What is the best science fiction book, ever?

[Drake Tungsten]

Originally posted by KrazyHorse
Dune wasn't that special. It was an enjoyable read, but it cannot stand by itself as a great novel, which The Forever War can do.

Change 'Dune' to 'Forever War' (and vice versa) and you'll have my feelings on the matter.

[GePap]

What about Science Fiction writers themselves? The lists of Nebula and Hugo award winners:

Nebula Winners:

2002 Neil Gaiman American Gods
2001 Catherine Asaro The Quantum Rose
2000 Greg Bear Darwin's Radio
1999 Octavia E. Butler Parable of the Talents
1998 Joe Haldeman Forever Peace
1997 Vonda N. McIntyre The Moon and the Sun
1996 Nicola Griffith Slow River
1995 Robert J. Sawyer The Terminal Experiment
1994 Greg Bear Moving Mars
1993 Kim Stanley Robinson Red Mars
1992 Connie Willis Doomsday Book
1991 Michael Swanwick Stations of the Tide
1990 Ursula K. Le Guin Tehanu: The Last Book of Earthsea
1989 Elizabeth Ann Scarborough The Healer's War
1988 Lois McMaster Bujold Falling Free
1987 Pat Murphy The Falling Woman
1986 Orson Scott Card Speaker for the Dead
1985 Orson Scott Card Ender's Game
1984 William Gibson Neuromancer
1983 David Brin Startide Rising
1982 Michael Bishop No Enemy But Time
1981 Gene Wolfe The Claw of the Conciliator
1980 Gregory Benford Timescape
1979 Arthur C. Clarke The Fountains of Paradise
1978 Vonda N. McIntyre Dreamsnake
1977 Frederik Pohl Gateway
1976 Frederik Pohl Man Plus
1975 Joe Haldeman The Forever War
1974 Ursula K. Le Guin The Dispossessed
1973 Arthur C. Clarke Rendezvous With Rama
1972 Isaac Asimov The Gods Themselves
1971 Robert Silverberg A Time of Changes
1970 Larry Niven Ringworld
1969 Ursula K. Le Guin The Left Hand of Darkness
1968 Alexei Panshin Rite of Passage
1967 Samuel R. Delany The Einstein Intersection
1966 Daniel Keyes Flowers for Algernon
1966 Samuel R. Delany Babel-17
1965 Frank Herbert Dune

http://home.comcast.net/~dwtaylor1/nebulascifi.html

and Hugo Winners:

2003 Robert J. Sawyer Hominids
2002 Neil Gaiman American Gods
2001 J.K. Rowling Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
2000 Vernor Vinge A Deepness in the Sky
1999 Connie Willis To Say Nothing of the Dog
1998 Joe Haldeman Forever Peace
1997 Kin Stanley Robinson Blue Mars
1996 Neal Stephenson The Diamond Age
1995 Lois McMaster Bujold Mirror Dance
1994 Kim Stanley Robinson Green Mars
1993 Vernor Vinge A Fire Upon the Deep
1992 Lois McMaster Bujold Barryar
1991 Lios McMaster Bujold The Vor Game
1990 Dan Simmons Hyperion
1989 C.J. Cherryh Cyteen
1988 David Brin The Uplift War
1987 Orson Scott Card Speaker for the Dead
1986 Orson Scott Card Ender's Game
1985 William Gibson Neuromancer
1984 David Brin Startide Rising
1983 Isaac Asimov Foundation's Edge
1982 C.J. Cherryh Downbelow Station
1981 Joan D. Vinge Snow Queen
1980 Arthur C. Clarke The Foundations of Paradise
1979 Vonda McIntyre Dreamsnake
1978 Frederik Pohl Gateway
1977 Kate Wilhelm Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang
1976 Joe Haldeman The Forever War
1975 Ursula K. Le Guin The Dispossessed
1974 Arthur C. Clarke Rendezvous With Rama
1973 Isaac Asimov The Gods Themselves
1972 Philip Jose farmer To Your Scattered Bodies Go
1971 Larry Niven Ringworld
1970 Ursula K. Le Guin The Left Hand of Darkness
1969 John Brunner Stand on Zanzibar
1968 Roger Zelazny Lord of Light
1967 Robert A. Heinlein The Moon is a Harsh Mistress
1966 Roger Zelazny ... And Call Me Conrad or This Immortal
1966 Frank Herbert Dune
1965 Fritz Leiber The Wanderer
1964 Clifford D. Simak Way Station
1963 Philip K. Dick The Man in the High Castle
1962 Robert A. Heinlein Stranger in a Strange Land
1961 Walter M. Miller, Jr. A Canticle for Leibowitz
1960 Robert A. Heinlein Starship Troopers
1959 James Blish A Case of Conscience
1958 Fritz Leiber The Big Time
1957 No Award
1956 Robert A. Heinlein Double Star
1955 Mark Clifton & Frank Riley They'd Rather Be Right
1954 No Award
1953 Alfred Bester The Demolished Man

http://home.comcast.net/~dwtaylor1/hugonovel.html

[GePap]

This site gives a more up to date and detailed listing of the Hugo awards, including other novels nominated each year:

http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/encyclopedia/h/hu/hugo_award_for_best_novel.htm

[DeathByTheSword]

dune

steel beach

jenna government

the young warrior

in that order...

[ajbera]

Not the greatest, but my faves are:

The Moon is a Harsh Mistress
A Deepness in the Sky
The Mote in God's Eye

Reading Gateway now, excellent. Just picked up A Fire Upon the Deep. Loved Dune, but it ain't the greatest.

I think a convincing argument can be made for 1984, though it transcends it's genre so utterly it becomes [snooty voice]literature[/snooty voice.]

[monolith94]

The Martian Chronicles
The Man In The High Castle

[Zkribbler]

I too should have put 1984 on my list. What was I double thinking?

I'm surprised there's been no mention of:
Brave New World
Hitchhiker's Guild to the Universe
Slaughterhouse Five

[Flandrien]

Originally posted by BlackCat
My choice is the book of Clarke where the first space elevator are built (can't remember it's title).

Originally posted by GePap
1979 Arthur C. Clarke The Fountains of Paradise

there you have it

[Vanguard]

You think Dune is boring, but you consider Forever War, a repetitive sententious novella with no characters to be a great novel? Well, to each his own.

Frankly I think Bill the Galactic Hero is actually a better anti-war novel than Forever War, just as Dr. Strangelove is a better anti-war movie than Platoon.

For my part, Dune is the best science-fiction novel, managing to combine religion, politics and speculative invention into an exceptionally readable book.

[DAVOUT]

I enjoyed considerably reading The Doomsday Book. But it is not strictly a scifi novel. Connie Willis is a great writer with an extraordinary humour.

[Ninot]

Rama series is good stuff IMHO.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Nebula:

1973 Arthur C. Clarke Rendezvous With Rama

Hugo:

1974 Arthur C. Clarke Rendezvous With Rama

That's right

[Japher]

The Gods Themselves is also on both lists...

I would, however, side with monolith and go with the Maritan Chronicles.

[Solver]

If a single book, not counting any series, my choice would be Solaris by Lem, it's simply sci-fi at its best. Also, Bettle in an ant heap by the Strugatsky brothers is awesome, although a part of a series.

I don't really consider 1984 sci-fi. It's an excellent book, both in how it's written and the amazing accuracy with which it depicted the Soviet Union 25-30 years after publication.

[Ben Kenobi]

1967 Robert A. Heinlein The Moon is a Harsh Mistress