Essential Science Fiction Novels That Should Be on Every Reader's Lit

ESSENTIAL SCIENCE FICTION NOVELS THAT SHOULD BE ON EVERY READER'S LIST

This is my list of the ten science fiction novels that I think everyone should read at some point. I've kept the list to books that I've actually read, but not having read every sci-fi book ever published, your favorite book may not be on this list. What follows are highly subjective choices. You won't find Dune on the list, though I know its deserving of being on every list like this, but I left it out precisely because it is on every list like this. There's no denying its a great book. So is Hyperion from what I've been told. Its not on the list either. Why? Because I haven't read it yet, but I am looking forward to it. I also feel that most lists like this tend to skewer more toward newer books, mainly, I think, because that's simply what modern readers read. There are certain classics that are mentioned occasionally (War of the Worlds, The Time Machine etc) , but still I find its mainly newer books that make modern lists.

The books that are mentioned here, are in no particular order. Narrowing it down to ten was difficult enough.

So, here we go...,

ten best science fiction novels that I've read. Not having read every science fiction book

MARTIAN CHRONICLES

(1950) by Ray Bradbury

The Martian Chronicles is the closest science fiction has ever come to being poetry. It is a beautifully told collection of short stories that act as chapters within the larger tale of the colonization of Mars. It contrasts humans creating a new civilization on a distant planet, while civilization on earth collapses in nuclear fire.

There are too many highlights to discuss here, other than to say that the haunting, unforgettable story, There Will Come Soft Rains, is the most elegant meditation on the death of humanity that I can remember.

CONTACT

(1985) by Carl Sagan

Sadly, This was the late Carl Sagan's only novel. Contact has two parallel, yet connected stories. The first follows Eleanor Arroway as she discovers, and deciphers an alien signal coming from the star, Vega. The second flashbacks to Eleanor growing up with a step-father who she sees as an unwanted intruder in the life she shares with her mother. That resentment is contrasted with her fond memories of her loving dad. These two stories connect sharply in the book's central irony, providing the real meaning of contact. Eleanor discovers that her step-father was actually her biological father. She had spent her life trying to connect with another civilization, while never really making contact with the people closest to her.

I would love to have seen what other masterpieces Sagan would have written if he was given more time. C

on, but I

THE ROAD

(2006) by Cormac McCarthy

To me, The Road is easily the most disturbing, and terrifying vision of a post apocalyptic earth that I've read.

There's no comic relief, there's no love story, and there's not much hope to be had in this intense drama. It is, however, beautifully, and compellingly written. It won the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Fiction in 2006, and deservedly so. A father travels with his son through a desolate landscape devastated by a cataclysm whose nature is never revealed, but has ended all civilization, and most of the animal, and plant life along with it. The boy's mother killed herself soon after his birth during the cataclysm. The father, barely surviving himself, raises his son in this new world. Despite the tone of the book, The Road does actually manage to eke out just a little hope for the boy, even as he is left alone when his father dies.

Its a great read, and like most readers I've spoken with, I highly recommend it.

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1984

(1949) by George Orwell

I remember watching a British panel show called QI. Stephen Fry had asked the audience who had read the novel, 1984. Most audience members, of course, raised their hands. The Klaxon sounded (a noise you hear a lot on that show) because the audience was wrong. Apparently a few separate studies had proven that at least 25% of people who had claimed to have read this particular book, didn't, in fact, read it.

That is a massive shame. Not only is it an incredibly well written story with compelling, relatable characters, but it's hold on pop culture, and politics is legendary. Not only did we get the terms Big Brother, and Thought Police from the novel, but is has been held up by Wester politicians to show the evils of fascism, and communism. Those countries, in turn, had held up the book as an example of all the evils of democracies. If you're one of the 25% who claim to have read it, but haven't, then read it now. Quickly, the clock is striking thirteen.

Ird to it.

T here we go...,

THE CHRYSALIDS

(1955) by John Wyndham

This could very well by Wyndham's best novel. His others include The Day of the Triffids, and The Midwich Cuckoos, both of which were adapted multiple times into movies. On my initial reading, I thought The Chrysalids was science fiction's answer to, To Kill A Mockingbird. I mean this in terms of two young children having to come to terms with very adult ideas, prejudices, and situations that they struggle to understand.

The young brother and sister live in a post apocalyptic village where parents give up any baby born with mutations. The siblings develop telepathic abilities, but their mutation is unknown to their family as there is no physical manifestation.

Wyndham does stumble slightly near the end, but it remains an underrated novel, and a great read. Highly recommended. I love this book.

"The Whispering Shadows" is a gripping tale that combines elements of mystery and fantasy. The stor new reality, he learns about his own strengths and weaknesses.

FOUNDATION

(1950) by Isaac Asimov

Foundation was first published as a series of short stories from 1941 to 1950, then published as three novels from 1951 to 1953. The novels famously won the Hugo Award for Best All-Time Series, (One of the other nominees was, The Lord of The Rings).

This is the book that made me a science fiction fan. They are epic, century spanning stories that tell of the fall of the Galactic Empire, and the planned millennium long rise of a second empire. What the people of the Foundation don't realize is that the plan doesn't include them forming a second empire as they believe. That's only part of the plan as a Second Foundation has the only knowledge of what is actually to be.

The first book, Foundation, is actually a collection of short stories, while the second novel, Foundation and Empire is basically two short novels. The third novel, Second Foundation is a more complete single novel.

This is a truly classic series that can be purchased online in paperback for very little money. I was fortunate enough to run across the first editions of these books, originally published by Gnome Press.

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MAKE ROOM! MAKE ROOM!

(1966) by Harry Harrison

I remember reading Make Room! Make Room!, during a particularly frigid Toronto winter. It was the complete opposite environment of the novel which takes place during a scorching heat wave in a vastly overpopulated future (1999) New York City. I reluctantly put the book away as the subway train reached my destination. I exited the station on that minus 40 degree Celsius afternoon fully expecting to walk out into the oven of mid-summer. That's how well this book is written, and how it will immerse you in the world that Harrison built.

The story involves a police officer investigating a murder in a world where food, and resources are becoming increasingly scarce as the population has already grown so huge its beyond society's ability to provide for it. The society, and customs he is forced to navigate pull the reader into narrative, and invests them in the characters.

Make Room! Make Room! is most famously known as the novel that was adapted into the Charlton Heston movie, Soylent Green (1973). The movie is quite different from the novel, so don't expect that if you watch the movie that you know the novel.

• rs are central to the story. They support each other through challenges and triumphs.

  
  

FLOWERS FOR ALGERNON

(1966) by Daniel Keyes

Winner of the Nebula Award for Best Novel (tied with Babel-17) in 1966, Flowers for Algernon began life as a short story published in the April 1959 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. The short story won the Hugo Award for Best Short Story in 1960.

Algernon is a mouse subjected to a medical experiment to increase it's intelligence. After the procedure proves successful, it's performed on a man named Charlie, a 37 year old janitor with an IQ of 68. After the treatment, his intelligence rises dramatically. Increasing his memory of an abusive past, while making his current relationships difficult as he outgrows those around him. The tragedy arises as Algernon regresses to his original state, Charlie is left with the knowledge that he, too, will also regress. This is a tough read. It is a tragedy, but it is also a must read.

Read It

A CANTICLE FOR LEIBOWITZ

(1959) by Walter M. Miller

Where to begin? Despite having published over thirty science fiction short stories, this is Miller's only novel published before his death. Like Foundation, and Flowers for Algernon, A Canticle for Leibowitz began as three short stories that were originally published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction.

A Canticle for Leibowitz is an all time masterpiece, and is easily one of the best science fiction novels that I have ever read. It can be horrifying, darkly humorous, and chilling. There are too many themes, and ideas in this novel to discuss here. Having said that, its overarching themes are not dissimilar to Asimov's Foundation in terms of cyclical history, religion, and how one civilization falls, leaving another civilization to rise in it's place.

As mentioned, the novel was actually conceived by Miller as three separate stories, as such, the story takes place over several epochs as society rebuilds only to be confronted by new nations descending into a nuclear war that ends civilization on earth, again.

Miller wrote a follow up called, Saint Leibowitz and the Wild Horse Woman that took place between two of the three stories. It was published in 1997, one year after Miller had passed away.

RENEZOUS WITH RAMA

(1973) by Arthur C. Clarke

Although Clarke sacrifices character development to the science in this novel, Rendezvous with Rama remains a brilliant novel just the same. Earth, at this point, has never made first contact with another civilization when a meteor detection system spots a long cylindrical object entering our solar system. Human explorers aboard their ship, Endeavor enter the vessel. There is no response from the alien ship despite attempts by the Endeavor to contact it. As they enter, uninvited, they have no idea what is waiting inside for them. The novel, much like Clarke's 2001: A Space Odyssey, focuses on the astronauts' vain attempt to know the unknowable. The humans enter Rama perplexed about the who, and why of it's existence. They leave much the same way despite having explored the cylinder to the best of their ability. They discover virtually nothing to tell them with any certainty who built Rama and little to tell them what they might look like. They don't understand what it's purpose truly is or why it was passing through our solar system in the first place. Ultimately, Rama remains as much of an enigma as the monolith in 2001: A Space Odyssey.