Robot is a set of short stories that explore the theme of the Asimov's rules of robotics. The Foundation series is a must, but is probably a little more advanced than the Robot stuff. Those are more politically oriented, IMO, but still excellent novels. Finally, The Gods Themselves is a little-known Asimov favorite of mine. It's about scientists discovering an unlimited energy source. It also teaches a little about atomic physics (though there is a reason why it's called science fiction :) )It has some mature-ish themes though (sex and stuff) so you might want to read it before your daughter.
I'd try Snow Crash first, personally.
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from a rigged demo
--Andy Finkel (J. Klass?)
Certainly it's worth reading classics that are important to the culture you live in. However I can't let you get away with claiming that George Orwell's Animal Farm and 1984 are American classics. They're British classics, or classics in the English language generally, but not American classics. (Don't take this the wrong way: as an Englishman Heller's Catch-22 (& to a lesser extent Somegthing Happened) both speak to me and I regard them as classics in the English language.) BTW, why does everyone seem to be so taken with 1984 and yet no-one refers to a book which was (I think) called 1985 by Anthony Burgess which is to my mind a much more frightening and realistic version of the kind of things that may happen in an unpleasant future?
- The Heinlein juveniles (duh)
- Anything in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series (I'd start with one of the earlier books, like Mort or Equal Rites). This is fantasy but still funny and accessible
- My wife recommends Pratchett's juvenile series (starting with "Only You Can Save Mankind") but I haven't read them yet. You might also check out "Good Omens," which he wrote with Neil Gaiman
- Short story anthologies, especially older ones. I would look through them first just in case, so you can recommend some stories she might want to skip for a year or two.
- R. A. Lafferty is one of my favorites, even though he's definitely not in the major pantheon of SF gods. This guy thinks different even for a science fiction writer. Try finding an anthology called "Nine Hundred Grandmothers." One of the first stories that got me hooked on science fiction was "Slow Tuesday Night," and if you really want a hoot try reading "Hog Belly Honey" out loud.
--
Someone you trust is one of us.
A Wrinkle in Time, Starman Jones, Farmer in the Sky, and of course The Time Machine. Start in the past, work to the present. If you do it the other way around the classics seem cliched.
-- Crutcher --
#include <disclaimer.h>
With that in mind, I'll mention a few that I think may be appropriate for a younger reader, and then mention a few that she may want to investigate as she gets older, or if she proves to be a precocious reader. I should note that some of these books have serious literary value, while others are genre "fluff" that I would include in any (more) complete overview of "science fiction".
Books for now:
Out of the Silent Planet - C.S. Lewis
Crystal Singer - Anne McCaffrey
To Ride Pegasus - Anne McCaffrey
Shockwave Rider - John Brunner
A Wrinkle in Time - Madeline L'Engle
His Master's Voice - Stanislaw Lem
Engine Summer - John Crowley
Impossible Things - Connie Willis (short story collection)
The Bloody Sun - Marion Zimmer Bradley
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? - Philip K. Dick
Battlefield Earth - L. Ron Hubbard
Moonflash - Patricia McKillip
1984 - George Orwell
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea - Jules Verne
The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
Farenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury
Tiger, Tiger - Alfred Bester
The Trial - Franz Kafka
Lord of Light - Roger Zelazny
Doorways in the Sand - Roger Zelazny
The Postman - David Brin
The Andromeda Strain - Michael Crichton
Red Mars - Kim Stanley Robinson
Books for later:
Replay - Ken Grimwood (explicit sex)
The Gap series - Stephen Donaldson (rape, torture, violence)
To Say Nothing of the Dog - Connie Willis (plot complexity)
Split Infinity - Piers Anthony (explicit sex)
Glimmering - Elizabeth Hand (complexity)
The Books of the New Sun - Gene Wolf (complexity)
Beauty - Sheri Tepper (rape)
Stand on Zanzibar - John Brunner (complexity)
The Sheep Look Up - John Brunner (complexity)
A Fire in the Sun - George Alec Effinger (sex, drugs)
Stars in my Pocket Like Grains of Sand - Delaney (sex, complexity)
Hyperion - Dan Simmons (sex, violence, complexity)
Both lists are woefully incomplete, but I'm sure that within a few hours there will be hundreds more messages naming books it would have taken me hours to recall. Besides, after you and your daugher read a dozen or so books off the many lists that have been posted here, you'll have a better idea of what you like and what you don't, as well as a better idea of where to look.
Good luck!
Is there anyone else out there who just doesn't like old science fiction? I think the problem I have is when they use gimicks. For instance, it is quite obvious that Snow Crash and even Neuromancer are gimicky. The technological changes they predict, while interesting, are unlikely to come true in the form written. But at least for now, we're not quite sure, and it seems reasonable, even highly entertaining.
But then look back at Martian Chronicles, and what do you see? Sure, it may be a deeply allegorical bookk, but that doesn't mean it's not free of its own gimicks. Pointy rocket ships and nuclear generators as the most amazing thing in the world? These things hamper my willing suspension of disbelief. I just can't believe the story when I hear about men in big bubbly space suits riding in giant pointy space-ships. I'm sure the same thing will happen if I try to read Snow Crash 20 years from now.
The only old science fiction I can stand is the kind that doesn't rely on gimicks. More specifically, the kind that doesn't read like it was written in the 1950s. The Stars My Destination. A Canticle for Leibowitz. And to a lesser extent (because their age is more obvious) Foundation and Dune. My biggest obstacle in Foundation was getting over the fact that everyone had names like they were from 50s sci-fi B movies. Other than that it's pretty age-clean (other than the fact that chaos theory shoots giant flaming holes in its underlying premise).
Don't get me wrong, I love gimicks, and I think they are great supplements to the plots of modern novels, but they are fleeting. Look at Hyperion for instance. I bet half of it will seem incredibly stupid in 20 year, and the other half will still seem as engaging and brilliant as ever. Ender's Game on the other hand, strikes me as though it sacrifices gimicks to concentrate solely on human beings. I think this is a good sacrifice to make.
Any other recommendations for sci-fi that's old but doesn't seem like it?
Although probably not be very suitable for a thirteen year old, it's a must read for the rest of you.
"If you think education is expensive, try ignorance" - Derek Bok
don't have 100, but in no particular order, books that affected my life: Dune by Frank Herbert. The rest of the sequence is not nearly as good, I got bored. BUT, DUNE is a masterwork Almost anything my Heinlein. Methusalah's Children, Red Planet, Star Beast for younger or early reading, Starship Troopers (forget about the movie, read the book) a fascinating discussion of how things maybe ought to be. Stranger in a Strange Land and Time Enough for Love, for older readers with more challenging concepts. Old stuff by Theordore Sturgeon, Cliffard Simak, really great shorter novels that are really still quite wonderful to read. Piers Anthony wrote significant sci/fi before going to Xanth. Macroscope, Ominvore, there are more. He's an entertaining read. Arthur Clarke: 2001 space oddysey, etc. All very good. The Rendezvou with Rama books, all good. Classic and classy stuff. Ray Bradbury, I don't care for his sci/fi for some reason. But, get and read Dandelion Wine. A simple and deep treasure. venturing away from sci/fi, but justifiable I think, Moorcock and his Eternal Champion Multiverse can be read and left and revisited etc. Elric of Melnibone is fascinating. Also, The Lord of the Rings by Tolkien. Read The Hobbit first. Glorious reading. And, The first and second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever. Sweeping prose, action so intense sometimes you have to throw the book down and splash your face with water and just pant a while. Hope you enjoy. My list does not do service to the genre. But, I enjoyed all the above immensely. Good Reading. msc
"Hey ya'll, hold my beer and watch this!"
-- Last 5 seconds recorded on black boxes installed in SUV's in Texas...
My thought on the Hitchhikers Guide is that it makes fun of a lot of common themes and specific ideas in science fiction, so you will get more out of it after you've read your way around the genre.
Just picking it up as one of your first science fiction novels would be kind of like moving in from a very foreign country (no American TV... if such places still exist) and watching Simpsons: it would still be kind of funny, but not nearly as much as if you recognized all the pop-culture references.
Starship Troopers is one of my favorite books. This is not to say that I think it depicts the ideal society. The book is not a manifesto, propaganda, or a poorly executed satire (as some well-meaning fans think). It's more like The Republic -- it's supposed to make you think, not tell you what is right. The questions it raises are valuable in themselves.
As for my opinion on the most controversial bit: in the context of the U.S., I don't think the vote should be limited more than it already is. (Young people and some felons cannot vote) But this is mainly because voting restrictions would quickly turn into a political tool, like the tax code, or redistricting. It is a shame that most people don't care to vote, and it is tragic that those who do tend to vote selfishly. Although people are basically good, in any large democracy there seems to be a problem with a lack of civic-mindedness.
In any case, I highly recommend the book to any child or adult old enough to reason for themselves. The opinions in it are strong, but unlike TV commericals, it does not try to brainwash you. (The movie, on the other hand, is a grievous insult to any sentient being.)
Walter M. Miller, Jr: A Canticle for Leibowitz, it is probably my favorite Sci-Fi novel of all time. A true classic of Sci Fi.
Warning, these books are based off of reading level, not content. Books may contain violence, sex, lots of gay people, or christianity.
A wrinkle in time. by Madeleine L'Engle
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - (Note: get a copy of The AQnnotated Alice by Martin Gardner
The hobbit. by J.R.R. Tolkien
Anything by Ray Bradbury, Robert A. Heinlein, Alan Dean Foster, or Piers Anthony
Darkover (any of the books) by Marion Zimmer Bradley
Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow by Orsen Scott Card
The Narnia series by C.S. Lewis.
A decent collection of Science fiction, mostly suitable for children
Also, Please attend the Worldcon, this year it's in Chicago followed by Philadelphia, PA, then San José. We have a lot of things for you and your children.
of course, our little one is only 6 months old. Mostly he's an excuse to reread Harold and the Purple Crayon
I aplogogise for any redundancies. This list took awhile to compile and find the links, especially as the co-author was breastfeeding at the time...
-----
No Zen is good zen
I've gone and got lazy over the past 20 or so years, so I don't read that much anymore.
But, at about that age, I recall not being able to get enough of John Wyndham's stuff. The Chrysalids, Day of the Triffids, Chocky, The Kraken Wakes, Consider her Ways and others that I can't recall at the moment. Certainly not "pure" science fiction, and possibly a little bit UK-centric for a US reader, but a good read nonetheless.
Ahh - My eye!
The doctor said I'm not supposed to get Slashdot in it!
Dune
-study of aristocracy, religious engineering and the creation of a messiah, rejection of computers in favor of the development of human potential resulting in continued relevance of human traits, race memory (though now discredited, it is still a fascinating idea), consequences of reliance on performance-enhancing drugs, the potential failures of perfect "prediction" of the future, the dangers of breeding humans
The Dosadi Experiment
-an incredible system of adaptive law, development of societies under pressure, the dangers of psychological experiments, underlying nature of human interactions stripped of pretext and niceties, the nature of bureaucracy, the illusion of democracy, sideline on manipulation through addictions, interesting ideas about controlling runaway progress
Starship Troopers
-jump engines, powered armor, a military-based limited democracy, a tribute to the infantryman of past and future, and a simple biologically motivated clash of intelligent species
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress
-an anatomy of a revolution, the unexpected emergence of an AI, rational anarchism and the redeeming traits of criminals, realistic lunar colonization
Red Mars, Green Mars, Blue Mars (3 books)
-despite the naive politics and silly interpersonal plots, the random details create an incredibly rich and plausible potential future that is extremely relevant to our time
I class some of the stuff in there among the greatest moments of science fiction, like the robot designers who learned the purpose of boredom.
Realizing why the stuff is absurd is as deep a lesson as you'll get from any sci-fi.
I love science fiction and devour it massively. Being a teenager myself (I'm but a young tyke) I figured I'd toss on my list as well. Most of these books, I'd read before I was 15, so although some material is Not for Kids (TM), smart teens tend to handle stuff better than some would believe.
;]
--Startide Rising by David Brin. Probably my first taste of sci-fi.
--The Hobbit --JRR Tolkien. I HAVE to find time to read the Trilogy of the Rings too.
--Dune --the whole series. I don't recall the author's name, but it's fascinating, intricate reading that goes fast.
--The Man-Kzin Wars --Created by Larry Niven. I found The Children's Hour fascinating. I love felinoid aliens.
--The Pride of Chanur --The entire series by CJ Cherryh. More felinoid aliens.
--Perelandra, Out of the Silent Planet, and That Hideous Strength --C.S. Lewis. It's a little dated, but Lewis is an excellent author, and these books are like candy. Check out The Chronicles of Narnia as well. They're aimed more for kids and are fantasy, but still, excellent, tasty reading.
--The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy --I nearly died. Killer British comedy. Hilarious. All five books of the trilogy.
--The Harry Potter series -- JK Rowling. This is aimed more for kids, and it's a little more at fantasy, but still hilariously British. Think a combination of Hitchhiker's Guide and The Hobbit.
--A Wrinkle in Time --Madeleine L'Engle. Quite possibly one of my favorite books. Very deep.
--Sphere --Michael Crichton. Get ANYTHING Crichton.
Happy reading, and good luck.
Angry IT woman in big clompy boots. And talking lint!.
A 13-year-old mind is mature enough to handle any reading material. In fact, the more time a person has to be exposed to wildly varied viewpoints, the better they will be able to deal with them. As for graphic sex, all it will do is teach them not to giggle at a younger age.
Expose a 13-year-old to Marx and they'll think their way out of it before they do anything stupid. Restrict their access until they reach 18 and you might have a revolutionary on your hands.
Sci Fi is a great way to get childern into reading, however, they may fill up only on it, ignoring the classic readings that makes up her/your culture.
"Our myths, the myths of Tolkien and Homer, of Heinlein and Mallory are eternal; they exchange one name for another, cast off one mask and assume the next."
-- J. Michael Straczynski, creator of Babylon 5
I'm not so sure I agree with your assertion that what academia says are "classics" are "must reads" just because they are classics. Even ignoring the circular logic, you have to understand that as JMS has so astutely observed, stories repeat themselves; it is simply the dressing, the flavor, that changes.
I don't think the "our culture" argument holds, either. I know I didn't relate to anything in any of those works you listed as well as I related to, say, Ender's Game. Niven, Heinlein, McCaffrey and Tolkien had far more influence on my life then anything pushed on me in school.
If I can be so bold as to speak for those other then myself, I suspect a lot of the Slashdot readership's "culture" is science fiction and fantasy before "traditional classics".
Now, keep one thing clear: I am not saying one should not read those works. Frankly, I think they are all very good. But the reason for reading them should be "Because they are good reads", not because they define some arbitrary cultural tradition that may or may not fit anyone personally.
Remember that the Classics are the foundation that most of todays readings are build on.
True, but you don't have to sleep on the foundation to enjoy the benefits of a well-built house. If someone wants to study the "classics" because literary history interests them or whatever, then fine. But it should be the reader's choice, as only they know what they like. Far too many teachers I've had in the past assume that they can like a book for me. It simply isn't true.
dragonhawk@iname.microsoft.com
I do not like Microsoft. Remove them from my email address.
Everyone's giving lists of specific books. I tend to think that's a bit too specific. (Also, I don't want to have to go find the name of all 200 good novels that Asimov wrote =P)
These are the best three sci-fi authors ever (IMNSHO), I reccomend everything they ever wrote (almost):
These authors have written their share of crap, but they've also written some gems:
I probably left out some important authors, but the wrightings of the authors listed above should give you enough reading for the next 10 years...
-- The act of censorship is always worse than whatever is being censored. Always.
Try this: read "1984", "Brave New World", then "Make Us Happy" in that order. There is a clear progression that is absolutely hilarious.
I've been reading SF since 1958, when I was six. I started with A.E. Van Vogt's "Voyage of the Space Beagle," a book upon which some sort of TV series was based many years later. I remember the book clearly - and far more fondly than Star Trek, which was a pallid thing by comparison.
By age eight I was a major Heinlein fan, to the point where my great fictional childhood role model was "Kettle Belly" Baldwin. (My "real life" role model was a friend of my grandmother's named Ray Bradbury, who put the idea into my head that I might one day be able to earn a living as a writer.)
Back to topic at hand:
My offbeat SF reading suggestions are Mark Twain's "Letters from the Earth," "Adam's Diary," "Eve's Diary," and "Captain Stormfield's Visit to Heaven." These works are often packaged into a single volume, and are all worth reading not only on their own merits but also because they are where RAH got many of the pithy quotes he put into the mouths of characters like Lazarus Long, Prof. Bernardo de la Paz, Jubal Harsaw, Hugo Piniero, Sgt. Zim, and the other "wise but tough father" figures he used in almost all of his books and stories.
Yes, Heinlein plagiarized Clemmens. Frequently. I don't mind, but I think it's nice to know the original source wherever possible.
Indeed, much of the "theology" in "Stranger in a Strange Land" and later Heinlein books is somewhat derivitive of Twain's satires on Christian behavior. I often got the feeling that Heinlein had read Twain's beautifully ironic short story, "The Man Who Corrupted Hadleysburg," even more times than I had.
Some other Twain SF recommendations:
- A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
- Tales for Good Old Boys and Girls
- Tom Sawyer, Aeronaut
These books may not be suitable for TV-raised teeners. 19th century writers tended to move slowly by today's standards. But they're excellent works and well worth the time of an adult who wants to delve into "science fiction" that was written long before Hugo Gernsback coined the term in the 30s.
- Robin
Even better, they're available (in the UK, at least) as a 5 volume collected works, complete with comments on each story from Phil in the back to place it in context.
Thoroughly recommended.
Incidentally, if you've watched Blade Runner and enjoyed it, read Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, the story it's based on. Not too long but a much better, fuller story IMHO.
Greg
Greg
(Inside a nuclear plant)
Aaaarrrggh! Run! The canary has mutated!
Everyone else on the Internet has chimed in; I might as well, too.
:-)
:-) Cheers!
Must Reads
Asimov, Heinlein, Clarke, Bradbury. They still pack more ideas into a small space then any truck-full of cyberpunk.
J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit should be read as young as possible, as kids can enjoy that sort of story much better then adults. Later on, they can try out The Lord of the Rings, but that requires some work to appreciate it fully, so go easy early on.
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. Quite simply one of the best books I've ever read.
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. Follow up with the sequels if you like (you will).
Personal Favorites
The Dragonriders of Pern series, by Anne McCaffrey. A pleasant mix of sci-fi and fantasy, with excellent characterization in relatively light reading. And you'll fall in love with the dragons, too.
Larry Niven. One of my favorite authors, his stories pack an education in the human condition and physics into the same space. I recommend his two short story collections, N-Space and Playgrounds of the Mind. If you prefer something longer, Ringworld is great. I also recommend The Mote in God's Eye, an excellent First Contact novel, and as Robert A. Heinlein (yes, him) said, "Possibly the best science fiction novel I have ever read."
C.S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia is an excellent series of fantasy, in the classic tradition of the fairy-tale. If the reader hasn't lost that childlike sense of wonder, they are excellent books. (There is also some Christian allegory if you like that sort of thing, but you don't have to get that part if you don't want to.)
I'm going to stop now, before I list my entire library.
dragonhawk@iname.microsoft.com
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The Bene Gesserit breeders produced House Harkonnen and House Atriedes as experiments in pure evil and pure good (in appearances, at least), culminating in the Baron and Duke Leto. Paul was balanced because he was a cross between the two.
In any viable culture (that I know of, at least), true homosexuality is accepted, tolerated, ridiculed, or outlawed, but never generally praised. In the balance of things it's considered wrong, or at least wierd and deviant. Given one fresh Dunclone's reaction to Fish Speaker lesbians, I'd take it that it was considered a foul and evil obscenity in the ruling culture of the period. Harkonnens (especially the ultimate evil floating fat man himself) would be drawn by the perversity of it.
I think it would be pretty sad if they fudged the cultures of the Dune universe to make more politically correct novels.
I think there's also supposed to be a good calculating explanation for the Baron's... preferences... in the upcoming House Harkonnen (I don't want to ruin any surprise, but some B.G. breeder did manage to sneak at least one offspring out of him - Jessica).
I agree completely. Some of these you could put off, as they are commonly found in high-school english classes (I've been assigned Of Mice and Men 3 times!).
Another classic I'd like to add which falls into the fantasy category is Watership Down (I unfortunately don't remember the author).
Doug
Venn ist das nurnstuck git und Slotermeyer? Ya! Beigerhund das oder die Flipperwaldt gersput!
I know, big war, lots of dead people and misery, not a laughing matter, but the reference had a certain humor, something like:
God Emperor: This Hitler guy killed like 60 million people.
Lackey: Wow, he must have had some really great weapons.
God Emperor: No, no, not with his own hands, he just ordered his armies to do it, like I do.
Lackey: Well, that's not too impressive, then, your track record totally blows his out of the water. Isn't that about par for you on a good day?
I would recommend the first few books of the Uplift Series, specifically Startide Rising and The Uplift War, by David Brin. They are complex stories that affirm good values, but they also make fun of the clueless adults (the other "patron races" in the five galaxies). The importance of the latter to a teenager can't be overstated, nor the fact that not all 'adults' are their enemy.
:-)
The first book in the series, often overlooked, is Sundiver. It has some interesting concepts and lays the groundwork, but it's a bit more adult. (Or hyper-adult, since most adults I know would be "probates".)
The last three books in the series, actually a single work split for market reasons, follow the Streaker's attempt to get home. They are not light reading, but by the time she get's through everyone else's list she'll be a HS senior or in college and can appreciate these books.
For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong. -- H L Mencken
Sirens of Titan, The Player Piano, or at least Welcome to the Monkey House.
And don't forget Stanislaus Lem.
-- What you do today will cost you a day of your life.
I'm in the minority, but I found the later Dune books far *more* interesting than the first book.
The original trilogy (which was really one book, but split due to market constraints) was the classic Hero's Journey, as discussed by Joseph Campbell. The hero has divine birth (Royalty, Bene Gesserit genetic experiment), is unjustly deprived of his rightful position, successfully fights to regains it, then ultimately fails due to his hubris.
The fourth book is the necessary conclusion of Leto's story.
The last book (published in two pieces, due to market constraints), is the first book outside of the Hero arcs set in motion by the first volume. That leaves most people used to the first book feeling a bit put out, and the other people who would prefer the more contemplative nature of these books are unlikely to read them after the poor reviews from Dune fans.
For anyone interested, Heretics of Dune and Chapterhouse: Dune are set 1500(?) years after Leto's death. Our heroes are the Bene Gesserit - *very* different than what you would expect from the first few books. They are locked in mortal struggle with the "Honored Matres" - a distorted echo of the BG returned from the scattering. The surface conflict mirrors the inner conflict faced by all affluent societies - when is it enough?
For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong. -- H L Mencken
"As pathetic as it may sound - I still reread the Earthsea cycle from time to time. It still has something to say although the first book in the series is a bit too clumsy not as multifaceted as the later ones."
Funny you should say that. I read "Wizard of Earthsea" 5 or 10 times during my teenage 'read all the SF in the world' cycle. 20 years later I was scanning through it and the lightbulb went on - now I know what she was trying to say. A very enjoyable light fantasy when one is young; a lot deeper when one is older. That's what I would call a classic.
sPh
Not if you don't mind the gradual progression from science fiction built around an epic plot of imperial intrigue to being built around the plot of a porno movie.
(start cheesy 70s porno guitar)
Entrenched aristocracy gets lazy, hires bureaucrats, are eventually taken over by superbabes with ultraorgasmic powers sleeping their way to the top. Having reached the top, they sleep their way across the galaxy, holding entire planetary populations in sexual bondage until they meet our hero:
Dunclone Idaho! The sex-zombie with hyper-fuckadelic powers superior to those of the superbabes. Wait until their paths collide, and watch the arm-pit nibbling action that will decide the fate of the universe!
^_^;; (I don't care how funny you find this, don't moderate anything with "spoilers" in the subject so it's visible without clicking)
I'd like to add to The Dull Blade's insightful comment about censoring your kid's reading. I agree with him almost completely:
This worked wonders for me. My parents showered me with books beginning when I was four; I'd read all of Asimov's famous stuff by the time I was your daughter's age. My mind hasn't been perverted in the least. And I still haven't ever giggled at sex, having been completely clued in about it through books prior to puberty.
The concern that a book is too advanced (conceptually or linguistically) for your child is a valid one. I am having to reread some books that I read ten years ago and didn't understand, now that I'm eighteen. But be careful - by reading works above her reading level, your child can improve her reading level, and she can grow to understand the world through sci-fi allegories in ways a history class could never teach her.
The school systems today make this mistake. Very few other people my age that I know in real life can read much above the level of a ninth grader - they were taught to read phonetically, and have a Pavlovian association between "reading" and "book report". I still get laughed at when I haul in a three hundred page book to read during a free period... but the laughter stops when I clip through fourty pages by the time the bell rings.
Bless my parents for teaching me to read themselves, and excusing me from the first-grade "huked awn fonix" classes.
I would suggest _Rite of Passage_ by Alexi Panshin. The surface story should still appeal to a young teenager, which gives time for the deeper themes to sink in. The result is not only a book that is good to read, but an understanding of how SF can dig into the structure of societies (current as well as future).
sPh
Ceterum censeo Microsoftam esse delendam.
The Eye of Argon
Go read it. You are guaranteed to regret it.
When I was younger I used to have a subscription to Analog Science Fiction and I was introduced to many authors who I would otherwise have never heard of. It's definitely a good investment. Alas these days I only have time to read technical reference manuals :-(
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
I recently read the first book of "The Norby Chronicles," a buncha short stories that Janet and Isaac Asimov wrote for kids -- compiled into book form. The first story was good. The second, okay. I'm much past 13 now, but it seemed a little sappy. This is a "don't expect the quality/depth that you usually do from Asimov" warning/alert.
I LOVED most of Asimov's stuff (essays, fantasy, sci-fi, mystery, etc.) and would gladly welcome a giant all-of-his-writing anthology. Unfortunately, I don't quite have room for an OED in my current apartment...
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Still, there is one problem, which is this: the girl is the guy's niece. He might want to check with her parents before giving her sci-fi or fantasy with themes or scenes that he KNOWS might conflict with any beliefs that they have. They, after all, are the ones who are raising her and are the ones who have the final say.
Hey, and don't forget to teach her a role-playing game or two! I wish I'd started a long time ago. I'd be a cool D&D chick, not the poser I am now.
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Yeah, I think Asimov did write a few not-so-worth-reading books. Some of his 'children's' stuff. Norby Chronicles, maybe (tho' I haven't read them) the Lucky Starr books (I think he himself didn't like them). But those are the exceptions. Knock yourself out.
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For a child that is just starting out, some of the 'raw' science fiction that has been mentioned here may be a little rough. While all the suggestions here have been great (and admittedly, I've read many of them) my personal opionion is that you may need an approcah vector that isn't quite as steep.
Personally, I'd start off with some of the novels that are based on popular Sci-Fi movies and television programs. The subject material will be a little more familar and easier to grasp, and they often don't push the envelope to the extent that you may find yourself explaining some unconfortable themes to your 13 year-old (as opposed to something like "Bio of a Space Tyrant" - please).
By the same token however, be advised that this same lack of an edge means that the books are often pablum. They often are the Sci-fi equivalent of Harlequin Romances, or Mack Bolan: Executioner books. Bu that doesn't mean they can't be enjoyable to sit together and read through.
From a personal perspective, around the age of 10-12, I recall devouring all the "Star Trek" anthologies that populated the school library. Mostly filled with short stories based on the Original Star Trek episodes. Light stuff, quick reads, easy to get into. Eventually, I ventured into 'harder' sci-fi (Asimov, Harrison, and then Gibson), and I was pretty much hooked.
So take an easy approach, and you might find you stay longer, rather than hitting the wall right away, and completely zoning out due to some god-awful ACC novel.
--sugarman--
I read Catch-22 when I was in 9th grade, so, 13 yrs old, and I liked it. It wasn't too difficult.
As for Ulysses, well, I read part of that this year, and hated it. Boring, tedious, etc. Perhaps I should try that one again in 10 years.
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Ceterum censeo Microsoftam esse delendam.
What classic lit reminds us of Slashdot?
Of course, thanks to suggestions, I now must add Beowulf, The Great CmdrTaco, and Chicken Soup for the Geek's Soul.
To get the essay to which the article refers, email me.
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Please, PLEASE ignore any suggestions of "Dune." It may be a good SF book (although I'm not a fan), but it's long, heavy, and hard reading for a 13yo.
My first SF was a collection from Scholastic, called "STARSTREAK! Stories From Space!" Yep, complete with a cheesy picture of a rocket on the cover.
Inside were such gems as, "Does A Bee Care? (Asimov)," "Who Goes There? (the short story which got turned into the movie 'the thing')," and um...lots of others.
The first SF story I read with the knowledge that it was SF was in Asimov's SF magazine: "Press Enter:" by John Varley. Possibly the best living SF author period. (Another Varley story everyone has to read at some point in their life is "The Persistence of Vision")
Pick up copies of the pulps (Asimov, Analog, On-Spec if you're in Canada) and read 'em all. There's good, bad, and (in?)different, but there's a great variety no matter what.
Oh, and of course, I, Robot.
"People who do stupid things with hazardous materials often die." -- Jim Davidson on alt.folklore.urban
Many people have listed their favorite SF books of all time. Here is a subset that I believe would be of interest to a 13-year-old girl new to SF. (Having once been in that category, I feel qualified to make recommendations.)
I didn't see these one mentioned yet, but I consider them essential SF/F reading (and very appropriate for 13-year olds):
The Phantom Tollbooth, by Norton Juster
Flatland, by Edwin Abbott
Also very good, but perhaps a little challenging for a young reader, is the Riverboat series by Philip Jose Farmer.
As for movies, it is harder, because many of the best ones (Bladerunner, Total Recall) have very adult situations that may not be appropriate for a young viewer (use your discretion).
Peace and love, y'all
Lots of posts here recommend Heinlein, and he is an icon of sorts, but the easy sexism of his age pervades his books to an extent I find it impossible to tolerate. Other writers of his era manage to avoid being quite so offensive, but usually only by having no female characters at all.
There are a number of new female science fiction writers -- Connie Willis, Pat Murphy, Suzette Hadon Elgin all are good. Many of the men mentioned by others here are great too, of course. One method we found led us to some great writing we'd missed is to get hold of a list of Hugo and Nebula Award winners and go from there. We've also discovered favorite authors in the "Year's Best Science Fiction" series edited by Gardner Dozois.
One of the great ones (IMHO) who I didn't see mentioned is Samuel R. Delaney, and I think his earliest stuff is probably good for a 13-year old; his later writing, while great, can be pretty strong. Same is true of Phillip K. Dick. As others have mentioned, it's probably a good idea to at least skim through any book before passing it on to a child. There's a short story by one of those women that was so horrifying I still wish *I* hadn't read it.
I've noticed a number of references as to the age of the girl in question and why this book wouldn't be right for a 13 year-old or would be too complicated and above their level to comprehend. Think however, back to when you read most of these books for the first time. Most likely you were around her age if not younger and understood them perfectly. As for the books deemed inappropriate due to age we really ought not to determine what is or is not appropriate for a 13 year-old. Don't delude yourself into thinking that you never read that sort of thing at that age or that she wouldn't already know of them by now. The only thing we can have to gain by pretending otherwise is a delay in teaching her to be an adult and act like one in a mature and dignified manner. Give children and teenagers the ability to make their own decisions and you just might be surprised.
I thought "Contact", both the book and the movie, were very good reading and I'd absolutely recommend it.
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Without getting into an argument of nature/nurture, the SF works most 13 year old girls would find *interesting enough to read on their own time* is a more limited category than the *every SF book I ever liked even after reading in the field for years as an adult*, which is what most of the posts here have appeared to degenerate into.
Remember, we can't assume this 13 year old girl has read *anything* in or out of the field, and it's supposedly our intention to make her into a lifelong SF reader.
With that in mind, my own initial suggestions to get her started would be as follows:
(1) the Heinlein short story "The Menace from Earth" (young female protagonist with flying scenes in the Moon and problems from an entirely unexpected direction);
(2) the Anne McCaffrey novella "Weyr Rider" (young female protagonist with flying sentient dragon - but SF, not fantasy and one of the earliest Pern stories);
(3) the Madeline L'Engle novel "A Wrinkle in Time", which won the Newberry award and still has one of the best emotional pay-offs of any juvenile, and which (yes, again) has a young female protagonist;
(4) the Heinlein novel "Have Spacesuit, Will Travel", with a wonderfully clueless teenage male protagonist dealing with a much smarter, braver, more able preadolescent female hero (Peewee) and a gradually expanding scenario from small town to galaxy-spanning adventure before returning us literally to Earth and that most serious of problem, picking the right university. Connie Willis says this is the one book she'd give anything to have written, and I've successfully (starting in grade 6) sucked in eight people into reading "that SF stuff" by the simple expedient of reading this novel out loud to them;
(5) Clarke's novel "Childhood's End", which sneaks up on genuine pathos in a quite unexpected way and involves probably the best female characters in Clarke's SF (not exactly saying much) as well as the best of the early SF attempts at transcendence;
(6) Asimov's short story "Nightfall" and novella "The Ugly Little Boy", which are about fear and love respectively and are two of Asimov's most emotionally affecting short works;
(7) Daniel Keyes' short story "Flowers for Algernon", which works better at short length than does his expansion to novel length, "Charlie" and is the single most accessable classical SF work for someone never exposed to SF before;
(8) Roger Zelazny's SF novella/ novel reworking of Greek myth to dramatic and ironic effect, "...And call me Conrad", which is not at all what it first appears and includes a delightfully ambiguous (anti)hero (is he Pan?) and a bookend of scenes involving a very competent woman who saves the hero;
(9) Heinlein's novel of growth and responsibility, "Citizen of the Galaxy", which as subtext involves the Frog Prince hero developing from a very frightened slave child to a maturing newly adult Prince of Industry (metaphorically speaking) and along the way having gradually more mature involvement with and comprehension of the people, including the women, around him;
(10) Andre Norton's "The Zero Stone" and its sequel, which is a rollicking good juvenile adventure and ends with a very strong subtext of dawning sexual maturity from a character that up until then is nearly genderless and which has been very popular with young girls when I've introduced them to SF in general or Andre Norton in particular;
(11) Vonda MacIntyre's classic (and award-winning) short story of a young woman healer, "Of Mist and Grass and Sand", named after the snakes she uses to heal (paging Dr. Freud), which is a wonderfully poetic post-apocalyptic tale that I like to give people of all ages who hate that "SF stuff";
(12) Ursula K. LeGuin's award winning SF novel "The Left Hand of Darkness", which clearly and wonderfully distinguishes and contrasts gender as opposed to humanity and caused me to be a helluva lot more tolerant of differences between people, even people I thought were dead wrong; and finally
(13) Joanna Russ' SF classic short story "When it changed", about a human colony centuries after a plague killed off all of its males reencountering standard two sexed humanity. Most SF is written from the point of view of the majority, dominant culture. This story works on a whole bunch of levels and is very understated with a very strong "payoff".
It's not as though there aren't many other choices to infect her with the SF bug, but these should keep her interested *now* and I've used all of these to good effect with young girls before. Remember that most SF is still more of interest to males, not females, at least in this culture, and talk with her about each of them at the level she wants to talk about them... and *don't be condescending*.
Sorry to break it to you guys but you're not giving nearly enough credit to an advanced 13 year old. When i was 13 i read 1984, Brave New World, and WE (which if you havn't heard of it is in fact better than the two previous, and chronologically first) in addition to Stranger in a Strange Land and the Moon is a Harsh Mistress. Admittedly i didn't get *everything* out of these, but i doubt very many adults *ever* get everything out of 'em. As for what i would reccomend: absolutely anything by Heinlein before 1970. IMAO he never should have written anything after The Moon is a Harsh Mistress; take Job as a case in point. Also, be sure to read DUNE. Dune is one of my favorite books of all time and could be considered the best SF ever. The sequels, while at times good, never approach the sheer scope and majesty of the original. Ender's Game is great for some fun reading. It's sequel, Speaker for the Dead, is also incredible but in a completely different way. The two sequels to this, Xenocide and Children of the Mind, are good ideas in many ways but not well executed. Avoid his recent 'Parallel Story,' Ender's Shadow, it's just a money maker... David Brin's 'Uplift' Trilogy's are incredible as well. And don't forget the required reading: Douglas Adam's Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy. It is not only a brilliant and hilarious book; it will also help you understand many of the classic hacker jokes.
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Every half-decent public library I've been to yet has several collections of Asimov's short stories. I, Robot is of course a must-read... but it's not alone. All of the 3-laws mind games were loads of fun. The Elijah Bailey (sp?) mystery series was great, too.
I'd wait on the Foundation (somewhat heavier reading, not as much fun IMHO), though it sounds a little late for that.
Eric Frank Russel's _Wasp_ - the one book I never lend anymore - and of which I have three copies after the one I DID lend was "lost" and I couldn't find it again for ten years. Also by Russel: _The Space Willies_, _And Then There Were None_
Russel and Ian Flemming worked together in the British Department of Dirty Tricks during WW II. This is the think tank that designed the spy techniques and equipment, along with the same for escape from prison camps. (I think they were also responsible for the British Home Guard manual - the difinitive text on guerilla warfare in a modern occupied city.) After the war they both became fiction authors and used their experience in their stories. Flemming went straight to spy fiction, modeling "M" in the James Bond series after himself. Russel did Science Fiction, with a heavy socio-political bent. But some a few of his works draw directly on his war experience, _Wasp_ the most of all. It's his unimplemented plan to drop a saboteur into WW II Japan, recast into an interplanetary war (with the Japanese secret police only lightly disguised...)
_And Then There Were None_ - one third of the collection _The Great Explosion_ - is the origin of MYOB and TANSTAAFL, and dear to the hearts of Pacifists and Anarchists everywhere. The three stories in the collection show how three different hypothetical cultures successfully resist an expansionist empire.
_The Space Willies_ is a hilarious romp where a lone man wins an interstellar war between two multi-species empires. From a prison camp. By making a joke, and then refusing to admit it was a joke. (_Hogan's Heroes_ is a pale shadow.)
Try to get the originally published versions of _The Space Willies_ and _Wasp_. Russel had (or was?) an excelent editor, and the modern reprints of the unedited manuscripts show it. The unedited _Wasp_ is only slightly awkward and still excelent, but _The Space Willies_ was edited down to a half-Ace-Double from a novel, and improved significantly by the tightening, pacing, chaff removal, and even the title change - from _Next of Kin_.
Leinster does fine yarns with with moral and social as well as technical concepts playing key roles, and does them with a vocabulary that makes them accessable to a child (if occasionally annoying an adult). His "Med Ship" series in particular is an excelent introduction to "Golden Age" Science Fiction.
Also from the Golden Age: George O. Smith. Read his _Venus Equilateral_ collection and you'll want to resurrect vacuum tube technology and hunt down the discoveries that got lost when it was abandoned for silicon. (Then go do a web search on "Farnsworth AND Fusion"... B-) ) Or try _Highways in Hiding_ / _The Space Plague_ for a marvelous superman/chase/conspiracy story set in a future where two Psi powers are commonplace and an accepted part of the background! (How do you do secrecy when about half the population are telepaths, and most of the other half clarivoyant? Poker is interesting... B-) )
Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
Robert A. Heinlein: Door Into Summer, Tunnel in the Sky, Starman Jones, Have Spacesuit Will Travel, Red Planet (Willis!), Space Cadet, Rocketship Galileo, Time for the Stars, The Star Beast, Between Planets, Citizen of the Galaxy, The Rolling Stones (fantastic bio of the band), Farnham's Freehold, Moon is a Harsh Mistress, Starship Troopers, Stranger in a Strange Land, Time Enough for Love. Oh, okay, ANYTHING by Heinlein. He arguably had the most influence on the SF genre of anyone, and for the better, too.
Isaac Asimov: the 'Lucky Starr' books (very Heinlein-ish), I, Robot
Arthur C. Clarke: Islands in the Sky (very Heinlein-ish), Childhood's End, City and the Stars, Rendezvous with Rama
Raymond Z. Gallun - The Planetstrappers (rare but very good and VERY Heinlein-ish)
James Blish - Welcome to Mars (same comments as above)
Anne McAffrey - The Pern books (especially the Harper Hall trilogy, and 'White Dragon'), The Ship Who Sang (& sequels), To Ride Pegasus (& sequels), The Rowan (& sequels), Coelura
Mercedes Lackey - Arrows of the Queen (& sequels), Magic's Pawn, Born to Run (& sequels with and without other authors), The Oathbound (I & II)
Andre Norton - the 'Solar Queen' books
James Schmitz - Witches of Karres (a total classic! hard to find), the Telzey Amberdon books
Joan D. Vinge - Psion & Cat's Paw
Robert Lynn Asprin - the 'Myth' books - very funny
Piers Anthony - the Xanth books and the Apprentice Adept books
Harry Harrison - the Stainless Steel Rat books, The Daleth Effect
Joe Haldeman - The Forever War
James White - the Sector General books
F Paul Wilson - Healer
EE "Doc" Smith - the Skylark series, the Lensman series, Subspace Explorer & Encounter, Spacehounds of IPC, the Vortex Blaster
Edgar Rice Burroughs - the John Carter of Mars books, the Venus books
Poul Anderson - the 'Flandry' books
Joel Rosenberg - Guardians of the Flame series
Douglas Adams - Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy & the next 2 books - skip the rest
Robert Silverberg - Across a Billion Years
Steven Brust - the Vlad Taltos books - great stuff
Elizabeth Moon - the Deed of Paksenarrion books, also some good recent SF novels
David Eddings - The Belgariad, the Malloreon, the Elenium, and anything related to any of these. Great characters.
Marcia J. Bennett - if you can find anything by her like Shadow Singer, Beyond the Draak's Teeth,
or Seeking the Dream Brother
Ann Maxwell - the Fire Dancer books - hard to find but worth it
Ray Bradbury - Fahrenheit 451
Orson Scott Card - the Ender books
Frederik Pohl - the Heechee books
C. J. Cherryh - Merchanter's Luck
L. Ron Hubbard - Battlefield Earth
Roger Zelazny - the Amber books
David Brin - The Practice Effect
Aldous Huxley - Brave New World (mmmmm...soma)
That's all I can think of right now. There's LOTS more...
Yes! I was just thinking the same thing. Don't forget The Ganymede Club, set in the same history as Cold as Ice.
You can't be called a true SF reader until you've read the classics. These include:
;-)
Asimov's Foundation Series
Asimov's Robots Series
Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land
Clarke's 2001 (the rest of the series is a wash to me)
Herbert's Dune Series
Adam's Hitchiker's Guide To the Galaxy Series
I'd throw in Heinlein's "Moon is a Harsh Mistress" but not everybody agrees that's a classic.
Then there's a couple of modern books that make sense:
Gibson's Neuromancer
Stephenson's books, read at least one of Snow Crash, The Diamond Age, and Cryptomnicron
After that, you've established your SF credentials and are free to persue other works of the genre.
sigs are a waste of space
Here is a list and some comments about books that I have enjoyed over the years. There's a lot of good stuff out there which I haven't even gotten close too.... Asimov: Foundation, Caves of Steel, Nightfall. Asimov is great at taking an idea and running with it. They might not be the most realistic stuff out there, but they're good. Heinlein: Citizen of the Galaxy- Great Juvenile aout slavery and adventure, Have Spacesuit will Travel-Juvenile, fun Tunnel in the Sky- Juvenile, fun Starship Troopers- Great, thought provoking book, political ideas and thoughts about duty and civic responsibility abound The Moon is a Harsh Mistress- Allegorical book about the American Revolution, more politics. The Puppet Masters: Entertaining cold war tract about Communism, in the vein of Invasion of the Body Snatchers He has many more books, like Stranger in a Strange Land that I also liked. I feel his later work is a little weaker than his early stuff. Arthur C. Clarke: Never really got into Clarke, but Rendezvous with Rama is great. H.G. Wells: Utterly classic stuff, and unbelievably prescient in many of his predictions. Books I consider must reads: The Island of Dr. Moreau (Genetic engineering, humanity and barbarism) The War of the Worlds (Colonialism, for an interesting study, try reading this and Heart of Darkness back to back) The Time Machine (Socialism) Frank Herbert: Dune. Classic. Must read Octavia Butler: Bloodchild and other stories. Wonderful stories. This is the only thing I have read by her, but on its basis I would highly recommend her. William Gibson: Burning Chrome, Neuromancer, COunt Zero, Mona Lisa Overdrive. His early stuff is great, later stuff is weak as far as I am concerned. George Alec Effinger: When Gravity Fails, A Fire in the Sun, The Exile Kiss. Maybe not for a 13 year old, but give it a couple of years. Entertaining Cybperunk in an Arab milieu. Neal Stephenson: Snow Crash Great, funny, thought provoking cyberpunk. Anything with a main character named Hiro Protagonist is the bomb. David Brin: Sundiver, Startide Rising, The Uplift War. Great series of intergalactic chicanery, hijinks, complete with dolphins. Orson Scott Card: Ender's Game. Great book about a young boy training for war. Some people liked the rest of the series, I wasn't a fan. Joe Haldeman: The Forever War Total classic, heavily influenced by Vietnam Alfred Bester: The Stars My Destination Great story of a shipwrecked nebbish who is left to die by a passing ship and dedicates his life to vengeance. The Demolished Man is also supposed to be good. James Tiptree Jr.: Brightness Falls from the Air Wonderful story about a strange planet with rumblings of a holocaust in the air Phillip K. Dick: Great author, rare insight, sometimes a little addled. Would recommend: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep (made in to Blade Runner), The Man in the High Castle (What if Nazis win WWII?), We Can Remember it for you Wholesale (Story, made into Total Recall), Flow my Tears the Policeman Said. Douglas Adams: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, etc.. Funny stuff. David Feintuch: Midshipman's Hope. Fun updating of Horatio Hornblower to deep space. Larry Niven: Ringworld. Great idea, great hard SF. Niven and Pournelle: The Mote in God's Eye: great idea, great hard SF. HP Lovecraft: More horror than SF, but I have to give him a plug for being an inventive bridge betwween Poe and Stephen King. Lois McMaster Bujold: Miles Vorkosigian series is good stuff. You should also definitely check out Roger Zelazny's Lord of Light. This is fun!
The suggested readings I've seen in postings so far have all been excellent, save for one missing notable.
Where's Kurt Vonnegut?
For my buck, essential reading includes:
Slaughterhouse Five
Breakfast of Champions
...and my personal favourite:
The Sirens of Titan (probably a good start for someone younger)
You really can't go wrong with these titles, IMO.
--- I shall always be wherever I've been. - Winston Niles Rumfoord
I really liked the Space Trilogy series (Out of the Silent Planet, Paralandra, haven't gotten to the thrid book yet) by Lewis.
-- Erich
Slashdot reader since 1997
I don't see a single book in that list which is not fit for a 13 year old person. I have read many of them at that age and earlier. As I read through the lists people post here I keep seeing comments about what is or isn't fit for a 13 year old and it simply makes me sick.
I have been reading science fiction without any selection by an adult since the age of 8. I can't think of a single SF book which I would not let a younger person read because it is somehow "harmful". The only thing these books may cause harm to is to your twisted image of what it is like to be 13. Have you all really forgotten what's it like? It was almost two decades ago but I still remember.
----
Stop worrying about the risks of nuclear power and start worrying about the risks of not using nuclear power.
_Tunnel Through the Deeps_ by Harry Harrison (originally published under another title in the UK and may currently be in print under that name, which I don't know). Lighthearted and amusing introduction to alternate history with Gus Washington trying to redeem his family's name by building a railroad tunnel from England to the American colonies around 1980.
_Under Pressure_ by Frank Herbert (also has another title which I can't remember - I am getting old). The pyschology of technology - or is it the technology of psychology? Somewhat heavy on the military theme. But really pushes the idea that how people interact as they use technology is more important than the technology itself.
I used to have an anthology of George O. Smith's "Venus Equilaterial" stories. Somewhat 1950's, but a good set of engineering mysteries mixed with space opera.
Isaac Asmimov edited a lot of anthologies of 1930's - 1970's SF short stories. Various anthologies of Hugo winners, etc. are also good. Short stories can be less intimidating than novels, and reading the 1930's stuff can be good for a laugh and an intro. to the genre at the same time.
As to the various comments on what is appropriate for a 13 y.o., I would make three observations:
1) At the ripe old age of 38, I can't imagine what it is like to be a pre-teen/teenager today. But based on what I see on VH-1, network television, and the teen section of the magazine rack, there isn't anything in any of the books listed in this discussion that will be corrupting, or even news to, a Western 13 y.o.
2) By the age of 14, certainly, I had read 75% of the books listed that had been published at the time. I suspect most of the people reading this had done the same. No significant damage done and possibly a lot of benefit.
3) Isaac Asimov once compared SF to a technical candle: expose a 12 y.o. to a good selection of SF, and if he (she) has an inborn desire/talent for technology, he will be drawn to it as a moth to a candle. Pretty accurate in my estimation.
sPh
I said:
_And Then There Were None_ - one third of the collection _The Great Explosion_ - is the origin of MYOB and TANSTAAFL, and dear to the hearts of Pacifists and Anarchists everywhere.
Actually, it was MYOB, F-IW, and the basic use of "initial slang", i.e. acronyms, as shorthand for homilies. TANSTAAFL showed up in Heinlin's _The Moon is a Harsh Mistress_, another Anarchist utopia story (though a bit more diverse, rather than Russel's more homogeneous Ghands - Ghandi-influenced pacifist anarchists).
There's a story behind TANSTAAFL, too, beyond the one in which it appeared...
Seems that Milton Freedman was attending an economics conference, and went out to lunch with another economist. On their way and during the lunch they continued an old economics debate: "Are there any universal rules of economics?", with Uncle Miltie taking the pro-rules side.
Upon leaving the restaurant Milton said ~You know, that was a marvelous lunch. And the restaurant had excelent service. Wouldn't it be wonderful if it was free?~
Of course his dinner partner said "There's no such thing as a free lunch." And Milton pointed out that he'd just stated a universal rule of economics, destroying his own argument and winning the debate for Milton. B-)
And just incidentally creating a beloved homily for Libertarians and other capitalist-anarchists the world over.
Which reminds me... Don't forget to turn them on to L. Neil Smith's "North American Confederacy" series, starting with _The Probability Broach_ and continuing with _The Venus Belt_
Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
It might be helpful if you seek out books with good female characters. Several females I know site the paucity of female characters as one of the reasons they don't read more sci-fi or fantasy.
There are, of course, many examples of well-written females in sci-fi. One that springs to mind is the "Beggars" series by Nancy Kress. (Beggars in Spain, Beggar's Ride, Beggars and Choosers.) This series is my wife's favorite sci-fi, and Kress her favorite author of any genre, and have been since her teens. The series features several excellent female characters of different stripes, including a pretty good teen prodigy.
Other suggestions:
"A Wrinkle In Time" series by Madeleine L'Engle
"Wizard of Earthsea" series by Ursula K. Leguin
I, Robot (short stories) by Isaac Asimov
Any of the Pern books by Anne McCaffery
You might also consider Robert Jordan's "Wheel of Time" series, which is somewhere between sci-fi and fantasy. It's probably too advanced to start with, but it has some of the most engaging characters I've read anywhere. It's also the most popular sci-fi/fantasy series I know of among both men and women I know.
Finally, Piers Anthony does some good juvenile work, but most is very juvenile in my opinion. I would suggest reading these yourself before passing them on, as there's a wide range of quality among them. Also, every series of his that I've read degraded as it went on, some heavily. The Xanth series is immature fantasy, but is also quite funny and light reading. The Split Infinity has some sci-fi and fantasy, and a bit more intelligence in general. Most of his work deals with sex on occasion, usually in an immature, junior-high sort of way, which is probably fine if your niece is already educated about such things. The Incarnations of Immortality is perhaps my favorite of his work, but there isn't much need to read the series unless you adore the first book. If you read any of these, I would suggest alternating with books of greater consequence or intelligence.
Probably the best thing you can do, you are already doing. Reading with her and discussing the works periodically are excellent gifts that would serve any child well. Good work.
(Apologies if I've erred on any names or titles.)
joe fusion
joe fusion
anarchitect
By the way, this book brought me one of the most interesting moment's I've had in my short life. I was rereading this book in junior year of high school, and a stupid chick in my first period class saw me with it. After discovering that I was REREADING the book because I had enjoyed it so much, she asked in bewilderment, "Why would you read a book twice?"
I still hope a little bit that Amber was joking.
Ceterum censeo Microsoftam esse delendam.
Does it bother anyone else that in Tolkeins world, you have to be born to greatness?
Huh? What about Bilbo? Frodo? The other hobbits of the Fellowship? Did I miss something here? Or did you miss one of the main themes of the story?
And what's more, all the great people are tall and fair. The only evil humans are short and swarthy.
Oh, come on. First, again: The Hobbits. Second, Tolkien is neither the first nor the last to equate good with light and evil with darkness. It is a classic metaphor, and one that works very well.
The Hobbit is a marvelous story. I really like The Silmarillion. After trying to reread Lord of the Rings, I gave up.
They're really all part of the same story, you know.
There is better fantasy out there. Much, much better.
You're entitled to your opinion. Personally, I think The Lord of the Rings is the best fantasy ever written.
Anyway, some things are not easy or enjoyable, but are good to read.
Yes, but that does not mean easy and enjoyable stuff is necessarily bad. Tolkien's stuff is enjoyable, IMO, but not easy to read. Another of my personal favorites, Anne McCaffrey's works, I find both easy and enjoyable. Personal preference.
dragonhawk@iname.microsoft.com
I do not like Microsoft. Remove them from my email address.
What was I reading around age 13? This was 1983, so it would all be "old school" by today's standards, but my booksselves held a lot by authors such as Ben Bova, Larry Niven, Andre Norton, Robert Heinlein (his older stuff (like Farmer in the Sky) is mostly straight-ahead boy's adventure, middle stuff (Stranger in a Strange Land) more adult and interesing, then there was stuff (I Will Fear No Evil) that just sucked), Arthur Clarke, and Issac Asmiov. I gave Frank Herbert's Dune a shot around that age, but it was a little much; I didn't reall get it until I reread in my 20's. Might be an interesting thing to read and discuss together, though. I also used to read a lot of Piers Anthony around that age, but most of that would fall more under fantasy than SF.
A lot of "newer" SF may or may not be appropriate for a 13-year-old, depending, but that's no excuse for you. B-) You must read Gibon's Sprawl books - Neuromancer, Count Zero, and Mona Lisa Overdrive. (See if you can find te short story collection Burning Chrome, also.)
Other random suggestions: Rudy Rucker, Walter Jon Williams, David Gerrold, Ursula K. LeGuin, Neal Stephenson, John Brunner, Bruce Sterling.
Now get thee to a library. And enjoy!
Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | my blog
You cannot wash away blood with blood
Success and failure come about because of the nature of the person. The heroes are not (obviously) born into their fate and position. As for the hobbits, do you remember who they were. ALL were the children of the great families of the hobbits.
:-)
I really think you're reading something into the story that isn't there. One of the major themes of The Lord of the Rings is the struggle of a few persons against an overwhelmingly powerful evil. They weren't born into it; they fell into it, and proved their worth by their actions. Not by fate or a birthright.
Indeed, I don't remember fate being a significant part of LotR, other then for the elves (the choice of staying in Middle-earth, blah, blah). There were instances of people trying to see the future, but that isn't fate. There was Aragorn, but he wasn't fated to be king; he was the rightful king of Gondor, by line of decent. If that's fate, then everything is.
Is there something specific you're thinking about and I'm forgetting?
Try Patricia McKillip. The Cygnet and the Sorceress and The Cygnet and the Firebird are, to my mind, great.
Added to my virtual to-read queue. No guarantees on when I'll get around to it, tho. It's a big queue.
dragonhawk@iname.microsoft.com
I do not like Microsoft. Remove them from my email address.
The early books are much less rich than the later ones, so don't give The Colour of Magic as a first book. Instead try any of Mort, Wierd Sisters or Guards Guards. Also don't forget his non diskworld books, especially the "Johnny" books and the Gnomes trilogy (aka "The Bromeliad"), which are aimed at younger readers.
For more details about TP, go to the fan site.
You are lost in a twisty maze of little standards, all different.
I'd recommend the first in each series and DIScommend (if that's a word) the rest of each series
And remember, I would put McCaffrey and, say, Heinlein in COMPLETELY different categories. She is a good FANTASY author (as I've said, in her first books), but I doubt she's a classic as w/the others you mentioned. It's good escapism, with little or no "Wow, I never thought of it that way". Still, entertaining for a youngish teen. And the main characters in both those series are female.
Oh, and by the way, the quality of writing is maybe not too much better in her early books, but the plotting is MUCH better, which may be that to which you take objection. There's practically no plot in Lyon's Pride; I finished it out of a sense of obligation.
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Tristrom Cooke has been collecting votes for the top sci-fi/fantasy novels for years. Over 2500 voters later, Tristrom has a weekly-updated, weighted average list of the most popular books. See the latest list at THE INTERNET TOP 100 SF/FANTASY LIST. I've been reading my way down this list and have found a lot of winners (as well as a few duds).
role as fearless leader of the bomb-shelter in
a very high-handed manner. Then the bomb drops,
and does something weird, and as it turns out
they've been kicked into the far future. The
premise is that the Northern hemisphere has nuked itself into the stone age, and the third world
is now the first. The people of Africa and India have taken over, and they've enslaved the whites.
By the end of the book, a moral is explicitly presented: no one can be trusted with
absolute power over any human being, including
Our Hero, how now looks back on his role as
dictator of the bomb shelter with some regret.
So that's it: it's a "How would you like it if
the shoe were on the other foot?" story. It's admittedly clumsy, but it's an attempt at challenging racists to reconsider their attitudes.
If it were written by a black guy, no one would
take it any other way. But because it was
written by Heinlein, some people try and argue that it's some kind of warning "don't let those
black guys out from under your thumb, or look at
what they'll do to you".
There you have it, politically correct reasoning
in a nutshell. Doesn't matter what the man's
ideas really were, just that the "good guys" gave him a thumbs down.