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[nitewulf]

Not reaaaally SF, but close enough: She, by H. Rider Haggard.

well, all his Alan Quartermain novels are awesome, really. but i guess they are all adventure novels, not really sci-fi.

and "We" is very good. a lot more impressive than 1984.

 

[The Quiet Man]

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.

Yes. Yes yes yes.

I came here to post this and I'm glad that someone got here before me.

 

[Alucard]

Zelazny? Delany? Gibson? :lol

"Forgotten". Honestly?

Seriously.

 

[BudokaiMR2]

I found a random novel on my bookshelf(I always get books from friends leaving the country haha) sometime last year that I ended up enjoying a lot.

It was called A Fire Upon the Deep.

I am not sure how famous it is though.

 

[Dresden]

I found a random novel on my bookshelf(I always get books from friends leaving the country haha) sometime last year that I ended up enjoying a lot.

It was called A Fire Upon the Deep.

I am not sure how famous it is though.

Vernor Vinge. Pretty famous dude in SF circles, one of those Singularity Disciples.

 

[totowhoa]

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.

Fucking finally somebody who knows about this book! I've tried to pimp that book in every sci-fi recommendation thread here :lol The Jesus Incident is another great book as well. I like most of Herbert's stuff. Couldn't get behind Destination Void, though. Felt like you had to be a math prof to enjoy it.

 

[harriet the spy]

.

does this get a tiny bit more serious? I am all for something a little more light-hearted than cyberpunk usually is, but the very beginning of the book, with its cyber pizza-deliverator, was just plain silly to me.

 

[Yagharek]

In the spirit of nominating Neuromancer/Ender's Game, how about Foundation by Asimov. Surely that's forgotten? [/bad joke]

On a serious note, I have heard great things about Dragon's Egg, by Robert Forward. Still I have yet to manage to find a copy.

 

[The Shadow]

In this thread, people post some of the most well known sci-fi books. Snow Crash, Ender's Game, and Neuromancer forgotten sci-fi? Are you people dense?

 

[Cyan]

Dune
The Matrix
The Eye of Argon

 

[adamsappel]

On Wings of Song by Thomas M. Disch

 

[Narag]

does this get a tiny bit more serious? I am all for something a little more light-hearted than cyberpunk usually is, but the very beginning of the book, with its cyber pizza-deliverator, was just plain silly to me.

Plot picks up but it retains a less silly yet lighthearted feel as you progress.

 

[N4Us]

Dhalgren - Samuel R. Delany. Ok his most popular novel, you still don't hear about it much. Einstein Intersection is my next favourite.

I personally enjoyed Trouble on Triton and Nova more, as well.

 

[Dead Man]

I was hoping to see LP Davies, but that list looks good, plenty there that is new to me.

 

[leroy hacker]

I also liked "The Jesus Incident" which is another Frank Herbert (with Bill Ransom), another colony-ship story.

The trilogy consisting of The Jesus Incident, The Lazarus Effect, and The Ascension Factor, together with the prequel Destination Void, are my favorite non-Dune books by Herbert. They're definitely worth reading for Dune fans. I believe they're long out of print, but not hard to find.

The Eye of Argon

Thread's best recommendation so far!

 

[Vagabundo]

Mote in God's Eye - Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle: one of my all time favourite books.
Ten Thousand Light-Years from Home - Alice Sheldon (James Tiptree, Jr)

 

[Dead Man]

Mote in God's Eye - Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle: one of my all time favourite books.
Ten Thousand Light-Years from Home - Alice Sheldon (James Tiptree, Jr)

An absolutely fantastic book that made me want frictionless toilets, but I think it is pretty well known. If it's not, it should be, you are right.

 

[GillianSeed79]

The Jesus Incident trilogy of books by Frank Herbert were great. Basically it's DUNE meets Waterworld meets 2001.

 

[Vagabundo]

An absolutely fantastic book that made me want frictionless toilets, but I think it is pretty well known. If it's not, it should be, you are right.

Lol, I wanted a Motie...

I'm not sure it is that well known. It is fairly old at this stage. I flicked through it recently and it holds up very well. Probably should read again.

 

[Dead Man]

does this get a tiny bit more serious? I am all for something a little more light-hearted than cyberpunk usually is, but the very beginning of the book, with its cyber pizza-deliverator, was just plain silly to me.

No, it stays pretty silly. If you liked it but wanted something more serious, maybe check out Diamond Age, or for something not really classic cyberpunk setting, but definitely with a similar feel, try Cryptonomicom. In my top 5 of all time, that cover on Amazon is terrible though.

Lol, I wanted a Motie...

I'm not sure it is that well known. It is fairly old at this stage. I flicked through it recently and it holds up very well. Probably should read again.

Maybe I just assumed it was well known since I know about it! It can't be too unknown if I have read it. I first read it about 20 years ago, and reread it few couple of years, it is still great.

 

[David Incorporated Esq.]

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.

Seconded, the book is brilliant and I definitely need to give it another, more careful, read-through (with a latin dictionary).

 

[DarkKyo]

I wanna take this chance to highly recommend "The End of Eternity" by Asimov if you've never heard of it/checked it out!

 

[ToxicAdam]

When I was in the 8th grade, I read a great sci-fi book that has become lost to me over the years.

It was about an alien planet, where these shapeshifters elect a few to ascend a mountain (near their village) as a rite of passage. Many go up there and never return. The path is littered with many monsters and other perils. Those that do have been driven mad by their journey.

So, needless to say, the protaganist of the book is chosen and then has to ascend the mountain. As he ascends he slowly begins to realize that these "monsters" are actually former villagers that have been radically altered by the sun's radiation. The higher you go, the less atmosphere is there to protect you.

He reaches the summit and he ending of the book is hazy and that's why I have always wanted to re-read the book .. but have never been able to locate it. I've tried book websites and the whole 9 yards.

 

[Ignatz Mouse]

I read We in college, I liked it. It's pretty amazing how much of 1984 is lited straight from it. 1984 is still a great book and all, but We is the obvious inspiration. Zamiatin was a suppoter of the Communist Revolution in Russia, but became quickly disillusioned, and We is the result. It has the distinction of being the first book banned in the USSR.

First and Last Men was on the reading list, too, but we could skip a few, and I never read it. Sounded interesting.

 

[besada]

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?

I not only have the short story, I have the comic book adaptation of "Call Me Joe". Yes, it's basically Avatar, but anyone who thought that movie had even a shred of originality doesn't read very deeply in the genre.

That said, I'm not sure anything by Poul Anderson, who is a giant in the genre, could be considered forgotten.

[I'm waiting for someone to post Canticles of Leibowitz as a "forgotten" novel.]

The trilogy consisting of The Jesus Incident, The Lazarus Effect, and The Ascension Factor, together with the prequel Destination Void, are my favorite non-Dune books by Herbert. They're definitely worth reading for Dune fans. I believe they're long out of print, but not hard to find.

I like Whipping Star and Dosadi Experiment, but I'm a sucker for Jorj X. McKie.

[And I see someone got to Canticle of Leibowitz before I even mentioned it...]

 

[forgeforsaken]

Random Acts of Senseless Violence by Jack Womack .

I have this and it seemed like the type of book I would enjoy but I could never be bothered to finish it, and it is a rare thing for me to not finish a book.

 

[besada]

Vernor Vinge. Pretty famous dude in SF circles, one of those Singularity Disciples.

More like Singularity Messiah, since the coinage and original idea come out of one of Vinge's essays.

 

[Trellisaze]

I'll echo the recommendation of anything by Stanislaw Lem. Brilliant, timeless work.

When I was in the 8th grade, I read a great sci-fi book that has become lost to me over the years.

It was about an alien planet, where these shapeshifters elect a few to ascend a mountain (near their village) as a rite of passage. Many go up there and never return. The path is littered with many monsters and other perils. Those that do have been driven mad by their journey.

So, needless to say, the protaganist of the book is chosen and then has to ascend the mountain. As he ascends he slowly begins to realize that these "monsters" are actually former villagers that have been radically altered by the sun's radiation. The higher you go, the less atmosphere is there to protect you.

He reaches the summit and he ending of the book is hazy and that's why I have always wanted to re-read the book .. but have never been able to locate it. I've tried book websites and the whole 9 yards.

Kingdoms of the Wall by Robert Silverberg?

 

[ToxicAdam]

Kingdoms of the Wall by Robert Silverberg?

HOLY SHIT! You did it! Thank you so much!

 

[subversus]

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.

Yes, it sounds perfect in Russian, but I've always wondered how they could translate it into other languages since it's very dependent on the words order and some languages like English for example have a pretty restricted structure.

 

[BorkBork]

Nice list. I've been meaning to get to "We" by Zamyatin, my favorite author and one of the giants in Speculative Fiction sung its praises.

Meanwhile, I'm reading the first bit of the Cyberiad Stories and it's freaking hilarious. I've only read Lem's Solaris but this seems like a bit of a fun sidetrip for him. Highly recommended if it continues to be so entertaining.