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Brilliant SF novels, now forgotten; a list

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D

Dresden

Member
Noticed that New Scientist had a list of classic SF novels that have been forgotten over time.

http://www.newscientist.com/gallery/lost-worlds/1

And the list for those who can't be bothered to click through the gallery, although I think it's worth looking through to see just who recommended what, and for what reason:

Dark Universe by Daniel F. Galouye
Journey of Joenes by Robert Sheckley
The Cyberiad by Stanislaw Lem
Random Acts of Senseless Violence by Jack Womack
New Maps of Hell by Kingsley Amis
We by Eugene Zamiatin
Last and First Men by Olaf Stapledon
Floating Worlds by Cecelia Holland
The Listeners by James Gunn
Earth Abides by George R. Stewart
Click to expand...

Not sure just how unknown they are; they were certainly obscure to me. :lol I bolded the ones I'm going to look into--sounded interesting.
 
F

FilthyLies

Member
We is the only one I've read- looks like they got the name wrong though, it's Evgeny Zamyatin, not Eugene.

Interesting little book, it was what inspired Orwell to write 1984- I believe he translated We at some point. One of the foundations of dystopian science fiction. Despite that I didn't find it terribly enjoyable- you might though, it was quite divisive in our class. Just make sure to grab the newest translation by Natasha Randall.
 
B

Boombloxer

Member
200px-Snowcrash.jpg


.
 
Z

Zachack

Member
I've been slowly reading The Cyberiad for the last year or so. It's pretty strange and I know some of that is due to the translation trying to interpret comedy. I'll finish it eventually.

Earth Abides is great. I'd be startled if a major chunk of GAF didn't really enjoy it.
 
S

subversus

I've done nothing with my life except eat and fap
The Roadside Picnic

but I'm not sure if the translation is right or if it could be adequately translated at all, since all dialogue relies heavily on the original language rhythm.
 
S

SolKane

Member
FilthyLies said:
We is the only one I've read- looks like they got the name wrong though, it's Evgeny Zamyatin, not Eugene.

Interesting little book, it was what inspired Orwell to write 1984- I believe he translated We at some point. One of the foundations of dystopian science fiction. Despite that I didn't find it terribly enjoyable- you might though, it was quite divisive in our class. Just make sure to grab the newest translation by Natasha Randall.
Click to expand...

(Y)Evgeny is the Russian equivalent of Eugene, cf. Evgeny/Eugene Onegin.

Also as far as I know Orwell never translated it, I don't believe he read Russian. It certainly was a great influence on 1984 though as you state:

http://georgeorwellnovels.com/journalism/review-of-yevgeny-zamyatin-we-4-jan-1946/
 
R

RaoulDuke

Member
Random Acts of Senseless Violence by Jack Womack

great book! Also as someone who became a father recently, its one of the most depressing books Ive ever read.
 
M

Maklershed

Member
Earth Abides is fantastic but if you were going to read a Post Apocalypse book I'd go with A Canticle for Leibowitz or The Postman first. :D
 
M

Manics

Banned
I haven't even heard of those authors in the original list so yeah, they're forgotten to me.


(loved Snow Crash, that is a fairly well known book)
 
Y

ymmv

Banned
Here's my list of 10 SF/fantasy novels that should be read instead of forgotten ...

L. Sprague de Camp - Lest Darkness Fall
Jack Vance - To Live Forever
John Brunner - Stand on Zanzibar
James Schmitz - The Witches of Karres
Michael Moorcock - Gloriana
Tanith Lee - The Birthgrave
Walter Jon Williams - Aristoi
David Zindell - Neverness
Dave Wolverton - On My Way To Paradise
Delia Sherman - The Porcelain Dove
 
Z

Zophar

Member
First thing that came to mind was Olaf Stapleton, and I'm glad they mentioned him. Star Maker and Last and First Men are both incredible and hard to believe they were written so early.
 
Y

ymmv

Banned
BTW I wish more people were familiar with the short stories of the husband and wife writing team Henry Kuttner and CL Moore (aka Lewis Padgett). It's a shame nobody knows who they are anymore.
 
A

Anticitizen One

Banned
I saw a thread on another forum that showed a ton of pulp sci fi novels that Avatar ripped off that looked pretty interesting. I remember some of the covers even showed blue aliens in the jungles. Anyone know what books those are?

Found one of them:

CallMeJoeREVIEW1-thumb-300x459-13510.jpg
 
N

Narag

Member
Anticitizen One said:
I saw a thread on another forum that showed a ton of pulp sci fi novels that Avatar ripped off that looked pretty interesting. I remember some of the covers even showed blue aliens in the jungles. Anyone know what books those are?

Found one of them:

[ig]http://blastr.com/assets_c/2009/02/CallMeJoeREVIEW1-thumb-300x459-13510.jpg[/img]
Click to expand...

Another was Ben Bova's Winds of Altair.
 
T

Tim the Wiz

Banned
That really is an obscure list. The only ones I've even heard of:

New Maps of Hell by Kingsley Amis
We by Eugene Zamiatin
Last and First Men by Olaf Stapledon
Click to expand...

Might investigate when I'm done with the unforgotten brilliant SF novels.
 
A

Anton Sugar

Member
subversus said:
The Roadside Picnic

but I'm not sure if the translation is right or if it could be adequately translated at all, since all dialogue relies heavily on the original language rhythm.
Click to expand...

Seconding this. STALKER was based off of this, as was the movie. The dialogue is a little wonky at times, but it's still great. I love the portrayal of the alien visitation.
 
M

Mr_Appleby

Member
hmm. i've only read the stapledon and lem off that list. though i thought they were both 'classics' as opposed to forgotten. I'd say last and first men is stapledon's best known work and the cyberiad always comes up when discussing Lem.

i know about We but haven't seen a copy, maybe i should be a bit more proactive in looking for one.

some of my lesser famed favourites:

Riddley Walker - Russel Hoban (fan-fucking-tastic, a must read)
334 - Thomas M. Disch. A new-wave sci-fi soap opera.
Forgotten Planet - Murray Leinster
The Dream Master - Roger Zelazny. topical i suppose with the release of Inception, which i haven't seen yet.
Memoirs found in a Bathtub / The Investigation / Pirx the Pilot / Return from the Stars / The Invincible - Stanislaw Lem again. Just read everything you can by him, it's the best solution.
Dhalgren - Samuel R. Delany. Ok his most popular novel, you still don't hear about it much. Einstein Intersection is my next favourite.
The Black Cloud - Fred Hoyle. One of the most interesting non-human intelligences in sf.
A Wrinkle in Time - Madeleine L'Engle
Rite of Passage - Alexei Panshin. Life as a 16yr old on a colony ship. I read it repeatedly when I was a teenager.

i could go on but i won't.

ymmv said:
Jack Vance - To Live Forever
Click to expand...

i'm about to start reading this for like the 20th time. I just love this book.
 
G

Gilgamesh

Member
Anticitizen One said:
I remember some of the covers even showed blue aliens in the jungles.
Click to expand...
Not that I don't think Avatar is as overrated and unoriginal as the next guy, but is "blue aliens in the jungles" really something you'd expect not to have been done before?
 
L

leroy hacker

Member
How could any of Stanislaw Lem's work be forgotten? I'm dumbfounded that such could be the case. Anyone in this thread unfamiliar with his work needs to read The Cyberiad immediately, followed by the Ijon Tichy works, Solaris, Imaginary Magnitude, and everything else.

Mr_Appleby said:
A Wrinkle in Time - Madeleine L'Engle
Click to expand...

This book lesser famed? Are you kidding? It's a children's classic. It has 968 reviews on Amazon.

Xabora said:
Neuromancer - William Gibson
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0441569595/?tag=neogaf0e-20
http://i54.tinypic.com/dvj2hi.jpg
Click to expand...
Looks like someone else didn't read the thread title or the OP.
 
M

Mr_Appleby

Member
leroy hacker said:
This book lesser famed? Are you kidding? It's a children's classic. It has 968 reviews on Amazon.
Click to expand...

i just wanted to sneak it in there :D i completely agree with you about Lem also. there is no recourse but to read everything the man wrote, the breadth of idea is magnificent. I wrote on Golem XIV for a philosophy assignment in uni, and Solaris for an english lit class.
 
L

LCfiner

Member
great timing for me! I was looking for some new sci fi to read after reading Foundation a little while ago.

thanks for the link.
 
L

Like the hat?

Banned
Earth Abides is great. Haven't read any of the others, but a couple sound pretty interesting. Getting samples of most of them on the ol' Kindle.
 
Z

Zophar

Member
leroy hacker said:
How could any of Stanislaw Lem's work be forgotten? I'm dumbfounded that such could be the case. Anyone in this thread unfamiliar with his work needs to read The Cyberiad immediately, followed by the Ijon Tichy works, Solaris, Imaginary Magnitude, and everything else.
Click to expand...
Lem is huge worldwide but hardly made a splash in the United States, that might be why.
 
X

Xabora

Junior Member
ConfusingJazz said:
You have the balls to post Neuromancer in a "Forgotten SF Novels" thread?

Fucking juniors...
Click to expand...
Look at my reg date. Its too good not to be posted in a SF book thread. :p
 
T

totowhoa

Banned
Courtship Rite by Donald Kingsbury. Known as "Geta" in the UK. Totally deserves to be on that list. Such a fantastic book... one of my favorite sci-fi novels ever. It has a lot of FANTASTIC ideas and an extremely imaginative world with bright, wonderfully varied characters. It was Hugo nominee for best novel in '82, but it's never talked about at all later.

Dune is one my favorite novels, and I read a few sources that said you should check out Courtship Rite if you enjoyed Dune. While they are similar, they're both very different... there's some similar vibes there for sure. And it's such a great read.
 
M

movie_club

Junior Member
We is pretty fantastic, but it gets hard to follow towards the end. I like the concpet more than 1984 but.....1984 is still the best.
 
S

Salazar

Member
ymmv said:
Here's my list of 10 SF/fantasy novels that should be read instead of forgotten ...

L. Sprague de Camp - Lest Darkness Fall
Jack Vance - To Live Forever
John Brunner - Stand on Zanzibar
James Schmitz - The Witches of Karres
Michael Moorcock - Gloriana
Tanith Lee - The Birthgrave
Walter Jon Williams - Aristoi
David Zindell - Neverness
Dave Wolverton - On My Way To Paradise
Delia Sherman - The Porcelain Dove
Click to expand...

BY8rg.jpg
 
M

Mr_Appleby

Member
Tim the Wiz said:
Zelazny? Delany? Gibson? :lol

"Forgotten". Honestly?
Click to expand...

Gibson of course not. from my experience though with SF focused courses at the uni I went to, Zelazny and Delany yes, they were non-entities. could've just been the professors over-riding obsession with PKD :lol anyway the premise isn't that the author is forgotten, but the particular work itself. Zelazny's other work tends to get obscured by the Amber series. Like my favourite Niven/Pournell "Oath of Fealty" gets forgotten in favour of Mote in God's Eye.

Forgotten isn't really the right word anyway, I consider Ridley Walker a classic that isn't read as widely as it should be, but it's still in prin,t so not forgotten no, just a little unloved right now :D


Sklorenz said:
Courtship Rite by Donald Kingsbury. Known as "Geta" in the UK. Totally deserves to be on that list. Such a fantastic book...
Click to expand...

ah yeah I have it as Geta. It's pretty good book, definitely in the Dune category.. I also liked "The Jesus Incident" which is another Frank Herbert (with Bill Ransom), another colony-ship story.
 
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