What's some essential Sci-Fi /lit/? >Short stories >Novels >Other related stuff Also I'm trying to write a Sci-Fi story so what are some of the universal themes, things to include and tropes to avoid completely.

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Anonymous Mon Sep 8 20:29:07 2014 No.5407256 [Reply] [Original]

What's some essential Sci-Fi /lit/?
>Short stories
>Novels
>Other related stuff

Also I'm trying to write a Sci-Fi story so what are some of the universal themes, things to include and tropes to avoid completely.

>>	Anonymous Mon Sep 8 20:36:27 2014 No.5407297 Dune

>>	Anonymous Mon Sep 8 20:37:20 2014 No.5407301 File: 392 KB, 1000x1437, find a flaw.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] >>5407256 The Book of the New Sun Flowers for Algernon A Canticle for Leibowitz Never Let me Go Solaris

>>	Anonymous Mon Sep 8 20:37:47 2014 No.5407303 ⇒Other related stuff The Bible

>>	Anonymous Mon Sep 8 20:41:34 2014 No.5407325 >>5407256 Battletech / MechWarrior series.

>>	Anonymous Mon Sep 8 20:41:35 2014 No.5407326 Rendezvous With Rama The Mars Trilogy Embassytown Gateway The Sirens of Titan What kind of SF are you writing?

>>	« Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ » !mxvabIoSIE Mon Sep 8 20:42:22 2014 No.5407330 File: 1.91 MB, 1894x5000, Sci-fi lit.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] >>5407256

>>	Anonymous Mon Sep 8 20:43:17 2014 No.5407335 >>5407301 seconding Solaris

>>	Anonymous Mon Sep 8 20:44:32 2014 No.5407339 >>5407256 "Childhood's End" - Arthur C Clarke Also, what is the picture from? Is it from that book where the conceit is the artist visited Hell?

Anonymous Mon Sep 8 20:47:40 2014 No.5407359
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>>5407326
Honestly I know it has to do with earths destruction, I wanted it to have some biblical influence but im not sure how i can really do that right now at least. At first I had an Idea of where I was going but as I thoughy the more stupid it became so im sowly formulating a plot, for the trilogy since I want to have the entire story finished first. I want to make it as original as pissible but the more I do that the more I fall into simularties woth other things so im just taking my time now.

>>	Anonymous Mon Sep 8 20:48:55 2014 No.5407365 >>5407335 Is Solaris a good intro for Lem?

Anonymous Mon Sep 8 20:53:11 2014 No.5407385
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>>5407339
Idk exactly I got the image from /x/ , I reversed image searched it and the result was wayne douglas barlowe if that helps, and he has a story about hell I believe

Anonymous Mon Sep 8 20:55:08 2014 No.5407395
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>>5407359
>earths destruction
pic related is a bit to the trashier side and the author is a huge faggot, but it has some nice pop-sci, and a pretty cool apocalyptic scenario, including a cloned jesus.

>>	Anonymous Mon Sep 8 20:58:00 2014 No.5407405 File: 74 KB, 480x640, 1216181559825.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] >>5407256 You again? If you knew anything about Sci-Fi, not only would you not have to ask, you'd be writing by now. Do your own brainstorming.

>>	Anonymous Mon Sep 8 20:58:32 2014 No.5407409 >>5407301 seconding book of the new sun

>>	Anonymous Mon Sep 8 20:59:02 2014 No.5407416 >>5407365 Dunno, it's all I've read of his. Great book though.

>>	Anonymous Mon Sep 8 21:06:36 2014 No.5407447 >>5407359 Ever read Revelation? Pretty good for Biblical references to the destruction of Earth. This novel sounds like trash though, sorry.

>>	Anonymous Mon Sep 8 21:07:15 2014 No.5407454 >>5407395 Thanks bro, ill check it out. >>5407405 I dont browse lit this is honestly my second thread, my first one was on the republic. Are there lots of threads like this?

>>	Anonymous Mon Sep 8 21:09:01 2014 No.5407460 >Anything from Jack Vance (start with The Dying Earth collection) >The Culture series by Iain M. Banks You can thank me later.

>>	Anonymous Mon Sep 8 21:09:26 2014 No.5407462 File: 612 KB, 1600x1093, fff5ca5f-f2b3-4a3b-9288-8640b9877.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] >>5407447 I didnt write anything about the story other than "earths destruction" so how did you deduce this?

>>	Anonymous Mon Sep 8 21:17:14 2014 No.5407513 >>5407256 Burning Chrome

>>	Anonymous Mon Sep 8 21:21:24 2014 No.5407534 >>5407454 Only lately, with the insistence on avoiding tropes and the like. I think you be lying.

>>	Anonymous Mon Sep 8 21:25:03 2014 No.5407545 File: 82 KB, 800x600, efd06fd2-7222-4c21-bb08-b12c015e5.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] >>5407534 Im not, but if it makes you feel better you done have to believe me.

Anonymous Mon Sep 8 21:29:23 2014 No.5407569

>>5407545
Got a chuckle out of me, anon. Giving me permission to disbelieve you, as if I need it. So congenial. Go write some sci-fi now. Better yet, go read some. And then write something better, because I love sci-fi but most of it is written like total ass.

>>	Anonymous Mon Sep 8 21:31:20 2014 No.5407574 >>5407569 Thanks anon, I reading one right now actually.

>>	Anonymous Mon Sep 8 21:35:13 2014 No.5407583 >>5407569 Thanks anon, I'm actually in the middle of a story right now.

Anonymous Mon Sep 8 22:24:58 2014 No.5407848

>>5407256
I have to reccomend Asimov's Foundation series as an essential read, along with The Status Civilisation (by Sheckley I think?). Themes to avoid might be robotics, as without a hell of a lot of work ther dialogue is boring or their operations don't come across as logical enough. If you want to read some SF with a compelling narrative, interesting writinh style and challenging themes, read Roadside Picnic by the Strugatsky brothers.

>>	Anonymous Mon Sep 8 22:31:22 2014 No.5407884 I enjoyed Peter F. Hamilton's Commonwealth books: Pandora's Star, Judas Unchained, followed by the Void trilogy.

>>	Anonymous Mon Sep 8 22:43:05 2014 No.5407957 >>5407848 >I have to reccomend Asimov's Foundation series as an essential read Foundation is Asimov's weakest work.

>>	Anonymous Mon Sep 8 22:46:29 2014 No.5407974 >>5407957 Really? I personally think it's amazing! It's just so large in scope, and I love reading histories of empires so it's right up my alley. What do you consider strong Asimov? I think Reason is pretty strong.

>>	Anonymous Mon Sep 8 22:49:03 2014 No.5407987 >>5407303 I know this post seems facetious, but it's hard to have too much Bible inspiration.

>>	Anonymous Mon Sep 8 23:02:46 2014 No.5408076 Did SF prose peak with Wolfe, LeGuin, Zelazny, and Delany?

Kasperl Tue Sep 9 00:04:47 2014 No.5408351
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LENSMAN
The only book series I'm aware of the smashes a planet with two more planets accelerated past light speed... Twice. The anime adaption isn't very faithful but does have some good music.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiquVawRGm8

>>	Anonymous Tue Sep 9 00:06:11 2014 No.5408363 File: 833 KB, 167x167, ee9073fc50c7b0f472ded37f92b23807[1].gif [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] >>5407957

>>	Anonymous Tue Sep 9 00:17:35 2014 No.5408402 File: 501 KB, 298x225, 1336022442143.gif [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] >>5407957

>>	Anonymous Tue Sep 9 00:23:11 2014 No.5408422 >>5407462 Because "earths destruction" is one of the most stale tropes since the beginning of scifi. What makes your story different from all the others? who are the characters? What insight are you trying to give into the human condition?

Anonymous Tue Sep 9 00:29:54 2014 No.5408458
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>>5407256
Short stories:
The Science Fiction Hall of Fame Vol 1 (Golden Age, some earlier stuff)
Dangerous Visions (New Wave)
Mirrorshades (Cyberpunk)
The above three will give you a good crash course in SF from about 1930 to 1990. I can't think of any good examples from 1990-present.

>>	Anonymous Tue Sep 9 00:31:07 2014 No.5408461 File: 295 KB, 653x969, barlowe_sargatanas[1].jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] >>5407339 >Also, what is the picture from? Is it from that book where the conceit is the artist visited Hell? Wayne Barlowe, "Barlowe's Inferno"

Anonymous Tue Sep 9 01:39:12 2014 No.5408652
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Looking for sci-fi that meets the following criteria:

-intimate story with memorable characters (by intimate I just mean a significant part of the story is about the relationship, not necessarily romantic, between the major characters

-the main focus of the story is not on a single general scientific concept like "are computers capable or morality" or "is genetic modification reckless"

-the story does comment on issues faced in our modern (1950s-now) society, whether directly or through allegory

blade runner for your pleasure

>>	Anonymous Tue Sep 9 01:52:17 2014 No.5408685 File: 827 KB, 200x200, 1373767885707.gif [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] >>5407297 Excellent recommendation.

>>	Anonymous Tue Sep 9 01:56:22 2014 No.5408693 The below link should help out http://scifilists.sffjazz.com/lists_books_rank1.html

>>	Anonymous Tue Sep 9 02:12:41 2014 No.5408723 The Forever War Dying of the Light (rr martin's sci-fi > fantasy) Hyperion 1

>>	Anonymous Tue Sep 9 04:19:28 2014 No.5408956 >>5408652 try Le Guin, either The Left Hand of Darkness or The Dispossessed (my favorite)

Anonymous Tue Sep 9 08:21:54 2014 No.5409443
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>>5408422
Well thats what im trying to do, make it different at least. Earths not really destroyed in my story, but theres no other word I can reallybuse to describe it.

>>	Anonymous Tue Sep 9 08:36:23 2014 No.5409484 >>5408956 I was just about to recommend LHoD. I just finished it, it's ruddy brilliant. [%]I was hoping Genly and Estraven would bone in the tent on the ice[/%]

>>	Anonymous Tue Sep 9 08:39:12 2014 No.5409490 How has no one mentioned the Sprawl Trilogy yet?

Anonymous Tue Sep 9 08:46:57 2014 No.5409513

>>5407365
My first Lem was The Cyberiad.

Needless to say Solaris was nothing like what I expected after that.

I recommend Solaris to my hard sci-fi friends and The Cyberiad to my friends that like Douglas Adams.

Tales of Pirx the Pilot is like the halfway point.

>>	Anonymous Tue Sep 9 09:39:00 2014 No.5409675 I like Reynolds.

>>	Anonymous Tue Sep 9 10:36:59 2014 No.5409848 Metro 2033/34

>>	Anonymous Tue Sep 9 11:23:45 2014 No.5409989 >>5407301 Third for new sun

>>	Anonymous Tue Sep 9 11:33:06 2014 No.5410009 >>5409513 I'll keep that in mind, thanks. >>5409490 Because it's really subpar if you're used to reading books for other reasons than the topics they touch upon.

>>	Anonymous Tue Sep 9 16:45:27 2014 No.5411012 >>5408652 Dune Lord of Light The Diamond Age

>>	Anonymous Tue Sep 9 16:47:44 2014 No.5411019 >>5407256 The New Sun, most PKD things, Herbert.

>>	Anonymous Tue Sep 9 16:58:10 2014 No.5411042 >>5408652 Hunter's Run It's partially written by GRRRRRRRM but he wrote his part of it back when he was still a young up-and-comer. It's seriously one of the best books I've ever read.

>>	Anonymous Tue Sep 9 17:05:07 2014 No.5411064 The house on the borderland.

>>	Anonymous Tue Sep 9 17:08:04 2014 No.5411080 >>5407303 In particular Revelation turns out to be the primary visual influence for most of what we picture as "sci-fi"... cities in domes and secret cults leading a new world order and space battles and such.

>>	Anonymous Tue Sep 9 17:11:56 2014 No.5411091 >>5407301 You have amazing taste in books. The girl is cute too.

Anonymous Tue Sep 9 17:18:06 2014 No.5411117

>>5407326
On your list I've read only Rama and Red Mars. Rendezvous with Rama is such a classic that I don't think anybody could ever really object to it (and who ever complains about stories that short anyway? it's not like you "waste" a lot of time reading it if you don't like it), but I found Red Mars a little droning. It took me way longer to read it than I was expecting, because I kept losing interest. On the one hand, I understand the author's interest in creating "realistic" characters rather than "heroes" as fitting in with the idea of creating a realistic near-future hard sci-fi setting (always a risk--we're only about 20 years from publication and many of his assumptions are already wrong), but I think there's a difference between "realistic" characters and ones that are shitty for the sake of being shitty. I know John Boone was supposed to be a "complex" character just like anyone else, but you'd think the author would have at least been able to get me to like the most charismatic person in the solar system, even if he is a bit of an asshole.
In fact, creating realistically flawed (or worse!) characters and still making the reader like them is probably a better sign of good writing.
Anyway, is the trilogy really so great? I know that the later books attracted rather more recognition than the first one, but that often happens in extended series regardless of quality. Would you say it gets better?

As for the rest of it, I guess your opinion on the above might speak to how much I should expect my views to align with yours. I've been thinking about reading Embassytown; I read The City & the City and I thought it was "p. good," but I specifically chose it over Embassytown because I suspected that it would be a little easier and less annoying to read. Do you get used to the weird gimmicky shit?

Anonymous Tue Sep 9 17:22:29 2014 No.5411135

>>5407848
>>5407974
I also disliked Foundation. I couldn't get into the second (or was it the third?) book at all. If I have to sit through a mediocre first book and a second book that only gets worse, I don't think whatever comes next is worth it.

I know it's popular, but surely there must be a substantial subset of sci-fi readers who feel the same way.

>>	Anonymous Tue Sep 9 17:23:30 2014 No.5411140 >>5408458 >Hyperion

Anonymous Tue Sep 9 17:28:11 2014 No.5411156

>>5410009
>Because it's really subpar if you're used to reading books for other reasons than the topics they touch upon.
I agree entirely.

OP, there was a great thread of sci fi short story suggestions earlier this year, archived here: >>/lit/thread/S4701161#p4704717

I read a bunch of them, and a few of my favorites were The Last Question, The Man Who Lost the Sea, The Machine Stops, and The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories. All pretty quick reads, though The Machine Stops borders on novella length.

Anonymous Tue Sep 9 17:35:46 2014 No.5411195

>>5411135
I only read the first, which I know is really a collection of short stories, but none of them stood out to me and the characters seemed especially flat. I mostly only remember the word "psychohistory" which seemed cool.

I like a lot of SF but I did not like the first Foundation book enough to feel compelled to read more.

Anonymous Tue Sep 9 17:49:24 2014 No.5411259

Gonna try to throw in some stuff I haven't seen mentioned in this thread yet. Not double checking though so I might dupe anyway.

The other "Ender" books are quite good in case you didn't know... not like Ender's Game (which is still good) at all, a totally different kind of sci-fi more reminiscent of Hyperion or something like that.

Quite liked Spin by Robert Charles Wilson, as an example of a post-2000 high-concept sci-fi novel. It also had what I would describe as an extremely "comfy" feel to me. I could really get into it.

In terms of classics let's not forget basically every Philip K. Dick novel, especially Androids and Scanner. Throw Margaret Atwood in there too, even if she says she's not a "sci-fi" writer (Oryx and Crake is fully science fiction though).

>>	Anonymous Tue Sep 9 19:36:46 2014 No.5411782 So no one have read anything from Anne Mccaffrey (Pern saga obviously)? ...and from Ursula K Le Guin the Earthsea series?

>>	Anonymous Tue Sep 9 19:42:19 2014 No.5411815 >>5411782 ya Earthsea rules, /lit/ talks about it pretty frequently when good fantasy comes up. and Le Guin has been mentioned already >>5408956 >>5409484

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/lit/ - Literature