YES ! I also LOVE that you just jump into your content and dispense with the intros that other RU-vidrs mistakenly believe are required or entertaining: they’re not, they’re annoying and I love NOT having my time wasted !! Otherwise, another great video. Bester’s novel has officially been added to my “get-this-one” list.
I should've known you'd go for something deeper than the usual entry-level picks, and lo and behold, you just listed three of my top 5 science fiction novels of all time. So yeah, pretty good choices.
Thanks, Matt! We were thinking along similar lines for one of our recommendations. Lem is am intriguing choice as an entry point, although I lean more toward his SF satires.
Great recommendations! I recently picked up a new edition of 1984 for a planned reread. Solaris is an outstanding piece of philosophical literary SF. I haven't read Stars My Destination but it gets so much praise on Booktube, I should probably add it to my TBR.
I just recently encountered an essay about politics by Orwell. He mentioned Stuart Chase who wrote The Tyranny of Words. Chase was a member of FDR's "brain trust" and wrote the book A New Deal. The Tyranny of Words is timeless nonfiction that is intellectually and psychologically relevant.
It may be of some interest that Allen Adler, who wrote the original treatment for "Forbidden Planet" with Irving Block, said he based it on Shakespeare's "The Tempest." Adler was later blacklisted in the Second Wave of the American Red Scare.
I read everything except Solaris in high school, 50 years ago. My current copy of 1984 is old enough that it came with a Book of the Month Club flier that describes Orwell as a living person.
BP your take on SF is the main attraction to this channel as it is always spot-on and at the same time, explained with eloquence, a rare quality. Along with a fellow of yours in the UK, you are a must-watch, as I always walk away with a new perspective and new knowledge of the genre. That aside, Solaris has always left me with the impression that the sentient entity is an allegory for the communist party under the rule of which Lem lived. Perhaps I'm off the mark there. Appreciate the links to your fellow Alliance members. I've been looking forward to the growth and evolution of the Alliance with great anticipation and this particular exercise is certainly one of the opening salvos in that development. Great content, production and presentation as always. Thanks for the passion. Cheers.
I always enjoy your reviews. Back in the olden days, my Wharton School of Business curriculum required two "Physical Science" classes. Economics was difficult enough, so first I took Astro 6: Extraterrestrial Life. Great class with lots of input from Carl Sagan. My next was History and Sociology of Science Department 101: Science Fiction. Greatest class I ever experienced. And it was true to its department; discussed the history of SF as it developed in the context of contemporary technology and mindset. Fascinating. I think I still have the notes in my ancient files, which I really should exhume and review. The two teachers were fantastic. I eventually earned another degree, thankfully, where had to learn actual science. You could teach a great science fiction class at any university. Let me know if you ever need a reference.
I'm totally embarrassed how little I read nowadays. I used to devour books. Just working a lot. But your channel has made me pick it up again. Started reading a 'small' one. "Dream Master". Big thanks to you. What really surprised me is how hard it has been to find actual books.
Great selections & advice. (No Heinlein? 😉) Now I’m curious to see the other 6 books from alliance members. Also I loved the collaboration you did with Plagued by Visions. Hope to see more.
"Nineteen Eighty-Four" is a great novel and an SF novel that's influenced SF and general fiction. Ray Bradbury is a great author too, and I suppose "Fahrenheit 451" isn't bad, but I preferred "The Martian Chronicles". "The Stars My Destination" is very good as I remember it.
Hi 👋 i am a huge sci fi film fan, and also a beginner in sci fi reading. I have bought some of the classical sci fi books. But now I want to rearrange the reading list of the books when i saw your 3 choice recommendations. I have to buy Solaris and The stars my destination. Thanks for your recommendation.
Haven’t read Solaris. Definitely was excited when i ‘discovered’ Bester. Back in those younger days I devoured Heinlein, Asimov, Niven, Verne, Burroughs, Bradbury, and Simak.
Great choices! I like using Bradbury for some, especially younger readers, either The Illustrated Man because the stories are short and to the point, for people with shorter attention spans, or the Martian Chronicles because it is more science fiction/fantasy that is beautiful yet very accessible. It's basically a gentler, more lyrical SF for those who think it's all gears and wormholes.
As Stanisław Lem is my fellow countryman i am proud You put his book on this list. I also find "Solaris" the most challenging compared to the (also great) rest. Thank You for the great content! 🙂
Great recommendations. I saw an interview where "The Stars My Destination" was mentioned by Ty Frank (half of the James S.A. Corey pen name behind "The Expanse" series) as one of his favorite and influential books.
1. I’d add Earth Abides. 2, Brave New World is great book, though 1st ? 50 pages difficult to get through because of how long ago it was written. 90% as good and similar/easier read (written more recently) is This Perfect Day by Ira Levin.
Hi! Great choices! "The stars, my destination" is one of my all time favourites. The others too of course! All time classics. I kept thinking about what you've said about encouraging young readers to read these books. (I agree 100%) Not long ago I found out about this "YA" labeling on books. I truly can't believe that this is "a thing". I've read and enjoyed many supposedly "adult" books, whether it be fiction, science fiction, philosophy or others since early high school. I even remember making a monograph on "Brave new world" at age 15! (No internet yet haha) Some of them can require a bit of effort at first, but this "watered down" books for readers that are around 15 or maybe 18 years old! In my opinion it's really counter-productive and deviate the attention from the marvelous and motivating (and intelectual) experience of reading really good books when you are young. Sorry for the long digression. Thank you!
I would add The Martian and Project Hail Mary to this list. I think Andy Weir has a very unique way of developing a plot by revealing new “sciencey” information while also being funny at the same time. His books don’t have the same ability to get me to think about big philosophical ideas as other books like Blindsight have, but they are very enjoyable reads and fun, well paced stories.
I just finished " A Fire Upon the Deep." Amazing book, I loved it. If you liked " The Mote in God's Eye" definitely read this. Now I'm reading " The Palace of Eternity " by Bob Shaw. I'm flying through this book. Your recommendations are always amazing!
I agree with your first choice, ‘1984’ is a masterpiece of fiction. I started reading ‘The Stars Are My Destination’ 2 or 3 times over the years but gave up on it. I just couldn’t buy into the ‘ jaunting’ . Yesterday I began reading it again, determined to finish the entire novel. It went fast. ‘The Stars Are My Destination’ is often recommended and considered classic by most SF fans. I came away slightly disappointed after finishing this book. I thought the ending was thought provoking. But I didn’t think the novel as a whole lived up to all the hype. The prose was not the best I’ve read. The ‘jaunting’ is a bit much to swallow but necessary for the plot. It was written in the early 1950s but did not feel too dated. Character development was not as good as in ‘1984’. The book is a fast read and is worth the effort. The ending of the book is showing us the next step in the evolution of the human race. It was good but not as great of a masterpiece as ‘1984’. Good but not great, that is my assessment. Thank you for recommending it. My next read will be ‘Solaris’ by Lem.
When I was younger I was a big reader, but lost interest as I got older (probably due to reading some crap books). Your descriptions of books in a genre I briefly enjoyed has re-newed my interest. I’ll definitely check out the recommendations of books I haven’t read. BTW, 1984, Brave New World, and Fahrenheit are among my all-time faves. Thanks for your insights.
It’s hard to go wrong with Lem. I alway recommend The Star Diaries. Short stories can often be a less intimidating place to start. Plus it’s a good introduction to Ijon Tichy, who’s the protagonist in one of my favorites from Lem, The Futurological Congress.
Man! That is a connoisseur's list! I note in his history of science fiction, Trillion Year Spree , Brain Aldiss said that The Stars My Destination was the most baroque space opera ever written. (Why someone has not made a movie of this novel passes beyond my understanding. Tho it would take someone with imagination and integrity , Denis Villeneuve could do it) If I were to add three to that list , More Than Human by Theodore Sturgeon , Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin, and any short story by Cordwainer Smith , there is one novel by him Norstrilia.
Great channel and reviews. Any idea where the following quote came from? I wrote it down but neglected to cite the author. It sounds like Heinlein, but no one at the Heinlein Society recalls it. Please let me know if you come across it. Thanks ahead of time. "Ultimately, there is no difference between fantasy and reality, so what is written becomes reality, somewhere, in some universe."
I'm about halfway through "The Stars My Destination". Out of all your other recommendations, "Solaris", "Roadside Picnic" and "Frankenstein" it is by far the best story. The others had good prose, excellent prose, but their overall story was not fulfilling.
I found the plot of Solaris to be rather strangely related to the basic plot of the 1956 science fiction film "The Forbidden Planet". The Krell, inhabitants of Altair IV, a far distant planet from earth, were an extremely advance race who had developed technology that could create whatever they desired through mere thought alone. But when an earth expedition arrives on Altair IV to check on a prior earth mission to the planet twenty years earlier, there is only Dr. Morbius and his daughter left there and who warn them that although that technology was still available, man was not ready. Soon the expedition encounters strange "monsters" that threatens them and eventually learn from Morbius that it was the "monsters from the id" that the machine "perceived" as thought, manifesting such monsters that then attacked and killed off the Krell. "Solaris" also addresses this them of the "monsters of the id", only this time, it is the planet's alien life that reads the astronaut's "ids" or subconscious guilts, memories, and unresolved issues.
I read Tiger Tiger when I was 8 abt 1957. Remains one of glove time favorites. I was aware of Solaris but never read it. I will now.How does it compare to the movie (which Ive watched only a few minutes of)?
I've recently read my first Sci Fi book. I don't really consider the Star Wars expanded universe to be sci fi. I read a few of those back in the 90s, but I felt the quality went down dramatically after the first few books. I then switched over to I guess the genera is rerefer to as High Fantasy and have been reading those types of books since 1998. Anyways my first hard Sci Fi book that I choose was Hyperion. I absolutely hated it! I've since returned to the High Fantasy books I'm comfortable with.
I read a book in 1982 when I was a Marine Security Guard in Moscow. I would like to read it again… just can’t remember the title… author… will maybe just the plot a little. Would love so help finding the book. All I can remember was it was a journey type story about people trying to find colored jewels to build or rebuild a spaceship? Maybe… it has been 40 years since I read it and it was one of the first books I ever read… thanks if you can help me. Best
Wow, for first reads of science fiction it must be H.G. Wells War of the World's. followed by the Time machine. Then to get them into Series books, Edgar Rice Boroughs John Carter of Mars and to introduce into Science Fantasy with the Witch World by Andre Norton.
Sci Fi should not start with Orwell...just my opinion. Also Stars is 1956 and probably would have been criticisized by Lem. Bester is up there with PKD....my absolute favorite Finallly New Wave Sci Fi ....check out Dangerous Visions...Harlan Ellison
I don't know if the guy who designed the cover for Solaris used to play a lot of old arcade video games but it looks like the video game "Star Castle."
I'll add these to my list. It's hard for me to get into some books because of the over abundance of overused tropes especially in fantasy. COUGH urban fantasy COUGH.
I'd swap the Bester for Childhood's End. Tiger Tiger has great "Oh, wow" concepts, but CE does too and just goes down easier than a mean-ass revenge story. I still need to read Solaris. It's on my list of shame.
Sorry bro, I'm going to have to disagree with you on these ones - my recommendations would be "The Time Machine" by HG Wells, "Dune" by Frank Herbert and "2001 A Space Odyssey" by Arthur C Clarke. If those 3 books don't get you into Science Fiction, nothing will.
I don't know that I would recommend The Stars My Destination. It has literary merit, but it has no likeable or even relatable characters. I didn't really enjoy reading it.
'The Stars My Destination' did not work for me. I'm a huge fan of Asimov, Clarke, Reynolds, Le Guin and others... and I found it to be a rollicking, but pretty childish and silly adventure that was almost unreadable at times. Maybe it was seminal in it's day and was historically important in terms of tone... but it really should not be held up like it's some great work of literature (again, just in my opinion).
Nothing very technological! A Fall of Moondust by Arthur C Clarke Shows its age with computer reality surpassing fiction but the James Webb Space Telescope at the Earth-Sun L2 point shows Clarke was spot on. Daemon and Freedom by Daniel Suarez Reality has changed direction from really old SF the cybertech is everywhere. Big Brother didn't have a clue.
