Science fiction is the genre utilized by visionary writers to transcend the barriers of the mundane and imagine a completely different society wielding unimaginably complex technology or, on the contrary, broken down post apocalyptic scenarios where humanity and adjacent species revert to the cave dwellers stage.
But that is exactly what makes science fiction so great, as not being forced to adapt the storyline to match current events or recreate historically accurate scenarios opens up a world of possibilities. Following, a list of what critics, awards and the number of copies sold deem to be the best sci-fi novels of all time.
1. Frank Herbert’s “Dune”
Arguably the biggest masterpiece of the science fiction genre, Dune has been highly acclaimed by critics and fans. For its authorship, Frank Herbert received the Nebula Prize and the Hugo Award. It is necessary to mention that Dune is only the original book in the 8 novel series written by Frank Herbert and Brian Herbert (Frank Herbert’s son) in collaboration Kevin J. Anderson have released several prequels to it. The plot revolves around a desert planet inhabited by rebels of the empire and gigantic sandworms, which just happens to be the only source of mélange – a drug with invaluable properties – in the galaxy. The immersive story involves political plots, strange religions and humanity’s time old quest for a messiah.
2. Robert Heinlein’s “Stranger in a strange land”
This international best seller shifts the paradigm of aliens completely. Rather than view them as ruthless invaders like H.G. Wells, Robert Heinlein’s tale involves the adventures of a human born among Martians who returns to his home planet. Naturally, his Martian education gives him an entirely new perception of the Earth’s society and he embarks on a journey to overcome the differences of two species and put an end to fear and jealousy between them by creating the Church of All Worlds.
3. Kim Stanley Robinson’s “Red Mars”
Many critics have associated Robinson’s Red Mars with an instruction manual for the terra-forming of new worlds, except this particular manual is packed with an immersive plot, incredibly detailed characters and much more. The story line takes us on a journey alongside the original group of Mars colonists and their adventures of creating a new society. And, the main question is whether or not this planet should be transformed into a second Earth.
4. Isaac Asimov’s “Foundation”
Just like Dune, Isaac Asimov’s Foundation is part of a huge series of novels and has several sequels and prequels. However, most people are only familiar with the Foundation Trilogy, which comprises of:
• Foundation
• Foundation and the Empire
• Second Foundation
The genius and vision of Isaac Asimov are evident in these books, as it weaves a complex tale of human empire that stretched out so far across space that Earth, its planet of origin was nearly forgotten. The fate of all empires, corruption, bureaucracy and intrigues has finally made the empire collapse. However, thanks to one man – the psycho-historian Hari Sheldon – and his desperate attempt to preserve humanity’s achievements and help the race transcend into a new era, there is still hope.
5. Arthur C. Clarke’s “Rendezvous with Rama”
By all accounts, the novel “Rendezvous with Rama” can be regarded as vastly superior to the world famous “2001: A Space Odyssey”. However, because the latter has inspired the popular movie with the same title, few people – safe for the diehard Arthur C. Clarke fans – know about it. In this book, a cylindrical-shaped object enters our solar system and a team of astronauts is sent to investigate its origin and purpose. It is then when they find out that what they believed to be a strange asteroid is in fact an alien craft filled with androids who were preparing to embark on an important mission.
Goosebumps is a series of children’s horror fiction novels written by American author R. L. Stine and first published by Scholastic Publishing. It is a collection of stories that feature semi-homogenous plot structures, with fictional kids being involved in scary situations. Themes in the series include horror, humour and the supernatural. This book can be a good read for people who are interested in some supernatural and light horror stories.
Twilight is a young-adult vampire-romance novel by author Stephenie Meyer. Twilight till date, has sold 17 million copies worldwide. It spent over 91 weeks on the New York Times Best Seller list and has been translated into 37 different languages. Twilight is definitely a good choice as it includes romance, power, supernatural and almost all aspects to make it a successful and worthy read.
Harry Potter is a series of seven fantasy novels written by the British author J. K. Rowling. The books narrate the adventures of the adolescent wizard Harry Potter and his best friends Ron Wesley and Hermione Granger, all of whom are students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The main story revolves around Harry’s dilemma involving the evil wizard Lord Voldemort, who killed Harry’s parents in his quest to conquer the magic world and rule the non-magical people. This novel is also a super successful movie and generates lots of interest among the young people.
Gossip Girl is an American young adult novel series written by Cecily von Ziegesar and published by Little, Brown and Company, a subsidiary of the Hachette Group. “Gossip Girl” is a series that revolves around the lives and romances amongst the privileged teenagers at the Constance Billard School for Girls, an elite private school in New York City’s Upper East Side. The series primarily focuses on Blair Waldorf and her best friend, and follows the characters through their high school lives up through their graduation and moving on to college.
This book is filled with snippets of advice for those of us who need help or know someone else who needs a bit of help in the relationship department. The book is filled with insight, true stories and lots of humour. It explores the myths and realities of love and lust and lays it all out in common sense terms that anyone can understand. This book can generate lots of interest as its all about relationships and the ways to keep relationships strong and sound.
This book is an excellent book which highlights the various ways and reasons for the success of a company. The book tries to bring out the central theme that the perspective business leaders has just started to understand the fact that the success of a company depends on the success of the stakeholders such as the owners, employees, customers and neighbouring communities of the company. It also emphasizes that the success of a company in longer terms will depend on the company culture based on values. Basically it revolves around the pros and cons of the value based organization. It’s a great book on motivation because it would help you to get self encouraged for your business.
This book is an attempt by Deci and Flaste to bring out the abstract of becoming successful in the endeavours with the support of motivation. This book is an insightful and provocative meditation on how people can become more genuinely engaged and successful in pursuing their goals, in every sphere of life whether in school, in workplace or in a relationship. This book will give you an insight of the cons of the authoritarian motivation and gives a new dimension to motivation.
It’s a book about change. In particular, it’s a book that presents a new way of understanding why change so often happens as quickly and as unexpectedly as it does. The Tipping Point emphasizes that ideas and behaviour and messages and products sometimes behave just like outbreaks of infectious disease. They are social epidemics. The Tipping Point is an examination of the social epidemics that surround us. This book is an excellent insight to self motivation the reverse way.
Raving Fans is a book worth reading for small business entrepreneurs. This book is also an excellent piece of guide as to how successfully manage the customers. This, in a nutshell, is the advice given to a new Area Manager on his first day–in an extraordinary business book that will help everyone, in every kind of organization or business, deliver stunning customer service and achieve miraculous bottom-line results. Raving Fans uses a brilliantly simple and charming story to teach how to define a vision, learn what a customer really wants, institute effective systems, and make Raving Fan Service a constant feature–not just another program of the month.
This is a classic book on how to get more things done. Effective or successful people get to where they are due to the habits they have developed. Obviously, there are good habits and there are bad habits. This book talks about the 7 habits that many successful people seem to have in common.
This epic poem has been the starting point for so many Hollywood films, and has interested people for centuries. If you haven’t read it then get a modern translation and see the “truth” behind the Hollywood blockbusters.
This is one of the best books to come out of the Renaissance, and is a remarkable work. You go through Hell and the inferno to reach Paradise and encounter characters from mythology and Homer on the way.
This is a superb tale of guilt and the need to find redemption which was the starting point for one of Woody Allen’s films, “Match Point.” If you loved the film, but haven’t read this then you should as it is much better than Allen’s film at delving into the recesses of a murder’s mind and his struggle to be punished.
Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice” will take you into the world of the minor gentry of England in the 18th century and displays the values of the time with a wit and incisiveness that has not been matched by many authors. Jane Austen wittily writes about the morals of her time and her characters come to life on the page. If you enjoyed the films of the book, do yourself a favour and read the original work as so much of the humour is lost on the screen.
This novel is a mixture of fact and fiction and one of the best to have come out of the Second World War. It is an honest account of a soldier’s feelings and portrays the horror and futility of war extremely well. Many people disliked Mailer because of his personal life, but his novels are well worth reading.
J.R.R. Tolkien was a professor before he started writing- fact which is clear in these books. Even though The Lord of the Rings series is very popular and has raised the bar as far as the fantasy adventure genre is concerned, it will not be an exaggeration to say that the details are superfluous and the plot is slightly vague.
The characters in this popular book are described in such a way that they seem like wooden and lifeless caricatures, the plot is quite boring and the writing is out-dated.
Don Delillo is doted on by professors of English literature and is despised by an equal number of students who are forced to read it.
Once a child passes a certain age; he is told to read Atlas Shrugged. It is a widely celebrated book and is considered to be epic and massively successful. In reality, the book moves at a snail’s pace and the political theme is over-hyped enough to bring down the overall quality of the book.
One Hundred Years of Solitude is said to be that book which gave rise to the genre of magical realism. The plot is extremely complex and there is no doubt that the average and for that matter, the above-average reader will need to log onto the internet just to understand the basics of the novel.
