by Amorphous Blob on September 16th, 2008

Amorphous Blob

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Besides the Lord of the Rings and the Narnia books, have there ever been any science fiction books that even approached the standard of "literature" (as opposed to "pulp")?

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Answers. 16 helpful answers below.

  • by bagicide stayed 10 months too long on September 16th, 2008

    bagicide stayed 10 months too long

    Harry Potter. Interesting that the two fantasy series you chose were both written by devout Christians with heavily Christian themes. I suspect from some comments Jo Rowling made and some themes in Harry Potter that she falls into that camp too.

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  • by Freagartach the Answerer on October 27th, 2008

    Freagartach the Answerer

    "A Song of Ice And Fire" series by George R. R. Martin.

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  • by singwell-is off researching a lot on September 28th, 2008

    singwell-is off researching a lot

    I wouldn't classify either as science fiction. They are fantasy. If you are going to speak of CS Lewis and sci-fi, you need to look at his Space trilogy series (Out of the Silent Planet (1938), set mostly on Mars
    Perelandra (1943), set mostly on Venus. Also known as Voyage to Venus
    That Hideous Strength (1945), set on Earth. )

    As for sci-fi, I would agree with Brian I that Arthur C Clarke's works are magnificent.

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  • by JamesWW on September 28th, 2008

    JamesWW

    Anne McCaffrey's Pern series is very well written.

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  • by Brian I on September 16th, 2008

    Brian I

    I don't know what the link is between science fiction and the titles you mention, but everything written by Arthur C Clarke is well-written.

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  • by MG1942 Has a Life Penguin on September 16th, 2008

    MG1942 Has a Life Penguin

    There was a really good series by Stephen Donaldson. The first in the series was "The Mirror of her Dreams"(1986) I read all three, and they were amazing. This was in 1990 or so.

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  • by Caffenated llama of flourescent doom on November 2nd, 2008

    Caffenated llama of flourescent doom

    In his last interview in 1971, Tolkien stated that he did not intend The Lord of the Rings as a Christian allegory and that Christ is not depicted in his fantasy novels. When asked about the efforts of the trilogy's hero, Frodo, to struggle on and destroy the ring, Tolkien said, "But that seems I suppose more like an allegory of the human race. I've always been impressed that we're here surviving because of the indomitable courage of quite small people against impossible odds: jungles, volcanoes, wild beasts... they struggle on, almost blindly in a way" (Interview by Dennis Gerrolt; it was first broadcast in January 1971 on BBC Radio 4 program "Now Read On"). That doesn't sound like the gospel to me. When Gerrolt asked Tolkien, "Is the book to be considered as an allegory?" the author replied, "No. I dislike allegory whenever I smell it."

    http://www.wayoflife.org/fbns/tolkien-lordoftherings.html

    If you still do not believe me, I invite you to do some more research, but it would be useless, as you'd find the answer I gave you to be correct.

    As a correction to my previous statement however, I double checked to make sure I was right and it turned out Tolkien was devout, however he disagreed with some of the church's decisions over the years.
    Its been a while since I read the biography, I apologize.

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  • by Someguy on November 2nd, 2008

    Someguy

    Orson Scott Card's Ender series is an award winning series. Ender's Game is taught at the Marine Corps University.

    Ender's Game
    Speaker for the Dead
    Xenocide
    Children of the Mind
    A War of Gifts

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  • by Stargater on October 12th, 2008

    Stargater

    What about the "DUNE series
    by Frank Herbert.
    and carried on so BRILLIANTLY
    by his son Brian Hebert
    (and his best friend)
    Kevin J Anderson
    These books are ABSOLUTLY first-rate
    The charactors and the places just come alive and jump off the page
    and if you haven't read them yet???
    THEN GET STARTED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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  • by WiseOldUnicorn on September 19th, 2008

    WiseOldUnicorn

    LotR and Narnia would be classified as fantasy, and I'm not sure what exactly constitutes "literature," but there's a lot of very well-written sci-fi and fantasy out there.

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  • by MG1942 Has a Life Penguin on September 16th, 2008

    MG1942 Has a Life Penguin

    Oh, Yea. How about Stephen King's Dark Tower series? Frickin' Awesome!

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  • by Halskiisaklink on September 16th, 2008

    Halskiisaklink

    'Literature' is a loaded term, but yeah, heaps. Pretty much everything written by Theodore Sturgeon, for example. And Narnia and Harry Potter are teen fantasy, not science-fiction.

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  • by BigDaddyBS on November 2nd, 2008

    BigDaddyBS

    While fantasy is lumped in with sci-fi, some of the following have both types of books, and all have very well-written sci-fi books.

    (In no particular order, just as they came to me...)

    Anne McCaffrey
    Piers Anthony
    Larry Nivon & Jerry Pournelle
    Larry Nivon (himself)
    Stephen Donaldson
    Terry Brooks
    Spider Robinson
    Arthur C Clarke
    Jose Philip Farmer
    Frank Herbert
    L Ron Hubbard
    Ray Bradbury
    Robert Heinlein
    Issac Asimov
    and hundreds of others

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  • by Galeanda on November 2nd, 2008

    Galeanda

    Neither of those books are science fiction. They are fantasy books. But there are plenty of terrific science fiction, in fact I'd say most science fiction rises above pulp. Arthur C. Clarke, Frank Herbert, Poul Anderson, to name a few

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  • by BeenThereWillShare on November 2nd, 2008

    BeenThereWillShare

    What you mention is not sci-fi.

    If you want sci-fi go to the library and realize the difference.

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  • by Anonymous on November 2nd, 2008

    Anonymous

    Certainly, although most of them are children's fiction:

    1. The Five Children and It--Edith Nesbit

    2. The Dark is Rising series--Susan Cooper

    3. Tamora Pierce's novels, especially the Circle of Magic series.

    I could add Harry Potter to the list, but there's a lot of critical debate regarding whether he's pulp or fiction. Of course, I'm an English major, so I think we can even analyze the pulp fiction and find interesting themes that reveal truths about our cultural beliefs.

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