CoN 25th Anniversary: 1997-2022
The Best of Speculative Fiction

Posted: 27th April 2012 21:20

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Holy Swordsman
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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?
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