SFFC's 60s SF Novels

[J-Sun]

Just as I was inspired by the LoA 50s set to move on to the 60s, so this guy wrote about the LoA 50s set and has now moved on to the 60s.

 

[austin_cambridge]

The Santaroga Barrier, Frank Herbert (1968)
Synthajoy, DG Compton (1968)
The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K Le Guin (1969)
A Torrent of Faces, James Blish (1967)
A Man of Double Deed, Leonard Daventry (1965)
Empire Star, Samuel R Delany (1966)
The Man in the High Castle, Philip K Dick (1962)
The Drowned World, JG Ballard (1962)
Rogue Moon, Algis Budrys (1960)

So glad to see someone else likes A Man of Double Deed. I've read it more times than I can count and never get tired of it.

 

[psikeyhackr]

No one included

Rite of Passage by Alexei Panshin

psik

 

[psikeyhackr]

T think this Blog covers this thread.

http://jameswharris.wordpress.com/2013/04/07/the-defining-science-fiction-books-of-the-1960s/

psik

 

[J-Sun]

I noted that (#21) when he posted it.

But what are your favorite 60s novels? How does A Fall of Moondust fare on the SF-meter?

 

[psikeyhackr]

I noted that (#21) when he posted it.

Sorry for the repeat.

But what are your favorite 60s novels? How does A Fall of Moondust fare on the SF-meter?

engineer 11
astronomer 12
scientific 12
scientist 13
program 14
gravity 15
infrared 17
circuit 19
pressure 26
radio 43
oxygen 43


  The input file is:  ACC.AFalloMndust.txt with 439541 characters.

   It uses 79 SF words 450 times for an SF density of 1.024

   The word count limit of: 43 was exceeded by: 4

That more than any other single book caused me to take engineering. It was all of the mentions of MIT that made me apply. I got an interview but did not get accepted. I couldn't have afforded it anyway and knew that before I applied. Cost me $50 just to apply if I remember correctly.

pressure 2
drug 2
asteroid 2
momentum 2
atmosphere 3
science 3
parasites 3
oxygen 4
gravity 15
planets 16
planet 34


  The input file is:  AP.RiteoPasg.txt with 453088 characters.

   It uses 26 SF words 101 times for an SF density of 0.223

Rite of Passage is not hard SF but it could be argued that it is a more universally serious story. It raises the question of who owns knowledge and has the right to withhold it from others. But when do any Sf fans discuss that?

Deathworld I & II by Harry Harrison
The High Crusade by Poul Anderson
Pilgrimage: The Book of the People by Zenna Henderson
Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein
Dune by Frank Herbert
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein
The Past Through Tomorrow by Robert A. Heinlein
Bug Jack Barron by Norman Spinrad
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin

Deathworld II, also known as The Ethical Engineer, also presents the idea of ownership of knowledge. I think that is something important to how a society works but is not much discussed. Most of what I leaned about science in grade school was the result of SF books that I sought out. It wasn't that so many ideas were difficult but that my so called teachers never brought them up. The nuns had science books sitting on the shelves that they never used.

So now we have engineering schools charging $20,000 per semester but can't model the collapse of a skyscraper.

psik

 

[J-Sun]

Cool list - I've read all except the Harrison which is in the Pile and the Henderson which I've read pieces of and doesn't suit me. The rest is good stuff to me.

-- Oh yeah, if you're interested, don't forget there are 50s, 70s, and 80s threads to play in. (I think 90s, too.)

 

[psikeyhackr]

-- Oh yeah, if you're interested, don't forget there are 50s, 70s, and 80s threads to play in. (I think 90s, too.)

I like concentrating on the ideas in science fiction more than the dates or even the authors. The Mote in God's Eye from the 70s is better than Dune from the 60s or Ender's Game from the 80s even though those two seem to be THE most popular SF works. There seems to be a significant group think factor among SF readers.

I do tend to think in term of before Star Wars and word processors versus afterwards however. Books got longer because it was easier to write. And the possible Big Bucks from stuff called "science fiction" even though it really isn't science fiction attracted people who can write or think they can write but cannot come up with decent "science fiction" stories.

Mack Reynold's characters are so bad I tell people that they can smell the glue. But his stories are better than Andre Norton's who was a better writer. Star Man's Son was about as good as she ever got for an SF Story in my rarely humble opinion.

I suppose I am nostalgic about the 60s since that is when I started reading SF even though much of what I read was from the 40s and 50s. But it was those stories that introduced me to the fundamental ideas that permeate real SF. What do we decide to do with this technology and who really makes those decisions? But the distribution of knowledge affects that. I find the iPad fiasco in the LA school system to be pathetically hilarious. Educators are so dumb.

http://www.macobserver.com/tmo/article/lessons-from-the-los-angeles-school-district-ipad-fiasco

Reminds me of the dumb teachers I had in grade school.

psik