Fifteen Favorites

Fred lists his favorite SF books

Most of which I concur with (3-5, 8-9, 12, 16 would all be on my list), but to which I would add some of my favorite texts:

The Man in the High Castle--Philip K. Dick
Lord of Light--Roger Zelazny
The Diamond Age--Neal Stephenson


And being an ardent fan of dystopian fiction:
1984--George Orwell
Brave New World--Aldous Huxley

And debatably (not as to favorite, but as to the designation Science Fiction) I would further add:

At the Mountains of Madness--H. P. Lovecraft

and

Swan Song Robert R. McCammon

But favorites are not necessarily "best"  and I won't make any argument that they are.  I just fine dipping into these, among others, even if I don't read the entire thing is always a source of pleasure.

Comments

  1. FredAugust 25, 2010 at 11:06 AM

    Steven,

    Aside from the problem of genre for the Lovecraft story which you bring up, I think the ones you mentioned, especially Orwell's _1984_, should be among the top stories. The only exceptions would be the Stephenson and the McCammon novels since I haven't read them.

    ReplyDelete
  2. StevenAugust 25, 2010 at 11:35 AM

    Dear Fred,

    Stephenson produces amazing novels with ends that kind of fizzle--and this is no exception--but a beautiful extrapolation of nanotech.

    On McCammon, think the early version of _The Stand_, only more controlled, better written (in my opinion).

    shalom

    Steven

    ReplyDelete
  3. FredAugust 25, 2010 at 5:49 PM

    Steven,

    I read Stephenson's _Snow Crash_ back in 1996, but apparently wasn't impressed enough to read any more by him. If the ending of that one fizzled also, that may explain why I never read any of his other works.

    I may take a look at McCammon's book.

    ReplyDelete
  4. R/TAugust 26, 2010 at 9:49 AM

    You say:

    And being an ardent fan of dystopian fiction:
    1984--Edgar Allan Poe
    Brave New World--Aldous Huxley

    What kind of Freudian slip is involved in attributing 1984 to Poe? Hmmm!

    ReplyDelete
  5. StevenAugust 26, 2010 at 10:07 AM

    Dear RT,

    Thank you--now fixed.

    shalom,

    Steven

    ReplyDelete
  6. StevenAugust 26, 2010 at 10:27 AM

    Dear Fred,

    Yes, _Snow Crash_ was the ultimate fizzle ended, but I so much enjoyed the story that I was willing to join the drum-playing at the end.

    _The Diamond Age_ does not crash quite so spectacularly, and the sheer brilliance of conception is sometimes breath-taking.

    shalom,

    Steven

    ReplyDelete

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