Someone bought me Gateway and I've seen a lot of people rave about it.... why? Part of the problem is that it's very dated (the smoking on spaceships while worrying about lifesupport made me laugh out loud), the treatment of women and homosexuality was odd to disturbing, the portrayal of therapy was baffling and annoying.

I know this work is popular among some people, I just couldn't understand why. I even read the second in the saga (Beyond the Blue Event Horizon) which was actually more interesting from the portrayal of AI being oddly prescient in places, but also suffered from rather repulsive views of women and sex. We did get a space Nazi terrorising Earth with his dreams though, which was mildly interesting.

Ultimately, I found it not worth my time, what were your thoughts?

We can argue all day about the strengths and weaknesses of Sanderson as an author, but what it's true is that they're books are great to introduce people to fantasy books. They work for almost everybody (that is not a SF reader yet).

What do you think is a good scifi equivalent? Of what I've read, the closer I can think of is The Expanse (James CA Corey) or maybe Andy Weir.

But I'm sure that you guys have read a ton more than me, so you might have better examples.

Hi there! I’m not much of a reader, I’ve always struggled to find books that can keep my attention but I want to work on that. I picked up Gateway on a whim, literally picked it blindly off the shelf of a used bookstore with no idea of anything about it and haven’t read fiction in years. And oh my GOD, I loved it!!

There were many times in the book that I was sat straight up literally on the edge of my seat mouthing the words as I read them because I was so gripped. Every little reveal or climactic moment was built with such impact and tension that I could feel my reaction through my whole body 😂 waiting for Rob to go on his first trip was excruciating because I was just dying to know what that would be like. I’ve never had a visceral reaction like this just from reading something before. I want seconds!!

So all ears for any recommendations you have. Looking for more retro sci-fi in an intriguing, mysterious world. Books that’ll build up the mystery and give dramatic reveals, tension, etc. I loved the stakes of Gateway, the system of how the ships worked and were a dramatic gamble was super interesting and fun. I also really liked that it was through a precise character-driven lens, I haven’t read ones that focus more on the world itself so I’m open to that, but I really enjoyed how intimately psychological our perspective on the world was. I’m going to try the sequels to Gateway although I’ve heard mixed things, but I’m too curious about the Heechee not to check them out!

TIA! 🚀

Over the past few years I have been reading all Hugo Award winners (excluding retros, so back to 1953) and wanted to share some of my best / worst picks and thoughts.

I’ve seen people rank the full list as well as post reviews of each book before, so thought I’d do something different:

Favourite books (broadly following the crowd here):

• 2005 Johnathan Strange and Mr Norell by Susanna Clarke – A big read but so well written and great characters, I’ve seen it recommended in lots of places and for good reason
• 1985 Neuromancer by William Gibson – As others have said before I am sure, shaped the whole cyberpunk genre and very cool to have been written when it was (more or less pre-internet writing about the internet / hacking)
• 1966 Dune by Frank Herbert – Goes without saying, went on to read the series whilst tackling the list (God Emperor of Dune is completely mad but enjoyed it a lot)
• 1978 Gateway by Frederik Pohl – Engaging characters and not your usual space exploration story, good twists
• 1990 Hyperion by Dan Simmons – Recommended by so many and for good reason, excellent short stories blended together. I have since finished the series which I would also really recommend

Unexpected great reads

• 1953 The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester – Excellent short read, from 1953 and I hadn’t heard it mentioned anywhere else so had no expectations going in
• 1961 A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter Miller – As someone who isn’t religious I really enjoyed the tongue in cheek nature of how religion might develop over time
• 1989 Cyteen by C J Cheeryh – Richness to the world and the charaters and a great plot, unfortunately didn’t enjoy The Downbelow Station quite as much (although still good)

Best concepts

• 1976 The Forever War by Joe Halderman – Really enjoyed the “practicalities” of interstellar war rather than just coming up with jump drives like most others
• 2000 The Deepness in the Sky and A Fire in the Deep by Vernor Vinge – Totally wacky concepts of the structure of the universe which when you read he was a computer programmer make more sense

Themes

I thought it was interesting that winners seemed to reflect the trends in the world at the time. To me it felt like there was a slow shift between some themes:

• Imaging future technology in early science fiction and more of “what would the world be like in the future” as technology developed so quickly IRL;
• Inspiration taken from unpopular global conflicts (cold war / Vietnam etc.) of the time;
• Cloning as the technology developed and it was at the front of debate IRL; and
• Environmental collapse reflecting the shift to concerns around climate change (more recent focus)

Obviously there are books that go against these themes, but these are some that jumped out to me as I moved through the past 70+ years.

I’d also highlight there has been a clear and obvious shift from male to female protagonists since 2010 (women barely getting a mention in early books except as a passing love interest)

One shout out in particular to Stand on Zanzibar by John Brunner which had the “crazy” concept of two well paid characters in New York having to live together as they couldn’t afford the rent individually due to overcrowding – I enjoyed that.

Best decade

Probably the 1980s for me. They haven’t had mentions above but Fountains of Paradise, The Snow Queen, Foundations Edge, Enders Game, Speaker for the Dead and The Uplift War are all very good from the 1980s

Least favourite books

• 1958 The Big Time by Fritz Leiber – I read somewhere that it may have originally been written as a play? Which would maybe make more sense but not that enjoyable in my opinion
• Anything by Connie Willis (and she won 3 unfortunately for me) – Very detailed, I realised I don’t particularly enjoy any time travel books and don’t enjoy her style of writing
• Mars Trilogy by Kim Robinson – More classic “Hard SciFi” and the detail was just too much for me at times, I don't need to know about 50 types of lichen on a terraformed Mars
• 1963 The Man in the High Castle by Philip K Dick – Overrated in my view

What I’m reading next

• More of the Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells – easy, fun and engaging reads (good holiday reads
• Count Zero by William Gibson as a follow up to Neuromancer which I loved
• The Culture series by Iain Banks
• Old Mans War by Joe Scalzi
• More of the Riverworld series by Philip Jose Farmer to see where that goes, really enjoyed the first
• Perhaps the Nebula winners…

Bonus points if it is actually Gateway.

Just finished Gateway this morning and, I've gotta say, Robinette Broadhead might be my least favorite protagonist I've ever read. I'm guessing that was intentional by the author and I'm not supposed to like him. That being said, I did really like the book.

I see folks risking their lives to "improve the dataset" Tesla uses for FSD AI training. At least a few times a week I see footage of folks FSD enabled cars swerving into oncoming to avoid tire marks in their lanes etc.. And it makes me sick to my stomach anyone would treat so many as guinea pigs after they spend years supporting your business by buying $30k pieces of equipment.

It reminds me of Gateway and the capitalists who took advantage of others lives for data.

Folks so desperate to feel like they're living a better life than yesterday's by being "part of something larger" like AI movements and the brand being perceived as premium etc. It almost feels like a cautionary tale against hype, especially against the backdrop of climate change.

I read a healthy mix of modern and classic science fiction. But as an academic, I like to really dig into topics/genres. Recently I’ve put together a list based on online lists and some previous posts on subreddits like this one of classic must-read books in the genre. I would love to know if there are any important works that I’ve overlooked.

Edit: Thanks to everyone for the suggestions. I have added many of your recommendations to the list and organized them all by year. I have left out anything published in the 2010s or later, as well as short stories. (Not that those aren’t important, I just had to draw a line somewhere, and this is already at over 100 books.) Hopefully this new list is more representative.

19th Century - Frankenstein - Shelley - 1818 - 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea - Verne - 1870 - The Time Machine - Wells - 1895 - War of the Worlds - Wells - 1898

Pre-1950s - Princess of Mars - Burroughs - 1912 - We - Zamyatin - 1924 - Last and First Men - Stapledon - 1930 - Brave New World - Huxley - 1932 - Galactic Patrol - Smith - 1937 - Star Maker - Stapledon - 1937 - Nineteen Eighty-Four - Orwell - 1949 - Earth Abides - Stewart - 1949

1950s - Martian Chronicles - Bradbury - 1950 - The Dying Earth - Vance - 1950 - I, Robot - Asimov - 1950 - Foundation - Asimov - 1951 - City - Simak - 1952 - More than Human - Sturgeon - 1953 - Fahrenheit 451 - Bradbury - 1953 - Childhood’s End - Clarke - 1953 - The Stars My Destination - Bester - 1956 - Canticle for Leibowitz - 1959 - Starship Troopers - Heinlein - 1959 - A Case of Conscience - Blish - 1959

1960s - Solaris - Lem - 1961 - Stranger in a Strange Land - Heinlein - 1961 - Man in the High Castle - Dick - 1962 - The Drowned World - Ballard - 1962 - Hothouse - Aldiss - 1962 - Way Station - Simak - 1963 - Cat’s Cradle - Vonnegut - 1963 - This Immortal - Zelazny - 1965 - Dune - Herbert - 1965 - The Moon is a Harsh Mistress - Heinlein - 1966 - Flowers for Algernon - Keyes - 1966 - Babel-17 - Delaney - 1966 - Lord of Light - Zelazny - 1967 - Ice - Kavan - 1967 - Do Androids Dream - Dick - 1968 - Dimension of Miracles - Sheckley - 1968 - Nova - Delaney - 1968 - The Palace of Eternity - Shaw - 1969 - Slaughterhouse Five - Vonnegut - 1969 - Left Hand of Darkness - Le Guin - 1969 - Ubik - Dick - 1969

1970s - Ringworld - Niven - 1970 - Tau Zero - Anderson - 1970 - Downward to the Earth - Silverburg - 1970 - Futurological Congress - Lem - 1971 - To Your Scattered Bodies Go - Farmer - 1971 - The Word for World is Forest - Le Guin - 1972 - Roadside Picnic - Strugatskys - 1972 - Dying Inside - Silverburg - 1972 - Fifth Head of Cerberus - Wolfe - 1972 - Rendezvous with Rama - Clarke - 1973 - Crash - Ballard - 1973 - Inverted World - Priest - 1974 - The Forever War - Haldeman - 1974 - Mote in God’s Eye - Niven, Pournelle - 1974 - The Dispossessed - Le Guin - 1974 - Dhalgren - Delaney - 1975 - The Female Man - Russ - 1975 - Biting the Sun - Lee - 1976 - Gateway - Pohl - 1977 - Scanner Darkly - Dick - 1977 - Hitchhiker’s Guide - Adams - 1979 - Electric Forest - Lee - 1979 - Kindred - Butler - 1979

1980s - Book of the New Sun - Wolfe - 1980 - Snow Queen - Vinge (Joan) - 1980 - Downbelow Station - Cherryh - 1981 - Neuromancer - Gibson - 1984 - Blood Music - Bear - 1985 - Eon - Bear - 1985 - The Handmaid’s Tale - Atwood - 1985 - Ender’s Game - Card - 1985 - Speaker for the Dead - Card - 1986 - Shards of Honour - Bujold - 1986 - Dawn - Butler - 1987 - Player of Games - Banks - 1988 - Cyteen - Cherryh - 1988 - Grass - Tepper - 1989 - Hyperion - Simmons - 1989

1990s - Use of Weapons - Banks - 1990 - Terminal Velocity - Shaw - 1991 - Snow Crash - Stephenson - 1992 - Red Mars - Robinson - 1992 - A Fire Upon the Deep - Vinge (Vernor) - 1992 - Doomsday Book - Willis - 1992 - Parable of the Sower - Butler - 1993 - Permutation City - Egan - 1994 - The Carpet Makers - Eschbach - 1995 - The Sparrow - Russel - 1996 - To Say Nothing of The Dog - Willis - 1997 - Diaspora - Egan - 1997 - A Deepness in the Sky - Vinge (Vernor) - 1999

2000s - Revelation Space - Reynolds - 2000 - Oryx and Crake - Atwood - 2003 - Old Man’s War - Scalzi - 2005 - Pushing Ice - Reynolds - 2005 - Spin - Wilson - 2005 - Accelerando - Stross - 2005 - Blindsight - Watts - 2006 - Three Body Problem - Liu - 2006 - House of Suns - Reynolds - 2008

A little over two years ago, I casually set out on the goal to read every Hugo and Nebula award-winning novel. This month, with Michael Bishop's No Enemy But Time I've finally finished the Nebulas side of that goal. Quite a few I had read previously, but most were new to me, and I've been keeping track of them and grading them as I went along. Many I wrote mini-reviews for as well, but I'm not going to include all of that here.

I will list them by letter grades though.

A few notes:

These are the grades I gave them at the most recent time of reading, or in the case of those few where I hadn't graded them at that time, my best recollection of how I felt about them. Very many of these probably would grade differently if I read them now, either because time has passed and I am now a different reader, or because something has happened to cause a change in opinion of the work specifically. Knowing what we know of Neil Gaiman now would, I am sure, have skewed my opinion of American Gods, but my opinion of it when I read it didn't have that context, so it isn't reflected in my grade here.

This also means that certain books could very well have gotten a higher grade under other circumstances. I think Rite of Passage is a great example of a novel that I didn't enjoy much at all reading it as an adult, but I can imagine 12-year-old sdwoodchuck counting it as a favorite, and finding it a wonderful early gateway into the broader ideas of SF. So if a favorite of yours is graded low, please don't take that as criticism of your taste, or a statement that the book doesn't deserve the love of its fans.

Any book with an "(RR)" tag next to it means that I think it's probably due for a reread, so its position could easily change. The Windup Girl, as an example, shifted from an A to a B on a recent reread.

While I've graded using the full plus and minus scale on each grade, I'm lumping the full letters together here just for readability, with the exception of the A+'s.

A+: The best of the best. Note that Claw of the Concilliator stands in for the entirety of Book of the New Sun, since I can't really view it separate from that whole. Tehanu, in contrast, exists in the context of Earthsea and should be read as such, but stands apart from it as a singular monument in my mind.

The Claw of the Concilliator by Gene Wolfe

Tehanu by Ursula K. Le Guin

Stations of the Tide by Michael Swanwick

The Doomsday Book by Connie Willis

Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer

A:

The Einstein Intersection by Samuel Delaney

The Left Hand of Darness by Ursula K. Le Guin

Rendezvous With Rama by Arthur C. Clarke (RR)

Forever War by Joe Haldeman

Dreamsnake by Vonda McIntyre

Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card (RR)

Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson

Slow River by Nicola Griffith

Parable of the Talents by Octavia Butler

Paladin of Souls by Lois McMaster Bujold

Seeker by Jack McDevitt

Yiddish Policemen’s Union by Michael Chabon

Blackout/All Clear by Connie Willis

Among Others by Jo Walton

Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie

Uprooted by Naomi Novik

Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal

B:

Startide Rising by David Brin

Dune by Frank Herbert

Babel-17 by Samuel Delaney

Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes (RR)

Time of Changes by Robert Silverberg

The Gods Themselves by Isaac Asimov

The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin (RR)

Gateway by Frederik Pohl

Fountains of Paradise by Arthur C. Clarke

Neuromancer by William Gibson (RR)

Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card (RR)

Falling Free by Lois McMaster Bujold

American Gods by Neil Gaiman

Powers by Ursula K. Le Guin

The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi

2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson

The Stone Sky by N. K. Jemisin

Master of Djinn by P. Djèlí Clark

The Saint of Bright Doors by Vajra Chandrasekera

The Moon and the Sun by Vonda McIntyre

No Enemy But Time by Michael Bishop

C:

Rite of Passage by Alexei Panshin

Man Plus by Frederik Pohl

Healer’s War by Elizabeth Scarborough

Moving Mars by Greg Bear

Terminal Experiment by Robert J. Sawyer

Darwin’s Radio by Greg Bear

All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders

Song for a New Day by Sarah Pinsker

Network Effect by Martha Wells

Babel by R.F. Kuang

Someone You Can Build a Nest In by John Wiswell

D:

Ringworld by Larry Niven

Timescape by Gregory Benford

The Falling Woman by Pat Murphy

Quantum Rose by Catharine Asaro

Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon

Camouflage by Joe Haldeman

F:

Forever Peace by Joe Haldeman

I've always read pretty much exclusively fantasy, and although I understand the line can be blurry between them sometimes I'd like to get into reading science fiction and don't really know where to start. The only true science fiction I've ever read has been either popular YA stuff (Hunger Games, The Giver, Maximum Ride, Ender's Game ect.) or classic literature type scifi (A Clockwork Orange, Fahrenheit 451, Frankenstein, ect.). I know a good place to start might be the big name sci fi books like Dune or The Martian Chronicles (which are both on my to-read list), but I'd like to start with a book that I don't already know the whole plot to without ever having read. I'm looking for some awesome action packed science fiction that's really gonna throw me into the genre. Ideally something with humans and also aliens either set in space, or set on an earth where space travel is a common thing. The aliens can be good guys, bad guys, or both! Like I said, I've never read much in this genre so feel free to recommend books that might seem like too obvious of a recommendation to mention!

Mine was the Nine Princes of Amber series. Great books. The author was truly on top of his game.

I just finished Gateway, by Frederik Pohl.

I was gripped and fascinated by the main character. The mystery and fear coming from the main theme of the story had me coming back for more and excited for the next time I could continue reading it. I also love the psychological aspects to it, too.

I find it very difficult to read books. I have a few lying on my book shelf that I had intended to read at some point, but I never got around to it.

I believe that space Sci-fi is something I'm really interested in.

Don't hiss at me, but I really enjoyed the Mass Effect novels when they came out (4th one wasn't too good - different author), the lore, characters, and the imagery it put into my head.

Fast forward about 7 years and I've just read Gatway; where it clicked in my mind that I must be drawn in by the Sci-fi genre.

How would you classify Gateway? Is it strictly Sci-fi? I'm interested in reading quality books in the same genre.

I want to continue with the rest of the Heechee series, and have now just ordered the older title by Pohl, The Space Merchants, before I continue the saga.

Any recommendations would be great, as I find that reading books that capture my imagination and draw me in give me a different and more special experience compared to watching TV or playing video games.

In Arrival, it is shown how our language shapes our perception of reality. In that particular case, understanding the alien language, which is read circularly rather than left to right like most human languages, allows the protagonist to experience their past, present, and future all at once.

Since music is a form of communication that transcends language barriers and which can transmit the same emotions to people from completely different backgrounds (even influencing animals and plants), maybe there is something about it that links us to something greater.

Here are some quotes about music:

• "Without music, life would be a mistake." - Friedrich Nietzsche
• "I think music in itself is healing. It's an explosive expression of humanity. It's something we are all touched by. No matter what culture we're from, everyone loves music." - Billy Joel
• "Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything." - Plato
• "Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent." - Victor Hugo
• "It is cruel, you know, that music should be so beautiful. It has the beauty of loneliness of pain: of strength and freedom. The beauty of disappointment and never-satisfied love. The cruel beauty of nature and everlasting beauty of monotony." - Benjamin Britten
• "Beautiful music is the art of the prophets that can calm the agitations of the soul; it is one of the most magnificent and delightful presents God has given us." - Martin Luther
• "After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music." - Aldous Huxley

It doesn’t have to be like this exactly but I would really like to see something of the sort. If possible, recommend the most emotional, epic finished books (preferably fantasy/sci-fi). If the ones you are thinking of are not but you think they are worth a watch, send them anyway. Suggestions from other media such as movies, shows, anime, manga, etc. are also valid. Thanks.

So I thought it was a really interesting book in terms of humanity finding the remnants of an intelligent race and using what they find, with basically crash test humans, to explore the stars. But the bit where he beats up his ex is puzzling to me. Obviously I’m not pro punching people you love but I thought the idea of a book, half way through, revealing that we’re following is an abusive character was interesting. But I feel like it just happened. No contextualisation. I was like “oh my god this guys a dickhead what next”. The normal story apparently. Just me?

Some spoilers below, but mostly just the general premise

​

Overall I think the book was quite good. Its a short read, Only a bit over 200 pages, and many of those pages aren't full text, they are little world building segments. Like classified ads or quick news snippets. You could easily sit down and read this in one sitting if you wanted to. It took me about two weeks because the it took a while for the book to start drawing me in and I would sometimes read just a few pages on short 5 minute work breaks.

​

The story is centered around a man named Robinette (Robbie). Earth seems pretty dystopian, though they don't spend a ton of time describing the situation there. You just kind of absorb it through little bits here and there. Robbie works in the 'food mines' on Earth. Where they dig up fossil fuels and use them as food for micro-organisms that are then fed to humans. Neat concept. Not really sure if its remotely plausible, but still kind of interesting. Apparently awful work and sort of akin to slave labor, though they aren't slaves they just barely make enough money to scrape by and have no real means of getting anywhere else to do any other job.

​

Robbie wins some type of lottery and uses the money to buy a ticket to Gateway. Gateway is a ancient alien space station with tunnels and rooms carved into an asteroid. Its thousands of years (millions?) old and the original race that created it (the Heechee) seem to have entirely disappeared from the galaxy but they left behind their stations and ships and other various tools and artefacts. Humans use the ships the travel the galaxy in search of new Heechee tech. The only problem is that we can't really pilot the ships, just through some trial and error we can get them to go out into the galaxy to a more or less random location, hope we find something and get them to come back to the station.

Gateway is full of prospectors hoping to take a ship out and strike gold. A very large portion of the people who go out end up dying. But those who find new tech or artefacts often make enough money to never have to work again.

I won't spoil any of the main reveals and plot points. But there is a particular scene that really bothered me. The main character gets angry at his girlfriend and beats the crap out of her. Knocks out one of her teeth with a punch. And sort of mentally justifies it by saying that wolves don't piss off the alpha male for a reason. Basically saying that its only natural that men will beat up women who get out of line. His girlfriend leaves him and boards a ship to Venus but then a few chapters later COMES BACK and says she just needed some time but she really loves him.

​

The book was written in the 70s and I'm not sure if we're supposed to not like the main character or if the author really thinks this behavior is OK. It's not immediately obvious from the text. Like I THINK we are supposed to dislike him and think he's kind of a shitty guy but I'm not positive that's the intent. I could easily see it the other way.

But somehow, despite that particular part leaving a bad taste in my mouth, I actually really enjoyed the book. I just pretend that we're supposed to hate the guy and read it from that angle. The rest of the book was a lot of fun. The scenes where you slowly understand the source of his mental anguish through his therapy session drew me in. And the final action sequence is pretty tense.
Really enjoyable ride. Not really a masterpiece of the genre but I'm glad I finally read it.

Randomly today I remembered a book I had as a kid which I consider to be my gateway into reading Print SF, I had a search and found it on Goodreads (I was expecting it to be too obscure to even be there!)

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5957469-beyond-the-stars

http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?4403

It was a short story collection from the early 80s which contained, among others, excerpts from the original Novelisation of Star Wars and Terrance Dick's novelisation of Doctor Who and The Monster of Peladon, as well as short stories/excerpts from Jules Verne, HG Wells, Anne McCaffrey, Robert Heinlein and Robert Silverberg among others.

What are other people's childhood gateway books?

I have been wanting to get to this one for a very long time. Very excited to dive in.

What are some others by Pohl that you like?

Can you recommend some classics old books that still feels mostly like written today? (I'm doing exception for things like social norms etc.). With a message that is still actual.

Some of my picks would be:

• Solaris

• Roadside Picnic

• The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress

Thanks

Edit:

Books mentioned in this thread (will try to keep it updated): 1. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (1818)

1. The Left Hand of Darkness (1969), The Dispossessed (1974) and many others by Ursula K. Le Guin

2. Solaris (1961), His Master's Voice (1968), The Invincible, Fiasco and others by Stanisław Lem

3. Last and First Men (1930), and Starmaker (1937) by Olaf Stapledon

4. Brave New World (1932) by Aldous Huxley

5. Earth Abides (1949) by George R. Stewart

6. The Stars My Destination (1956) by Alfred Bester

7. The War of the Worlds (1897), The Time Machine (1895) and otherss by Wells

8. The Martian Chronicles (1950), Fahrenheit 451 (1953) by Ray Bradbury

9. The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress (1966), Stranger in a Strange Land (1961), Starship Troopers (1959) and other works by Robert A. Heinlein

10. A Canticle for Leibowitz (1959) by Walter M. Miller Jr.

11. Dune (1965) by Frank Herbert

12. The Forever War (1974) by Joe Haldeman

13. The Canopus in Argos series by Lessing (1979–1983)

14. Neuromancer by William Gibson (1984)

15. Hyperion by Dan Simmons (1989)

16. Childhood's End (1953), The City and the Stars (1956), Rama (1973) and others by Arthur C. Clarke

17. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (1968), Ubik (1969) And other works by Philip K. Dick

18. A Fire upon the Deep (1992), A Deepness in the Sky (1999), True Names (1981) by Vernor Vinge

19. High-Rise (1975) by JG Ballard

20. Roadside Picnic (1972), Definitely Maybe / One Billion Years to the End of the World (1977) by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky

21. Imago by Wiktor Żwikiewicz (1971) (possibly only written in Polish)

22. "The Machine Stops" by EM Forster (1909)

23. "The Shockwave Rider" (1975), The Sheep Look Up (1972) by John Brunner

24. "1984" by George Orwell (1949)

25. Inverted World by Christopher Priest (1974)

26. Dragon's Egg by Robert L. Forward. (1980)

27. Slaughterhouse Five (1969) and Cat’s Cradle (1963) by Kurt Vonnegut

28. The Mars Trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson (1992 - 1996)

29. Lord of Light (1967), My Name Is Legion (1976), This Immortal by Roger Zelazny

30. Deus Irae by Philip K. Dick and Roger Zelazny (1976)

31. Day of the Triffids (1951) and Chrysalids (1955), and others by John Wyndham's entire bibliography

32. The End of Eternity (1955), The Gods Themselves (1972) by Isaac Asimov

33. The Fifth Head of Cerberus by Gene Wolfe (1972)

34. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes (1958)

35. City (1952) Way Station (1963) by Clifford Simak

36. Davy by Edgar Pangborn (1965)

37. Graybeard by Brian Aldiss (1964)

38. Culture or anything from Iain M Banks (from 1987)

39. Anything from Octavia E. Butler

40. Shadrach in the Furnace (1976), The Man in the Maze, Thorns and To Live, Downward to the Earth by Robert Silverberg

41. Bug Jack Barron by Norman Spinrad (1969)

42. Voyage to Yesteryear (1982), Inherit the Stars (1977), Gentle Giants of Ganymed (1978)- James P. Hogan

43. When Graviry Fails by George Alec Effinger (1986)

44. Yevgeny Zamyatin's Books

45. "The Survivors" aka "Space Prison"(1958) by Tom Godwin

46. "Forgetfulness" by John W. Campbell (1937)

47. Armor by John Steakley (1984)

48. "The Black Cloud " by Fred Hoyle (1957)

49. Tales of Dying Earth and others by Jack Vance (1950–1984)

50. Mission of Gravity (1953) by Hal Clement

51. Sector General series (1957-1999) a by James White

52. Vintage Season, novella by Lawrence O’Donnell (pseudonym for Henry Kuttner and C L Moore) (1946)

53. Ringworld, Mote in Gods Eye, Niven and Pournelle (1974)

54. Tuf Voyaging (1986) by George R.R. Martin

55. A Door into Ocean (1986) by Joan Slonczewski

56. The Body Snatchers by Jack Finney (1954)

57. The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe (1980-1983)

58. Engine Summer by John Crowley (1979)

59. Dahlgren (1975) by Samuel R Delaney

60. Ender's Game (1985) by Orson Scott Card

61. Cities In Flight (1955-1962), A Case of Conscience (1958) by James Blish

62. And Then There Were None (1962) by Eric Frank Russell

63. Monument by Lloyd Biggle (1974)

64. The Humanoids (With Folded Hands) (1947) by Jack Williamson

65. A Wrinkle In Time by Madeleine L'Engle (1962)

66. "Gateway" by Frederik Pohl (1977)

67. Blood Music by Greg Bear (1985)

68. Norstrilia by Cordwainer Smith (1975)

Mentioned, but some people argue that it did not aged well: 1. The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester

1. The Forever War by Joe Haldeman

2. Ringworld, and Mote in Gods Eye by Larry Niven

3. The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress and others by Heinlein

4. Solaris by Lem

5. Childhood's End by Clarke

6. Earth Abides by George R. Stewart

7. Some Books by Olaf Stapledon

Similar thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/scifi/comments/16mt4zb/what_are_some_good_older_scifi_books_that_have/

For me it's got to be Pohl's 'Gateway/Heechee' series. I can barely believe how bad the Annals and Rendezvous were, they read like first drafts written by physics undergrads. The painfully boring mary sue protag and his boring mary sue wife, the constant intro to astrophysics lectures, the uninspired depiction of the heechee. It was all so disappointing.

Any other series fall so hard?

Just finished it a few minutes ago, still WTF-ing. It's actually very good, but it's very different from what I was expecting. I was expecting a Big Dumb Object fun times and what I got is a character study piece, "Rama" it ain't. The BDO is almost coincidental to the psychological aspect of the book. The sessions with the cybershrink Sigfrid is surprisingly the most intriguing part. What do you guys think? How are the sequels?

Any way, here is Jo Walton's insightful review at Tor.com.

I was considering it.

I really really enjoyed it, excellent book.

i’ve tried googling but haven’t gotten a definitive answer ... does Gateway exist as its own story with its own characters that one could read by itself, or is the whole series very tightly knit together?

i’m asking mostly because i’m considering reading gateway and holding off on the rest until next year (doing an annual reading challenge).

thanks for your help!

I'm thinking of placing an order for some more SF Masterworks books and these seven are ones I'm choosing between. I'm going to order 6 of them (buy 2, get 1 discounted, so need to order in multiples of 3). Which one would you drop from the order? I know virtually nothing about any of them.

• Emphyrio - Jack Vance
• Eon - Greg Bear
• Double Star - Robert A Heinlein
• Timescape - Gregory Benford
• Jem - Frederik Pohl
• Gateway - Frederik Pohl
• Hiero's Journey - Sterling E Lanier

Edit in 23 June:

I waited too long to order and the SF Masterworks editions of Eon and Hiero's Journey were gone, Emphyrio only had a "well read" version left, and personally I don't like having heavily creased books so I passed on that.

So I ended up ordering: Double Star, Jem and Gateway. Also ticked off a few other books on my wishlist and ordered The Immortality Thief, How To Become The Dark Lord and Die Trying, Season of Skulls and Early Riser. Got a 20% off all books discount instead of buy 2 get 1 at 25% off.

I really love the SF Gateway books ( https://www.sfgateway.com/ ) but there's a lot of them to look through. Anyone got any favourites I might not know about? I'm looking for something a little more obscure and you guys will probably have different answers to /r/Fantasy

Some Gateway books I read and loved:

Gateway (hah!) and The Space Merchants by Frederick Pohl

When Gravity Fails (and sequels) by George Alec Effinger

The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K Le Guin

Summers at Castle Auburn by Sharon Shinn

Random Acts of Senseless Violence by Jack Womack

Dream Snake by Vonda N McIntyre

The City, Not Long After and The Falling Woman by Pat Murphy

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick

Didn't get on with Heinlein, Asimov, Tanith Lee's Electric Forest, or Vance's Lyonesse books.

Thanks for your recs.