Science Fiction – Page 32 – Auxiliary Memory

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I’ve been reading science fiction for over fifty years, and I’m touring my SF memories decade by decade. So far I’ve written about the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s.

Something happened to the world of science fiction books in the 1980s. The genre grew, gaining new writers, publishers and readers. Star Trek and Star Wars got millions of media fans to try reading SF, often introduced by novelizations. Science fiction became big business. From my view of the genre, two SF books went nova in the eighties: Neuromancer and Ender’s Game, making William Gibson and Orson Scott Card the breakout science fiction writers of the decade, like Delany and Zelazny had been for the 1960s.

Computers and video games made the 1980s a happening decade for science fiction. Personal computers became all the rage, with the IBM PC being introduced in 1981 and the Apple Macintosh in 1984. Fandom shifted from fanzines to computer networks like CompuServe and GEnie, connecting readers to the cyber world – letting us all live in a science fictional reality. Kids growing up with Atari 2600s from the 1970s, jumped to the Nintendo, accelerating the cyber addiction of the 1980s, so is it any wonder that in the mid-80s that teens totally resonated with Ender’s Game and Neuromancer? They were what the Heinlein juveniles were to my generation.

Now this is a longshot, but I think it was the massive influx of female fans that made Ender’s Game a mega success. Over the years I’ve been surprised by countless women telling me that Ender’s Game is one of their all-time favorite books. This was particularly shocking because most of my lady bookworm friends didn’t read science fiction. Ender’s Game got them started on the genre though, if only a book now and then.

Ender’s Game is often taught in schools, and I’ve met both students and teachers who have gushed over this story. To me Ender’s Game was just another outstanding science fiction novel, but to new readers it was a mind blowing introduction to the world of written science fiction. They grew up on science fiction comics, television shows, games, toys and movies, but it’s the books that are the real heroin of science fiction addiction. Remember, the Golden Age of Science Fiction is 12, and to the 1980s generation, their time was just as exciting to them, as the 1960s were to us baby boomers.

These essays about remembering past decades of science fiction are about memory – my memory, our collective fan memory, and maybe the world at large memory of science fiction. I’m not the only person looking backwards at science fiction. Last year, Ernest Cline remembered the 1980s in his novel Ready Player One, and its over-the-top success is due to Cline speaking directly to the heart of the Nintendo generation. The year before that, Jo Walton remembered growing up with science fiction in her novel Among Others. Walton spoke to the heart of introverted science fiction bookworms, which won her the Hugo, Nebula and British Fantasy Awards. Here is a list of novels she wrote about in Among Others. Most of the science fiction books she mentions have been listed in my defining decades lists, but her novel goes further because Walton also remembers fantasy, classics and non-genre books. Walton resonated with lonely book lovers everywhere.

With each succeeding decade, science fiction gets more sophisticated, and the overall quality of writing improves. More people take science fiction seriously, and science fiction becomes more serious. It’s still escapism, but the stories are getting longer and less simplistic. It also obvious by the 1980s that the genre was shifting more towards fantasy, a trend that has been accelerating ever since.

Science fiction became big in the 1980s. Bigger books, more books, more series, bigger series, wordier writing, and bigger sales. In the 1980s writers took to writing trilogies and series like never before. Lois McMaster Bujold is another standout writer of the 1980s, by developing a huge fan base for her Vorkosigan series. Her 1980 books won awards back then, but they are still huge sellers today because the series keeps growing. Every new convert to her fictional universe wants to jump back to the 1980s to start the series from the beginning.

For the long list below, I only list the first book in a series unless a later title makes some kind of splash, wins an award, or was very popular for that year. The 1980s was dominated by series, both new and renewed. As you gander down the list, think of how many of these stories are part of a bigger whole? Orson Scott Card, C. J. Cherryh, Iain M. Banks and Lois McMaster Bujold started series in the 1980s that continue to current times. Isaac Asimov capitalized on his classic Foundation and Robot series in the 1980s in a tremendous way. David Brin and Gene Wolfe wrote two standout series of the decade. Dan Simmons started his Hyperion series at the end of the decade. The most memorable books of the decade were seldom standalone novels.

Not only did we see more series books, but the books seem to be getting bigger, and some writers developed baroque writing styles, moving science fiction away from fast action pulp writing. Gardner Dozois started his annual The Year’s Best Science Fiction series in 1984, by showcasing a massive amount of short fiction in a single volume. The 1980s was a boom time for science fiction.

The 1980s will also be remembered for the Cyberpunk moment. Neuromancer by William Gibson got a subgenre rolling that breathed new life into the old genre. It was as revolutionary as the New Wave had been back in the 1960s, with Bruce Sterling leading the charge with his fanzine Cheap Truth. The SF big three, Heinlein-Clarke-Asimov, the old guard of classic 1950s SF, were still selling lots of books, but their future visions were being eclipsed by new ones from Young Turks.

I divide the decade into two lists. First, a short list for those books that are the most remembered today, and maybe most known by people who don’t normally read science fiction. Then, a longer list of the books that hardcore science fiction fans should remember, and probably newer fans are slowly discovering.

The Best Remembered Science Fiction Books of the 1980s

Timescape by Gregory Benford (1980)
Startide Rising by David Brin (1983)
Neuromancer by William Gibson (1984)
Blood Music by Greg Bear (1985)
Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card (1985)
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood (1985)
Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card (1986)
The Warrior’s Apprentice by Lois McMaster Bujold (1986)
Dawn by Octavia Butler (1987)
Replay by Ken Grimwood (1987)
Falling Free by Lois McMaster Bujold (1988)
Hyperion by Dan Simmons (1989)

The Defining Science Fiction Books of the 1980s

1980
	Beyond the Blue Event Horizon by Frederik Pohl Dragon’s Egg by Robert L. Forward Lord Valentine’s Castle by Robert Silverberg Mockingbird by Walter Tevis Riddley Walker by Russell Hoban Roderick by John T. Sladek Sundiver by David Brin The Arbor House Treasury of Great Science Fiction Short Novels edited by Robert Silverberg The Garden of Delight by Ian Watson The Number of the Beast by Robert A. Heinlein The Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams The Shadow of the Torturer by Gene Wolfe The Snow Queen by Joan D. Vinge The Visitors by Clifford D. Simak Timescape by Gregory Benford Wild Seed Octavia Butler Wizard by John Varley
1981
	Downbelow Station by C. J. Cherryh Dream Park by Niven and Barnes God Emperor of Dune by Frank Herbert Little, Big by John Crowley Oath of Fealty Niven and Pournelle Radix by A. A. Attanasio Sandkings by George R. R. Martin The Claw of the Conciliator by Gene Wolfe The Divine Invasion by Philip K. Dick The Many-Colored Land by Julian May The Silver Metal Lover by Tanith Lee VALIS by Philip K. Dick Windhaven by Martin & Tuttle
1982
	2010: Odyssey Two by Arthur C. Clarke A Rose for Armageddon by Hilbert Schenck Courtship Rite by Donald Kingsbury Foundation’s Edge by Isaac Asimov Friday by Robert A. Heinlein Helliconia Spring by Brian W. Aldiss In Viriconium by M. John Harrison No Enemy But Time by Michael Bishop Psion by Joan D. Vinge Software by Rudy Rucker The Compass Rose by Ursula K. Le Guin The Crystal Singer by Anne McCaffrey The Sword of the Lictor by Gene Wolfe The White Plague by Frank Herbert
1983
	Against Infinity by Gregory Benford Forty Thousand In Gehenna by C. J. Cherryh Helliconia Summer by Brain W. Aldiss His Master’s Voice by Stanislaw Lem Millennium by John Varley Startide Rising by David Brin Tea with the Black Dragon by R. A. MacAvoy The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers The Armageddon Rag by George R. R. Martin The Citadel of the Autarch by Gene Wolfe The Robots of Dawn by Isaac Asimov The Void Captain’s Tale by Norman Spinrad
1984
	Emergence by David R. Palmer Icehenge by Kim Stanley Robinson Job: A Comedy of Justice by Robert A. Heinlein Native Tongue by Suzette Haden Elgin Neuromancer by William Gibson The Final Encyclopedia by Gordon R. Dickson The Integral Trees by Larry Niven The Peace War by Vernor Vinge The Stars in My Pocket Like Grains of Sand by Samuel R. Delany The Wild Shore by Kim Stanley Robinson West of Eden by Harry Harrison
1985
	Ancient of Days by Michael Bishop Blood Music by Greg Bear Brightness Falls from the Air by James Tiptree, Jr. Contact by Carl Sagan Cuckoo’s Egg by C. J. Cherryh Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card Eon by Greg Bear Firewatch by Connie Willis Footfall by Niven and Pournelle Helliconia Winter by Brian W. Aldiss Robots and Empire by Isaac Asimov Schismatrix by Bruce Sterling The Cat Who Walks Through Walls by Robert A. Heinlein The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood The Postman by David Brin
1986
	A Door into Ocean by Joan Slonczewski Artificial Things by Karen Joy Fowler Burning Chrome by William Gibson Chanur’s Homecoming C. J. Cherryh Count Zero by William Gibson Foundation and Earth by Isaac Asimov Hardwired by Walter Jon Williams Heart of the Comet by Brin and Benford Marooned in Realtime by Vernor Vinge Mirrorshades edited by Bruce Sterling Robot Dreams by Isaac Asimov Shards of Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold Soldier of the Mist by Gene Wolfe Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card The Falling Woman by Pat Murphy The Hercules Text by Jack McDevitt The Ragged Astronauts by Bob Shaw The Songs of Distant Earth by Arthur C. Clarke The Warrior’s Apprentice by Lois McMaster Bujold This Is the Way the World Ends by James Marrow
1987
	A Mask for the General by Lisa Goldstein Consider Phlebas by Iain M. Banks Dawn by Octavia E. Butler Great Sky River by Gregory Benford Life During Wartime by Lucius Shepard Lincoln’s Dreams by Connie Willis Mindplayers by Pat Cadigan Replay by Ken Grimwood Sphere by Michael Crichton The Essential Ellison by Harlan Ellison The Forge of God by Greg Bear The Jaguar Hunter by Lucius Shepard The Uplift War by David Brin The Urth of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe True Names … and Other Dangers by Vernor Vinge Vacuum Flowers by Michael Swanwick When Gravity Fails by George Alec Effinger
1988
	Becoming Alien by Rebecca Ore Cyteen by C. J. Cherryh Deserted Cities of the Heart by Lewis Shiner Desolation Road by Ian McDonald Eternity by Greg Bear Falling Free by Lois McMaster Bujold Full Spectrum edited by Aronica and McCarthy Islands in the Net by Bruce Sterling Mona Lisa Overdrive by William Gibson Prelude to Foundation by Isaac Asimov The Gate to Women’s Country by Sheri S. Tepper The Gold Coast by Kim Stanley Robinson The Healer’s War by Elizabeth Ann Scarborough The Player of Games by Iain M. Banks Wetware by Rudy Rucker
1989
	The Wall Around Eden by Joan Slonczewski Good News From Outer Space by John Kessel Grass by Sheri S. Tepper Hyperion by Dan Simmons Orbital Decay by Allen Steele Patterns by Pat Cadigan Phases of Gravity by Dan Simmons Rimrunners by C. J. Cherryh The Boat of a Million Years by Poul Anderson The Child Garden by Geoff Ryman

JWH – 4/13/13 – Table of Contents

The Defining Science Fiction Books of the 1970s

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What started as a review of American Science Fiction: The Nine Classic Novels of the 1950s, has put me on a quest to organize my memories of the great science fiction books, decade by decade, and year by year. Back in the mid-90s I created The Classics of Science Fiction website. Then I wrote The Greatest Science Fiction Novels of the 20th Century about the science fiction books that people who don’t read science fiction might know. I’m preoccupied with how people remember science fiction, well at least the literary form. Recently I wrote The Defining Science Fiction Books of the 1960s which is getting more hits than usual for my blog, so that makes me think other people are like me – looking back, trying to remember all their favorite science fiction books from childhood.

For those science fiction fans who really love reading about the great books of science fiction, I highly recommend reading Anatomy of Wonder edited by Neil Barron, now in it’s 5th edition. It’s a very expensive book, designed for library reference, so it’s cheaper to get used copies of the older editions. Go to the Amazon link I provided with the title and click on Look Inside to see what it’s like. Neil Barron and his contributors are doing what I’m doing here, but exhaustively, scholarly, and providing a summary description for each book. If you really love science fiction and want to read about the best books from the past, this book is for you. You can get used copies of older editions for less than $5 at Abebooks.com. Editions were 1976, 1981, 1987, 1995, 2004. Aim for the latest edition you can afford. I hope a 6th edition comes out soon.

Doing the research for these essays has been great fun. A test of my memory. It’s also shown me how science fiction has aged, and changed over time. The science fiction of the 1970s seems more grownup than the 1960s and 1950s, less about space adventure and more about people and their problems. Part of that change came about because of Terry Carr and his Ace Science Fiction Specials (1968-1990), and the impact of The New Wave on science fiction. Science fiction also seemed to be polarizing over politics of the 1970s – see “New Maps of Science Fiction” by William Sims Bainbridge and Murray M. Dalziel from the Analog Yearbook, 1977. For the article they polled 130 readers to get a list of the popular SF writers of the 1970s.

It you study this list and then look at my long list below you’ll notice that there are many new authors breaking out in the 1970s, especially women writers. Of the 27 writers making their popularity poll, only two are women, Ursula K. Le Guin and Anne McCaffrey. My 1970s long list adds Octavia Butler, Suzy McKee Charnas, C. J. Cherryh, Vonda N. McIntyre, Marge Piercy, Joanna Russ, Alice Sheldon (James Tiptree, Jr.), and Kate Wilhelm.

I create two lists for these remembrances of science fictional past. The first is a short list of the most famous titles, the science fiction books probably most remembered today, especially by current fans, and maybe famous enough to be known by people outside of the genre. The second, the long list, are the books that hardcore science fiction fans should fondly remember.

The Best Remembered Science Fiction Books of the 1970s

Ringworld by Larry Niven (1970)
Time and Again by Jack Finney (1970)
The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin (1971)
The Gods Themselves by Isaac Asimov (1972)
Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke (1973)
The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin (1974)
The Mote In God’s Eye by Niven and Pournelle (1974)
The Forever War by Joe Haldeman (1975)
A Scanner Darkly by Philip K. Dick (1977)
Gateway by Frederik Pohl (1978)
Kindred by Octavia Butler (1979)
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams (1979)

I believe these 1970s science fiction books are more often reprinted, more often talked about by young readers I meet, more often discussed in the book club, and more often written about, but I can’t prove it – just my intuition. I expect every science fiction fan who lived through the 1970s will want to argue with me. None of the books I picked for the short or long list are my top favorite SF books of all time. I like them, but none of my all-time favorite science fiction books came out in the 1970s. I’ve read many of the books from the long list, and most are entertaining, but none of them have stuck in my heart. For some reason, since the turn of the century, I’ve been experiencing a reading renaissance, and I’ve been discovering new books again that I love like I did when I was a teen – but that’s another essay. They do say getting old leads to a second childhood.

Like I said in the original essay about the 1950s, it’s the books we read starting at age 12, and following few years, that imprint on our souls. The 1970s represents my twenties, and I was branching away from science fiction by then. I’m quite sure there are fans who were teens in the the 1970s that found many of these books wonderful and are lifetime favorites for them. But also remember, the 1970s was when Star Trek fans started swarming into the genre, and then Star Wars hit. After that science fiction conventions were more about media science fiction than literary science fiction.

The Best Science Fiction Books of the 1970s for Hardcore Fans

1970
	A Maze of Death by Philip K. Dick After Things Fell Apart by Ron Goulart And Chaos Died by Joanna Russ Downward to the Earth by Robert Silverberg I Will Fear No Evil by Robert A. Heinlein Nine Hundred Grandmothers by R. A. Lafferty Ringworld by Larry Niven Tau Zero by Poul Anderson The Atrocity Exhibition by J. G. Ballard The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume One, edited by Robert Silverberg The Steel Crocodile/The Electric Crocodile by D. G. Compton The Year of the Quiet Sun by Wilson Tucker Time and Again by Jack Finney Tower of Glass by Robert Silverberg Whipping Star by Frank Herbert
1971
	A Time of Changes by Robert Silverberg Alone Against Tomorrow by Harlan Ellison Chronopolis and Other Stories by J. G. Ballard Dinosaur Beach by Keith Laumer Dragonquest Anne McCaffrey Driftglass by Samuel R. Delany Furthest by Suzette Haden Elgin Half Past Human by T. J. Bass Jack of Shadows by Roger Zelazny Moderan by David Bunch Son of Man by Robert Silverberg Starlight by Hal Clement The Doors of His Face, the Lamps of His Mouth and Other Stories by Roger Zelazny The Hugo Award Winners, Volume Two edited by Isaac Asimov The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin The World Inside by Robert Silverberg To Your Scattered Bodies Go by Philip Jose Farmer Vermillion Sands by J. G. Ballard
1972
	334 by Thomas M. Disch A Choice of Gods by Clifford Simak Again, Dangerous Visions edited by Harlan Ellison Beyond Apollo by Barry N. Malzberg Dying Inside by Robert Silverberg The Fifth Head of Cerberus by Gene Wolfe The Gods Themselves by Isaac Asimov The Iron Dream by Norman Spinrad The Listeners by James Gunn The Sheep Look Up by John Brunner What Entropy Means to Me by George Alec Effinger When Harlie Was One by David Gerrold
1973
	Frankenstein Unbound by Brian W. Aldiss Memoirs Found in a Bathtub by Stanislaw Lem Protector by Larry Niven Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke Ten Thousand Light-Years From Home by James Tiptree, Jr. The Embedding by Ian Watson The Man Who Folded Himself by David Gerrold Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume 2a & 2b edited by Ben Bova Time Enough for Love by Robert A. Heinlein
1974
	Before the Golden Age edited by Isaac Asimov Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said by Philip K. Dick Icerigger by Alan Dean Foster The Continuous Katherine Mortenhoe/The Unsleeping Eye by D. G. Compton The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin The Godwhale by T. J. Bass The Mote in God’s Eye by Niven & Pournelle Walk to the End of the World by Suzy McKee Charnas
1975
	Deathbird Stories by Harlan Ellison Dhalgren by Samuel R. Delany Ecotopia by Ernest Callenbach Norstrillia by Cordwainer Smith The Computer Connection by Alfred Bester The Deep by John Crowley The Female Man by Joanna Russ The Forever War by Joe Haldeman The Infinity Box by Kate Wilhelm The Shockwave Rider by John Brunner The Wind’s Twelve Quarters by Ursula K. Le Guin Women of Wonder edited by Pamela Sargent
1976
	Man Plus by Frederik Pohl Science Fiction of the Thirties edited by Damon Knight The Clewiston Test by Kate Wilhelm The Woman on the Edge of Time by Marge Piercy The Word for World is Forest by Ursula K. Le Guin Triton by Samuel R. Delany Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang by Kate Wilhelm
1977
	A Scanner Darkly by Philip K. Dick All My Sins Remembered by Joe Haldeman Gateway by Frederik Pohl In the Ocean of Night by Gregory Benford Inherit the Stars by James P. Hogan Lucifer’s Hammer by Niven and Pournelle Roadside Picnic by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky The Ophiuchi Hotline by John Varley The Road To Science Fiction edited by James Gunn
1978
	Dreamsnake by Vonda N. McIntyre The Faded Sun: Kesrith by C. J. Cherryh The Persistence of Vision by John Varley
1979
	Engine Summer by John Crowley Kindred by Octavia Butler Juniper Time by Kate Wilhelm On the Wings of Song by Thomas Disch Tales of Pirx the Pilot by Stanislaw Lem The Fountains of Paradise by Arthur C. Clarke The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams The Instrumentality of Mankind by Cordwainer Smith Titan by John Varley

JWH – 4/9/13 – Table of Contents

The Defining Science Fiction Books of the 1960s

We've added a new feature that allows you to create your own lists from our database of recognized novels and short stories. You can set your own date ranges. Change the citation numbers to focus on more popular titles.

After completing The Defining Science Fiction Books of the 1950s, I decided to push ahead into the 1960s. Going through the databases and assembling the list was a shock to my memory. I remember the 1960s being a tremendous decade for science fiction, and it was in volume, but I just don’t know how many of the books I found to list here are actual classics. I’ve reread far fewer of these titles than I did for the books from the 1950s, so I’m going more from distant memory than recent. And I padded the list with more books I remember reading about but haven’t read. I included them because they still sound good enough to track down in 2013. Many of these books listed below are ones I discovered researching the Classics of Science Fiction website, so they stick in my mind.

Also, I’m doubting the completeness of my databases. I had to consult several sources to find many of the titles I “remembered.” If I had to actually make up this list from cold memory it would be far shorter. I needed tools like the Internet Science Fiction Database to trigger buried recollections.

In the 1960s I loved shopping for books so much that I would visit bookstores two or three times a week. Towards the end of the decade I learned how to go to flea market and garage sales and offer to buy whole boxes of paperbacks cheap. I’d then take them to 2 for 1 trade in stores. I got to know the science fiction sections of several used bookshops in Miami. So looking for cover art for this list was a trip down memory lane.

I’d often read a book a day back then. Which is probably why I don’t remember these books so well – I read fast, and consumed science fiction in mass quantities. Some do stand out, especially the titles I’ve reread over the years. In terms of ideas, the 1960s were rich in original content. Most of the 1950s was spent reprinting the classic stories of the 1930s and 1940s pulp area. This still happened, but less often. Heinlein’s great short novel Orphans in the Sky from 1963, is really two novellas from the early 1940s, “Universe” and “Common Sense.” Thus it’s very hard to think of Orphans of the Sky as a classic 1960s novel.

Twelve 1960s SF Books That Might Be Remembered in the 22nd Century

The original essay I wrote about the 1950s was inspired by the Library of America’s collection of 1950s science fiction. I assume Library of America will published a collection for the 1960s, and then the 1970s. After collecting all the most memorable titles from the 1960s that I could find, favorites just don’t jump out at me like they did for the 1950s. However, I would say this short list of books are the standout science fiction books of the 1960s, the ones most remembered by people who don’t normally read science fiction. These are the titles I think will be remembered by literary scholars in the future, if they’re willing to read science fiction.

Solaris by Stanislaw Lem (1961)
Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein (1961)
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess (1962)
The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick (1962)
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle (1963)
Dune by Frank Herbert (1965)
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes (1966)
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein (1966)
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick (1968)
Stand on Zanzibar by John Brunner (1968)
Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. (1969)
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin (1969)

I personally think Stand on Zanzibar is one of the standout SF novels of the 1960s, but it’s quickly becoming forgotten. When it comes down to the nitty-gritty I’d say Stranger in a Stranger Land and Dune are the quintessential novels of the 1960s. They aren’t my favorites, but I think they are the ones remembered by the most people.

What’s fascinating to think about, is this list of books will be how the 1960s will be remembered by science fiction readers in the future. Even though science fiction is mostly set in the future, it’s really about the period in which it was written. Psychoanalyzing the 1960s through the lens of science fiction is going to be very weird, especially when our descendants look back on us through the eyes of Philip K. Dick.

Here’s the larger list I worked from, the titles that hard core science fiction fans should easily remember and love. These are the books that I either read, read about, won awards, or are often talked about at the Classics of Science Fiction Book Club. Compiling this list makes me want to reread a lot of books.

1960
	Deathworld by Harry Harrison Drunkard’s Walk by Frederik Pohl Eight Keys to Eden by Mark Clifton Flesh by Philip Jose Farmer Galaxies Like Grains of Sand by Brain A. Aldiss Rogue Moon by Algis Budrys The High Crusade by Poul Anderson The Status Civilization by Robert Sheckley The Tomorrow People by Judith Merril To the Tombaugh Station by Wilson Tucker Venus Plus X by Theodore Sturgeon
1961
	A Fall of Moondust by Arthur C. Clarke Dark Universe by Daniel F. Galouye Pilgrimage: The Book of the People by Zenna Henderson Solaris by Stanislaw Lem Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein The Joy Makers by James E. Gunn The Lovers by Philip Jose Farmer The Rim of Space by A. Bertram Chandler The Stainless Steel Rat by Harry Harrison Time is the Simplest Thing by Clifford D. Simak
1962
	A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess A for Andromeda by Hoyle & Elliot A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle Hothouse/The Long Afternoon of Earth by Brian W. Aldiss Island by Aldous Huxley Journey Beyond Tomorrow by Robert Sheckley Little Fuzzy by H. Beam Piper R is for Rocket by Ray Bradbury The Drowned World by J. G. Ballard The Eleventh Commandment by Lester del Rey The Hugo Winners edited by Isaac Asimov The Jewels of Aptor by Samuel R. Delany The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick The Worlds of the Imperium by Keith Laumer
1963
	All the Colors of Darkness by Lloyd Biggle, Jr. Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. Dolphin Island by Arthur C. Clarke Envoy to New Worlds by Keith Laumer Orphans of the Sky by Robert A. Heinlein Passport To Eternity by J. G. Ballard Planet of the Apes by Pierre Boulle Podkayne of Mars by Robert A. Heinlein Star Surgeon by James White The Dragon Masters by Jack Vance The Game Players of Titan by Philip K. Dick The Man Who Fell To Earth by Walter Tevis Way Station by Clifford D. Simak You Will Never Be The Same by Cordwainer Smith
1964
	Clans of the Alphane Moon by Philip K. Dick Davy by Edgar Pangborn Farnham’s Freehold by Robert A. Heinlein Greybeard by Brian W. Aldiss Martian Time-Slip by Philip K. Dick The Penultimate Truth by Philip K. Dick The Planet Buyer by Cordwainer Smith The Reefs of Space by Williamson & Pohl The Star King by Jack Vance The Wanderer by Fritz Leiber The Whole Man by John Brunner
1965
	A Plague of Pythons by Frederik Pohl All Flesh is Grass by Clifford Simak Dr. Bloodmoney, or How We Got Along After the Bomb by Philip K. Dick Dune by Frank Herbert Nova Express by William Burroughs The Genocides by Thomas M. Disch The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch by Philip K. Dick The Squares of the City by John Brunner
1966
	Babel-17 by Samuel R. Delany Colossus by D. F. Jones Earthblood by Laumer and Brown Empire Star by Samuel R. Delany Fantastic Voyage by Isaac Asimov Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes Make Room! Make Room! by Harry Harrison Mindswap by Robert Sheckley Now Wait for Last Year by Philip K. Dick Orbit 1 edited by Damon Knight Planet of Exile by Ursula K. Le Guin Rocannon’s World by Ursula K. Le Guin The Crystal World by J. G. Ballard The Dream Master by Roger Zelazny The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein The Solarians by Norman Spinrad The Watch Below by James White The Witches of Karres by James Schmitz This Immortal by Roger Zelazny
1967
	Berserker by Fred Saberhagen Chthon by Piers Anthony Four for Tomorrow by Roger Zelazny Dangerous Visions edited by Harlan Ellison I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream by Harlan Ellison Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny Restoree by Anne McCaffrey Soldier, Ask Not by Gordon R. Dickson The Butterfly Kid by Chester Anderson The Einstein Intersection by Samuel R. Delany The Past Through Tomorrow by Robert A. Heinlein Thorns by Robert Silverberg
1968
	2001: A Space Odyssey Arthur C. Clarke A Specter is Haunting Texas by Fritz Leiber A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin Camp Concentration by Thomas M. Disch Chocky John Wyndham Dimension of Miracles by Robert Sheckley Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey Hawksbill Station by Robert Silverberg Neutron Star by Larry Niven Nova by Samuel R. Delany Of Men and Monsters by William Tenn Omnivore by Piers Anthony Past Master by R. A. Lafferty Pavane by Keith Roberts Picnic on Paradise by Joanna Russ Rite of Passage by Alexei Panshin Stand on Zanzibar by John Brunner The Demon Breed by James H. Schmitz The Final Programme by Michael Moorcock The Goblin Reservation by Clifford Simak The Last Starship from Earth by John Boyd The Masks of Time by Robert Silverberg The Reefs of Earth by R. A. Lafferty The Still, Small Voice of Trumpets by Lloyd Biggle, Jr. The Underpeople by Cordwainer Smith
1969
	Behold the Man by Michael Moorcock Bug Jack Barron by Norman Spinrad Galactic Pot-Healer by Philip K. Dick Macroscope by Piers Anthony Nightfall and Other Stories by Isaac Asimov Nightwings by Robert Silverberg Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton The Jagged Orbit by John Brunner The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin The Pollinators of Eden by John Boyd The Ship Who Sang by Anne McCaffrey Ubik by Philip K. Dick Up the Line by Robert Silverberg World’s Best Science Fiction 1969 edited by Wollheim & Carr

1960s SF: My Personal Favorites

Empire Star by Samuel R. Delany
Stand on Zanzibar by John Brunner
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
Orphans of the Sky by Robert A. Heinlein
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick
Nova by Samuel R. Delany
Rite of Passage by Alexei Panshin
Podkayne of Mars by Robert A. Heinlein
Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein
Dune by Frank Herbert
The Martian Time-Slip by Philip K. Dick
Way Station by Clifford D. Simak
The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick
Babel-17 by Samuel R. Delany
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin
The Einstein Intersection by Samuel R. Delany
Mindswap by Robert Sheckley
Four for Tomorrow by Roger Zelazny
This Immortal by Roger Zelazny
Behold the Man by Michael Moorcock
Omnivore by Piers Anthony
The Past Through Tomorrow by Robert A. Heinlein
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein
The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch by Philip K. Dick
Hothouse/The Long Afternoon of Earth by Brian Aldiss
Pilgrimage: The Book of the People by Zenna Henderson
A for Andromeda by Hoyle & Elliot
The Last Starship From Earth by John Boyd
The Dream Master by Roger Zelazny
Dimension of Miracles by Robert Sheckley
The Witches of Karres by James Schmitz
Make Room! Make Room! by Harry Harrison
The Eleventh Commandment by Lester del Rey
The Drowned World by J. G. Ballard
Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny

JWH – 4/7/13 – Table of Contents

The Defining Science Fiction Books of the 1950s

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In 1963, when I was 12, science fiction began imprinting on my brain, so that science fiction from the 1950s is how I define the genre. All science fiction novels I’ve read in the succeeding fifty years are measured against those stories I first discovered in my early teens. That’s why I so completely understand the statement, “the Golden Age of Science Fiction is 12.” Younger generations of science fiction fans have since imprinted on science fiction via television shows like Star Trek, or movies like Star Wars, and even later forms of the genre that I don’t even understand like comics and video games. Science fiction is very hard to pigeon-hole because its so radically different from generation to generation. For me, science fiction is defined by certain books I first read in 1963, 1964 and 1965, and most of those were first published in the 1950s. I discovered 1950s science fiction in libraries, as cheap paperbacks on wire racks, in dusty used bookstores, and most of all by joining the Science Fiction Book Club which often promoted the classic books from the 1950s.

Sad to say, many modern science fiction fans don’t know about the science fiction I point to when I think science fiction. That time is so far in the past that the Library of America has even published American Science Fiction: Nine Classic Novels of the 1950s, a two-volume boxed set, edited by Gary K. Wolfe. The collection is almost an academic preservation of old, mostly forgotten, science fiction novels.

The Space Merchants by Frederik Pohl and C. M. Kornbluth
More Than Human by Theodore Sturgeon
The Long Tomorrow by Leigh Brackett
The Shrinking Man by Richard Matheson
Double Star by Robert A. Heinlein
The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester
A Case of Conscience by James Blish
Who? by Algis Budrys
The Big Time by Fritz Leiber

To get a feel for capturing the science fiction novels of the 1950s, just take a gander at their companion website, especially their wonderful Timeline, and their short overview essays. And you can pick up even more details about the decade by reading Arthur D. Hlavaty’s review in The New York Review of Science Fiction, or visit the Library of America Science Fiction Facebook page for more reviews to read. Everyone remembers something different about the 1950s.

Now, here’s the funny thing, those nine novels aren’t the nine novels from the 1950s that would define my memory of 1950s science fiction. Not that I am saying Wolfe selection is a bad, it’s just not mine. Like the web site The Burning House, in which people take photos of their favorite possessions, the ones they would grab first while running out of their burning homes, my selection of 1950s science fiction novels would be different.

And there’s a further complication. For the last decade I’ve been rereading many of those Oldie-Goldie science fiction novels from mid-20th century by listening to them on audiobook, and most of them are disappointing to me now, even though I thought they were wonderful back then. Would a 12-year-old today discovering these books find them exciting, or would they seem dumb and quaint compared to all the modern books, television shows and movies of today?

In other words, if we are defining the classic SF novels of the 1950s do they have to succeed for Golden Age readers (age 12, remember) or for people of any age in any reading year? For example, The Foundation Trilogy was mind blowing for me at 13 in 1964, but I found unreadable clunky at 59. Conversely, I thought Asimov’s The Naked Sun was boring back then and page turning fascinating a few years ago.

So I have two views of 1950s science fiction in my mind, 1950s SF Classics from my 10s and 20s, and 1950s SF Classics from my 50s and 60s. If I had been hired by Library of America to collect books that represent American science fiction in the 1950s I’d be torn between collecting those books I nostalgically remembered, and those books I felt held up over time. But I’d also be troubled by collecting books I loved versus books I knew were well loved by others.

Ultimately such a collection is a burning house situation, you have to grab the ones you want to save, the ones you want people to remember, the ones you want young readers to discover. Gary K. Wolfe made a great selection, but here are my personal remembrance of 1950s SF if I had been an editor at LOA.

Have Space Suit-Will Travel by Robert A. Heinlein
City by Clifford Simak
The Naked Sun by Isaac Asimov
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Time Out of Joint by Philip K. Dick
The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury
Brain Wave by Poul Anderson
Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank
Mission of Gravity by Hal Clement

I follow the precedent of only one book by any author, otherwise five of the books would be by Heinlein.

Twelve 1950s SF Books That Might Be Remembered in the 22nd Century

However, if I try to ignore my personal tastes, and reflect on what I’ve read about these books over the years, and from studying science fiction, these are the twelve science fiction books I think will be remembered most in the future. These are my predictions, too bad I won’t be around to find out if they come true.

The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury (1950)
The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham (1951)
The Foundation Trilogy by Isaac Asimov (1951-1953)
The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester (1952)
Childhood’s End by Arthur C. Clarke (1953)
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (1953)
More Than Human by Theodore Sturgeon (1953)
Mission of Gravity by Hal Clement (1954)
A Case of Conscience by James Blish (1958)
A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller, Jr. (1959)
Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein (1959)
The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. (1959)

Even ardent bookworms will have trouble listing from memory a hundred classic novels from the 19th century, while most readers will only recall a handful at best. Most books fade away over time. Sure, literary scholars have better knowledge of what was read in the past, but few books last to maintain a presence in the eternal now. Think of how many 19th science fiction novels we still read today – only three come to mind: Frankenstein, The Time Machine and The War of the Worlds. I’m not sure any of the twelve books listed above will be remembered in the popular culture of the 22nd century. But I do believe, there will be readers like me, who love the genre and will mine the past for sense of wonder classics.

I previously felt there were zillions of great SF books from the 1950s, but when I did the research I found far fewer than my nostalgia remembers. Below is a list of SF books that are vivid in my memory still, and I constantly remember seeing at libraries, bookstores, garage sales, friend’s bookshelves, etc., when I first began looking for science fiction. Library of America only publishes American writers, but I’m including the British ones I remember too. The other thing I forgot is how many great 1950s science fiction books were collections of short stories. The Foundation Trilogy is really three volumes of short stories. Some books like City, A Case of Conscience or The Martian Chronicles, were called “fix-up” novels, but originally appeared as stories in the magazines.

So, here’s how I remember the 1950s, from my fading memories of the 1960s when I became addicted to science fiction.

1950
	Cosmic Engineers by Clifford Simak Farmer in the Sky by Robert A. Heinlein First Lensman by E. E. “Doc” Smith Fury by Kuttner & Moore Galactic Patrol by E. E. “Doc” Smith I, Robot by Isaac Asimov Needle by Hal Clement Pebble in the Sky by Isaac Asimov Seetee Ship by Jack Williamson The Dreaming Jewels by Theodore Sturgeon The Man Who Sold the Moon by Robert A. Heinlein The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury The Voyage of the Space Beagle by A. E. van Vogt
1951
	Between Planets by Robert A. Heinlein City at the World’s End by Edmond Hamilton Foundation by Isaac Asimov Gray Lensman by E. E. “Doc” Smith The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham The Disappearance by Philip Wylie The Green Hills of Earth by Robert A. Heinlein The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury The Puppet Masters by Robert A. Heinlein The Sands of Mars by Arthur C. Clarke The Stars Like Dust by Isaac Asimov Time and Again by Clifford D. Simak The Weapon Shops of Isher by A. E. van Vogt
1952
	City by Clifford Simak Foundation and Empire by Isaac Asimov Limbo by Bernard Wolfe The Currents of Space by Isaac Asimov The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester The Rolling Stones by Robert A. Heinlein This Island Earth by Raymond F. Jones Player Piano by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. Takeoff by C. M. Kornbluth
1953
	Against the Fall of Night by Arthur C. Clarke Assignment in Eternity by Robert A. Heinlein Bring the Jubilee by Ward Moore Childhood’s End by Arthur C. Clarke Children of the Atom by Wilmar H. Shiras Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury Iceworld by Hal Clement More Than Human by Theodore Sturgeon Revolt in 2100 by Robert A. Heinlein Ring Around the Sun by Clifford Simak Second Foundation by Isaac Asimov Second Stage Lensman by E. E. “Doc” Smith Sentinels from Space by Eric Frank Russell Starman Jones by Robert A. Heinlein The Black Star Passes by John W. Campbell The Lights in the Sky Are Stars by Fredric Brown The Space Merchants by Pohl & Kornbluth West of the Sun by Edgar Pangborn Wild Talent by Wilson Tucker
1954
	A Mirror for Observers by Edgar Pangborn Brain Wave by Poul Anderson Children of the Lens by E. E. “Doc” Smith I Am Legend by Richard Matheson Mission of Gravity by Hal Clement The Caves of Steel by Isaac Asimov The Forgotten Planet by Murray Leinster The Star Beast by Robert A. Heinlein The Stars Are Ours! by Andre Norton Trouble on Titan by Alan E. Nourse Untouched By Human Hands by Robert Sheckley
1955
	Citizen in Space by Robert Sheckley Earthlight by Arthur C. Clarke Earthman, Come Home by James Blish Gladiator-at-Law by Pohl & Kornbluth Martians, Go Home by Fredric Brown Men, Martians and Machines by Eric Frank Russell Not This August by C. M. Kornbluth Of All Possible Worlds by William Tenn Sargasso of Space by Andre Norton Solar Lottery by Philip K. Dick The Body Snatchers by Jack Finney The Chrysalids/Re-Birth by John Wyndham The End of Eternity by Isaac Asimov The Martian Way and Other Stories by Isaac Asimov The Long Tomorrow by Leigh Brackett Tunnel in the Sky by Robert A. Heinlein
1956
	Double Star by Robert A. Heinlein Nerves by Lester del Rey The City and the Stars by Arthur C. Clarke The Death of Grass by John Christopher The Human Angle by William Tenn The Incredible Shrinking Man by Richard Matheson The Man Who Japed by Philip K. Dick The Power by Frank M. Robinson The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester The World Jones Made by Philip K. Dick They Shall Have Stars by James Blish Time for the Stars by Robert A. Heinlein Under Pressure by Frank Herbert
1957
	Big Planet by Jack Vance Citizen of the Galaxy by Robert A. Heinlein Doomsday Morning by C. L. Moore Eye in the Sky by Philip K. Dick On the Beach by Nevil Shute Pilgrimage to Earth by Robert Sheckley Star Born by Andre Norton The Black Cloud by Fred Hoyle The Cosmic Puppets by Philip K. Dick The Door Into Summer by Robert A. Heinlein The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wynham The Naked Sun by Isaac Asimov They’d Rather Be Right by Clifton & Riley Wasp by Eric Frank Russell
1958
	A Case of Conscience by James Blish Have Space Suit-Will Travel by Robert A. Heinlein Methuselah’s Children by Robert A. Heinlein Non-Stop by Brian W. Aldiss The Big Time by Fritz Leiber The Cosmic Rape by Theodore Sturgeon The Languages of Pao by Jack Vance The Lincoln Hunters by Wilson Tucker The Time Traders by Andre Norton Who? by Algis Budrys
1959
	A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller, Jr. Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank Dorsai! by Gordon R. Dickson Immortality, Inc. by Robert Sheckley Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein The Enemy Stars by Poul Anderson The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. Time Out of Joint by Philip K. Dick Wolfbane by Pohl & Kornbluth

Now, I don’t know how many of these books are worth reading today. I’m in an online book club for people who love classic science fiction, and many of the members prefer the old stuff, especially books from the 1950s and 1960s, but most of those members are like me, in their 50s and 60s, and when we all pass from reality, who will remember these books? I doubt many science fiction books from the 1950s will be taught in schools in the future, but who can tell today.

For me, remembering the science fiction books from the 1950s is a nostalgia trip. I tend to think the people who buy the Library Of America books will be people like me and my friends at the book club. They are marketing these books to us old farts who have fond memories of reading that far out Sci-Fi.

1950s SF: My Personal Favorites (links to Wikipedia)

Have Space Suit-Will Travel by Robert A. Heinlein
Tunnel in the Sky by Robert A. Heinlein
Time for the Stars by Robert A. Heinlein
The Door Into Summer by Robert A. Heinlein
City by Clifford Simak
The Rolling Stones by Robert A. Heinlein
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Starman Jones by Robert A. Heinlein
The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham
Farmer in the Sky by Robert A. Heinlein
The Star Beast by Robert A. Heinlein
Citizen of the Galaxy by Robert A. Heinlein
Brainwave by Poul Anderson
The Long Tomorrow by Leigh Brackett
Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank
A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller, Jr.
Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein
The Naked Sun by Isaac Asimov
On the Beach by Nevil Shute
The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester
The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury
A Case of Conscience by James Blish
Assignment in Eternity by Robert A. Heinlein
I, Robot by Isaac Asimov
Between Planets by Robert A. Heinlein
The Green Hills of Earth by Robert A. Heinlein
The Man Who Sold the Moon by Robert A. Heinlein
More Than Human by Theodore Sturgeon
Citizen in Space by Robert Sheckley
Childhood’s End by Arthur C. Clarke
Mission of Gravity by Hal Clement
The Black Cloud by Fred Hoyle
Needle by Hal Clement
The Foundation Trilogy by Isaac Asimov
The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury
The Time Traders by Andre Norton

JWH – 4/4/13 – Table of Contents

What If Star Trek (1966) Had Been About Colonizing Mars?

If Star Trek in 1966 had been about colonizing Mars, would we have a colony on Mars right now? If Star Trek hadn’t been about an impossible distant future, but a much closer possible future, would it have influenced the space program? After we stopped going to the Moon in 1972, did the majority of humanity give up on space travel because they didn’t have a realistic science fiction vision to inspire them?

First Star Trek and then Star Wars changed the face of the science fiction genre. They created millions of new science fiction fans. Star Trek and Star Wars also spread the concept of the warp drive and hyperspace across the world so that most people of the Earth now assume that mankind will one day travel to the stars using these propulsion technologies. And that’s my problem with Star Trek and Star Wars. They have made the warp drive and jump drive as believable as heaven, hell, angels, gods and life after death. And although the warp drive has theoretical science behind it, it’s probably as realistic as reaching another world by dying. The jump drive is even less believable, even though it has theoretical mathematicians supporting it with wild theories.

Star Trek created a future mythology that suggests traveling between the stars will only take days or weeks. Star Wars enhanced that mythology by letting people believe that travel between the stars will only take hours.

The reality will be interplanetary space travel will take months and years, and interstellar travel, if it’s even possible, will take tens of years, and more likely, hundreds or thousands of years.

Science fiction has oversold the ease of space travel, and that has hurt the potential of manned space travel.

By selling the warp drive and the jump drive, most of our future mythologies are built around traveling quickly between the stars, either at ocean liner speeds or jet liner speeds. I can’t help but wonder if this hasn’t impeded the public’s support for real space travel. As long as real space travel is by space capsule and the destinations are rock strewn plains, space travel has little sex appeal. It’s not an adventure but a scientific experiment to be endured by the toughest humans with the right stuff. Having a television like Star Trek would have humanized the job.

The important thing though, this theoretical show would have had to been positive. Most movies about Mars are about failures.

If Star Trek back in 1966 had been about a successful colony on Mars, making the endeavor exciting, and imagining realistic possibilities of what living on Mars might be like, would a science fiction show been able to influence reality?

Why hasn’t science fiction been more realistic about space travel? Why doesn’t science fiction promote the pioneering spirit anymore? Has Star Trek and Star Wars convinced us all to wait until we can travel in comfort? There are real advocates of space travel working on the problem of getting people off Earth, and back before Star Trek and Star Wars, many of these real space dreamers saw science fiction as cheerleading the cause, but that’s no longer true.

Can fiction shape destiny? Is science fiction creating mythologies no more realistic than past mythologies? Do we dream dreams to make them to come true, or do we dream dreams to fool ourselves about the nature of reality?

It’s been over forty years since humans have last walked on the Moon. If space travel was a realistic dream we would have colonized the Moon and Mars by now. Has science fiction failed us by cheerleading us with impractical dreams? If science fiction had written more stories about realistic interplanetary travel would that have inspired more people to back space travel, or would the popularity of science fiction just have faded?

It’s obvious people want a Star Trek and Star Wars future, but it’s in the same way as they also want heaven, angels and God, by just waiting for them to happen. We have to colonize the Moon and Mars first. And that’s just a start. There are centuries between now and The Federation, so when and how are we going to get going?

JWH – 4/1/13