Nerd Oprah book club

October 9, 2007 5:35 AM

I need books for a sci-fi discussion group

Well, I got nominated (or appointed, really) to do a sci-fi book discussion that meets weekly. The good news is that sign up is voluntary, so I should get people who are at least curious. The bad news, is I'm not at all sure what books to put on my 'to read' list. So far, I'm thinking Enders Game (of course) KDicks Kiln People, maybe that book by Barnes where the kids run an asteroid, and possibly Dune. However, I feel I need about a dozen more books to pick and choose from, so, any good suggestions? Also, any discussion questions that should be brought up about them would help. Thanks!

posted by Jacen to Writing & Language (49 answers total)

Dawn by Octavia Butler
posted by fallenposters at 5:38 AM on October 9, 2007

Hitch hiker's Guide. by Adams
posted by oddman at 5:42 AM on October 9, 2007

The Handmaid's Tale, which is a novel about dystopia written from a female's perspective.
posted by Brittanie at 5:47 AM on October 9, 2007

"book of the new sun" by Gene Wolfe
posted by oh pollo! at 5:47 AM on October 9, 2007

334 is an awesome novel about dystopic, future NYC. I am not sure if it's "sci-fi" per se, but it's pretty close. It's awesome and way thick with all kinds of layers and imagery to be puzzled out. Great for discussion.
posted by sneakin at 5:50 AM on October 9, 2007

Snow Crash by Neal Stephenso - Qustions on the growth of globalization, and capitalism, the power of religion the birth and future of the internet, active contraceptives.

Neuromancer by William Gibson - Qustions on drug use, the internet and hacking.

The Road by Cormac McCarthy - Qustions on survival, familly, the apocalypse, cannibalism.
posted by CaptMcalister at 5:54 AM on October 9, 2007

Here's a fairly exhaustive list with descriptions.
posted by strawberryviagra at 6:01 AM on October 9, 2007

Seconding Snow Crash (and it's follow-up, The Diamond Age), Neuromancer, and adding:
Left Hand of Darkness (Urusla LeGuin) - interesting questions of gender
Oryx and Crake (Margaret Atwood) - bioethics, dystopia, post-apocalyptic love story
Never Let Me Go (Kazuo Ishiguro) - bioethics
posted by nkknkk at 6:05 AM on October 9, 2007

Does it have to be books, can you nominate short stories? It might be easier to read a short story or two over the course of a week.

That said Carla Speed McNeil's Finder is a very good SF graphic novel and chapters are available online.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 6:05 AM on October 9, 2007

"Terraforming Earth" by Jack Williamson -- About a few humans that make up the species' insurance policy and reseed Earth with life after disasters wipe out the species.
posted by SpecialK at 6:08 AM on October 9, 2007

Birthday Of The World - Ursula K. LeGuin
Stories Of Your Life - Ted Chiang
Cats Cradle - Kurt Vonnegut
posted by DarkForest at 6:16 AM on October 9, 2007

The Stars, My Destination by Alfred Bester.
posted by saladin at 6:21 AM on October 9, 2007

Princess of Mars - Edgar Rice Burroughs
Stranger in a Strange Land - Heinlein
posted by dagnyscott at 6:31 AM on October 9, 2007

What audience are we working with here? If I were a candidate to join your book club, and I saw that the reading list was composed entirely of the books above, I probably wouldn't join, since I've read all these already.

I suspect that the people who will be joining are already fans of science fiction, probably already have a good grounding in the classics, and are looking to read new stuff. You might consider mixing in some more recent novels, and allowing the group to vote each week on which book to read for the next week.
posted by Void_Ptr at 6:36 AM on October 9, 2007

One more:
Memoirs Of A Space Traveler - Stanislaw Lem
posted by DarkForest at 6:39 AM on October 9, 2007

Seconding The Left Hand of Darkness by LeGuin. I've just re-read it after 20-some years, and found myself wishing I had someone else who'd read it to discuss it with.
posted by JaredSeth at 6:40 AM on October 9, 2007

"The Cloud Atlas" by David Mitchell - this is one of my favorite sci-fi books (I admit I'm not a huge fan of the genre, but this one is really great). Enjoy!
posted by mateuslee at 6:45 AM on October 9, 2007

Well, for me, Atwood's _Oryx and Crake_ and Ishiguro's _Never Let Me Go_ (and P.D. James' _Children of Men_ for that matter) are more pseudo-sf than "actual" science fiction; I was disappointed by both (and I am a fan of other non-sf novels of both authors).

The John Barnes book you are thinking of is _Orbital Resonance_, I think.

I can't tell if that's a typo in your post or not, but _Kil'n People_ is by David Brin, not Philip K. Dick.

Seconding: short stories in _Stories of Your Life_ by Ted Chiang. The Gene Wolfe _Book of the New Sun_ series is great, but I would hesitate to second it as it would be quite a project for a book club (4 books in first series plus a weird sort-of sequel, then two additional related series of 4 and 3 books each.)

I also recommend recent novels like:
- Vernor Vinge, _Rainbow's End_
- Charles Stross, _Accelerando_
- Paul Park, _A Princess of Roumainia_, _The Tourmaline_, _The White Tyger_ trilogy
- Alastair Reynolds, _Pushing Ice_, and _Century Rain_
- Robert Charles Wilson, _Spin_
- Kim Stanley Robinson, _Forty Signs of Rain_ (has two sequels I have not yet read)
- Geoff Ryman, _AIR_
- Ian McDonald, _River of Gods_
- Paul MacAuley, _World Wide Web_ and _White Devils_
- the Kage Baker "Company" series of novels is great fun (and complete now, I think) but again a big project for a book club
- Christopher Priest's novel _The Prestige_ (which the recent movie was based on, though some of the plot is different)
posted by aught at 6:55 AM on October 9, 2007

I've never done the book club thing, but rather than give you a straight list of "good SF novels", I'd like to suggest some pairings that might play off each other for discussion purposes.

Joe Haldeman's The Forever War explores conscription and post-Vietnam alienation; I'd pair it with Heinlein's more bullish Starship Troopers.

Greg Bear's Queen of Angels explores crime, justice, punishment and responsibility, and has the most interesting AI characters I've ever read. Alfred Bester's The Demolished Man is a much simpler book, but they're both recognizable as police procedurals.

Kurt Vonnegut's Sirens of Titan, A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr. and A Case of Conscience by James Blish all come at religion from very different directions.

Brave New World and 1984? Of course, SF is full of dystopias. (A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess, for example - it's a modern classic, it's short, and it asks whether it's better to be forced to be good or to choose to be bad).

Charlie Stross' Accelerando is the last word on the singularity, and I find myself re-reading it every few months... another great book about mere humans dealing with weakly-god-like intelligences is Vernor Vinge's A Fire Upon The Deep. They're both very internet-era novels (but then the singularity is a very internet-era idea).

Please consider some short fiction, too - it's a quicker read, and frankly often better than the novel.length stuff.
posted by Leon at 7:01 AM on October 9, 2007

It might help, Jacen, if we know what kind of audience you're expecting. Is this for young adults? If not, this sharp essay by John Kessel, "Creating the Innocent Killer," should spark lots of critical discussion about Ender's Game. Hell, it might be good for smart kids, too.
posted by mediareport at 7:06 AM on October 9, 2007

BTW, gotta disagree with aught's Alastair Reynolds recommendation - Iain M Banks wannabe who can only write for a handful of stock characters. I own and somewhat enjoy his stuff, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.
posted by Leon at 7:07 AM on October 9, 2007

A book I read recently that was quite good (considered a classic, but I'd never heard of it when I bought it):

Mockingbird by Walter Tevis

Also, in the same post-apocalyptic vein:

Where Late, The Sweet Birds Sang by Kate Wilhelm
A Canticle for Lebowitz by Walter M. Miller, Jr.
posted by snwod at 7:14 AM on October 9, 2007

There are a lot of excellent recommendations on this list already. I'm a big fan of the Book of the New Sun, but it's so dense—there's so much there—that it could easily crowd everything else off your list in order to really talk it out. A few hours discussion would scarcely scratch the surface.

I recently read a collection of PKD short stories. Something like that would work well for a discussion group: you can talk about each story on its own merits, and also how they all fit together to illustrate some of the bigger themes the author was hung up on.
posted by adamrice at 7:19 AM on October 9, 2007

Robert Silverberg's Dying Inside is a pretty good candidate - although it's a fairly "easy" read, the writing has a lot of impact, and there's plenty there to talk and speculate about.
posted by Wolfdog at 7:44 AM on October 9, 2007

The Sparrow - Mary Doria Russel, I think was tyhe author's name.
posted by mazienh at 8:19 AM on October 9, 2007 [1 favorite]

aught has the right of it, regarding Kiln People. I'd suggest a bunch of David Brin books to you, but if you only read one, I'd suggest Earth...though the Uplift War trilogy is pretty much awesome, too. Neuromancer by William Gibson is a classic a lot of geeks haven't heard of (was the Matrix just a rip off of this, or am I dreaming?). Depending on the age group, there are some cross-over fantasy/sci-fi Marion Zimmer Bradley (Darkover books) and Anne McCaffrey (Ship Who Sang, Pern) books that would be good, especially for the younger crowd.
posted by eralclare at 8:21 AM on October 9, 2007

Seconding Cloud Atlas.

While I haven't finished it yet, I've so far been *really* impressed with Spin Control by Chris Moriarty. It's a relatively new novel, so it mwould complement the classics and it won the 2006 PKD Award, so it's got, at least Dickian, cred.
posted by donovan at 8:26 AM on October 9, 2007

Yes and yes and yes on Stanislaw Lem, in particular b/c he seems to be the only nominee from outside the English-speaking world. I was moved and mesmerized by Solaris (please ignore any associations you might have with the movie version involving George Clooney. In fact, even the original Tarkovsky adaptation can't compare). Also, Tales of Pirx the Pilot.

Maybe some anime graphic novels to mix up the genre a little?
posted by foxy_hedgehog at 9:11 AM on October 9, 2007

Eon and Eternity (sequel) by Greg Bear
posted by i_am_a_Jedi at 9:19 AM on October 9, 2007

Response by poster: Doubtful on any high school kids. I mostly get the impression it will be the type of people who see a posting in a book store and think 'oh, neat'. And yeah, I knew that about the Kiln people author. Really. Don't I sound well informed and ready for this? :) I like the short story idea, but how hard would those be to find? For both me and them. Now, putting Fables (the graphic novel) on the list is really interesting.

I'll have to look up some of these and see what they are about.

And yeah, I read Neuromancer a few times.. it sort of confuses me. I suspect I have a bit of trouble reading between his lines :)
posted by Jacen at 10:20 AM on October 9, 2007

The Foundation series by Isaac Asimov.
posted by ducktape at 10:24 AM on October 9, 2007

Under the Skin by Michel Faber is an excellent little book, and it has its own discussion questions at the end.
posted by [@I][:+:][@I] at 10:41 AM on October 9, 2007

If you want to go back to some of the beginnings of what we now call science fiction, put a Verne novel or two into the mix. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is a classic (find a good translation) or Journey to the Center of the Earth.

If you have space to put in two Verne Books, I'd say go with 20,000 Leagues and then The Mysterious Island, which is quite different thematically from 20,000 Leagues, and my favourite of Verne's books. Technically, there's another book in this loose "series" (In Search of the Castaways) but it's not essential for getting the most of the Mysterious Island.
posted by Nelsormensch at 11:06 AM on October 9, 2007

The Handmaid's Tale and Long Dark Tea Time of the Soul. Also, Battlefield Earth is actually surprising good (surprising if you saw the movie).
posted by letahl at 11:15 AM on October 9, 2007

Of recent stuff, seconding:
- Robert Charles Wilson, _Spin_
- Kim Stanley Robinson, _Forty Signs of Rain_
posted by LobsterMitten at 11:49 AM on October 9, 2007

Vurt by Jeff Noon, no question.
posted by Unicorn on the cob at 1:32 PM on October 9, 2007

Hyperion and The fall of Hyperion by Dan Simmons. And for his take on life, the universe and everything, Endymion and Rise of Endymion. As far as universe creation goes, Dan Simmons is right up there with Frank Herbert.
posted by Tacodog at 1:34 PM on October 9, 2007

American Gods by Neik Gaiman won the Hugo and the Nebula, and I love it.

Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson is also good. Stephenson's Cryptonomicon is great and might be real good for group discussions.
posted by RussHy at 4:17 PM on October 9, 2007

The Brin, Asimov, Herbert, LeGuin, Simmons, Haldeman recommendations are all good ones.

The Mote in God's Eye, Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle is a good book - politics and xenopobia, and some of the most alien aliens I've seen in scifi.
posted by ysabet at 4:55 PM on October 9, 2007

My top three picks for adult readers with expectations of quality writing (all series of books):

Dan Simmons' Hyperion Cantos and Ilium duology, heavily referencing and intertextual with literary classics (and very well written), as suggested above.

Also, Iain Banks' Culture novels are very rich -- this post of his from usenet on some of the background to the universe is (I think) fascinating, and there are a LOT of really interesting philosophical points to hash over.

Both are some of the best-written SF I've read. I'd add Gene Wolfe's Book of The New Sun series, too, for depth and craft.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 7:02 PM on October 9, 2007

You may want to start by looking at the Hugo and Nebula winners over the last 4 or 5 decades. Pay attention to the finalists for each year, too; e.g., Greg Bear's Blood Music, a finalist for the Nebula and beaten for the Hugo by Ender's Game, is a fantastic quick read about biotech organisms rapidly evolving inside a scientist. I'd also try for a variety of styles, like a pre-1920 classic, a 1960s classic, something that explores gender in a bizarre way, a modern space opera, some military scifi, a loony PKDick romp, something closer to a novel of ideas, etc.
posted by mediareport at 7:30 PM on October 9, 2007 [1 favorite]

(Go for Ubik for the loony PKD romp.)
posted by mediareport at 7:31 PM on October 9, 2007

I like the short story idea, but how hard would those be to find?

It involves John Kessel again, I know, but the recent collection Feeling Very Strange:The Slipstream Anthology has been widely praised. It occupies the area between scifi and mainstream fiction, with authors like Michael Chabon, Karen Joy Fowler and Jonathan Lethem, which might make it more palatable/sellable to a general library audience. I haven't read it yet, but it came highly recommended.
posted by mediareport at 7:41 PM on October 9, 2007

cosmicomics, italo calvino.
posted by sushiwiththejury at 11:13 PM on October 9, 2007

I like the short story idea, but how hard would those be to find?

You need the yearly "Best Of" compilations edited by Gardner Dozois. Lots of really good stuff there.

BTW, Ian McDonald, Hearts Hands and Voices - Northern Ireland to the tune of a far-future biotech paradise.
posted by Leon at 4:43 AM on October 10, 2007

Leon - agree with the Ian McDonald _Hearts, Hands, and Voices_ nod (which was called _The Broken Land_ by its U.S. publisher I believe), but it's probably out-of-print and difficult for everyone in a book club to get a copy of.

I dunno about your Alastair Reynolds dismissal - I had problems with the uneven characterization in his long series of novels (_Revelation Space_ through _Absolution Gap_) but I thought he has done a much better job in the last two (non-series) novels and stand by my rec of those. And while both writers aim for a high sensawunda quotient, Reynolds and Banks don't seem that much alike to me in terms of either prose style, characters, or setting, though I know that's probably a subjective call, ymmv, etc.

Seconding the Dozois anthologies (if you want smaller, easier-to-carry trade or mass market pbs, the David Hartwell and Rich Horton yearly SF anthologies are nearly as good). Also, the LOCUS magazine yearly "Recommended Reading" lists are a great place to get ideas for good sf to read (they have best stories, story collections and first novel categories, too). The lists are hard to find navigating their website directly but easy if you just google "Locus recommended ".
posted by aught at 6:56 AM on October 10, 2007

i_am_a_Jedi: if you liked _Eon_ and _Eternity_ (many didn't but I did too) you might want to look for _Legacy_ (a prequel to _Eon_) and the novella "The Way of All Ghosts" (in Bear's collected stories) which have the same setting. [Personal axe being ground: I have been saddened to see Bear's recent devolution into a medicore thriller writer. Though I imagine he's making more money writing teh "hi-tech thrillers".]
posted by aught at 7:05 AM on October 10, 2007

Thanks aught! I didn't know those existed - I'll have to track them down.

I agree about the direction his writing has been progressing in. Quantico does not interest me at all, even if he was on the Daily Show to promote it.
posted by i_am_a_Jedi at 12:49 PM on October 10, 2007

Ian McDonald _Hearts, Hands, and Voices_ [...] it's probably out-of-print

Hmm. Well anything by him is worth reading, IMO. But it might be worth throwing links to abebooks and SF Masterworks into the thread.

I had problems with the uneven characterization in his long series of novels (_Revelation Space_ through _Absolution Gap_) but I thought he has done a much better job in the last two (non-series) novels

I think I've got at least one of those in the to-do pile, I'll bump them up the list, thanks. I keep buying the books because I want to find out what happens next, so he's succeeded with me on one level.

Reynolds and Banks don't seem that much alike to me in terms of either prose style, characters, or setting, though I know that's probably a subjective call, ymmv, etc.

Although Banks has a stylistic edge I don't think it would take much retooling to set a Revelation Space plot in The Culture. As space opera goes, they're not a million miles apart. I think the similarities stand out most clearly when you look at how they write women, and the biggest difference is that Banks doesn't believe in grey goo scenarios. But as you said, subjective.
posted by Leon at 9:21 PM on October 10, 2007