What are some of your favorite science fiction books and why are they your favorites?
by 
BeCool
ANSWERS: 16
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Everything by Michael Crichton. He deals with real life, "what if" scenarios about the impact science has on our lives. Maybe "Jurassic Park" was too far fetched, but I especially liked "The Andromeda Strain", where a space satellite returns to earth, and brings with it a bacteria for which mankind has no antidote...
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I am a big fan of Issac Asimov. I really like the Robot and Foundation series. These series are very inteligently written and have an epic scope to them. He has also written many short stories that get you thinking.
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I'm going to answer this kind of backwards. The science -fiction books I like deal with a term called "extrapolation" where an author takes a current issue in whatever subject and imagines a world where that position is exacerbated to its maximum potential. A quick but excellent example from TV is the episode of the old Star Trek series called "Let This Be Your Last Battlefield" where the explosive topics of racism and racial equality were addressed at a time when minorities were being hosed and beaten in the streets, agitating for equal rights. Exposed as a geek, I now offer a literary alternative in "Ender's Game" by Orson Scott Card and the seminal sci-fi classic "Dune" by Frank Herbert. For a more philosophical rather than social bent I would encourage you to check out anything by Stanislaw Lem.
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I'm a very big SF reader, and after having read hundreds of books I will give you three (3) jewels (I would like that everybody in the world could read these books): -The End Of Eternity (Isaac Asimov). Is about time travel. Oh man !! Mystery, Suspense, Spies, Romance in one book. One of the first Asimov's stories and one of the best. Not a very known book, though. -Starship Troopers (Robert Heinlein). And please do not even think about the Movie (what a shame of Movie). Did you know that Heinlein invented and introduced the concept of Mechs back in the 60s? Action, drama and futuristic military warfare. Amazing !! -Dune (Frank Herbert), without doubt a classic !! This book goes over the feuds, empires and monarquies in the future. Concepts of the past brought to the future brilliantly !! A must read. Please read them and of course enjoy them !!
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Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, which was one of the first Science Fiction books, because it raises so many questions about our rights to play God, and about the extent which society creates its own villains. Also The Time Machine by HG Wells, because the mirroring of the 19th Century lower and upper classes in the two distinct species of the future is frightening and really strikes home. Also I love Phillip K Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? just because its such a wonderful, haunting read- especially the end.
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Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card This book is engaging, and amazingly well written. It also speaks volumes about humans and human nature.
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Ender's Game, amazing story told by one of the greatest sci-fi writers of our time. If you felt the weight of the world on your shoulders as a kid it will connect with you. the hitchhikers guide to the galaxy, great for completly oposite reasons. funny, quirky and way better than the movie.
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Michael Moorcock - 'Dancers at the end of Time', Philip K. Dick, 'Ubik', Thomas M Disch, 'Camp Concentration'. Three off the top of my head. PS: I see that you also asked 'why'. Well, in the case of the Moorcock and the Disch, their erudition, coupled with humour, a flair for language and originality of concept. In the case of the Dick, a style that is convoluted, a plot that has fold on fold, when the fake becomes real and the real becomes fake. A unique world.
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"The Hitchhiker's Guide" series are my #1 favorite. I read the books while I was still in grade school. I also like most books by Anne McCaffrey, as well as the Dragon Lance books. But those are more like fantasy-type, aren't they?
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Anne McCaffery - The Dragonriders of Pern books (including the Harper Hall books and others) Piers Anthony - Xanth series (actually ALL of his books) Larry Niven - The Ringworld series (and all of his books) In other words, if any of those three and a couple of others, write a book, I read it. And a few others.
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Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy.
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my fave is The Lost World. YES it IS a book to
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Just about anything by Ray Bradbury, because it's a pleasure to read such good writing, and because he deals with human emotions, not with gimmicks.
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Dragon Riders of Pern series by Anne MaCaffrey is one of my favorites. Good story, interesting characters than she makes you care about.
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"The Mote in Gods Eye". It gives an example of what would happen to a civilization that breeds beyond limited bounds. It makes you think about our own Earth, and what we are doing to it. "Inferno" is a wonderful parody on Dante. Read them both! ANYTHING by Ray Bradbury. "Dandelion Wine" is one of my favorite books, while arguably not sci-fi. But the rest of his compilations of short stories are truly wonderful too. Asimov's robot stories/novels, presaging robots in our lives.
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My favorite is "Futureland" by Walter Mosley, the book puts a realistic twist on things that are happening today, and what we could end up with. I read the Deathlands series by James Axler, and I finished off all of the "Lost Battalion" books, I would recommend that series also
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