25 Best Sci-Fi Books of All Time, According to the Internet

Business Insider just published an article on the 25 Best Sci-Fi Books of All Time, and their information came from two Redditt lists (which is where the "according to the Internet" part comes in). There are several key books to the genre, that may come as no surprise, but I will let you make that decision. So take a look at the list, and see if you agree with those individuals who put in their votes. As always, Happy Reading!!!

The following are summaries of the top ten books, but you can visit the article through the link above (or at the end of the list) to take a deeper look at the other fifteen. 



1) To Your Scattered Bodies Go by Philip José Farmer     SF FARMER       (we also have the movie under DVD RIVERWOR)

(We have this work, along with the second book, The Fabulous Riverboat, under the title: Riverworld)

The first book in the Riverworld Saga begins with everyone who has ever lived on Earth suddenly finding themselves in a new world by a river. All their food is provided, but there is no clue as to the purpose of their new existence. Sir Richard Burton is the first to find the waystation, and Burton and a band made up of Alice Liddle Hargreaves, a Neanderthal, a Holocaust survivor, and an alien decide to travel the river to find out who brought this whole thing about and what their intentions are. 



2) The Shadow of the Torturer by Gene Wolfe        
SF WOLFE

(We have this work, along with the second book, The Claw of the Conciliator, under the title: Shadow & Claw)

The first book in the The Book of the New Sun series, this book follows Severian, who is an apprentice in the Guild of Torturers. Severian is soon exiled from the only home he has ever known, when he commits the ultimate sin of his guild by showing mercy to his victim. However, it seems that Severian has a bigger destiny than just that of a torturer.    




3) Anathem by Neil Stephenson
SF STEPHENS  and   AD SF STEPHENS

Fraa Erasmas is a young "avout" living in the Concent of Saunt Edhar, (a monastary-like place) which protects the scholars of mathematics, science, and philosophy inside it from the outside "saecular" world and its influences (and technology). During the rite of Apert, fraas and suurs leave the grounds of the concent, and the concent opens its doors to visiting "extras." Neither side is quite prepared, though, for the threat that is coming, and both sides will have to work together, if they want to stop it. Erasmas soon finds himself a key player in the chaos that is coming.




4) Revelation Space by Alastair Reynolds
SF REYNOLDS

The first book in the Revelation Space series, scientist, Dan Sylveste, knows that the Amarantin civilization was destroyed just as it was on the verge of discovering space flight. Now, he needs to solve the "riddle" of the Amarantin, before it happens again, and he will need the help of the dangerous cyborg crew aboard the starship, Nostalgia for Infinity. There are forces at work that want to stop him, because there was a good reason for the destruction of the Amarantin. 



5) The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin
SF LEGUIN

One of the books in Le Guin's Hainish Cycle, The Left Hand of Darkness is considered, by many, to be a "groundbreaking" work of science fiction. Genly Ai, a human man, visits the alien winter world of Gethen as an emissary, where he hopes to discuss with the beings of the planet, the Gethians, their planet's being included in the growing intergalactic civilization. However, he must learn to understand the ways of the Gethens, however different they are, and have them understand his ways (and those of the civilization), in return.




6) I, Robot by Isaac Asimov
SF ASIMOV    (we also have the movie under DVD I)

There are three laws of Robotics: 1) a robot may not cause harm to, or allow a human to come to harm 2) a robot must obey orders of humans (unless it violates the first law), 3) a robot must protect its existence (unless it violates the first or second law). I, Robot is a collection of stories that Asimov wrote about robots from the 1940s and 1950s.






7) The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut
FIC VONNEGUT

Malachi Constant is the richest and most depraved man on Earth, who takes part in several interplanetary wars, traveling from Earth to Mars to Mercury and to Titan. Constant finds out that all of the incidents within his travels came at the hands of Winston Niles Rumfoord. Kurt Vonnegut was a big inspiriation for Douglas Adam's The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (I think you will see it too). 




8) Contact by Carl Sagan
SF SAGAN            
(we also have the movie under DVD CONTACT)

After years of scanning the galaxy for any signs of communication from other life forms, a team of scientists, including Eleanor Arroway (the person who discovered the first communication), belive they have found what they were looking for. However, this discovery brings up bigger, more dangerous questions of not just traveling out to meet these new lifeforms (using the plans for the "Machine" that they sent), but if they really should. Sagan also gives scientific explanations on how things work. 


9) Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson
SF ROBINSON

The first book in the Mars Trilogy, Robinson looks at the colonization of Mars in the year 2026. A group of one hundred colonists is sent to begin terrforming the red planet. Each member of the group seems to have a different reason for traveling to Mars, and each person's personality also leads to conflict amongst the group. There also apear to be some in the group that would prefer that no changes be made to the planet at all.    



10) Pandora's Star by Peter F. Hamilton
SF HAMILTON

This is the first book in the Commonwealth Saga. It is the year 2380, and the Intersolar Commonwealth is made up of more than 600 worlds, stretching 400 lightyears in diameter. The worlds are connected through transport "wormholes" (tunnel like transportation). An astronomer, Dudley Bose, observes the vanishing of a star. Since it is too far out to reach by wormhole, the startship, Second Chance, is sent to find out what happened. Will they find more than they bargained for?




11) The Mote in God's Eye by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournell   SF NIVEN

12) A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller, Jr.  SF MILLER & AD SF MILLER

13) Excession by Iain M. Banks           SF BANKS  

14) Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein  SF HEINLEIN (we also have the movie under DVD STARSHIP)

15) Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick  SF DICK (found within the book, Four Novels of the 1960s) & AD SF DICK  (we also have the movie under DVD BLADE for Blade Runner)

16) Ringworld by Larry Niven          SF NIVEN

17) 2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke    SF CLARKE  (we also have the movie under DVD 2001)

18) The Forever War by Joe Haldeman    SF HALDEMAN

19) Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson       SF STEPHENS & AD SF STEPHENS

20) Neuromancer by William Gibson   SF GIBSON

21) Hyperion by Dan Simmons (we have the first two books in the series under Hyperion Cantos)    SF SIMMONS

22) Foundation by Isaac Asimov   SF ASIMOV

23) Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card  SF CARD & AD SF CARD &               e-book
released in theaters on November 1st

24) Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams   SF ADAMS (the whole series can be found in The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide) & AD SF ADAMS  & we also have the movie under DVD HITCHHIK

25) Dune by Frank Herbert  SF HERBERT (we also have the movie Dune under DVD DUNE and The Children of Dune under DVD CHILDREN)




Once again, if you want to check out the article for yourself clink on this link.

Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser

This book was first published in 1900.  The print edition that the Moore Memorial Public Library has is the same book that came out in 1900, with the addition of background notes and criticism.  “Sister Carrie” was Dreiser’s first novel.  The story takes place in Chicago and New York, cities in which Dreiser had had experience writing and reporting for different publications.  Carrie, a young 18 year old from Columbus, Ohio, comes to Chicago to live with her older married sister and to find work in the huge bustling city that people were pouring into at the rate of 50,000 people each year. 

Dreiser knew these statistics from his work in journalism, and his familiarity with the social economic classes at the time helped his novel writing.  But he is first and foremost a great storyteller.  While critics at the time found his writing clumsy or ponderous, the reader is conscious of nothing else but his or her interest in the character, and in anticipating what will happen.  Dreiser takes his narrative slowly, and we thoroughly experience the drabness and restriction of Carrie’s sister’s apartment that she shares with her husband.  As part of the struggling lower class, in 1889, they can’t look much farther than getting their wages –her husband cleans refrigerator cars in the stockyard – and paying their food and rent. 

Carrie got a glimpse of another kind of life when she met Drouet, a salesman, on the train on her way to Chicago.  He is a success at his work, and shows it in his dress and in his ability to pay his way in theaters and hotels, and to dine in restaurants with handwritten menus and red carpets. After she has tried to make her way alone, and gotten bruised in the process, Carrie encounters Drouet again.  He offers her a way into this big city, and all that it offers. 

While “Sister Carrie” brought censure on itself by having as its heroine a “fallen woman”, Dreiser saves Carrie from that censure by showing us her modesty, her desire to be married, and her own self-reproach for her actions.   We can see hers and the other characters’ limitations.  Dreiser lets us see their dreams, and how little import in their lives those dreams actually had.  This is his contribution as a “naturalist” writer. 

While reading Dreiser may make you somewhat melancholy, the steady growth of Carrie makes the book worth reading.  She is a woman in a man’s world, but a woman with aspirations, and with tenacity. 

You can find the book here in our catalog.

“For Greater Glory”, a film directed by Dean Wright

Wright was a visual effects supervisor and producer in major films such as “The Lord of the Rings”.  “For Greater Glory” is the first movie he directed.  In an interview, Wright calls himself a “Method” director- needing to feel the emotions of the characters that he’s shooting, and to feel those emotions as authentic. 

Some critics have faulted “For Greater Glory” for being too heavy on the emotions, milking the audience for a tearful reaction by playing stirring music nonstop, and prolonging sorrowful and upsetting scenes.  The movie is about the peasant force in Mexico that rose up in 1926 against the anti-clerical President Calles, whose regime had been persecuting the Catholic faith.  The rebels were called “Cristeros”.  The movie shows how the rebellion was ignited by the brutality exhibited by the Federales, the government troops.  Wright highlights the historical figure Jose Sanchez del Rio, a young boy who was martyred in the rebellion and was beatified by the Church in 2005.  We see the rebellion through his eyes as he witnesses his parish priest killed by soldiers.  Many believers today wonder how they would behave in a similar situation, and in the film, we see some Catholics turning away and others standing firm. 

The acting is good, and while I do agree that they should have spoken Spanish instead of English, that is not a big hurdle in watching the movie.  The rhythm and timing of the film is well done, and that helps enormously with the intimate and emotional exchanges. 

The exact historical picture is not delineated in the film. It is not clear from viewing “For Greater Glory” that in actuality many citizens just stood by and watched, and that the rebel force was in the minority, although the rebellion was very effective.  We see principal players, like the US ambassador,  trying to make a deal with Calles for oil interests, and we hear of Rome’s shifting stance, which was not in open support of the rebellion.  The result of the rebellion was that some religious liberty was restored, although the rebellion failed to bring down the government.

Wright takes artistic liberties in portraying the rebellion’s leader and other key historical figures, to suggest how circumstances can accelerate your belief and propel you into a life-changing situation.  The leader, General Gorostieta, was indeed hired by the rebels and was not a believer.  Wright takes some poetic license by putting Jose Sanchez del Rio, the young boy, under Gorostieta. In the film, Gorostieta slowly takes to the boy, and is compelled and strongly affected by Jose’s faith. 

One reviewer took issue with the fact that the movie seems to be only concerned with the Catholics, and that other religions are not given equal “time”.  Well, in that time, in Mexico, religion pretty much was the Catholic Church.  Viewers can decide for themselves whether the Catholic faith, through the Cristeros, adequately defended the right to religious freedom.

Some Interesting Reasons to Be Reading

The Huffington Post recently posted an article called "7 Unconventional Reasons Why You Absolutely Should Be Reading Books," and I wanted to share a few of those reasons with you.

You can find a link to the full article at the bottom of the post.

   1. "Reading Can Chill You Out"- Apparently, research was conducted at the Mindlab International at the University of Sussex, which showed that it took only six minutes of reading for the participants to relax (their heart rates and muscle tension were measured). Reading even beat listening to music or taking a walk.

Getting caught up in the issues of the characters also gives you a way of taking yourself away from those stressful thoughts for a while. I know that is very true in my case. Books always help me de-stress (unless of course the characters are in mortal peril). 

2. "Reading Can Help Keep Your Mind Sharp" - Research published in the journal, Neurology, showed that out of 294 participants that died around the average age of 89, those who engaged in "mentally stimulating activies," such as reading or puzzles, experienced a slower decline in their memories (32%).

I know that while reading I am always learning all kinds of new things, and reading one thing usually leads me to research the topics that are brought up in that story. 

3. "Reading May Help You Sleep Better" - Sleep experts recommend a regular "de-stressing" routine before bed that will calm your mind. Reading is a great activity for this, if you don't get too caught up in the story and can't put your book down. 

This is true for me, especially if I am reading my Nook in the dark. However, I am easily caught up in a story, and hours might pass before I am ready to set my Nook down, which is not good for my sleeping pattern. 

Check out some of the other reasons, or click on the links to learn more about the studies that were discussed in the article at:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/12/health-benefits-reading_n_4081258.html

Fall Reading- Popular Reads for the Season

It's that time of year again, and hopefully it will start to feel like it outside, too. There are many great books being published this fall, and listed below are only a few of the most-talked-about books being published this season. Give them a try and let me know if they deserve all of the attention they are getting. As always, Happy Reading!!!

Omens by Kelley Armstrong

FIC ARMSTRONG

Having wrapped her Women of the Otherworld Series, Armstrong’s latest, Omens, is the first book in the Cainsville series. Olivia Taylor-Jones seems to have the perfect life until it all comes crashing down when she finds out that she was adopted, and that her biological parents are convicted serial killers, Todd and Pamela Larsen. So Olivia heads to Cainsville, Illinois to escape all of the media chaos and find out the truth about her parents and her past, with the help of Gabriel Walsh, her biological mother’s lawyer and “ambulance chaser.”

Longbourn by Jo Baker
FIC BAKER

Pride and Prejudice is a work that has had many sequels, remakes, and modernizations made of it, but Jo Baker takes a different look at the story, from the points of view of the servants of Longbourn. However, it is a more in depth look at early nineteenth century life, even the unromantic parts like chamber pots and lice. You will find the major players from the original story, but you will also see that the servants had their own issues, dreams, romances, and views.

One Summer, America 1927  by Bill Bryson

973.915 BRYSON (audio is coming soon)

The summer of 1927 was a very eventful time in American history. Charles Lindbergh had just made his historic flight across the Atlantic Ocean, while Babe Ruth was batting his way to the home run record. A murder case was tearing its way through the tabloids, while the American South was washing away with the flooding of the Mississippi Basin. Al Capone was terrorizing Chicago, while the first “talking picture,” The Jazz Singer (a movie that would completely change the motion picture industry), was being filmed. Bryson documents all of these important events and more…

Year Zero: A History of 1945  by Ian Buruma

940.5314 BURUMA (coming soon)

 

With the ending of World War II, the world was taking on a new shape. The year 1945 marks a huge turning point in the history of the world. Throughout Europe and Asia, buildings and properties lay in ruin, there was an enormous loss of life, and the governments of many of the countries were in disarray. Buruma looks at the year 1945, and using the stories of different individuals dealing with issues that came after the war was over, he helps readers see the effects of the efforts that were made to bring back some measure of “normal” that the war had destroyed.

The Signature of All Thing by Elizabeth Gilbert

FIC GILBERT (also in audio)

Gilbert returns to writing fiction after publishing her memoirs (Eat, Pray, Love and Committed). Spanning almost two hundred years, this novel is about the fortunes and ideologies of the Whittaker family. Henry Whittaker is born poor, but makes a fortune in the South American quinine trade, using his knowledge of botany. Henry’s daughter, Alma, is a botanist, continuing with her father’s fascination with plants, but she also is very curious about the ways of the world and her place in it. Gilbert has done a lot of research into botany and other scientific issues of the time, and she takes us traveling around the world with her characters.

Doctor Sleep  by Stephen King

FIC KING (also in audio)

The sequel to The Shining, published in 1977, Doctor Sleep shows us the scars that his year living in the Overlook Hotel have left on Danny, now Dan, Torrance. Dan has been drifting for years and fighting with alcoholism, but he has finally settled down in a small New Hampshire town, using what is left of his “shining” abilities to help folks in the hospice pass on, earning him the nickname “Doctor Sleep.” Then Dan “meets” Abra Stone, a girl with incredibly strong “shining” abilities that put her in the crosshairs of The True Knot. The True Knot is a group traveling around in their RVs, disguised as the elderly, who suck “steam” (or essence) from children with psychic abilities (in order to gain some immortality) and “steam” is best enjoyed while the child is being tortured to death. Can Dan save Abra from these octogenarian “vampires?”

The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri

FIC LAHIRI  (coming soon in Large Print and audio)

The story looks at the lives of two brothers, who even though they look very similar, are very different in many ways. In 1960s India, Udayan Mitra is drawn to the Naxalite movement (seeking justice for the poor), and he is willing to die for what he believes in. His brother, Subhash, however, chooses a quiet life, conducting scientific research in America. Whenever tragedy befalls Udayan in the lowland, Subhash comes home to help his family pick up the pieces that his brother had broken.

Dallas 1963  by Bill Minutaglio and Stephen L. Davis

973.9022092 MINUTAGL

This story looks at Dallas and the political and social turmoil that was already brewing before Kennedy was even elected in 1960. The city was full of individuals and groups that thought they had a good reason to dislike (or worse) Kennedy and his ideologies, and this chaotic grumbling led many to warn the president against his November visit.

Bleeding Edge by Thomas Pynchon

FIC PYNCHON (coming soon in audio)

 In the year 2001, before the tragedy of 9/11, Maxine Tarnow is the owner of a small fraud investigations business, chasing down small-scale con artists. After losing her license, Maxine has taken the opportunity to look for clues while using her own interesting code of ethics (and her Beretta). Looking into the finances of a computer security firm, Maxine finds that she may have gotten in over her head, into the “deep web” where all of the secrets seem to be hiding. Now she faces drug runners, secret agents, mobsters, bloggers, and hackers, many of whom wind up dead.  

The Bone Season  by Samantha Shannon

SF SHANNON

In the year 2059, many of the world’s major cities are now under the control of the Scion, a security force. In the Scion’s world, being a “voyant” makes you a traitor and earns you a stay in the “voyant” prison in the city of Oxford (called Sheol 1 and long missing from current maps). Paige Mahoney works in the “criminal underworld” of London, using her “dreamwalker” (rare form of clairvoyance) abilities to gather information. After she is arrested, Paige finds that an even worse force than the Scion exists, the Rephaim, and they control the “voyants” that enter their prison, making them into soldiers for their army. Assigned to Warden, the Rephaite in charge of her care and training, Paige must learn something of his mind, if she ever hopes to regain her freedom.