Tweet
Have to restart because I forgot to make the poll multiple choice. 
1. Half-Life, Hal Clement, nominated by JohnT.
"Average lifespan has fallen to 20 years, for diseases are fast outstripping the medical capability to control and treat them. A team aboard the space vehicle Oceanus is to journey to Saturn's moon Titan to research the possibility of planting a prebiotic colony there. Only three of the crew are not dying from various diseases, and while their general attitude is hopeful, and they are polite and helpful to one another, the prevailing atmosphere among them is not healthy. Planting a colony may be iffy, but the crew can plant laboratories and factories capable of some remarkable things on Titan's remarkable surface, which seems to be mostly ice, spotted by pools of tar and various chemicals. In any event, the first walker on Titan is killed by flying ice--knocked really cold. But despite injuries, deaths, and other catastrophes, in the end, the remaining crew members are still driven by the urge to discover. Clement's delightfully ironic, dry humor proves vital to this imaginative book consisting largely of conversation."
2. The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, Robert Heinlein, nominated by Slowwhand, originally nominated by Lonestar. This book was last months runner-up.
"Tom Clancy has said of Robert A. Heinlein, "We proceed down the path marked by his ideas. He shows us where the future is." Nowhere is this more true than in Heinlein's gripping tale of revolution on the moon in 2076, where "Loonies" are kept poor and oppressed by an Earth-based Authority that turns huge profits at their expense. A small band of dissidents, including a one-armed computer jock, a radical young woman, a past-his-prime academic and a nearly omnipotent computer named Mike, ignite the fires of revolution despite the near certainty of failure and death."
3. The Man in the High Castle, Philip K ****, nominated by Static23.
"It's America in 1962--where slavery is legal and the few surviving Jews hide anxiously under assumed names. All because some twenty years earlier America lost a war--and is now occupied jointly by Nazi Germany and Japan. This harrowing, Hugo Award-winning novel set in a parallel universe is the work that established **** as a legendary science fiction author."
4. DownBelow Station, C. J. Cherryh, nominated by jon miller.
"A legend among sci-fi readers, C.J. Cherryh's Union-Alliance novels, while separate and complete in themselves, are part of a much larger tapestry-a future history spanning 5,000 years of human civilization.
Downbelow Station is the book that won Cherryh a Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1982. A blockbuster space opera of the rebellion between Earth and its far-flung colonies, it is a classic science fiction masterwork."
5. To Say Nothing of the Dog, Connie Willis, nominated by Ramo.
"To Say Nothing of the Dog is a science-fiction fantasy in the guise of an old-fashioned Victorian novel, complete with epigraphs, brief outlines, and a rather ugly boxer in three-quarters profile at the start of each chapter. Or is it a Victorian novel in the guise of a time-traveling tale, or a highly comic romp, or a great, allusive literary game, complete with spry references to Dorothy L. Sayers, Wilkie Collins, and Arthur Conan Doyle? "
6. The Postman, David Brin, nominated by korn469.
"Gordon Krantz survived the Doomwar only to spend years crossing a post-apocalypse United States looking for something or someone he could believe in again. Ironically, when he's inadvertently forced to assume the made-up role of a "Restored United States" postal inspector, he becomes the very thing he's been seeking: a symbol of hope and rebirth for a desperate nation. Gordon goes through the motions of establishing a new postal route in the Pacific Northwest, uniting secluded towns and enclaves that are starved for communication with the rest of the world. And even though inside he feels like a fraud, eventually he will have to stand up for the new society he's helping to build or see it destroyed by fanatic survivalists. "
7. Hyperion, Dan Simmons, nominated by laurentius.
"On the eve of Armageddon, with the entire galaxy at war, seven pilgrims set forth on a final voyage to Hyperion seeking the answers to the unsolved riddles of their lives. Each carries a desperate hope--and a terrible secret. And one may hold the fate of humanity in his hands.
A stunning tour de force, this Hugo Award-winning novel is the first volume in a remarkable new science fiction epic by the author of The Hollow Man."
8. Sirens of Titan, Kurt Vonnegut, nominated by loinburger.
"The richest and most depraved man on Earth takes a wild space journey to distant worlds, learning about the purpose of human life along the way."
9. Armor, John Steakley, nominated by Tuberski.
"Body armor has been devised for the commando forces that are to be dropped on Banshee-the home of the most implacable of humanity's enemies. A trooper in this armor is a one-man, atomic-powered battle fortress, but he will have to fight a nearly endless horde of berserk, hard-shelled monsters."
10. Babel-17, Samuel R. Delaney, nominated by molly bloom.
"Author of the bestselling Dhalgren and winner of four Nebulas and one Hugo, Samuel R. Delany is one of the most acclaimed writers of speculative fiction.
Babel-17, winner of the Nebula Award for best novel of the year, is a fascinating tale of a famous poet bent on deciphering a secret language that is the key to the enemy’s deadly force, a task that requires she travel with a splendidly improbable crew to the site of the next attack. For the first time, Babel-17 is published as the author intended with the short novel Empire Star, the tale of Comet Jo, a simple-minded teen thrust into a complex galaxy when he’s entrusted to carry a vital message to a distant world. Spellbinding and smart, both novels are testimony to Delany’s vast and singular talent. "
*MODERATORS NOTE: The above refers to a special edition that also contains the short story "Empire Star." Only Babel-17 is "required" reading.
11. Anvil of Stars, Greg Bear, nominated by St Leo.
"Eighty-two mortal exiles ride through space in the Ship of the Law, a ship constructed from the fragments of Earth's corpse, determined to punish those responsible for their planet's destruction."
12. Empyrion, Stephen Lawhead, nominated by Clear Skies.
"Traveler, debt–dodger, itinerant critic, and writer of history books nobody buys, Orion Treet is astonished when he’s invited to accompany a top–secret mission—to observe and document an extraterrestrial colony on a newly discovered planet. But when Treet and his companions reach the paradise planet they have been promised, they find themselves enmeshed in an ancient and deadly conflict between two highly evolved civilizations. Can the free and perfect world of Fierra escape annihilation? Treet, with a handful of rebels, stands alone against the evil might of Dome, as events move inexorably towards a world–shaking climax."
MOD NOTE: Again, the above is referencing an omnibus edition containing two novels in the Empyrion series. "The Search for Fierra" is the first one, I believe.
13. In Conquest Born, C. S. Friedman, nominated by Wraith.
"They were the ultimate enemies, two super-races fighting an endless campaign over a long forgotten cause. And now the final phase of their war is approaching, where they will use every power of the mind and body to claim the vengeance of total conquest. Original."
14. Red Mars, Kim Stanley Robinson, nominated by Chegitz Guevara.
"Red Mars opens with a tragic murder, an event that becomes the focal point for the surviving characters and the turning point in a long intrigue that pits idealistic Mars colonists against a desperately overpopulated Earth, radical political groups of all stripes against each other, and the interests of transnational corporations against the dreams of the pioneers.
This is a vast book: a chronicle of the exploration of Mars with some of the most engaging, vivid, and human characters in recent science fiction. Robinson fantasizes brilliantly about the science of terraforming a hostile world, analyzes the socio-economic forces that propel and attempt to control real interplanetary colonization, and imagines the diverse reactions that humanity would have to the dead, red planet.
Red Mars is so magnificent a story, you will want to move on to Blue Mars and Green Mars. But this first, most beautiful book is definitely the best of the three. Readers new to Robinson may want to follow up with some other books that take place in the colonized solar system of the future: either his earlier (less polished but more carefree) The Memory of Whiteness and Icehenge, or 1998's Antarctica."
15. Neuromancer, William Gibson, nominated by Carolus Rex.
"Here is the novel that started it all, launching the cyberpunk generation, and the first novel to win the holy trinity of science fiction: the Hugo Award, the Nebula Award and the Philip K. **** Award. With Neuromancer, William Gibson introduced the world to cyberspace--and science fiction has never been the same.
Case was the hottest computer cowboy cruising the information superhighway--jacking his consciousness into cyberspace, soaring through tactile lattices of data and logic, rustling encoded secrets for anyone with the money to buy his skills. Then he double-crossed the wrong people, who caught up with him in a big way--and burned the talent out of his brain, micron by micron. Banished from cyberspace, trapped in the meat of his physical body, Case courted death in the high-tech underworld. Until a shadowy conspiracy offered him a second chance--and a cure--for a price.... "
16. The Uplift War, David Brin, nominated by GePap.
"Billions of years ago, an alien race known as the Progenitors began the genetically engineered techniques by which non-intelligent creatures are given intelligence by one of the higher races in the galaxy. Once "Uplifted," these creature must serve their patron race before they, in turn, can Uplift other races. Human intelligence, which developed by itself (and brought about the Uplifting of chimpanzees and dolphins), is an affront to the aliens who plan an attack, threatening a human experiment aimed at producing the next Uplift. Such is the premise of this novel, which won the 1988 Hugo Award."
17 Lord of Light, Roger Zelazny, nominated by randomturn.
"In the 1960s, Roger Zelazny dazzled the SF world with what seemed to be inexhaustible talent and inventiveness. Lord of Light, his third novel, is his finest book: a science fantasy in which the intricate, colorful mechanisms of Hindu religion, capricious gods, and repeated reincarnations are wittily underpinned by technology. "For six days he had offered many kilowatts of prayer, but the static kept him from being heard On High." The gods are a starship crew who subdued a colony world; developed godlike--though often machine-enhanced--powers during successive lifetimes of mind transfer to new, cloned bodies; and now lord it over descendants of the ship's mere passengers. Their tyranny is opposed by retired god Sam, who mocks the Celestial City, introduces Buddhism to subvert Hindu dogma, allies himself with the planet's native "demons" against Heaven, fights pyrotechnic battles with bizarre troops and weapons, plays dirty with politics and poison, and dies horribly but won't stay dead. It's a huge, lumbering, magical story, told largely in flashback, full of wonderfully ornate language (and one unforgivable pun) that builds up the luminous myth of trickster Sam, Lord of Light. Essential SF reading."
1. Half-Life, Hal Clement, nominated by JohnT.
"Average lifespan has fallen to 20 years, for diseases are fast outstripping the medical capability to control and treat them. A team aboard the space vehicle Oceanus is to journey to Saturn's moon Titan to research the possibility of planting a prebiotic colony there. Only three of the crew are not dying from various diseases, and while their general attitude is hopeful, and they are polite and helpful to one another, the prevailing atmosphere among them is not healthy. Planting a colony may be iffy, but the crew can plant laboratories and factories capable of some remarkable things on Titan's remarkable surface, which seems to be mostly ice, spotted by pools of tar and various chemicals. In any event, the first walker on Titan is killed by flying ice--knocked really cold. But despite injuries, deaths, and other catastrophes, in the end, the remaining crew members are still driven by the urge to discover. Clement's delightfully ironic, dry humor proves vital to this imaginative book consisting largely of conversation."
2. The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, Robert Heinlein, nominated by Slowwhand, originally nominated by Lonestar. This book was last months runner-up.
"Tom Clancy has said of Robert A. Heinlein, "We proceed down the path marked by his ideas. He shows us where the future is." Nowhere is this more true than in Heinlein's gripping tale of revolution on the moon in 2076, where "Loonies" are kept poor and oppressed by an Earth-based Authority that turns huge profits at their expense. A small band of dissidents, including a one-armed computer jock, a radical young woman, a past-his-prime academic and a nearly omnipotent computer named Mike, ignite the fires of revolution despite the near certainty of failure and death."
3. The Man in the High Castle, Philip K ****, nominated by Static23.
"It's America in 1962--where slavery is legal and the few surviving Jews hide anxiously under assumed names. All because some twenty years earlier America lost a war--and is now occupied jointly by Nazi Germany and Japan. This harrowing, Hugo Award-winning novel set in a parallel universe is the work that established **** as a legendary science fiction author."
4. DownBelow Station, C. J. Cherryh, nominated by jon miller.
"A legend among sci-fi readers, C.J. Cherryh's Union-Alliance novels, while separate and complete in themselves, are part of a much larger tapestry-a future history spanning 5,000 years of human civilization.
Downbelow Station is the book that won Cherryh a Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1982. A blockbuster space opera of the rebellion between Earth and its far-flung colonies, it is a classic science fiction masterwork."
5. To Say Nothing of the Dog, Connie Willis, nominated by Ramo.
"To Say Nothing of the Dog is a science-fiction fantasy in the guise of an old-fashioned Victorian novel, complete with epigraphs, brief outlines, and a rather ugly boxer in three-quarters profile at the start of each chapter. Or is it a Victorian novel in the guise of a time-traveling tale, or a highly comic romp, or a great, allusive literary game, complete with spry references to Dorothy L. Sayers, Wilkie Collins, and Arthur Conan Doyle? "
6. The Postman, David Brin, nominated by korn469.
"Gordon Krantz survived the Doomwar only to spend years crossing a post-apocalypse United States looking for something or someone he could believe in again. Ironically, when he's inadvertently forced to assume the made-up role of a "Restored United States" postal inspector, he becomes the very thing he's been seeking: a symbol of hope and rebirth for a desperate nation. Gordon goes through the motions of establishing a new postal route in the Pacific Northwest, uniting secluded towns and enclaves that are starved for communication with the rest of the world. And even though inside he feels like a fraud, eventually he will have to stand up for the new society he's helping to build or see it destroyed by fanatic survivalists. "
7. Hyperion, Dan Simmons, nominated by laurentius.
"On the eve of Armageddon, with the entire galaxy at war, seven pilgrims set forth on a final voyage to Hyperion seeking the answers to the unsolved riddles of their lives. Each carries a desperate hope--and a terrible secret. And one may hold the fate of humanity in his hands.
A stunning tour de force, this Hugo Award-winning novel is the first volume in a remarkable new science fiction epic by the author of The Hollow Man."
8. Sirens of Titan, Kurt Vonnegut, nominated by loinburger.
"The richest and most depraved man on Earth takes a wild space journey to distant worlds, learning about the purpose of human life along the way."
9. Armor, John Steakley, nominated by Tuberski.
"Body armor has been devised for the commando forces that are to be dropped on Banshee-the home of the most implacable of humanity's enemies. A trooper in this armor is a one-man, atomic-powered battle fortress, but he will have to fight a nearly endless horde of berserk, hard-shelled monsters."
10. Babel-17, Samuel R. Delaney, nominated by molly bloom.
"Author of the bestselling Dhalgren and winner of four Nebulas and one Hugo, Samuel R. Delany is one of the most acclaimed writers of speculative fiction.
Babel-17, winner of the Nebula Award for best novel of the year, is a fascinating tale of a famous poet bent on deciphering a secret language that is the key to the enemy’s deadly force, a task that requires she travel with a splendidly improbable crew to the site of the next attack. For the first time, Babel-17 is published as the author intended with the short novel Empire Star, the tale of Comet Jo, a simple-minded teen thrust into a complex galaxy when he’s entrusted to carry a vital message to a distant world. Spellbinding and smart, both novels are testimony to Delany’s vast and singular talent. "
*MODERATORS NOTE: The above refers to a special edition that also contains the short story "Empire Star." Only Babel-17 is "required" reading.
11. Anvil of Stars, Greg Bear, nominated by St Leo.
"Eighty-two mortal exiles ride through space in the Ship of the Law, a ship constructed from the fragments of Earth's corpse, determined to punish those responsible for their planet's destruction."
12. Empyrion, Stephen Lawhead, nominated by Clear Skies.
"Traveler, debt–dodger, itinerant critic, and writer of history books nobody buys, Orion Treet is astonished when he’s invited to accompany a top–secret mission—to observe and document an extraterrestrial colony on a newly discovered planet. But when Treet and his companions reach the paradise planet they have been promised, they find themselves enmeshed in an ancient and deadly conflict between two highly evolved civilizations. Can the free and perfect world of Fierra escape annihilation? Treet, with a handful of rebels, stands alone against the evil might of Dome, as events move inexorably towards a world–shaking climax."
MOD NOTE: Again, the above is referencing an omnibus edition containing two novels in the Empyrion series. "The Search for Fierra" is the first one, I believe.
13. In Conquest Born, C. S. Friedman, nominated by Wraith.
"They were the ultimate enemies, two super-races fighting an endless campaign over a long forgotten cause. And now the final phase of their war is approaching, where they will use every power of the mind and body to claim the vengeance of total conquest. Original."
14. Red Mars, Kim Stanley Robinson, nominated by Chegitz Guevara.
"Red Mars opens with a tragic murder, an event that becomes the focal point for the surviving characters and the turning point in a long intrigue that pits idealistic Mars colonists against a desperately overpopulated Earth, radical political groups of all stripes against each other, and the interests of transnational corporations against the dreams of the pioneers.
This is a vast book: a chronicle of the exploration of Mars with some of the most engaging, vivid, and human characters in recent science fiction. Robinson fantasizes brilliantly about the science of terraforming a hostile world, analyzes the socio-economic forces that propel and attempt to control real interplanetary colonization, and imagines the diverse reactions that humanity would have to the dead, red planet.
Red Mars is so magnificent a story, you will want to move on to Blue Mars and Green Mars. But this first, most beautiful book is definitely the best of the three. Readers new to Robinson may want to follow up with some other books that take place in the colonized solar system of the future: either his earlier (less polished but more carefree) The Memory of Whiteness and Icehenge, or 1998's Antarctica."
15. Neuromancer, William Gibson, nominated by Carolus Rex.
"Here is the novel that started it all, launching the cyberpunk generation, and the first novel to win the holy trinity of science fiction: the Hugo Award, the Nebula Award and the Philip K. **** Award. With Neuromancer, William Gibson introduced the world to cyberspace--and science fiction has never been the same.
Case was the hottest computer cowboy cruising the information superhighway--jacking his consciousness into cyberspace, soaring through tactile lattices of data and logic, rustling encoded secrets for anyone with the money to buy his skills. Then he double-crossed the wrong people, who caught up with him in a big way--and burned the talent out of his brain, micron by micron. Banished from cyberspace, trapped in the meat of his physical body, Case courted death in the high-tech underworld. Until a shadowy conspiracy offered him a second chance--and a cure--for a price.... "
16. The Uplift War, David Brin, nominated by GePap.
"Billions of years ago, an alien race known as the Progenitors began the genetically engineered techniques by which non-intelligent creatures are given intelligence by one of the higher races in the galaxy. Once "Uplifted," these creature must serve their patron race before they, in turn, can Uplift other races. Human intelligence, which developed by itself (and brought about the Uplifting of chimpanzees and dolphins), is an affront to the aliens who plan an attack, threatening a human experiment aimed at producing the next Uplift. Such is the premise of this novel, which won the 1988 Hugo Award."
17 Lord of Light, Roger Zelazny, nominated by randomturn.
"In the 1960s, Roger Zelazny dazzled the SF world with what seemed to be inexhaustible talent and inventiveness. Lord of Light, his third novel, is his finest book: a science fantasy in which the intricate, colorful mechanisms of Hindu religion, capricious gods, and repeated reincarnations are wittily underpinned by technology. "For six days he had offered many kilowatts of prayer, but the static kept him from being heard On High." The gods are a starship crew who subdued a colony world; developed godlike--though often machine-enhanced--powers during successive lifetimes of mind transfer to new, cloned bodies; and now lord it over descendants of the ship's mere passengers. Their tyranny is opposed by retired god Sam, who mocks the Celestial City, introduces Buddhism to subvert Hindu dogma, allies himself with the planet's native "demons" against Heaven, fights pyrotechnic battles with bizarre troops and weapons, plays dirty with politics and poison, and dies horribly but won't stay dead. It's a huge, lumbering, magical story, told largely in flashback, full of wonderfully ornate language (and one unforgivable pun) that builds up the luminous myth of trickster Sam, Lord of Light. Essential SF reading."
But it does say "Please select a maximum of three" in the poll question.
Comment