The Best Science Fiction Books (According to Reddit) • Hacker News Board

Re: The Best Science Fiction Books (According to Reddit)

#261

Post by spacemanaki » Sat, Sep 10, 2011, 3:54 PM UTC

cletus wrote: post #47

Probably the most surprising thing about this list is that whoever made it didn't insert Amazon affiliate links into it. Anyway, these lists always raise the question of what does "good" mean exactly? Inevitably they're dominated by books that were, in their time, incredibly significant. You see the same things in computing books. Someone will always recommend "Design Patterns" but (IMHO) it is the dullest, driest bo…

> Cyberpunk is largely an expression of fears about an Asian (Japanese more often than not) "takeover" of Western society. It's actually very xenophobic but it does reflect the dystopian fears of the time. Cyberpunk has waned in recent years as the xenophobia has and the realization that this isn't the future.

This is way off base, and really does a disservice to those authors. Cyberpunk in the 80s may have inherited some economic xenophobia but there were a lot of other ideas in there that I think were more important and continue to be, around the internet and technology.

It also hasn't waned the way you describe. The Deus Ex games are examples of cyberpunk that doesn't have as much to do with Asian takeovers of Western society as Neuromancer or Snow Crash perhaps does. Aside from the technological themes, the demons are thoroughly all-American: media propaganda, military contractors, corporate regulation, big scary government, war on terror, police actions... I would argue a lot of that came from the dystopias envisioned by sci-fi in the 80s, some of it from the cyberpunk authors.

I agree about Neuromancer being fairly average in quality, and that CJ Cherryh should be on the list.

Re: The Best Science Fiction Books (According to Reddit)

#262

Post by JenniferMason » Sat, Sep 10, 2011, 4:53 PM UTC

I'm a geek, I love Star Wars, Star Trek: TNG, and I love reading science fiction by Asimov and Crichton.

But Ender's Game and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy are two of the worst books I have ever read. I got about a third through both of them and threw them in the trash. Sorry, but they are truly awful. Ender's Game has a very childish and incredibly boring writing style, as if that was the author's high school attempt at a novel. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy has some good writing, I will give him that -- he is a skilled writer. But the humor is so not funny I couldn't bear reading it.

Re: The Best Science Fiction Books (According to Reddit)

#263

Post by aorshan » Sat, Sep 10, 2011, 6:59 PM UTC

Alex3917 wrote: post #63

cletus wrote: post #47

Probably the most surprising thing about this list is that whoever made it didn't insert Amazon affiliate links into it. Anyway, these lists always raise the question of what does "good" mean exactly? Inevitably they're dominated by books that were, in their time, incredibly significant. You see the same things in computing books. Someone will always recommend "Design Patterns" but (IMHO) it is the dullest, driest bo…

"Cyberpunk is largely an expression of fears about an Asian (Japanese more often than not) 'takeover' of Western society." I would argue that this has largely already happened. There is sort of a battle between liberal jewish culture and fundamentalist christian culture for being the official US mythology, but on a day to day basis Japanese culture and values are largely what have filled the power void. I would argue…

I'm sorry but I don't think judaism has anything to do with this at all. None of the things you are talking about has anything more to do with judaism than it does with christianity or any other religion.

Re: The Best Science Fiction Books (According to Reddit)

#264

Post by the_happy » Sat, Sep 10, 2011, 7:03 PM UTC

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is out of place.

It's a good book for what it is: young adult absurdist comedy. But it honestly never occurred to me to classify it in the same genre as the other books in the list.

Re: The Best Science Fiction Books (According to Reddit)

#265

Post by kisielk » Sat, Sep 10, 2011, 7:50 PM UTC

amalcon wrote: post #220

cletus wrote: post #47

Probably the most surprising thing about this list is that whoever made it didn't insert Amazon affiliate links into it. Anyway, these lists always raise the question of what does "good" mean exactly? Inevitably they're dominated by books that were, in their time, incredibly significant. You see the same things in computing books. Someone will always recommend "Design Patterns" but (IMHO) it is the dullest, driest bo…

I've always maintained that there are two types of science fiction. There's the "Star Trek" kind that does social commentary, and tries to get the audience to think about something directly by sidestepping the trappings of modern society. Then, there's the "Star Wars" kind that is basically a far-reaching exercise in world building that only has a plot so that you're not reading a technical description. Stranger in a…

I wouldn't stick Dune solely in the second category. It has a great deal of social commentary, and touches on a number of environmental and ethical issues. Herbert simply went to great lengths to create an extremely detailed world in which to present these ideas.

I think Stephenson's Anathem is a better example of the second category. It's almost purely world-building escapist fiction. There's not any obvious message apart from perhaps a satirical introspective of our own society.

Re: The Best Science Fiction Books (According to Reddit)

#266

Post by eru » Sat, Sep 10, 2011, 8:06 PM UTC

autarch wrote: post #240

SoftwareMaven wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you know of any (translated, given my lack of non-English speaking capability) non-English-origin sci-fi, I'd love pointers. I realize a lot is lost in translation, but I love the viewport into other cultures that fiction can provide.

I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harper The Carpet Makers by Andreas Eschbach Both are excellent.

I can recommend the Carpet Makers. I've read it in German. The structure of that novel is quite interesting, too.

Re: The Best Science Fiction Books (According to Reddit)

#267

Post by missy » Sat, Sep 10, 2011, 8:37 PM UTC

Based on the books I have seen a movie , the key theme is that the charachters resembles perhaps us founders a bit. They feel threatend in their current existance (user issues) and have to venture out into space (Silicion Valley) , into the unknown (the market) to usually defeat something (problems and competition) and in the end become victorious and have peace (some founders). Its Hollywood so in reality many fail.

Re: The Best Science Fiction Books (According to Reddit)

#268

Post by zorked » Sat, Sep 10, 2011, 9:46 PM UTC

BenOfTomorrow wrote: post #172

subwindow wrote: post #71

Obviously with any list there's going to be quite a lot of nits to pick... At any rate, here are mine. Sad to see Stanislaw Lem completely left out in favor of some obviously inferior books (Anathem!?). Also a curious choice for the obligatory Atwood novel. Surprised that Gravity's Rainbow was not on there- I'd put it near the top (maybe it wasn't "Sci-Fi" enough?) Good to see Canticle for Leibowitz as well as a fair…

Gravity's Rainbow: recognized, but not recalled, as science fiction. I don't necessarily object to the classification, but it might not come to mind if I were making a list. Also, Pynchon's prose is very rich - I expect popular lists to be dominated by lighter fare.

I find it amazing that the geekiest of all books ever written gets put aside in the geek canon in favor or space robots shooting lasers...

Re: The Best Science Fiction Books (According to Reddit)

#269

Post by aboodman » Sat, Sep 10, 2011, 10:34 PM UTC

cletus wrote: post #47

Probably the most surprising thing about this list is that whoever made it didn't insert Amazon affiliate links into it. Anyway, these lists always raise the question of what does "good" mean exactly? Inevitably they're dominated by books that were, in their time, incredibly significant. You see the same things in computing books. Someone will always recommend "Design Patterns" but (IMHO) it is the dullest, driest bo…

The first Culture novel was printed in 1987, and he's still writing new ones. I don't think you can really say yet whether they'll stand the test of time :).

Re: The Best Science Fiction Books (According to Reddit)

#270

Post by geuis » Sat, Sep 10, 2011, 11:14 PM UTC

YogSothoth wrote: post #258

geuis wrote: post #117

Out of all the scifi I've read over the years, one really stands out to me. Lilith's Brood by Octavia Butler. The reason isn't that I enjoyed it, but rather that by the time I finished it I was inherently disturbed by it. I've often read stories I enjoyed. Sometimes I read some that are boring. But it's very rare to actually finish something that makes you physically uncomfortable most of the way through. The story i…

Definitely second the recommendation of Lilith's Brood, I also found it very moving. I bought it based upon the strength of her (much) earlier short story Bloodchild which I found myself thinking about for weeks after I'd read it.

I'm very interested in how the book affected you. When you say you find it moving, can you describe in what ways?

For me, the word "moving" means that I was emotionally tied to the character(s). When they succeed, I succeed. When one dies, its heart breaking. But that's not how Lilith's Brood affected me. At some deep level I was very disturbed by the overtones of rape and subjugation by the aliens, but that at the same time these creatures loved the humans they bonded with in the same deep way we feel when we love another person. There was a big amount of alienation in that humans in the bondings were physically repulsed to be near each other even though they were deeply in love. That human beings could only be close via the alien partner, there was just something deeply wrong with that.

One of the reasons I respect that novel and can recommend it, but can't love it, is that Octavia Butler did such a magnificent job in telling the story in a way that it makes me feel as I do. That's rare.