Annotated Bibliography

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Piers Anthony
Piers Anthony is an amazingly prolific author. I think his work suffers for it, much like Stephen King's. However his light style is very readable, often very humorous, and usually refreshingly original. This is certainly not great literature or deep thought-provoking hard sci-fi!

• Blue Adept trilogy
  I read these in high school and really enjoyed them. He presents a world with a believable variety of magic and brings a protagonist over from a non-magic world who discovers he's a very powerful magician with an important destiny.
• (many others)
  I often pick up books of his at random when I'm bored and too tired to do something intelligent. I find it lightens my spirits just a little and gives me enough energy to do something else more worthwhile.

Isaac Asimov
Asimov is certainly one of the greatest sci-fi authors. He started to get a little wacky with old age, but his earlier works are all without exception worthwhile reading. Several are among my all time favorites.

• Foundation trilogy
  This is probably his best. I have philosophical issues with his dogged insistence on a deterministic universe, but if I shove that aside, this trilogy is one of my favorites. An economist discovers how to predict the future of civilization with incredible accuracy, and sets about subtly influencing its course. It is spectacular in scope and originality. It is replete with the dramatic plot twists that are so characteristic of Asimov. I've been warned not to read far past the original trilogy, so I've been too scared to try any others lest it detract from the first three.
• In Memory Yet Green (autobiography)
  Wow, the man loves talking about himself! But he has such a good sense of humor that it's worthwhile reading. Besides, he was very much a self-made man, and as such there is something there for dullards like me to learn from.
• (a few robot stories)
  These are fun, but rarely deep enough to make it worth reading in my opinion.
• (many short stories)
  I think Asimov's best medium is the short story. And he produced many!

Iain Banks

• Consider Phlebas
  It's hard to find in the US, but it's worth it. Several friends rate Banks as their favorite. I don't go that far, but I certainly enjoyed this one a great deal. It is rather original adventure among the stars, and the ending is so intense, that I highly recommend it.

Greg Bear

• Eon
  This is a book with a grand scale, but which deals with the practicalities of politics and characters at the same time. I think Bear could have done more with what they eventually find, but then again I haven't read the sequel Eternity yet. It starts off reminiscent of Rondezvous with Rama, but it goes much much father.

Ray Bradbury

• Fahrenheit 451
  Here is another all-time classic. I would mention this in the same breath as 1984. I desperately need to reread it before I comment on it.
• Martian Chronicles
  This is not, perhaps, the best hard sci-fi ever written, but as literature it is superb. It is a series of snapshots of periods during a long history of Mars. It is very original and very bleak. I found it extremely thought-provoking. Who cares if there's much actual "science" in it?

David Brin

• Earth
  Talk about grand scale: this impressive book starts off as merely superb sci-fi, but escalates repeatedly until it enters the realm of simply being wacky. I think most people agree that he got a little carried away with himself here. Don't read the last few chapters and you'll probably walk away thinking Earth was a great book!
• Postman
  This one also starts well, but ends a bit too bizarre for my tastes. It begins as a very good post-apocalyptic novel, but soon they find a super-intelligent computer and super-human mutants before arriving at the ridiculous climax.
• Startide Rising
  "Uplifted" dolphins (ie. engineered to be intelligent) make up about half the main characters in this novel. Brin has neat plot twists and a tendency to escalate seemingly simple stories to the grand scale.
• Sun Diver
  This is the first of three novels in a group, including Startide Rising and Uplift War. They are only loosely related. Sun Diver is essentially a mystery novel that takes place in the corona of the sun(!) Brin does a great job with his aliens, and I was fascinated with what he found in the sun.
• Uplift War
  A small human colony world finds itself a target as galactic forces align themselves against Earth. Brin still treats his aliens very thoroughly (his five main characters were each of a different species), but I found it hard to really get into this book for some reason.

Orson Scott Card

• Ender's Game
  This is one of my favorites, despite the preachy final chapter. Alas, even I had "figured it out" before the tremendously climactic final battle. But all criticisms aside, I can scarcely imagine how Card could have written it any better. It's a superb story of one man (boy, really) rising to the top by good old-fashioned American hard work and cleverness.

Jack Chalker

• Midnight at the Well of Souls
  This is the only Chalker I've read, so I don't know how it compares with his others. Chalker has a classic pulp style and a brilliant imagination. But this story was pure fluff. Good fun reading, but don't look too deep.

Arthur C. Clarke

• 2001
  This is one of the best all-around sci-fi novels ever. It aspires to a grand scale, has superb characters (including a computer), and makes a damned good attempt at describing First Contact -- of describing the indescribable. It is very thought-provoking and engrossing reading. (I think Kubrik did a pretty fair job of capturing the essence of it on film, in addition to elevating it to an even higher form of art in the process.)
• Childhood's End
  Shoot, I remember that I really liked this, but I can't remember a thing about it except the appearance of the aliens (which I can't divulge without giving away an important twist in the novel.)
• In the Light of Other Days (with Stephen Baxter)
  This is Clarke's most recent, I think. He has not lost anything to the wear and tear of time. This book follows the premise of discovering how to control a miniature worm hole and use it to see through tremendous distances in space and time. The result is a novel of tremendous scope, with a fascinating ending that'll really take your breath away.
• Rendezvous With Rama
  Many people complain that this novel is too slow and nothing happens. True. But Clarke does such a superb job at realistically describing what would happen if an interstellar probe entered our solar system, that it is totally worth plowing through. Think of the slow pace as adding suspense... I'm still debating reading any of the sequels, as I'm afraid of spoiling the memory of this one.

Michael Crichton

• Prey
  Don't bother. Something about a bunch of nanobots that go feral in Nevada and threaten humanity. I was desperate, and it was the only book on hand.

Phillip K. Dick

• Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
  This is (supposedly) the basis for the cult classic film, Blade Runner. Be that as it may, this is a bizarre book. What the heck was up with the guy walking up the mountain the whole book??

Greg Egan

• Axiomatic
  This is a collection of short stories. There were several that were extremely good. I think Egan performs especially well in the short-story medium. I particularly liked "Infinite Assassin", "Safe Deposit Box", and "The Sphynx". He's got a good imagination and some really thought-provoking ideas here.
• Diaspora
  This novel takes a similar premise to Permutation City, but Egan takes off from where that one ended, and leaps to incredible new heights. I can't think of any novel that even approaches the scale of this one. The climactic "joy ride" at the end literally took my breath away. The plot, such as it was, couldn't really keep up with Egan's leaping mind, but I was completely carried away by the force of his vision and couldn't have cared less.
• Distress
  This is a creative novel that somehow comes to the conclusion that discovering the Grand Unified Theory of physics would somehow literally unravel the very fabric of space time. Okay, so that sounds silly. It was. But it was still an interesting story.
• Permutation City
  This spectacular, far-seeing, grand-scaled novel explores the premise that everything that makes a human human can be duplicated on an enormous computer simulation. Egan introduces the idea slowly and carefully, but soon he gains momentum and launches into a fascinating visionary realm. Egan can take any premise and leap directly to the logical conclusion faster and more dramatically than any other author I know. In this novel he has carefully orchestrated dozens of situations that effectively crystallize the results of his relatively simple premise.
• Quarantine
  This is another creative novel. It goes from the premise that undisciplined conscious thought collapses wave functions around the universe indiscriminately, until some day the "rest of the universe" wraps our solar system in a gigantic quarantine sphere. I found it a bizarre, but oddly compelling idea. You certainly can't fault Egan for lack of ambition. Like everything else of his, it was very thought-provoking if nothing else.

C. S. Friedman

• Black Sun Rising
  This one takes place in a fascinating world where colonists' thoughts and dreams literally influence reality via a special force call the "fey" present on this world. It is an entertaining story of a quest, involving a few very interesting characters (especially the "evil" dude in the forest). Not my favorite, but very enjoyable.
• Madness Season
  I liked this one a bit better. I thought the author did a great job getting the reader into the minds of the bizarre main character and the other alien races. The alien races are all very non-human and extremely interesting. I can't remember the plot, but I don't think that was really so important. Here again, as in Black Sun Rising, the author did a very good job with character development.

William Gibson

• Neuromancer
  This is the original cyber-punk classic, I believe. It has some very amusing characters (like "Maully" who has razor blades implanted into her fingers that can spring out at will). It is, of course, very dark. It was also very difficult to follow and had a few more references to reggae culture than I would've liked. However, it had a very original and vivid (at least at the time) visualization of the internet (whatever he called it I've forgotten). And I thought a brief paragraph buried close to the end made all the pain worthwhile, when Gibson allowed himself to momentarily lapse out of the pain and drear of his gritty world and let a glimmer of Grand Purpose stab through right into my heart. I won't give it away, but hopefully those who have read it will know what I'm talking about.

Robert Heinlein
Here is another of sci-fi's all time great writers. I've enjoyed most of what I've read of his. I guess his political slant may be a bit too arch-conservative, but I'd never let that interfere with my enjoyment of his books.

• The Moon is a Harsh Mistress
  This is a superbly realistic and exciting story about how the moon was colonized and the resulting war of independence from Earth. It's one of Heinlein's best.
• Puppet Masters
  This is a creepy story of an alien invasion on Earth where the aliens can attach themselves invisibly to their victims and control them. It is very well done; an engrossing read.
• The Unpleasant Profession of Johnathan Hoag
  This is a short story with an extremely bizarre premise that he reveals through immaculate use of suspense and drama. I can't say much more without giving away important information.

Frank Herbert

• Dune
  The main character flees to the secretive mystic desert people on his planet to discover his important destiny, and eventually leads a revolution to take over the world. It is a very original setting. He went a bit heavy on the politics for my taste. I've been warned not to read any of the sequels.

Stephen King
King is perhaps the most prolific author on the face of the planet. Ever. But hidden like jewels in amongst the rest of the chaff from his typewriter are some spectacular stories. They are all told in his characteristic bold, steady, engaging style: I find even the worst of his works to be oddly irresistible!

• Firestarter
  I don't remember the movie, but the book was great. He develops a compelling plot and sympathetic characters around the premise that a little girl is born with the power to start fires telepathically.
• (several others)
  I can't begin to name all the books of his I've read. For some reason I can only remember Firestarter at the moment...

Ursula Leguin

• Lathe of Heaven
  This is a very good novel based on the premise that one man is cursed with the power that all his dreams come true. I remember being a little disappointed, thinking Leguin could have done more with the idea, but enjoyed it greatly. (There were aliens involved at one point: they seemed a wee bit unnecessary...)

Stanislaw Lem

• Cyberiad
  This is such an amazing collection of stories! They're sort of sci-fi geek fairy tales. He has an incredible imagination and a fantastic sense of humor. If you've studied math or physics at a college level you will recognize all sorts of really clever word-play on technical jargon.
• Solaris
  I think this is the standard against which all other novels should be judged when it comes to describing an alien species. Not only that, but the characters were strikingly real, and I was pulled in mind and soul to their psychological struggles, which were so integral to the nature of the alien life involved and the resulting compelling story. I felt "creeped out" every time I put the book down.

Walter Miller

• A Canticle for Leibowitz
  I read this in French, so I've never been able to decide whether the reason I liked it so much was because it really was good, or whether I understood so little of it that it was like seeing through a rosy haze that made it all seem sort of dreamlike and mysterious. At any rate, being forced to read it very slowly, I had lots of time to read all sorts of (probably nonexistent) deeper meaning into it, and ended up enjoying it tremendously. Certainly, the premise is very cool: the records of the pre-apocalyptic technological society are kept alive as illuminated religious tomes in a desert monastery. The story goes on to describe how a new society builds up, and eventually comes full circle as it ends up poised to destroy itself yet again.

Larry Niven
Here's an author with fantastic imagination and creative vision, who unfortunately doesn't have an ounce of writing talent. However, as my friend, George, has pointed out, you get the best of both worlds whenever Niven worked with Jerry Pournelle, who, I'm told, can write but is as boring as a tax manual. Together they produced some great novels, such as A Mote in God's Eye.

• Integral Trees
  This was the only Niven-by-himself book I will ever subject myself to. The idea was cool. Being a Caltech physicist (I don't think he graduated, though), he undoubtedly got the science just right. But the plot and characters were so painfully bad I very nearly couldn't finish it.
• Mote in God's Eye (with Jerry Pournelle)
  This, on the other hand, was spectacular. The "Moteys" are a fascinating alien race, and the action was exciting enough to carry the reader through the story effortlessly. I was warned not to read the sequel, The Gripping Hand, but I think I will someday, anyhow.

Kim Stanley Robinson

• Red Mars
  After reading this I was completely convinced that colonization of Mars will someday be feasible. The breadth and detail of this work are exceeded only by the breathtaking (literally in my case) drama of a handful of climactic scenes. Even the characters, ethnic tensions, and politics are dealt with as impressively as the science. Hundreds of hours of research must have gone into this classic. I'm ashamed I haven't taken the time to read the other two in the trilogy yet.

Eric Frank Russell

• Wasp
  This is a very realistic story of one man being sent on an incredibly dangerous mission to infiltrate a multi-planet alien civilization to create instability to allow Earth to prevail in a war where we are otherwise outmatched and doomed. It is written by a man who'd drawn up exactly such a plan in a think tank during World War II. Since we didn't use it then, he figured he could at least use it as the basis for a sci-fi novel. He succeeded brilliantly.

Mary Doria Russell

• Sparrow
  This is a study of how well-intentioned missionaries can turn a first-contact situation into a breath-taking disaster due to fundamental cultural incompatibility. Russell describes the whole process of discovering ET life and follows the expedition to first contact absolutely brilliantly. I felt like I was there; it was tremendously exciting. The "downside" is I felt the subsequent descent into hell equally strongly.

Clifford Simak

• City
  Here is a true classic. This tells a fascinating story of a creative future of Earth. It reminded me an awful lot of Bradbury's Martian Chronicles. There are 1000 year old sentimental robots, intelligent dogs and ants, ebbs and flows of entire civilizations, all taking place over millennia.

Dan Simmons

• Hyperion trilogy
  Simmons created a superbly original universe for this trilogy. At the center of it all is a bizarre planet called Hyperion of poetical beauty, but home to the most bad-assed killing machine ever conceived by mortal mind. Each novel is strikingly different in character, yet each merges into a single extraordinarily twisted time-travel plot that makes the circular family tree in the "Terminator" look like child's play. Along the way Simmons visits a multitude of crazy planets and funky life-forms. I strongly recommend rereading your Keats before reading this trilogy, as there is a tremendous number of allusions to his works (as the title might suggest).

E. E. Doc Smith

• Lensman series
  I think many people would say this is one of the best sci-fi works of all time. It is a series of grand scope and vision, essentially chronicling the history of Earth's space exploration, starting very modestly and escalating to tremendous space battles where planets are literally hurled across the galaxy. One of E. E. Doc Smith's strengths is a superb eye for realism and drama. He excels in both in these stories.

Neal Stephenson

• Snow Crash
  The protagonist is named "Hiro Protagonist". That should give you a pretty good idea of the tone for this cyber-punk novel. Someone creates a computer virus that can literally core-dump the user. Yeah, it's silly, but go with him a bit, it's a worthwhile read.

Jules Verne
Verne doesn't need any commentary. I read all of his as a kid, so I really have no idea if I'd even like them any more, anyway. These were my favorites.

• 20000 Leagues Under the Sea
  
• Around the World in 80 Days
  
• Journey to the Center of the Earth
  
• Mysterious Island
  

Kurt Vonnegut

• Slaughterhouse Five
  Does Vonnegut really belong in sci-fi listings? I guess there are aliens and time travel and other shit going on in this spectacular novel, but it really isn't about sci-fi: it's about the author's first-hand experiences in the infamous fire-bombing of Dresden at the end of WWII. It is a very weird plot, but it really suits the subject matter perfectly. How do you make rational sense out of such a meaningless vast waste of human life, anyway? (I'm not making a political comment: it is "meaningless" because it was a case of mistaken intelligence -- the allies had no intention of bombing Dresden which was well known to have no military value.)

Tad Williams
I don't like Tad Williams's overly-long-winded style. Granted, he does fill all those thousands of pages with tons of interesting details, it's just that I would prefer he tried to make those details have some bearing on the plot!

• Otherland #1
  This is the first one I made it all the way through. I enjoyed the bushman character and his treatment of the South African cultural dynamic. I was a little annoyed at being misled into thinking there was a fantasy component, which turns out just to be another virtual-reality story. (Maybe that was my fault though.) Too bad I'll never read the other books to find out what is actually going on.