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SF Meme: 101 Best Novels 1985-2010
Dec. 15th, 2012 11:06 pmBy Damien Broderick and Paul Di Filippo
A friend wanted me to review it and recommend some books for him. I don't know if this will help as I've read less than half the list.
Bold: Read and still own the book.
Italics: Read and do not own the book. Note: italics in the commentary is just to
mark book titles.
Underline: Have read other books by the author.
Commentary on unread authors is my personal impressions.
The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood (1985)
Ender’s Game, Orson Scott Card (1985)
Genius child is sent to a brutal wargame school. Ground-breaking, but author's
politics and tropes have turned me off of him. I won't read anything new by him.
Radio Free Albemuth, Philip K Dick (1985)
Always Coming Home, Ursula K Le Guin (1985)
More tangential work.
This Is the Way the World Ends, James Morrow (1985)
Galápagos, Kurt Vonnegut (1985)
The Falling Woman, Pat Murphy (1986)
Set in Central/South America about a archaeologist and her estranged daughter.
The Shore of Women, Pamela Sargent (1986)
Always seemed too literary/feminist for me.
A Door Into Ocean, Joan Slonczewski (1986)
Feminist colony novel where the culture has become nonviolent, consensus-driven,
complete with new language, etc.
Soldiers of Paradise, Paul Park (1987)
Life During Wartime, Lucius Shepard (1987)
The Sea and Summer, George Turner (1987)
Cyteen, CJ Cherryh (1988)
I love almost all of Cherryh's books. She specializes in dropping a character
into the deep end. They end up sleep-deprived, often confused, but somehow manage.
Cyteen is the story of the clone of a scientist. She is being raised by trying to
duplicate how her 'mother' was raised in order to create another genius.
Neverness, David Zindell (1988)
The Steerswoman, Rosemary Kirstein (1989)
Appears fantasy, but is actually a lost colony story. The world's magicians have access to advanced technology. Main character is from a group that asks and answers questions. If you refuse to answer a steerswoman's question, the group will never answer another of your questions.
Grass, Sheri S Tepper (1989)
Tepper often uses a hammer to drive home her messages which has turned me off of her later works. Grass is near the beginning of this trend. I'm not sure whether I do still have this book. I like her earlier Mavin Manyshaped books more.
Use of Weapons, Iain M Banks (1990)
A Culture novel. Far future space opera, more or less. The Culture is an enlightened, galaxy spanning group that tries to bring other planets into the pact.
Queen of Angels, Greg Bear (1990)
Bear has often tended more to the science fiction side, but is still character-driven. I couldn't finish one of his more recent books.
Barrayar, Lois McMaster Bujold (1991)
The sequel to Shards of Honor about a woman from a very liberal, technologically advanced world making her way on a patriarchial, war-loving world that's in the midst of revolution. Wonderful characters, fast plots are hallmarks of Bujold's work.
Synners, Pat Cadigan (1991)
One of the few female cyberpunk authors at the time. Very good writer.
Sarah Canary, Karen Joy Fowler (1991)
Seemed too literary.
White Queen, Gwyneth Jones (1991)
Eternal Light, Paul McAuley (1991)
British SF author. Four Hundred Billion Stars also excellent.
Stations of the Tide, Michael Swanwick (1991)
Timelike Infinity, Stephen Baxter (1992)
Not a fan of the other books I've read by him. Don't remember liking the characters which is usually a deal-killer for me.
Dead Girls, Richard Calder (1992)
Jumper, Steven Gould (1992)
Marvelous young adult novel about an abused teenager who finds he can teleport. Really tries to think through the consequences. Much, much better than the movie.
China Mountain Zhang, Maureen F McHugh (1992)
A near-future dominated by the Chinese. Main character is gay, but closeted due to societal pressures.
Red Mars, Kim Stanley Robinson (1992)
I get bored with his books sometimes although the writing quality is good.
A Fire Upon the Deep, Vernor Vinge (1992)
Aristoi, Walter Jon Williams (1992)
Hardwired and Voice of the Whirlwind are excellent, somewhat cyberpunkish.
Doomsday Book, Connie Willis (1992)
Great writer, but I don't always like her books. Not this book but others are more humorous for the genre.
Parable of the Sower, Octavia Butler (1993)
Ammonite, Nicola Griffith (1993)
Lesbian, feminist writer.
Chimera, Mary Rosenblum (1993)
Can't really remember anything about it or the other books by her that I've read.
Nightside the Long Sun, Gene Wolfe (1993)
Lush, writer's writer. I find his books wonderfully written, but
don't like the characters, and got bored with this series.
Brittle Innings, Michael Bishop (1994)
Permutation City, Greg Egan (1994)
Blood, Michael Moorcock (1994)
Mother of Storms, John Barnes (1995)
There's excellent John Barnes and then there's squicky John Barnes.
This book leans towards squicky Barnes. Maybe try Orbital Resonance
Sailing Bright Eternity, Gregory Benford (1995)
Straightforward hard sf writer.
Galatea 2.2, Richard Powers (1995)
The Diamond Age, Neal Stephenson (1995)
Snow Crash is probably a better choice, although I loved
Cryptonomicon. REAMDE was a technothriller.
The Transmigration of Souls, William Barton (1996)
The Fortunate Fall, Raphael Carter (1996)
The Sparrow/Children of God, Mary Doria Russell (1996/1998)
Holy Fire, Bruce Sterling (1996)
I read and enjoyed Islands in the Net.
Night Lamp, Jack Vance (1996)
Writing style is intricate and lush.
In the Garden of Iden, Kage Baker (1997)
Mendoza is a young woman saved from death by The Company, a
time-traveling society from the future. They rescue artifacts that
they know do not survive in history.
Forever Peace, Joe Haldeman (1997)
Glimmering, Elizabeth Hand (1997)
As She Climbed Across the Table, Jonathan Lethem (1997)
The Cassini Division, Ken MacLeod (1998)
Hated. Hated the main character. Completely turned me off his books.
Bloom, Wil McCarthy (1998)
Can't remember anything about it; would recommend Aggressor Six. Hard SF.
Vast, Linda Nagata (1998)
The Golden Globe, John Varley (1998)
In some ways, a successor to Heinlein. I liked Titan but the sequels got a bit strange. More recently, Red Lightning, is about some youngsters who decide to build their own spaceship and travel to Mars.
Headlong, Simon Ings (1999)
Cave of Stars, George Zebrowski (1999)
Genesis, Poul Anderson (2000)
I'm afraid I've only read Avatar which I thought was good.
Super-Cannes, JG Ballard (2000)
Under the Skin, Michel Faber (2000)
Perdido Street Station, China Miéville (2000)
DNF (did not finish) after I skipped ahead to the end and found out what he'd done to my favorite character. Very gritty, grimy, disgusting world. A very powerful writer, I just don't want to deal with New Crobuzon.
Distance Haze, Jamil Nasir (2000)
Revelation Space trilogy, Alastair Reynolds (2000)
Salt, Adam Roberts (2000)
Ventus, Karl Schroeder (2001)
The Cassandra Complex, Brian Stableford (2001)
Light, M John Harrison (2002)
Altered Carbon, Richard Morgan (2002)
The Separation, Christopher Priest (2002)
The Golden Age, John C Wright (2002)
The Time Traveler’s Wife, Audrey Niffenegger (2003)
Too commercial/literary.
Natural History, Justina Robson (2003)
The Labyrinth Key/Spears of God, Howard V Hendrix (2004/2006)
River of Gods, Ian McDonald (2004)
Irish writer. I've read some of his Ireland-set books. His recent books are
set in various places around the world in the nearish future. I started the
one set in Instanbul, but haven't finished it.
The Plot Against America, Philip Roth (2004)
Never Let Me Go, Kazuo Ishiguro (2005)
The House of Storms, Ian R MacLeod (2005)
Counting Heads, David Marusek (2005)
Air (Or, Have Not Have), Geoff Ryman (2005)
Accelerando, Charles Stross (2005)
Read the Merchant Prince books about a family who has discovered how to cross
into alternate worlds and start smuggling. Main character is a lost member, now
found who has to negotiate the politics.
Spin, Robert Charles Wilson (2005)
My Dirty Little Book of Stolen Time, Liz Jensen (2006)
The Road, Cormac McCarthy (2006)
Not a fan of post-apocalyptic novels usually.
Temeraire /His Majesty’s Dragon, Naomi Novik (2006)
Alternate history where dragons are real set in Napoleonic era. Just seems too
derivative.
Blindsight, Peter Watts (2006)
I've heard that this books tend to be dark, with squicky characters.
HARM, Brian Aldiss (2007)
The Yiddish Policemen’s Union, Michael Chabon (2007)
Wonderful writer with complex plots and finely drawn characters. In this one, a
Jewish state was founded in Alaska, but the lease is about up. Main character is a
police detective.
The Secret City, Carol Emshwiller (2007)
In War Times, Kathleen Ann Goonan (2007)
I've read Queen City Jazz, a post-apocalyptic story set along the Mississippi.
Postsingular, Rudy Rucker (2007)
Mathematician and computer scientist so I should be reading his books.
Shadow of the Scorpion, Neal Asher (2008)
The Hunger Games trilogy, Suzanne Collins (2008-2010)
Uh, no.
Little Brother, Cory Doctorow (2008)
The Alchemy of Stone, Ekaterina Sedia (2008)
The Windup Girl, Paolo Bacigalupi (2009)
Technology now based on springs; James Nicoll did NOT like it IIRC.
Steal Across the Sky, Nancy Kress (2009)
Read earlier works by her and quite enjoyed them.
Boneshaker, Cherie Priest (2009)
Zoo City, Lauren Beukes (2010)
I'd like to read this. Near future South Africa where people convicted of a crime have animal familiars.
Zero History, William Gibson (2010)
Neuromancer really brought cyberpunk to the mainstream. Excellent novel.
The Quantum Thief, Hannu Rajaniemi (2010)
A friend wanted me to review it and recommend some books for him. I don't know if this will help as I've read less than half the list.
Bold: Read and still own the book.
Italics: Read and do not own the book. Note: italics in the commentary is just to
mark book titles.
Underline: Have read other books by the author.
Commentary on unread authors is my personal impressions.
The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood (1985)
Ender’s Game, Orson Scott Card (1985)
Genius child is sent to a brutal wargame school. Ground-breaking, but author's
politics and tropes have turned me off of him. I won't read anything new by him.
Radio Free Albemuth, Philip K Dick (1985)
Always Coming Home, Ursula K Le Guin (1985)
More tangential work.
This Is the Way the World Ends, James Morrow (1985)
Galápagos, Kurt Vonnegut (1985)
The Falling Woman, Pat Murphy (1986)
Set in Central/South America about a archaeologist and her estranged daughter.
The Shore of Women, Pamela Sargent (1986)
Always seemed too literary/feminist for me.
A Door Into Ocean, Joan Slonczewski (1986)
Feminist colony novel where the culture has become nonviolent, consensus-driven,
complete with new language, etc.
Soldiers of Paradise, Paul Park (1987)
Life During Wartime, Lucius Shepard (1987)
The Sea and Summer, George Turner (1987)
Cyteen, CJ Cherryh (1988)
I love almost all of Cherryh's books. She specializes in dropping a character
into the deep end. They end up sleep-deprived, often confused, but somehow manage.
Cyteen is the story of the clone of a scientist. She is being raised by trying to
duplicate how her 'mother' was raised in order to create another genius.
Neverness, David Zindell (1988)
The Steerswoman, Rosemary Kirstein (1989)
Appears fantasy, but is actually a lost colony story. The world's magicians have access to advanced technology. Main character is from a group that asks and answers questions. If you refuse to answer a steerswoman's question, the group will never answer another of your questions.
Grass, Sheri S Tepper (1989)
Tepper often uses a hammer to drive home her messages which has turned me off of her later works. Grass is near the beginning of this trend. I'm not sure whether I do still have this book. I like her earlier Mavin Manyshaped books more.
Use of Weapons, Iain M Banks (1990)
A Culture novel. Far future space opera, more or less. The Culture is an enlightened, galaxy spanning group that tries to bring other planets into the pact.
Queen of Angels, Greg Bear (1990)
Bear has often tended more to the science fiction side, but is still character-driven. I couldn't finish one of his more recent books.
Barrayar, Lois McMaster Bujold (1991)
The sequel to Shards of Honor about a woman from a very liberal, technologically advanced world making her way on a patriarchial, war-loving world that's in the midst of revolution. Wonderful characters, fast plots are hallmarks of Bujold's work.
Synners, Pat Cadigan (1991)
One of the few female cyberpunk authors at the time. Very good writer.
Sarah Canary, Karen Joy Fowler (1991)
Seemed too literary.
White Queen, Gwyneth Jones (1991)
Eternal Light, Paul McAuley (1991)
British SF author. Four Hundred Billion Stars also excellent.
Stations of the Tide, Michael Swanwick (1991)
Timelike Infinity, Stephen Baxter (1992)
Not a fan of the other books I've read by him. Don't remember liking the characters which is usually a deal-killer for me.
Dead Girls, Richard Calder (1992)
Jumper, Steven Gould (1992)
Marvelous young adult novel about an abused teenager who finds he can teleport. Really tries to think through the consequences. Much, much better than the movie.
China Mountain Zhang, Maureen F McHugh (1992)
A near-future dominated by the Chinese. Main character is gay, but closeted due to societal pressures.
Red Mars, Kim Stanley Robinson (1992)
I get bored with his books sometimes although the writing quality is good.
A Fire Upon the Deep, Vernor Vinge (1992)
Aristoi, Walter Jon Williams (1992)
Hardwired and Voice of the Whirlwind are excellent, somewhat cyberpunkish.
Doomsday Book, Connie Willis (1992)
Great writer, but I don't always like her books. Not this book but others are more humorous for the genre.
Parable of the Sower, Octavia Butler (1993)
Ammonite, Nicola Griffith (1993)
Lesbian, feminist writer.
Chimera, Mary Rosenblum (1993)
Can't really remember anything about it or the other books by her that I've read.
Nightside the Long Sun, Gene Wolfe (1993)
Lush, writer's writer. I find his books wonderfully written, but
don't like the characters, and got bored with this series.
Brittle Innings, Michael Bishop (1994)
Permutation City, Greg Egan (1994)
Blood, Michael Moorcock (1994)
Mother of Storms, John Barnes (1995)
There's excellent John Barnes and then there's squicky John Barnes.
This book leans towards squicky Barnes. Maybe try Orbital Resonance
Sailing Bright Eternity, Gregory Benford (1995)
Straightforward hard sf writer.
Galatea 2.2, Richard Powers (1995)
The Diamond Age, Neal Stephenson (1995)
Snow Crash is probably a better choice, although I loved
Cryptonomicon. REAMDE was a technothriller.
The Transmigration of Souls, William Barton (1996)
The Fortunate Fall, Raphael Carter (1996)
The Sparrow/Children of God, Mary Doria Russell (1996/1998)
Holy Fire, Bruce Sterling (1996)
I read and enjoyed Islands in the Net.
Night Lamp, Jack Vance (1996)
Writing style is intricate and lush.
In the Garden of Iden, Kage Baker (1997)
Mendoza is a young woman saved from death by The Company, a
time-traveling society from the future. They rescue artifacts that
they know do not survive in history.
Forever Peace, Joe Haldeman (1997)
Glimmering, Elizabeth Hand (1997)
As She Climbed Across the Table, Jonathan Lethem (1997)
The Cassini Division, Ken MacLeod (1998)
Hated. Hated the main character. Completely turned me off his books.
Bloom, Wil McCarthy (1998)
Can't remember anything about it; would recommend Aggressor Six. Hard SF.
Vast, Linda Nagata (1998)
The Golden Globe, John Varley (1998)
In some ways, a successor to Heinlein. I liked Titan but the sequels got a bit strange. More recently, Red Lightning, is about some youngsters who decide to build their own spaceship and travel to Mars.
Headlong, Simon Ings (1999)
Cave of Stars, George Zebrowski (1999)
Genesis, Poul Anderson (2000)
I'm afraid I've only read Avatar which I thought was good.
Super-Cannes, JG Ballard (2000)
Under the Skin, Michel Faber (2000)
Perdido Street Station, China Miéville (2000)
DNF (did not finish) after I skipped ahead to the end and found out what he'd done to my favorite character. Very gritty, grimy, disgusting world. A very powerful writer, I just don't want to deal with New Crobuzon.
Distance Haze, Jamil Nasir (2000)
Revelation Space trilogy, Alastair Reynolds (2000)
Salt, Adam Roberts (2000)
Ventus, Karl Schroeder (2001)
The Cassandra Complex, Brian Stableford (2001)
Light, M John Harrison (2002)
Altered Carbon, Richard Morgan (2002)
The Separation, Christopher Priest (2002)
The Golden Age, John C Wright (2002)
The Time Traveler’s Wife, Audrey Niffenegger (2003)
Too commercial/literary.
Natural History, Justina Robson (2003)
The Labyrinth Key/Spears of God, Howard V Hendrix (2004/2006)
River of Gods, Ian McDonald (2004)
Irish writer. I've read some of his Ireland-set books. His recent books are
set in various places around the world in the nearish future. I started the
one set in Instanbul, but haven't finished it.
The Plot Against America, Philip Roth (2004)
Never Let Me Go, Kazuo Ishiguro (2005)
The House of Storms, Ian R MacLeod (2005)
Counting Heads, David Marusek (2005)
Air (Or, Have Not Have), Geoff Ryman (2005)
Accelerando, Charles Stross (2005)
Read the Merchant Prince books about a family who has discovered how to cross
into alternate worlds and start smuggling. Main character is a lost member, now
found who has to negotiate the politics.
Spin, Robert Charles Wilson (2005)
My Dirty Little Book of Stolen Time, Liz Jensen (2006)
The Road, Cormac McCarthy (2006)
Not a fan of post-apocalyptic novels usually.
Temeraire /His Majesty’s Dragon, Naomi Novik (2006)
Alternate history where dragons are real set in Napoleonic era. Just seems too
derivative.
Blindsight, Peter Watts (2006)
I've heard that this books tend to be dark, with squicky characters.
HARM, Brian Aldiss (2007)
The Yiddish Policemen’s Union, Michael Chabon (2007)
Wonderful writer with complex plots and finely drawn characters. In this one, a
Jewish state was founded in Alaska, but the lease is about up. Main character is a
police detective.
The Secret City, Carol Emshwiller (2007)
In War Times, Kathleen Ann Goonan (2007)
I've read Queen City Jazz, a post-apocalyptic story set along the Mississippi.
Postsingular, Rudy Rucker (2007)
Mathematician and computer scientist so I should be reading his books.
Shadow of the Scorpion, Neal Asher (2008)
The Hunger Games trilogy, Suzanne Collins (2008-2010)
Uh, no.
Little Brother, Cory Doctorow (2008)
The Alchemy of Stone, Ekaterina Sedia (2008)
The Windup Girl, Paolo Bacigalupi (2009)
Technology now based on springs; James Nicoll did NOT like it IIRC.
Steal Across the Sky, Nancy Kress (2009)
Read earlier works by her and quite enjoyed them.
Boneshaker, Cherie Priest (2009)
Zoo City, Lauren Beukes (2010)
I'd like to read this. Near future South Africa where people convicted of a crime have animal familiars.
Zero History, William Gibson (2010)
Neuromancer really brought cyberpunk to the mainstream. Excellent novel.
The Quantum Thief, Hannu Rajaniemi (2010)
