It sounds to me that you might benefit from a reading guide to science fiction novels. I can think of a few.
The best guide I know is Neil Barron's _Anatomy of Wonder: A Critical Guide to Science Fiction_. It identifies Barron's take on what constitutes the "core" of a well-rounded science fiction library. The first edition of this volume came out in the 1970's, but it has been updated every few years thereafter. The most recent is the 5th edition from 2004. One may quibble with some of the selections, but for the most part, Barron's picks are quite solid.
A more quirky little volume is Baird Searles _A Reader's Guide to Science Fiction_. It is dated, as it came out in 1979 and hasn't been updated. Still, it's a decent way to discover authors you might not otherwise know about. It consists of capsule reviews of many authors. Each of them concludes by telling you "if you like this author, you'll probably like one of these writers, too" - and then naming two or three others to try. As I said, it's a bit quirky, but useful just the same.
Finally, let me suggest that you tap into _The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction_ compiled by Peter Nicholls and John Clute. I picked up the first edition around 1980 and found it to be very readable and quite useful. The second edition is a great update and improvement. One of the features you may find useful is that you can look up a particular subject or theme in SF that interests you (e.g., time travel, alternate history, galactic empires, telepathy, etc.) and find an essay about it that points to dozens of worthwhile books that explore the theme.
You find some of these at a library. For an out-of-print volumes like the one from Searles, I suggest a used book source such as www.alibris.com or Powell's Books.
No doubt there are other worthy guides that I've neglected, but I can vouch for these. Happy reading!
Slashdot Mirror
If you have a 64-sided die, you can use it as a shortcut to the I Ching hexagrams. Much more tidy than tossing yarrow stalks.
It sounds to me that you might benefit from a reading guide to science fiction novels. I can think of a few.
The best guide I know is Neil Barron's _Anatomy of Wonder: A Critical Guide to Science Fiction_. It identifies Barron's take on what constitutes the "core" of a well-rounded science fiction library. The first edition of this volume came out in the 1970's, but it has been updated every few years thereafter. The most recent is the 5th edition from 2004. One may quibble with some of the selections, but for the most part, Barron's picks are quite solid.
A more quirky little volume is Baird Searles _A Reader's Guide to Science Fiction_. It is dated, as it came out in 1979 and hasn't been updated. Still, it's a decent way to discover authors you might not otherwise know about. It consists of capsule reviews of many authors. Each of them concludes by telling you "if you like this author, you'll probably like one of these writers, too" - and then naming two or three others to try. As I said, it's a bit quirky, but useful just the same.
Finally, let me suggest that you tap into _The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction_ compiled by Peter Nicholls and John Clute. I picked up the first edition around 1980 and found it to be very readable and quite useful. The second edition is a great update and improvement. One of the features you may find useful is that you can look up a particular subject or theme in SF that interests you (e.g., time travel, alternate history, galactic empires, telepathy, etc.) and find an essay about it that points to dozens of worthwhile books that explore the theme.
You find some of these at a library. For an out-of-print volumes like the one from Searles, I suggest a used book source such as www.alibris.com or Powell's Books.
No doubt there are other worthy guides that I've neglected, but I can vouch for these. Happy reading!
Steve