Ringworld is very interesting, but it's plot is similar to Rendezvous with Rama. RW is a part of Niven's "Known Space" universe which I really like, but you need to read several of the stories to really appreciate his universe. If you were only going to read one Known Space story, I would say that Protector is probably the one that stands on it's own the best.
I think my gold medal would go to Joe Haldeman's Forever War. I don't even like military SF but this novel was so surprisingly good, one of my favourite reads of 2023. Silver for Left Hand of Darkness and bronze for Dune.
Rendezvous with Rama just felt so special to me. The exploration and the discovery…l you know it kind of reminded me of the Lost World somehow, that’s the only other book that gave me the same feeling as far as I recall. Rama was better probably but the Lost World is underrated
I have to agree with your evaluation of both Neuromancer and Speaker for the Dead. I’d heard so much about Neuromancer, so maybe my expectations were unrealistic, but I found it slow and confusing. I picked up Speaker for the Dead, immediately after Ender’s Game, so was expecting more of the same, which is definitely NOT the case. I guess I like my sci-fi a little less thoughtful :-)
I've read Neuromancer about 8 times during 30 years. And only as a teen I didn't get it. Strangely, Count zero was in all places comparing to Neuromancer. Not to mention Mona Lisa Overdrive...😂 Neuro is most coherent of three parts.
When I first read Ringworld, I thought it was flawless. I love the puppeteers, and the mind blowing concept of the ringworld itself. On second reading, the genetically inherited "luck of Teela Brown" theme struck me as undifferentiated from magic, which I found offputting in such a well thought out si-fi book. The book is quite creative, and has very interesting and fun characters, and is, like all of Niven's books, a great read paragraph by paragraph. Lovely writing style throughout. A relatively unknown Niven book that I enjoyed very much is "A World Out of Time." It ties in well with other "Known Space" titles, yet is hugely entertaining in it's own right. "A World of Ptavvs" is another lesser-known Niven title that kept me engrossed throughout. And all of the Beowulf Shaffer books are super fun to read.
I've read most of these and based on the ones you like best I reckon you will prefer Ringworld over Dispossessed (I haven't read Dreamsnake). My top 3 out of the 14: 1. Neuromancer - In the top two or three SF books I have read - a perfect 10 out of 10 2. The Dispossessed - I love le Guin and this is her very best work 3. Left Hand of Darkness - only slightly behind the Dispossessed. I have often found that winning the Nebula and Hugo is often not an indicator that a book is going to be great. There are a few winners that have left me scratching my head (eg the David Brin books, Downbelow Station, the Three Body Problem, and I know people love Enders Game but I can't stand it). Just goes to show how subjective reading really is.
@@WordsinTime I haven't read Dreamsnake either. I would also recommend The Dispossessed over Ringworld. But seanwinter may be correct in predicting which book you would prefer. I'd say that Ringworld is more fun, The Dispossessed is more serious.
I've read many of these but the only I've re-read are "Left Hand of Darkness" and "The Dispossesed" and "Dune". Definitely the deep dive for all three is worth it. Edit add: The Dispossessed has a famous chapter timeline structure that adds a lot to it's appeal, imho.
Ender's Game is one of my favorites. I read it as an adult and was surprised when I found out that it was considered YA. It is a unique book that can entrance both young people as well as adults. I didn't care that much for Speaker, but I found that I appreciated it a bit more on my second reading. But I really enjoyed all of the following books in the Enderverse--the stories about his siblings and especially "Ender's Shadow". This was such a unique book because he is relating many of the same events that happened in Ender's Game but from Bean's perspective. And you come to realize that there was much more happening at the time then you ever realized. Very unique!
The Dispossessed is my favourite LeGuin, and while it definitely feels a bit aged I think it is still really relevant and with some political bite to it. Dreamsnake... I only vaguely remember, but I think it definitely felt more fantasy than science.
left hand is very much pastoral style fiction. doesnt sound like its for you, but if you want to try more of that look for anything by clifford simak, like city and also way station. highly recommended. i never read dispossessed, earthsea or word for world is forest (the avatar movie inspiration book), but i did read lathe of heaven, which is great.
I've read virtually everything published that got a hugo or a nebula between the 60's and the Aughts, not to mention a great deal of stuff that never won any awards. A Wizard of Earthsea is a good, memorable book. I read it as a teen, and now I'm ...old.
IMO that book doesnt hold a candle to those two. Indeed it just seems like an excuse for Clark to write about Sri Lanka.I'm amazed it won anything. Anyway dont take my grumpiness to heart, hopefully you will like it more than i did.
@@Joe-lb8qn Interesting, I will give it a go regardless since it's sitting on my shelf right now and those other two made it into my recent Top 10 SF books video. Doesn't sound like it will get into the updated list next time I put one together but who knows
I’m glad you enjoyed the book. I sincerely mean that. I’ve read books that are considered classics and was disappointed when I didn’t enjoy them. Childhood’s End falls into that category for me. Peace. Out.
Among the best "proto-cyberpunk" I count The Demolished Man (Tyger, Tyger) and Babel-17. P.S. General Semantics was having a big influence on SF when Dune, Gulf, Babel-17, and others were written.
Glad you're going into The Caves of Steel and you should follow up with its sequel The Naked Sun. This duology is one of Asimov's better efforts, IMO. He was a big fan of mysteries and detective fiction and was pretty good at writing it.
Fantastic video Jonathan. This was a great idea. I've read several of these and really have the same thoughts as you about them. You have a knack for giving a synopsis without spoilers while really explaining the book. Great job
Very true about Gibsons writing! It seems he was aware of it, looking at this quote from Mona Lisa Overdrive 😂 "The trick was in pulling some kind of meaning out of the overall flow, skipping over the parts you didn't understand." Good advice. If you'd like to read a Gibsonesque story before Cyberpunk I'd recommend Alfred Bester's The Demolished Man. It is Neuromancer with psychics instead of hackers. Sort of.
The worldscape of The Demolished Man is very similar to a typical cyberpunk one. The novel's beginning, where the author describes it, makes that clear. "Quantity sufficient!", lol, just perfect. And of course, when the protagonist got himself wired up with the tech used for commandos, that was cyberpunk as heck.
Do try the Web between the Worlds by Charles Sheffield. Striking similarities to Fountains of Paradise, but as it turns out, it was literally a case of two authors publishing the same ideas at nearly the same time. Charles Sheffield is underrated, but purely excellent, yet another example of a physicist turned author. I adore Charles Sheffield's the Ganymede Club, Dark as Day and Cold as Ice, and recommend them highly. 🙂😉
Jonathan... It was 50 years ago right about now that I was finishing three years of graduate school reading and research when a work colleague loaned me three novels to read that she had enjoyed very much: "Dune," "Left hand of darkness," and "The dispossessed." Needless to say I was totally hooked and all I can say is that it has been a joyous, wondrous ride!!! Once again I enjoyed your Hugo and Nebula survey!
The problem with using the awards is that there are trends in popularity. An example is that "Time Enough for Love" by Robert Heinlein came close to winning both, and is one of the best Sci-Fi works ever.
My recommendation for future reading of the three is Ringworld. I think it's the one that is more up your alley. It's been a long time since I read it but definitely huge in scope and the most sci-fi of the three.
I just finished Ringworld last month. It was excellent. I think it does a great job of building mystery and intrigue while also really scratching that SciFi itch! The aliens felt truly alien and the scale of the world that Niven builds is mind blowing. The Ringworld Engineers is next up on my TBR.
Ringworld impressed me hugely when I very young. Great premise, a sense of wonder and mystery etc. Yet, when I read it again recently, I was appalled by the terrible prose, awfully wooden characterization, and laughable dialogue. This is typical of many sci-fi classics: lots of ideas, but terrible execution. Form and content are not happily wed...
"Startide Rising" is, as i recall, a sequel to "Sundiver" Which I had read before I read "Startide Rising". One of the themes in the series is that Humans might have been "self-uplifted" which drives many of the other species crazy.
I agree with your Nueromancer review across the board, in fact, just like you said, I would first read something like Snowcrash by Neal Stephenson before working your way back.
I think _The Gods Themselves_ is the one Asimov wrote on a bet. Someonesaid Asimov couldn't write a book with sex in it and this was his answer to the challenge.
Read “Stand on Zanzibar “ “ Nova” “Dahlgrin “ “Time enough for love” “ Dragon riders of Pern” “ Triton” “ The Past through tomorrow “ “ Methuselah’s Children “ all great novels.
Pat Cadigans' cyberpunk novels, such as Mindplayers, Fools, & Synners (my personal favorite) are more compelling & readable than William Gibson's Neuromancer IMO. Like the best epic novels, Synners is told from many different perspectives, but stay with it - she pulls it all together in a doozie of an ending..
I've read _Dune, Ringworld, Neuromancer,_ and _The Forever War._ My ranking: 1. Neuromancer 2. The Forever War 3. Dune 4. Ringworld, I like all of them.
I've read all of these, at the time not even realising many of them had won both awards. Mainly because I used to buy my books from a second hand book stall who's owner bought their books from the local USAF base here in the UK.
I found your reaction to The Gods Themselves interesting, since Asimov himself called it "the biggest and most effective over-my-head writing I ever produced" and said (specifically about the second part) "I'll risk being accused of a 'colossal ego' again by giving you my opinion that they were the best aliens ever described in science fiction, and also the best writing I ever did, or am likely to do."
@@tamarlindsay8382 I've only ever seen it published as one book and referred to as a single novel in three parts; but the three parts were originally published separately in science fiction magazines (which is something that happened fairly often back in the day).
Good video. There are quite a few on that list I have read and a handful I loved. Not sure how I would rate them. Also, I recently read another, more recent dual winner (which I would thoroughly recommend ) The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi, it was absolutly, knock-your-socks-off amazing and I am now more interested in picking over dual winners than before.
Larry Niven is, in my opinion, the best writer of hard SF ever. So please read, "Ringworld." Niven created a whole universe in SF called his, "Known Space" and it is so good. To get you up to speed, I would read Niven's anthology, "Neutron Star," then his novel "Protector" then "Ringworld Engineers," after "Ringworld" for starters. I am envious of you, as the experience of first reads through Niven's "Known Space" is a truly wonderful experience!
Startide Rising is the second book in a trilogy. You can read it by itself but it does help to read Sundiver. Also the year Dune won the hugo was the first tie in the awards history. The other winner was This Immortal by Roger Zelazny
@@WordsinTime I think there's an overwhelming consensus that Sundiver isn't needed as an introduction; and most people also seem to think that it isn't as good as Startide Rising. I read Sundiver in 1999, and Startide Rising only a few weeks ago (I found it bewilderingly complicated - it has too many characters, so I had to keep refreshing my memory of earlier passages - but I enjoyed it so much that I went straight on to The Uplift War, only to find that this, too, is an almost completely separate story!), and didn't find that I needed to remember anything at all from 25 years ago. I did enjoy Sundiver, but I definitely agree with the consensus that it isn't needed as an introduction to any of the later books. (I haven't yet read the second trilogy.)
I thought it was really cool. I always leave an audiobook running while I sleep, and when I’m lucky, I dream out the sequences of the book during REM sleep while I listen. I was fortunate enough to be dreaming vividly during the second section (this was the night I had started the audiobook), and that was my most interesting dream in the last 5 years.
The ones I've read: Dune, Ringworld, Rendezvous with Rama, The Forever War, Neuromancer and Ender's Game. I definitively need to read the others. Not on this list, since it is more recent, but another Hugo+Nebula winner that I can't recommend enough it The Windup Girl. Amazing book! A must read. Also, how can I not mention American Gods? Oops. I guess I just did. The one winner of Hugo+Nebula that I really didn't enjoy (not sure why) is Among Others.
Nice video! I'm going to pick up the ones on your list that I haven't read. I do look at book awards as reliable indicators of good reads. But, of course, there are great books that didn't win both Hugo and Nebula. I'm a Philip K. Dick fan and I really dig old classics like H.G. Wells, Jules Verne, and so forth. On your list, I found The Left Hand of Darkness has 'moods' I like, the Clarke novels are all great, Asimov great, Dune love it, Niven great. I'm also into corny stuff like Stranger in a Strange Land, stuff from the 1950s and early 1960s, sort of naive but charming or maybe kitsch books that have a bit of Rod Serling imagination going on.
Ringworld is a must read for sci fi fans. It is Niven's greatest (with Mote coming in a close second for me). But I absolutely love all of Niven's "Known Space" books and short stories.
Well-written and succinct reviews! I totally agree with your Top 3, which is uncanny, and Childhood's End is also my fav Clarke novel. I was very disappointed with Ringworld, which I think has aged poorly. Maybe it was "great" in 1970. I personally find LeGuin boring as all heck. And as clever as Asimov might be, I've always found his characters as flat and interesting as rice cakes. Dune is a masterpiece, but Ender's Game is a perfect novel.
Speaker for the Dead is my favorite sci-fi book. Better than Ender’s Game through the family dynamics and characters, the role of Speaker as it explores facing the honest reality of human complexity in every life, the development of Jane, and the moral interactions between sentient beings with ramen and varelse as categories that define the moral landscape of science fiction where humans meet alien life. The definition of human experience is profoundly explored in this novel more than in any other book in this genre.
I've read about half of the books you've listed. I gave "Neuromancer" a try, based on a chat buddy's recommendation, but it never really captured my full attention. Re: you reading "The Caves of Steel". You also need to read "The Naked Sun". The "Robots of Dawn" -- meh, not so much. I had to read Caves of Steel several times before I remembered who done it, lol!
@@thomasesau2376 He's my favorite. There's an illustrated guide; Contacting Aliens, that helps to visualize the various diverse species. There are a couple of shorter stories, too. My only complaint is there's a need for at least three more long books to make the series seem more complete. There are several storylines that seem unresolved.
@Words In Time I’m a fan of Asimov’s short stories too. Have you read “The ugly little boy”? That one’s not as well known as his other stuff but it is among his own pics for the best stories he’s written, and very high on my list too
After sending that link that YT just deleted I think, I just reread it again off a website. Still a favorite, a deeply emotional story easy to sympathize with quickly.
I would definitely recommend Dreamsnake by Vonda Mcyntire. This absolutely is Science Fiction. It has Fantasy elements but no more so than Dune. A great book that deserves to be more widely known!
Great video as always Jonathan! I really resonated with what you said about Neuromancer. It was rhetorical first Cyberpunk novel I had ever read, and I DNFd it at 50%.
Superb list, unsurprisingly! Interested to hear your comments regarding Speaker for the Dead, and will go back to it and give it another go. Give Ringworld a go - it was the first Niven I ever read, and it blew my mind!
Fountains of paradise and Rendevouz with Rama are between my favorite books from clarle and probably from the whole genre... I have a strong rejection towards military scify... I have Ender's game and Starship Troopers in my list but I've been starting them and abandoning them for a while...
@@juanreinbergcortes7893 I’m glad you love Clarke too! And Ender’s Game is a little different from typical military sci-fi, but if you don’t like the genre it might not be for you.
My favorite on your list is Dune. I love almost all the Dune books, including the prequels and sequels written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson. But I had a lot of trouble getting through "God Emperor". On the first reading, it was so plodding that I had to put it down halfway through. I tried again several years later and that time I was able to make it through. I'm glad I did because that opened up the rest of the series for me, which are worth reading. God Emperor is especially pertinent to understanding what is going on in the sequels. Some people don't enjoy the prequels and sequels, but I found almost all of them to be first rate.
I've never read ender's game partly because I know how it ends and also because I've heard terrible things about the author but you've convinced me to give it a shot⚛
I've read all but three of the dual Hugo/Nebula novel winners (reading one at the moment, the other two are on my short-term list). There are some amazing books in that list that get overlooked. Dreamsnake by Vonda N. McIntyre is a must-read. It's fantastic, great writing and great plot and great characters. It is most definitely not fantasy; the book blurb does it a disservice, this is post-semi-apocalypse but actually has people living their lives in it, not scratching in the ruins or running around in gas vehicles killing each other. Doomsday Book by Connie Willis is also amazingly good. Connie Willis is one of those writers so good that if she wrote a shopping list, you'd enjoy reading it. It's also great to read a book where the world isn't on the brink of destruction and everything is at stake; there is tension, but it's very human and almost in the background of the story itself.
I first read Enders game when it was a novelle in Analog magazine. Speaker for the dead is a worthy read. Enjoyed it much. I'm not much of a Asamov fan; I think he tries to be too clever, and.his stories drag while I try to figure out what he's talking about. A short story that I love is "Time wants a skeleton" (might be Harlen Elison).
My three medal winners: Bronze - Neuromancer. I've only read it once, and it was years ago. I should do a re-read to see how it holds up for me. Silver - Rendezvous with Rama. I did a book report on this in High School. The teacher wrote on my report "You really enjoyed this book, didn't you." I got an A. Gold - Ender's Game. One of my favorite books, period.
I'm pretty sure that Rendezvous with Rama was always conceived as the first book of a series, thus the :open ended" ending. You could say that the final line pretty much tells you there are at least two more books likely to occur! Although i believe they were mostly written by Gentry Lee, with Clarke acting as a sort of supervising editor.
Have only read four of these books... so thanks for the list. I have to say, Ender's game was amazing - first book to make me audibly GASP - glad I read it before the movie. :-) Immediately gave it to a friend to read - re-read it about 10 years ago - and really enjoyed the siblings of Ender this time around. Queue is too long to re-read it anytime soon.
Fascinating vid! I’ll be so curious what you make of Ringworld if you ever get to it. It has the ignominious distinction of being my least favorite book I’ve ever read, by a wide margin. You’d have more context though having read lots of other sci-from that era, maybe that’d make a difference.
@@WordsinTime indeed it is, especially since there are a few fantasy and lit fic reads I’ve done that were absolutely horrendous experiences. Ringworld was that bad 😅
I'd like to join in voicing my disappointment with ring world. I was told that it falls under the category of hard sci-fi, but it felt more like a zany space adventure to me. Maybe if wacky space high jinks are your thing, then give it a go.
I would add The Hyperion Cantos as a strong recommendation. Old Man's War series is fantastic and just fun. William Gibson popularized cyberpunk, and I have always like his writing style. Asimov is very hit or miss, and he has a writing for money phase in the middle of his career that was rough. Remembrance of Earth's Past ( aka Three Body Problem trilogy ) is really amazing at thought provoking. A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge was really good, and I need to read the other books in that trilogy.
great video, I agreed with in most of them. Fortunately I have many favorite books and there are several more that I have not read yet that I have pending, but if I have the choose 3 and put them on a podium, they will be: Bronze: Speaker for the Dead, Silver: Dune, and Gold: Ender's Game, just to mention a few of them because there are many more apart from those already mentioned, such as Fahrenheit 451, or Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep or Ubik, although they have not won a Hugo or a Nebula award.
Nice to see Clarke’s Fountains of Paradise getting some love; I don’t see that very often. Ringworld definitely gets my vote, but if you’re unfamiliar with Niven’s universe you might want to read a Known Space collection like Tales of Known Space to get acquainted with the scenery. Great video!
I've only read four of these, and none of those four blew my mind, though they were all fine books. Of all the titles you mentioned in this video, the only one I've read twice -- because it did blow my mind, and was just as good on the second read -- was The Lathe of Heaven. It is one of my favorite books, of any genre. I really need to read some more LeGuin, starting with TLHoD.
My thoughts on the books and authors I am most familiar with, if you are interested. On Ursula K Le Guin, you might also like the Earthsea Quartet and The Dispossessed, all really great reads. Regarding Larry Niven, Ringworld is the start of a series, and each builds very well on the previous stories. If you like The Mote in God's Eye, you will probably also like Footfall. Orson Scott Card wrote an amazing future worldbuilding using the interactions, relationships, and rivalries of one family to change the fate of not only mankind, but of most of the alien races they came into contact with as well. His plots are NEVER straightforward or boring. You need to follow up with the rest of the Ender books (5 in total), as well as the series which starts with Ender's Shadow and Shadow of the Hegemon, following his brothers attempts to affect the Universe like Ender did, but on the brothers terms. The stories intercross and blend brilliantly with their sister trying to bridge their differences throughout both series. If only Clarke hadn't started his Senseless-tology religion where ET is your papa.
@@davidskiff3083 Thanks for the info! I have read Ender’s Shadow and thought it was great. And Clarke wasn’t religious, I think you are thinking of Hubbard.
From your top three I would think of the books you have not read Ringworld would be your favourite. It's space opera and a great one. Dreamsnake and The Dispossessed are slower and more thoughtful. Dreamsnake is not really fantasy. its set in a post apocalyptic world. McIntyre was a biologist and the science here is biology and biochemistry rather than physics and chemistry. I may be mis-remembering these books though as I read them in the eighties, I probably need to reread.
Dreamsnake is about an alien species a woman partners with and her genetically modified snake that produces antibodies to cure illness, traveling throughout a post-apocalyptic US healing people until a couple of idiots kill her dreamsnake and she has to figure out how to replace it. It's a feminist sf story. It was a novel of its time, and was a much stronger read back when feminist sf was newer. All three of these books suffer from having aged. I'd recommend Ringworld for at least being a fun premise.
I vote Ringworld. Dreamsnake is a post-apoc story with genetically modified snakes, so there's a bit of sci-fi backstory. A bit light on plot, I hear, but you meet interesting characters.
Good vid. I just didn’t get Enders game when I attempted to read it. It seemed like a YA book to me….nothing wrong with that but I am way too old for YA. It read like Harry Potter in space…obvs it’s the other way round. But I only read half and dnf. Does it get better…more adult in the sequels?
@@cugal1613 Speaker for the Dead is about adult characters. It’s slow and philosophical. Definitely not YA. I liked Ender’s Game more but some people prefer Speaker for the Dead.
And No, you don't have to read Dune... 😂 I may breakdown, but hard to say. And The Mote in God's Eye I found to be a snoozer. I really like the La Gui book The Left Hand of Darkness. And yes, I read all the Card Books which were excellent. Enders Game was exceptional.
- I read "Ringworld" a couple of years ago, I don't remember anything about it, that's all I can say LOL. - "The Dispossesed" is good, I confirm, although IMHO Le Guin is good for ideas, not some much for make them truly hit you. - Never heard of "Dreamsnake", WHAT.
Same here about Ringworld even the concept is not that great and like you I cannot recall a single thing about it other than the concept. It's not like other high concept books like Philip Jose Farmers Riverworld series where there's quite a lot going on beyond the main concept
This is weird. I am a Finn, and was schooled in English from the third grade on. But when I was actually learning to read they were translating classic anglo scifi into my native Finnish. My favorite books when I was about ten to twelve were Clarke''s Randezvous with Rama, LeGuin's Left Hand of Darkness and the Dispossessed. Gateway was great for me at eleven years of age. They made me what I am, which is a poet, writer and a songwriter. ( I have to say i find the Forever War very boring.) But it seems to me you leave out Nora Keita Jemisin's great trilogy that won at least Hugo three times in succession, the Broken Earth, which is big book in many ways.
@@akiyrjana6558 That’s cool! And this video was focusing on classic books pre-1990. I didn’t include recent winners. Jemisin’s Broken Earth trilogy won 3 Hugos and 1 Nebula.
@@MarkBunty-h5c One of my favourite books! The novel version won the Nebula but did not win the Hugo. However, the short story version did win a Hugo so in a way it is a joint winner haha
Dune - I liked it I think, but I feel like I liked it a bit less than many. The Left Hand of Darkness - Pretty good, but my memory is I like "Lathe of Heaven" better. I'm new to your channel though, it was in a recommendation, so may not know how you'll react. Ringworld - I thought it was hilarious, but several fans told me it's not intended to be funny so maybe my love of it is misinformed. Oh well. The Gods Themselves - My memory is that by the late 1960s Asimov was getting seen as a guy who wouldn't write about aliens or sexuality so he may have done this to show he could do both. My memory is I liked it more than you seem to, but it hasn't stuck in my memory as well as other books he did. At one time he was my favorite author. Rendezvous with Rama - Never read it. The Dispossessed - I don't want to spoil anything, but for me it was kind of too philosophical and a bit dry or something. The Forever War - Some good stuff, a tad too weird for me at points. Gateway - I remember kind of hating this one, but I can respect feeling opposite. Still too much Freudianish psychology in it for me. Dreamsnake - Never read it. The Fountains of Paradise - I like this one a good deal. For a pretty thoroughgoing atheist Clarke's fiction can sometimes be fairly sympathetic to why people believe in God or some kind of transcendence. Startide Rising - I seem to recall preferring "The Uplift War" and finding this one a bit disappointing. Neuromancer - Never read it. Not much into cyberpunk myself. Ender's Game - I'm ambivalent. It's really gripping and a page turner that really sticks in my mind. But something about Card's tendency to write tormented children is a bit too upsetting to me. In fact I was a bit floored when I learned many see this as YA. But then I learned a lot of YA is about miserable or dystopian Young Adults so I guess it tracks. I didn't read Speaker for the Dead, maybe due to that ambivalence, but I did consider it. I think maybe I just never got around to it. So I've not read 4 vs your 3. Of the two I've read where you've not I'd recommend "Ringworld". People who didn't find it funny like I did still liked it, maybe more. It's conceptually interesting. Of the ones you've read I've not perhaps I should get to "Speaker for the Dead" or "Rendezvous with Rama" someday.
I definitely would cast a vote for Ringworld. The scale is massive. It is one of those books I re-read every few years and enjoy every time.
@@MrRomanGuy Love it!
Ringworld is very interesting, but it's plot is similar to Rendezvous with Rama. RW is a part of Niven's "Known Space" universe which I really like, but you need to read several of the stories to really appreciate his universe. If you were only going to read one Known Space story, I would say that Protector is probably the one that stands on it's own the best.
I reread "Ringworld" every five years, it's that good. Oh the adventures of Louis Wu and Speaker to Animals...
I think my gold medal would go to Joe Haldeman's Forever War. I don't even like military SF but this novel was so surprisingly good, one of my favourite reads of 2023.
Silver for Left Hand of Darkness and bronze for Dune.
@@LivingDeadEnby The Forever War is very good!
I've had the good fortune to have met and talked with Joe Haldeman a few times. Such a decent, giving person.
Yeah to me it felt surprisingly ‘light’ while philosophically being very serious. It was one of those books I’d call “fun”
very good book! I prefer Old Man's War but still a good book.
For Me:
1. Dune
2. The Martian Chronicles
3. Rendezvous with Rama
4. The Left Hand of Darkness
@@marjoriedonnett5467 Nice!
Rendezvous with Rama just felt so special to me. The exploration and the discovery…l you know it kind of reminded me of the Lost World somehow, that’s the only other book that gave me the same feeling as far as I recall. Rama was better probably but the Lost World is underrated
Oh and I guess Ringworld too… but that was my least favorite of the 3
I felt Lathe of Heaven was a better Guinn book than Left Hand. There were a lot of great Guinn books, though, so go for it.
I meant the lost world by Doyle by the way, not Crichton
The Dispossessed is not a dystopia. Kind of an imperfect utopia
@@ericevanshub Interesting!
Isn't that literally a dystopia?
Read Ringworld immediately.
@@jeffjones229 Haha it’s going on the list!
I used to read sci-fi back in the 60s and 70s. Andre Norton and Robert Heinlein were two of my favorites.
@@BobK58 Awesome!
Speaker for the Dead is one of my favorite books of all time. I think that the contrast between it and Enders game is super interesting thematically.
@@timjackson4387 Very true!
I have to agree with your evaluation of both Neuromancer and Speaker for the Dead. I’d heard so much about Neuromancer, so maybe my expectations were unrealistic, but I found it slow and confusing. I picked up Speaker for the Dead, immediately after Ender’s Game, so was expecting more of the same, which is definitely NOT the case. I guess I like my sci-fi a little less thoughtful :-)
@@km-bo3zx Haha that’s okay, sometimes I’m in the mood to think and sometimes I want more of an adventure.
I've read Neuromancer about 8 times during 30 years. And only as a teen I didn't get it. Strangely, Count zero was in all places comparing to Neuromancer. Not to mention Mona Lisa Overdrive...😂 Neuro is most coherent of three parts.
When I first read Ringworld, I thought it was flawless. I love the puppeteers, and the mind blowing concept of the ringworld itself. On second reading, the genetically inherited "luck of Teela Brown" theme struck me as undifferentiated from magic, which I found offputting in such a well thought out si-fi book. The book is quite creative, and has very interesting and fun characters, and is, like all of Niven's books, a great read paragraph by paragraph. Lovely writing style throughout.
A relatively unknown Niven book that I enjoyed very much is "A World Out of Time." It ties in well with other "Known Space" titles, yet is hugely entertaining in it's own right.
"A World of Ptavvs" is another lesser-known Niven title that kept me engrossed throughout.
And all of the Beowulf Shaffer books are super fun to read.
@@MrZooBreak Thanks for the info! Ringworld seems to be the most popular vote so far.
great video idea! 😀 For me:
Bronze-Ender's Game
Silver- Left Hand
Gold- Dune
@@bartsbookspace Thanks Bart! Glad you enjoyed those three!
I've read most of these and based on the ones you like best I reckon you will prefer Ringworld over Dispossessed (I haven't read Dreamsnake).
My top 3 out of the 14:
1. Neuromancer - In the top two or three SF books I have read - a perfect 10 out of 10
2. The Dispossessed - I love le Guin and this is her very best work
3. Left Hand of Darkness - only slightly behind the Dispossessed.
I have often found that winning the Nebula and Hugo is often not an indicator that a book is going to be great. There are a few winners that have left me scratching my head (eg the David Brin books, Downbelow Station, the Three Body Problem, and I know people love Enders Game but I can't stand it). Just goes to show how subjective reading really is.
@@seanwinter4784 Thanks for the info! And that’s true, we all have different tastes and that’s a good thing haha
@@WordsinTime I haven't read Dreamsnake either. I would also recommend The Dispossessed over Ringworld. But seanwinter may be correct in predicting which book you would prefer. I'd say that Ringworld is more fun, The Dispossessed is more serious.
I've read many of these but the only I've re-read are "Left Hand of Darkness" and "The Dispossesed" and "Dune". Definitely the deep dive for all three is worth it.
Edit add: The Dispossessed has a famous chapter timeline structure that adds a lot to it's appeal, imho.
@@eschiedler Thanks for the info!
Ender's Game is one of my favorites. I read it as an adult and was surprised when I found
out that it was considered YA. It is a unique book that can entrance both young people
as well as adults. I didn't care that much for Speaker, but I found that I appreciated it
a bit more on my second reading. But I really enjoyed all of the following books in the
Enderverse--the stories about his siblings and especially "Ender's Shadow". This was such a
unique book because he is relating many of the same events that happened in Ender's Game
but from Bean's perspective. And you come to realize that there was much more happening
at the time then you ever realized. Very unique!
@@berserkerviking1 That’s a great description. I had a similar experience!
The Dispossessed is my favourite LeGuin, and while it definitely feels a bit aged I think it is still really relevant and with some political bite to it. Dreamsnake... I only vaguely remember, but I think it definitely felt more fantasy than science.
@@TheLeniverse Thanks for the info!
left hand is very much pastoral style fiction. doesnt sound like its for you, but if you want to try more of that look for anything by clifford simak, like city and also way station. highly recommended. i never read dispossessed, earthsea or word for world is forest (the avatar movie inspiration book), but i did read lathe of heaven, which is great.
@@meesalikeu I liked City and I loved Way Station!
I've read virtually everything published that got a hugo or a nebula between the 60's and the Aughts, not to mention a great deal of stuff that never won any awards. A Wizard of Earthsea is a good, memorable book. I read it as a teen, and now I'm ...old.
Childhood's End is one of my all time favourites and I also loved Rama so I am definitely excited to get to The Fountains of Paradise!
@@SciFiFinds I hope you enjoy it! It slowed a little in the middle but I thought the beginning and ending were great!
IMO that book doesnt hold a candle to those two. Indeed it just seems like an excuse for Clark to write about Sri Lanka.I'm amazed it won anything. Anyway dont take my grumpiness to heart, hopefully you will like it more than i did.
@@Joe-lb8qn Interesting, I will give it a go regardless since it's sitting on my shelf right now and those other two made it into my recent Top 10 SF books video. Doesn't sound like it will get into the updated list next time I put one together but who knows
I’m glad you enjoyed the book. I sincerely mean that. I’ve read books that are considered classics and was disappointed when I didn’t enjoy them. Childhood’s End falls into that category for me. Peace. Out.
@@CraigerAce keen to hear your favourites. I'll add them to my list and get to them in an upcoming video
Among the best "proto-cyberpunk" I count The Demolished Man (Tyger, Tyger) and Babel-17. P.S. General Semantics was having a big influence on SF when Dune, Gulf, Babel-17, and others were written.
@@SlackerBabel Nice picks!
John Brunners The Shockwave Rider is a good read
Babel-17 is one of my all-time favourites. I really like Samuel R Delaney's other books too; an excellent world builder. :)
Delaney’s Dhalgren is a masterpiece. Really messes with your head while you read it. But the best books do!
Glad you're going into The Caves of Steel and you should follow up with its sequel The Naked Sun. This duology is one of Asimov's better efforts, IMO. He was a big fan of mysteries and detective fiction and was pretty good at writing it.
@@stpnwlf9 I’m glad you enjoyed them!
His The End of Eternity was well polished brilliance.
There's a third one of the Elijah Bailey books too, called The Robots of Dawn. Cracking books, all of them. :)
Tales of The Black Widowers
Ringworld is great! It's been quite a few years since I've read it, but I think it's due a re-read soon.
@@TokraRoch Nice! Glad you enjoyed!
Fantastic video Jonathan. This was a great idea. I've read several of these and really have the same thoughts as you about them. You have a knack for giving a synopsis without spoilers while really explaining the book. Great job
@@dalejones4322 That’s much appreciated Dale! Glad you enjoyed it!
I'd love to see a dedicated episode on cyberpunk!
@@kawwabonga I’ve made a couple of videos where I talk about cyberpunk but would like to make a more comprehensive video in the future!
Very true about Gibsons writing! It seems he was aware of it, looking at this quote from Mona Lisa Overdrive 😂
"The trick was in pulling some kind of meaning out of
the overall flow, skipping over the parts you didn't understand."
Good advice.
If you'd like to read a Gibsonesque story before Cyberpunk I'd recommend Alfred Bester's The Demolished Man. It is Neuromancer with psychics instead of hackers.
Sort of.
That’s a good quote haha. I have read The Demolished Man as well as The Stars My Destination by Bester.
@@WordsinTime
The main character in TSMD is great. :)
The worldscape of The Demolished Man is very similar to a typical cyberpunk one. The novel's beginning, where the author describes it, makes that clear. "Quantity sufficient!", lol, just perfect. And of course, when the protagonist got himself wired up with the tech used for commandos, that was cyberpunk as heck.
I thought I was the only one who found Neuromancer hard to follow. Made me feel a bit stupid, since other people weren’t bringing this up that I saw
Do try the Web between the Worlds by Charles Sheffield. Striking similarities to Fountains of Paradise, but as it turns out, it was literally a case of two authors publishing the same ideas at nearly the same time.
Charles Sheffield is underrated, but purely excellent, yet another example of a physicist turned author. I adore Charles Sheffield's the Ganymede Club, Dark as Day and Cold as Ice, and recommend them highly. 🙂😉
@@User_Un_Friendly I’ll have to look it up!
Agree. Charles Sheffield is one of the true greats. Virtually everything he wrote was great, especially the Ganymede trilogy
Give Ringworld a try 👍
@@damienfoyer Will do!
Jonathan... It was 50 years ago right about now that I was finishing three years of graduate school reading and research when a work colleague loaned me three novels to read that she had enjoyed very much: "Dune," "Left hand of darkness," and "The dispossessed." Needless to say I was totally hooked and all I can say is that it has been a joyous, wondrous ride!!! Once again I enjoyed your Hugo and Nebula survey!
@@mikesnyder1788 That’s so cool! What a great colleague haha
@@WordsinTime I worked with some great people over the years! A few duds but mostly great people!!!
The problem with using the awards is that there are trends in popularity. An example is that "Time Enough for Love" by Robert Heinlein came close to winning both, and is one of the best Sci-Fi works ever.
@@johnpittman3756 Good point.
I love this song one so much.
Best?????? Oedipus...
Time Enough for Love is one of the greatest books ever written. Sadly, it's always been beyond my resources to get a signed First Edition.
My recommendation for future reading of the three is Ringworld. I think it's the one that is more up your alley. It's been a long time since I read it but definitely huge in scope and the most sci-fi of the three.
@@TranquilaMare Sounds good, thanks!
I just finished Ringworld last month. It was excellent. I think it does a great job of building mystery and intrigue while also really scratching that SciFi itch!
The aliens felt truly alien and the scale of the world that Niven builds is mind blowing.
The Ringworld Engineers is next up on my TBR.
Agree
@@WordsinTime nothing happens in ringworld and underwhelming ending, but good big ideas book and it remains recommended regardless..
Ringworld impressed me hugely when I very young. Great premise, a sense of wonder and mystery etc. Yet, when I read it again recently, I was appalled by the terrible prose, awfully wooden characterization, and laughable dialogue.
This is typical of many sci-fi classics: lots of ideas, but terrible execution. Form and content are not happily wed...
"Startide Rising" is, as i recall, a sequel to "Sundiver" Which I had read before I read "Startide Rising". One of the themes in the series is that Humans might have been "self-uplifted" which drives many of the other species crazy.
@@Larry660 This is true. Many people recommend skipping Sundiver but maybe it’s better to read it first.
I agree with your Nueromancer review across the board, in fact, just like you said, I would first read something like Snowcrash by Neal Stephenson before working your way back.
I just watched your Beginner to Expert so I'm gonna take that as an agreement on a pre Nuromancer read 😏
@@3DDavid06 I’m glad you enjoyed Snow Crash too!
I think _The Gods Themselves_ is the one Asimov wrote on a bet. Someonesaid Asimov couldn't write a book with sex in it and this was his answer to the challenge.
@@davea136 Well he certainly did that haha
You are correct. The writer that challenged him was, "Harlan Ellison."
Read “Stand on Zanzibar “
“ Nova” “Dahlgrin “
“Time enough for love”
“ Dragon riders of Pern”
“ Triton” “ The Past through tomorrow “ “ Methuselah’s Children “ all great novels.
@@williammeek7218 I’ve read a couple of these. Thanks for the recs!
@@WordsinTime I have a modest library of SciFi and Fantasy oh yeah check out Andre Norton.
@@WordsinTime check out Poul Anderson’s Time Patrol novels
Pat Cadigans' cyberpunk novels, such as Mindplayers, Fools, & Synners (my personal favorite) are more compelling & readable than William Gibson's Neuromancer IMO.
Like the best epic novels, Synners is told from many different perspectives, but stay with it - she pulls it all together in a doozie of an ending..
@@kufujitsu Synners is on my TBR!
Thank you!! "Synners" was great!⭐
Neuromancer has to be number one on this list. Only one on the list that created/defined a genre..........Gibson created the cyberpunk genre.
@@willzkillz6999 Very influential indeed!
I've read _Dune, Ringworld, Neuromancer,_ and _The Forever War._ My ranking: 1. Neuromancer 2. The Forever War 3. Dune 4. Ringworld, I like all of them.
@@jerryrichardson2799 Nice, thanks for sharing!
I've read all of these, at the time not even realising many of them had won both awards. Mainly because I used to buy my books from a second hand book stall who's owner bought their books from the local USAF base here in the UK.
@@careypridgeon That’s cool!
I found your reaction to The Gods Themselves interesting, since Asimov himself called it "the biggest and most effective over-my-head writing I ever produced" and said (specifically about the second part) "I'll risk being accused of a 'colossal ego' again by giving you my opinion that they were the best aliens ever described in science fiction, and also the best writing I ever did, or am likely to do."
@@Steve_Stowers Haha I respect the ambition even if it didn’t work for me. I liked The End of Eternity a lot more.
It's the middle book of the trilogy, unless you read an omnibus edition.
1. Against Stupidity
2. The Gods Themselves
3. Contend In Vain
@@tamarlindsay8382 I've only ever seen it published as one book and referred to as a single novel in three parts; but the three parts were originally published separately in science fiction magazines (which is something that happened fairly often back in the day).
Good video. There are quite a few on that list I have read and a handful I loved. Not sure how I would rate them. Also, I recently read another, more recent dual winner (which I would thoroughly recommend ) The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi, it was absolutly, knock-your-socks-off amazing and I am now more interested in picking over dual winners than before.
@@OmnivorousReader Thanks! I own a copy of The Windup Girl so I’m looking forward to trying it.
@@WordsinTime I can't recommend it enough!
Larry Niven is, in my opinion, the best writer of hard SF ever. So please read, "Ringworld." Niven created a whole universe in SF called his, "Known Space" and it is so good. To get you up to speed, I would read Niven's anthology, "Neutron Star," then his novel "Protector" then "Ringworld Engineers," after "Ringworld" for starters. I am envious of you, as the experience of first reads through Niven's "Known Space" is a truly wonderful experience!
@@chromabotia Cool! Ringworld is on my TBR!
How about some Robert Silverberg? Tower of Glass. Dying Inside. The Maijpoor Trilogy.
@@Airirazig I’ve read Dying Inside and it was great.
Startide Rising is the second book in a trilogy. You can read it by itself but it does help to read Sundiver. Also the year Dune won the hugo was the first tie in the awards history. The other winner was This Immortal by Roger Zelazny
@@jaimeosbourn3616 Many people recommend to skip Sundiver, but perhaps it might be better to read Sundiver first.
@@WordsinTime I found it to be a good intro.
@@WordsinTime I think there's an overwhelming consensus that Sundiver isn't needed as an introduction; and most people also seem to think that it isn't as good as Startide Rising. I read Sundiver in 1999, and Startide Rising only a few weeks ago (I found it bewilderingly complicated - it has too many characters, so I had to keep refreshing my memory of earlier passages - but I enjoyed it so much that I went straight on to The Uplift War, only to find that this, too, is an almost completely separate story!), and didn't find that I needed to remember anything at all from 25 years ago. I did enjoy Sundiver, but I definitely agree with the consensus that it isn't needed as an introduction to any of the later books. (I haven't yet read the second trilogy.)
Part 2 of The Gods Themselves is some of the best sci fi I've ever read. Each to their own :)
@@HakimALIGHT I didn’t work for me but it’s unique. I’m glad you liked it!
@@WordsinTime thank you! I hope you enjoy his other works. I recommend The End of Eternity if you haven’t read it yet
@@HakimALIGHT Yes, it’s excellent!
I thought it was really cool. I always leave an audiobook running while I sleep, and when I’m lucky, I dream out the sequences of the book during REM sleep while I listen. I was fortunate enough to be dreaming vividly during the second section (this was the night I had started the audiobook), and that was my most interesting dream in the last 5 years.
my olympics -
Gold: Neuromancer
Silver: Dune
Bronze: Gateway
@@mondostrat Nice! 🥇 🥈 🥉
The ones I've read: Dune, Ringworld, Rendezvous with Rama, The Forever War, Neuromancer and Ender's Game.
I definitively need to read the others.
Not on this list, since it is more recent, but another Hugo+Nebula winner that I can't recommend enough it The Windup Girl. Amazing book! A must read.
Also, how can I not mention American Gods? Oops. I guess I just did.
The one winner of Hugo+Nebula that I really didn't enjoy (not sure why) is Among Others.
@@RodrigoBarbosaBR I own a copy of The Windup Girl so I’m looking forward to trying that one!
Forever War is outstanding
Nice video! I'm going to pick up the ones on your list that I haven't read. I do look at book awards as reliable indicators of good reads. But, of course, there are great books that didn't win both Hugo and Nebula. I'm a Philip K. Dick fan and I really dig old classics like H.G. Wells, Jules Verne, and so forth. On your list, I found The Left Hand of Darkness has 'moods' I like, the Clarke novels are all great, Asimov great, Dune love it, Niven great. I'm also into corny stuff like Stranger in a Strange Land, stuff from the 1950s and early 1960s, sort of naive but charming or maybe kitsch books that have a bit of Rod Serling imagination going on.
If anyone hasn't read it, I recommend Bester's The Stars My Destination. Excellent read.
@@multiverser9585 Thanks! I hope you enjoy the books you pick up. And yes, The Stars My Destination is a good one.
Ringworld is a must read for sci fi fans. It is Niven's greatest (with Mote coming in a close second for me). But I absolutely love all of Niven's "Known Space" books and short stories.
@@berserkerviking1 Nice! It’s on my list!
I am glad we can still be friends 😂 Ender's Game and Dune are both my favorite sci-fi books. I definitely need to read Childhood's End.
@@cindywingetbooks Haha nice. I hope you like Childhood’s End as much as I did!
Well-written and succinct reviews! I totally agree with your Top 3, which is uncanny, and Childhood's End is also my fav Clarke novel. I was very disappointed with Ringworld, which I think has aged poorly. Maybe it was "great" in 1970. I personally find LeGuin boring as all heck. And as clever as Asimov might be, I've always found his characters as flat and interesting as rice cakes. Dune is a masterpiece, but Ender's Game is a perfect novel.
Thanks for the kind words! I’m glad you enjoyed some of the same books!
Speaker for the Dead is my favorite sci-fi book. Better than Ender’s Game through the family dynamics and characters, the role of Speaker as it explores facing the honest reality of human complexity in every life, the development of Jane, and the moral interactions between sentient beings with ramen and varelse as categories that define the moral landscape of science fiction where humans meet alien life. The definition of human experience is profoundly explored in this novel more than in any other book in this genre.
@@jamessgian7691 I’m glad you connected with it so deeply!
I've read about half of the books you've listed. I gave "Neuromancer" a try, based on a chat buddy's recommendation, but it never really captured my full attention. Re: you reading "The Caves of Steel". You also need to read "The Naked Sun". The "Robots of Dawn" -- meh, not so much. I had to read Caves of Steel several times before I remembered who done it, lol!
@@just_kos99 Haha nice, glad you liked those two.
The David Brin book 'Startide Rising' is one book in a three part trilogy - so just reading one wouldn't give you the full insight I guess
@@daveac Many people recommend skipping Sundiver but perhaps reading Sundiver first would help.
I've got 6 books in THE UPLIFT WAR series. They are the only sci fi books next to my bed.
@@thomasesau2376 He's my favorite. There's an illustrated guide; Contacting Aliens, that helps to visualize the various diverse species. There are a couple of shorter stories, too. My only complaint is there's a need for at least three more long books to make the series seem more complete. There are several storylines that seem unresolved.
@Words In Time
I’m a fan of Asimov’s short stories too. Have you read “The ugly little boy”? That one’s not as well known as his other stuff but it is among his own pics for the best stories he’s written, and very high on my list too
After sending that link that YT just deleted I think, I just reread it again off a website. Still a favorite, a deeply emotional story easy to sympathize with quickly.
I haven’t read that one, I’ll look it up!
I would definitely recommend Dreamsnake by Vonda Mcyntire. This absolutely is Science Fiction. It has Fantasy elements but no more so than Dune. A great book that deserves to be more widely known!
@@rossmiller9326 Awesome, thanks Ross!
Great video as always Jonathan! I really resonated with what you said about Neuromancer. It was rhetorical first Cyberpunk novel I had ever read, and I DNFd it at 50%.
@@BookishChas Thanks for the kind words! And yes, Neuromancer can be tough to get into!
Superb list, unsurprisingly! Interested to hear your comments regarding Speaker for the Dead, and will go back to it and give it another go. Give Ringworld a go - it was the first Niven I ever read, and it blew my mind!
@@davidrobertson5996 That’s great!
Fountains of paradise and Rendevouz with Rama are between my favorite books from clarle and probably from the whole genre...
I have a strong rejection towards military scify... I have Ender's game and Starship Troopers in my list but I've been starting them and abandoning them for a while...
@@juanreinbergcortes7893 I’m glad you love Clarke too! And Ender’s Game is a little different from typical military sci-fi, but if you don’t like the genre it might not be for you.
@@WordsinTime and that's probably why I should read it. Everybody says it's the one that breaks all molds
My favorite on your list is Dune. I love almost all the Dune books, including the prequels and sequels written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson. But I had a lot of trouble getting through "God Emperor". On the first reading, it was so plodding that I had to put it down halfway through. I tried again several years later and that time I was able to make it through. I'm glad I did because that opened up the rest of the series for me, which are worth reading. God Emperor is especially pertinent to understanding what is going on in the sequels. Some people don't enjoy the prequels and sequels, but I found almost all of them to be first rate.
@@berserkerviking1 Thanks for the info! I plan on starting God Emperor soon!
The best of Brian Herbert is the Butler ian Jihad Trilogy. Explains soooooo much
@@rebpgh Yes. Definitely one of the best prequel series. And it is crucial for understanding the sequels.
Nice! Enjoy Pushing Ice, I just finished a reread about a week ago. It’s fun!🤘😎
@@j.p.lovecraft1826 Awesome! I’m looking forward to it!
I've never read ender's game partly because I know how it ends and also because I've heard terrible things about the author but you've convinced me to give it a shot⚛
@@FrankOdonnell-ej3hd Yes, unfortunately he has said some disagreeable views but luckily I felt like none of that was present in the book.
I've read all but three of the dual Hugo/Nebula novel winners (reading one at the moment, the other two are on my short-term list). There are some amazing books in that list that get overlooked.
Dreamsnake by Vonda N. McIntyre is a must-read. It's fantastic, great writing and great plot and great characters. It is most definitely not fantasy; the book blurb does it a disservice, this is post-semi-apocalypse but actually has people living their lives in it, not scratching in the ruins or running around in gas vehicles killing each other.
Doomsday Book by Connie Willis is also amazingly good. Connie Willis is one of those writers so good that if she wrote a shopping list, you'd enjoy reading it. It's also great to read a book where the world isn't on the brink of destruction and everything is at stake; there is tension, but it's very human and almost in the background of the story itself.
@@bfitzger2 Thanks for the info! I’m glad you liked Dreamsnake, and I own a copy of Doomsday Book but haven’t read it yet.
I first read Enders game when it was a novelle in Analog magazine. Speaker for the dead is a worthy read. Enjoyed it much. I'm not much of a Asamov fan; I think he tries to be too clever, and.his stories drag while I try to figure out what he's talking about. A short story that I love is "Time wants a skeleton" (might be Harlen Elison).
@@markkringle9144 That’s cool!
My three medal winners: Bronze - Neuromancer. I've only read it once, and it was years ago. I should do a re-read to see how it holds up for me. Silver - Rendezvous with Rama. I did a book report on this in High School. The teacher wrote on my report "You really enjoyed this book, didn't you." I got an A. Gold - Ender's Game. One of my favorite books, period.
@@ronweaver4135 Love it! 🥇
I'm pretty sure that Rendezvous with Rama was always conceived as the first book of a series, thus the :open ended" ending. You could say that the final line pretty much tells you there are at least two more books likely to occur! Although i believe they were mostly written by Gentry Lee, with Clarke acting as a sort of supervising editor.
@@timbeaton5045 I’ve heard mostly negative things about the sequels but perhaps one day I will try them.
@@WordsinTime Don't. The Gentry Lee books are terrible. They are worth hurling at the wall, but not reading.
Have only read four of these books... so thanks for the list. I have to say, Ender's game was amazing - first book to make me audibly GASP - glad I read it before the movie. :-) Immediately gave it to a friend to read - re-read it about 10 years ago - and really enjoyed the siblings of Ender this time around. Queue is too long to re-read it anytime soon.
@@toddblanchard7765 I’m glad you enjoyed it too. I also liked Peter and Valentine as characters.
Thanks Johnathan! Your video just created a new reading list for me of all the joint Hugo/Nebula winners! 😅
@@michaeljdauben Haha hope you enjoy!
Snow Crash is a better entry point to cyberpunk.
@@brucegrossman3531 Snow Crash is great!
Fascinating vid! I’ll be so curious what you make of Ringworld if you ever get to it. It has the ignominious distinction of being my least favorite book I’ve ever read, by a wide margin. You’d have more context though having read lots of other sci-from that era, maybe that’d make a difference.
@@BooksWithBenghisKahn Haha that is quite the distinction!
@@WordsinTime indeed it is, especially since there are a few fantasy and lit fic reads I’ve done that were absolutely horrendous experiences. Ringworld was that bad 😅
I'd like to join in voicing my disappointment with ring world. I was told that it falls under the category of hard sci-fi, but it felt more like a zany space adventure to me. Maybe if wacky space high jinks are your thing, then give it a go.
I would add The Hyperion Cantos as a strong recommendation. Old Man's War series is fantastic and just fun. William Gibson popularized cyberpunk, and I have always like his writing style. Asimov is very hit or miss, and he has a writing for money phase in the middle of his career that was rough. Remembrance of Earth's Past ( aka Three Body Problem trilogy ) is really amazing at thought provoking. A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge was really good, and I need to read the other books in that trilogy.
@@JohnClarkW The Hyperion Cantos and The Remembrance of Earth’s Past are two of my favourite series!
great video, I agreed with in most of them. Fortunately I have many favorite books and there are several more that I have not read yet that I have pending, but if I have the choose 3 and put them on a podium, they will be: Bronze: Speaker for the Dead, Silver: Dune, and Gold: Ender's Game, just to mention a few of them because there are many more apart from those already mentioned, such as Fahrenheit 451, or Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep or Ubik, although they have not won a Hugo or a Nebula award.
Nice! We had a similar podium!
Nice to see Clarke’s Fountains of Paradise getting some love; I don’t see that very often. Ringworld definitely gets my vote, but if you’re unfamiliar with Niven’s universe you might want to read a Known Space collection like Tales of Known Space to get acquainted with the scenery. Great video!
@@camo_for_cocktails Thanks for the info! I’m glad you also enjoyed The Fountains of Paradise!
I love the concept or Ringworld, but I thought the story dragged.
One of my favorites is "The Boat of a Million Years" by Poul Anderson, which was nominated for both awards but sadly did not win.
@@cwhiseant I’ve read Tau Zero but not that one.
@@WordsinTime how is Tau Zero? That's one I haven't read.
@@cwhiseant It was an 8/10 for me. Some of the character stuff felt a bit dated but it had some great sci-fi concepts.
_Blood Music?_
I love Blood Music! The original short version won Best Novelette, but the expanded version as a novel didn’t win these awards.
RINGWORLD 👍
And although not science fiction anymore, Aldridge Huxley follow up to Brave New World, an actual model for an almost utopia is
ISLAND.
@@KaliFissure I have read Brave New World. I’ll have to try Island.
I've only read four of these, and none of those four blew my mind, though they were all fine books. Of all the titles you mentioned in this video, the only one I've read twice -- because it did blow my mind, and was just as good on the second read -- was The Lathe of Heaven. It is one of my favorite books, of any genre. I really need to read some more LeGuin, starting with TLHoD.
@@xkot6431 I’m looking forward to The Lathe of Heaven!
@@WordsinTime Of course, now that I've built it up, it will disappoint you. 🙃
I would give the gold to Ringworld. Silver, Dune and bronze Rama. You should definitely read Ringworld.
@@jerryB75 Awesome!
I read the rest of the Gateway series but not the first book. Couldn’t find it in several libraries. Is that common?
@@mikekolokowsky I would say that is uncommon. Hope you liked they anyway!
All great books! To Your Scattered Bodies Go, Philip Jose Farmer, seems like one unfortunate omission, if it didn't win both Hugo and Nebula.
@@yangtze2000 It won the Hugo but not the Nebula.
The Riverworld Series is the equal to the Ringworld series in my view.
Absolutely give Ringworld a hard pass
@@LucSchots A lot of people are recommending it but a couple of people said they didn’t enjoy it.
@@WordsinTime If you want to get deeper into Larry Niven, how about “Oath of Fealty”, “Protector”, “Dream Park” (and its 2 sequels), or even “Inferno”
Totally agree with that sentiment. It must not have aged well.
I would suggest Jim Butchers, The Furies of Calderon series if you missed it.
@@RedSinter I’ll look it up!
Startide Rising was so riveting i made it my lifes mission to never read any of the subsequent books.
@@Joe-lb8qn Hahaha
le guin's THE WORD FOR WORLD IS FOREST or THE WIZARD OF EARTHSEA are perhaps her most powerful novels. I believe that I've read them all.
@@thomasesau2376 Nice! I’m glad you enjoyed those.
The depressing thing is most Science Fiction is unreadable if written after 2008.
@@Easy-Eight There are still good writers like Alastair Reynolds, Adrian Tchaikovsky, Andy Weir, Blake Crouch, and Christopher Ruocchio.
Great idea for a video! Added lots to my TBR....
@@tiffanycorsello1886 Thanks Tiffany! Hope you enjoy them!
My thoughts on the books and authors I am most familiar with, if you are interested. On Ursula K Le Guin, you might also like the Earthsea Quartet and The Dispossessed, all really great reads. Regarding Larry Niven, Ringworld is the start of a series, and each builds very well on the previous stories. If you like The Mote in God's Eye, you will probably also like Footfall. Orson Scott Card wrote an amazing future worldbuilding using the interactions, relationships, and rivalries of one family to change the fate of not only mankind, but of most of the alien races they came into contact with as well. His plots are NEVER straightforward or boring. You need to follow up with the rest of the Ender books (5 in total), as well as the series which starts with Ender's Shadow and Shadow of the Hegemon, following his brothers attempts to affect the Universe like Ender did, but on the brothers terms. The stories intercross and blend brilliantly with their sister trying to bridge their differences throughout both series. If only Clarke hadn't started his Senseless-tology religion where ET is your papa.
@@davidskiff3083 Thanks for the info! I have read Ender’s Shadow and thought it was great. And Clarke wasn’t religious, I think you are thinking of Hubbard.
You're right, don't know how I mixed the two up. Old Timers disease, maybe (I read all these when they came out originally, so you can do the math).
From your top three I would think of the books you have not read Ringworld would be your favourite. It's space opera and a great one. Dreamsnake and The Dispossessed are slower and more thoughtful. Dreamsnake is not really fantasy. its set in a post apocalyptic world. McIntyre was a biologist and the science here is biology and biochemistry rather than physics and chemistry. I may be mis-remembering these books though as I read them in the eighties, I probably need to reread.
@@hornbeam7131 Thanks for the info! Ringworld seems to be the popular choice.
Dreamsnake is about an alien species a woman partners with and her genetically modified snake that produces antibodies to cure illness, traveling throughout a post-apocalyptic US healing people until a couple of idiots kill her dreamsnake and she has to figure out how to replace it. It's a feminist sf story. It was a novel of its time, and was a much stronger read back when feminist sf was newer.
All three of these books suffer from having aged. I'd recommend Ringworld for at least being a fun premise.
@@Verlopil Thanks for the info!
I vote Ringworld. Dreamsnake is a post-apoc story with genetically modified snakes, so there's a bit of sci-fi backstory. A bit light on plot, I hear, but you meet interesting characters.
@@dqan7372 Thanks for the info!
My fav SF author is Ursula LeGuin so my Gold medal goes to The Disposessed with Left Hand of Darkness the Silver. Bronze out of these is
Neuromancer by William Gibson.
I’ve read all but one of these books BTW
@@teleriferchnyfain Awesome!
Read most of these but it's been so long I've forgotten much of the plots. Time for a reread project.
@@m.stewart8094 That will be fun!
Good vid. I just didn’t get Enders game when I attempted to read it. It seemed like a YA book to me….nothing wrong with that but I am way too old for YA. It read like Harry Potter in space…obvs it’s the other way round. But I only read half and dnf. Does it get better…more adult in the sequels?
@@cugal1613 Speaker for the Dead is about adult characters. It’s slow and philosophical. Definitely not YA. I liked Ender’s Game more but some people prefer Speaker for the Dead.
No gold medals or awards, but a great Sci-fi book is Ariya Kai The Secret Of Colony L.I.F.E. by F. Z. Zach.
@@natalietraniscute875 I’ll look it up!
And No, you don't have to read Dune... 😂 I may breakdown, but hard to say. And The Mote in God's Eye I found to be a snoozer. I really like the La Gui book The Left Hand of Darkness. And yes, I read all the Card Books which were excellent. Enders Game was exceptional.
@@RedSinter Ender’s Game is great
Read david brin practice effect is so cool
@@Stephan_Kobalt_Nordstern I’ll check it out.
@@WordsinTime it is short , fast to read with a cool twist
- I read "Ringworld" a couple of years ago, I don't remember anything about it, that's all I can say LOL.
- "The Dispossesed" is good, I confirm, although IMHO Le Guin is good for ideas, not some much for make them truly hit you.
- Never heard of "Dreamsnake", WHAT.
@@elisabasta Haha thanks for the info
Same here about Ringworld even the concept is not that great and like you I cannot recall a single thing about it other than the concept. It's not like other high concept books like Philip Jose Farmers Riverworld series where there's quite a lot going on beyond the main concept
This is weird. I am a Finn, and was schooled in English from the third grade on. But when I was actually learning to read they were translating classic anglo scifi into my native Finnish. My favorite books when I was about ten to twelve were Clarke''s Randezvous with Rama, LeGuin's Left Hand of Darkness and the Dispossessed. Gateway was great for me at eleven years of age. They made me what I am, which is a poet, writer and a songwriter. ( I have to say i find the Forever War very boring.) But it seems to me you leave out Nora Keita Jemisin's great trilogy that won at least Hugo three times in succession, the Broken Earth, which is big book in many ways.
@@akiyrjana6558 That’s cool! And this video was focusing on classic books pre-1990. I didn’t include recent winners. Jemisin’s Broken Earth trilogy won 3 Hugos and 1 Nebula.
@12:58, try some of Gibson's earlier short fiction. "Burning Chrome" or "Johnny Mnemonic"
@@swiftmatic I’ve heard good things about Burning Chrome.
Bronze: Fountains of Paradise, Silver: Rendezvous with Rama; Gold: Ringworld
@@Robert-gr9mj Awesome! 🥇
Funny, i clicked to see where Ender’s Game would be ranked.
@@sheldondunnjr Haha nice!
Flowers for Algernon?
@@MarkBunty-h5c One of my favourite books! The novel version won the Nebula but did not win the Hugo. However, the short story version did win a Hugo so in a way it is a joint winner haha
Beautiful work.
Dune - I liked it I think, but I feel like I liked it a bit less than many.
The Left Hand of Darkness - Pretty good, but my memory is I like "Lathe of Heaven" better. I'm new to your channel though, it was in a recommendation, so may not know how you'll react.
Ringworld - I thought it was hilarious, but several fans told me it's not intended to be funny so maybe my love of it is misinformed. Oh well.
The Gods Themselves - My memory is that by the late 1960s Asimov was getting seen as a guy who wouldn't write about aliens or sexuality so he may have done this to show he could do both. My memory is I liked it more than you seem to, but it hasn't stuck in my memory as well as other books he did. At one time he was my favorite author.
Rendezvous with Rama - Never read it.
The Dispossessed - I don't want to spoil anything, but for me it was kind of too philosophical and a bit dry or something.
The Forever War - Some good stuff, a tad too weird for me at points.
Gateway - I remember kind of hating this one, but I can respect feeling opposite. Still too much Freudianish psychology in it for me.
Dreamsnake - Never read it.
The Fountains of Paradise - I like this one a good deal. For a pretty thoroughgoing atheist Clarke's fiction can sometimes be fairly sympathetic to why people believe in God or some kind of transcendence.
Startide Rising - I seem to recall preferring "The Uplift War" and finding this one a bit disappointing.
Neuromancer - Never read it. Not much into cyberpunk myself.
Ender's Game - I'm ambivalent. It's really gripping and a page turner that really sticks in my mind. But something about Card's tendency to write tormented children is a bit too upsetting to me. In fact I was a bit floored when I learned many see this as YA. But then I learned a lot of YA is about miserable or dystopian Young Adults so I guess it tracks.
I didn't read Speaker for the Dead, maybe due to that ambivalence, but I did consider it. I think maybe I just never got around to it.
So I've not read 4 vs your 3. Of the two I've read where you've not I'd recommend "Ringworld". People who didn't find it funny like I did still liked it, maybe more. It's conceptually interesting. Of the ones you've read I've not perhaps I should get to "Speaker for the Dead" or "Rendezvous with Rama" someday.
@@ThomasReeves-s7u Thanks for sharing!
Would have to go Dune for Gold but Ender's Game is amazing. Scufi forever!
@@Talking_Story Haha you got it brother! 🚀