SFFC's 80s SF Novels

[J-Sun]

The Library of America released omnibuses of 50s SF novels which prompted me to start the LoA's 50s SF Novels thread. That led me to wonder about what the SFFC's 60s SF Novels would be and Vince W couldn't resist mentioning Ringworld (1970) so that helped lead to the SFFC's 70s SF Novels and hitmouse couldn't resist mentioning a couple of 1980 novels.

My top 10 80s novels:

• Forward - Dragon's Egg (1980)
• Silverberg - Lord Valentine's Castle (1980)
• Cherryh - Downbelow Station (1981) (honorable mentions: Wave Without a Shore (1981), the Chanur books (1982-6), the Merchanter books (1982, 1989))
• Asimov - Robots of Dawn (1983) (honorable mention: Foundation's Edge (1982))
• Spinrad - The Void Captain's Tale (1983)
• Gibson - Neuromancer (1984) (honorable mentions: Count Zero (1986), Mona Lisa Overdrive (1988))
• Bear - Blood Music (1985)
• Sheffield - Between the Strokes of Night (1985)
• Shirley - Eclipse (1985)
• Sterling - Schismatrix (1985) (honorable mention: Islands in the Net (1988))

After drawing that up, I was kind of amazed that, aside from some honorable mentions, they were all from 1980-5 with nothing from 1986-9. There were several reasonably good books from then, such as Banks' Consider Phlebas (1987), Cadigan's Mindplayers (1987), McDevitt's A Talent for War (1989), Murphy's The City, Not Long After (1989), Resnick's Ivory (1988) and Paradise (1989), Sturgeon's Godbody (1986), Swanwick's Vacuum Flowers (1987), and Vinge's Marooned in Realtime (1986) (which completes a duo begun with The Peace War (1984), which I was really tempted to put on the list), and maybe I should sub one or two of those with one or two of the above but that wouldn't begin to redress the imbalance, anyway. Besides, I think for #11, I'd put Rucker's Spacetime Donuts (1981, though written and partially serialized 1978-9) and honorably mention White Light (1980) and Software (1982).

Anyway - I suspect my list won't look much like anyone else's this time. What are your top ten 80s SF novels?

 

[Fried Egg]

I started drawing up a list but then realised that my reading of SF novels from the 80's is fairly scant and it would be fairly silly of me to draw up a list of my top ten from the decade being as unqualified as I am to make such a judgement.

Generally speaking, the advent of Cyber-Punk didn't do much for me and I guess SF took a different direction in that decade that was not always to my liking. I definitely want to delve into that period more though.

 

[J-Sun]

I started drawing up a list but then realised that my reading of SF novels from the 80's is fairly scant and it would be fairly silly of me to draw up a list of my top ten from the decade being as unqualified as I am to make such a judgement.

Generally speaking, the advent of Cyber-Punk didn't do much for me and I guess SF took a different direction in that decade that was not always to my liking. I definitely want to delve into that period more though.

Well, it doesn't have to be a top 10. If you have a top 3 or anything, feel free to post it. This isn't some kind of professional critical panel and you don't have to be deeply read in all of it. Good's good, so if there's something you liked, it bears mentioning. (Though someone else will have to start any 90s thread as I'm in about the same boat there, having read fairly little 90s SF, especially in the middle of that decade and I figure a thread should at least start with a full top 10. But I'd put Bear's Queen of Angels (1990) and Egan's Diaspora (1997) and the like on any list.)

Either way, thanks for posting - I would have wondered what happened to you.

 

[Ian Whates]

Okay (rubs hands), my top 10 from the 80s would be...

Gregory Benford - Timescape (1980)
Brian Aldiss - Heliconia Spring (1982)
David Brin - Startide Rising (1983)
William Gibson - Neuromancer (1984)
C.J. Cherryh - Chanur's Venture (1984) *
Orson Scott Card - Speaker for the Dead (1986)
Jack Vance - Araminta Station (1988)
Iain M Banks - Player of Games (1988)
Mike Resnick - Paradise (1989)
Dan Simmons - Hyperion (1989)

(* plus The Kif Striike Back (1985) and Chanur's Homecoming (1986) - these were intended as one novel but broken up into three at the publisher's insistence.)

With honourable mentions for: Cherryh - Downbelow Station (1981), Spinrad -The Void Captain's Tale (1983), Bujold - Shards of Honor (1986), Watson - Whores of Babylon (1988), Resnick - Ivory (1988).

 

[iansales]

Some of these are favourite sf novels:

AA Attanasio - RADIX (1981)
CJ Cherryh - ANGEL WITH THE SWORD (1985)
Mary Gentle - GOLDEN WITCHBREED (1983)
Robert Holdstock - WHERE TIME WINDS BLOW (1981)
Gwyneth Jones - KAIROS (1988)
Paul Park - THE STARBRIDGE CHRONICLES (1987 - 1989)
Kim Stanley Robinson - ICEHENGE (1984)
Dan Simmons - HYPERION (1989)
George Turner - THE SEA AND SUMMER (1987)
Gene Wolfe - THE SHADOW OF THE TORTURER (1980 - 1983)

Honourable mentions:-
Jay D Blakeney - THE CHILDREN OF ANTHI (1985)
Ken Grimwood - REPLAY (1986)
Bruce Sterling - SCHISMATRIX (1985)
Sydney J van Scyoc - DAUGHTERS OF THE SUNSTONE (1982 - 1984)

(Nice to Cherryh getting so much love )

 

[Fried Egg]

Gene Wolfe - THE SHADOW OF THE TORTURER (1980 - 1983)
Ken Grimwood - REPLAY (1986)

Funny, I never even would have considered these as I've always considered them more fantasy. Certainly, if I were to consider fantasy as well as SF, I would have little trouble compiling a top ten from this decade as, back then, I read a lot more fantasy than SF.

 

[iansales]

I know both were published in the Fantasy Masterwork series, but The Book of the New Sun is definitely sf. Replay might be a little harder to justify as sf

 

[Fried Egg]

I don't always agree with the Masterworks series classification (for instance "Book of Skulls" SF?) but in this case I agree with them. Although there were definitely elements normally associated with SF, it read like fantasy to me.

 

[iansales]

That was deliberate for The Book of the New Sun - but it's definitely dying earth type sf, with aliens and advanced weapons and time travel. There's nothing magical in it; it can all be explained by science and technology - Clarke's dictum notwithstanding.

 

[Nerds_feather]

That was deliberate for The Book of the New Sun - but it's definitely dying earth type sf, with aliens and advanced weapons and time travel. There's nothing magical in it; it can all be explained by science and technology - Clarke's dictum notwithstanding.

I see your point, but I think it's more borderline SF and F, especially if you conceive fantasy as "second world" fiction in a medieval or medievalish setting, rather than "magical" fiction.

If we had a venn diagram I would put it in the middle.

 

[iansales]

The Book of the New Sun isn't mediaevalish, though. It only reads like fantasy because Wolfe used obscure terminology to disguise the science fiction.

 

[Vince W]

Ack! Where to start. I was in school in the 80's and had all kinds of time to read and did so voraciously. Narrowing it down to ten is difficult...

Neuromancer - William Gibson
Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card
Player of Games - Iain M. Banks
The Ringworld Engineers - Larry Niven
Timescape - Gregory Benford
The Uplift War - David Brin
Foundation's Edge - Isaac Asimov
When Gravity Fails - George Alec Effinger
Islands in the Net - Bruce Sterling
Friday - Robert A. Heinlein

Honourable Mentions:

Schismatrix - Bruce Sterling
Robots of Dawn - Isaac Asimov
Count Zero - William Gibson
Beyond the Blue Event Horizon - Frederik Pohl

 

[Nerds_feather]

The Book of the New Sun isn't mediaevalish, though. It only reads like fantasy because Wolfe used obscure terminology to disguise the science fiction.

Guilds, swords, castles, etc.

Not saying you are wrong about the SF bits, just that I think he was deliberately genre-bending

 

[hitmouse]

Wolfe is deliberately obfuscatory in a lot of his writing, dropping obscure references and allusions all over the place. Sometimes this can be a bit irritating, though BOTNS is marvellous.

 

[iansales]

Guilds, swords, castles, etc.

Not saying you are wrong about the SF bits, just that I think he was deliberately genre-bending

We have guilds, swords and castles now. In fact, they even have sword-fighting in that neoliberal sporting festival thing currently taking place in London...

 

[Fried Egg]

Perhaps we can just compromise and call "The Book of the New Sun" a SF/Fantasy hybrid. Or "Science Fantasy" perhaps?

 

[Nerds_feather]

We have guilds, swords and castles now. In fact, they even have sword-fighting in that neoliberal sporting festival thing currently taking place in London...

Damnit...trying best to ignore it until the javelin throw at least

 

[J-Sun]

Well, I guess there's no point in waiting any longer for the tabulation. I do hope to get more participants but can't count on it. It's kind of disappointing - the two most interesting decades of the four to me are the 50s and 80s and they had a jury/panel about half the size of the 60s and 70s threads. But thanks to those who played and to FE for stating why he felt he shouldn't.

Incidentally, I said in the 70s thread that it was probably about time to consider the 80s classic, 1987 being a quarter-century ago but, given the fractured state of the few votes we had, maybe it's not classic yet, after all. I did things a little differently this time, also tabulating all the honorable mentions to help with tie-breaking. So the Chron's 80s Top 10 are:

Consensus Top 10

Gregory Benford - Timescape (1980)
C.J. Cherryh - Downbelow Station (1981)
Isaac Asimov - Foundation's Edge (1982)
Isaac Asimov - Robots of Dawn (1983)
William Gibson - Neuromancer (1984)
C.J. Cherryh - middle Chanur trilogy (1984-6)
Bruce Sterling - Schismatrix (1985)
Iain M. Banks - Player of Games (1988)
Bruce Sterling - Islands in the Net (1988)
Dan Simmons - Hyperion (1989)

Book of the decade: Neuromancer.

Honorable mentions (Top 10 + individual honorable mention)

Norman Spinrad - The Void Captain's Tale (1983)
Mike Resnick - Paradise (1989)

Honorable mentions (books by authors with multiple nominations)

C.J. Cherryh - Angel with the Sword (1985)
David Brin - Startide Rising (1983)
David Brin - The Uplift War (1987)
Orson Scott Card - Ender's Game (1985)
Orson Scott Card - Speaker for the Dead (1986)

Full results as follows and, again, in the listing below, titles are ordered by votes, indicated by the plain numbers, and sub-ordered by total votes for that author, indicated by the parenthetical numbers. But this time, honorable mentions are in brackets at the right or listed at the end.

Voter Abbreviations

IS = Ian Sales
IW = Ian Whates
J  = J-Sun
VW = Vince W

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

3
J/IW/VW  William Gibson - Neuromancer (1984)

2
IW/IS    Dan Simmons - Hyperion (1989)
IW/VW    Gregory Benford - Timescape (1980)
IW/VW    Iain M. Banks - Player of Games (1988)

1
(3)
J        C.J. Cherryh - Downbelow Station (1981)            [IW]
IW       C.J. Cherryh - middle Chanur trilogy (1984-6)      [J]
IS       C.J. Cherryh - Angel with the Sword (1985)

(2)
J        Isaac Asimov - Robots of Dawn (1983)               [VW]
VW       Isaac Asimov - Foundation's Edge (1982)            [J]

J        Bruce Sterling - Schismatrix (1985)                [IS/VW]
VW       Bruce Sterling - Islands in the Net (1988)         [J]

IW       David Brin - Startide Rising (1983)
VW       David Brin - The Uplift War (1987)

IW       Orson Scott Card - Speaker for the Dead (1986)
VW       Orson Scott Card - Ender's Game (1985)

(1)
J        Norman Spinrad - The Void Captain's Tale (1983)    [IW]
IW       Mike Resnick - Paradise (1989)                     [J]

J        Robert L. Forward - Dragon's Egg (1980)
J        Robert Silverberg - Lord Valentine's Castle (1980)
J        Greg Bear - Blood Music (1985)
J        Charles Sheffield - Between the Strokes of Night (1985)
J        John Shirley - Eclipse (1985)
IW       Brian Aldiss - Heliconia Spring (1982)
IW       Jack Vance - Araminta Station (1988)
IS       A.A. Attanasio - Radix (1981)
IS       Mary Gentle - Golden Witchbreed (1983)
IS       Robert Holdstock - Where Time Winds Blow (1981)
IS       Gwyneth Jones - Kairos (1988)
IS       Paul Park - The Starbridge Chronicles (1987 - 1989)
IS       Kim Stanley Robinson - Icehenge (1984)
IS       George Turner - The Sea and Summer (1987)
IS       Gene Wolfe - The Shadow of the Torturer (1980 - 1983)
VW       Larry Niven - The Ringworld Engineers (1980)
VW       George Alec Effinger - When Gravity Fails (1987)
VW       Robert A. Heinlein - Friday (1982)

Honorable Mentions

J/IW     Mike Resnick - Ivory (1988)
J/VW     William Gibson - Count Zero (1986)

J        C.J. Cherryh - Wave Without a Shore (1981)
J        C.J. Cherryh - the Merchanter books (1982, 1989)
J        William Gibson - Mona Lisa Overdrive (1988)
J        Iain M. Banks - Consider Phlebas (1987)
J        Pat Cadigan - Mindplayers (1987)
J        Jack McDevitt - A Talent for War (1989)
J        Pat Murphy - The City, Not Long After (1989)
J        Theodore Sturgeon - Godbody (1986)
J        Michael Swanwick - Vacuum Flowers (1987)
J        Vernor Vinge - Across Realtime duo (1984-6)
J        Rudy Rucker - Spacetime Donuts (1981 (1978-9))
J        Rudy Rucker - White Light (1980)
J        Rudy Rucker - Software (1982)
IW       Lois McMaster Bujold - Shards of Honor (1986)
IW       Ian Watson - Whores of Babylon (1988)
IS       Jay D. Blakeney - The Children of Anthi (1985)
IS       Ken Grimwood - Replay (1986)
IS       Sydney J. van Scyoc - Daughters of the Sunstone (1982 - 1984)
VW       Frederik Pohl - Beyond the Blue Event Horizon (1980)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Note: I actually honorably mentioned Chanur #1-4 while Ian put Chanur #2-4 in
his top 10 as one book but, for simplicity's sake, I just pretended I'd
honorably mentioned only #2-4 as one book as well.

 

[barlennan]

Done forgot about Clarke again! What about Songs Of Distant Earth or The Fountains of Paradise?

I believe Walter Tevis' Mockingbird was a 1980 release; no love?

And surely The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood should garner at least an honourable mention? High profile and worthiness aside, it's a still a good read.

 

[GOLLUM]

If we had a venn diagram I would put it in the middle.

Funnily enough Book of the New Sun I most often see described as a 'Science Fantasy', one way to place a foot in each camp.