A _real_ Top 15 Great Science Fiction Books list · Sun Aug 19, 03:27 PM

The other day, I was browsing links from del.icio.us, and ran across a post titled Top 15 Great Science Fiction Books. I applaud the author for making the list, and he or she certainly managed to choose 15 SF books that were important in one way or another, but I have to call bullshit. It seems to me it was more a list of 15 SF books that I want people to think I have read so as to appear Smart (like all the people who claim to have read War & Peace). I think to qualify as a Great Science Fiction Book, a book has to break new ground, it has to possess astonishing literary merit, and it has to be just plain good reading. I don’t think it’s fair to insult someone else’s list without providing a suggested alternative, so with that in mind, here are the (my) Top 15 Great Science Fiction Books:

Dune, Frank Herbert. I’ve probably read Dune six times. I only read a couple of the follow-on books, and I probably wouldn’t bother if I were you.

Neuromancer, William Gibson. The first two times I read this, it was one right after the other. It was a revolutionary book when it came out. If you read it for the first time now, it’ll probably seem derivative, but that’s exactly backwards.

A Fire Upon The Deep, Vernor Vinge. Wide-ranging, heavy on science, and containing many intriguing and original ideas.

Perdido Street Station, China Mieville. Fantastically (in more than one sense) stylistic writing, uniquely populated world, fascinating people, and a rich story combine to make this a great book. If it didn’t invent the steampunk genre, it has done a good job of defining it.

Flowers for Algernon, Daniel Keyes. You’ve probably read this, as it’s a popular high school assignment (one of the few worthwhile pieces of high school English these days…but that’s a rant for another time). If not, you’ve missed out. Go get busy.

A Canticle for Leibowitz, Walter M. Miller. The classic post-apocalyptic novel, good for sparking meditation on the future of humanity. It’s not quite as likely to induce fantasies of how much you would rule after a nuclear war, running that one safe enclave in a sea of mutants, as Lucifer’s Hammer.

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams. I first read this in a public library, while ditching school in the 7th grade. People gave me odd looks when I burst out laughing. I suppressed further outbursts as best I could, not wanting to meet a truant officer, but couldn’t help the occasional snort. Now an integral piece of popular culture, or at least nerd popular culture.

Stand on Zanzibar, John Brunner. Scary dysutopian novel. Accurately depicted MTV culture (or whatever the kids are calling it these days) and the disintegration of the media.

Starship Troopers, Robert A. Heinlein. This book probably played a large part in my joining the infantry. It laid the groundwork for the entire subgenre of military SF, and it’s the only science fiction novel on the reading list at four of the five US military academies. There are large heaps of controversy around it (see the Wikipedia entry), so if you’re bored, you can always go tweak some fanboys or anti-fanboys.

Stars in My Pocket Like Grains of Sand, by Samuel R. Delany. From what I’ve heard, I’ll probably be replacing this with Dhalgren, if I ever get around to tackling it. I haven’t yet.

Vorkosigan Saga, Lois McMaster Bujold. This series has a lot of books. Three have won Hugos, which should give you an idea of the quality.

Consider Phlebas, Iain M. Banks. This is probably the most cinematic novel I’ve ever read. It has amazing scenery and spectacular action, as well as one of the most horrifying figures in fiction (I’m talking about you, Fwi-Song).

Watchmen, Alan Moore. The only graphic novel to win the Hugo Award (so far, anyway), and the only graphic novel to appear on Time magazine’s list of “100 best novels from 1923 to the present.” It richly deserves these accolades. If you’ve avoided “comic books” because they’re not serious, it’s time to stop.

The War Against the Chtorr, David Gerrold. The most gripping series in science fiction. Only the first four books — out of a planned seven — have been completed, and progress on the remainder is slow or nonexistent. If David Gerrold dies before finishing, as seems increasingly likely, I will weep bitterly. That would be like waking up on Easter morning, and finding a basket full of dead Easter bunny, instead of the delicious candy you were expecting.

The Book of the New Sun, Gene Wolfe. Michael Swanwick has said “Gene Wolfe is the greatest writer in the English language alive today…among living writers, there is nobody who can even approach Gene Wolfe for brilliance of prose, clarity of thought, and depth in meaning.” Thomas M. Disch said “The Book of the New Sun [is] a tetralogy of couth, intelligence, and suavity that is also written in VistaVision with Dolby Sound. Imagine a Star Wars-style space opera penned by G. K. Chesterton in the throes of a religious conversion.” That makes a nice capsule summary. I’ve read it three times over the course of 25 years, and only really started understanding it the third time through (age, exposure, and experience probably helped…the first two times were as a teenager). It’s an astonishing piece of work. I think it’s probably the best book I’ve ever read.

Miracleman
OK, so this is slightly cheating. This is number 16, for one, and not technically a book, for another. But Miracleman is truly amazing, and well worth reading…if you can find it. Unfortunately, both the comic books and the trade paperbacks are out of print and hard to find (and thus, of course, expensive). They won’t be back in print any time soon, either, due to a massively tangled legal situation over the rights.
Search for Miracleman on Amazon.com
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