Great Reads: Science Fiction

A Canticle for Leibowitz, by Walter M Miller (1959)

First published in 1959 to critical acclaim and enduring popularity, the novel follows the struggle of the Monks of the Order of Saint Leibowitz to preserve the remnants of civilization after a nuclear war and wield them against tyranny. The long-awaited sequel, Saint Leibowitz and the Wild Horse Woman was published in 1997.

Cat's Cradle, by Kurt Vonnegut (1963)

An apocalyptic tale of this planet's ultimate fate, featuring a midget as the protagonist; a complete, original theology created by a calypso singer; and a vision of the future that is at once blackly fatalistic and hilariously funny.

The Dispossessed, by Ursula K. Le Guin (1974)

Shevek, a brilliant physicist, decides to take action. He will seek answers, question the unquestionable, and attempt to tear down the walls of hatred that have isolated his planet of anarchists from the rest of the civilized universe. To do this dangerous task will mean giving up his family and possibly his life. Shevek must make the unprecedented journey to the utopian mother planet, Anarres, to challenge the complex structures of life and living, and ignite the fires of change.

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, by Philip K. Dick (1968)

The inspiration for the movie Blade Runner, this book captures the strange world of twenty-first-century Earth, a devastated planet in which sophisticated androids, banned from the planet, fight back against their potential destroyers.

Dune, by Frank Herbert (1965)

Follows the adventures of Paul Atreides, the son of a betrayed duke given up for dead on a treacherous desert planet and adopted by its fierce, nomadic people, who help him unravel his most unexpected destiny.

Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury (1951)

Nowadays firemen start fires. Fireman Guy Montag loved to rush to a fire and watch books burn up. Then he met a seventeen-year old girl who told him of a past when people were not afraid, and a professor who told him of a future where people could think. And Guy Montag knew what he had to do.

Foundation, by Isaac Asimov (1942)

For twelve thousand years the Galactic Empire ruled supreme. Now it is dying. But only Hari Sheldon, creator of the revolutionary science of psychohistory, can see into the future -- to a dark age of ignorance, barbarism, and warfare. To preserve knowledge and save mankind, Seldon gathers the best minds in the Empire -- both scientists and scholars -- and brings them to a bleak planet at the edge of the Galaxy to serve as a beacon of hope for a future generation. He calls his sanctuary the Foundation.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams (1969)

Seconds before the Earth is demolished to make way for a galactic freeway, Arthur Dent is plucked off the planet by his friend Ford Prefect, a researcher for the revised edition of The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy who, for the last fifteen years, has been posing as an out of work actor.

I, Robot, by Isaac Asimov (1950)

Nine science fiction stories explore the development of robot technology to perfection by future civilizations.

The Left Hand of Darkness, by Ursula K. Le Guin (1979)

While on a mission to the planet Gethen, earthling Genly Ai is sent by leaders of the nation of Orgoreyn to a concentration camp from which the exiled prime minister of the nation of Karhide tries to rescue him.

Neuromancer, by William Gibson (1984)

Hired to break into the virtually inaccessible computer network of a large corporation, Case, the world's finest interface cowboy, and Molly, a street-smart samurai, venture deep into cyberspace only to discover that they have become pawns in a deadly game.

Slaughterhouse Five, by Kurt Vonnegut (1969)

Billy Pilgrim survives capture by the Gemans in World War II, the Dresden bombings, and the struggle for financial success only to be kidnapped in a flying saucer and taken to the planet Tralfamadore.

Speaker for the Dead, by Orson Scott Card (1986)

In the aftermath of his terrible war, Ender Wiggin disappeared, and a powerful voice arose: The Speaker for the Dead, who told the true story of the Bugger War. Now, years later, a second alien race has been discovered, but the aliens' ways are strange and frightening, and humans die. It is only the Speaker for the Dead who has the courage to confront the mystery...and the truth.

Stranger in a Strange Land, by Robert A. Heinlein (1961)

When Valentine Michael Smith, born and raised on Mars, arrives on Earth, he stuns Western culture with his superhuman abilities and complete ignorance of human values and mores.

The Time Machine, by H. G. Wells (1895)

A scientist uses his remarkable invention, a time machine, to hurtle himself some eight hundred thousand years into the future and encounters a world populated by two distinct races, the childlike Eloi and the disgusting Morlocks who prey on the Eloi.

The War of the Worlds, by H. G. Wells (1898)

The first modern-day science-fiction story about the possibilities of intelligent life on other planets follows an English astronomer, an artilleryman, a country curate, and others, as they struggle to survive and stop the invasion of Earth by Martians.

4/10

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