UPDATE (42/50) I have since: - Read Hitchhiker’s Guide and very much enjoyed it. - Read The Martian Chronicles and enjoyed it - Purchased Red Mars based on your recommendations.
RE: Ray Bradbury: Stephen Baxter, Greg Egan, Terry Goodkind, Guy Gavriel Kay, Roger Zelazny, R A Salvatore, Gary Gygax, Stephen R Lawhead, Peter Hamilton, L. E. Modsitt Jr, Anne McCaffrey, Katherine Kurtz, Janny Wurts would all give Bradbury a run for his money. Especially Egan, Baxter, Lawhead, Kurtz and Modsitt.
FWIW, Bradbury does not consider The Martian Chronicles to be science fiction, with the notable exception of There Will Come Soft Rains. You will certainly appreciate reading it, but I'm not sure I could say I felt better after doing so.
He is the reason I became a reader. His story Frost and Fire blew me away at the age of 9. I wrote him to thank him for his contribution to my life and got a reply from him.
I'm old and I started early so I've read them all and I own a lot of them, including several signed and first editions. I love Hyperion, it blew me away when it came out as did Neuromancer. I agree, Dune deserves to be at the top. I also recommend Neal Stephenson, Snow Crash and Cryptonomicon and Ian Banks Culture Series, such as Algebraist. Everyone should listen to the audiobooks, it gives you a different experience and there are things that you miss when reading them.
That’s awesome Kym! It sounds like you have a great collection. I recently read Snow Crash and plan to read more Stephenson. I have also read 2 Culture books and will be reading more later this year. Thanks for the recommendations!
Your recommends are precisely in line with mine. Banks is a personal favorite and Cryptonomicon blew me away completely, so much so that I sucked it up in one day.
Working on Cryptonomicon right now. :) I'm old also so I actually would have recommended The Moon is a Harsh Mistress or The Roads Must Roll for Heinlein
I agree with Hyperion and am looking at Neuromancer, but I would put it well above Dune. For the record, I would put many books above Dune, even though I love Herbert. I am disappointed that so few commentators mention the fact that Brave New World and 1984 borrowed from Zemyatin's excellent book, We. By the way, most people who comment on Canticle for Liebowitz never actually read the book. They go over the words but cannot connect the underlying ideas that make the book so great. If you think you have read it, you can prove it by telling me who Rachel is and why what happens to the Old Jew, which is critical for understanding the book.
50/50 for me. Nice list, reminds me I'd like to re-read some of the favourites - there's so many books in the world that it sometimes feels like life is too short for repeating old material, but I have to remind myself that it's worth it. A really good book will have something more to offer every time you read it. Hyperion is definitely overdue for a re-read for me, I just realised it's over 30 years since I read it.
Wow. Impressive is faint praise. I've been at this for more than 5 decades and I'm up to only 43. Red Mars and the Hyperion Cantos in particular are on my must list.
Ive read about 5000+ science fiction books(similar amount of fantasy) so i sometimes have a hard time remembering what the hell ive read but Hyperion isn't one of them like Lord Of Light and Revelation Space its a book ive read many times
Only 13 points for me, but I read a ton of different genres. The Martian Chronicles is soooo good - made me cry. While it is short stories, they are loosely related, some more than others.
Hitchikers Guide is a quick and fun read so even if youre not super into it, its worth it. Dispossessed is a true classic and should not be missed, also a little more action in it than Left Hand. Red Mars is well worth it as a mostly realistic take on near future settling of Mars.
Several years ago, I assigned myself the task of reading all the Hugo Award winners, in order. I'm about 3/4 of the way through now and as a result I've read pretty much everything here, except Bester's other work and "Red Mars" which I haven't gotten to yet. Speaking of Bester, his "Demolished Man" was much better than I thought it would be going in. And "Doomsday Book" may be one of the best novels I have ever read.
30 points. I wasn't so keen for The Left Hand either but The Disspossed is one of my all time favorites. I would definitely recommend trying it. Your enthusiasm and your reservations about some of these are very similar to mine.
44 out of 50 but being almost 61 years old and reading SF from my teen years, it is logical. Long Live Science Fiction and may we enjoy it for a long time.
I surprised myself with 19/50 points 😂 I started reading more sci-fi by reading Dune before the movie came out, and I seem to be doing pretty well, if I may say so myself 😆
Pretty good list. I've read 1-7, 10, 12, 13, 15, 16, 18-20, and 22-25. The entire Gateway series I found very enjoyable. I think comparing Ringworld and Mote in God's Eye (both good books, but Mote is better) is apples to oranges as they are very different. Dune is a very worthy #1!
Having read both Ringworld (and the sequels) and Mote in God's Eye (and the sequel), they don't compare well. RW is hard sci-fi that is based further in the future than MiGE which is softer sci-fi. RW is more character based than MiGE and RW has a "happier ending" than MiGE.
Score - 45 Red Mars is really good, one of the best books of this type! I understand the sub-genre Military Sci-Fi but to label The Forever war I think is a bit limiting. I read The forever War before Military SF was really a thing, it is brilliant and deserves to be read by anybody and certainly any SF fan not just military SF fans. Mote is better than Ringworld by a significant margin - Ringworld is great though. I have a slight advantage of reading science fiction for nearly 50 years.
@@WordsinTime Cheers. I really enjoyed how by the time of Blue Mars the original settlers had reached legendary status, they would walk in a room and you could just feel how starry eyed everyone was, very cool. I enjoyed the full trilogy.
Only 31 points for me. I really liked Red & Green Mars. Blue Mars left me scratching my head, as it kind of aimlessly trailed off. At least, that's how I took it. But I'd recommend the first two for sure. Heinlein is odd for me. I like his early stuff, especially his short stories and his "juvenile" books. But somewhere around Stranger in a Strange Land, he started going in a different direction that I don't like as much. I had a devil of a time reading Strange Land. I love Ringworld. Niven's Known Space stuff is generally pretty great. The sequels to Ringworld are weird. On the one hand, they introduce more and more cool and wild ideas, but on the other hand, they get less and less well written and fall into some weird patterns of pointless, sexless sex scenes. Protector and The Integral Trees are also good. I liked the follow-ups to Neuromancer more than the first one when I read them 30 years ago. Though a recent re-read raised my opinion of Neuromancer, too.
Having read more later stuff from Heinlein (The Cat Who Walks Through Walls, Number of the Beast, Friday), he certainly doubles down on his sexual fantasy which is present in all of the above books. So if you don't like that, definitely avoid later Heinlein.
Good list. IMO, The Hitchhiker's Guide is best in its original form, the BBC Radio Program! The book is well worth it as well. I've added a few books to my read list.
I only got 4 little points for The Time Machine and The Left Hand of Darkness.. 😅 But I only started scifi recently and it took me a whole freaking year to read the Remebrance of earth's past trilogy because I can't stop thinking and wondering about stuff every few pages!! Amazing reads anyways. Going through the whole Hainish cycle now and loving it.
10. So many of these have been on my radar for a while now and I really need to get round to picking them up and reading them. Can't wait to read more of these
I got 35! I enjoyed Ringworld more than A Mote in God's Eye. Definitely one to be on the tbr for the world building and hard sci-fi description on a "ringworld". The characters, though, are meh. What you expect for the times, I guess
40 and i will buy and read the 5 missing books. This is a great list even if some of very good books are not in. My favorite on your list are the Hyperion Cantos. This universe and the story are powerful. Reading it is like watching a movie in my head, no other books had this impact on my imagination
I scored 38/50 today. It was a fun and interesting video, and I enjoyed seeing what you and other viewers scored. Regarding your comment about Bradbury and his two books on the list, I agree he's a wonderful writer and his prose is a joy to read. I think I would disagree about your ranking, though, as I enjoyed The Martian Chronicles much more than Fahrenheit 451. Just my personal preference, though, and they've both great books. 😁
31 for me, I have several to go. The Dispossessed glares at me from the third row of my bookshelf. That copy has too many bitter memories attached to it, and I think I’ll need to get a new copy before I try reading it again. Dune and Hyperion are two of my all time favorites for any piece of media. Gateway feels like a personal letter presciently addressed to me. I’ll have more time in college to catch up on points. Good list!
36/50 I actually own all the books you mentioned, but what I need is more time :). The list is great and I can't wait to score 50 points eventually. Love your videos!
I must profess that my score is a small 28/50. I have read and own several of the top ten, but there are names and books that I have never heard of before. So I thank you for educating me to the authors and stories that I am not aware of and I look forward to getting to know them. I found you purely by mistake, but what a good find you are! So I subscribed and like this post. I'm looking forward to viewing more of your videos with my thanks!
49 out of 50. The only one I haven't read is Hitchhikers guide , which I do own as well as the movie. Most of them are Hugo and Nebula award winners , which I make my business to keep up with.
I guess maybe 3 years ago I decided to read all hugo winners as well which I completed last year. now kinda reading nebula award winners, but not going hardcore, only 34 of 59 (to date). I'll eventually read all of them as well, and same for locus award winners (40 of 96 to-date)
27 points for me - I've read 13 of them. It sounds like we had a similar experience in reading A Canticle for Leibowitz. I may need to read that one again sometime with more accurate expectations. Great video!
46, I haven’t read and don’t own “Red Mars” or “The Martian Chronicles “. A really good list. I highly recommend “Doomsday Book” and “Ringworld “. I think “Hitchhikers “ is better if you read it for the first time when you are young. Ringworld and Mote are both great books if you like one you’ll probably like the other. Doomsday Book is very good. Lots of humor and emotion which is uncommon in sci fi. Like you the Hyperion Cantos is my favorite series.
Oooo, great interaction on this episode by gamifying the list. Definitely worth doing more of this! 31points for me. “Foundation” and “Dune” are on my own hall of shame. I do have “Dogs of War” but my reading month is rammed with a scheduled 3558 pages to be read, which is utterly impossible for me at the same time!
38 points for me. I haven’t read gateway, forever war, flowers for Algernon, ringworld, demolished man, and canticle for leibowitz. Red mars trilogy is really good but dense so best to read at a time when you can focus.
Doomsday Book is absolutely awesome. I think Gateway is awesome, too. You can picture it as kind of a comic movie with all the humor left in, or you could take that humor out and have a terrifying drama. The Time Machine is haunting. The Mars trilogy has a lot going for it. The longevity treatment enables the characters to experience the long terraforming of Mars and gives it a satisfying narrative thread. I've read them all except for Ender's Game and Hitch Hiker's Guide. They are all classics.
Its just a matter of time the older you get the more you read...theres a lot on the list though i`d recommend especially Way station The Dispossessed Hyperion and The Stars My Destination ..
I read Hitchhikers Guide before it technically made it to the Us. A sister came home from a trip to England with the book, having heard the BBC radio broadcast. Which I also have on cassette tape. Douglas Adams conceded that Hitchhiker was “a work in progress”that got rewritten and updated with every iteration. It’s been fun going through seeing the changes.
@@WordsinTime The important thing to remember about Hitchhikers is that it exists in several different forms. The original (IIRC) was written as a radio series; it was later produced as a TV series (far superior to the movie, IMHO); it was also released on LP record; and of course there are the books and the movie. All of them are somewhat different. I think a lot of people who were already familiar with Hitchhikers were disappointed by the movie - which suggests that the movie is not the best product to judge the story from. I'm glad you red the book; I would also say if you can track down a copy of the TV show it is worth your time to watch.
Red Mars is one of the most impressive SF books I have ever read. Hard SF absolutely - you feel like you are THERE on Mars as they begin making a life there. But at the same time, the characters are unforgettable, some even lovable. John Boone the charismatic, idealistic one, Arkady the anarchist, Ann and Sax the dueling scientists, Maya the dramatic, Hiroko the mysterious, the Coyote, and of course Frank the schemer. The genius of the book is that it all seems like it MUST have happened that way. KSR weaves the people and the science and a good deal of politics together into the best Mars story ever written. (And by politics I don't mean polemics - he's not taking a side, but he develops the characters' own political ideas.) There are funny scenes, exciting scenes, amazing scenes (the long walk after the elevator comes down especially), heartbreaking scenes, and thought-provoking scenes. People who consider it "dry" are probably referring to KSR's weakness for exposition. He's been asked about this and explicitly says he likes exposition and won't cut down on it. But IMO it's less noticeable in this book than in the other two of the trilogy, maybe because the ideas are new here, but also because they're just better done. I absolutely love this book. We probably won't go to Mars in my lifetime, but if we did I'd be watching to see how closely we follow KSR's plot! Edited to add: You mentioned the impressive world-building of Dune. IMHO KSR's world-building in Red Mars is the equal of that. I'm not sure how you'll feel about The Martian Chronicles, I think of that book as kind of lightweight. If you didn't care for The Left Hand of Darkness, you might like The Dispossessed better. It's another case of Le Guin exploring different cultures but perhaps more in-depth than LHD (also, the main character is a physicist and he does talk some physics, lol). I read Hyperion but was turned off by the horror aspect of the Shrike. But in general, this is a very good list.
5/50. Started reading sci-fi this year with Foundation Trilogy & 1984, planning to read Childhood's End soon. I'm eager to check out more books in the genre so thanks for this video!
Dune. The Villeneuve movies do it justice but nothing comes near the book. I found the first few chapters hard work with unfamiliar concepts (what's the kwisatz haderach???) but when the Harkonnen trap was sprung and Paul and Jesica fled into the desert, it took me by the throat and I couldn't put it down.
37/50. Been meaning to read my copy of Red Mars for quite some time. Missing is one that not everyone considers it to be sci-fi but Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut is truly one of the all time greats. I would also include A Fire Upon The Deep by Vernor Vinge and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.
Even though I'm 71 years old, and my time of greatest enthusiasm for reading SF was in the 1960s, when I was a teenager (I'll never forget the allure of the yellow-backed Gollancz hardbacks in the local library), I read "A Fire Upon the Deep" in later life, and it immediately jumped to the top of my list of favourite SF novels, later to be rivalled only by its prequel, "A Deepness in the Sky", which is possibly even better. (I look forward to re-reading them both, and trying to decide.) 43/50 (which is not a high score for someone of my age).
I'm absolutely flabbergasted that the first four books of Edgar Rice Burroughs Barsoom Series didn't make the list. They were some of the earliest science fiction (along with Verne) and were foundational to the later Masters like Bradbury, Heinlein, and Clarke.
18/50, I only counted the physical books that I own instead of the uncounted e-books that get overlooked easily. I was surprised that I never even heard of some of these titles, I'd definitely like to check them out. I especially like old sci-fi, that's why the Time Machine fascinated me so much
all of HG Wells books depends on which version you read, the very early ones (I have an early hardback collection) have very 'Victorian' language and can struggle to get the meaning across, but I believe there are latter re-prints where they have been re-worded to come more into modern ways of saying things....this is my hypothesis anyway, I've never actually read the same story from two time periods
@@WordsinTime the hard back series I have is from 1930 12 Volume Odhams set - I also have a collected stories version which would be at least 50 years later. But then of course the original story is from 1895 so of course how it was written back then (like War of the worlds...so different as it progresses through the years) is very Victorian in language
45--but I might have read Fahrenheit 451 in the early 70's when I was deeply into Bradbury... Kinda surprised at some omissions in the list, but glad to see Bester on it! Silverberg, Vance, Anderson, Brunner, Delaney, Leiber, Wyndham, Ballard, Burgess, Aldiss, Wolfe, Ellison all deserve a place well before authors are duplicated.
29/50. Impressive and bold to put together that list! I miss some of my favorites on the list, but that is obvious, Frankenstein (Shelley), 20.000 leagues under the sea (Verne), Aniara (Martinsson), The Salamander War (Capek), Solaris, (Lem), The Dark Cloud (Hoyle), Brave new world (Huxley), Contact (Sagan) ......
I need to tackle Neuromancer again. I listen to most of my books as audiobooks these days, and I typically listen while driving. I could not do this with Neuromancer because it required too much attention. (I managed Snowcrash just fine though. Make of that what you will... 🙂) Edit: 30 points. And most of the ones I've read before, I want to read again.
So when Oumuamua wandered through the solar system, my first thought was Rendezvous With Rama. Long time ago, I picked up a book with a bunch of H.G. Wells stories, The Invisible Man, The Time Machine, Food the Gods, War of the Worlds, In The Days of the Comet, The Island of Dr. Moreau, read 'em all. Also Lots of Bradbery, Asimov, Heinlein, you know, just the usual. Oh, yeah, really liked A Canticle for Leibowitz.
Really fantastic list! The only really noteworthy absence is the Culture novels e.g. The Player of Games, Use of Weapons. Maybe BOTNS. I love these kinds of lists because it highlights for me the fact that I am just happy to be part of the SF reader community. I feel I don't meet many people irl who read SF
There are more classic books than modern books in the top 25, but I enjoy modern and classic sci-fi equally. It’s been great to meet other sci-fi fans through the channel!
Just commented something similar before I read your comment redfoot2. And you mention Use of Weapons, which I actually forgot on the spur of the moment.
Yeah, the list favours classics (which is fine). Also, it may depend on where the list compiler is from - Banks seems to be much less of a thing in the US as far as I can tell whereas I suspect at least one Culture book would appear on many UK sci-fi fans' "25 essentials".
31 - But not bad as some of these titles were investigated and rejected out of hand. This list did remind me to read a couple I'd forgotten about, and brought a couple of others to my attention!
39 points here. I'm glad to see from your update that you liked Hitchhiker's Guide and that I don't need to encourage you to get Red Mars. Instead I'll say that my experience with The Left Hand of Darkness was about the same as yours, but I absolutely love The Dispossessed.
21/50, but many of these are on my wishlist :) And funny, you seemed to like the first half of Left Hand of Darkness and not so much the second half. With me it was the other way round, I almost dnf'd it but then around the middle it grabbed me and I really liked it towards the ending. Aaaaand the film of The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy is nowhere near as good as the book! Read it!
44/50 for me. I haven't read 1) Doomsday book - 90s were a hard time in my country, so SF publications dropped significantly, import of books also. 2) Forever war & Canticle for Leibowitz - somehow, there was always something more interesting to read, or there was no time, or I wasn't in mood, so they skipped below the radar.
@@WordsinTime seriously. I never hear anyone talk about them. It's nice to know they still have new readers. I'm anxious to finish the video to see if you mention Clifford Simak at all!!!!
Thanks, I’m glad you enjoyed the video! And that’s a solid score. I’ve read all of those authors except Lem, and I am actually starting Solaris tomorrow! All worthy picks!
I think Silverberg is underrated; however, his best work was in the novella and can be hard to find. My favorite novel of his is Hawksbill Station, a time travel story. Probably his Majipoor Chronicles are better known.
@@gaileverett I now have A time of changes and Lord Valentine's Castle on my TBR list. was thinking of reading ATFC as my 2nd to next book to read (Mira Grant's blackout is on deck after I finish David Brin's Brightness Reef.
22 points for me. I gave myself 1 point for a book that I've seen the movie but not read the book (The Time Machine) and I got 1 point for Flowers for Algernon since I have not read the whole book but have read excerpts. I don't own any books on this list I haven't read. I noticed a few authors who are absent from the list that I quite enjoy like David Brin, John Varley, C.J. Cherreh, and Alan Dean Foster.
Interesting list, I didn't keep track of my score but it's probably similar to yours. Interestingly, though, I don't think there was any overlap between us on the books we haven't read yet. I'm not a big fan of time travel stories in general, but I like the Connie Willis books a lot. Doomsday Book may have been the first one I read, I loved it but it's not exactly a fun read as it's a rather dire situation that the protagonist is in. (That's true of most of Connie Willis' time travel books, but I think most true of Doomsday Book.) To Say Nothing of the Dog, on the other hand, is great fun. Just in case you don't know, the title of To Say Nothing of the Dog comes from the subtitle of a classic comedy book from the late 1800's titled Three Men in a Boat. I don't know that it's really necessary, but if you haven't already I would suggest reading Three Men in a Boat before reading To Say Nothing of the Dog. It's pretty short and well worth reading, and it will probably enhance your enjoyment of To Say Nothing of the Dog at least a little bit in a few places. You should definitely read Hitchhiker's Guide, the book is much better than the movie. So much of the humor comes from narrator explanations or peoples thoughts which aren't easily translated to a movie.
I only scored 26/50. However, of the books you mentioned, I scored just about all of them. That’s because I tend to read horizontally. If I read one Clark, Asimov or Herbert, I’ve read them all; plus prequels and sequels by themselves and others.
Read most of these, but I have only re-read a few. I guess that means I like them the best. Those are: the Foundation series, the Martian Chronicles, and the Time Machine.
Only 17 points. But i'm new to Sci fi/reading more books in general. So hopefully my score will go up! But great video with a load of great recommendations I've never heard before.
@@WordsinTime Enjoyed the video, and thank you! If I had actually read all of these books that I have, I would have had a 40! LOL There's 5 books on the list that somehow I don't have, and thanks for reminding me of those too. I think they're all part of the Easton Press classic sci-fi series of books which I have most of, but there's still some outstanding ones, and I would bet all five of them are among the outstanding ones. That may be a summer project coming up!
28/50. I started to give myself two points for Stranger in a Strange Land because I think I read it in college, but I don’t remember for sure so that’s like a reset button.
47/50, but then again I am old. Thing is, so is the list - I think I'd read the majority by my mid-20s (1993), and only one - Hyperion - in the last 10 years. I bounced off Gateway, Red Mars and Forever War, but they still sit on my shelf waiting for another go. I have reread a few on the list recently, and not been so impressed. Then again, I picked up some Le Guin, and am more impressed - I don't think I understood her when I was younger. There are books by more recent authors which shine much brighter in my memory - Iain M Banks, Ann Leckie, Nnedi Okorafor, Liu Cixin, many others.
Impressive score Richard! You are right that this list focuses more on classics, so I did a follow up video based on a list that focuses on modern sci-fi.
Thanks for the list and video WiT. After taking stock of community and individual reactions to different books, movies, games, shows, etc., I've observed it's been very common for people to walk away with different things for each person that engaged them. including the same person, and how their experience and engagement changes over time. There are of course a lot of sci-fi books that can't fit in a "25 Essential". But for me, any such list would have to include at least one Banks' Culture novel. Specifically for his exploration of, detailing of, and portrayal of how advanced civilization's deal with and develop an equilibrium with humanity's (or any equivalent similar species) future. This is both huge because it gives us the world building for a great whole standalone genre (a cousin similar to Star Trek The Next Generation), and even more so because it gives us an extensive roadmap of real world considerations for humanities practical future and development. But not the book _Inversions_ and probably not the book _Player Of Games_ (great book, and great intro to The Culture books), because both miss the bulk of Banks' exploration of general advanced species detail and equilibrium.
Got 28/50, I feel you have some very obscure books in the list that could easily be exchanged for better options, but as long as Hyperion is in, I am happy :)
Awesome video Jonathan!!! I scored a 16. I'm reading the dark forest now. I may check out dogs of war after i finish this series. Thanks for the great content
@@marctowersap8018 it is a really good series. Each book gets a little longer but I really loved them. Like most people say, I thought the second book was the best but the third was nearly that good.
LMAO! 8/50 points XD (2 of those points are for books I own and started reading but never finished due to life in high school lol) Remember how we're planning to do a sci-fi recommendation video for me? Yeah...I wasn't lying when I said I'm not familiar with much sci-fi lmaooo
38/50. I wouldn't consider the Foundation "trilogy" as being three separate books, as it was originally published as monthly installments in an an SF mag(Astounding), but rather one story split into three volumes.
42 - Loved Domesday Book, Willis did a fantastic job of portraying Britain during the Middle Ages. It’s time for a reread on this one for me, since i find it very difficult to find current sci-fi I like.
29/50 i liked the interactivity. Maybe could do more videos that does the scoring thing again for say golden age sf, new age sf, cyberpunk sf, pre goldenage sf, etc?
29/50, better than I expected! I also plan to read a bunch more of these this year (and all are on my TBR) (also, do you have any videos reviewing your recent reads, I'm invested whenever I see your pick of the month and want to hear your views on them)
Nice score Dominic! In my second most recent video I discuss 7 recent reads. I planned to record another one this week but unfortunately I am a bit under the weather so that will come out next week!
28 for sure. After that, there are books that fall into numerous categories: books I can't remember if I finished, but I definitely read some of; books I only read some of; books I can't remember if I read any of; books I definitely own or owned for a long time but read none of; books I own or owned for a long time and don't remember if I read any of; books I don't know if I ever owned; there may be even more permutations. As time went along, there were fewer books I started and actually finished. I could probably legitimately add a few points. But out of all of them, there is only one that I never thought about reading. I also stopped reading SF in the '90s.
Flowers for Algernon was a 1968 film, Charly, starring Cliff Robertson and he won the Academy Award for Best Actor. Did not know it was a book. thankyou
42. Appropriate enough since I have read Hitchhiker's. The four I haven't read and don't own are classics - The Man In The High Castle, 1984, A Canticle For Leibowitz and Hyperion.
I am not well versed in sci-fi, especially the real classics. But I want to explore more of it, so I enjoy the recommenations you give. My score was 11/50. I have read 5 of them and own one. Of the ones I have read, my favorite would be Hyperion. And I have read all 4 of the cantos. Loved them.
27/50 for me, better than I expected honestly. I'm currently working on going through all of the Hugo and Nebula winners, so I'd imagine that I'll cover most of these eventually.
Woo hoo! This is going to be fun! Gateway - Frederick Pohl: 0 points The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams: 2 points. Actually I've read it multiple times. Do I get multiple points? "The ships hung in the sky in much the same way as bricks don't." My most favourite written line ever. Doomsday Book - Connie Willis: 2 points. Read it multiple times. Absolutely love it. The Time Machine - H.G.Wells: 2 points. I think. I think I read it waaaay back in the day. Red Mars - Kim Stanley Robinson: 0 points. Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury: 1 point. I seriously need to get around to reading this. Rendezvous with Rama - AC Clark: 2 points The Forever War - Joe Haldeman: 1/2 point. This was a DNF for me. Flowers for Algernon - Daniel Keyes: 0 points. I thought I'd read this book, but I don't recognize the story description. It'll have to go on my TBR Stranger in a Strange Land - Robert Heinlein: 2 points Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card: 2 points. Multiple times. I remember exactly where I was when I read this the first time. I stayed awake all night to finish it. The Man in the High Castle - Phillip K Dick: 0 points. Read one Dick book and was so sickened by the treatment of women in it, and by the revolting main character who we were clearly supposed to root for but he was *awful*, that I've avoided all Dick books ever since. Hyperion - Dan Simmons: 0 points. Huh. The description sounds good. I will add that to the TBR. Ringworld - Larry Niven: 2 points. This was a definite MEH for me. Interesting, but irritating. It's really tough reading these books written by men decades ago. Their biases come bleeding through and it drives me bonkers. The Demolished Man - Alfred Bester: 0 points. The Dispossessed - Ursula K. le Guin: 0 points. The Stars my Destination - Alfred Bester: 2 points. HATED IT. I hated it so so much, it disgusted me so viscerally, that now I am *very* careful about what sci fi I read, especially anything written before 1980. And frankly, I look askance at anyone who say they enjoyed it - and if anyone says they liked the main character that's a huge red flag. Neuromancer - William Gibson: 2 points. Liked it. Foundation - Isaac Asimov: 2 points. The Martian Chronicles - Ray Bradbury: 2 points. I think this was where my love of Sci Fi started. There was a mini series I watched when I was a kid and it captured my imagination. I loved it. Read the book years later and loved them just as much. A great deal of affection for it. 1984 - George Orwell: 2 points. I agree, a masterpiece. Childhood's End - ACC: 2 points. The first Clark book I ever read. Really fab. Left Hand of Darkness - Ursula K. Le Guin: 0 points. A Canticle for Leibowitz - Walter M. Miller Jr: 0 points. or 2 points. I thought I'd read it but I don't recognize the story so maybe not? Dune - Frank Herbert: 2 points. I love this book so so so much. This was so so fun! Thank you so much. I got 27.5 or 29.5, which surprised me. I thought it would be fewer.
Great score Keeley and thanks for sharing all your notes! I agree that the main character in The Stars My Destination is despicable. I have since read Hitchhiker’s and really enjoyed it. I’m glad to hear you loved Doomsday Book and The Martian Chronicles, I’m looking forward to those!
Doomsday Book was good but I greatly preferred her Blackout/All Clear (part of her time travel series). They are *all* very good but Blackout/All Clear is my favorite.
Kim Stanley Robinson is a real duck out of water in the SF world, for me. I came to his Mars books truly excited, and found them sort of disappointing. In the end, I think it's because he's quite a realist stylistically. I was looking for the good old SF romantic notion of space travel, terraforming, etc., and instead found an intensely political book with a bunch of neither "good" nor "bad" characters...just a bunch of "real" people working within realistic factions. All that is an amazing accomplishment, but wasn't the (literally) fantastic read I thought I was looking for.
You've got an interesting list there, my answer is 42 points. Definitely read Red Mars, I read and liked it and there's a sequel called Green Mars but I haven't read it. If you like comedic Sci Fi, I recommend any story by Ron Goulart, he's quirky. Also there's a corny parody called Doon.
![Method Writing: The First Four Concepts - Jack Grapes [FULL INTERVIEW]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/ba9jAVzADY0/mqdefault.jpg)
UPDATE (42/50) I have since:
- Read Hitchhiker’s Guide and very much enjoyed it.
- Read The Martian Chronicles and enjoyed it
- Purchased Red Mars based on your recommendations.
No Iain M Banks?
@@DavidOfWhitehills Banks definitely deserves recognition. I have read 2 Culture books and plan to read more this year!
@@WordsinTime You are forgiven, go in peace
If you didn't know, the Rama series continues on for several books, but I don't feel that any of them really hold up to the first one.
@@marcusshaner7066 I haven’t heard the most positive things about the Rama sequels but some people might like them.
Bradbury truly is a master writer. He could describe paint drying in real time and leave you feeling better for the experience.
Haha love it!
RE: Ray Bradbury: Stephen Baxter, Greg Egan, Terry Goodkind, Guy Gavriel Kay, Roger Zelazny, R A Salvatore, Gary Gygax, Stephen R Lawhead, Peter Hamilton, L. E. Modsitt Jr, Anne McCaffrey, Katherine Kurtz, Janny Wurts would all give Bradbury a run for his money. Especially Egan, Baxter, Lawhead, Kurtz and Modsitt.
FWIW, Bradbury does not consider The Martian Chronicles to be science fiction, with the notable exception of There Will Come Soft Rains. You will certainly appreciate reading it, but I'm not sure I could say I felt better after doing so.
Something Wicked made me want to be a kid again.
He is the reason I became a reader. His story Frost and Fire blew me away at the age of 9. I wrote him to thank him for his contribution to my life and got a reply from him.
I'm old and I started early so I've read them all and I own a lot of them, including several signed and first editions. I love Hyperion, it blew me away when it came out as did Neuromancer. I agree, Dune deserves to be at the top. I also recommend Neal Stephenson, Snow Crash and Cryptonomicon and Ian Banks Culture Series, such as Algebraist. Everyone should listen to the audiobooks, it gives you a different experience and there are things that you miss when reading them.
That’s awesome Kym! It sounds like you have a great collection. I recently read Snow Crash and plan to read more Stephenson. I have also read 2 Culture books and will be reading more later this year. Thanks for the recommendations!
Your recommends are precisely in line with mine. Banks is a personal favorite and Cryptonomicon blew me away completely, so much so that I sucked it up in one day.
Working on Cryptonomicon right now. :) I'm old also so I actually would have recommended The Moon is a Harsh Mistress or The Roads Must Roll for Heinlein
It's certainly a fascinating classic. But even though I consider myself an intellectual, I didn't "get" either of the 1st 2 books.
I agree with Hyperion and am looking at Neuromancer, but I would put it well above Dune. For the record, I would put many books above Dune, even though I love Herbert. I am disappointed that so few commentators mention the fact that Brave New World and 1984 borrowed from Zemyatin's excellent book, We.
By the way, most people who comment on Canticle for Liebowitz never actually read the book. They go over the words but cannot connect the underlying ideas that make the book so great.
If you think you have read it, you can prove it by telling me who Rachel is and why what happens to the Old Jew, which is critical for understanding the book.
50/50 for me. Nice list, reminds me I'd like to re-read some of the favourites - there's so many books in the world that it sometimes feels like life is too short for repeating old material, but I have to remind myself that it's worth it. A really good book will have something more to offer every time you read it. Hyperion is definitely overdue for a re-read for me, I just realised it's over 30 years since I read it.
That’s impressive! I hope you enjoy Hyperion if you re-read it!
Impressive indeed! 🙂
Wow. Impressive is faint praise. I've been at this for more than 5 decades and I'm up to only 43. Red Mars and the Hyperion Cantos in particular are on my must list.
@@FletchforFreedom Same here. I'd have been higher if I enjoyed P K Dick & A Bester - I find it hard to stomach these two.
Ive read about 5000+ science fiction books(similar amount of fantasy) so i sometimes have a hard time remembering what the hell ive read but Hyperion isn't one of them like Lord Of Light and Revelation Space its a book ive read many times
44/50. Because I'm old.
Haha not old, just well read!
I’ve been around for a while too and got the same score.
44/50. I'm also old.😢
We three are Methuselah's Children.
42/50. Could never get into Dune. Also old - 70.
You should do a part two on this topic. Seems to be very popular and there are a lot of great books.
Thanks for the feedback Bill, people seem to be enjoying this one!
Only 13 points for me, but I read a ton of different genres. The Martian Chronicles is soooo good - made me cry. While it is short stories, they are loosely related, some more than others.
That’s still good! And I’m glad to hear you connected with The Martian Chronicles!
Hitchikers Guide is a quick and fun read so even if youre not super into it, its worth it. Dispossessed is a true classic and should not be missed, also a little more action in it than Left Hand. Red Mars is well worth it as a mostly realistic take on near future settling of Mars.
Thanks for the info Scott, they all sound interesting!
Isnt hitchhikers guide like 5 books?
Several years ago, I assigned myself the task of reading all the Hugo Award winners, in order. I'm about 3/4 of the way through now and as a result I've read pretty much everything here, except Bester's other work and "Red Mars" which I haven't gotten to yet. Speaking of Bester, his "Demolished Man" was much better than I thought it would be going in. And "Doomsday Book" may be one of the best novels I have ever read.
That’s great Jeff! And I’m glad to hear you loved Doomsday Book!
I’m with you on Doomsday Book. The story has stayed with me for a long time
I’m on a similar quest myself. I’ve struggled with some of the older novels, such as Zelazny.
30 points. I wasn't so keen for The Left Hand either but The Disspossed is one of my all time favorites. I would definitely recommend trying it. Your enthusiasm and your reservations about some of these are very similar to mine.
You reminded me that I still haven't read Flowers for Algeron.
That’s good to hear, I’ll have to try The Dispossessed! I hope you enjoy Flowers for Algernon as much as I did!
44 out of 50 but being almost 61 years old and reading SF from my teen years, it is logical. Long Live Science Fiction and may we enjoy it for a long time.
Impressive score Nick! That’s awesome that you’ve enjoyed sci-fi for that long! 🚀
31/50 Flowers for Algernon is one of my favourite books. Glad to see it on this list. Great book for all ages. Due for a reread.
It’s so good! 😭 Glad you loved it too!
I read the book decades ago, but it's one that still sticks with me, even after all this time. I may have to give it a reread.
Flowers is such a great book
You could also listen to Hitchhiker’s Guide, since it was first written as a radio show
I've been hearing good things about the radio show!
@@WordsinTime on audible you can get the radio show. and you can get the TV series on video
I surprised myself with 19/50 points 😂 I started reading more sci-fi by reading Dune before the movie came out, and I seem to be doing pretty well, if I may say so myself 😆
That’s awesome Marina! Glad to be a small part of your sci-fi journey!
Started re-reading all the Dune books so i'm ready for March 1st!!
I just started reading Gateway, because of this video. Enjoying it so far, so thanks Jonathan!
You’re welcome! Glad you’re enjoying it!
Pretty good list. I've read 1-7, 10, 12, 13, 15, 16, 18-20, and 22-25. The entire Gateway series I found very enjoyable. I think comparing Ringworld and Mote in God's Eye (both good books, but Mote is better) is apples to oranges as they are very different. Dune is a very worthy #1!
I think that’s 38 points for the ones you’ve read, which is a great score. I’m glad to hear you enjoyed the entire Gateway series!
Having read both Ringworld (and the sequels) and Mote in God's Eye (and the sequel), they don't compare well. RW is hard sci-fi that is based further in the future than MiGE which is softer sci-fi. RW is more character based than MiGE and RW has a "happier ending" than MiGE.
Agree. Mote is better
Score - 45
Red Mars is really good, one of the best books of this type! I understand the sub-genre Military Sci-Fi but to label The Forever war I think is a bit limiting. I read The forever War before Military SF was really a thing, it is brilliant and deserves to be read by anybody and certainly any SF fan not just military SF fans. Mote is better than Ringworld by a significant margin - Ringworld is great though.
I have a slight advantage of reading science fiction for nearly 50 years.
Impressive score Paul! I’m glad you enjoyed Red Mars, I actually just picked up a copy this week!
@@WordsinTime Cheers. I really enjoyed how by the time of Blue Mars the original settlers had reached legendary status, they would walk in a room and you could just feel how starry eyed everyone was, very cool. I enjoyed the full trilogy.
Military sci-fi has existed long before The Forever War. Starship Troopers, for example.
Only 31 points for me.
I really liked Red & Green Mars. Blue Mars left me scratching my head, as it kind of aimlessly trailed off. At least, that's how I took it. But I'd recommend the first two for sure.
Heinlein is odd for me. I like his early stuff, especially his short stories and his "juvenile" books. But somewhere around Stranger in a Strange Land, he started going in a different direction that I don't like as much. I had a devil of a time reading Strange Land.
I love Ringworld. Niven's Known Space stuff is generally pretty great. The sequels to Ringworld are weird. On the one hand, they introduce more and more cool and wild ideas, but on the other hand, they get less and less well written and fall into some weird patterns of pointless, sexless sex scenes. Protector and The Integral Trees are also good.
I liked the follow-ups to Neuromancer more than the first one when I read them 30 years ago. Though a recent re-read raised my opinion of Neuromancer, too.
That’s a solid score! And thanks for all the helpful info
Having read more later stuff from Heinlein (The Cat Who Walks Through Walls, Number of the Beast, Friday), he certainly doubles down on his sexual fantasy which is present in all of the above books. So if you don't like that, definitely avoid later Heinlein.
I too love Niven's "Protector "...
Good list. IMO, The Hitchhiker's Guide is best in its original form, the BBC Radio Program! The book is well worth it as well. I've added a few books to my read list.
I’m glad the video was helpful! And I’ve heard good things about the BBC radio program!
Absolutely! The book is also good, but the film is a dud.
I only got 4 little points for The Time Machine and The Left Hand of Darkness.. 😅 But I only started scifi recently and it took me a whole freaking year to read the Remebrance of earth's past trilogy because I can't stop thinking and wondering about stuff every few pages!! Amazing reads anyways. Going through the whole Hainish cycle now and loving it.
You’re off to a great start! Remembrance of Earth’s Past is awesome!
10. So many of these have been on my radar for a while now and I really need to get round to picking them up and reading them. Can't wait to read more of these
Nice! You’ve got some good books ahead of you. I hope you enjoy them!
I got 35!
I enjoyed Ringworld more than A Mote in God's Eye. Definitely one to be on the tbr for the world building and hard sci-fi description on a "ringworld". The characters, though, are meh. What you expect for the times, I guess
Nice! Ringworld sounds like it has some interesting concepts, I’ll have to get to it at some point!
17 for me. A newbie to SF although I was a fan long ago. Now an old man finding a new appreciation. Good video/Channel ✌️
Glad I can help you find more sci-fi to read Bill!
40 and i will buy and read the 5 missing books. This is a great list even if some of very good books are not in. My favorite on your list are the Hyperion Cantos. This universe and the story are powerful. Reading it is like watching a movie in my head, no other books had this impact on my imagination
That’s an impressive score! I’m glad to hear you also loved the Hyperion Cantos. I hope you enjoy the remaining 5 books!
I scored 38/50 today. It was a fun and interesting video, and I enjoyed seeing what you and other viewers scored.
Regarding your comment about Bradbury and his two books on the list, I agree he's a wonderful writer and his prose is a joy to read. I think I would disagree about your ranking, though, as I enjoyed The Martian Chronicles much more than Fahrenheit 451. Just my personal preference, though, and they've both great books. 😁
Great score Michael! And I’m glad to hear you speak so highly of Fahrenheit 451, in looking forward to it!
31 for me, I have several to go. The Dispossessed glares at me from the third row of my bookshelf. That copy has too many bitter memories attached to it, and I think I’ll need to get a new copy before I try reading it again. Dune and Hyperion are two of my all time favorites for any piece of media. Gateway feels like a personal letter presciently addressed to me. I’ll have more time in college to catch up on points. Good list!
That’s a great score! I’m glad you connected with Dune, Hyperion, and Gateway!
I scored only 12 but I’ve just recently started to seriously read sci-fi. I appreciate your videos because I always find a new book to try.
That’s great to hear Sari! I’m glad they’ve been helpful. Thanks for being a part of the channel!
36/50 I actually own all the books you mentioned, but what I need is more time :). The list is great and I can't wait to score 50 points eventually. Love your videos!
That’s an awesome collection Alice! And I’m glad you’re enjoying the channel!
I must profess that my score is a small 28/50. I have read and own several of the top ten, but there are names and books that I have never heard of before. So I thank you for educating me to the authors and stories that I am not aware of and I look forward to getting to know them.
I found you purely by mistake, but what a good find you are! So I subscribed and like this post. I'm looking forward to viewing more of your videos with my thanks!
I’m glad the video was helpful Douglas! I appreciate the kind words, welcome to the channel!
49 out of 50. The only one I haven't read is Hitchhikers guide , which I do own as well as the movie. Most of them are Hugo and Nebula award winners , which I make my business to keep up with.
Very impressive! I’ll be reading Hitchhiker’s in June if you want to join me and complete the list!
What’s your opinion of Red Mars? What would you compare it to? The reviews on it are very mixed. I haven’t read anything by the author.
@@jerryB75 Read it!
I guess maybe 3 years ago I decided to read all hugo winners as well which I completed last year. now kinda reading nebula award winners, but not going hardcore, only 34 of 59 (to date). I'll eventually read all of them as well, and same for locus award winners (40 of 96 to-date)
27 points for me - I've read 13 of them. It sounds like we had a similar experience in reading A Canticle for Leibowitz. I may need to read that one again sometime with more accurate expectations. Great video!
Solid score Josh, especially because you also read a lot of fantasy! I’m glad you enjoyed the video!
46, I haven’t read and don’t own “Red Mars” or “The Martian Chronicles “. A really good list. I highly recommend “Doomsday Book” and “Ringworld “. I think “Hitchhikers “ is better if you read it for the first time when you are young. Ringworld and Mote are both great books if you like one you’ll probably like the other. Doomsday Book is very good. Lots of humor and emotion which is uncommon in sci fi. Like you the Hyperion Cantos is my favorite series.
Impressive! I’m glad to hear you enjoyed those books and that you also love Hyperion!
Oooo, great interaction on this episode by gamifying the list. Definitely worth doing more of this! 31points for me. “Foundation” and “Dune” are on my own hall of shame. I do have “Dogs of War” but my reading month is rammed with a scheduled 3558 pages to be read, which is utterly impossible for me at the same time!
I’m glad you enjoyed the video, and that’s a solid score Tufty! 3558 is a lot of pages haha
38 points for me. I haven’t read gateway, forever war, flowers for Algernon, ringworld, demolished man, and canticle for leibowitz. Red mars trilogy is really good but dense so best to read at a time when you can focus.
Thanks for the heads up on Red Mars, and I hope you enjoy Flowers for Algernon as much as I did!
Doomsday Book is absolutely awesome. I think Gateway is awesome, too. You can picture it as kind of a comic movie with all the humor left in, or you could take that humor out and have a terrifying drama. The Time Machine is haunting. The Mars trilogy has a lot going for it. The longevity treatment enables the characters to experience the long terraforming of Mars and gives it a satisfying narrative thread. I've read them all except for Ender's Game and Hitch Hiker's Guide. They are all classics.
That’s great to hear Cory! I recently purchased Red Mars so I am looking forward to that and Doomsday Book!
I love Doomsday Book too!
5 points for me. The Forever War is the only one I've read. Then I own three others. Looks like I need to do some more sci-fi reading!! :)
I’m happy to be of help! Let me know if you have any sci-fi questions!
Its just a matter of time the older you get the more you read...theres a lot on the list though i`d recommend especially Way station The Dispossessed Hyperion and The Stars My Destination ..
18/50 for me. Look forward to reading much more sci fi this year. Great video!
Cheers David! I’m happy to be able help add to your sci-fi TBR!
I've read all 25, so 50 points! It's a good list and I really can't fault it at all, but then it's obviously to my reading tastes haha.
Haha I’m impressed!
I read Hitchhikers Guide before it technically made it to the Us. A sister came home from a trip to England with the book, having heard the BBC radio broadcast. Which I also have on cassette tape. Douglas Adams conceded that Hitchhiker was “a work in progress”that got rewritten and updated with every iteration. It’s been fun going through seeing the changes.
That’s cool Maggi! I have since read it and very much enjoyed it!
@@WordsinTime The important thing to remember about Hitchhikers is that it exists in several different forms. The original (IIRC) was written as a radio series; it was later produced as a TV series (far superior to the movie, IMHO); it was also released on LP record; and of course there are the books and the movie. All of them are somewhat different. I think a lot of people who were already familiar with Hitchhikers were disappointed by the movie - which suggests that the movie is not the best product to judge the story from. I'm glad you red the book; I would also say if you can track down a copy of the TV show it is worth your time to watch.
Ignore the movie . As a Brit i wounder if some of it gets lost in traslation crossing the pond
@@rudewalrus5636 there was also a computer game. Text based and it can still be found online.
Red Mars is one of the most impressive SF books I have ever read. Hard SF absolutely - you feel like you are THERE on Mars as they begin making a life there. But at the same time, the characters are unforgettable, some even lovable. John Boone the charismatic, idealistic one, Arkady the anarchist, Ann and Sax the dueling scientists, Maya the dramatic, Hiroko the mysterious, the Coyote, and of course Frank the schemer. The genius of the book is that it all seems like it MUST have happened that way. KSR weaves the people and the science and a good deal of politics together into the best Mars story ever written. (And by politics I don't mean polemics - he's not taking a side, but he develops the characters' own political ideas.)
There are funny scenes, exciting scenes, amazing scenes (the long walk after the elevator comes down especially), heartbreaking scenes, and thought-provoking scenes. People who consider it "dry" are probably referring to KSR's weakness for exposition. He's been asked about this and explicitly says he likes exposition and won't cut down on it. But IMO it's less noticeable in this book than in the other two of the trilogy, maybe because the ideas are new here, but also because they're just better done.
I absolutely love this book. We probably won't go to Mars in my lifetime, but if we did I'd be watching to see how closely we follow KSR's plot!
Edited to add: You mentioned the impressive world-building of Dune. IMHO KSR's world-building in Red Mars is the equal of that.
I'm not sure how you'll feel about The Martian Chronicles, I think of that book as kind of lightweight. If you didn't care for The Left Hand of Darkness, you might like The Dispossessed better. It's another case of Le Guin exploring different cultures but perhaps more in-depth than LHD (also, the main character is a physicist and he does talk some physics, lol).
I read Hyperion but was turned off by the horror aspect of the Shrike. But in general, this is a very good list.
That’s great to hear Gail! I have since purchased Red Mars and look forward to reading it!
I kinda liked how Sax became in a way the mane character towards the end. the stuff that guy gets up to is just strait legend.
5/50. Started reading sci-fi this year with Foundation Trilogy & 1984, planning to read Childhood's End soon. I'm eager to check out more books in the genre so thanks for this video!
Those are great books to start with! I hope I can help you find sci-fi books you enjoy!
After that, I'd recommend The Forever War, then Hyperion and Ender's Game. You're in for a great journey... Enjoy!
Dune.
The Villeneuve movies do it justice but nothing comes near the book. I found the first few chapters hard work with unfamiliar concepts (what's the kwisatz haderach???) but when the Harkonnen trap was sprung and Paul and Jesica fled into the desert, it took me by the throat and I couldn't put it down.
37/50. Been meaning to read my copy of Red Mars for quite some time. Missing is one that not everyone considers it to be sci-fi but Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut is truly one of the all time greats. I would also include A Fire Upon The Deep by Vernor Vinge and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.
Great score! Vonnegut is one of my favourite writers and Frankenstein is one of my favourite books!
Totally second your Vernor Vinge recommendation! a freakin amazing book!
Even though I'm 71 years old, and my time of greatest enthusiasm for reading SF was in the 1960s, when I was a teenager (I'll never forget the allure of the yellow-backed Gollancz hardbacks in the local library), I read "A Fire Upon the Deep" in later life, and it immediately jumped to the top of my list of favourite SF novels, later to be rivalled only by its prequel, "A Deepness in the Sky", which is possibly even better. (I look forward to re-reading them both, and trying to decide.) 43/50 (which is not a high score for someone of my age).
I'm absolutely flabbergasted that the first four books of Edgar Rice Burroughs Barsoom Series didn't make the list.
They were some of the earliest science fiction (along with Verne) and were foundational to the later Masters like Bradbury, Heinlein, and Clarke.
Yes, very influential!
18/50, I only counted the physical books that I own instead of the uncounted e-books that get overlooked easily. I was surprised that I never even heard of some of these titles, I'd definitely like to check them out. I especially like old sci-fi, that's why the Time Machine fascinated me so much
Solid score Lucia! I’m glad you enjoyed The Time Machine. I also enjoy old sci-fi with Frankenstein being one of my favourites.
27/50 and most of these are already on my list to read. Good list!
Solid score Jason, I’m glad you enjoyed it!
all of HG Wells books depends on which version you read, the very early ones (I have an early hardback collection) have very 'Victorian' language and can struggle to get the meaning across, but I believe there are latter re-prints where they have been re-worded to come more into modern ways of saying things....this is my hypothesis anyway, I've never actually read the same story from two time periods
Interesting! I wasn’t aware of the different printings so I will have to look that up!
@@WordsinTime the hard back series I have is from 1930 12 Volume Odhams set - I also have a collected stories version which would be at least 50 years later. But then of course the original story is from 1895 so of course how it was written back then (like War of the worlds...so different as it progresses through the years) is very Victorian in language
45--but I might have read Fahrenheit 451 in the early 70's when I was deeply into Bradbury... Kinda surprised at some omissions in the list, but glad to see Bester on it! Silverberg, Vance, Anderson, Brunner, Delaney, Leiber, Wyndham, Ballard, Burgess, Aldiss, Wolfe, Ellison all deserve a place well before authors are duplicated.
Impressive score! And I agree, there’s too many good authors and not enough spots on the list.
29/50. Impressive and bold to put together that list! I miss some of my favorites on the list, but that is obvious, Frankenstein (Shelley), 20.000 leagues under the sea (Verne), Aniara (Martinsson), The Salamander War (Capek), Solaris, (Lem), The Dark Cloud (Hoyle), Brave new world (Huxley), Contact (Sagan) ......
Great score! Some of those are on the list but didn’t make the top 25. Frankenstein and Solaris are 2 of my personal favourites!
Wow, I had no idea I read so many. Sixteen and all when I was much younger. I'll have to check out the 100 list.
That’s great, I hope it helps you find some more great sci-fi to read!
I need to tackle Neuromancer again. I listen to most of my books as audiobooks these days, and I typically listen while driving. I could not do this with Neuromancer because it required too much attention. (I managed Snowcrash just fine though. Make of that what you will... 🙂)
Edit: 30 points. And most of the ones I've read before, I want to read again.
Neuromancer required all of my attention as well. Great score!
So when Oumuamua wandered through the solar system, my first thought was Rendezvous With Rama. Long time ago, I picked up a book with a bunch of H.G. Wells stories, The Invisible Man, The Time Machine, Food the Gods, War of the Worlds, In The Days of the Comet, The Island of Dr. Moreau, read 'em all. Also Lots of Bradbery, Asimov, Heinlein, you know, just the usual. Oh, yeah, really liked A Canticle for Leibowitz.
That’s great, I’m glad you enjoyed those!
Really fantastic list! The only really noteworthy absence is the Culture novels e.g. The Player of Games, Use of Weapons. Maybe BOTNS. I love these kinds of lists because it highlights for me the fact that I am just happy to be part of the SF reader community. I feel I don't meet many people irl who read SF
There are more classic books than modern books in the top 25, but I enjoy modern and classic sci-fi equally. It’s been great to meet other sci-fi fans through the channel!
Just commented something similar before I read your comment redfoot2. And you mention Use of Weapons, which I actually forgot on the spur of the moment.
Yeah, the list favours classics (which is fine). Also, it may depend on where the list compiler is from - Banks seems to be much less of a thing in the US as far as I can tell whereas I suspect at least one Culture book would appear on many UK sci-fi fans' "25 essentials".
31 - But not bad as some of these titles were investigated and rejected out of hand. This list did remind me to read a couple I'd forgotten about, and brought a couple of others to my attention!
Great score. I’m glad the video was helpful, I hope you enjoy some of them!
I got 17/50. So plenty of potential for diving into influential classic SF!
Solid score Max! I hope the channel is helpful for sci-fi recommendations!
39 points here. I'm glad to see from your update that you liked Hitchhiker's Guide and that I don't need to encourage you to get Red Mars. Instead I'll say that my experience with The Left Hand of Darkness was about the same as yours, but I absolutely love The Dispossessed.
Great score! And that’s good to hear, I will have to try The Dispossessed!
argh, I just wished you would show some of the cover pictures/variations as these instantly evoke thoughts and emotions. Nice vid.
Thanks for the suggestion, I love cover art as well.
21/50, but many of these are on my wishlist :)
And funny, you seemed to like the first half of Left Hand of Darkness and not so much the second half. With me it was the other way round, I almost dnf'd it but then around the middle it grabbed me and I really liked it towards the ending.
Aaaaand the film of The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy is nowhere near as good as the book! Read it!
The wishlist grows ever longer! And I’m glad you enjoyed Hitchhiker’s, I’m looking forward to it!
@@WordsinTime super fast read as well!
37 for me! Just discovered your channel. New subscriber!
Great score Scott! Welcome to the channel!
44/50 for me. I haven't read 1) Doomsday book - 90s were a hard time in my country, so SF publications dropped significantly, import of books also. 2) Forever war & Canticle for Leibowitz - somehow, there was always something more interesting to read, or there was no time, or I wasn't in mood, so they skipped below the radar.
That’s an impressive score Zoran! I hope you enjoy those 3 if you read them!
As soon as you said Pohl and then Immediately Willis, I knew this was going to be a great list! You've got a new subscriber, bud!!!
Haha I appreciate it Marcus, welcome to the channel!
@@WordsinTime seriously. I never hear anyone talk about them. It's nice to know they still have new readers. I'm anxious to finish the video to see if you mention Clifford Simak at all!!!!
@@marcusshaner7066 I actually just talked about Simak in the new video I posted yesterday!
@@WordsinTime I'll check it out! ( sidenote: I was born and raised in Kinsman, Ohio; so I cut my scifi teeth on Edmond Hamilton and Leigh Brackett! )
I like this kind of stuff. 29/50 for me. What about Solaris, Brave new world any Silverberg, Vernon Vinge or Iain Banks ? Waiting part 2
Thanks, I’m glad you enjoyed the video! And that’s a solid score. I’ve read all of those authors except Lem, and I am actually starting Solaris tomorrow! All worthy picks!
I loved A Deepness in the Sky.
I think Silverberg is underrated; however, his best work was in the novella and can be hard to find. My favorite novel of his is Hawksbill Station, a time travel story. Probably his Majipoor Chronicles are better known.
@@gaileverett Thanks for the recommendations Gail! I thought Dying Inside was excellent, I’m looking forward to trying more!
@@gaileverett I now have A time of changes and Lord Valentine's Castle on my TBR list. was thinking of reading ATFC as my 2nd to next book to read (Mira Grant's blackout is on deck after I finish David Brin's Brightness Reef.
22 points for me. I gave myself 1 point for a book that I've seen the movie but not read the book (The Time Machine) and I got 1 point for Flowers for Algernon since I have not read the whole book but have read excerpts. I don't own any books on this list I haven't read. I noticed a few authors who are absent from the list that I quite enjoy like David Brin, John Varley, C.J. Cherreh, and Alan Dean Foster.
Solid score! I have read some Brin and Cherryh, I will have to check out Varley and Foster!
Interesting list, I didn't keep track of my score but it's probably similar to yours. Interestingly, though, I don't think there was any overlap between us on the books we haven't read yet. I'm not a big fan of time travel stories in general, but I like the Connie Willis books a lot. Doomsday Book may have been the first one I read, I loved it but it's not exactly a fun read as it's a rather dire situation that the protagonist is in. (That's true of most of Connie Willis' time travel books, but I think most true of Doomsday Book.) To Say Nothing of the Dog, on the other hand, is great fun. Just in case you don't know, the title of To Say Nothing of the Dog comes from the subtitle of a classic comedy book from the late 1800's titled Three Men in a Boat. I don't know that it's really necessary, but if you haven't already I would suggest reading Three Men in a Boat before reading To Say Nothing of the Dog. It's pretty short and well worth reading, and it will probably enhance your enjoyment of To Say Nothing of the Dog at least a little bit in a few places.
You should definitely read Hitchhiker's Guide, the book is much better than the movie. So much of the humor comes from narrator explanations or peoples thoughts which aren't easily translated to a movie.
I have since read Hitchhiker’s and very much enjoyed it! And thanks for the info on Doomsday Book and To Say Nothing of the Dog!
I've read all of those, several of them more than once. Nice list!
That’s amazing Barry, I’m glad you enjoyed!
I only scored 26/50. However, of the books you mentioned, I scored just about all of them. That’s because I tend to read horizontally. If I read one Clark, Asimov or Herbert, I’ve read them all; plus prequels and sequels by themselves and others.
That’s cool! I like to read a mix but sometimes I will binge an author or series.
Read most of these, but I have only re-read a few. I guess that means I like them the best. Those are: the Foundation series, the Martian Chronicles, and the Time Machine.
A worthy list that intersects well with my own.
I’m glad you enjoyed it Kim!
Don't forget to read the other two books in William Gibsons Sprawl Trilogy: 2. Count Zero and 3. Mona Lisa Overdrive.
I’ve heard good things!
48 everything except Neuromancer, most I read over 30 years ago. Good on you for including The Demolished Man!
That’s an impressive list of sci-fi that you’ve read!
Only 17 points.
But i'm new to Sci fi/reading more books in general. So hopefully my score will go up! But great video with a load of great recommendations I've never heard before.
I’m glad you enjoyed the video and some of the books sounded interesting to try next!
26. Thanks for reminding me of how many books I have that I haven’t read yet
Solid score Tom! Glad I could help you find some more books to read!
@@WordsinTime Enjoyed the video, and thank you! If I had actually read all of these books that I have, I would have had a 40! LOL There's 5 books on the list that somehow I don't have, and thanks for reminding me of those too. I think they're all part of the Easton Press classic sci-fi series of books which I have most of, but there's still some outstanding ones, and I would bet all five of them are among the outstanding ones. That may be a summer project coming up!
44/50 have missed Willis and Bester, another trip to the book shop.
Haha I’m glad I could help provide an excuse for some book shopping!
28/50. I started to give myself two points for Stranger in a Strange Land because I think I read it in college, but I don’t remember for sure so that’s like a reset button.
Solid score!
47/50, but then again I am old. Thing is, so is the list - I think I'd read the majority by my mid-20s (1993), and only one - Hyperion - in the last 10 years. I bounced off Gateway, Red Mars and Forever War, but they still sit on my shelf waiting for another go. I have reread a few on the list recently, and not been so impressed. Then again, I picked up some Le Guin, and am more impressed - I don't think I understood her when I was younger. There are books by more recent authors which shine much brighter in my memory - Iain M Banks, Ann Leckie, Nnedi Okorafor, Liu Cixin, many others.
Impressive score Richard! You are right that this list focuses more on classics, so I did a follow up video based on a list that focuses on modern sci-fi.
Thanks for the list and video WiT.
After taking stock of community and individual reactions to different books, movies, games, shows, etc., I've observed it's been very common for people to walk away with different things for each person that engaged them. including the same person, and how their experience and engagement changes over time.
There are of course a lot of sci-fi books that can't fit in a "25 Essential". But for me, any such list would have to include at least one Banks' Culture novel. Specifically for his exploration of, detailing of, and portrayal of how advanced civilization's deal with and develop an equilibrium with humanity's (or any equivalent similar species) future. This is both huge because it gives us the world building for a great whole standalone genre (a cousin similar to Star Trek The Next Generation), and even more so because it gives us an extensive roadmap of real world considerations for humanities practical future and development. But not the book _Inversions_ and probably not the book _Player Of Games_ (great book, and great intro to The Culture books), because both miss the bulk of Banks' exploration of general advanced species detail and equilibrium.
Yes, I’ve read 2 Culture books and plan to read more this year!
Got 28/50, I feel you have some very obscure books in the list that could easily be exchanged for better options, but as long as Hyperion is in, I am happy :)
Solid score! And yes, Hyperion is awesome!
great video I came in at a whopping 33 pts. Not to shabby. So much to read and I read so slow. BTW anything by Mr. Bradbury is just great.
Thanks, I’m glad you enjoyed it! That’s a great score. I’m glad to hear you’re a fan of Bradbury, I’m looking forward to The Martian Chronicles!
Including A Canticle for Liebowitz was well done. It is often overlooked and deserves recognition.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Awesome video Jonathan!!! I scored a 16. I'm reading the dark forest now. I may check out dogs of war after i finish this series. Thanks for the great content
Thanks so much Dale! I hope you enjoy The Dark Forest as much as I did, and I’m looking forward to Dogs of War!
I do need to finish Death's end and dark forest as well! Those two books are staring at me now, read me! patience, I will get to you... ;-)
@@marctowersap8018 it is a really good series. Each book gets a little longer but I really loved them. Like most people say, I thought the second book was the best but the third was nearly that good.
LMAO! 8/50 points XD (2 of those points are for books I own and started reading but never finished due to life in high school lol)
Remember how we're planning to do a sci-fi recommendation video for me? Yeah...I wasn't lying when I said I'm not familiar with much sci-fi lmaooo
Haha I will bring you over to Team Sci-Fi!
@@WordsinTime You will try LMAO
Always read the book First!!!! Directors , in most cases, make changes that gloss over subtle parts some of which can change the whole story.
Sound advice Allen!
38/50. I wouldn't consider the Foundation "trilogy" as being three separate books, as it was originally published as monthly installments in an an SF mag(Astounding), but rather one story split into three volumes.
Great score Janus! And yes, I would agree regarding Foundation.
janus1958: Foundation now consists of 7 books (if you class the original trilogy as 3 separate books).
48/50. IMO a brilliant breakdown of strengths and weaknesses of these classics. Thanks so much.
Very impressive score! And thanks for the kind words, I’m glad you enjoyed it!
40/50 for me. I think I should get points for considering the other 5 books, but electing not to read them? :) Keep up the good work!
Great score! Don’t think I can award more points but I respect it haha
42 - Loved Domesday Book, Willis did a fantastic job of portraying Britain during the Middle Ages. It’s time for a reread on this one for me, since i find it very difficult to find current sci-fi I like.
Impressive score Patricia! I’m glad to hear you loved Doomsday Book!
Have you read Black Out and All Clear?
29/50 i liked the interactivity. Maybe could do more videos that does the scoring thing again for say golden age sf, new age sf, cyberpunk sf, pre goldenage sf, etc?
Nice score! And thanks for the feedback, I’ll have a think about how to incorporate different interactive ideas for future videos.
35 points, then another 3 of the books were in my Amazon wish list already 😀
Haha that lined up well! 📚
29/50, better than I expected! I also plan to read a bunch more of these this year (and all are on my TBR) (also, do you have any videos reviewing your recent reads, I'm invested whenever I see your pick of the month and want to hear your views on them)
Nice score Dominic! In my second most recent video I discuss 7 recent reads. I planned to record another one this week but unfortunately I am a bit under the weather so that will come out next week!
Only scored 10. I bounce between genres quite a bit and haven't read a lot of the sci-fi classics yet. Ursula K. Le Guin is high on my TBR though.
That’s okay, you’ve got lots of great sci-fi to look forward to!
28 for sure. After that, there are books that fall into numerous categories: books I can't remember if I finished, but I definitely read some of; books I only read some of; books I can't remember if I read any of; books I definitely own or owned for a long time but read none of; books I own or owned for a long time and don't remember if I read any of; books I don't know if I ever owned; there may be even more permutations. As time went along, there were fewer books I started and actually finished. I could probably legitimately add a few points. But out of all of them, there is only one that I never thought about reading. I also stopped reading SF in the '90s.
That’s a solid score! And it sounds like you’ve been reading sci-fi for a long time so all those permutations are understandable!
@@WordsinTime Thanks for the vote of confidence!
Flowers for Algernon was a 1968 film, Charly, starring Cliff Robertson and he won the Academy Award for Best Actor.
Did not know it was a book. thankyou
I need to watch the film!
42. Appropriate enough since I have read Hitchhiker's. The four I haven't read and don't own are classics - The Man In The High Castle, 1984, A Canticle For Leibowitz and Hyperion.
Haha perfect! 1984 and Hyperion are 2 of my favourites so I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!
I am not well versed in sci-fi, especially the real classics. But I want to explore more of it, so I enjoy the recommenations you give. My score was 11/50. I have read 5 of them and own one. Of the ones I have read, my favorite would be Hyperion. And I have read all 4 of the cantos. Loved them.
I’m glad you also loved the Hyperion Cantos! I think the sequels are a little underrated!
Great video again! One note, in the description it now reads '14 The Main in the High Castle' instead of '14 The Man in the High Castle'.
Thanks! I corrected it! 🤝
45, I guess I grew up in a perfect time to catch the classics.
That’s an impressive score Keith! I hope you enjoy the others if you read them!
27/50 for me, better than I expected honestly. I'm currently working on going through all of the Hugo and Nebula winners, so I'd imagine that I'll cover most of these eventually.
Solid score! I’ve read around 30 Hugo/Nebula winners so I am looking to checking more of those off my list!
47/50. I'm old and have read and reread many of these. Have read Hyperion, but not others in the series-on the list.
Impressive Robert! I hope you enjoy the rest of the Hyperion Cantos if you read it!
Woo hoo! This is going to be fun!
Gateway - Frederick Pohl: 0 points
The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams: 2 points. Actually I've read it multiple times. Do I get multiple points? "The ships hung in the sky in much the same way as bricks don't." My most favourite written line ever.
Doomsday Book - Connie Willis: 2 points. Read it multiple times. Absolutely love it.
The Time Machine - H.G.Wells: 2 points. I think. I think I read it waaaay back in the day.
Red Mars - Kim Stanley Robinson: 0 points.
Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury: 1 point. I seriously need to get around to reading this.
Rendezvous with Rama - AC Clark: 2 points
The Forever War - Joe Haldeman: 1/2 point. This was a DNF for me.
Flowers for Algernon - Daniel Keyes: 0 points. I thought I'd read this book, but I don't recognize the story description. It'll have to go on my TBR
Stranger in a Strange Land - Robert Heinlein: 2 points
Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card: 2 points. Multiple times. I remember exactly where I was when I read this the first time. I stayed awake all night to finish it.
The Man in the High Castle - Phillip K Dick: 0 points. Read one Dick book and was so sickened by the treatment of women in it, and by the revolting main character who we were clearly supposed to root for but he was *awful*, that I've avoided all Dick books ever since.
Hyperion - Dan Simmons: 0 points. Huh. The description sounds good. I will add that to the TBR.
Ringworld - Larry Niven: 2 points. This was a definite MEH for me. Interesting, but irritating. It's really tough reading these books written by men decades ago. Their biases come bleeding through and it drives me bonkers.
The Demolished Man - Alfred Bester: 0 points.
The Dispossessed - Ursula K. le Guin: 0 points.
The Stars my Destination - Alfred Bester: 2 points. HATED IT. I hated it so so much, it disgusted me so viscerally, that now I am *very* careful about what sci fi I read, especially anything written before 1980. And frankly, I look askance at anyone who say they enjoyed it - and if anyone says they liked the main character that's a huge red flag.
Neuromancer - William Gibson: 2 points. Liked it.
Foundation - Isaac Asimov: 2 points.
The Martian Chronicles - Ray Bradbury: 2 points. I think this was where my love of Sci Fi started. There was a mini series I watched when I was a kid and it captured my imagination. I loved it. Read the book years later and loved them just as much. A great deal of affection for it.
1984 - George Orwell: 2 points. I agree, a masterpiece.
Childhood's End - ACC: 2 points. The first Clark book I ever read. Really fab.
Left Hand of Darkness - Ursula K. Le Guin: 0 points.
A Canticle for Leibowitz - Walter M. Miller Jr: 0 points. or 2 points. I thought I'd read it but I don't recognize the story so maybe not?
Dune - Frank Herbert: 2 points. I love this book so so so much.
This was so so fun! Thank you so much. I got 27.5 or 29.5, which surprised me. I thought it would be fewer.
Great score Keeley and thanks for sharing all your notes! I agree that the main character in The Stars My Destination is despicable. I have since read Hitchhiker’s and really enjoyed it. I’m glad to hear you loved Doomsday Book and The Martian Chronicles, I’m looking forward to those!
Doomsday Book was good but I greatly preferred her Blackout/All Clear (part of her time travel series). They are *all* very good but Blackout/All Clear is my favorite.
Awesome, I look forward to getting to those!
25. Great video, I always see "Red Mars" on lists but have never actually heard anyone talk about them, a hidden gem in plane sight maybe? Lol
Haha it does seem to be quite well respected but perhaps not that widely read nowadays.
Kim Stanley Robinson is a real duck out of water in the SF world, for me. I came to his Mars books truly excited, and found them sort of disappointing. In the end, I think it's because he's quite a realist stylistically. I was looking for the good old SF romantic notion of space travel, terraforming, etc., and instead found an intensely political book with a bunch of neither "good" nor "bad" characters...just a bunch of "real" people working within realistic factions. All that is an amazing accomplishment, but wasn't the (literally) fantastic read I thought I was looking for.
@@dirtsheep557 wow thanks for the honest review, honest you make it sound even more intriguing to me lol
@@PoorPersonsBookReviewer Sweet! Hope you enjoy it!
You've got an interesting list there, my answer is 42 points. Definitely read Red Mars, I read and liked it and there's a sequel called Green Mars but I haven't read it. If you like comedic Sci Fi, I recommend any story by Ron Goulart, he's quirky. Also there's a corny parody called Doon.
Impressive score! I recently bought Red Mars and will be reading it later this year!