The Moon is a Harsh Mistress and Glory Road. Seriously though, the Lazarus Long stories....
Originally shared by J. Martin
Sunday Question: Which Science Fiction Novels and Story Collections Had the Greatest Impact on You?
Most people I know who read science fiction read it throughout their formative years. Also, there’s no law that this period of “formative years” can’t be extended forever, is there!
On Facebook, my friend Afonso asked:
Afonso Cesar Moreira
out of sheer curiosity wants to know what are the favourite 'science-fiction’ novels of his facebook friends. So, if you had to choose, which one would it be?
This is really a tough question. Even though, seen in hindsight, no book with a thrilling topic or a brilliant idea was ever able to influence me both strongly and lastingly if it wasn’t also well—and preferably very well—written, there are still so many that come to mind!
But I’ll give it a try.
In my Top 5, I would place (in chronological order):
John Brunner’s Stand on Zanzibar
Philip Dick’s Ubik
Samuel R. Delaney’s Dhalgren
William Gibson’s Neuromancer (in extension the Sprawl Trilogy)
Alistair Reynolds’s Revelation Space (in extension the series)
To fill up my Top 10, I would choose:
A. E. van Vogt’s Isher
Jack Vance’s To Live Forever
Bob Shaw’s The Shadows of Heaven
Cordwainer Smith’s Norstrilia
Joe Haldeman’s The Forever War
Each of these had a strong and lasting impact. But, if I really had to decide, William Gibson’s Neuromancer would be it.
Regarding short story collections, the “Top 5” of my most formative ones would be:
Ray Bradbury’s The Martian Chronicles
Robert Sheckley’s Citizen in Space
Brian Aldiss’s Starswarm
James Tiptree, Jr.’s Ten Thousand Light-Years from Home
Cordwainer Smith’s Instrumentality of Mankind
Now what would be yours?
http://betweendrafts.com/2011/10/08/sunday-question-which-science-fiction-novels-and-story-collections-had-the-greatest-impact-on-you/
Read loads of Heinlein and totally loved it, but there just wasn’t a specific book by him that caught my attention and fired up my imagination as much as the ones that I listed did. Clarke’s Childhood’s End though came pretty close to making that list.
ReplyDeleteJoanna Russ, The Female Man. At 17 it was just what I needed. At 13 it was McCaffrey. Nowadays it would be LeGuin and Gaiman.
ReplyDeleteIndeed ^^^^ I was moved quite a bit by Atwood too.
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