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Smiling Ted

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Well I'm writing a colony/multigenerational starship story sort of. Thanks for the list. I will definitely be reading a couple of those stories under that heading.

Genetics/Evolution
Darwin's Radio Greg Bear
Darwin's Children Greg Bear

Darwin's Radio added under Human Evolution, for the use of introns.
 

Ambrosia

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FWIW, I believe Zelazny's Amber series would fit under Mulitverse and Portals, since the cards are used not only for communications but to go to those places and thus act as a portal. I find it hard to believe you wouldn't put it in the list.
 

Smiling Ted

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FWIW, I believe Zelazny's Amber series would fit under Mulitverse and Portals, since the cards are used not only for communications but to go to those places and thus act as a portal. I find it hard to believe you wouldn't put it in the list.

But isn't that what F/SF is about? The unbelievable?:D
But seriously...

If the list gets too long, it becomes less helpful. People who might benefit from it will become intimidated and frustrated, and not look at any of the titles suggested. The list is supposed to be Cliff Notes, essentials...what to know so you don't rewrite "Universe" or "The Island of Dr. Moreau."

So with every title that's suggested, we ask "would not knowing about that title affect someone's chances of getting their story published?" Often, the answer is "no." (But don't let that stop you from making the suggestion!) In this case, you don't really need to be familiar with Amber to write books about portals or the Multiverse. (In fact, the current Portal list needs to be pruned...there. Done.)

Roger isn't highly represented in the list, but that has nothing to do with the quality of his work. (Anyone who hangs out in this forum can tell you that I'm a rabid Zelazny fan.) It's because so much of his work is sui generis - utterly individual, and unlikely to be imitated by anybody - that he doesn't appear that often. He doesn't need to. Nobody will write anything like Creatures of Light and Darkness any time soon.
 
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StephanieWeippert

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The World of Tiers by Philip Jose Farmer needs to be in there somewhere, maybe under the terraforming or portals or AI (A Private Cosmos and later stories).
 

Smiling Ted

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The World of Tiers by Philip Jose Farmer needs to be in there somewhere, maybe under the terraforming or portals or AI (A Private Cosmos and later stories).

Thanks for the suggestion.
For something really trippy, check out PJF's early short stories (if you can find them).
 

nandu

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An excellent topic, and list, thank you.

I also agree that reading all those novels may not be possible. But each aspiring SF writer should know the common ideas used by a number of writers: it makes life so easy. For example, intergalactic travel is accomplished in most novels through "hyperspace", which feels more or less the same across all the books. So the moment somebody writes "the ship moved into hyperspace for its daily jaunt from Earth to Alpha Centauri", most readers know what the writer is saying without an explanation of relativistic physics.

Cheers
Nandu.
 

MargueriteMing

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You know, if I stopped to read all those before I wrote anything, I'd never get any writing done anyway.

I think you should just write. We can't all be knowledgeable about every book written in the sci-fi/fantasy field.

To me this is the same as someone telling me I have no business writing fantasy because I haven't read Tolkien or CS Lewis.

Well, feel free to spend a year writing a book that turns out to have been written already, and so nobody will buy it. By reading well in your genre, you ensure you aren't wasting your time, doing what has already been done.
 

MargueriteMing

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Instead of Multiverse, call it Alternate Realities, that will cover things like Riverworld by Farmer, the Amber Series, the Immortals series by Piers Anthony, etc.

Under Alien Contact, add the Heechee saga ( Gateway, Beyond the Blue Event Horizon, Heechee Rendezvous, and Annals of the Heechee ) by Frederick Pohl.

Under Nature of Reality, add Wave Without a Shore by C J Cherryh

Under Teleportation, add Jumper by Steven Gould, and the Rowan series by Anne Maccaffery

Under Space Opera add Honorverse by David Weber

Under Human Evolution add Four Lords of the Diamond series by Jack Chalker, add the Soul Rider series by Jack Chalker, and the Well of Souls series by Chalker as well. He's big on human transformations.
 
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MargueriteMing

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Under Nanotech, add Prey by michael Crichton, it's a classic. And under genetic engineering, add Next, also by MC.
 
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Wayne Thornton

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Thanks. That sure seems like a lot of work on your part. I appreciate your research.

Edit: Actually I am rather speechless that you covered the subject so well.
 

JoshW

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Thanks for compiling such a wonderful list!

I think I would probably list A Clockwork Orange under mind control as well...
 

Mr Flibble

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I has a new ( and probably unfulfillable lol) ambition to make it onto the list :D

Anyhoo, I've been re-reading some Eric Frank Russell of late. I don't know if any of these would count, or indeed what category you'd put them in:

"Into Your Tent I'll Creep." - Think Cats And Dogs only creepier. There's a reason the President always has a dog you know.

Three to Conquer, might come under both alien invasion and telepathy. Kinda like Invasion of the Bodysnatchers.

Sinister Barrier, hmm, Humans being farmed by aliens, without knowing it. Find out just why people rubberneck and what that 'goose walking over your grave' feeling really means.

And I'd forgotten how much I giggled at Next of Kin. Do you have the Willies? *snort* We shall bend Murgatroyd's socks!

Anyway, just a thought.
 

painkillers

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The Da Vinci Code ... really...worst book i ever read (but then i did read "holy blood holy grail" back in the 80's).
 

Smiling Ted

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Thanks for compiling such a wonderful list!

I think I would probably list A Clockwork Orange under mind control as well...

Thank you! I chose not to put CO under "Mind Control" because to me the aversion therapy seemed more of a thematic device than a full-on exploration of the subject. Of course, it's a fine distinction, and opinions may differ. If the group mind disagrees, I'll put it there as well. (But there's no doubt CO is a dystopian classic, though...right?)


I has a new ( and probably unfulfillable lol) ambition to make it onto the list :D

Anyhoo, I've been re-reading some Eric Frank Russell of late.

IrU, I love you! Someone else who has read the inimitable Eric Frank!
Have you read The Great Explosion yet? My favorite.
 
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mommyjo2

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I really think Xenocide by Orson Scott Card should be added to the Artificial Intelligence list. Maybe not the first - but award winning and popular. And why isn't HAL on there?
 

Smiling Ted

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I really think Xenocide by Orson Scott Card should be added to the Artificial Intelligence list. Maybe not the first - but award winning and popular. And why isn't HAL on there?

At first, I didn't want to add 2001 because the mad computer trope was already a cliché by the time Kubrick used it. However, anyone who doesn't know HAL also wouldn't know Donovan's Brain, so...in it goes.

On the other hand, I like Card as a writer, but IMO you can write well-done AI without knowing about Xenocide.
 
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