I’m getting together a list of important science fiction books I’m going to read in some sort of recommended reading order. Suggestions are very welcome. Entries with asterisks are ones I’ve already read. Numbers refer to position in the reading order. I’ll be updating this entry periodically.
A note about importance: I want to include only books that are both important and good. For example, I’d very much like to include John Wyndham’s The Kraken Wakes but it just isn’t important enough. Conversely, I may be taking out some books after I’ve read them and found out they’re no good.
A note about the definition of science fiction: I’m only including “obvious” sci-fi, meaning that some books which have become classics of general literature are excluded. Briefly, this means stuff like Fahreinheit 451, Slaughterhouse Five, Hitchhiker’s Guide, Nineteen Eighty-One and Brave New World.
| Title | Author | Year | |
| 1 | The Time Machine * | H. G. Wells | 1895 |
| 2 | The Caves of Steel * | Isaac Asimov | 1954 |
| 3 | The Naked Sun * | Isaac Asimov | 1957 |
| 4 | The Robots of Dawn * | Isaac Asimov | 1983 |
| 5 | Robots and Empire * | Isaac Asimov | 1985 |
| 6 | Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? * | Philip K. Dick | 1968 |
| 7 | Stranger in a Strange Land * | Robert A. Heinlein | 1961 |
| 8 | The Moon is a Harsh Mistress * | Robert A. Heinlein | 1966 |
| 9 | Dune * | Frank Herbert | 1965 |
| 10 | Solaris * | Stanisław Lem | 1961 |
| 11 | 2001: A Space Odyssey * | Arthur C. Clarke | 1968 |
| 12 | The Gods Themselves * | Isaac Asimov | 1972 |
| 13 | Ubik * | Philip K. Dick | 1969 |
| 14 | Prelude to Foundation * | Isaac Asimov | 1988 |
| 15 | Forward the Foundation * | Isaac Asimov | 1993 |
| 16 | Foundation * | Isaac Asimov | 1951 |
| 17 | Foundation and Empire * | Isaac Asimov | 1952 |
| 18 | Second Foundation * | Isaac Asimov | 1953 |
| 19 | The Mote In God’s Eye | Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle | 1974 |
| 20 | Foundation’s Edge * | Isaac Asimov | 1982 |
| 21 | Foundation and Earth * | Isaac Asimov | 1986 |
| 22 | Neuromancer | William Gibson | 1984 |
| 23 | Ender’s Game * | Orson Scott Card | 1985 |
| 24 | Hyperion | Dan Simmons | 1989 |
Second string:
| The Kraken Wakes * | John Wyndham | 1953 | A compact, relatively minor but quite fascinating story |
| The Complete Robot * | Isaac Asimov | 1940-1976 | Recommended as an introduction to Asimovian robots to those who want one, but the collection is rather uneven (especially the first half). There are gems too. |
Under consideration (books which may belong on the list but I want to read / learn more about before including)
| We Can Remember It for You Wholesale | Philip K. Dick | 1990 |
| The Persistence of Vision | John Varley | 1978 |
| Red Mars | Kim Stanley Robinson | 1992 |
| Green Mars | Kim Stanley Robinson | 1993 |
| Blue Mars | Kim Stanley Robinson | 1996 |
| The Fall of Hyperion | Dan Simmons | 1990 |
| Endymion | Dan Simmons | 1996 |
| The Rise of Endymion | Dan Simmons | 1997 |
I would consider adding Hyperion by Dan Simmons to the list. Might be a bit too fresh to be “important”, but is good. Also: the list is actually “Asimov + something”. Which might be an accurate description of the state of sci-fi.
Veikko
Yeah, I figured the list was Asimov-heavy but didn’t want to start taking random books out of series (Robot, Foundation) before knowing which (if any) don’t belong. I already took one Asimov book out and may end up taking more.
I added Hyperion, thanks for the tip. It’s apparently first in a series, so maybe some of those will merit inclusion when I get to them.
sam
Memo to self: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arkady_and_Boris_Strugatsky
Neal Stephenson – Snow Crash
Ken MacLeod – Star Fraction
Iain M Banks
Alastair Reynolds
Isaac Asimov – The End of Eternity
sam