What SF to recommend to non-genre readers?

[psikeyhackr]

Trouble is that so many modern books are written as a part of a series, or are about 500 pages long. Quite a commitment for someone who may just be dipping their toe into our lovely genre. My recommendations:

Now see, I just brought up this old thread because Bring the Jubilee turned up in Project Gutenberg. I read that a really long time ago. The 60s, the 70s maybe. I remember thinking the 70s were the future.
Shocking!

Anyway my constant recommendation is:

Daemon & Freedom by Daniel Suarez

The cybernetic future is upon us. We gotta figure it out. Simulated Intelligence will get you. It is not artificial.

 

[worldofmutes]

Bring the Jubilee by Ward Moore (1953). Good introduction to alternate history, with a premise that SF readers might consider overdone (what if the South won the American Civil War) but which might be fresh to non-SF readers.

What differs from this one from Harry Turtledove’s? I read Guns of the South earlier this month, and initially thought it was excellent. Then I read Gone With the Wind for another perspective and… I don’t know whether the south was a ignoramous horror like in Turtledove, or whether it’s misunderstood and sympathized like in Margaret Mitchell.

What does Ward Moore bring to the table?

 

[psikeyhackr]

What does Ward Moore bring to the table?

I read this a really long time ago and recall liking it but no memory as to why, and I am what is now referred to as an African American. Of course, cynic that I am, I just think it means N***** Nazi.

Decades of planned obsolescence is consumer slavery in my opinion. Why are there so many homeless white people these days?

 

[worldofmutes]

Why are there so many homeless white people these days?

Soma, Financial Ruin, Legal Problems. Stupidity. xD

 

[psikeyhackr]

Soma, Financial Ruin, Legal Problems. Stupidity. xD

The Screwing of the Average Man by David Hapgood

Book Reviews, Sites, Romance, Fantasy, Fiction | Kirkus Reviews

www.kirkusreviews.com

 

[Danny McG]

*glances casually around, drops The Mote... into this thread, walks away whistling with shoulders hunched and cap pulled down over his brow*

 

[psikeyhackr]

*glances casually around, drops The Mote... into this thread, walks away whistling with shoulders hunched and cap pulled down over his brow*

No man, too weird for non-genre readers. They need to be eased into it.

Old Man's War

Starts off with a nice normal environment on Earth. Then the aliens sneak in taking names and kicking ass. And just the usual symmetrical giant crabs.

 

[Bick]

No man, too weird for non-genre readers. They need to be eased into it.

Old Man's War

I agree Mote is too much - but to be honest, if you're looking to induct a non-genre reader into SF enjoyment, you should probably avoid spaceships, as you need to introduce the idea its not all like Star Trek. So that's OMW out too. And on that basis it should be something like Day of the Triffids, or Greybeard or The Drowned World or The Stochastic Man.

 

[Astro Pen]

I think shorts are the best way in. My attitude would be to avoid anything that reinforces stereotypes. The first sign of spandex suits, captians, stun guns and aliens called Fgrll and Thrilb they will run a mile.* (and I don't blame them)

I agree with those who have suggested Bradbury. His is what you might term a "bridge" writer. His stories are as much about people as science.
The Illustrated Man. or The October Country Some of his writing is incredibly delicate,
Or a Ballard collection like The Terminal Beach
There was a rather good Damon Knight (ed) shorts collection called Cities of Wonder

* I'll make one exception because because it is bonkers 1950's fun Men, Martians and Machines

 

[Swank]

Connie Willis' Bellwether.

Interface by Stephenson and George.

 

[worldofmutes]

I don’t know, dudes.
I’m not typically a genre reader but when I want a SF or F I expect to get what I bargained for. That includes spaceships, cyborgs, monsters, and a lot of info dumping. The more info dumping the better it is.

Sometimes I think SF isn’t SF enough, and Fantasy not fantastic enough. Author’s try too hard to innovate the genre, when what a non-genre reader wants is something to numb me and just get crazy with. Vernor Vinge’s A Fire Upon the Deep was good, but noone would understand it. Yet, for me personally, that’s the kind of adventure I want and expect.

Well, just throwing it out there, Neal Stephenson made some good ones. Seveneves was so much SF that I got exactly what I expected and no less. Snow Crash was good, and reminded me of Futurama, but lacked all the spacey space travel stuff. I think Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Children of Time was exceptional.

 

[BAYLOR]

I don’t know, dudes.
I’m not typically a genre reader but when I want a SF or F I expect to get what I bargained for. That includes spaceships, cyborgs, monsters, and a lot of info dumping. The more info dumping the better it is.

Sometimes I think SF isn’t SF enough, and Fantasy not fantastic enough. Author’s try too hard to innovate the genre, when what a non-genre reader wants is something to numb me and just get crazy with. Vernor Vinge’s A Fire Upon the Deep was good, but noone would understand it. Yet, for me personally, that’s the kind of adventure I want and expect.

Well, just throwing it out there, Neal Stephenson made some good ones. Seveneves was so much SF that I got exactly what I expected and no less. Snow Crash was good, and reminded me of Futurama, but lacked all the spacey space travel stuff. I think Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Children of Time was exceptional.

Bill the Galactic Hero by Harry Harrison.

 

[worldofmutes]

what a non-genre reader wants is something to numb me and just get crazy with.

authentic and meditative.

 

[alexvss]

I'd say stay away from William Gibson

 

[Swank]

I'd say stay away from William Gibson

Because he's already a wildly successful crossover author?

 

[Toby Frost]

A friend of mine who writes and reads crime asked me for a recommendation. I suggested Count Zero by William Gibson and she really enjoyed it.

 

[alexvss]

Because he's already a wildly successful crossover author?

No, this has nothing to do with it.

A friend of mine who writes and reads crime asked me for a recommendation. I suggested Count Zero by William Gibson and she really enjoyed it.

I'm astonished.

 

[Toby Frost]

It's essentially a crime/espionage novel set in the future. Neuromancer, which I think is less well-written and harder going, is a heist novel that's largely set on a space station. I think there was enough for her to "get" from a crime background (and the opening of Count Zero is excellent).

 

[Rodders]

How do you guys feel when someone doesn't enjoy your recommendations as much as you do?

I recommended Adrian Tchaikovsky's Dogs of War to a guy in work, recently and he was a little underwhelmed. He disappointed me that day.

 

[Venusian Broon]

How do you guys feel when someone doesn't enjoy your recommendations as much as you do?

I recommended Adrian Tchaikovsky's Dogs of War to a guy in work, recently and he was a little underwhelmed. He disappointed me that day.

I never really make strong recommendations nowadays, as invariably, as night follows day, anything you are enthusiast about will not produce the same effect in the person you're recommending to. It can awkward if you've professed that it's one of your top 5 books of all time, and they come back and find it tepid.

Everyone's different, just accept that!

If they are looking for a genre recommendation., I've found it better just to give them a few 'leads' with no expectations and let them discover on their own what works for them.