The Best Science Fiction I Know
"Sure, ninety percent of science fiction is crud. That's because ninety percent of everything is crud."
-Theodore Sturgeon
There's a lot of junk SF out there, and a lot of fantasy masquerading as science fiction. This is intended as a list of all the science fiction I know of that is well worth reading (or watching, in the case of movies). If you are surprised by any specific omissions, be advised that their absence does not necessarily reflect that I dislike them, it may simply mean that I have not read the item in question. Simply put, if I was hired to make an SF collection or anthology, these are the stories you'd find. (Feel free to email me with recommendations if you think I've missed something good.)
Here's to that ten percent.
Novels Asimov, Isaac - Fantastic Voyage II**** Asimov, Isaac - Nemesis Asimov, Isaac - Robot Mysteries Baxter, Stephen - The Time Ships Bova, Ben - Jupiter Bova, Ben - Venus Bradbury, Ray - Fahrenheit 451 Bradbury, Ray - The Martian Chronicles Clarke, Arthur C. - 2001 series Clarke, Arthur C. - Childhood's End Clarke, Arthur C. - Rendezvous with Rama Dick, Philip K. - Eye in the Sky Dick, Philip K. - The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch Haldeman, Joe - The Forever War Heinlein, Robert - Have Spacesuit, Will Travel Heinlein, Robert - Starship Troopers Heinlein, Robert - Stranger in a Strange Land Heinlein, Robert - The Moon is a Harsh Mistress Herbert, Frank - Dune Huxley, Aldous - Brave New World Niven, Larry - The Mote in God's Eye Sagan, Carl - Contact Steele, Allen - Coyote Trilogy Wells, H.G. - The Time Machine Wyndham, John - The Day of the Triffids
Anthologies Asimov, Isaac - I, Robot Asimov, Isaac - Robot Dreams Asimov and Conklin, eds. 50 Short Science Fiction Tales Clarke, Arthur C. - Collected Stories of Arthur C. Clarke Dick, Philip K. - Collected Stories (5 volumes) Dozois, Gardner (ed). Year's Best Science Fiction series Farrel, Gage, Pfordesher, Rodrigues, eds. Science Fact/Fiction Movies** 2001: A Space Odyssey Close Encounters of the Third Kind The Day the Earth Stood Still Forbidden Planet Wall-E^ Nonfiction/Biography Adams, Douglas - Last Chance to See*** Asimov, Isaac - I, Asimov Carrere, Emmanuel - I Am Alive and You Are Dead Clarke, Arthur C. - Astounding Days |
Stories Aldiss, Brian W. - "The Difficulties Involved in Photographing Nix Olympica" Asimov, Isaac - "All the Troubles in the World" Asimov, Isaac - "The Billiard Ball" Asimov, Isaac - "Franchise" Asimov, Isaac - "Hostess" Asimov, Isaac - "Little Lost Robot" Asimov, Isaac - "Reason" Bacigalupi, Paolo - "The Fluted Girl" Beckett, Chris - "Piccadilly Circus" Bradbury, Ray - "Chrysalis"* Bradbury, Ray - "A Sound of Thunder" Butler, Octavia - "Bloodchild" Clarke, Arthur C. - "The Awakening" Clarke, Arthur C. - "Dial F for Frankenstein" Clarke, Arthur C. - "History Lesson" Clarke, Arthur C. - "The Nine Billion Names of God" Clarke, Arthur C. - "Quarantine" Clarke, Arthur C. - "Technical Error" Clarke, Arthur C. - White Hart series Dahl, Roald - "The Great Automatic Grammatisator" Delany, Samuel R. - "Driftglass" Doctorow, Cory - "Anda's Game" Doctorow, Cory - "I, Row-Boat" Dick, Philip K. - "Autofac" Dick, Philip K. - "The Electric Ant" Dick, Philip K. - "The Mold of Yancy" Dick, Philip K. - "Not By Its Cover" Dick, Philip K. - "A Present for Pat" Dick, Philip K. - "Prominent Author" Dick, Philip K. - "Return Match" Dick, Philip K. - "Second Variety" Dick, Philip K. - "War Game" Ellison, Harlan - "Jeffty is Five" Godwin, Tom - "The Cold Equations" Gregory, Daryl - "Second Person, Present Tense" Harrison, Harry - "I Always Do What Teddy Says" Houston, James D. - "Gas Mask" Kawalee, Julian - "I Kill Myself" Keyes, Daniel - "Flowers for Algernon" Kornbluth, C.M. - "The Little Black Bag" Kress, Nancy - "Beggars in Spain" Roberts, Frank - "It Could Be You" Reed, Robert - "The Remoras" Reynolds, Alastair - "Beyond the Aquila Rift" Reynolds, Alastair - "Zima Blue" Sheckley, Robert - "Something for Nothing" Swanwick, Michael - "The Very Pulse of the Machine" Tevis, Walter - "The Ifth of Oofth" Tiptree Jr., James - "The Only Neat Thing to Do" Zelazny, Roger - "A Rose for Ecclesiastes" Humor/Spoof Adams, Douglas - Hitchhiker series Nelson, Alan - "Narapoia" Galaxy Quest (Movie) |
*Ray Bradbury has written two stories with this title. The story which I am referring to here is collected in S is for Space, and is science fiction. The story which I am not referring to is collected in The Cat's Pajamas, and is not science fiction. Which is not to say that it isn't a good story.
** I haven't seen many movies, SF or otherwise, and that's why this section is so short. However, I am also of the opinion that Hollywood does not produce very many true SF movies. Most movies that call themselves SF are in reality action or fantasy. "Star Wars" is omitted intentionally. I honestly do not like it very much.
***This book has absolutely nothing to do with SF save that it was written by the incomparable Douglas Adams, but it's a great book. Adams recounts a whirlwind tour of the world on a quest to see a number of almost-extinct animals. Definitely one of my favorite books.
**** Fantastic Voyage II is not a sequel, per se. The original Fantastic Voyage was a movie novelization which Asimov was contracted to write. Fantastic Voyage II is an original Asimov tale with a similar concept but absolutely no connection to the original. It is also far, far, superior to the original. It is a bit dated now because it takes place in the Soviet Union, making it feel more like an alternate history story than a future story, but it's still well worth reading.
^Say what you like. It's science fiction (and/or satire) and I liked it.