What is the most thought provoking sci fi book?

Voyage from Yesteryear, By James Hogan. You don't necissarily end up agreeing that what the author describes would work, but it is an interesting thing to think about.

Also, Logan's Run, but I can't remember who it it by.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide all adverts.

Some would suggest Stranger in a Strange Land, by Heinlein.

After reading it myself, I can only say that it isn't all it's made out to be.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide all adverts.

"Cat's Cradle" by Kurt Vonnegut. An interesting look at the apocalypse, and the contradictory lies that are neccesary for religion to be believed.

I read Starship Troopers, and enjoyed it, but didn't care for it as a deep, thought provoking philosophical commentary on anything. I thought the robosuits were killer, but I didn't like how no justification was given for killing "the Skinnies," or even who they were. Then the endless details about the multilayered drop pods... bah. It just wasn't thought provoking. Perhaps because it is such an emulated classic that I found the ideas a bit stale. Bugs/zerg/aliens vs. space marines from The Federation have been a staple of pulp stories since before I could read.

I liked the Dune series much better, since it focused less on the technical and more on the human. Made me think about something new.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide all adverts.

Any of the Iain M Banks books that deal with 'The Culture'. BIG ideas.

A good introduction to Banks is 'State of the Art' a collection of short stories that throw concepts at you like a constant flow of artillary shells !

 

• Adams, Douglas. "Hitchhiker's Trilogy"
• Bradbury, Ray. The Martian Chronicles
• Huxley, Aldous. Brave New World

(A scant list for now, eh?)

I will also note that I've been essentially instructed by an authority I simply do not refuse to read Walter M. Miller, Jr.'s A Canticle for Liebowitz.

That's one hell of a review, especially for just having called Heinlen's Stranger in a Strange Land "shabby" and "a succession of cheap shots". Then again, the man bequeathed unto us rather high standards. (And I, for one, thank him dearly.)
_____________________

• Cady, Jack. "Science Fiction, Utopia, and the Spirit". Ghosts of Yesterday. San Francisco: Night Shade, 2003.

 

Stand on Zanzibar by John Brunner

Live From Golgotha by Gore Vidal

The Transmigration of Souls by William Barton


Say, Tiassa...
Have you heeded/did you heed the "essential instruction" to read A Canticle for Liebowitz...?

 

I loved Canticle! Don't know why I didn't mention it in my first post! Duhhhhhh!

Although it's not exactly thought-provoking, I also enjoyed "Dogfight", also from Gibson's "Burning Chrome". There was just something about taking that old coot down a notch that I really liked.

 

Two intriguing books by Stephen Baxter are Space, about the Fermi Paradox;

and Time, about the Carter Hypothesis.

 

Space was really good, but I didn't really enjoy Time but I'm just not much of a Baxter fan. Burning Chrome intrigued me, and A whole lot of Orson Scott Cards short stories. If you're looking for some really interesting ideas Card's Maps in a Mirror is amazing.