Top 15 Sci-Fi Books To Read (so says Sun Media)

[undercoverbrother]

I am not a Sci-Fi reader.

Thoughts, additions/deletions?

[Knalus]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

I am not a Sci-Fi reader.

Thoughts, additions/deletions?

Fairly standard list - with the exception of The Legacy of Heorot. I wouldn't expect that on the list. I'm a huge Sci-Fi, and specifically Larry Niven fan, and I haven't read that one. Interesting.

[KOgear]

I really enjoyed Ender's Game, was my first sci fi book and it was awesome. I did think Bean's game was better, but you should read Ender's Game first.

[troutman]

Jurassic Park is an okay movie treatment, and an awful book. Timeline might be the worst book I have ever read, in any genre.

[jammies]

Battlefield Earth is a terrible book written by a hack. Jurassic Park is a mediocre book written by another hack.

The rest of the list looks very much like dozens of other lists of top books, other than the Legacy of Heorot, which is the only one I haven't read and thus can't comment on. It looks rather like a counterpart of a list of the top 15 music albums ever as compiled by Rolling Stone - controversial and fresh, it is not.

[troutman]

http://www.sfsite.com/lists/award-arthurcclarke01.htm

The Arthur C. Clarke Award is awarded every year to the best science fiction novel which received its first British publication during the previous calendar year. The Award is chosen by jury. The Award was established with a generous grant from Arthur C. Clarke with the intention of encouraging science fiction in Britain. The Award was set up in 1986 and the first winner was announced in 1987. The Award consists of an inscribed plaque in the form of a bookend, and a cheque. The Award is administered jointly by the British Science Fiction and the Science Fiction Foundation, each of whom provides two judges each year. Recently, the Science Museum has joined the Award and provides one judge each year.

http://www.sfsite.com/lists/award-hugo01.htm

The Hugo awards are presented at an evening ceremony during the World Science Fiction Convention. Nominations are as result of ballots cast by the convention members who vote by mail. They are counted using a weighted method whereby ballot entries, listed by preference, are assigned a value and then tallied. Those who fail to meet the cutoff or have the least number are dropped and the counting is redone until such time as a clear winner appears.

[Daradon]

Pretty standard list, hard to go wrong with such a small sample size.

Took me forever to get through Neuromancer.

[Daradon]

Oh yeah, surprised 2001: A Space Odyssey isn't on that list.

(Odyssey is a tough word to spell...)

[troutman]

The Riverworld Saga
Philip José Farmer
http://www.sfsite.com/12a/riv46.htm

China Miéville
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China_Mi%C3%A9ville

[photon]

Originally Posted by Knalus

Fairly standard list - with the exception of The Legacy of Heorot. I wouldn't expect that on the list. I'm a huge Sci-Fi, and specifically Larry Niven fan, and I haven't read that one. Interesting.

Yeah me too, I'll have to check it out. It'd have to be pretty good to out-Niven The Mote in God's Eye.

[sevenarms]

I agree with most of the list but am surpised that it omits the Foundation trilogy.

I suppose that the creator of the list probably didn't want to have two from Asimov but still. C'mon.

Edit: Also, I would of had 'The Forever War' and/or 'Old man's War' on that list.

[LGA]

I've read most of them, and Hitchhiker's Guide and Dune are probably amongst the top of my favourite books list.

[Vulcan]

Originally Posted by jammies

Battlefield Earth is a terrible book written by a hack. Jurassic Park is a mediocre book written by another hack.

The rest of the list looks very much like dozens of other lists of top books, other than the Legacy of Heorot, which is the only one I haven't read and thus can't comment on. It looks rather like a counterpart of a list of the top 15 music albums ever as compiled by Rolling Stone - controversial and fresh, it is not.

I can't remember if I've read "Battlefield Earth", or not, it could have been that book I tried to read, but L. Ron Hubbard is a terrible writer. Maybe if you're 10 years old, he's interesting but it's no wonder he went into another line of work.

[Ashartus]

Originally Posted by Knalus

Fairly standard list - with the exception of The Legacy of Heorot. I wouldn't expect that on the list. I'm a huge Sci-Fi, and specifically Larry Niven fan, and I haven't read that one. Interesting.

I read it a long time ago and enjoyed it, though I wouldn't put it in the top 15 of all time. It's essentially the legend of Beowulf re-told as a science fiction story about colonists on a new planet. I didn't think the sequel was very good though. Niven's already on with Ringworld, and if I was going to put one of his co-authored books on the list I'd go with the Mote in God's Eye (still probably not in my personal top 15 though).

I agree Jurassic Park and Battlefield Earth don't belong on that list - there are much better and more important books than those ones.

[evman150]

Random fact: HHGG started out as a potential script for Doctor Who.

[Baxter Renegade]

Enders Game was absolutely incredible and still stands as my favorite read of all time. Its also the only book I've ever read more than once.

I havent read the sequels or others in the series, but I may have to head out to pick them up now that this has reminded me...

[Aeneas]

Hyperion is certainly a favourite of mine.

I also enjoyed The Legacy of Heorot.

Second troutman's Riverworld suggestion, and sevenarms The Forever War.

And I always like to throw out The Wolves Of Memory by Effinger, Silverberg's majipoor books, or is there any love for Gene Wolfe's Shadow of the Torturer?

I found Peter F Hamilton's Pandora's Star quite remarkable.

[Knut]

If we were talking about a Series I would have to put Foundation and the Mars Trilogy right up at the top. I have read almost every Asimov book and most from the Dune series. The Enders Game Series was good, but it kind of Jumped the shark in the middle somewhere.

Chricton's books were fantastic to JR high Hesla.

[Knut]

Originally Posted by Aeneas

Hyperion is certainly a favourite of mine.

I also enjoyed The Legacy of Heorot.

Second troutman's Riverworld suggestion, and sevenarms The Forever War.

And I always like to throw out The Wolves Of Memory by Effinger, Silverberg's majipoor books, or is there any love for Gene Wolfe's Shadow of the Torturer?

I found Peter F Hamilton's Pandora's Star quite remarkable.

I liked the Sequal Judas Unchained as well. I had trouble with some of Hamilton's other works though.

[Knalus]

Originally Posted by Hesla

If we were talking about a Series I would have to put Foundation and the Mars Trilogy right up at the top. I have read almost every Asimov book and most from the Dune series. The Enders Game Series was good, but it kind of Jumped the shark in the middle somewhere.

Chricton's books were fantastic to JR high Hesla.

I agree that Red Mars would be a better choice.