I've watched Star Trek since it premiered one day before my 5th birthday, but when it came out into syndication I turned into a real Trekkie ("Trekker" wasn't a word yet). When I was 10, out of curiosity, I asked my mom -- a real sci-fi fan -- to find me a good SF book to try out (we were at the library). She grinned and said she had just the book, and brought me "Podkayne of Mars" by Robert Heinlein. After the first half-page, I was hooked. Great book to start young girls onto a science fiction path!
Pierre Boulle's 1963 *Planet of the Apes* is another timeless sci-fi classic that spawned the mega-franchise. Thank you for the other strong science fiction suggestions, Mr Vaughan. 🦍
I saw the 50s version of The Body Snatchers as a kid in the theater when it came out. As young kids we had a hoot with it. The aliens had a zipper down their back. Special effects weren't as good back in those days.
Great List. Love the old covers. They take me back to combing through old bookshops in my youth. Sadly, where I live there are no bookstores, new or used. Very sad. Some of those I have not read and will look for.
More starter packs, please. You really got me interested in Kate Wilhelm, her Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang is among my top favorite s-f and I need to check her other books.
I just picked up a 1st edition hardcover of the 5th John carter book the other day. The book will be 100 years old exactly next month making it the oldest book I own!
The Time Machine - HG Wells; Foundation - Isaac Asimov; A Princess of Mars - Edgar Rice Burroughs; Who Goes There? - John W Campbell; The Stars My Destination - Alfred Bester; Earth Abides - George R Stewart; Childhood's End - Arthur C Clarke; The Body Snatchers - Jack Finney; The Martian Chronicles - Ray Bradbury; The Killer Thing - Kate Wilhelm; Starship Troopers - Robert A Heinlein; The Blue World - Jack Vance; The Left Hand of Darkness - Ursula K Le Guin; City - Clifford D Simak; Dune - Frank Herbert Great list. 👍
Thank you and well done. I find I like science firction from the early H.G.Wells and through the American golden age until about 1960. Thereafter it becomes more hit and miss, though I love the Twilight Zone TV series and never get bored with it. Rod Serling made it with love. I would have found a place for good old E. E. "Doc" Smith.His style was a little crude but he had a remarkable imagination and was the father of all space opera.
Wonderful choices! I will also recommend reading some classic short stories. Start with the ones in "The Science Fiction Hall of Fame" edited by Robert Silverberg. It's been reprinted and there were sequels. Marvelous anthologies.
My favourite invasion story is ‘The War of the Worlds’ by HG Wells, it is the first sci-fi book I remember reading. I also liked ‘Martians Go Home’ by Fredric Brown, the Martians aren’t dangerous instead they are very annoying, rude and love invading people ‘s privacy, they cause all sorts of problems.
Great starter kit. I read all of them except The Martian Chronicles (though I read "Mars is Heaven!), The Blue World, and The Killer Thing. I think I added the last two titles to my wanted list because of you. I think I know where I can pick up The Blue World, but The Killer Thing has evaded me so far. Yes, I preferred "Who Goes There?" over Frozen Hell. Earth Abides is different as most post apocalypse stories fall into the standard "we want your women" plot. This an inevitable part of human nature in such a situation. Earth Abides includes it, but in a very subtle way that does not overwhelm the book, and then it adds some philosophical ideas regarding justice. Great starter kit.
Kind of surprised there's no Doc Smith up here. Skylark and Lensman are pretty important for space opera like Star Trek and Star Wars. Maybe it's just not your cup of Joe. I can't say I really think he's a great writer either, maybe not even a good one, but he had some wild ideas and there's certainly a lot of action and excitement going on. I like seeing what others picked up from his work and the breathless pacing and raw action scratches that pulp itch pretty well. All in all great list tho, no complaints. Lots of great books in there.
I've been in the mood for some vintage sci-fi lately, so this fit the bill perfectly. :) And most of these I haven't read, except for Childhood's End and The Martian Chronicles, both of which I agree are essential. I haven't even *heard* of The Killer Thing and The Blue World, so that gives me a lot of new books to look for. XD Great video!
Great list. I mostly read Horror but I'm intrigued to start reading more SF, mostly because of your recommendations. I was surprised too because I've read a number of the books you mentioned - maybe I'm keen on the Horror/SF overlaps that often occur in genre fiction. Thanks.
Thank you for this list, I'm familiar to say 75% of it but I did get a few other titles I didn't heard before. Fortunately, I was able to find all of them (even the rare ones) on e-Form, added to my list to purchase them ASAP. Excellent channel!
Great starter kit, although I'd probably try to sneak in a Joanna Russ and an Octavia E. Butler as well. I know, I know, the list quickly becomes endless.
I love ‘Earth Abides’, it is in my 20 favourite novels of all time. Another post apocalyptic novel I love is ‘Davy’ by Edgar Pangborn which is set centuries after the collapse of civilisation. No one else seems to have read it, I have not seen anyone mention it on Booktube.
Excellent, thanks for this list. I mostly read horror, but you managed to sort of get me hooked on (classic) SF. As of now, I‘ve read less than half of the books on this list, intending to read all of them soon.
Oh didn’t know they made half a movie. Dune is my classic read on my December TBR. I don’t know most of these but I wasn’t into even thinking about sci fiction til my love for Verne got me interested.
I'm currently reading a collection of Phillip K Dick short stories. Wanted to thank you for suggesting Arthar Machen, I ordered a book of his short stories for my October reading, The Great God Pan is my favorite so far.
I have to say I was never able to get into "Foundation". I know it is a great book/series. All my friends have gone wild over it and how I need to read it. But I've tried several times and for some reason it just did not get me going. I've read most of the others and those I have read are all awesome. I love the John Carter of Mars series and Princess of Mars is one of the standouts. I would include "The Mote in God's Eye" by Jerry Pournelle and Larry Niven. Classic sci-fi with a bit of serious science included. I just ordered "City" by Simmak. I've read a couple of his long ago and I remember having enjoyed them. Also the classic "Star Man's Son" by Andre Norton. Easy and quick read but was an early apocalyptic future story. Another excellent video from Stately, Vaughn Manor. Kudos for keeping the classics alive.
🎶🎶🎶 "This is a man's world, this is a man's world, but it would be nothing, nothing, without a woman or a girl"🎶🎶🎶 My favorite version of this song is when Pavarotti and James Brown sing together live. Amazing. If you haven't seen this, go look it up on youtube. You wouldn't think they would balance on a musical level, but they do.
My cool video! I am going to read the Princess of Mars because of you. My favourite classic science fiction writer is Jules Verne :) I love his use of imagination, transporting us to completely different worlds, and at the same time he comes up with scientific explanations for the strange things that happen.
I think the two that I’m going to start with are Dune (because I already feel like I’ve committed some atrocity by not reading it yet) and Foundation. Asimov always seemed like a must for sci-fi! Thanks for the recs!
I still haven't read 'dune' and 'who goes there'....😒😒 But i WILL! And tbh can't wait! I've been stuck on Titus Crow right now...Gotta love them occult detectives right?
Great choices of books - it does make me want to do a video on recommended 21st century science fiction, though, as I imagine people may have heard of some of these classics but not know where to go beyond that. When I started reading more ferociously 5-6 years ago I was really interested in what had come out in the gap when I stopped reading fiction for a bit….so you have inspired me to plan a 21st century video….great video though as always!
Great list! I’m conflicted about Childhood’s End. I thought it was a very neat idea, but I didn’t think there was a whole lot to the book. I’m not sure exactly what else I expect to be included to tell that story, but I feel like there should have been something more. Regarding Foundation… loved that series, but my one complaint (not until the second book) was the Muse. I felt like that was a pretty drastic introduction of the fantastical that dominated an awful lot of that volume. What are your thoughts on that? I somewhat recently rewatched the 70’s version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and oh boy, I found that movie scary. Definitely feel like this one deserves a top spot in horror as well as sci-fi.
This would make an excellent list for the syllabus of an Intro to SF course. I initially expected to a have read most of them , but I'm at about two out of three, some of which I read as a teenager. I suspect that Simak would affect me differently now that I'm older. The one I would most like to re-read is Princess of Mars. I'm a bit reluctant after trying to re-read some Tarzan and finding that it wasn't quite as good as my young brain thought. (Encountering La of Opar again, she who fired my teenage um... hormones, wasn't the same).
A great list! I have only two comments. First, I didn't even know that "The Invasion of the Body Snatchers" was a book. If it is hard to find, let me recommend "The Puppet Masters" by Robert Heinlein. Like your pick, the book is about an alien invasion that captures/uses individual humans. A good book and , I believe, still in print. Second, "Starship Troopers" gets a bad rap regarding it being a book about Militarism and Fascism. One reason this is so is that ST is a book of Military SF and by definition involves the military. In the society depicted, individuals must earn their franchise (i.e., the right to vote) by doing service for 2 years. Many think that that service must be in the military. This is false. It is made quite plain in the portion of the book where main character is joining up that there are numerous, non-military, ways to serve your time. Johnny Rico ends up in the MI because it wouldn't have been much of a Military SF novel if he had served his time terraforming Venus. Further, the entire book serves as a view into Heinlein's beliefs concerning the purpose and correctness of military service. Given his background (Naval Academy grad and wartime military service) it isn't surprising he has the views he does. I recommend individuals read "The Forever War" by Joe Haldeman to get an different view on these topics . I would point out that Heinlein liked and recommended Haldeman's book.
You are right, I should have said government service instead of military, though from what I remember society seemed rather dominated by a military elite in that book. I did read The Puppet Masters and liked it. I think The Body Snatchers was a better book though. Thanks for the comment. I appreciate it.
Good list. I was hoping you'd have The Stars My Destination on there, however, I liked the character or anti-hero? Gully Foyle. He sort of reminded me of the Punisher or Pendleton's Mack Bolan. Just a dark character. I might probably add, The Forever War on a list, though maybe more modern-ish. I wondered if you'd read the book, The Humanoids by Jack Williamson.
Do you ever read any Larry Niven ? Classic Sci fi on my bookshelf. Also would you consider that The Martian Chronicles and various early Twilight Zone episodes have a mutual influence ? 🤔
While watching the video, I went online and bought a used copy of The Killer Thing by Kate Wilhelm; I wanted to be quick before the other 12k subscribers to this channel bought them all. :)
If someone wanted to know the best science fiction books to read, you would certainly be the first person to ask, because you have just about read them all and are able to cut through the weeds to find the flowers.
That's a really interesting list. These things are always fun, seeing what someone would recommend in a certain area or genre as a starting point. There are 2 or 3 on your list that I haven't read, so I'll give them a try.
I can recognise H. G. Wells "The Time Machine" as an important influence on SF without really liking it, if you see what I mean. "The Stars My Destination" was very good, as was I think "Starship Troopers", but Ray Bradbury's "The Martian Chronicles" showed him to be an elegant stylist with an eerie and melancholy imagination, that has been more memorable. "The left Hand of Darkness" is excellent, but "Dune" is not so good, that I found to be tedious because of it's length and rambling prose. A very good video though.
My experience of the Dune books is that the initial book is a genuine classic, but that each successive sequel notched down a peg or two until it bottomed out. I tend to advise people definitely read Dune, then to follow their own interests as far as the other volumes go.