My 10 Favorite Sci-Fi Books of All Time
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- Опубліковано 4 чер 2024
- This list subject to change (hopefully)
For anyone wondering, I tried reading Dune a long time ago and couldn't get through it. Planning to try again soon.
00:00 #10
01:38 #9
03:19 #8
05:52 #7
07:27 #6
10:02 #5
12:22 #4
13:38 #3
15:30 #2
18:37 #1
23:04 Honorable Mentions - Розваги
10 Hyperion (Dan simmons)
9 Old Man's War (John Scalzi)
8 Cat's Cradle (Kurt Vonnegan)
7 Stories of your Life (ted Chiang)
6 A Canticle for Leibowitz (Walter M. Miller Jr)
5 Children of Time (Adrian Tchaikovsky)
4 Ender's Game (Orson Scott Card)
3 A Scanner Darkly (Philip K. Dick)
2 Masterpieces of Science-fiction (I. Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, Gibson, Heinlein, Ursula K. Le Guin, Pohl)
1 The Left Hand of Darkness (Ursula K. Le Guin)
Honorable mentions:
Blindsight (Peter Watts)
The Lathe of Heaven (Ursula K. Le Guin)
The Sky Road (Ken McLeod)
Correction: Kurt Vonnegut
Cixin Liu! I agree with Ursula K Le Guin being amazing 😇 Great list!
"Hyperion" is just mindblowing. The priest's tale is still the most terrifying thing I have ever read.
And the Scholar's Tale is just heartbreaking. My favorite sci fi novel ever.
@@carlosbranca8080 Agree. I bought it last year to have my own and have to read it again.
Fax, same thing I feel of the novel
Yes, very good! Though I was so disappointed by second book I couldn't even finish it
@@carlosbranca8080 Agreed on the scholars tale, once it clicks it was heartbreaking. What a book though, so good.
Hyperion’s world is so rich and diverse. I enjoyed Fall even more so, just the idea of the Web and farcasters allowing you to travel to hundreds of world was captivating. The descriptive prose particularly when describing Hyperion (the planet) was very immersive.
Still looking for a copy of the sequel. I'd love to return to that world
I actually cheered when you revealed A Canticle for Leibowitz! My favourite sci-fi book of all time.
Woohoo! Great Book
@@bookjack Me too! and my Mom.
Couldn't get into it in my 20s, will try again in my 60s.
its about epistemology, the philosophical content goes over the head of a lot of sci fi readers@@TheMisterGriswold
@@TheMisterGriswoldyeah, I read it a couple years ago, didn’t like it.
1977 Centerville MA, the oldest lending library in the USA. There is (was) a Kurt Vonnegut reading room. One day, summer 1977, I was looking for something to read and there was this hairy old rumpled man smoking cigarettes sitting at the table in the room...
After sitting and talking with him for a while, he picked up the paperback he was reading, and held it up. His picture and bio on the back cover...
Yes... There he was. After a while he said he had to get going. As he walked out, the fat little old lady librarian said, "Have a nice day Mr. Vonnegut". Confirming my jaw dropped stare. When I left, I asked the librarian if he came in frequently. She remarked, every once in a while, and she hated his chain smoking, but it IS his reading room, and he donated all the books in there, so...
The man himself! I would have loved to be at one of his talks. Might check out that library, I love close enough to it
But wait It gets better! I was already a massive Vonnegut fan and earlier that year My mother had taken me on a 1 month long tour of Australia. While there I had acquired a small library of paperbacks that I had not found in the US. Well about a week or so later, I once again found him in the Sturgis Library reading room and remarked on his books that I had found in the land down under. That I really loved the one called Welcome to the Monkey house because it referred to the speculative sewer systems under Cape Cod and resolved the joke about no word that rhymed with Orange...
He looked at me with a frown when I mentioned the publisher. Apparently they didn't have a deal to pay him! I gladly handed him my collection of Australian Rip offs. A few weeks later, I found him yet again and I got a big smile a hand shake, and a hearty Thanks for bringing it to his attention. He also returned the books, Signed...
Unfortunately, The books have been lost in multiple moves over the decades...
@@bookjack The Sturgis Library in Barnstable is the OG Longest Lasting. The One in Centerville is/was apparently a satellite Annex?. Of course, They didn't make that crystal clear to us as kids. But yeah, I found him in the one on Centerville Main St...
That's too bad. But a great memory and a great story!
I’m glad to hear there’s another hard sci-fi fan that enjoyed Old Man’s War as much as I did. It’s fun.
It is a really fun book. For some reason people expect more from it and are disappointed
If you and Bookpilled get in a room together, I think a singularity might be generated
Yeah 😅 We always seem to have similar viewpoints
I love that you have The Count of Monte Cristo on your shelf. My favorite book of all time (even though I normally read more fantasy/sci fi books with the occasionally horror or mystery/thriller thrown in) :D
I love The Count of Monte Cristo. Going to make a top 10 Classics video soon. Will be in the top 3 for sure
Well....I'll just add these top favorites of mine.
Douglas Adams' "The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy"
William Gibson's "Neuromancer:
Neal Stephenson's "Snow Crash"
Frank Herbert's "Dune"
Also Orson Scott Card's "Ender's Game"
Snow Crash was a little long for me.
Neuromancer I need to revisit.
Hitchhikers Guide was awesome and probably deserved an honorable mention.
Dune I haven't read (yet) 😅
And Enders Game is obviously top tier
Your list is also mine. Snow Crash is the best Steampunk/Cyberpunk genre. Better than Gibson and his own later novels
Great list! All solid choices. Hyperion and Left Hand of Darkness are also among my faves. You've got me pumped for Children of Time and Old Man's War, both in my TBR.
I definitely included Lathe of Heaven after watching your top 15 list. Glad you enjoyed mine
Great selection for #1 ! The author needs more modern recognition, such excellent writing
You have convinced me to delve into the "Masterpieces" collection! I am new to Sci-Fi (more Fantasy to this point). Love the reveal cards - thanks for your channel.
Happy to hear that. Glad you enjoyed it :)
Strong sci-fi can offer a different perspective that is different from fantasy. Asimov, Clarke and Herbert earned their audiences by writing great stories that challenge their readers.
The Hyperion Cantos is definitely one of my all time favourite sci fi series ever. Love it!
I'm wondering if I should add the sequels to my TBR
@@bookjack the origins of the Shrike and a lot of the mysteries surrounding the war are explained in later books. Basically elements from each of the six pilgrim’s tales eventually factor in to the big overall story. It’s really satisfying.
Interesting, that was the big letdown of Hyperion... the ending
If I recall correctly it was meant as one large work in 4 parts. I really liked the 3/4 books but I gather many people didn’t. Simmons is great author but he is big on references which everyone might not know. Here eg details of Keat as a poet.
I liked it, but it was a bit pretentious at times. The weird simping for John Keats for example.
Slauterhouse 5 is definitely the best sci-fi book ever written,based on his time in Dresden as a POW during the bombing,realising he had not enough material to write about the horrors of war he came up with this masterpiece.The films also worth a watch as well
Films? Wow somehow I didn't know they made films. Would be really hard to do
Loved it when I was a teen. Now I would find it irritatingly meandering.
LeGuin is my favorite sci-fi author and probably in my top 3 authors overall. Her short fiction will stick with you for the rest of your life. And her novels are all great (even the ones people tend to ignore, like Roccanon's World and Planet of Exile).
Since we have similar tastes, I highly recommend the following'
_Wild Seed,_ by Octavia Butler
The Imperial Radch Trilogy, by Anne Leckie (starting with _Ancillary Justice_ ).
The Amaranthine Spectrum trilogy, by Tom Toner (starting with _Promise of the Child_ ... but don't let the surprise/ridiculous ending stop you from going on to book 2).
Thanks for the recommendations. I've read Ancillary Justice. Liked it but not enough to continue with the trilogy. That Butler book sounds interesting. I'll keep an eye out for it
how about the dispossessed
I have yet to find a book as complex and beautiful as Hyperion. It was my first foray into reading. it took me a year to read all 4 books. I now read one book a week.
It does have a certain kind of magic to it
@@bookjack
I was at my Jazz Club in Paris a few years ago. There was a US-French Jazz collaboration, they'd composed 7 pieces in the 7 modes, with each piece representing a different character in Hyperion. Fab stuff.
Hyperion has a cool cover, from a time when covers drew readers into Genres.
It drew me in for sure
I really like what you're doing here BJ, so I subscribed. Le Guin, Dick, Tchaikovsky, Vonnegut et al, wow. Great takes. All well-read by yours truly and coveted. Well done. Cheers.
Thank you so much. Glad you enjoyed it
As someone who literally spent the day sorting through flood damage, throwing away my lifetime library of everything I've ever read, including The Left Hand of Darkness (So Good), including the now mold-destroyed copy of the first book I ever read; Journey To The Center Of The Earth, cherish your library. You're obviously literate with great taste, so I'm sure you do already....but savor that connection. It's heartbreaking if you lose it.
New subscriber BTW.
So sorry to hear that man. I have a relative who lost everything to Katrina so I know how you must feel. Glad I can at least offer some distraction ❤️
This morning I threw away my
English 1st edition of The Neverending Story by Ende. The entire book was printed in red and green ink. it was gorgeous. Such a waste. I'll ultimately get over it. Thanks for being a fellow book nerd.
Fantastic list! People seem never to claim Vonnegut as an SF author because he’s “literary,” as if those categories are exclusive.
Reading Vonnegut completely changed my world view and indeed my life. I discovered him by buying The Sirens of Titan off one of those spinning paperback book racks at a drugstore because the cover looked cool. I don't know why that book doesn't get much love. I heard that Jerry Garcia bought the movie rights so that's probably never going to happen. Great list btw. I'm working through Dan Simmons right now. The Terror is tremendous.
Agreed. So glad I picked him up again. Read Sirens of Titan recently and it rivals Slaughterhouse 5. Am planning on ranking all the Vonnegut books I've read pretty soon.
Jerry Garcia? The guy from the ice cream?
@@bookjackidk if you're joking but Jerry Garcia from the Grateful Dead band
Also Sirens of Titan is a masterpiece. My personal favorite 📚
Subscribed after the #1 reveal. Le Guin is just phenomenal.
Glad you agree :) Thanks for watching
Yes, I miss Ursula very much. Her willingness to allow a story to grow organically and move at a slower pace if needed, plus her absolutely beautifully-crafted prose, made her a star. And her championship of environmental issues, feminism, and freedom of artistic expression were inspiring!
I appreciate the video you shared on UA-cam that had great sci-fi recommendations. I like that most of the sci-fi books recommended were not of pop culture status, as it seems to be the case on UA-cam every time I search for the best sci-fi books. Dune always comes up, and although it's a great book, I'm sure there are other options. Thank you for providing detailed descriptions of each novel on your list. Your perspective is valuable, and I appreciate it.
Thanks so much! I really do like sharing lesser known books. So many recommendations out there but sometimes it's fun to go blindly into an obscure book
Wow. Great video...great list. All strong titles, although I'd probably only consider Left Hand of Darkness and Canticle for Leibowitz for my own top ten. I'm actually reading Children of Time now, so we'll see. But more importantly, I love the numbered paper covers! Did you actually make those?
Yes my wife and I spent a night doodling. Was relaxing :) Glad you enjoyed
I reread canticle for leibowitz recently because it makes so many top ten lists and I remembered being so bored with it I struggled to finish it in high school. I still found it to be a very slow plodding book without a real payoff. Maybe that’s the point.
@@scottchristofersen2367 Yeah. I guess it's not what you'd call action packed. Sorry it didn't work for you.
Hey BookJack this was really an amazing video. Do you have a goodreads to follow your reading lists? Also, do you have a list of favorite post-cyberpunk or cyberprep books?
Thanks. I don't have a goodreads and have only read a few cyberpunk novels but am hoping to make some more list videos
Awesome, would you recommend any off the bat?
Id recommend Neuromancer even though it was hard to get through at times. Gibson also wrote a short story called Dogfight which I loved.
Snow Crash was far too long for me and read like an 80s action movie
Nice special effects. Excellent list. Great reviews. What's not to like? 👍
I looked and I have "Harrison Bergeron" in The World Treasury of Science Fiction, David Hartwell, ed. -- so I'll give that a read on your recommendation.
Three cheers for jingles! "You'll wonder where the yellow went, when you brush your teeth with Pepsodent!" So effective (the jingle, not the Pepsodent)
I've got that treasury as well 🙂 Thanks for watching
I just read A Scanner Darkly a few weeks ago. Shook me to my core.
I am in the Speaker for the Dead>>>Ender's Game camp.
Awesome list, great stuff.
PKD is good at that. Thanks for watching
did you get to Mayflies, by Kevin O'Donnell Jr. (1979) on your colony ship binge? It is defs my favourite in that theme.
No, I didn't! Thanks for the recommendation
You are so right about Vonnegut. I read Slaughterhouse 5 in my 20s and it was so boring, then I read it again (in my...early 40s) after so many recommendations and was blown away by how profound it was. I think it may be in my top books I have ever read now. I will try Cat's Cradle now because I really liked his style, and on your recommendation. Thanks.
Yes I feel exactly the same. I'd also recommend Welcome to the Monkey House a book of short stories
I can get bored very easily, but Slaughterhouse Five was an absolute blast when I read it in my freshman year of college at 18. To each their own ig lol
It’s the you that you bring to a book that determines what you get of it. Great books give you more as you grow. Lesser books are those you outgrow.
I’m opposite, read it when I was 17 and loved it, read it again when I was a little older and it didn’t hit the same
Love the practical number effects! Great video.
Thank you!
Thanks for the upload! Cool video!
Jack have you ever read the 224-Verse by Jason Russell? Just recently discovered it, very good stuff. Would love your opinion if you get to it.
Haven't heard of that one but I'll add it to the list Thanks :)
Thanks for the synopsis, it helped me choose which ones I should look for. Like your presenting style. Subscribing.
Happy to help :)
'Winning Reading ' is a great phrase. Thanks for an interesting list. Top five are great. I like that your books are your biography.
Glad you liked them. Just finished In Cold Blood. A dark point in my biography and my bookshelf. Amazing book though
I agree that memories are connected to books. I have some books that I keep, not because they are worth rereading, but because of the feelings and memories attached. Love Ted Chiang, Dan Simmons and Walter M. Miller. Left Hand of Darkness is in my TBR. Not sure about Vonnegut and PKD. Will give them a try again some day.
I'm holding onto a lot of books not worth rereading as well 😅
Wait, regarding Hyperion: isn't the part about the impending Invasion (the way he worded it) a major spoiler?
Maybe kind of but you're the first to mention it
Nice list. If you haven't yet you might want to try The Forever War. A must read for anyone who likes military science fiction.
I read that a little while ago. Classic stuff for sure. Not as smooth as Scalzi though imo
Great video Jack. All of this are great selections and I wouldn't disagree with any of them being in a top 10. Agree with you on Enders Game--Speaker for the Dead is probably even better. I haven't read The Sky Road, so that was interesting to hear about. The cover reveals are fun as well.
Thanks glad you agree. I'll get around to my top 210 someday :)
I love his stories that he tells as he went through these books. Especially the proposal one. What a sequence of events
I am surprised to hear you couldn’t get into Dune; it’s certainly a LOT more politicking than I expected going in rather blind. Good picks though, I have not read many of these though I own A Canticle for Leibowitz and will be checking that out.
Hey Ryne thanks for watching. I tried Dune a very long time ago so I probably didn't have a lot of patience for all the diplomatic stuff. I'm sure I'll like it when I try again
@@bookjack One reason Dune impressed me so much is that Herbert pulled from many cultures/religions to create his world. Probably helped that I was raised Roman Catholic, so I really enjoyed the way the author used it for vocab/imagery.
I had no idea Hyperion was a fix up novel! I have yet to read it. Had planned to last summer but never did. Children of Time was my favorite book of the year when I read it. I agree Children of Ruin was not quite as good, but I still loved it. Have you checked out Children of Memory? I’m going to start that very soon.
Wasn't planning on reading Children of Memory, but that's probably not fair of me. Still great books even though they're not as good as the first one
What do you mean separating the art from the artist regarding Heinlein?
yes! Harrison Bergeron is also a favorite of mine. I liked what they did with the film adaption too. That story lives in my head.
Didn't know there was a film adaptation. Good to know :)
@@bookjack yes think was a TV movie from mid 90s with Sean Astin but there's a free version here.. I re-watch it from time to time. amazing what they did with an 8 page story.
When you said 'the book that got me into Sci-fi' I totally guessed Ender's Game. The ending blew my mind and literally made me gasp. So glad I read it as a teen.
Great recommendations! Thank you
The ending totally got me too!
1. 'Resurrection' Van Vogt. 2. 'Ender's Game' Card. 3. 'Foundation' Asimov. 4. 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers' Finney. 5. '2nd Foundation' Asimov. 6. 'The Currents of Space' Asimov. 7. 'Childhood's End' Clarke. 8. 'World Without Men' Maine. 9. ' Labyrinth of Evil' Luceno 10. 'Pawns of Null-A' Van Vogt
I've been wanting to read something from Van Vogt. I'll keep an eye out for that one. Thanks :)
@@bookjackst. Resurrection is free on the net. The Pawns aka Players of Null-A can be picked up used. Read The World of Null-A 1rst
@@bookjack I would strongly advise reading _The World of Null-A_ first - _Pawns [Players] of Null-A_ is the sequel. Get the 1970 revised edition; it's clearer. And get ready to be a bit confused until you find the novel's rhythm (dreamlike, but that's just Van Vogt's style).
Your reveal cards are awesome!
Jack Vance's "Demon Princes" series - "Star King", The Killing Machine", "The Face", "The Palace of Love" and "The Book of Dreams". He's created a full universe, with complex societies histories and institutions -the IPCC - an interplanetary "police force", the Institute, a quasi-religious group throughout the whole oikumene (civilised space) dedicated to opposing progress. Sarkovy - a planet of poisoners - it's endless. Oh, and Frank Herbert's books "Whipping Star" (one of the two best stories I've ever read that really get across just *how* alien aliens are likely to be and the follow-up book "The Dosadi Experiment".
Thanks for the recommendations. I read The Dying Earth recently. I know Jack Vance expanded on that world a lot too
how did you do the special effects
Huge CGI budget
Wonderful video, thank you.
You're welcome. Glad you enjoyed it :)
I would recommend a few that unfortunately fell between the cracks.
1) Radix - A.A. Attanasio ( not a very prolific writer, but one of Science Fictions greatest stylists. The way he verbalizes nouns will take your breath. An amazing novel, nominated for Best Novel Hugo.
2) Godbody - Theodore Sturgeon. Posthumously published novel, but probably his greatest literary work.
3) The Man In The Tree - Damon Knight. Very beautiful writer, was the main instructor at Clarion Writer's Workshop.
4) Rendezvous With Rama. Arthur Clarke's prophetic speculation about Mankind landing on an Oumuamua like object.
5) Dhalgren - Ssmuel Delaney. A tour de force. Tough to make it through the first hundred pages, but so worth it if you stick with it.
6) The Gaian Trilogy (Titan, Wizard, Demon) - John Varley. Science Fiction speculation at its most impressive.
Thanks for the recommendations. Most do seem like buried gems because I've never heard about them. Raddix sounds particularly interesting
@@bookjack Yes, Radix should have won the Hugo the year it was nominated. I'm 58, so a reading generation behind you. I was actually part of Orson Scott Card's Confederation workshop in 86 and me and the other students screamed our lungs out when he won the Hugo for Ender. But he really deserved it for Speaker. I quit SF a long time ago, and glad I did. The new woke awards politics are a disgrace to the genre. Asimov and Heinlein are probably spinning in their graves.
@@charlessomerset9754 "Woke awards politics"?
When a lady named Alice Sheldon wanted to break into SF, she took the pseudonym James Tiptree, Jr. "He" was lauded and celebrated by all and sundry...but when Ms. Sheldon finally revealed her true identity, many fans abandoned her, even though her writing was the same. In fact, she herself complained that nobody wanted to talk about the stories anymore.
Now, my point is: Would the editors of the SF magazines of the 1960's have given "Tiptree" a chance if his stories had come in under the name "Alice Sheldon"? (Nota bene: during the 1970's, she took on a second pen name, "Raccoona Sheldon", under which she wrote the terrifying "The Screwfly Solution".
All of this is to explain why some "woke" is needed in the science-fiction field. There are lots of other talented voices out there, and their viewpoints are every bit as valid as those dead white men from the John W. Campbell age. I for one am glad to see those voices being given a live mike...as themselves, not a pseudonym.
Thx - good talk.
Still not thinking of Sci-Fi when I read Vonnegut. Same goes for "A Scanner Darkly" .
Ender's Game - ok, but very repetitious. I hope Card's next is better, as you indicated.
Suggestion for you, Cixin Liu's "The Wandering Earth" if you haven't read it.
A good starter for Liu's books as "The Three Body Problem" series isn't for everyone.
(Which I think is his greatest.)
Liu is Chinese, as opposed to Ted Chiang who now thx to you, is on my TBR list.
I loved 3 Body Problem but felt the trilogy got a little too dense for me as it went on. Still great stuff though. Thanks for watching
My favorite all time SF series (which is never mentioned in any lists) is Simon R Green’s Deathstalker series. 8 books overall some are better than others. But I highly recommend the first three novels: 1) Deathstalker, 2) Deathstalker Rebellion, 3) Deathstalker War!
I've heard of that series. Will keep an eye out
Nice list! Thank you.
Thanks for watching :)
A Fire Upon the Deep should be in every sf list. Nothing compares.
Will look for that one. Thanks for the recommendation
@@bookjack Wow~ if you've not read it, you're in for a treat! I guess it comes under hard sci-fi, but it's not too difficult to follow and has some really unique qualities in terms of alien races and galaxy structure.
Also the sequel is good and apparently has some distinct similarities to Children of Time.
@@stovic1442 That's definitely on my TR list 👍
Have you read Eumenides in the Fourth Floor Lavatory by Orson by Orson Scott Card? It might turn out to be your 4th (........5th?) favorite short story ever.
Stories of Your Life. I'll check to see if the library has that.
Children of Memory/Time/Ruin. I have all 3 staring back at me on my TBR, but Uncreation comes out in 5 days so that'll be first.
I have not read that but am always looking for more favorite short stories of all time 😅 Thanks for the recommendation
I've never heard "Colony Ship" used. Back in the 60's and 70's when I was reading a lot of SF I knew them as "Generation Ship" stories.
"The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" was a novel that still holds a place in my memory.
I have heard generation ship before. Not sure why I said colony? Do people call them colony ships too? 😅
@@bookjack I think "colony ship" would be the set of all ships carrying people (or whatever) to make their home on a new world; "generation ship" would be the (slow-moving, by outer space standards) subset. So, all generation ships would be colony ships, but not vice-versa.
I'm just asking out of curiosity. I take it you haven't read Cixin Liu's Remembrance of Earth's Past because that's the only reason this trilogy wasn't on this list?
I have read the trilogy actually and 3 Body Problem should get an honorable mention but the 2nd and 3rd books got a little dense for me. Amazing ideas but the story got kind of suffocated
It's good to see someone of your generation who can handle older, more complex sci fi. You'd love Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe. Be warned though: it's demanding and at first seems like fantasy.
Thanks for the recommendation. Gene Wolfe has been on my list for awhile
Hi, I'm a Japanese Sci-Fi writer. I like "Catchworld" by Chris Boyce. Have you read it?
I haven't heard of it no
I have one copy of Catchworld of English version. Unfortunately, I'm not good at reading English books. I want to send it to you. Do you have your own website or blog? I want to show you my address so I can send you Catchworld.
Well done, and will take some of your favorites as recommendations.
Hope you enjoy them as much as I did :)
Too many comments for me to know if anyone mentioned this, but the parrot story is "The Great Silence" which is in his second collection EXHALATION.
For somewhat comparable short fiction collections, I suggest Greg Egan's AXIOMATIC as well as his other collections, John Varley's THE PERSISTENCE OF VISION, Barrington J. Bayley's THE KNIGHT OF THE LIMITS, and - so as not to overstay my welcome, I'll limit things - Terrence Holt's IN THE VALLEY OF THE KINGS.
Someone did mention that 😅 my bad. And thanks for the recommendations
Thanks for the video.
The world building in Children of Time is jaw dropping.
I've only read a few on your list, but they're on mine too: Ender, Scalzi and the Lathe of Heaven. I have Children of Time on my shelf waiting and I've restarted reading Blindsight. I've only read the Telling from Le Guin in addition to Lathe, but I know the the dispossessed and left hand still need to be read. Also, haven't dabbled with Dick yet, and Hyperion, Leibowitz are on to be read -list.
You've got lots of masterpieces in your future. Hope you enjoy
Omg you have NO idea how much I appreciate the fact that you got into the video IMMEDIATELY. Instant like
I watch enough UA-cam to know what the people want 😁
Thanks for mentioning call me joe, I read this in a science fiction magazine years ago and have never been able to remember the author or title. I’ve often thought it must have been inspiration for avatar. P.S. he’s on a Jupiter a heavy gravity planet.
Awesome! Happy to bridge that gap. I've never heard that story talked about on here otherwise
I can't argue with any of your choices. I have read most of them. I would only add Martian Chronicles from Ray Bradbury because so many of the stories can still ring true today (There will come soft rains). One other short story that has been with me for 60 years is Surface Tension by James Blish. Worth a quick read.
Thanks for the recommendations. Martian Chronicles was a great read
Left hand of Darkness is a solid choice. I recently read it.
Really like the different book covers from around the world. I just can read with fully joy in my native language so I’m dependent on good translations specially in sci-fi.Many books won’t get a German translation non of them you mentioned here but in general.
I bet Left Hand of Darkness has a good German translation. Probably Hyperion too
@@bookjack Hyperion absolutely yes. one of my all time favourite and the best Simmons Book.
Really great list with some of my favorites on it. I highly recommend House of Suns by Alastair Reynolds. It’s my favorite standalone Sci Fi novel ever. Reynolds has so many incredible Sci Fi novels. He’s just not well known in the U.S yet.
I've seen his name around but haven't picked up anything by him. Will check that one out
Old Man's War was pretty awesome. I just read it, not long ago.
Many good titles, especially Ms.Leguin. I have a single recommendation for you, EMPHYRIO by Jack Vance. Most copies out there have an editor's typo which occurred in the 70s and has been perpetuated ever since.
It is more relevant today than in the day it was originally published.
The theme of puppetry is ongoing as story progresses, and I have to stop there.
I urge you and anyone reading this comment to find a copy and read it with an open mind.
Nice to see that people are still reading Vonnegut's stuff, I liked his story TANGO, it's kind of like a Peter Cook & Dudley Moore sketch and that's just great.
Thanks for the video, and I gotta say again, read EMPHYRIO.
Thanks for the recommendation. Haven't seen that one around, but I'll keep an eye out
I would vote for these 2 additions, both of which totally absorbed me: Asimov's "Foundation" trilogy, and Michael Crichton's "Andromeda Strain."
Foundation, yeah.
Yep, a very decent list IMO but i'm always curious when people talk about e.g. "how subjective these lists are" and then in practically the same breath say "objectively it's not a good book". If it's subjective (which I totally agree it is) then on what basis can you claim a book is or isn't "objectively good" ?
You definitely have a point. I'd like to think I can see where my subjectivity ends but of course I can never truly know that
@@bookjack Personally i'm not convinced our subjectivity ever actually _does_ end - every supposedly objective metric of art appreciation i've seen offered up seems to me to be _ultimately_ subjective when you drill down into it (often not even that far) and the closest we can ever come to "objective" is just "enough subjective views in broad agreement to meet some arbitrary tipping point".
Nuanced topic though.
You put it very eloquently. I do my best to not frame my opinions as truths... Because what even is truth?
@@bookjack Well, quite. That's one to keep the philosophers gainfully employed :).
(and yeah, i'd noticed and appreciate how you frame your opinions BTW)
Life is subjective, it is difficult to be objective. I like to hear peoples opinions and thoughts on books as there is much to be learned from sharing.
Great list! I have read all but a Canticle for Leibowitz I might give it a go based on your description! My favorites on your list would be Hyperion and Cat's Cradle. Only one I dislike (Strongly!) is Old Man's War.
Old Man's War was definitely an outlier. I hope you like Canticle for Leibowitz. Kind of slow at first but stick with it
Check out Greg Bear (Eon, Eternity, Legacy and Moving Mars). Also how about Neal Stephenson (Snow Crash, Diamond Age, etc). Also check out the free audiobooks by author/narrator Nathan Lowell "A Trader's Tale from the Golden Age of the Solar Clipper series... Quarter Share, Half Share, etc.)
great bunch of classics here
You didn't mention any Gene Wolfe, so I assume you haven't read him yet(?). Book of the New Sun is fantastic, but I bring him up because The Book of the Long Sun is a Generation Ship story unlike any other. It's in the middle of his "Solar Sequence" but you don't have to read Book of the New Sun (although you should) to enjoy it.
Correct I haven't read him but I want to so thanks for the recommendation :)
Leviathan Wakes remains one of the best introductions to a new sci-fi world for me. It's not too far fetched that they have to info dump like most sci-fi novels. And the scope just expands and expands into this massive expanse.
I did really get into the first book. You're right the world was really easy to get into. Not sure why I didn't pick up the second book though 🤔
John Scalzi's has an excellent series of books and the Old Man's War is great. He's really built a great universe here that rivals anything Larry Niven has done.
Haven't read any Niven yet but he's on my TBR
Try out The Risen Empire and The Killing of Worlds by Scott Westerfeld if you want a big space opera with hard scifi. The coolest space battle I've ever read in it too.
Awesome. Thanks for the recommendations
As the kid I once was long ago, Non-Stop by Brian Aldiss was the one that really turned me onto how wonderful SF could be! Much later, I still read the Hyperion books every decade or so, once I've forgotten most of the whole plot. I sort of Live books as I read them, so I don't sit down to analyze them afterwards, and thus I can re-read my favorites every so often and still love them. I find something new to read instead of taking more than the joy-of-reading out of the last one. I guess I'll never be a professor or a teacher, or have a UA-cam channel...
Sorry... 🧐
Well done. Thank you.
Thanks for watching :)
Awesome video my dude
Thanks, I appreciate that :)
Sci Fi lends it self to short stories because it is predominately based in Ideas rather than character or plot development. The heavy use of slang made A Clockwork Orange a tough read for me, although the story was really good.
The slang did take awhile to get used to but really gave the book a unique feel. Still waiting on the right opportunity to call someone a prestoopnik
If you like philosophical SF, try anything by Robert Silverberg from his key era (late 60s-late 70s). Dying Inside, Downward to the Earth, etc.
I've only read The World Inside but I did really enjoy it. Thanks for the recomendation
@@bookjack The World Inside is a good one. I'm currently reading the very surreal Son of Man and will read Man in a Maze next.
My three guilty pleasures:
_Sinister Barrier_ (Eric Frank Russell)
_We All Died at Breakaway Station_ (Richard C. Meredith)
_Sleeping Planet_ (William R. Burkett, Jr.)
Hyperion is still one of the best for me - read it when I was young and it has just stuck with me ever since.
You should try to find the short story Cadillac Farm by John Campbell in Astounding Sci Fi
Looks like it's in a few best of collections. I'll keep an eye out for it. Thanks
James P Hogan's Inherit the stars should be high on anyone's list. A story so clever, i'm amazed it was never picked up by Hollywood.
I was pulled in by the cover. And read a bunch more Hogan after that.
It's a respectable list with which I have some disagreements because our tastes are different. My #1 is probably Dune. The Hyperion/Endemion series is spectacularly good and well written, glad to see it included. A competitor for Dune as my #1 might be David Brin's Startide Rising. He has created a truly amazing universe in that series of books (the Uplift Universe), but Startide Rising may be the best of them. For something quite different, try "A Color of Distance" by Amy Thompson - it's such a good story in such an alien environment. There was a sequel, but it was disappointing by comparison. I'm also a big fan of Jack McDevitt, who I recognize is not for everyone, but I'm a sucker for interstellar archaeology, which features in many of his works. Perhaps his best is "The Engines of God".
Thanks for the recommendations. I will be trying Dune again soon
I haven’t been able to read Dune, tried a few times.
Brin is great.
Rutledge Etheridge and The Duelist come to mind.
Ender's Game series is incredible!
Awesome video! I have read 8 of your top 10 (the 2 I’m missing are the 2 short story collections).
I enjoyed Old Man’s War and A Scanner Darkly, and particularly loved Cat’s Cradle, Children of Time, Ender’s Game, and Hyperion (although I loved The Fall of Hyperion even more!)
We've got a lot in common so I'm sure you'd love Ted Chiang as well
Interesting to hear that about The Fall of Hyperion. I've been turned away from it for some reason
@@bookjack Ted Chiang is on my TBR, I’m looking forward to it! The change in structure and slow first 100 pages turns some people away from The Fall of Hyperion but I thought it built to some amazing moments.
Thanks for the Masterpieces recommendation, just got my copy in. Love it. But as I’m reading ‘All You Zombies’ I’m like, I know this story. I saw the movie years ago, Predestination. Man, they need to use more of these fantastic stories for movies. Or maybe I should read more classics. 😂 Either way, thanks again.
Lol the same thing happened to me with that story. Glad you liked the anthology 😀
I struggled to enjoy Vonnegut in high school and college too. I might have started to come around at the end but I haven’t read him since so I should probably give him another look.
You definitely should. Amazing author. Amazing ideas
Okay , here goes: I am only eighty years old and and was reading sic fi when I first learned to read. I am a mediocre, but prolific author myself of thirty volumes at the present. Included are sci fi short stories. Here is my top ten, that number twelve because of the inflation that is effecting almost everything these days. hehehehehehehe. Dune, no.1, but the rest in no particular order: Dragon Flight, Rendezvous with Rama, Eon, Ringworld, Looper, Lefthand of Darkness, Time Machine, A Princess of Mars, Norstrilia, A Fire in the Deep, Ender's Game. If you haven't read all of these, your sci fi PHD is still in progress.
My Sci-Fi PHD is definitely still in progress lol. I don't even qualify for a BA without having read Dune
@@bookjack Progress is part of an intelligent life, sir!
@@jamesdylandean614 Thank you for putting _Norstrilia_ on your list. Cordwainer Smith doesn't get nearly enough respect. Like Ursula Le Guin, he's a very deep, lyrical writer.
But...no Asimov? Or Zelazny? Or do you prefer their short stories?
I actually like John Brunner as well, in particular _The Stone that Never Came Down._ More obscure than _Stand on Zanzibar_ (also a favorite).
@@lisagulick4144 There are many fine writers that didn't make my to list. Cordwainer Smith was a true inspiration to me, and I am proud to say that in my amateur writings, he is my master in storytelling. One of my favorites is: The Game of Rat and Dragon.
@@jamesdylandean614 I agree about "Rat and Dragon.". Smith liked cats IRL, so his writing about cat/human partnerships is no surprise (this also explains the underperson character C'mell). I think his creepiest short story in the Instrumentality universe is "Mother Hitton's Littul Kittons." Brrr...don't ever mess with Norstrilia!
EDIT: commented before seein the above list hahaha but still, moving fwd: Would have been helpful if you put and left the name of the book up while you're describing it. I'm listening on ear bids while working and opened my phone cause I couldn't understand what you said as the titles for many of these...
True. Glad someone made the list for me 😅
Allen Steele wrote a book that, for me, became the bar for hard sci-fi. Nothing I’ve read since has surpassed it although there are many near to, or as good as. The book is Orbital Decay, and it is followed by Lunar Descent, and then Clarke County, Space. An absolutely solid story all through. Arthur C. Clarke’s Rama series was the one for me before that. I’m kinda grooving on The Expanse right now! :)
Rama was a fun read. He manages to build a lot of suspense inside that ship
@@bookjack yes, and did an amazing job at building an alien environment.
my bookshelf is my memory palace... if I lose a copy, I end up trying to find an exact replica (same cover at least, if not same printing) for it. leGuin, Zelazny, Niven, pkDick, James Tiptree jr, jgBallard, Tolkein, asimov, Heinlein, Saberhagen, etc... every old paperback I find and place on the shelf; old files, old memories are accessed. finding copies of my grade school textbooks was stunning!!! hold onto those books... I am damn near 60 and the detail recall is remarkable...
My memory needs that physical spark too. Plot, characters, ideas all come back to me once I pull the book from the shelf
have you checked out red rising?
I have books 1 and 2. Would probably be good for me to venture a little into YA
@@bookjack Trust me its labeled as YA since it starts with the cast at around 16-18 years old, but it is very dark and brutal. Its the definition of adult scifi fantasy with decapitation, cursing, war, and more. You should definitely check it out since the last book is coming out in july!
Wow I had a lot of false assumptions. I'll add it to my TBR. Thanks!
Breakfast of Champions was a high school choice. I read it and Cather's "O Pioneers."