[…] classics that I have missed in my childhood. A while ago I compiled a list of my personal picks for essential SF novels, but I often find new books I would like to add to that list. Tau Zero by Poul Anderson is probably […]

(I really need to think my comments through so I stop doubleposting)

What I enjoyed on the other hand was the Conquerors series by Timothy Zahn (he’s probably more known for his SW expanded universe writing, which are awesome BTW), which reports on both sides of a conflict that arised from a first contact attempt (spoiler: the aliens are allergic to radio waves, to put it mildly). “The Conquerors” are the names the opposing sides are using for each other, since both feel they are the victims.

I’ve read Strugatski’s Roadside Picnic quite a while ago, and decided to pick up something else from them on my visit to the library. Picked up a novel whose name was translated as The Forest (“Les”), but can’t find anything like that on their wikipedia page. Which is just as well, because I couldn’t recommend it as it was really really painful to read.

@ StDoodle:

I never actually read Foundation. It’s yet another one of these book series that slipped through the cracks.

@ Dr. Azrael Tod:

Holly crap, I totally forgot about Verne. He is like the forefather of science fiction. :)

@ Dileep:

LOL, there is biopunk now? I think the *punk genre subdivisions are getting out of control. I’m drawing the line at steam- and cyber- until further notice. I would classify Windup Girl as a post-apocalyptic SF.

@ jambarama:

Time machine! Another classic I forgot about.

I loved The Road but I’m sort of on the fence with how “SF” it actually is. On one hand it does take place in some post-apocalyptic future, but on the other hand McCarthy is more interested in grim realism, human condition and making you depressed out of your mind. Also, my copy had “Oprah’s Book Club” badge on the cover, which I think automatically promotes it to the cool kids table of mainstream books rather than the geek domain of SF. :P

@ Dave:

I have no clue what book this is, but it sounds interesting. Perhaps someone else can identify it.

@ Travis McCrea:

I sort of lost track of Cory’s writing. I remember reading Down and Out, Eastern Standard, Someone Comes to Town and nothing since then. I have to pick up some of his newer stuff.

@ Travis McCrea:
:) Yes I saw that you replied to me, I just was replying back. Certainly should move it up close to the top of that list. :)

Makers (Cory Doctorow) has the entertainment of Little Brother (btw Cory is currently working on Little Brother II) but written for a much more mature audience with a focus on trademark / patent / copyright law.

Here are two classics I would recommend to anyone, both have sequels:
Anne McCaffrey – The Ship Who Sang
Philip José Farmer – To Your Scattered Bodies Go

There was another SF book that I read years ago and I absolutely cannot remember the name of the book or the author. Basically it went like this…There is this binary star system (maybe the other star is a black hole) with planets orbiting both. The worlds are populated by reincarnated beings – basically these beings (some are human) are able to be be recreated by gathering the biological radiation (like radio waves) that these beings have radiated out into space over the millenia.

The whole plot is about these two computers from another dimension that are created in our dimension, and they take on the physical form of stars – the two suns in the story. The beings are constantly fighting against each other as two seperate factions, the one faction being “good” and following the white star (called Sol), and the “bad” beings following the dark star.

In the end it turns out that the dark side is actually good and is fighting to save, not destroy, the light side – as Sol has unknowingly been infected with a virus.

I may be wrong on a few facts but thats all I can remember, and I really enjoyed the book. Any ideas what the title may be?

A sentence was misplaced in my previous comment. The Mars Trilogy has nothing to do with Vonnegut, and belongs at the end of the next paragraph. Ah, the hazards of copy/paste.

The only suggestion for the essential list is Slaughterhouse-Five, though I don’t think it is Vonnegut’s best, and the sci-fi elements aren’t significant. Delightfully moving book. He had some others that were more sci-fi-ish, but none that were more sci-fi-ish and better than SH5. Cat’s Cradle is also very good but less sci-fi; Sirens of Titan is only good but more sci-fi. The Mars Trilogy is among the best researched I’ve read, but not the best fiction.

I’d also suggest Hitchhikers’s Guide; Fahrenheit 451; Foundation Series over I, Robot; Neil Gaiman’s American Gods; Watchmen; Clockwork Orange (I just finished it); H.G. Wells Time Machine (better than War of the Worlds); Cormac McCarthy’s The Road; maybe I Am Legend; Jurassic Park; and Ender’s Game (though I don’t think it is particularly good).

The list needs a good Biopunk entry. Should we elevate “The Windup Girl” into a SF Essential?