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Science Fiction Masterworks


Michelle

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Which collections did you buy?

 

To Be Continued: The Collected Stories of Robert Silverberg, Volume One

To the Dark Star:      "                   "                               "            Volume Two

Something Wild is Loose:             "                               "            Volume Three

Trips:                                            "                                "            Volume Four

The Palace at Midnight:               "                                "             Volume Five

Multiples:                                     "                                 "             Volume Six

Hot Times in Magma City:           "                                 "             Volume Eight

 

We Are for the Dark

 

At the time of purchase, the second of this month, they were 2.99 USD each.  A bargain I couldn't resist! :)

Edited by pontalba
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  • 2 years later...
  • 1 month later...

I've read:

 

DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP Philip K. Dick

*FLOWERS FOR ALGERNON Daniel Keyes

*FRANKENSTEIN Mary Shelley

HYPERION Dan Simmons

*I AM LEgend - RM

*THE HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY Douglas Adams

THE INVISIBLE MAN H.G. Wells

THE ISLAND OF DOCTOR MOREAU H.G. Wells

THE MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE Philip K. Dick

THE MOON IS A HARSH MISTRESS Robert A. Heinlein

*THE PENULTIMATE TRUTH Philip K. Dick

*THE STARS MY DESTINATION Alfred Bester

*THE TIME MACHINE H. G. Wells

THE WAR OF THE WORLDS H. G. Wells

*TIME OUT OF JOINT Philip K. Dick

 

Not many I'm afraid. I'm currently increasing my reading in the SF/Fantasy/Horror genre.

 

I've placed asterisks next to those I enjoyed the most. I'd re-read most of them again - although probably not The Man in The High Castle or Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, as I was a little disappointed with those books, being, as they are, two of Dick's most respected works. As re-imagined history goes The Penultimate Truth was far better: better written, more concise and more interesting. Time Out Of Joint was very good right up until the last 50-60 pages where it was, itself, a bit disjointed, as well as poorly wrapped up.

 

I'm currently reading (just started) A Canticle for Leibowitz and The Forever War (in the list!), as they have mostly decent reviews.

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I read, and absolutely hated, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress - I am not sure why I disliked it so much but it put me off trying anything else by Heinlein.

I didn't mind that one, although I thought starship troopers was better - the film is one of my guilty celluloid pleasures. I know Stranger in a Strange Land has has some mixed reviews, but I'm going to try that at some point, too.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Here is what I have read:

A CASE OF CONSCIENCE James Blish

A FALL OF MOONDUST Arthur C. Clarke
A MAZE OF DEATH Philip K. Dick
AMMONITE Nicola Griffith
ARSLAN M.J. Engh
A SCANNER DARKLY Philip K. Dick
BABEL – 17 Samuel R. Delany

BEHOLD THE MAN Michael Moorcock
BLOOD MUSIC Greg Bear
BRING THE JUBILEE Ward Moore
CAT’S CRADLE Kurt Vonnegut
CHILDHOOD’S END Arthur C. Clarke
CITIES IN FLIGHT James Blish
CITY Clifford D. Simak
DANCERS AT THE END OF TIME Michael Moorcock
DANGEROUS VISIONS Ed. by Harlan Ellison
DARK BENEDICTION Walter M. Miller
DHALGREN Samuel R. Delany
DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP Philip K. Dick
DOOMSDAY BOOK Connie Willis
DOWNWARD TO EARTH Robert Silverberg
DR. BLOODMONEY Philip K. Dick
DUNE Frank Herbert
DYING INSIDE Robert Silverberg
EARTH ABIDES George R. Stewart
EMPHYRIO Jack Vance
ENGINE SUMMER John Crowley
EON Greg Bear
FLOATING WORLDS Cecelia Holland
FLOW MY TEARS, THE POLICEMAN SAID Philip K. Dick
FLOWERS FOR ALGERNON Daniel Keyes
FRANKENSTEIN Mary Shelley
GATEWAY Frederik Pohl
GRASS Sheri S. Tepper
GREYBEARD Brian Aldiss
HELLICONIA Brian Aldiss
HELLSTROM’S HIVE Frank Herbert
HYPERION Dan Simmons
I AM LEGEND Richard Matheson
INVERTED WORLD Christopher Priest
JEM Frederik Pohl
LAST AND FIRST MEN Olaf Stapledon
LIFE DURING WARTIME Lucius Shepard
LORD OF LIGHT Roger Zelazny
MAN PLUS Frederik Pohl
MARTIAN TIME-SLIP Philip K. Dick
MISSION OF GRAVITY Hal Clement
MOCKINGBIRD Walter Tevis
MORE THAN HUMAN Theodore Sturgeon
NON-STOP Brian Aldiss
NOVA Samuel R. Delany
NOW WAIT FOR LAST YEAR** Philip K. Dick
ODD JOHN Olaf Stapledon
OF MEN AND MONSTERS William Tenn
PAVANE Keith Roberts
RENDEZVOUS WITH RAMA Arthur C. Clarke
RIDDLEY WALKER Russell Hoban
RINGWORLD Larry Niven
ROADSIDE PICNIC Boris Strugatsky, Arkady Strugatsky
ROGUE MOON Algis Budrys
R.U.R. AND WAR WITH THE NEWTS Karel Čapek
SARAH CANARY Karen Joy Fowler
SIRIUS Olaf Stapledon
SLOW RIVER Nicola Griffith
STAND ON ZANZIBAR John Brunner
STAR MAKER Olaf Stapledon
SYNNERS Pat Cadigan
TAKE BACK PLENTY Colin Greenland
TAU ZERO Poul Anderson
THE AFFIRMATION Christopher Priest
THE BODY SNATCHERS Jack Finney
THE BOOK OF SKULLS Robert Silverberg
THE CALTRAPS OF TIME David I. Masson
THE CENTAURI DEVICE M. John Harrison
THE CHILD GARDEN Geoff Ryman
THE CITY AND THE STARS Arthur C. Clarke
THE CONTINUOUS KATHERINE MORTENHOE D.G. Compton
THE COMPLETE RODERICK John Sladek
THE DEMOLISHED MAN Alfred Bester
THE DIFFERENCE ENGINE William Gibson and Bruce Sterling
THE DISPOSSESSED Ursula Le Guin
THE DROWNED WORLD** J. G. Ballard
THE FALL OF HYPERION Dan Simmons
THE FEMALE MAN Joanna Russ
THE FIFTH HEAD OF CERBERUS Gene Wolfe
THE FIRST MEN IN THE MOON H.G. Wells
THE FOOD OF THE GODS H.G. Wells
THE FOREVER WAR Joe Haldeman
THE FOUNTAINS OF PARADISE Arthur C. Clarke
THE GATE TO WOMEN’S COUNTRY Sheri S. Tepper
THE HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY Douglas Adams
THE INVISIBLE MAN H.G. Wells
THE ISLAND OF DOCTOR MOREAU H.G. Wells

THE LATHE OF HEAVEN Ursula le Guin
THE MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE Philip K. Dick
THE MOON IS A HARSH MISTRESS Robert A. Heinlein
THE PENULTIMATE TRUTH Philip K. Dick

THE PRESTIGE Christopher Priest
THE REDISCOVERY OF MAN Cordwainer Smith
THE SEA AND SUMMER George Turner
THE SHRINKING MAN Richard Matheson
THE SIMULACRA Philip K. Dick
THE SIRENS OF TITAN Kurt Vonnegut
THE SPACE MERCHANTS Frederik Pohl and C.M.Kornbluth
THE STARS MY DESTINATION Alfred Bester
THE THREE STIGMATA OF PALMER ELDRITCH Philip K. Dick
THE TIME MACHINE H. G. Wells
THE TIME MACHINE/THE WAR OF THE WORLDS H. G. Wells
THE WAR OF THE WORLDS H.G. Wells
TIME OUT OF JOINT Philip K. Dick
TIMESCAPE Greg Benford
UBIK Philip K. Dick
UNQUENCHABLE FIRE Rachel Pollack
VALIS Philip K. Dick
WHERE LATE THE SWEET BIRDS SANG Kate Wilhelm

 

I can't stand Michael Moorcock (Bones of the Earth was okay-ish), and Philip K. Dick gets boring pretty fast (except for Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep). The books that I have started but didn't finish are not marked here. There are much better works by Gregory Benford than Timescape, though.

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  • 6 months later...

I really like the covers on this series of books. I have read the following. The underlined titles were those I read in SF Masterworks editions.


CAT’S CRADLE Kurt Vonnegut
CHILDHOOD’S END Arthur C. Clarke
DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP Philip K. Dick
DUNE Frank Herbert
FLOWERS FOR ALGERNON Daniel Keyes
FRANKENSTEIN Mary Shelley
RINGWORLD Larry Niven
THE CITY AND THE STARS Arthur C. Clarke

THE DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS John Wyndham

THE GODS THEMSELVES Isaac Asimov
THE HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY Douglas Adams
THE INVISIBLE MAN H.G. Wells

THE TIME MACHINE H. G. Wells
 

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  • 5 months later...

Reading list after list of great sci-fi books, I'm more and more baffled by the absence of Robert A. Heinlein.  He's won Hugo and Nebula awards. Stranger in a Strange Land is a classic. I mean if you don't grok, you don't grok science fiction.

 


Has he become a pariah for some reason and no one told me?  I'm mystified. The man was prolific, groundbreaking, and always on mentioned by other great sci-fi writers. I'm sorry, I just don't get it.

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I've only read these out of the list, and not all as SF Masterworks editions. I don't think they do include all the best science fiction titles. For example The Left Hand of Darkness (Ursula Le Guin) is not there. Neither is The Mote in God's Eye by Jerry Pournell and Larry Niven. I am sure The Gods Themselves by Issac Asimov was in a SF Mastwerorks edition, but I do not see it in the OP's list. I thought that was pretty good.

 

CAT’S CRADLE Kurt Vonnegut

DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP Philip K. Dick
DUNE Frank Herbert
FLOWERS FOR ALGERNON Daniel Keyes
FRANKENSTEIN Mary Shelley
RINGWORLD Larry Niven
TAU ZERO Poul Anderson
THE CITY AND THE STARS Arthur C. Clarke
THE HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY Douglas Adams
THE INVISIBLE MAN H.G. Wells
THE ISLAND OF DOCTOR MOREAU H.G. Wells
THE TIME MACHINE H. G. Wells
THE WAR OF THE WORLDS H.G. Wells
 

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Dune, by Frank Herbert is certainly one of the finest examples of the genre. However, before going overboard reading it's many sequels, I suggest reading other works by Herbert: The White Plague is mind-bending book.

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On 9/12/2016 at 7:28 PM, The Bibliophagus Beagle said:

I didn't mind that one, although I thought starship troopers was better - the film is one of my guilty celluloid pleasures. I know Stranger in a Strange Land has has some mixed reviews, but I'm going to try that at some point, too.

 

Well, to each his own, I guess. But Heinlein was the first author to but a book at #1 on the NYT Bestsellers List. For a time, he was the only sci-fi author who could write bestsellers. The Cat Who Walks Through Walls and To Sail Beyond the Sunset, among others, also reached #1 on the NYT list.

 

I suppose every book published received at least a few bad reviews, as did Stranger in a Strange Land. But I wouldn't say it received mixed reviews. The reviews were overwhelmingly positive.

Having said all that, Heinlein is not for everyone. He tends to write socio-political treatises disguised as science fiction. 

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On 26/10/2017 at 1:46 PM, Litwitlou said:

Dune, by Frank Herbert is certainly one of the finest examples of the genre. However, before going overboard reading it's many sequels, I suggest reading other works by Herbert: The White Plague is mind-bending book.

 

I read quite a few of Frank Herbert's book, but I found the The White Plague rather nasty and stopped reading it.

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On 10/29/2017 at 6:16 PM, KEV67 said:

 

I read quite a few of Frank Herbert's book, but I found the The White Plague rather nasty and stopped reading it.

 

True. It is nasty and disturbing.  

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