Classic SF Primer

[PoeticExplosion]

So, I'm quickly becoming a SF nut. I'm trying to "round out" my SF knowledge by reading as much classic SF as possible.

I've been doing this somewhat haphazardly, so I was wondering if anyone had some suggestions of what books a SF fan MUST read.

[j. d. worthington]

Alfred Bester:

The Demolished Man
The Stars My Destination

Daniel Keyes:

Flowers for Algernon

Isaac Asimov:

I, Robot
Foundation
Foundation and Empire
Second Foundation (these three can be found in omnibus The Foundation Trilogy)
The Gods Themselves

Robert A. Heinlein:

Stranger in a Strange Land
Double Star
Starship Troopers

Fritz Leiber:

The Big Time

Arthur C. Clarke:

Rendezvous with Rama
Expedition to Earth
Childhood's End

The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, vols. 1, 2A, 2B (the following volumes, or The Hugo Winners series, are prize winners that take you through the history of sf from 1955 -- Hugos -- to late 1990s, or 1963 -- SF Hall of Fame -- to late 1970s; Nebula Award Winners take you to the present)

Kim Stanley Robinson:

Red Mars
Blue Mars
Green Mars

Larry Niven:

Protector
Ringworld
A Gift from Earth

Michael Moorcock:

The Cornelius Quartet

Harlan Ellison:

Deathbird Stories
Shatterday
I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream
(Ellison as editor):
Dangerous Visions
Again, Dangerous Visions

Ray Bradbury:

Farenheit 451
The Stories of Ray Bradbury
Dandelion Wine

J. G. Ballard:

The Drowned World
The Drought
The Crystal World
and, if you don't mind having your mind rearranged:
The Atrocity Exhibition

Brian Aldiss:

Helliconia Winter
Helliconia Spring
Helliconia Summer
Barefoot in the Head

Thomas M. Disch:

Camp Concentration

C. M. Kornbluth:

The Best of C. M. Kornbluth

Cordwainer Smith:

The Best of Cordwainer Smith

Ursula K. LeGuin:

The Dispossessed
The Word for World is Forest

Joanna Russ:

The Female Man

Ward Moore:

Bring the Jubilee

Samuel R. Delaney:

Dhalgren

R. A. Lafferty:

Nine Hundred Grandmothers

Roger Zelazny:

Jack of Shadows (borderline sf/fantasy)
Lord of Light

Damon Knight:
The Best of Damon Knight
(as editor):
Orbit #1-5 (if you like what's there, keep going; there are 19 of them, I think)

Robert Silverberg:

Thorns
The Man in the Maze

Norman Spinrad:

Bug Jack Barron

John Wyndham:

The Midwich Cuckoos
The Chrysalids (Re-Birth)

Clifford Simak:

City

A. E. van Vogt:

Slan
The Weapon Shops of Isher

Theodore Sturgeon:

More Than Human

Frank Herbert:

Dune
Dune Messiah
Children of Dune

Poul Anderson:

Brain Wave

Or, if you want an easier intro. to early sf, try

Adventures in Time and Space (anthology, ed. Healy & McComas)
The Omnibus of SF (anthology, ed. Groff Conklin)
A Treasury of Great Science Fiction (2-volume anthology, ed. Anthony Boucher; contains Re-Birth, The Weapon Shops of Isher, Brain Wave and The Stars My Destination, as well as numerous short stories, novellas, and novelettes)

I'm not very knowledgeable on some of the more recent sf writers, but you'll find plenty here who are. There's also a thread of suggestions for newcomers to the field as well. If you want, I can come up with more titles, these are what come to mind right off the bat; it should give you something to grow on for the moment. Enjoy!

And welcome to the madhouse we call home!

[iansales]

Check out:

http://sfsite.com/lists/orion04.htm
http://sfsite.com/lists/orion03.htm
http://sfsite.com/lists/orion02.htm
http://sfsite.com/lists/orion01.htm

[chrispenycate]

Liked JD’s list. Disagreed (of course) with some of the books, none of the authors. Still, I’d add some of the very olds : H.G.Wells (The Time Machine, War of the worlds) Jules Verne (20,00 leagues under the sea) and Aldous Huxley (Brave new world) and George Orwell (1984) (for conspicuous erudition)
Some Fred Pohl ? “Man plus“, or “†he space merchants“ perhaps ? (never forgetting that with most of these writers, if you like the book you can look for more of that author’s work, and with a few exceptions (Bester and Spinrad from the previous list) will probably not be disappointed.
Since this is under “classic“ I’m not going to fill in any of the newerworks ; indeed I question the Kim Stanley Robinson entries (not as books, merely from age) and question if we shouldn’t put some of the unashamed space opera romps in (EE “Doc“ Smith’s Lenseman series) or some of Simac’s nostalgia for an America that never existed…
Ransack your local library for that lot, then come back when you’ve read them. There will be plenty more suggestions waiting (and so many short stories, too)

[j. d. worthington]

And someone I meant to include but did not (aside from Wells and Verne, who simply seemed so obvious I overlooked putting them on the list):

Olaf Stapledon:

Odd John
Sirius
Last and First Men
Star Maker

And, as he had such an impact on the field (basically ruling it for over a decade), I suppose I should include

John W. Campbell:

The Best of John W. Campbell (especially "Twilight" and "Who Goes There"; though if you get the SF Hall of Fame volumes, these are included in them, as well)

As to "Doc" Smith, I heartily agree. He was certainly one of the best for space opera, as George O. Smith was for good old "nuts-and-bolts" sf. For a good example of George O., try The Complete Venus Equilateral.

Actually, for a good overview of some of the best writers from the Golden Age, there was an entire run of "Best of" volumes, from Stanley G. Weinbaum, who was one of the first greats of American magazine sf, to Raymond Z. Gallun, Fredric Brown (whom I highly recommend; very wonky view of the world, but very, very good), Fred Pohl, C. L. Moore, Henry Kuttner, Leigh Bracket (who co-wrote the script for The Empire Strikes Back, by the way, but didn't live to see the finished product). And Judith Merrill's annual Best of sf anthologies from the 50s and 60s present the changeover from classic Golden Age to New Wave rather well, if somewhat idiosyncratically. And we mustn't leave out Philip Jose Farmer, who certainly challenged the boundaries with Strange Relations, The Lovers, The Green Odyssey, "Please Don't Wash the Carats", "Riders of the Purple Wage" (included in Dangerous Visions), etc.

Also Walter M. Miller Jr's. A Canticle for Leibowitz, which even someone who has serious reservations about religion can recommend as a thoroughly thought-provoking and just beautifully written book. Though not absolutely essential, I've got to admit I have a high regard for some of Gordon R. Dickson's work, especially his Childe Cycle (Dorsai series) and I rather like Time Storm as well.

And for a very different sort of sf (and if you can find a copy) try David R. Bunch's collection, Moderan.

Well, now you folks have done it: nearly all my sf is in storage, and now I want to go get it out... AAAAARRRRRGH!

[iansales]

I'm going to commit heresy here. You've been given a *lot* of books as suggested reading and, quite frankly, I'm not entirely sure why you need to read any of them.

If you're 11 or under, then Doc Smith can be fun. But they really are quite badly written when compared with today's science fiction, and the attitudes and sensibilities implicit in the prose are close to offensive.

As for the rest... There are a handful I'd agree are classics, and some I'd recommend reading if you like that type of SF. Dhalgren, for example, is a novel I love, but post-modern literary SF is not everyone's cup of tea. Van Vogt... well, his prose was pretty poor; and Slan dates from the 1940s, and very much reads like a 60-year-old novel. Harlan Ellison and Ray Bradbury, I've never understood the appeal...

[Quokka]

That is a fairly extensive list.

It's been mentioned before but there is a series titled Science Fiction Masterworks, this encompasses a lot of what's above. Depending on how you get your books it may well be worth looking into. I love wandering through a second hand book shop and personaly I found that this series was such a good intro for me to some of the less recent SF, it may be harder if your borrowing though?

Over all it'll depend on what you find you like, if you prefer SF heavy on the science you may want to check out writers like the Robinson's Mars series as mentioned above and Gregory Benford, Greg Bear.

Benford's Timescape, might be a good place to start with 'hard SF' or maybe Gregory Bear's Darwin's Radio or Blood Music, Le Guin is a must if you enjoy a book raising ethical considerations, IMO.

I'm reluctant to tip too many, as my own reading is still not that comprehensive but if you havent read Dune I'll make an exception there, otherwise just check out what ever gets your attention .

[PoeticExplosion]

Thanks, that'll keep me busy for quite some time. I've read maybe five of those, all the rest are new to me.

And don't worry Quokka, I have at least read Dune.

[j. d. worthington]

Originally Posted by iansales

I'm going to commit heresy here. You've been given a *lot* of books as suggested reading and, quite frankly, I'm not entirely sure why you need to read any of them.

I don't think it's heresy (get the stake ready boys!). But the reason I suggested so many is I got the feeling from the original post that this was someone interested in finding out about "classic" sf in the usual sense; yet at the same time wanted something of a broader spectrum to get a better idea of what the scope of the field may be.

If you're 11 or under, then Doc Smith can be fun. But they really are quite badly written when compared with today's science fiction, and the attitudes and sensibilities implicit in the prose are close to offensive.

I'm not sure I'd agree with the latter part of this; if taken in historical perspective (the development of any branch of literature), it's not likely to stand out in context. But, yes, though Doc Smith was a lovely man, his literary abilities were a bit limited. However, he holds an important place in the development of sf, and influenced nearly all the major writers of the next 40 years.

As for the rest... There are a handful I'd agree are classics, and some I'd recommend reading if you like that type of SF. Dhalgren, for example, is a novel I love, but post-modern literary SF is not everyone's cup of tea. Van Vogt... well, his prose was pretty poor; and Slan dates from the 1940s, and very much reads like a 60-year-old novel. Harlan Ellison and Ray Bradbury, I've never understood the appeal...

Again, with such a broad range given, there's likely to be a fair amount that proves not of interest -- then again, this particular person may like it all (as do I -- even some of JWC's -- though for differing reasons). And, again, to understand the field, these are all writers who have had a tremendous impact in its development, and still continue to influence writers today. Even Van, whose prose is rather wonky, has some magnificent ideas and The Weapon Shops, in particular, has one of the best final lines I've ever read (though it must be read at the end of the novel; it gains its impact from all that's gone before). Slan, while flawed, still is one of the best examples of that particular kind of story not for the writing, for the exploration of ideas. And as for Ellison and Bradbury: Ray because he's one of the major figures in sf/f from the 1950s to at least the 1980s, and maintains a presence even today. His prose is nostalgic and even poetic at times; his darker work is some of the best of its kind, as well. And for someone who simply could convey a sense of wonder about the universe, it's hard to beat Bradbury. Ellison, while he tends to polarize, has again had tremendous impact on the field, and has won more awards than any other writer in the field as well; he's also extremely versatile; his early work has serious flaws, but by the latter part of the 1960s he had developed a truly unique, vibrant prose style that ended up (by the time of the Shatterday collection) combining an almost unbearable intensity with a cultural erudition and polish that's hard to beat. And his stories have often have great poignancy as well. Ellison by no means appeals to everyone, but his importance in the field is inarguable.

If, on the other hand, PoeticExplosion's only looking for the "gosh-wow" of the 1940s/50s period, then it's a different set of suggestions; and I'd suggest some of the anthologies of Groff Conklin, Anthony Boucher, et al. As for the post-modernists (and I'm not sure I'd include most of the "New Wave" in that bunch, postmodernism in sf coming later), they, too, have had their impact on "classic" sf. The newer writers I'm not that familiar with, and was being led by the term "classic" as well; for the newer writers, I bow to those more up-to-date on the field; I know there are no few really great writers out there -- it's just one of those things I know few specifics about.

And those are my reasons for these particular choices.....

[iansales]

Originally Posted by j. d. worthington

I'm not sure I'd agree with the latter part of this; if taken in historical perspective (the development of any branch of literature), it's not likely to stand out in context. But, yes, though Doc Smith was a lovely man, his literary abilities were a bit limited. However, he holds an important place in the development of sf, and influenced nearly all the major writers of the next 40 years.

Important perhaps to all those who began reading sf in their teens. But then again, Gernsback's Ralph 124C 41+ is a truly seminal sf work... and by all accounts an awful read :-)

I still maintain that some of Doc Smith's sensibilities are somewhat hard to take these days. Masters of Space, for example, has the female characters welcoming the conversion to near-immortal android bodies because their tits won't sag (and, perversely, it's one of Smith's later novels).

Originally Posted by j. d. worthington

Even Van, whose prose is rather wonky, has some magnificent ideas and The Weapon Shops, in particular, has one of the best final lines I've ever read (though it must be read at the end of the novel; it gains its impact from all that's gone before). Slan, while flawed, still is one of the best examples of that particular kind of story not for the writing, for the exploration of ideas.

Sorry, didn't think Slan was that good (and I read it only a few months ago). The Undercover Aliens, on other hand, remains a favourite novel because it's an unholy mix of noir and sf, and captures its time so well. I've always suspected it would make a great film... providing you could get the audience to swallow the silly bit about nuclear missiles near the end...

Originally Posted by j. d. worthington

Ellison by no means appeals to everyone, but his importance in the field is inarguable.

Well, Ellison would certainly agree with you there :-)

Originally Posted by j. d. worthington

And those are my reasons for these particular choices.....

Fair enough. But no Blish? The Case of Conscience at least belongs on there. Oh, and--another heretical opinion!--I like The Stars My Destination a great deal, but I hate The Demolished Man :-)

Let's make it harder... ten books published between 1930 and 1970. Favourites or "classics", no author to appear twice...

[j. d. worthington]

You're certainly right -- I should include Blish, especially A Case of Conscience (a personal favorite). That's an example of a very short book that one can mentally masticate for a very long time; very meaty.

However, I stand by the choices I made. I don't think you need to be a pre-teen to enjoy some of these; I've seen plenty of intelligent adults pick them up and derive a great deal of pleasure from them. And I agree that Slan has serious defects; but I think it still retains its importance, as does David Lindsay's A Voyage to Arcturus, or Karl Capek's War with the Newts. I do not assert their status as great literature, but important to the development of science fiction and, to quite a few people, still very enjoyable, that I do, and most emphatically; not only from my own tastes, but from working at bookstores and dealing with no few readers over the years. Whereas "Uncle Hugo" (I won't give HPL's designation here, in deference to others) and his Ralph 124C 41+ is simply unreadable unless you grit your teeth, much like Poe's The Journal of Julius Rodman, or the Marquis von Grosse's Horrid Mysteries. Each holds its place historically, but I know of no one who reads these for pleasure -- absolutely no one. I do know people who read and enjoy The Castle of Otranto and Fenimore Cooper's Leatherstocking tales. Therein lies the difference.

Interesting challenge you pose there. However (especially over such a long period) this simply wouldn't allow for the scope of science fiction, even picking a single example of the best of different types. I was trying to give a representative selection to choose from, sort of a smorgasbord of varying types and tastes, so that a newcomer could pick and choose and still get a fairly wide selection to see what they'd like, of those things which are considered -- and which I in general agree to be -- both important and enjoyable. For my part, I prefer a wide spectrum of choices rather than a narrower, more confining view of something as widely divergent as what sf has tended to be. This is a part of literature that has always leaned toward quirky and individualistic writers, and to narrow the choices too much would not allow for that and runs the risk of being somewhat bland, even if the abstract literary quality is higher. That said, I think it's worthy as a thread of its own (if such doesn't already exist) to see what different people would choose as the 10 most important or 10 best (though I hesitate to go there, too loosely defined a term) sf books (should we keep it to novels, or are collections and anthologies allowed?). So perhaps someone should start such a thread. At the very least, it would give a newcomer to the field, again, a rather eclectic selection to choose from...

[Brown Rat]

I'm with the short-list and no-must crowd. Unless you're going to write a dissertation or thesis, reading is supposed to be enjoyable not mandatory. Find an author you like. Read him or her until you get sick or run out of his or her novels. Find another. Read. Repeat. There's no race. There's no test at the end.

Maybe I'm feeling cranky (scratch that, I'm definitely feeling cranky), but all over this board I see lists, lists, and more lists.

I'm being unreasonable, I know. PoeticExplosion asked for a list and asked for musts, and everyone kindly obliged. So I should shut up and not bang on about it.

(Ha. More banging: maybe it's just that J.D. put two Le Guin books on his list, and neither was the one I'd include: The Left Hand of Darkness. I am sooooo petty!)

[j. d. worthington]

Originally Posted by Brown Rat

(Ha. More banging: maybe it's just that J.D. put two Le Guin books on his list, and neither was the one I'd include: The Left Hand of Darkness. I am sooooo petty!)

And again, you're right; for some reason Left Hand of Darkness slipped my mind. What I've posted is, after all, what was popped into my head pretty quickly, not after a great deal of thought on the matter. The major thought I put into it was to ask myself if this was just a personal preference or if I'd run into enough opinion from both readers and sf professionals/critics to allow it to be on a "classics" list. This novel definitely deserved both the Nebula and Hugo it received. I could also add The Lathe of Heaven, which is a personal preference, but I think the consensus of opinion would be that it doesn't quite come up to that level; the original PBS production of it, however (not that gawdawful remake) should definitely been seen. Flawed, but very nicely done.

[steve12553]

Never argue whether something should or should not be on a new reader's list, sample them all. Follow up on what you enjoy. There are many on these list's I've never read but as long as I have any functional sensory inputs I still have time to read (or hear) more. I also believe a sampling of the roots of Seculative Fiction is a wonderful idea. Verne, Welles and some of the others. Hundred year old fiction is facinating. How they anticipated today so long ago.

[iansales]

I'm still undecided about this. On the one hand, I recognise that science fiction has a language all its own, and that can be a barrier to entry. New readers find it difficult to start reading heartland genre novels--which may be why media sf tie-ins are so popular.

On the other hand, many historical sf novels--the "classics"--are either not very good, or simply have no relevance to a modern reader. If the only reason for reading them is as a primer for the language of sf... Well, that's an entirely different set of criteria to "classic" sf.

Okay, so the original request was for "must-read classic" science fiction, and I've not really answered it--in this or my first reply. That'll teach me to read posts more carefully--even if it was after midnight :-)