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samboct -> RE: Greatest Science Fiction novel part 2 (1/26/2008 7:09:26 PM)
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I have to admit, I loved Asimov when I was a kid but not as an adult.
I wound up voting for Stranger in a Strange Land- it's a beautiful allegory. I might actually prefer Friday as a novel though. Also agree that the Martian Chronicles by Bradbury along with some of his other stories are wonderfully written. Clarke's Childhood's End is damn fine and is certainly one of the top ten sci fi novels.
Nobody's mentioned Philip Jose Farmer- I really enjoyed his Riverworld series. And for this crowd- Image of the Beast is one of the best vagina dentata fantasies going. But I liked his Daybreak series too, but I have to admit, he's not consistent.
Some other favorites-
The Space Merchants- Kornbluth and Pohl- one of the best examples of a collaboration ever. Written 60 years ago- it pegs the consumer culture of today wonderfully. Still a wonderful, thought provoking novel.
Pattern Recognition by Gibson- I hesitate to include this- Neuromancer is wonderful, and I like most of Gibson's stuff, even if it doesn't translate into a movie well- he's such a superb writer- probably the best on this list. Pattern Recognition isn't really sci-fi, it's more contemporary fiction and is one of the best novels I've ever read.
Nobody's mentioned John Varley either- I always liked his collection of stories in Picnic on Nearside.
Sci fi has done some wonderful barroom short stories- collections such as Tales from the White Hart by Clarke (oh boy, were these crafted.) Spider Robinson's Callahan's Crosstime Saloon is often hilarious, and some of Larry Niven's barroom stuff isn't bad- I like a lot of his tales of known space- but his best probably is Ringworld.
Other authors worthy of mentioning- Harlan Ellison, Stanley Weinbaum (I still love a Martian Odyssey) Cordwainer Smith (too much religion for my taste, but well written nonetheless) Ted Cogswell often fun and relatively unknown.
I find Orson Scott Card rather prudish, and hence uninteresting. Was never fond of Philip K. Dick's writing either, but his stuff often translates well into movies. Can't stand U.K. Leguin.
Sam
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