SF Signal: The Top 26 SF Books You've Never Read

The Top 26 SF Books You've Never Read

As discussed and selected by our loyal SF Signal readers. Without further adieu, the list:

Evening's Empire by David Herter
The Alacrity Fitzhugh and Hobart Floyt trilogy by Brian Daley
The Book Of Ash by Mary Gentle
Celestial Matters by Richard Garfinkle
Nausicaa Of The Valley Of The Wind (Manga version) by Hayao Miyazaki
Wringland by Sally Spedding
Conjure Wife by Fritz Leiber
Pawn's Dream by Eric S Nylund
The Worm Oroborous by E.R. Eddison
The Night Land by William Hope Hodgson
Voyage To Arcturus by David Lindsany
Tetrasomy Two by Oscar Rossiter
The Purple Book by Philip Jose Farmer
Dinner At Deviant's Palace by Tim Powers
Eclipse by K.A. Bedford
Evogiua by Steve Jordan
Gradisil by Adam Roberts
Neverness by David Zindell
Vurt by Jeff Noon
Noir by K.W. Jeter
The Planet Strappers by Raymond Z. Gallun
Enemy Stars by Poul Anderson
The Legion Of Space by Jack Williamson
Dead Heat by Del Stone Jr.
The Heaven Makers by Frank Herbert
E.L.V. by Nick Nielsen

I've actually read a couple of these, aside from the ones I started the original post with. Dinner At Deviant's Palace, while a decent book, isn't up to par with Powers' later works. However, it still contains his signature style of unusual fantastical elements. I'd recommend it. As for Neverness, I remember reading it and thinking it was really slow. As for Dead Heat, read our review! And yes, it was post #4 on our site. So, lots of good stuff here. Space opera, adventure, mystery, time travel and, of course, zombies. This might be a good list for someone to work through and maybe even review. I bet John has most of these books squirreled away somewhere in a box in his house...

i have been reading the night land very very slowly...so far it is hard to read...of course i felt the same way about lord of the rings so what the hell do i know.

There is actaully a short story written more recently in this same world as the the night land and reading that much of the suprise might have been taken out reading the book thus the slow reading.

I would also like to add "Knights of the Limits" to that list.

by Brighten J bailey or something...really original work there

Posted by joshua corning on Monday August 21, 2006 at 5:40 PM

For the locals who are interested: Thanks to my absurd biblioholism, I own copies of Evening's Empire, The Book of Ash, Celestial Matters, Conjure Wife, Pawn's Dream, The Worm Oroborous, The Purple Book, Dinner at Deviant's Palace, Vurt, Noir, The Planet Strappers, Enemy Stars, The Legion of Space and Dead Heat if you'd like to read any of them. (Sadly, I've only read one of these - Dead Heat).

Also note: The Night Land and A Voyage to Arcturus are available on Gutenberg.

Posted by John on Monday August 21, 2006 at 9:00 PM

Hey, I've read two of these! Noir by KW Jeter and Pawn's Dream by Eric Nylund.

I highly recommend all of Eric Nylund's work except his sequel to Signal to Noise. That was one of the most disappointing books I've ever read. I haven't read any of Nylund's Halo books. But other than that it's all good.

I have a copy of KW Jeter's Infernal Devices on my to-be-read shelf. I've heard good things.

Thanks for uncovering some (possibly) hidden gems!

Posted by Dan Geiser on Tuesday August 22, 2006 at 10:33 PM