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My daughter works at a large university library and has the fun assignment of ordering some new books for the science fiction section of the "recreational reading" shelf. These works would be things the students, faculty and staff might pick up to read for entertainment, as opposed to books for research or class assignments. Given that the library probably already hold the "classics," what works of science fiction would the Hatrack folks recommend she buy? (someone else will order fantasy and horror, so we're talking anything that you consider primarily science fiction.) Thanks,
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There is an Orson Scott Card-edited anthology of best SF short stories that is fun. This has the advantage of exposure to quite a few authors without a large investment of time in a single story. It has three sections, The Golden Age, The New Age, and The Media Age, so you get a nice overview of the genre.
Title: Masterpieces: The Best Science Fiction of the Twentieth Century.
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I liked Steve Perry's Matador series (starting with The Man Who Never Missed); Kevin J. Anderson's The Saga of Seven Suns (beginning with Hidden Empire); Steven Gould's Jumper--makes it hard when you say "classics". What would that library consider enough of a "classic" to keep?
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I've recently read John Scalzi's book Old Man's War, very good (he has several others.)
I'm reading an Elizabeth Moon book, she has plenty - good stuff.
I've also been reading a lot in the midgrade/YA fiction level, but I'd imagine that wouldn't pass muster at a university library.
Other titles I'd consider part of any "best of" list (just to make sure they have the classics):
Moon is a Harsh Mistress - Heinlein Forever War - Haldeman Mote in God's Eye - Niven + is it Pournelle? Rama series - Clarke Contact - Sagan Foundation series - Asimov Robot series - Asimov Left hand of Darkness - Le Guin Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep - Dick (and several others of his) Slaughterhouse 5 - Vonnegut (and others)
There's plenty more, I'm still compiling my list of must-read Sci-fi, and keep discovering authors I've never read before but are on other people's must-read lists.
Well, there's The Hitchiker's Guide To The Galaxy.
I read that years ago and I'm still laughing. Seriously, I have to get my oxygen via a tube in my throat because I am too busy laughing. Okay, maybe that was a bit far.
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Thanks! These are great suggestions; some I'm familiar with, some not so much. I'm passing them along. The students at Washington University are indebted to you all.
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Don't think we're done with our suggestions---I just found out you were taking requests.
I'll throw out a couple of names, and attached works.
Arthur C. Clarke: Childhood's End, Earthlight, Rendezvous with Rama, and, oh yeah, 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Frederik Pohl: Gateway, and (with C. M. Kornbluth) The Space Merchants.
Philip Jose Farmer: the "Riverworld" series.
James Blish: Cities in Flight and A Case of Conscience.
E. E. "Doc" Smith: the "Skylark" series and the "Lensmen" series. (Crude by modern standards but "this is where it all started")
Alfred Bester: The Demolished Man and The Stars My Destination.
H. P. Lovecraft: there's reportedly a new Barnes & Noble "public domain" volume that collects all his stories.
H. Beam Piper: Space Viking, The Cosmic Computer, Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen, and the "Little Fuzzy" series.
There are a lot of massive short story collections: I'll recommend Adventures in Space and Time (think I've got the name right), a big book collection that came out in the late 1940s and is usually in print...but if not, seek out another somewhere, and also to get some post-1940s stories.
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I really don't know which of these is in print or out of print...a good scrounge at a used book store should turn up some paperback copies of just about anything you care to name.
Gibson - Neuromancer Stephenson - Snowcrash How about China Mieville - Periodio Street Station (or something close to that? It might be more into Urban Fantasy than Sci-Fi)
I was at the library today and got talking to one of the librarians about female sci-fi writers, preferably those who are publishing new stuff today. In addition to any I've previously mentioned, here's the list we came up with (by no means complete, but it's a start):
Anne McCaffrey Mercedes Lackey Lois McMaster Bujold Octavia Butler Piercy - He/She/It Mary Doria Russell - The Sparrow Julie Czerneda - Species Imperative Connie Willis Andre Norton Kage Baker Margaret Atwood
What a fun project! I hope they enjoy digging through the book reviews and finding a good collection for the library.
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Easily overlooked, frequently overlooked, Julian May's novels are library worthy, for entertainment reading, though not as "light" as other works from the same era. I've read the Pliocene, Milieu, and Trillium series, not the Boreal or Rampart ones.
From Wikipedia's bibliography of May's titles;
The Saga of Pliocene Exile The Many-Colored Land (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1981). ISBN 0-395-30230-7. The Golden Torc (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1982). ISBN 0-395-31261-2. The Nonborn King (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1983). ISBN 0-395-32211-1. The Adversary (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1984). ISBN 0-395-34410-7.
The Galactic Milieu Series Intervention: A Root Tale to the Galactic Milieu and a Vinculum between it and The Saga of Pliocene Exile (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1987). ISBN 0-395-43782-2. (Released in the USA as two mass market paperbacks: Surveillance and Metaconcert. Released in the UK as a single volume) Metaconcert (Intervention no. 2) Separate paperback. ISBN 0-345-35524-5 Publisher: Del Rey (January 13, 1989) Jack the Bodiless (New York: Knopf, 1991). ISBN 0-679-40950-5. Diamond Mask (New York: Knopf, 1994). ISBN 0-679-43310-4. Magnificat (New York: Knopf, 1996). ISBN 0-679-44177-8.
Trillium The Trillium series began as a three-way collaboration. After the first book, the three authors each continued the series on their own.
Marion Zimmer Bradley, Julian May, and Andre Norton, Black Trillium (New York: Doubleday, 1990). ISBN 0-385-26185-3. Blood Trillium (New York: Bantam, 1992). ISBN 0-553-08851-3. Sky Trillium (New York: Del Rey, 1997). ISBN 0-345-38000-2.
The Rampart Worlds Perseus Spur (New York: Ballantine, 1999). ISBN 0-345-39510-7. (First published 1998 in UK.) Orion Arm (New York: Ballantine, 1999). ISBN 0-345-39519-0. Sagittarius Whorl: An Adventure of the Rampart Worlds (New York: Ballantine, 2001). ISBN 0-345-39518-2.
Boreal Moon Conqueror's Moon (New York: Ace, 2004). ISBN 0-441-01132-2. Ironcrown Moon (New York: Ace, 2005). ISBN 0-441-01244-2. Sorcerer's Moon (New York: Ace, 2006). ISBN 0-441-01383-X.
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Pretty much anything by Alfred Bester. Personally, I found "The Demolished Man" to be incredibly fun.
And you can't go wrong with short story anthologies of the "greats"--Clarke, Asimov, etc. I'd only read his novels until recently, but a few months ago I found a collection of Asimov's short stories... and I was impressed.
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