"What work of science fiction would you recommend to someone who has never read science fiction before?"
December 2000
Note: This question was posed by Robert Holland.
I'd love like to use Time Enough For Love, it's just beautiful, but the sexual politics would put most norms off sci-fi for good.
-- Robert Holland
That depends on the person's preferences. If he or she likes action-adventure, one of the single-book space opera tales. For mystery buffs, some of Asimov's SF mysteries. If they like big science concepts, Niven's Ringworld. And so on.
-- Rod Smith
Anne McCaffrey's The Ship Who Sang.
-- Terri Barger
The Green Hills Of Earth. A collection of juicy little short stories by that author who has your [Robert Holland's] initials and who wrote that somewhat minor work called Stranger In A Strange Land ; - )
-- Duryea Edwards
Kinda depends. Is the person a science geek or would they be more converted by, say, a character-driven story?
-- Maria Bellamy
Shards of Honor by Lois McMasters Bujold.
-- Ted Begley
Anne McCaffrey's Get Off the Unicorn, Dragonsong or Dragonsinger. Andre Norton's Witchworld novels, especially the Gryphon Trilogy. I have more of a fantasy bent - can ya tell? : - ) Pern is true science fiction that reads like light high fantasy thanks to the dragons. In that case, The Rowan is an
incredible introduction into sci-fi.
-- Scott Lammers
If you want recent, good, hard SF, I'd nominate all sorts of stuff by Greg Bear, or maybe a collection of Allan Steele's short stories.
-- R'ykandar Korra'ti
I haven't read any of them myself, but what about alternate history books like Turtledove's stuff? Or something humorous, like The Hitchhiker's Guide. Or for the more fantasy side the Terry Pratchett books. I also (still) recommend the His Dark Materials books by Philip Pullman as a way of interesting people, bridges children and adult books.
-- Janis Neville
I'd go for a "sampler platter" - some Heinlein, L. Neil Smith (the North American Confederacy series), Glory Season by David Brin, The Integral Trees and The Smoke Ring by Larry Niven, almost anything by Michael Flynn, same for Allen Steele. There's a lot of good stuff out there, it's hard to pick and choose. Allen Steele's Rude Astronauts or All American Alien Boy are good
short story collections. Most of Turtledove's books are thick, but keep the pace up. I liked The Two Georges, the alternate civil war series (How Few Remain, A Walk in Hell). Allen Steele's books are alternate history for the most part, set in a
world where spacecraft came before atomic bombs (in his story, "Goddard's People", WW2 was in part ended with the use of a spaceplane/bomber). Good reading.
-- Scott Thomas
I guess it depends on who the person is and what they already read. You know, if they are scientists and/or read science, recommend Niven's Known Space; if they read history or historical fiction, recommend alternate history or time travel (Willis, To Say Nothing of the Dog, perhaps); if they read mysteries, recommend an sf mystery (Asimov, maybe?), if they are into philosophy, recommend Piers Anthony (Tarot or the Incarnations of Immortality series); if they are feminists, recommend MZBradley's
Renunciate novels; if they are into humor/puns or if they are psychologists, recommend Spider Robinson's Callahan books; if they are kids, recommend
Heinlein's Star Beast. Or something like that.
