The Greatest Science-Fiction novel of all time?

[BAYLOR]

Dune. For me, simply the best.

It seems to be a popular pick . There is no equation that Dune is a great book and a classic . Im not sure Id call it the greatest science fiction novel of all.

 

[tobl]

I wasn't a fan of Dune at all. I have a lot of books by Heinlein including Stranger in a Strange Land. I've been rereading them all and as I ploughed through Stranger I suddenly remembered how the book ended. As I continued reading I got heartily sick of the word 'grok'. Grok this, grok that, grok be damned. In the end not only had I decided never to read this book again, I sighed with relief when Michael got his come uppance......

you do know that's not the end right? and ploughed through? really? man if you didn't get it, just say so.

 

[worldofmutes]

I haven’t read nearly enough SF to discuss it, but no book really got me going with the genre until I read Seveneves - Neal Stephenson. That book made a huge impression on me. I’ve read all of his books and the only one that really matched it was Reamde, which was a thriller that had me glued to my seat.

I also like J.G Ballard, The Drowned World, when I read it in college.

 

[Judderman]

Time Machine by HG Wells is a great one as it is visionary but a simple and enjoyable story to read.

Dune is a very good book, but the long sections of Paul in the desert with the spiritual stuff going on is quite dull at times. The early part is great, and of course sand worms iconic.

Asimov not so popular?

 

[austin_cambridge]

you do know that's not the end right? and ploughed through? really? man if you didn't get it, just say so.

OK - yes I 'grok' it but as far as I was concerned it was the end for me. The book became tedious long before then IMO. I thought it was OK when I was a teenager but now......life is too short to bother with reading it again.

When it comes to Heinlein's longer books, I liked Time Enough for Love much more.

 

[BAYLOR]

OK - yes I 'grok' it but as far as I was concerned it was the end for me. The book became tedious long before then IMO. I thought it was OK when I was a teenager but now......life is too short to bother with reading it again.

When it comes to Heinlein's longer books, I liked Time Enough for Love much more.

Tunnel in the Sky by Heinlein was fun to read

 

[Dave Vicks]

DUNE is the#1 best selling SF book of all time,but not the best.Top ten though.

 

[Astro Pen]

Oh a tricky one. (A few sub divisions are needed.)
Personally: The Drowned World J.G Ballard
Generally: 2001: A Space Odyssey Clarke

Near misses Foundation Trilogy and The Silver Locusts (The Martian Chronicles) The Bradbury failing because it is a sort of shorts collection.

Outliers that I rate but that never gained traction Accelerando Stross and Colony Ben Bova

 

[Swank]

Did they ever make a novelization of the Star Wars Holiday Special?

Would you settle for a companion storybook? Han is in it, but no Luke, Leia or Fett.

It is, perhaps, not the greatest SF book ever, so I'll go with Dune or Player of Games or Blindsight.

 

[Bick]

Silverberg's work from the mid-1960's through the mid-1970's was extraordinary.

Absolutely spot on... I told him this and he was pleased...

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

Absolutely spot on... I told him this and he was pleased...

The Book of Skulls

A Time of Changes

"Born With the Dead"

and many more.

 

[Stephen Palmer]

It's a toss-up between The Book Of The New Sun and the Helliconia trilogy. (I'd probably have Dune third.)

 

[Foxbat]

I love many SF novels but if forced to pick one that I think is the best it would be Flowers For Algernon. No other SF novel has moved me as much as this one.

 

[DeathFusion]

I suspect that I have not read the greatest one yet, but for now it is a three-way tie between Orwell - 1984, Watts - Blindsight and Egan - Diaspora.

Dune is a great book, but I do not understand why it is so widely considered the greatest. Is it considered so mainly by fantasy fans, who like it because it in many ways resembles fantasy more than science fiction?

 

[BAYLOR]

I suspect that I have not read the greatest one yet, but for now it is a three-way tie between Orwell - 1984, Watts - Blindsight and Egan - Diaspora.

Dune is a great book, but I do not understand why it is so widely considered the greatest. Is it considered so mainly by fantasy fans, who like it because it in many ways resembles fantasy more than science fiction?

Dune is sometimes called the science fiction equivalent to LOTR.

 

[BAYLOR]

The Dreaming Jewels by Theodore Sturgeon

 

[Danny McG]

The Mote etc

 

[Astro Pen]

The Mote etc

The only problem I have with the Mote in God's Eye is that the co-writers have different styles. You can feel the texture change between parts.
But you have to love the Moties.
Now if my cat had power tools......

 

[psikeyhackr]

The only problem I have with the Mote in God's Eye is that the co-writers have different styles. You can feel the texture change between parts.

I can't do that. I'm style deaf.

Blind? Dumb? Yeah, dumb.

 

[Parson]

The Mote in God's Eye might be an example where the excellence is greater than the sum of the parts. Dune is most certainly a classic, but the best ever? for me not close.