Posted: 27th April 2012 21:20
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Holy Swordsman Posts: 2,083 Joined: 18/7/2004 Awards: |
I imagine that most of us enjoy speculative fiction (sci-fi, fantasy, alternate history, etc.), and I'm curious what you think are the very best. I'm not necessarily looking at the most influential books or stories; I'm looking more for the ideas that are so brilliant you couldn't possibly overlook them, or for such strong evocative language that you'd argue with your English professors for such-and-such-es inclusion in "The Canon."
Without further adieu, here are some of my favorites (not in any particular order): *A Canticle for Leibowitz (After the "Flame Deluge," an order of monks tries to preserve the world's knowledge.) *The Years of Rice and Salt (The Black Plague basically wipes out Western Civilization; the East takes prominence.) *The Man in the High Castle (The Axis wins WWII; man in Idaho writes novel wherein the Allies emerge victorious. The I Ching plays a large role in people's lives.) *Grendel (The harrier of Heorot is a philosopher. This one is generally lumped in with more "literary" fiction, but I include it for the premise's audacity and the vivid language.) *The Stars My Destination ("Common Man" Gully Foyle seeks vengeance on the crew of the Vorga--who left him for dead.) *Chronicles of the Black Company (A gritty epic/dark fantasy following an elite mercenary unit known as The Black Company.) I particularly recommend A Canticle for Leibowitz--one of my favorite novels of any genre--but any of these are fantastic. What about you all? |
Post #200191
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