Imagine I could only choose 5 sci fi books for a brand new sci fi reader – what would they be?
Foundation ❤ Foundation and Empire ❤❤❤ (The Mule 😍)
By Isaac Asimov should be in the package in my opinion 😎
Oddly enough, the Mule drove me mad. I don’t like this old notion that “we only use 10% of our brain – imagine what we could do if we unlocked the other 90%” that was prevalent in sci fi of the era. So if you gave Foundation and Empire to me in your starter kit, and I reviewed it thus, what would you recommend as a followup knowing that I enjoyed it, but didn’t like the psychic (telepathic) elements?
Hyperion
Murderbot Diaries
Children of Time
Shadow & Claw (books 1 & 2 of The New Sun)
There Body Problem
Oh wow, Gene Wolfe for a new reader – maybe if they are the type that thinks sci fi is lasers and blue babes and needs to be shown that some sci fi can be serious business, haha! What would you recommend as the followup, aside from more Gene Wolfe, if they said that was their favourite? I might select Anathem and Gnomon.
Oh hi Troy, what an interesting question. Over the years I’ve had a lot of thoughts about this and think the optimal set of books should be both highly approachable, but also cover a wide varieties of genres. Such that the prospective newbie can sample a bunch of different things and tell you what they liked best. Thus forming a nice basis for additional recommendations. To that effect, here’s my current list.
(1) Ender’s Game (it’s a very approachable read with a good payoff and a lot of nice concepts)
(2) The Left Hand of Darkness (largely to show that sci fi can be beautiful and contemplative, and by placing these ideas in a sci fi setting, you can abstract from all the baggage of modern politics)
(3) Snow Crash (yes, it’s ridiculous, but it’s also super fun and somewhat pop-culturey and scratches the cyberpunk itch - it’s also the only earth-only book on the list)
(4) Hyperion and Fall of Hyperon (because it touches on so many ideas and genres, one can ask “what was your favourite part” and it’ll form the basis for so many other recommendations)
(5) The Player of Games (need something optimistic to balance some of the others - but also something where the tech level is indistinguishable from magic)
What do you think?
That’s a great list. With the exception of Iain Banks. I have bounced off every book by him I’ve tried. Really should make another effort at Player of Games.
Hyperion was actually one of the very first scifi books I read, and I almost regret it. It’s absolutely brilliant, but because I had no frame of reference, nothing to compare it to, so I didn’t appreciate it at the time. I’m waiting until my memory fades so I can reread it :-)
Snow Crash…ok you’ve got me interested… Adding it to the list
I guess I’d try to give as broad a view as possible, kind of to show that sci-fi can be literary as well as purpose-built to explore specific ideas.
The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet
The Left Hand of Darkness
The Sparrow
Player of Games
The Quantum Thief
I’m not the most prolific reader, and pretty new to sci-fi books in general, but I came here to mention The Book of the New Sun (mentioned in another comments as Shadow and Claw, the first half of the series), as well as Dune. Both these books really drew me in with their world building.
In that case, I recommend CJ Cherryh (maybe start with Downbelow Station) as she is one of the master worldbuilders. And given your selections, I’d specifically also recommend Hyperion (and Fall of Hyperion); Gnomon by Harkaway; and Anathem by Stephenson.
