1001 Science Fiction Books to Read Before a Supernova Kills Us All

I was begged so nicely, so I'll start the nomination process for this list. It will work the same way the 1001 Fantasy Books to Read Before You Are Turned Into a Newt. Books will be nominated, then voted on. Books with at least a certain number of votes will be added. Only the FIRST book in a series will show/be voted on but when the list is completed, all the books in a series will count toward the 1001 (unless there is more than 20 or so, then only the first.)

Again, I will consider the term "science fiction" very loosely. Non-fiction can be nominated, such as an author autobiography or books about science fiction. Short story collections can nominated as can graphic novels.

Yes, I know that the GD is fantasy-oriented, but to be honest, I trust your nominations more than other cranky groups that will go unmentioned.

*****

1. Please include the title of the book (i.e. not the series name) and the author

2. The easiest format for me to use is:
Title by Author

3. Try not to nominate something already on the 1001 Fantasy list.

4. A book only needs to be nominated once. If you see it listed, you don't need to list it again.

5. List only the FIRST book in a series.

6. Please avoid nominating omnibus editions.

7. Please don't edit your posts to add books. Eiditng for tipos iz just phine.

*****

Let the nominations begin!

1984 by George Orwell
Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein
Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke

Dune by Frank Herbert
I, Robot by Isaac Asimov
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut

Edited for touchstones and additions

Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy by Douglas Adams (1 of 5)
Cyteen by CJ Cherryh
Foreigner by ditto (1 of 12)
Colected works of Cherryh if it existed as one book
The stars my destination by A Bester
Kiln people by D Brin
Earth Ditto

So many more.

Eon by G bear
Cities in flight by J Blish
Foundation by I Asimov (1 of lots)
Postman by D brin
Babel -17 by S Delany
The real story S donaldson (1 of 5)
Jerusalem fire by RM Meluch
Ringworld by L niven
Revelation space by A reynolds (1 of 6?)
Only forward by MM smith
Diamond age
Snow crash both by N stephenson
Pixel juice by J noon
Contact by C Sagan

I'm sure there are more too.

Crystal Singer by Anne McCaffrey

#4 Who is this writer 'ditto' of which you speak? ;o)

Lilith's Brood by Octavia E. Butler

Which is technically an omnibus of her Xenogenesis trilogy (but that leaves more room for more books, right?):
Dawn
Adulthood Rites
Imago

Gabriel's Ghost by Linnea Sinclair

Tinker by Wen Spencer

edited to take off Split Infinity as it is already on the Fantasy list.

#6 LOL. You know. I know you know because I've mentioned her a lot.

And a big shout out to the Touchstones for unusually accurate performance (even if I abandonded trying to get authors).

Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury
I Sing the Body Electric! by Ray Bradbury

In no particular order:

Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K.Le Guin
The Giver by Lois Lowry
The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell
House of Stairs by William Sleator

A canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller

Neuromancer by William Gibson

Man Plus by Frederick Pohl

The handmaid's tale by Margaret Atwood

... and one off-the-wall mention:

Giles Goat-boy by John Barth

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne
The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells
The Time Machine by H. G. Wells
False Dawn by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro

The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Caves of Steel by Isaac Asimov
Ender's Game by OSC
The Demons at Rainbow Bridge by Jack L. Chalker (Quintara Marathon)
Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Nemesis by Isaac Asimov
Armor by John Steakley
20,000 Leagues under the Sea by Jules Verne
The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton
Sphere
Jurassic Park
Sundiver by David Brin
Nightfall by Isaac Asimov

The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
On Basilisk Station by David Weber
Callahan's Crosstime Saloon by Spider Robinson
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinlein
The Forever War by Joe Haldeman

Two questions:

1 - Is there any point in nominating a book that's already on the 1001Fantasy list?
2 - The voting is separate, so if someone's already nominated your book, you don't need to nominate it again, correct?

Nominations:

Omnivore by Piers Anthony (1 of 3)
Caves of Steel by Isaac Asimov (1 of 4)
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card (1 of 4)
Pastwatch by Orson Scott Card
Treason by Orson Scott Card
Wyrms by Orson Scott Card
The Faded Sun: Kesrith by C. J. Cherryh (1 of 3)
The Pride of Chanur by C. J. Cherryh (1 of 5)
Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke
Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton
Sphere by Michael Crichton
Footfall by Niven/Pournelle
The Mote in God's Eye by Niven/Pournelle
Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson (1 of 3)
Hyperion by Dan Simmons (1 of 4)
Ilium by Dan Simmons (1 of 2)
Heroes Die by Matthew Woodring Stover (1 of 4)

James Tiptree, Jr. : The Double Life of Alice B. Sheldon by Julie Phillips was an absolutely fantastic biography.

>17 saltmanz: Two good points. I've added the answers to the first post.

Just for reference, because not everyone probably knows: The Sparrow had a sequel, Children of God.

I just reread the original post...Are we supposed to avoid listing sequels/later books in series?

Would like to nominate:
He, She, and It by Marge Piercy

The Memory of Earth by Orson Scott Card (1 of 5)
At the Mountains of Madness by H. P. Lovecraft
Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor by Matthew Stover

Morphy: you should put a link in the first post to the 1001Fantasy list for quick reference.

Can I also add a request that people don't go back and edit titles into previous posts? It means each time someone comes back in they have to reread the ENTIRE thread to see if something has been added to a previous post.

Millennium by John Varley
334 by Thomas M. Disch
On the beach by Nevil Shute
The book of skulls by Robert Silverberg
The man in the high castle by Philip K. Dick
Stand on Zanzibar by John Brunner
The Stand by Stephen King

The Snow Queen byJoan Vinge

The Merro Tree by Katie Waitman

Barrayar by Lois McMaster Bujold

The Quiet Invasion and Playing God by Sarah Zettel

In the Company of Others by Julie E. Czerneda

Harlan Ellison, the anthology Dangerous Visions

Damnation Alley and Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny

Killer by David Drake & Karl Edward Wagner

Tomorrowlog and Agent of Change by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller

Y: The Last Man written by Brian K. Vaughan
Otherland by Tad Williams

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

Does World War Z by Max Brooks have a chance at being Science Fiction?

In Memory Yet Green by Isaac Asimov (3 volume autobiography)

Time Enough for Love by Robert Heinlein

The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories; and Other Stories by Gene Wolfe

World War Z by Max Brooks

Doomsday Book by Connie Willis

The Island of Doctor Moreau by H.G. Wells

Oh boy, I leave work to go home and have some dinner and look what's happened!!!
Lots of good suggestions, lots of which would be my spontaneous nominations.

To add a few I think is good enough -

The Skinner by Neal Asher
Pashazade by Jon Courtenay Grimwood (1 of 3)
The Dispossessed by Le Guin
Anathem by Neal Stephenson
When gravity fails by Georg Alec Effinger (1 of 3)
Hellburner by C.J. Cherryh (2 of 2)
Tripoint by C.J. Cherryh
Worlds of Exile and Illusion by Le Guin

The Shadow of the Torturer by Gene Wolfe
The Claw of the Conciliator by Gene Wolfe
The Sword of the Lictor by Gene Wolfe
The Citadel of the Autarch by Gene Wolfe
The Urth of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe
Nightside the Long Sun by Gene Wolfe
The Lake of the Long Sun by Gene Wolfe
Calde of the Long Sun by Gene Wolfe
Exodus from the Long Sun by Gene Wolfe
On Blue's Waters by Gene Wolfe
In Green's Jungles by Gene Wolfe
Return to the Whorl by Gene Wolfe

The Telling by Ursula K Leguin
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K Leguin
The Dispossessed by Ursula K Leguin

Out of the Silent Planet by CS Lewis
Perelandra by CS Lewis
That Hideous Strength by CS Lewis

The Demolished Man by Alfie Bester
Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang by Kate Wilhelm
Beggars in Spain by Nancy Kress
Bears Discover Fire by Terry Bisson
Fool's Run by Patricia McKillip
Way Station by Clifford Simak
City by Clifford Simak
Old Man's War by John Scalzi
Fire Watch by Connie Willis
Babel 17 by Samuel Delany
Martian Time Slip by Phil Dick
The Man in the High Castle by Phil Dick
Good News from Outer Space by John Kessel
Lord Valentine's castle by Bob Silverberg
Hyperion by Dan Simmons
We by Yevgeny zamyatin
Slan by AE Van Vogt
More than Human by Theodore Sturgeon
The Dying Earth by Jack vance
Martian Odyssey by Stanley Weinbaum
Fools' War by Sara Zettel

Stories of Your Life Ted Chiang
The Ship Who Sang Anne Mccaffrey
Of Men and Monsters William Tenn
More Than Human Theodore Sturgeon

Alright, I can't resist adding Storm at the Edge of Time by Pamela F. Service simply because I love it so unreasonably much.

Didn't see these yet:

Inherit the Stars by James P. Hogan
Birthright: The Book of Man by Mike Resnick
In the Garden of Iden by Kage Baker
Midshipman's Hope by David Feintuch
Helm by Steven Gould
Truth Machine by James Halperin
Souls in the Great Machine by Sean McMullen

The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham
The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham

Timescape by Gregory Benford
In the Ocean of Night by Gregory Benford(= the first book
of six in "The Galactic Center Series)
The Ocean of Years by Roger MacBride Allen (= the first book of three in "The Chroncles of Solace)

Three books that I feel deserve to feature on the list:

Time Ships by Stephen Baxter
Jem by Frederik Pohl
Man Plus by Frederik Pohl

Kindred by Octavia Butler
Ubik by Philip K. Dick
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick
Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut

We by Yevgeny Zamyatin is in post 32 but it's the wrong touchstone, so I've included the correct one.

Please remember to include only the first book in a series. Thanks!

The Gods Themselves by Asimov.

I'm pretty sure the Culture series should have a nomination, the first of which is
Consider Phlebas by Iain M. Banks (which I think I bought because of the T.S. Eliot reference, which is in turn referencing other stuff which has since fallen into the murky depths of my memory never to return). Also
Walking on Glass by Iain Banks.
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell is also cool, and *bits* of it are definitely Sci-Fi.
Journey to the Centre of the Earth by Jules Verne HAS to be in there.
I see reading_fox has already mentioned one Pixel Juice, but but I'd like to push
Vurt by Jeff Noon
Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson should at least get a nomination, IMO.
Pandora in the Congo by Albert Sanchez Pinol (which will never make the list!).
R.U.R by Karel Čapek, which is where the robots came from (or at least the name).

(Edited because I'd been very unhelpful and spread authors and titles all over the place, but the content is the same!)

I mentioned a no. 2 in a duo, because I think that one qualifies but not the first. I hope that's OK. They're different enough to be read as stand-alones.

But is Cryptonomicon really SF? I have it tagged as such, but in reality I don't think it is. It's set in present time, with two second level historical/back story-lines intermingled...

Sorry, more:
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
The Blind Assassin by Margaret Attwood
The Stone Gods by Jeanette Winterson

I'm trying to nominate only one book per author because otherwise it would get really long. There are also some short story collections in there.

Blood Music by Greg Bear
Burning Chrome by William Gibson
A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller
The Cyberiad by Stanisław Lem
Dune by Frank Herbert
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card (not including some of the sequels...)
The Forever War by Joe Haldeman
Generation P by Victor Pelevin
Hyperion by Dan Simmons
I, Robot by Isaac Asimov
Lilith's Brood by Octavia Butler (AKA Xenogenesis trilogy)
Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson
The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin
The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury
The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell
Nova by Samuel Delany
Quarantine by Greg Egan
Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke (NOT including the sequels!)
Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang
The Rediscovery of Man by Cordwainer Smith
The Spiteful Planet by Shinichi Hoshi
This Alien Shore by C. S. Friedman
Ubik by Philip K. Dick
Use of Weapons by Iain M. Banks

I also need to pick a Bujold book, a Strugatsky book, and oooh there must be a million authors I'm forgetting. (No I won't go back to edit my post. I hate that!)

The Shockwave Rider by John Brunner
This Alien Shore by C.S. Friedman
Dawn For a Distant Earth by L.E. Modesitt, Jr.

The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
Heir Apparent by Vivian Vande Velde
You've Got Murder by Donna Andrews
Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer
The Merchant of Death by B J MacHale
Only You can Save Mankind by Terry Pratchett
Surviving Antarctica 2083 by Andrea White
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle

I may be repeating some books.

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
Rendezvous With Rama by Arthur C. Clarke

The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. LeGuin
Moonfall by Jack McDevitt

Stars in my Pocket, Like Grains of Sand by Samuel Delany
More than Human by Theodore Sturgeon
The Rediscovery of Man by Cordwainer Smith
The Space Merchants by Frederick Pohl and CM Kornbluth
On the Beach by Nevil Shute
The Stainless Steel Rat by Harry Harrison
The Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler
Rising Stars by J. Michael Straczynski
China Mountain Zhang by Maureen F. McHugh
The Square Root of Man by William Tenn
Tiger, Tiger aka The Stars, My Destination by Alfred Bester

Oh, how could I have forgotten?

Jani Killian series, by Kristine Smith which starts with Code of Conduct

A Fall of Moondust Arthur C. Clarke

Another one that probably won't make it: Uhura's Song Janet Kagan

Songs of Distant Earth by Arthur C Clarke

What about Sands of Mars, also by Arthur C Clarke? His second novel, and it shows, but it's classic 'aliens on Mars' combined with a mystery. Like Caves of Steel, but more space operay ;-)

Busifer: On Cryptonomicon: I don't know. It's fiction based around sciencey ideas, but does that make it science fiction? I think there are quite a few books which aren't pure sci-fi, but sit there on the edges of the genre (Never Let Me Go? The Handmaid's Tale?). I don't know where the line is drawn.

Me neither. If it gets on the list I'd definitely vote for it :-)

Yeah, lets have a what is SF debate.... maybe we can reach a closer answer than the SFfans have done.

Riddley walker by R Hoban
the dark imbalance by S williams (1 of 3)
Privateers by ben bova
Sandkings by GRR Martin (better known for his fantasy work, he's also written some cracking SF.)
solaris by S Lem
City by C D Simak - Who's written loads of books all of which might well be worthy.

The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury

How many you got so far, Morphy?

Might I suggest you make your life easier by just adding all fiction by certain authors, like Bradbury, Vonnegut and Heinlein. Then let folks weed out what might not be strictly considered SciFi.

I won't start collating until this weekend. But when I do, you KNOW I'll start giving numbers! :)

Dark Star by Alan Dean Foster!

Daybreak - 2250 A.D. by Andre Norton. Originally titled Star Man's Son. Wonderful story much loved in my youth. My first real experience with post-apocalyptic fiction.

#23 clam: Do you use a mac or a pc? I'm not sure about macs, but with a pc you can use ctrl + f to search for words or phrases on any given page. Just sayin. I'm not suggesting that your request isn't a good one (I think it *is*), but I use ctrl f all the time and thought it might come in handy for others too.

Whoops, I leaped in without reading the instructions carefully. Sorry, Morph! Here's a revision of some of my entries, reduced to include only the first volume of three very long novels and one trilogy:

The Shadow of the Torturer by Gene Wolfe
The Urth of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe
Nightside the Long Sun by Gene Wolfe
On Blue's Waters by Gene Wolfe

Out of the Silent Planet by CS Lewis

(I tried to use tags to do strikethroughs but I guess they're not supported.)

#63 - What activates search is application specific, not OS specific, but Ctrl+F is the most commonly used. Anyway, I don't see how this could make it easier for Clam? Sure a search for 'edited' would turn up edits, but how know if it's just a touchstone or a typo or a whole new book that's been added?
Hm.
Maybe I'm missing something?

#64 works well.
Farenheit 451

I'm sure we are still missing a lot of very good books. Just can't think of any at the moment.

Just thought of another one:

Invasion of the Body Snatchers by Jack Finney

Busifer: Good call - I was the one who was missing something (a brain, perhaps?). I misread Clam's post, thinking she said that one would have to reread everything before posting a new book (in order to avoid double posting of a book), but now that I reread what she wrote, I realize that's not right at all. Sorry everyone.

The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy and all things Douglas Adams and Philip K Dick, obviously, plus here's a few others which haven't been mentioned:

Children of Men by P.D.James
Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut
Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
The Drought by J. G. Ballard

All of these, I suppose, could be argued to be on the margins of what is science fiction, but I like them.

So, let's decide on a real WIDE definition of science fiction, don't we?!?! Will drive the purists nuts but gets us a better list :-)

70> I'm with you on that one, Busifer :-) (This is possibly because I'm not a huge pure sci-fi fan. I like the fringes!)

#70 - Oh ho, then.

King Kong by Delos W. Lovelace
The White Plague by Frank Herbert
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

(oh no! What have we started? *grins*)

Alright you guys. The numbers are not good. Are we going to end up with a list of 101 Science Fiction Books to Read Before a Supernova Kills Us All? Or are you going to make me have to invite folks from, you know, that OTHER group to make more nominations?

We have 226 books listed! Need more input!

Manifold: Time and
Evolution by Stephen Baxter

Do any books set in a pre-made universe count?
Shadows of the Empire by Steve Perry, set between Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi was really well done and a great read. Speaking of which
Heir to the Empire by Timothy Zahn was fabulous.

Apparently, I read a lot more fantasy than I do science fiction. I never really realized that.

Darwin's Radio and
Blood Music by Greg Bear

Does Jack Finney count as science fiction? maybe not, but if he does, can we list Time and Again?

edited: some of my touchstones aren't working :(

OK -

Flowers for Algernon, by Daniel Keyes
Four ways to forgiveness, by Ursula K Le Guin
Gridlinked (first in a series, ongoing), by Neal Asher
Cowl, by Neal Asher
The end of eternity, by Isaac Asimov
Forty thousand in Gehenna, by C.J. Cherryh

... more coming, but I have to leave for now...

Everyone knows it's going to be a race of homicidial robots that kills us all, not a supernova. Or maybe an asteroid. But not a supernova.

Lots of good books so far!

Dhalgren by Samuel R. Delany?

littlegeek: For crying out loud - don't tell ffrenchy!

A few older favorites...

Dreamsnake by Vonda McIntyre
Time and Again by Jack Finney
Rite of Passage by Alexei Panshin
The Falling Woman by Pat Murphy
The door into Summer by Robert Heinlein
Macroscope by Piers Anthony

Hmmm, how about

The Integral Trees by Niven (1 of 2)
Star Wars: Traitor by Stover (tie-in done right)
Revenge of the Sith by Stover (movie novelization done right)

#79 Ooooh, I love Dhalgren, but apparently I'm in the minority.

I pretty much love everything of Delany's I've read.

#83 Yeah, it absolutely blew me away. It was the first Delaney I ever read. I am slowly collecting more, and enjoying them all so far, but I don't think I will ever shake the feeling of reading Dhalgren for the first time.

Kane of Old Mars by Micheal Moorcock I have the Omnibus, but is is also a trilogy.

Haunted Mesa by Louis L'Amour (if you can believe it!)

NightWings Robert Silverberg
Born With the Dead Silverberg
Thorns Silverberg
Hawksbill Station Silverberg
Alien Earth Megan Lindholm
Chrysalids John Wyndham
Brightness Falls from the air Tiptree
Warm worlds and otherwise Tiptree
Up the Walls of the World Tiptree
A princess of Mars (+10 John Carter of Mars) Edgar Rice Burroughs
The Sirens of Titan Vonnegut
Welcome to the Monkey House Vonnegut
Strange Relations Phillip Jose Farmer
Riverworld (Series of 5) Farmer
The Female Man Joanna Russ
Starshadows Pamela Sargent
Time of the Fourth Horseman Chelsea Quin Yarbro
The Sky is Falling Lester Del Rey
Sea Kings of Mars Leigh Brackett
Gateway (+some) Frederik Pohl
Man Plus Pohl
Jem Pohl
Obernewtyn (+4) Isobelle Carmody
The Many-Colored Land (+3?) Julian May
The Crystal Singer (+2)Anne Mccaffrey
To Ride Pegasus (+2) Mccaffrey
Nimsha's ship Mccaffrey
Doona (+2) Mccaffrey
Restoree Mccaffrey
Heliconia Spring (+2) Brian Aldiss
Saliva Tree Aldiss
Hothouse Aldiss
Kronk Edmund Cooper
Five To twelve Cooper
Transit Cooper
Jupiter Laughs Cooper
Rule Golden and other stories Damon Knight
Off Centre Knight
(and while I'm on Knight - which collection was to serve man in?)
Tau Zero Poul Anderson
The Star Fox Anderson
Stars are also fire Anderson
What mad Universe Fredric Brown
(and a collection with "arena" in)
Lord of Light Roger Zelazny
Solaris Sainlaw Lem
Jagged Orbit John Brunner
Sheep Look Up John Brunner
Fountains of Paradise Arthur C Clarke
Away and Beyond A E Van Vogt
Borderline Vercors
Venus Plus x Theodore Sturgeon
To here and the Easel Sturgeon

All of the above I have actually got (except I only have 2 John carter books) I was actually afraid of overwhelming the nominations if I did this before but with the request for more nominations i just went for it.

I'm hesitant to add these to the list, since I've never actually read them. But, I've been meaning to, and I've heard good things about them:

China Mountain Zhang by Maureen F. McHugh
Ammonite by Nicola Griffith
Shadow Man by Melissa Scott
Terrorists of Irustan by Louise Marley

To Serve Man is contained in Far Out Damon Knight
Arena is collected in Honeymoon in Hell F. Brown - thats not where i read it, i've got it in The SF Collection

...not much this man made can be labelled 'science fiction', but this one is certainly out there - Flight 714, by Hergé.

I'd also like to nominate the Linda and Valerian, Spatiotemporal Agents, even if I know they're virtually unheard of outside Europe. I'd link to the series page but it's in dire need of some CK work... so I'm off to that task now.
Meanwhile - http://www.librarything.com/work/1867641

ETA - done some work on Valerian, and here are the titles I know have been published in the US (my copies list a company located in Connecticut) - http://www.librarything.com/series/Valerian,%20spatiotemporal%20agent

ETA II - (notice how obsessed I am, lol?) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valerian_and_Laureline

I haven't read it yet, but apparently it's an "S.F. Masterwork":
Grass by Sherri S. Tepper

Busifer, surely
Destination Moon and
Explorers on the Moon by Hergé count too! (That's a nomination, btw!)

ETA:
Although actually they're sort of a duology. So maybe the nomination should be
Destination Moon (1 of 2) by Hergé.

You're right!
I second the nomination :D

And what about The calculus affair? Fictive science! ;-)
Yes, it's a nomination.

Should someone not perhaps nominate Last and First Men by Olaf Stapledon as one of THE great sf classics?

Fallen Dragon by Peter F. Hamilton

93> The Tintin fans attack :-D Those dastardly Bordurians...

2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke should probably go on the list, too.

Bright of the Sky by Kay Kenyon (1 of 3)

I don't have much experience with science fiction, but here goes. I combed through my library and blog for the sci fi I've most enjoyed over the past few years. I'm sorry if I've repeated anything; I tried to search out any potential duplicates.

Steampunk, ed. by Ann & Jeff VanderMeer
Airborn by Kenneth Oppel
At the Earth's Core by Edgar Rice Burroughs
Firefly: The Official Visual Companion
Serenity: Those Left Behind by Joss Whedon
Carnival by Elizabeth Bear
Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
Year's Best Science Fiction, First Annual Collection, ed. by Gardner Dozois
Old Man's War by John Scalzi
Someone Comes To Town, Someone Leaves Town by Cory Doctorow
Nebula Stories

I'd like to recommend Heartlight by T. A. Barron. Lovely, lovely.

I'll nominate another: Air, or Have Not Have by Geoff Ryman.

Almost every book I was going to suggest has already been suggested, but let's see...

Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
The Android's Dream by John Scalzi
Red Mars (Mars Trilogy) by Kim Stanley Robinson

Forests of the Night by S. Andrew Swann
Ishmael by Barbara Hambly
Little Fuzzy by H. Beam Piper
The Practice Effect by David Brin
Startide Rising by David Brin
The Postman by David Brin
Federation by H. Beam Piper
The Far Seer by Robert J. Sawyer
Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein
The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein
Triplanetary E.E. Doc Smith
Ensign Flandry by Poul Anderson
After Worlds Collide by Philip Wylie
Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke
Dorsai! by Gordon R. Dickson
Who Goes There? John W. Campbell (Became "The Thing")
Weapon Shops of Isher by A.E. Van Vogt
The Hounds of Skaith by Leigh Brackett
The Nine Billion Names of God by Arthur C. Clarke

The Mote in God's Eye by Larry Niven

Okay, I'm getting back to this. I have all the titles listed* and now the "fun" part starts where I pull up each title in LT and verify the title, author, that it can at least loosely be considered science fiction, number of books in series if applicable and if the title listed is actually the first book in the series, if applicable

As you can imagine, this will take awhile for 300+ titles.

:)

As I'm doing the manual work, feel free to nominate anything that comes to mind (preferably not huge lists!) I'll close the nomination process when I get close to the end of the manual work.

*Except for the one's Busifer linked to. I got too confused. Can I get those books in this format:

title by author

Thanks!

I don't know if its too late to add a title but True Names by Vernor Vinge was a novella I found nearly prescient in its predictions of virtual worlds. I know for a fact that it was one of those sci-fi stories that got passed around in university comp sci programs such as at Cornell (just to name one) ever since it was published. I found it entirely fascinating to read!

Edited to ensure I'm doing Morphy's format correctly, that is:

True Names by Vernor Vinge

I don't think I saw Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M. Auel which I am sure some see as science fiction.

Ten percent done! Whoo hoo!

Darwinia by Robert Charles Wilson

Chung Kuo by David Wingrove. Although the series suffers a downturn in quality the first book is worthy of making this list imo.

Morphy, do you mean my post #89?

If so, the series is Valerian, Spatiotemporal Agent, by Pierre Christin (hard link, because the touchstone was way off).

The link to the series page is here - http://www.librarything.com/series/Valerian,%20spatiotemporal%20agent

Those are the only ones published in english. Original language is french.

What's the name of the first book, Busifer? Ambassador of the Shadows?

Go, Morphy, go! What an epic effort...

Wait, I was going though the thread and choosing some titles, but before I continue, this is only the nomination thread...? So voting hasn't already started, eh?

These are my noms, then:

The Difference Engine, by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling
Monalisa Overdrive, by William Gibson
Flatland, a Romance of Many Dimensions, by Edwin A. Abbott
The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume I, edited by Robert Silverberg (ahhhh... this violates rule #6, does it?)

Touchstones are wonky...

FLATLAND!! My good golly Moses, I didn't know anyone else except Tim knew that book!! My beloved math-nerd/genius husband loved it, and was always recommending it. I read it (in self-defense) and understood it, to my everlasting amazement.

I started reading it, but couldn't finish it. :(

That's why I nominated it, to force me into getting to the end. It's only a very thin book, so I have to!

But ssshhh!!! ;)

In Microserfs one of the characters only eat flat food, that is food that can be delivered from under a closed door. Any relationship with the Flatland book?

#112 - Yes, of the English language books Ambassador of the Shadows is the first one.

In Flatland, everything and everyone is in 2 dimensions. When the narrator visits a 3-dimensional world and tries to tell his flat buddies about it, they don't believe him. (He also visits a one dimensional world, I think - it's been awhile) The book attempts by inference to explain 4-dimensions to us 3-D types. Lee loved the math, and I loved the clever narration.

Just started this series, and it looks really promising:

City of Pearl by Karen Traviss (6 books)

Interworld by Neil Gaiman & Michael Reeve
Girl Genius Volume 1: Agatha Heterodyne and the Beetleburg Clank series by Phil and Kaja Foglio
We3 by Grant Morrison
Pilgrimage: The Book of the People by Zenna Henderson

How Much for Just the Planet by John M. Ford. A Star Trek series spoof of itself and Paramount. It deserves to be on screen, since it's in essence a musical comedy.

Which reminds me that Lois McMaster Bujold's A Civil Campaign should be on the list. It's also a comedy, albeit a romantic one.

Morphidae, did you ever finish this? Or are you still collecting nominations?

If you're still open for nominations I'd like to suggest the Heris Serrano trilogy (actually the first arch in a "septology"), consisting of Hunting Party, Sporting Chance & Winning Colors.

It's still on my radar, but been placed on the backburner until some other things are completed. Sure, I can still take nominations, just remember, it will need to get three votes once we do voting and so less common books may not make the completed list.

I still love Piers Anthony's phaze set Out of Phaze, Phaze Doubt, Robot Adept and Unicorn Point.

And pretty much anything by Anne McCaffrey... you can tell I mainly lean towards the fantasy side of thigns! My sci-fi faves are very childish really - I'm trying to read more classic sci-fi though...honest!

I will second BekkaJo's Piers Anthony phaze nomination, as well as the McCaffrey, they are both two of my favorites too!

"Silverlock", by John Myers Myers (1949).

Undoubtedly.

The nominations are closed and the latest thread on the surveys is here.