I've read a lot of SF. I also work at preparing older public domain texts for selected publication, including classic SF works. It has often occurred to me that a lot of aspiring SF writers these days lack connection with their literary roots, and are missing some really important stuff. So, just to be provocative, here (with some annotation) is my list of ten novels every aspiring SF writer needs to read:
The Time Machine, H.G. Wells. Arguably the single work that established science fiction as a modern genre.
After London, Ricihard Jefferies. The first real post-apocalypse novel I can think of.
Omega, Camille Flammarion. The first real apocalypse novel I can think of. Flammarion was a well-known astronomer, and postulated with some accuracy the horror a comet strike on the Earth would cause.
The Purple Cloud, M. P. Shiel. Another very well done apocalypse novel.
The Moon Pool, A. Merritt. Aliens and scary high adventure, very well told.
A Voyage to Arcturus, David Lindsay. A weird, hypnotic allegory about humanity.
Star Maker, Olaf Stapledon. A philosophical journey through the cosmos. Stapledon is too little read these days, and he wrote a lot of other good, thoughtful stuff.
Out of the silent Planet, C. S. Lewis. Lewis is best known for his Narnia series for children, but he wrote for adults as well, and was terrific at evoking the strange and wonderful. This might be his best.
Fahrenheit-451, Ray Bradbury. Bradbury's dystopia, and his best novel, overall.
Childhood's End, Arrhur C. Clarke. About the best novel of alien invasion I've ever read, by a master.
There will be a test a week after Friday.
caw
Ten important novels every aspiring SF writer should read
The Time Machine, H.G. Wells. Arguably the single work that established science fiction as a modern genre.
After London, Ricihard Jefferies. The first real post-apocalypse novel I can think of.
Omega, Camille Flammarion. The first real apocalypse novel I can think of. Flammarion was a well-known astronomer, and postulated with some accuracy the horror a comet strike on the Earth would cause.
The Purple Cloud, M. P. Shiel. Another very well done apocalypse novel.
The Moon Pool, A. Merritt. Aliens and scary high adventure, very well told.
A Voyage to Arcturus, David Lindsay. A weird, hypnotic allegory about humanity.
Star Maker, Olaf Stapledon. A philosophical journey through the cosmos. Stapledon is too little read these days, and he wrote a lot of other good, thoughtful stuff.
Out of the silent Planet, C. S. Lewis. Lewis is best known for his Narnia series for children, but he wrote for adults as well, and was terrific at evoking the strange and wonderful. This might be his best.
Fahrenheit-451, Ray Bradbury. Bradbury's dystopia, and his best novel, overall.
Childhood's End, Arrhur C. Clarke. About the best novel of alien invasion I've ever read, by a master.
There will be a test a week after Friday.
caw
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