Really enjoyed this. A few of these books are completely new to me. Really need to expedite the Ballard and Priest titles I have on hand in the reading order.
Thanks Matt- given your background as an SF reader who likes the mainstream (I'm a huge Hamsun fan too, by the way), I'd say your taste will become more geared toward New Wave and British literary SF as time goes on. Always great to hear from you, my friend.
I appreciate how incredibly independent this list is when compared against the rest of the SF community, and the amount of care you put into explaining why these works are so important. You’ve spurred me into seeking out more books than anyone else on book tube. Just ordered a copy of Molly Zero. Thanks!
Many, many thanks for your superthanks and kind words. Well, the SF community you refer to is probably younger than me and of the mass market variety predominantly (I say this without meaning to sound punitive or patronising). If you spoke to many, many British SF readers of the ages 50-70, you'd find that many of my opinions, experiences and choices are similar to thiers. Glad you liked it and let me know how you get on with Molly.
Same re. Molly Zero. I feel like I went to your bookstore and said, "hey, give me something I haven't read that will dazzle me." I appreciate it, and will look forward to picking this up.
@@FIT2BREAD -Keith Roberts was one of the finest literary SF writers ever- search the Kerosina small press video on my channel, where I relate the story of how this modern classic of British small presses in the 1980s (run by friends of mine) published Keith, PKD, Gene Wolfe and so many more- you'll love the story, I promise. Have been looking at your channel too, but I'm backed up and busy with things here currently so not commented yet!
@Outlaw Bookseller cool, and no worries. If I could, I'd watch booktube all day and I only ever get around to watching about a third of the videos I really want to watch..and yes I'll definitely check this title out
I came here after Bookpilled mentioned your channel many times, and I must say that this was a very informative video that made me put many more books unto my to-read list, but most importantly I thought it was really nice to see someone who loves books so much, the enthusiasm glows off the screen. Thank you!
Thank you! It's a vocation, pure and simple. Matt at Bookpilled is my favourite SF booktuber and we correspond a little and one day hope to do a meet-up and joint video, which would be great. Please delve into my backlist, there are hundreds of SF and related clips here and many, many more to come!
Just when I think I know something about Sci-fi I watch one -any one- of your videos and I realize that I know nothing and that I’ve read next to nothing.
@@bartsbookspace -Don't be so hard on yourself. There are plenty...well, a sizeable minority...of people I know and don't who know a lot more. Admittedly they are mostly professionals- SF writers and critics, but then I'm a bit of an obsessive. I'll take it as a compliment, thanks !
I am pleased that you gave the movie "Blade Runner" its due both as cinema and for helping to resurrect Phillip K. Dick. For me, the movie is simply the best SF cinema ever made and has no equal. The novel is also excellent, and the title alone is masterful. Well done.
Time well spent!! Thank You! I was in England from 1986- 1990. Bought Pringle's 100 best SF books and then colllected them all....with a lot of nice hardback editions. They all disappeared during a divorce. Retired now with some time to read so may have to start my search for some of these again!!
David is the man - heck of a nice guy, we've never met but have contributed to the same journal at times -DEEP ENDS- his book was a big inspiration for me and my own was a mind of homage to it.
I just subscribed. I found out about your channel by way of Michael K. Vaughn's channel when he mentioned your "100 Must Read Science Fiction Novels". Hats off to Mr. Vaughn for guiding me here.
I love your channel mate. I just found you but I’ve bought 4 books and wishlisted another 10 or so. You do a very good job at this and are obviously very well read. Nice work!
Thanks very much. Do watch the backlist, there are several hundred videos here and I do tend to reach the parts other SF booktubers do not reach....decades of working at it!
Your videos make me realize how little I know about science fiction and how much I have to discover. That's a good thing! Fascinating list; I've read several of the books or a different book by some of your chosen writers (High Rise by Ballard and Inverted World by Priest, for instance). Thanks for all the thought and care you obviously put into your videos. Your love of science fiction comes through loud and clear.
May happiness rain down on you for your selection of "1984" as the best SF novel ever. It is one of the few novels I have ever read twice, I recommend it to everyone, and I finally convinced my wife to read it and coincidentally she completed it TODAY ! I think of it as more borderline science fiction/ political fiction dystopia, but it is so chilling. I believe that 1984 and "Brave New World" taken together describe the strange amalgam of so much of Western society today. BTW, I was listening to a radio program today and the speaker said that the forthcoming Penguin edition of 1984 will undergo changes to make it more "acceptable" and "accessible" to modern readers who may be offended by Orwell's masterpiece. How tragic it would be if this is true, and if so, does Penguin realize how they are the Big Brother that validates Orwell's warning to us?
Great stuff! Even when I’m familiar with the author, I’m unfamiliar with the work in question - e.g., I’d never heard of the Bester collection before and will definitely be checking it out. Re Neuromancer. The shift from outer to inner space (virtual realities etc) was the genre’s last big innovation imo. I still remember reading that book for the first time and getting goosebumps; I knew right away it was something completely different.
Thanks. The Bester is key to understand where New Wave came from and his finest work. Actually, 'Inner Space' was a term used by Ballard in the early 60s to suggest the focus New Wave would have- the effect of tech on the human mind. Although VR narratives precede Gibson, indeed, it was something very special indeed and the early, original Cyberpunk works were the last great leap in the evolution of SF.
Wot no schlocky space opera!? This is a serious list with some serious depth of expertise on show. Top drawer. PS I can't see Crash as SF (or sci fi😊) and didn't much enjoy it either. Horses for courses.
Hi there, yes, no schlocky Space Opera is right! Glad you liked it. I do hope you enjoy the rest of the channel content. 'Crash' is here as I feel Ballard expanded the limits of SF and worked hard at blending its psychological impact of cognitive dissonance and acceptance of technology as fundamentally changing human consciousness, thus thrusting the metaphoric power of SF into the cutting edge of Literary Fiction per se. So it's kind of SF in reverse: his use of the car as a Novum ('new thing'), showing how our obsession with it could create a new paradigm is structurally like SF, except that the tech is already with us - but that our minds have changed. It's bending the rules to underline what great SF is all about, I guess. Controversial, I know. Thanks for your views!
Harlan Ellison was an abrasive little goblin that I absolutely adore. His writing asked questions that are still important, more so every day. The stories legitimately go beyond the page and sit in your head where you can mull over them for years. I love PKD too, him and his beautiful mind that was maybe expanded a little to much.
This video shows the potential that this channel has. It could very well become the biggest SF channel on youtube. The content is fantastic as always, but it also shows that lists like this are something people are looking for. I’m not suggesting that you change the overall direction of your videos, after all, this is YOUR channel. However, as someone who would like this content to be known by more people, it could be a good trade off to drop a video like this every now and then. Amazing stuff and a good bunch of books that are going on my TBR. On another note, if you could indulge me: do you know a good alternative for bookdepository? International readers are mourning.
Thanks for your comments. Take a look at my backlist and you'll see there are other videos like this- one cannot do 'top tens' and the like every time, but you'll find a wealth of material and there will be a lot more coming. very pleased to have you on board. Yeah, the whole Book Depository thing is a shame- I buy from multiple sources so have no one answer I'm afraid, plus most of my collecting is secondhand/vintage/out of print, so I use abebooks a lot.
One your finest Stephen. You've got to be the very best and most erudite commentators on the sf scene. You've really rekindled my love of sf after 60 years of being away from it. Full marks.
While watching this video, I have to pause when you showed Crash by J.G. Ballard and ran back to the thrift store I visited yesterday because I saw a copy of that book but did not pay attention. I have it now and will start reading it.
A really nice selection of books, and won't argue with any of your choices. I don't normally enjoy these countdown videos but these two were good as you took the time and I'm not yet ready to put such a beast together. Moorcock was my route into both Fantasy and SF when I was 12 or 13, I first hit the Cornelius novels when I was eighteen. My choice would have been something slightly later, Blood: A Southern Fantasy with A Condition of Muzak as a close second. Also love Byzantium Endures but while it touches on the fantastical with Pyat's crazy schemes, very much not an SF novel. Naturally I stumbled onto M. John Harrison from there, really enjoyed his literary novels like Course of the Heart and Signs of Life. I still need to read a few of the more recent ones. I've read Pavane by Keith Roberts, and the old Pan edition of The Furies has to be one of my all time favourite SF covers, but need to read more of his. I have a few of his sitting in my piles of books. Crash would also be my choice for Ballard too, it's just an excellent book and one of the ones where I also enjoy the adaptations, both Cronenberg's film and the song(!) Warm Leatherette by The Normal. I still feel as though Ballard is completely unique, he very much has his own voice. I love Concrete Island and High Rise as well, amongst many others. I rate his short story Billenium really highly as well, just that sense of inevitability. I read it again recently in the Damon Knight edited anthology Cities of Wonder and it hits just as well every time. It's one I frequently talk to people about, in Teams calls at work, any opportunity! I read Wyndham when I was on a post-apocalyptic reading/watching theme for a few years, also hitting John Christopher at the same time, specifically The Death of Grass. It wasn't the first time I'd read him though as we did Empty World in school and I read The Tripods while everyone at school was talking about the TV series (I never saw it at the time). I think I've read most of Wyndham's novel now, even enjoyed The Trouble with Lichen. For Aldiss I'd pick Hothouse but you can't really go far wrong with him, so many good books. I first got that one from the library when I was in my teens, with no expectation of what I was getting into. I've read Ellison, Dick and Delany but they're all authors I need to read more of. I have yet to read Gibson. The internet did predate the book slightly, but his ideas definitely drove where it went beyond the sheer act of linking the machines together in a topology with TCP/IP. Have read a lot of Priest but haven't read The Glamour so need to remedy that. Sounds in the wheelhouse of Iain Bank's The Bridge but I know they're very different writers. Finally read Clockwork Orange a few years ago and loved it, especially getting my head into the language. Read 1984 much longer ago, but still pretty fresh, and still annoying how it's misused so much in discussions around politics and culture. Will always like the book with its multitude of ideas packed in a short novel. My wife was showing off that same Pan copy of The Time Machine at the weekend that she'd found. And I've got a similar edition for War of the Worlds. Such a nice little uniform set. As for female SF authors, I know you touched on some in the previous video. I enjoy Le Guin and Sheri S. Tepper, pretty much anything Angela Carter has put out, but authors like CJ Cherryh, Pat Cadigan and Octavia Butler are still on my to-read list.
Obviously I love a lot of the same stuff as you. "Billennium" is one of the most significant JGB stories, I feel. Thanks for the post. Sorry this is short but I'm preparing to zoom with Chris Priest in a few minutes.
Loved your list! Just for the heck of it, here's my top ten: 10) More Than Human by Theodore Sturgeon; 9} Gateway by Frederik Pohl; 8) Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card; 7} Hyperion by Dan Simmons; 6} Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury; 5) A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter Miller; 4) The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula Le Guin; 3) Brave New World by Aldous Huxley; 2) 1984 by George Orwell; and 1) Dune by Frank Herbert. Some of these don't meet the criteria you established, especially that of being the originator of a key science fiction concept, but I love all of them more than any others I've read, and I guess that's the most important criterion of all.
Read everything on yr list of course and all are in my book, save the Pohl (I selected 'Man Plus' by him instead, which is amazing) and Simmons, which I've always regretted leaving out! Thanks!
Hello there Mr Outlaw Bookseller, I really enjoyed your two videos on your 25 "best" SF books. Quite a different list compared with most of the others out there, of course you have plenty of classics in there at the end of the day a great book is a great book such as FRANKENSTEIN by Mary Shelley, 1984, Do androids dream ..., THE TIME MACHINE, etc but you also have many lesser acclaimed works such as PAVANE, THE GLAMOUR, THE FINAL PROGRAMME, etc all very British! I am your age and also live in the UK and started my SF journey by reading YA SF from the library when I was 8 years old like Danny Dunn time traveler, Space adventures by Hugh Walters and Trillions by Nicholas Fisk. I have subscribed so catch you later.
The Pi Man - my favourite Bester short. I would probably choose Golem 100 as my favourite novel, although The Demolished Man and the eponymous Tiger Tiger are awesome. Like your list, although I'd put Bester higher ;)
Yeah, "The Pi Man" is SO important as a precursor of the New Wave and a great, great story in itself. I think 'Golem100' is underrated too, that conceptual breakthrough in the last sentence, another example of his genius.
Great video, was looking for months for a video like this. I feel really transported back to my teenage years, when every sci-fi book just blew my mind.
Outstanding presentation, Stephen, and there are many books on your list that are on mine. Some common author's, but with different books, but overall we coincide quite a bit. I've read most of the works you mentioned, Ballard, Priest, Dick, Bester, Ellison, Wells, are central for me. Wells initiated me into SF with The Time Machine, Dick and Lem opened my eyes to a different dimension in SF, Priest removed and rewired my brain, M. John Harrison put it back in
Chris and Mike keep doing that to me too. Perhaps luckily, I've never met both of them together, but it may happen. Zooming with Chris today, actually. Thanks as ever, Daniel!
Great selection, thank you. I started reading Eric Frank Russell and EE Doc Smith when I was 5 years old back in 1960. To this day I probably read 2 or 3 books a week when I am not gaming. I really appreciate this list and there are some new to me authors for me to explore, so thank you again ^_^ I love Harlan Ellison too.
Enjoyed this hugely, Steve. Was thrilled to see you show your 1976 Pan edition of The Time Machine. That's the one I have (most likely bought at WH Smith in '76). I re-read my original copy just a few months ago. A perfect book from start to finish.
Cheers Clive - yeah, it gets no better than 'The Time Machine', but of an ur-text, I'd say. I bought an old Octopus omnibus of Wells novels in hardcover from Dorothy House the other day with a turqoise jacket and faux-leather binding, good nick, very cheap, but I'm waiting for Penguin or someone to run off a decent TM on its own in hardcover.
Great selection, your passion for the adventure of imagination that is SciFi really shines through, and of course as a younger man in a faraway country I envy you have the luck to meet several of these great and unique minds. Quite a few authors I've never even heard about, so that in itself is a gift. Speaking of the selection itself, of course I understand it's entirely subjective but my heart plunged when I saw Solaris on the bottom... it's easily my current n° 1, I believe that the only other writer that may have been so far reaching is Wells (who is in a cathegory of his own in terms of genius); I truly believe that Solaris is one of the greatest achievements of the human imagination, ever. If I had to pick ten books to save from the XXth century, and just ten, Solaris would be one of them. And I read it from a translation of a translation! BTW, your Bester pick made me question your whole selection LOL I've just finished that very book in that very EXACT Pan edition with the kickass cover, and... I found it fairly underwhelming. While some stories are good satire and made me chuckle (specially The Man Who Murdr'd M...), and others are great pieces, specially They Don’t Make Life Like They Used To, with its absurdity and crackling ending, I found it quite dated in many ways. The casual mysogyny of some of these is truly unsufferable (I'm a lefty but not easily triggered); others, like Time Is the Traitor or The Flowered Thundermug are just old and stale. Did love Out of This World (the one with the crossed telephone lines), probably because it's short, unpretentious and warmer than the others. It's a problem when authors believe they are wittier than they truly are, just a happy few can get away with that (I think of Gibson or Ballard: they can). On the other hand, it's always a good sign when a SF reviewer puts The Forever War above Starship Troopers. I read it from a mouldy (literally) copy of the 1st Spanish ed. when I was 18 and I was absolutely gripped, and disgusted, and amazed. I love that book to bits. Have you checked the 1988 comic book 3-vols adaptation by Marvano? While Marvano made a very competent job (one can only dream of what coud have happened if adapted by the monsters of that era, Moebius, Bilal, Liberatore), it's also a great exaple of a very faithful and respectful adaptation, truly deserves a read. Anyways, we could all go forever, great selection and thanks for your work, would love to visit your store one day. Loved your accent, it's quite elegant and pleasing to the ear, without the sometimes obnoxious pomp of Standard English that the Amerikaner are so fond of. Cheers from a fellow bookseller, from the melancholic and fabled lands of Buenos Aires.
Many thanks for your comment, you are very kind. Rankings are always difficult and that's why I approached this exercise with trepidation- as I said somewhere, I'm more of a 'body of work'/'writer' guy than a 'this is the best book ever' type. Re the Bester, I think this is where context and history are vitally important. I regard Art as 'of its time' rather than 'dated'. In ten years, today's work will be 'dated' in most cases but will you still love the things you love now then, or constantly revise your standpoint? Yes, one has to keep up, but not just for the sake of it- qualitative decisions must be based as much on subjective responses like 'I love her prose style,' as objective ones like 'let's look at what was happening in the genre and society at the time this was published'. I don't see Bester as sexist, just reflective of the snappy, hard-boiled storytelling that influenced his style via his reading of crime fiction. Imagine "Time is the Traitor" as a contemporary film- update the dialogue to contemporary parlance, retain the plot and ideas and do the explanatory flashback to why Strapp can make Decisions to an opening air-chase/crash sequence. It would go down a storm. Bester's attitude, style and flash led directly into Gibson (among others- Bill said that Bester, a Beat Generation anthology and the first Velvet Underground album were the key influences upon 'Neuromancer') via the New Wave. I notice you don't mention 'The Pi Man'- this one is hugely important in the evolution of SF into its most vital, literary period- the New Wave. I'd say read it again and feel the pain and bitterness the protagonist endures, which explains his rapaciousness (a little like Foyle). "Out of this World" does show his sentimental side and I love it too. I see Bester's wit as more like Sheckley's than Gibson's or Ballard's, both of whom I feel are less forgiving (much as I love'em). Bester improves on close re-reading, believe me. re Lem, have you read 'Fiasco'? If not, you must. There's a video on this channel entitled 'The Problem of Knowledge' in which I look at this novel, 'His Master's Voice' and others- these are neglected books, but thematically identical to 'Solaris', yet no-one seems to read them. They are in print in the USA and UK now. Yes, the Haldeman is great, love both versions. I'm a Lefty too, by the way, but am not triggered easily at all, as for me it's about economics not Identity Politics. Great to hear from someone in Argentina, please keep watching and commenting!
@@outlawbookselleroriginal Ad Lem - I did see that video you are referencing, made a mental note to comment there and then forgot about it, so here be the place: I cannot agree more. 'Fiasco' is the ultimate summa of Lem's oeuvre, it concludes, what he started with 'Eden' (also a neglected one!), the whole first-contact-and-the-(im)possibility-thereof line of work. I still remember the strength of impact it had on me when I read it for the first time. Maybe the non-straightforward, episodic structure with many excursions seemingly irrelevant to the main plot makes it less accessible ('His Master's Voice' on the other hand is rather dry and monolithic), but that is no excuse for the reader, of course... btw the very first scene of the book - the robotic manipulator in the crystalline forest - is so hauntingly beautiful and alien, and what's more - it is one of the best examples of true and honest hard SF because it does not ignore momentum and material physics, it builds on them (no quick movements lest you are doomed... just compare it to those ridiculous accelerations and decelerations of common material objects seen on the screen, especially with the advent of (bad) CGI - it's not the quality of textures and rendering, it's the understanding of physics, or lack thereof, what makes it look so ridiculous most of the time). Lem is really something; many thanks to you for championing his lesser known work. (Dtto The Strugatsky Brothers - 'The Snail on the Slope' and 'The Doomed City' deserve a much wider recognition.)
You've managed to create a top SF list without Asimov, Heinlein, Clarke, or Herbert - Well done! (although I'm a bit shocked there is no Dune) Couldn't squeeze in a little Theodore Sturgeon in there somewhere? Roger Zelazny?
Well, it's subjective as I say. 'Dune' goes out of its way in some senses to resemble a dynastic Fantasy though it is SF of course, but I find the prose style less than inspiring. Sturgeon is great at times, but has never hit me where I live. Zelazny's early work is very good, but I feel he tailed off quickly. Thanks for yr comment.
Excellent selection. Vey pleased that Wells and Wyndham are so high up on this list. Thanks for compiling this for us. I'm happy to say that I've read most of the books mentioned in this Phase Two list. Not all though. Small city. Limited selection in the local book shops: one major chain, and one independent once long ago. Thus, some of these authors highlighted in this "series" are unknown to me. That's also the legacy of spheres of publication: Canada is dominated by the United States, and by default, unless a British or Australian author got very popular, most authors who are not American (and popular and contemporary) weren't/aren't sold here. Even Canadian authors are largely unknown.
Yes, I had that impression re cultural production in Canada. British literary SF has never done that well in the USA, so much of which seems parochial in outlook (mind you, Britain can be just as bad sometimes). I'm pleased you enjoyed the videos.
Great list, with some new ones to check out. My seeds into literary SF began with discovering David Pringle's Science Fiction: The 100 Best Novels list on an old online site somewhere. It became my shopping list for a few years as I went to different used book stores and formed a core understanding of sci-fi for me, many of which have showed up on here. Nineteen Eighty Four is such a unique work and was the first entry on Pringle's list. Interesting because it is one of the few SF novels that was required reading in America high school, marking is as part of a literary canon that transcends genre. It might be the only SF book many people end up reading because of that and it still haunts me to this day.
The Pringle book is a key inspiration for me- although DP and I have never met, we interact online and have worked on a shared project with other writers (the 'Deep Ends' anthologies. He's one of the finest critics the genre has ever had. As for Orwell, well, it comes no better than his work...
I enjoyed that so much, thanks for making the 2 videos - sublime stuff. One question I have though - since you are such a fan of British SF, I have not heard you mention Olaf Stapledon, you probably do somewhere but I just haven't seen the video yet. I read 'First and Last Men' when I was about 13 and it absolutely blew my mind - when I think about 'punching through into a new reality', that book and Star Maker jump immediately into my head. I love 'Sirius' too, which strikes me as very similar to 'Flowers for Algernon'. I am curious to know what you make of him - possibly not a great prose stylist, but in terms of ideas, I can think of few who have stimulated my brain more.
Another author writing in that Sirius/Flowers for Algernon vein was the Australian SF writer George Turner (1916-1997) (who won the Clarke award for his novel The Sea and Summer (aka The Drowning Towers). Try the sequence Brainchild, The Destiny Makers and Genetic Soldier.
I love 'Sirius', for me his best work. I admire Stapledon's cosmic ideas- how can one not- but in some ways I feel his influence over Clarke (who couldn't write for toffee compared to Olaf) and Clarke's passing this on indirectly to the Big Dumb Object subgenre has for me resulted in a lot of hollow anti-wonder. Inner Space is what I like. yes, 'Sirius' does have affinity with 'Algernon', which I love, but again nobody seems to read much. Video about it coming at some point of course.
@@outlawbookselleroriginal 'anti-wonder' I love it. Look forward to the Algernon piece - such a moving book. Ted Chiang did a similar short story as well - the name escapes me now but I enjoyed that very much as well.
I know this comment is late but I had to say that if it was not for this channel, I would not have discovered so many amazing SF writers. Thank you Stephen!
@@outlawbookselleroriginal I am curious where you would recommend starting when it comes to Aldiss. I currently own The Saliva Tree, Greybeard and Earthworks.
@@dmbfreak123 Well, as with all recommendations, for them to be valid, it requires some knowledge of the recommendee - but as I don't know your taste, I'd say 'Non-Stop' for structural perfection in conveying the key elements that make for great SF, 'Hothouse' for sheer imagination, 'Greybeard' for English lyricism and literary quality. 'Earthworks' is minor and 'The Saliva Tree' is fascinatingly bonkers.
I read Burgess' "A Clockwork Orange" last year for the first time eventhough I did see the film twice in my student years. Both the novel and the film are masterpieces in my opinion... also I like "The Man in The High Castle", so I'll add "Pavane" to my TBR-list.
@@outlawbookselleroriginal I'll give "Quatermass and the Pit" a shot some time as well... have watched a lot of British SF from before my time like the classic Docto Who serials, "Blake's 7" and "Sapphire And Steel" but never came around to Quatermass yet somehow...
@@outlawbookselleroriginal Steve Donague had recommended his, The Wanting Seed. I've picked it up but haven't read it yet. Any thoughts on that one fellas?
@@FIT2BREAD It's not bad, but none of Burgess' SF is as good as 'A Clockwork Orange' - but I have not read it for a long time. I am a huge Burgess fan though, I'e read about thirty of his books, but none recently.
There's a graphic novel adaptation, from Boom Studios in 2011, of "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep" that uses the full text of the novel. I have all of the monthly installments that came out back then.
Never come across that, but I have to say I'm a hater of unnecessary adaptations of books and films into comics- comics are a great form, but are at their best when presenting original material, I feel. Dick paints enough pictures in my head with the novel for me!
@@justinecooper9575 -Well, good point, of course, always. But you'd need to have your head under a rock to avoid PKD since 'Blade Runner' of course LOL. Seriously, good point.
A fine set of 25 books. Interestingly, I’d say one of my own seminal influences in gravitating towards the more literary end of the spectrum was - along with Aldiss’s Billion Year Spree -that very edition of the Encyclopaedia of SF you showcased in the first video. John Clute’s writing style, particularly in his magazine criticism, could be…um thesaurusal… but his taste was impeccable. And friends with the late great Tom Disch too - the only notable absence in your list, despite a few mentions in your commentary. When I first found a battered donated copy of 334 in the school library back in the ‘70’s, I was astonished by its wit, its style and how effectively it put you in a living, breathing decayed New York with hardly an infodump in sight: his prose is sheer class. Nevertheless, it was delightful to find so many of my perennial favourites here - particularly M. John Harrison, Keith Roberts and Christopher Priest: The Course of the Heart, Molly Zero and The Affirmation are my choices, though Harrison’s latest novel, The Sunken Land Begins to Rise Again, must be the best alien invasion story (if that is what it is) since The Midwich Cuckoos. I could go on - Ballard, Dick, Wells, Le Guin - but suffice it to say you’ve sent me back to my bookshelves to re-engage with some truly wonderful works of cognitive estrangement!
I love all the writers you cite. Tom D nearly got in, he was a true great! Clute is THE MAN! You can't beat the quality of these kind of writers. Part two of my Priest interview will stream in a week or so, CP and I have been friends for decades and Mike Harrison and I have had some literary adventures together across that time too. I never knew Keith, one of my greatest regrets. I knew Ballard a little too, great man. Wyndham was my first obsession - I know his niece but have not seen her for a few years. The New Wave really was the thing!
@@outlawbookselleroriginal It’s wonderful how you’ve been a part of such a significant era of sf; I think it’s this personal connection I responded to when I stumbled upon your channel, and that feeling’s confirmed with every video I’ve watched since. I’ll comment in the relevant videos but a couple of examples: someone else likes ‘The Ice Schooner’! It’s great: Conrad on ice. And that overview of Bob Shaw was heart-warming. I attended an event in Lancaster in, I think, the early 80’s with Chris Priest, Brian Stableford and Bob Shaw - so far, my only direct contact with the producers rather than the product - and, although they were all interesting to talk to, Mr Shaw had a special warmth to him. I accept Other Days, Other Eyes is his best but, weirdly, Medusa’s Children is my favourite - probably because of the novelty of its setting.
I think the commentary about epistemology in cfl, goes over most sf readers heads. The amazing philosopher Alastair Macintyre devotes a fair amount of time to the concepts brought up in cfl in his book “ after virtue”, which imo is a testament to the merit in the conceptual framework of CFL.
Chris Priest gave me a copy of that early A format paperback of The Glamour and intimated, without saying so directly, that it was the true first edition. It was fairly common practice to circulate an early "overseas" edition for copyright protection purposes. It happened also with Ballard's Empire of the Sun.
I know. I bought my A format copy at the Worldcon in 87 for him to sign for me, as I didn't take any books along, but bought loads there (I think I spent £300!). That was where Chris and I first met and we hit it off immediately- I can't recall what printing it was of the export A format, but of course this was two years after Abacus first published it. We've zoomed this morning and talked about the variant texts in all four editions, video to go up in around 10 days. I remember that 'Empire' one too...trade paperback export editions for the Eire market are often (I'm sure you know this) simultaneous with the UK hardcover, since the Irish market is too small to support many hardcover sales. They pop up on bookseller databases if the company has stores in Eire and the UK and this throws young booksellers every time. And many, many times, customers have said to me 'But I've seen it in paperback,' then I say 'But where? Ireland? The USA? On the other side of customs at an airport,' and the answer is always one of these three...hope you're having a good Easter, mate.
Great list, thank you! im really courious on your opininon about "The Man Who Melted": being published the same year as neuromancer, i feel that Jack Dann book is strangely more pertinent today than Gibson. Thanks!
In the collection but never got around to it, I keep meaning to - another one on the huge TBR. I don't think it was ever published in the UK so I didn't get a copy till a good while later.
Mike Harrison is great, I need to read more of him! I trawled through your videos since this one 9 months ago...did you interview Mike yet? Will take another look again shortly.
@@outlawbookselleroriginal thank you, I watched it this evening and really enjoyed it. Now on the Stark Holborn interview now. She is a new writer to me, but I'll definitely be checking her out based on her interests/influences. I was actually in that particular book shop in Bristol a year ago too as it happens.
Thank you, Stephen, for your unselfish sharing of what is really a treasure trove of insight, perspective and honesty from a true champion of SF. We are fortunate to have you there doing that voodoo that you do so well! Was struck by your comment when reviewing Silverberg's "A Time Of Changes", that you aren't put out by the contemporary rage surrounding pronoun usage (or something to that effect, forgive me). That, sir, is a very healthy attitude. Live and let live. Just another reason to love this channel, your honest candor and good nature. Cheers.
Thanks as ever Rick. I'm pretty much an avowed enemy of the Totalitarian worldview of Identity Politics which will destroy civilisation, objectivity, reason, science and progress if we let it. This statement, of course, damns me in the eyes of the orthodox, but of course I don't really care about those who can't yet think for themselves. You can do harm if you try and do good blindly, I think.
@@outlawbookselleroriginal Yes, beware the righteous, they sometimes do bad things in the name of good. I'm channelling The Inquisition here, I think. ;)
Did you maybe read „Nest of Worlds” by Marek S. Huberath? I would place it on my version of this list. For me it was one of those life changing experiences. Something more than just another great new wave novel, evolution of my childhood fascination. I read it in polish - I am not sure about translation quality but it was done by Michael Kandel so it might be accurate.
I realized, when you pronounced the word “heard”, that I am probably living on a different earth in a different dimension, but I’m still loving your channel. Thanks.
I can't recall in what context I said 'heard', but I think most people think I'm in another dimension, but that's a good place for an SF reader to be, even metaphorically. Very pleased you're enjoying Outlaw Bookseller.
When I was in graduate school students gave a seminar to the faculty examination committee as part of their qualifying exam. I insisted that mine be in room 101 as a homage to George Orwell. Sadly, nobody got the reference.
In our culture as it is, nobody ever seems to get any references to anything, even something as all-pervasive as Orwell's masterwork. Sad, but true...incidentally, that's exactly the kind of thing I'd do as well...
Nice to see R. Silverberg represented here. One of my fave SF stories of all time is his Nebula-winning novella "Sailing to Byzantium". (Actually I always thought it would make a neat movie if done right.)
Great insights. Great books. Great video! Yet more books added to my TBR. Making a trip to Hay on Wye soon. Maybe I'll find some there. I'm a reader who often explores multiple short story anthologies as a way to understand how science fiction and the ideas it explores developed over time. I find this enhances my enjoyment of my reading immensely. Hence why I love the context that you bring to the books you talk about, whether that is about the author's oeuvre, other literature, the times or your own. Keep up the great work.
Many thanks, pleased you enjoyed it. When in Hay focus on Addyman's (not the Addyman Annexe), Cinema Bookshop and Richard Booth. Although Hay is a mere shadow of what it was, it can still eat your time easily and it's hard to see everything. There are several Hay videos and book hauls here, check the Hay playlist. Best of luck!
@@outlawbookselleroriginal A very belated thanks for the recommendations. Hay was a revelation. Picked up some fantastic books (more than I thought I would, but strike while the iron is hot as they say!)
Only briefly. I almost went for 'Ubik' instead of 'Androids'. I am planning something on it. I don't do much PKD as there's already so much out there (though I love him and had read everything by the mid 80s), but I have some 'unusual PKD' plans...
I am amazed at how much I didn't know. I also have been looking for a sci fi book, that is pretty rare. A Sweet Sweet Summer by Jane Gaskill. So I guess my question is have you read it?
I've read her work, but not that one, though I have seen it knocking about many years ago- it's very, very uncommon. There is one on ebay for £130, a Sphere paperback, though I recall a Hodder hardcover and I think it was published in the USA in hardcover too. By the way, if you're searching her, ensure you spell her name correctly- it's Gaskell- if you misspell any element of an author name or book title, it will throw your search, except on amazon, where you can do a fuzzy search, but the more accurate you are the more likely it is you'll find one. Her Atlan fantasy series was very acclaimed and she wrote her first book as a teenager, but she was always a cult figure.
Have you read “Riddley Walker” by Russell Hoban? Seems like the kind of book you would like. Also liked your reference to “The Inheritors” - I’m still not sure what to make of it, but it’s certainly not quite like any other Conrad.
Yes, first read the Hoban back in the 80s. Can't recall referencing Conrad, but if I did it was possibly in relation to Ballard (specifically 'The Drowned World'). 'The Inheritors' is by WIlliam Golding - unless there's a Conrad short of that title, which is possible, though I know most of his novels and novellas.
It's very uncommon and expensive now, though it was remaindered. Cover price in 1984 was £25,I bought mine remaindered within a year of that for £5, it fetches a good bit more now.
Stephen, excellent video, and I really enjoy your in-depth take on these many classic SF works. Your efforts here continue to expand the scope and appreciation I have for the foundational works of SF. Many times I get a good reminder that I need to be a more disciplined reader. So many enthralling books. BTW, I recently grabbed a copy of “The Glamour,” 2d Ed. It’s on the TBR.
Many thanks again Jack- I feel the 2nd edition (abacus) is key. Watch my Priest interview from December last year and today I'm filming part 2 with him, discussing the 80s and 90s work, which is really something. Your support is always appreciated.
Great stuff as usual, Stephen. Did you attend the Nigel Kneale weekend held at the Chapter in Cardiff in 1999? I was lucky enough to go and got my paperback copy of the Quatermass (Conclusion) signed, which I treasure. The audience gave him a standing ovation after a screening of it too, which he seemed to be genuinely moved by. His influence is enormous over a number of genres as you point out.
@@outlawbookselleroriginal And of course, Kneale (and Rudolf Cartier) produced what must be the definitive version of Nineteen Eighty Four with the great Peter Cushing.
Fascinating list of Science fiction novels Stephen. I have read MJohn Harrison an excellent Author. Neuromancer is on my TBR list heard so much about the book. Philip k Dick I also must check out.
I first read Clockwork Orange in January of 1966. Despite Burgess's later disavowal of Kubrick's movie (original ending only), I have always liked the movie as well as the book.
@@outlawbookselleroriginal I could never get with 'Eyes Wide Shut' - anytime I try to watch it, I am unable to finish it. I think it's a Tom Cruise thing, although I do like him in Magnolia.
@@michaeldaly1495 -Yeah, not a fave of mine either. I also don't get on with 'Lolita' or 'Strangelove', but that's my Peter Sellers bias kicking in. These days I favour 'The Shining', 'Paths of Glory' and 'Barry Lyndon'
Great list many thanks, always learning something when watching your videos. Interesting re: Christopher Priest, I will have to check him out. Thanks again
He's the master, the finest living SF/philosophical writer of fiction in the world. You should start with his earlier pure SF and work up: there's an interview with him on my channel posted in December which looks at his early work and today I'm filming part two with him, in which we'll discuss his 80s/90s novels.
@@outlawbookselleroriginal Fantastic thanks, reading Shaw's Other Days, Other Eyes also enjoying that. Will keep an eye out for the Priest interview, thanks again.
Very good selection and I wouldn't argue with any of them. The only quibbles would be which books by Ballard, Priest and Aldiss to choose. I would have put The Drought or Atrocity Exhibition above Crash, simply because Crash is a book which I admire enormously but don't like very much. I just can't face rereading it. Priest is so difficult to choose from his incredible array of books. I think I would have chosen The Affirmation or The Separation, but The Glamour is brilliant too. Aldiss is a real problem. So many good books but few of them great. I would have chosen Moreau's Other Island or Frankenstein Unbound, but some of his short story collections were excellent too. Of titles I would have included, I would like to have seen a Tiptree collection, Out of the Everywhere or Star Songs of an Old Primate possibly, and something by Joanna Russ or Gwyneth Jones just to increase the female presence. All of these had a huge impact on me when I first read them and I reread them all the time. ,
Hi Allan - I'm actually taking a break from a two-part zoom session with Chris as I type. As ever, he's in fine irreverent fettle and the interview will go up next week probably. I agree re Aldiss - I love a lot of his work, but there isn't a single one that punches through with the same weight as Ballard (I love the 'the Drought' myself, too), Priest and Roberts. I have a big four with Brian - 'Non-Stop', 'Unbound', 'Greybeard' and 'Hothouse' probably. As this was a personal, subjective list, I didn't go for more female authors as they simply don't usually get to me in the way that male writers do, not an uncommon thing, I know, though I do like Russ a lot. I think what you re-read repeatedly is the test, as you imply. Great to hear from you as ever.
Yes, if you look at my recent videos, you'll see I used a still from it in a thumbnail. I first saw it in the early 1980s and once had a conversation with the director's wife about it- and with Mike Moorcock, who is less fond of it than me...
None extant, I'm afraid, but I'll see what I can do! 'Light' is divisive because it is regarded as "Brilliant" by Iain M Banks (it said that on the cover for years) but because M John is all about being genuinely speculative and fantastic, his work avoids easy analysis. He's the anti-Banks, really, the writer IMB would have loved to have been but wasn't, despite his skill. Instead, step back and read some of the short work first. Unless you have a love of difficult literary SF, 'Light' can bite you in the ass! Best of luck!
I suppose the choices are really Patternmaster or Lilith’s Brood for sf, but do you have thoughts on Butler? I think the Parable books are fantastic, but they’re certainly more apocalyptic than sci-fi.
I think Butler is powerful, but her prose style has always left me wanting more.....and what isn't SF about apocalypse? 'Parable of the Sower' was published in the early 90s and is set around now, so it's SF by definition. I'm assuming you mean Post-Apocalyptic? Postapocalyptic novels are all SF.
The author that grabbed me in SF was Isaac Asimov. I love your videos, and you've given me plenty of novels to read. It just depresses me that you detest Asimov. Maybe detest is too strong a word, or maybe it isn't, though from what I've watched of you it seems to fit. Of course no hard feelings whatsoever, this is all subjective and everyone will have their own preferences.
If you look further back to the earlier days of the channel, you'll see two Asimov videos- I actually really like the Robot novels as I feel that's the point he really stepped forward stylistically. I just feel 'Foundation' and the early stories are very overrated, but historically they are of course super-important. As I said, this was a subjective, personal list. Thanks.
@@outlawbookselleroriginal It just feels like there is this huge disconnect when it comes to Asimov. I grew up always seeing him touted as being one of the giant 3 authors of the genre. But when you search TH-cam for opinions and lists he is nearly always ignored and missing. So it makes me scratch my head. How can he be one of the "big 3" and ignored at the same time? You are far from the only creator on YT who feels this way about him. I've scoured lists from prominent creators and it's like he doesn't even exist. Foundation doesn't show up in their lists. And I agree with you that Foundation isn't his best work. My favorite novels of his are the Elijah Baley books. Thr Caves of Steel, The Naked Sun, and The Robots of Dawn. I think his status has diminished, and it hurts to watch it occur.
@@butterf1ytsunami -I think you have to look at this historically: when Asimov, Heinlein and Clarke were first writing, there were no books with 'Science Fiction' on the cover: it was all magazines. So classic serials like 'Foundation' (which is what you call a 'fix-up', a serial compiled into a book or three) didn't appear as actual books until the 1950s- the war, of course, got in the way. SF was a minority interest and primarily a magazine phenomenon until the 1950s, when the social and technological situation in the USA changed- Cold War, Flying Saucer Sightings, the advent of Rock & Roll, the renaissance of big budget cinema (including a LOT of SF films) all came along. SO people were catching up on Golden Age (roughly 1939-1946) classic SF well into the 1970s, when those writers I cite became big bestsellers- the magazines were dominant until the early 60s, at which point paperbacks took over. Now, of course, as with every generation, people entering the reading arena are fixated on the recently published and it now takes much longer to examine 'old' books than it did when I was young - there's a lot more SF than there was when I was a teen, for example. However, Asimov is still going strong saleswise- I sell loads all the time. But SF on Book tube is mostly dominated by a demographic under 40, so naturally, newer books get more coverage.
Thank you for sharing such an eclectic and personal list! I just ordered a few. Can you recommend any other facsimile editions? I admit I am more of a fantasy fan than SF, but most of all it's the craft, the decisions writers make, that I'm fascinated by.
I'm not sure in what context you're using facsimile- it means a reproduction of an original- so please expand on this and I'll see if I can help. Re Fantasy, it's a big big genre, but start by watching my most popular video (easy to find on the channel page), my top ten Sword & Sorcery (Classic Fantasy). Thanks.
@@outlawbookselleroriginal your edition of 1984 was a facsimile edition, which was a term I wasn't familiar with. I looked it up and now understand it is a reproduction of a physical object. So I assume a facsimile edition reproduces the authors edits and marginalia? I find that fascinating - to peek inside an author's head. I thought maybe you would know of other such editions fromm various authors that were worth hunting down. Ones that revealed insights to the writing process etc. I believe I've watched that video and have already started reading many of your suggestions. i just finished the Broken Sword and I'm now reading the Pastel Towers. I'm going to Mongolia next month and for that trip I'm bringing another one you recommended called The Tartar Steppes (thought the vast open expanses were affinal). Thanks as always for your work! Also, do you know Bath Books in Bath? Near the row of houses shaped like a crescent? Its one of my favorite bookshops. The owners are five friends who each work one day per week and then all of them work saturdays (closed on Sundays). Next time you're there, I recommend it!
@@adamgabriele2953 -Sorry Adam, I forgot I included the orwell facsimile, my bad, I filmed the video about a fortnight ago, do apologise. Yes, that book includes a reproduction of the actual ms. on one page and a readable version opposite, so you can see the earlier drafts, corrections etc. Very few of these things get published and they tend to go out of print quickly as that one did, there was one of Ballard's 'Crash' a few years back edited by Chris Beckett (not the SF writer, different writer with same name). 'The Tartar Steppe' is amazing book, changed my life, but it doesn't directly connect to Mongolia in any way, but that shouldn't stop you. There's a new edition coming out in the USA soon from NYRB Classics entitled 'The Stronghold' which I believe is a new translation. I'll be filming a video about this book when I'm in Italy in May- as of course the author was Italian. I'm assuming you mean The Royal Crescent- though there are other crescents in Bath, this is the biggest and most famous. I know a secondhand bookshop at Margret's Buildings, which is the one of only two surviving 2nd hand booksellers in Bath from 35 years ago. Margaret's buildings is a paved street (no cars) that leads off Brock Street, which is the road between The Circus (the circular street as it were) and Royal Crescent. I don't know one called Bath Books so maybe it's a new one- I don't spend a lot of time in Bath except when I'm working in a bookshop myself, but I'll double check it. Thanks for your post!
@@adamgabriele2953 I read and always have read all kinds of things- look deeper into the channel and you'll see other book content and this will return big time later this year, don't get me wrong I love SF, but the main reason I stick to it currently is that it's popular which gets me views and much of my published writing is about/around the genre.
I don't think "A Time of Changes" was as powerful as other novels by Silverberg as "Nightwings", "The Masks Of Time", "Downwards to the Earth", "Dying Inside" and "The Book of Skulls". I think it was the internal monologue I didn't like, but it was very well written and easy to read. I only read "Non-Stop" two years ago, I came to it too late, but it's an early novel. I much preferred his more mature novel "Greybeard". Harlan Ellison was an awesome, fiery spirit, and I think I've read more than a fair amount of his pieces, including that collection. "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" is great, and I've always thought it's one of Dick's and the SF genre's very best novels. Of those by Ballard you mentioned or showed, I really liked "Concrete Island", it makes our ordinary places so mysterious and fascinating. Like Dick's weird places, there's a sort of merging of mind and world, but unlike the devastating changes that create Dick's nightmarish realities, it's accepted with an aesthetic approach. I'm not sure what George Orwell thought in regards to SF or what his interest in it was he wrote "Nineteen Eight-Four" or what he was really writing about. It's a modern fable about what was then Soviet Russia and totalitarianism, but I'm not sure how conscious he was about writing SF. I suppose he must have been aware of the British and literary tradition, and he was probably similar to authors like Mary Shelley when she wrote "Frankenstein", and Olaf Stapledon, with whom he was contemporaneous. Like him, he was concerned with social issues and the future of the world. If he could have had the chance, he'd probably have emerged as quite a good author of SF. My own choices would have included Ray Bradbury's "The Martian Chronicles", Olaf Stapledon's "Star Maker", John Crowley's "Beasts", Gene Wolfe's "The Book of the New Sun" or "The Fifth Head of Cerberus", Robert Holdstock's "Mythago Wood" and Anna Kavan's "Ice". I haven't read that Christopher Priest's novel, of those I've read by him, I'd have chosen "The Affirmation", an excellent novel about the strangeness of memory and an unreliable narrator.
As I said, this was a subjective list based on my very personal responses- re Silverberg, I am divided between 'Changes' and 'Skulls'. Orwell knew about SF -he was massively influenced by Wells and read him when young, wrote an essay about him and was also taught as a child by Aldous Huxley. 'Nineteen Eighty-Four' is undoubtedly SF, metaphoric or not. "The Affirmation" is one of my favourite novels and overall you make some excellent choices, all books and writers I love.
@@outlawbookselleroriginal "Nineteen Eighty-Four" is undoubtedly SF and I know he liked Wells, but Orwell wasn't like Olaf Stapledon, who actually was an SF author within general literature. I think Orwell would have read Stapledon though and was probably influenced by him. Regarding my choices, I think it's difficult to chose between and compare Gene Wolfe's two novels.
I’m ashamed I got below 50% on the Outlaw Bookseller test: From part 2 I guessed 7 books inc. your number 1 being in that position. I almost got Molly Zero but I couldn’t quite recall it (I was searching my brain for it but I forgot and moved on). My correct guesses: Neuromancer Nineteen eighty four (this will be number 1). The beast that shouted love… Do androids… The Time Machine The glamour A clockwork orange
Hey Rose, great to hear from you. Couldn't get at your last comment, made a post about it on the Community page today. Well, this was a subjective best as I said, so I think it'll surprise a lot of youtube viewers and posters- I think it's good to try a 'personal faves' list like this as well as something broader, which was the idea in my book, of course. I've never made a secret of my awe at Orwell, I guess. Good shout on your part! Hope you are well.
@@outlawbookselleroriginal oh no, that will be me and my editing of comments all the time - I probably deleted it. So tell me… why wasn’t John Scalzi on your list? 🙊 That screenplay was the real Rumpelstiltskin
Your list of top 25 SF books is really interesting, but I would love to know what was your reason to omit authors like : Frank Herbert (Diune), Gene Wolfe (Book of New Sun), Atrhur C. Clarke (Childhood's End), Ray Bradbury (Farenheit 451), Aldous Huxley (Brave New World), Dan Simmons (Hyperion). Don't get me wrong, this is your list and I am not saying your choices are wrong. I am just courious why you didn't put those books on list? BTW thank you for placing my compatriot book on list: Solaris by Stanisław Lem is masterpiece and it deserve to be top 25.
In short, its - as I think I said a subjective list - 'MY top 25' and not any attempt at objectivity: after all, I wrote a bestselling book entitled '100 Must Read Science Fiction Novels' which contains all the books you cite save 'Hyperion' - an exclusion I've always regretted. On a different day, it would be a slightly different 25. I have no qualms about excluding Herbert, Clarke, Wolfe or Huxley, and I left Bradbury out only with great pain, largely because his best SF is short stories in my view, with no one collection matching the fire of Bester and Ellison (who both got in with collections). Much of my preference is based on literary quality as well as invention- Herbert I find graceless, ponderous and dull, Clarke I find virtually unreadable as he has no flair with characters and his ideas are fine, but hardly ever go anywhere and while Huxley was a genius, again, stylistically, he never did it for me. So I cleave to writers who I feel are far better at prose and whose themes and ideas run like quicksilver. I don't believe there is any such thing as a 'best' in the objective sense as readers differ and pinning things down to an absolute limits us I fell, which is why, unlike other youtubers, I may never update this list.
I like that novel - it is included in my book '100 Must Read Fantasy Novels' - but personally I've always felt the first act of it far outshines the two that follow. He wrote some great stories too.
Very kind, please watch more, you'll find plenty of interest and there are loads of areas I want to cover yet I've barely touched on. Your avatar reminds me of Thora Birch in 'Ghost World' (and the comic of course!)
@@outlawbookselleroriginal I have been binge watching your videos recently.... I love the passion and the indepth, intelligent reviews. Btw, I have just finished reading Ch. Priest's The Glamour ( having read The Affirmation before) and I loved it.... Still analyzing the ending in my head. Thank you for recommending his books ( I saw the two part interview with the writer on your channel) Keep up the good work, please!!!! And greetings from Poland :)
Is there a Patreon associated with this account? Or does anyone know a different way to contribute to this channel? I live in Japan and it won't accept my card or my paypal for the "thanks" function. @Outlaw Bookseller have you considered making a patreon account so we can contribute while you grow the channel?
Thanks Adam but I don't do patreon currently as I don't like the idea of being beholden to anyone. if you can't do super-thanks, why not buy me something from my Amazon wishlist- there's a link in the banner at the top of the channel page- one for my author page, one for my wishlist. Cheers!
@@outlawbookselleroriginal no go unfortunately. Everytime I check it out it redirects me to my American account and wants to send it to my address there. I'll work on the paypal angle for the youtube thanks thing instead. Things are just always difficult when done across national borders, I find, even online.
I read 'We' back in 1983. Virtually all SF is dystopian and some say the first Dystopia was Plato's 'Republic'. There is a video on the channel why 'Nineteen Eighty-Four' (to give the book its correct title) is definitively SF, entitled 'Nineteen Eighty-Four As Science Fiction': it is full of Science Fiction material - at the time of writing it is set in the future, it is set after a limited nuclear war (still never been one of these, so still an SF conceit), the Floating Fortresses, the Telescreen, Newspeak and the brainwashing techniques used on Smith are all scientific.
@@outlawbookselleroriginal I'm Eastern European and when I first encountered 1984 - I was probably in high school or early university - I thought: well, this is Iron Curtain communism. I completely missed the meaning of Ingsoc and Oceania. Lately I experienced life in Britain and I became aware of some of the concerning things happening in this country and I read again 1984 in English. And now you mentioned some opinions which say that 1984 is actually Britain in 1948, shortly after WWII was won by what today I consider to be THE COMMUNISTS, on both sides of the wall. What was happening in Britain in 1948, beside the first Nationality Act?
@@onehandslinger1475 -The idea that 'Nineteen Eighty-Four' is actually depicting Britain in 1948 is a very old theory in orwell studies- I first encountered this idea in the early 1980s. Obviously then, Britain had been bombed, especially the urban centres, there was rationing until around 1954 and the Labour party had been elected ina landslide victory after the War. But this is ssuperficial stuff, though it was no doubt part of Orwell's ideas in the novel. There are numerous others - The Ministry of Truth is based on the white BBC building in London where Orwell worked during the war as a broadcaster and much of what he broadcast was censored into propaganda and he was acutely aware of this, hence Smith's rewriting of Times articles in the novel (I was actually interviewed for BBC Radio 4 in that very building when promoting my second book back in 2008). Much of t he material orwell wrote about the war in those days was not published until the 1980s for reasons of national security. 'Ingsoc' ('English Socialism') of course implies National Socialism and yet Oceania is predominantly the Americas. Orwell's target was Totalitarianism per se, whether Left or Right. Even the term 'Cold War' - which is depicted between the three super-states in the novel is a phrase Orwell coined. His genius was almost endless.
@@outlawbookselleroriginal the promotion of sexual degradation through pornographic materials for the proles (Pornosec), the body type flourishing in the party (body positivity), the fowl tasting food (impossible burger, eat ze bugs), the removal of words from vocabulary (newspeak/political correctness, hate speech), Ingsoc as Neo-Bolshevism, Death Worship and Obliteration of Self (gender pronouns, gender fluidity) in other parts of the world, thought crime (hate crime), the vilification of capitalism and the list could continue for a long time (I made notes) have nothing to do with national -socialism and everything to do with the SINISTER in this day and age. P.S. also, obviously there's no nation of Oceania. Oceania, Eurasia and East-Asia are concepts of globalization which is nothing but Trotskyism.
Fair bit. I love Matheson, cardinally important writer- 'I Am Legen', 'Earthbound', 'Hell House' the short stories, 'The Shrinking Man' (my fave), 'Stir of Echoes', all marvellous stuff.
@@outlawbookselleroriginal Looks like I'll be spending a lot of time on this channel...Looks like we grew up with the same musical and literary influences (I'm 65), so anything you recommend that I haven't read, well, I can obviously trust your recommendations. Well done, you! (Matt @bookpilled recommended your channel)
More Britts than I'd have gone with...just kidding. Great list. I love when I see a list and can nod my head half the time and shake my head the other half of the time. Glad to see Neuromancer on here. I feel bad for those who read it and do not have the experience of the novel wrapping around them and pulling them into Gibson's amazing and visual virtual world. Another favorite is Frankenstein. Shelley and Asimov were the best at examining humanity using the not-quite-human. Darkside of the Earth is great reading and I completely agree with Time Machine as Wells' best work. Aldiss' Non-stop is just and OK/good read for me, I didn't really care for Ballard's "Crash," and I love that theres a couple of things I haven't read but am adding to my list. excellent video
Thanks again! Yeah, I am a literary patriot to a degree I guess LOL. Bill Gibson is in my top three living writers and I own a complete collection of hardcover firsts by him bought over the years as published, all signed by the great man- I think we've met five times, once very memorably when we hung out together at the London Design Museum launch for 'Virtual Light'....which is thirty years ago! Still have my invite card.
@@FIT2BREAD I think I made a very basic video about this right back in the very early days of the channel- called something like 'An Obscure William Gibson Story'. It was a great evening, one of my most treasured SF memories.
@Outlaw Bookseller oh, I have to ask you...im editing a video where I'm talking about Ballard's The Overloaded Man...got me thinking about Adam Roberts and The Thing Itself. Have you read that treat from your fellow countryman?
I was in a quandry about this myself. I love Bradbury and he had a big impact upon me, but his SF is only a portion of his output and there are so many shorts. I couldn't pick one collection that rivaled these books for me- but he would be #26.
You mentioned a book 'The Rose' - I didn't quite catch the authors name that you mentioned for that book - but it wasn't the same name as one I have - It's 'The Rose' by Charles L. Harness (1968 - in the UK) which is itself a great SF novel IMHO :-) - enjoyed your selection by the way - quite a few of which I've read and still have.
I have no memory of mentioning 'The Rose' in this video- I've read the Harness book of course, decades ago, a great one- I think you're mishearing me. My accent is difficult for many, being a mixture of Welsh twisted by years of being in England.
I read my first Sci fi in 1965 AD. The esoteric stories for me DO NOT stick. I prefer Azimov over P.K. Dick---everytime. I prefer Megan O Keefe , Velocity series over PK. I prefer Modesitt Jr. over most of Iain Banks ( with exceptions) Yet ...HAZE, FLASH, the HERO Series never get any mention. Superior storyline that read like a Reacher book by Lee Child. Sophisticated plotting and fascinating extrapolation of trends.
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Really enjoyed this. A few of these books are completely new to me. Really need to expedite the Ballard and Priest titles I have on hand in the reading order.
Thanks Matt- given your background as an SF reader who likes the mainstream (I'm a huge Hamsun fan too, by the way), I'd say your taste will become more geared toward New Wave and British literary SF as time goes on. Always great to hear from you, my friend.
Yes, definitely read "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" but no, don't "forget Blade Runner" (1982). Great book. Great film.
I appreciate how incredibly independent this list is when compared against the rest of the SF community, and the amount of care you put into explaining why these works are so important. You’ve spurred me into seeking out more books than anyone else on book tube. Just ordered a copy of Molly Zero. Thanks!
Many, many thanks for your superthanks and kind words. Well, the SF community you refer to is probably younger than me and of the mass market variety predominantly (I say this without meaning to sound punitive or patronising). If you spoke to many, many British SF readers of the ages 50-70, you'd find that many of my opinions, experiences and choices are similar to thiers. Glad you liked it and let me know how you get on with Molly.
Same re. Molly Zero. I feel like I went to your bookstore and said, "hey, give me something I haven't read that will dazzle me." I appreciate it, and will look forward to picking this up.
@@FIT2BREAD -Keith Roberts was one of the finest literary SF writers ever- search the Kerosina small press video on my channel, where I relate the story of how this modern classic of British small presses in the 1980s (run by friends of mine) published Keith, PKD, Gene Wolfe and so many more- you'll love the story, I promise. Have been looking at your channel too, but I'm backed up and busy with things here currently so not commented yet!
@Outlaw Bookseller cool, and no worries. If I could, I'd watch booktube all day and I only ever get around to watching about a third of the videos I really want to watch..and yes I'll definitely check this title out
I came here after Bookpilled mentioned your channel many times, and I must say that this was a very informative video that made me put many more books unto my to-read list, but most importantly I thought it was really nice to see someone who loves books so much, the enthusiasm glows off the screen. Thank you!
Thank you! It's a vocation, pure and simple. Matt at Bookpilled is my favourite SF booktuber and we correspond a little and one day hope to do a meet-up and joint video, which would be great. Please delve into my backlist, there are hundreds of SF and related clips here and many, many more to come!
this series (and channel in general) is such a gift. my love of and fascination with SF only deepens with each of your videos. thank you and bravo!
You're very kind, Daniel, thanks a lot.
Just when I think I know something about Sci-fi I watch one -any one- of your videos and I realize that I know nothing and that I’ve read next to nothing.
@@bartsbookspace -Don't be so hard on yourself. There are plenty...well, a sizeable minority...of people I know and don't who know a lot more. Admittedly they are mostly professionals- SF writers and critics, but then I'm a bit of an obsessive. I'll take it as a compliment, thanks !
I could listen to you talk all night. What a deeply underrated channel
Very kind of you. Please watch the enormous backlist and share Outlaw Bookseller with your friends, I'd be super-grateful.
I am pleased that you gave the movie "Blade Runner" its due both as cinema and for helping to resurrect Phillip K. Dick. For me, the movie is simply the best SF cinema ever made and has no equal. The novel is also excellent, and the title alone is masterful. Well done.
Yes, both great works of art...
Time well spent!! Thank You! I was in England from 1986- 1990. Bought Pringle's 100 best SF books and then colllected them all....with a lot of nice hardback editions. They all disappeared during a divorce. Retired now with some time to read so may have to start my search for some of these again!!
David is the man - heck of a nice guy, we've never met but have contributed to the same journal at times -DEEP ENDS- his book was a big inspiration for me and my own was a mind of homage to it.
I just subscribed. I found out about your channel by way of Michael K. Vaughn's channel when he mentioned your "100 Must Read Science Fiction Novels". Hats off to Mr. Vaughn for guiding me here.
Yes, Michael is a good guy, I must say. Thanks for joining us here!
I love your channel mate. I just found you but I’ve bought 4 books and wishlisted another 10 or so. You do a very good job at this and are obviously very well read. Nice work!
Thanks very much. Do watch the backlist, there are several hundred videos here and I do tend to reach the parts other SF booktubers do not reach....decades of working at it!
Your videos make me realize how little I know about science fiction and how much I have to discover. That's a good thing!
Fascinating list; I've read several of the books or a different book by some of your chosen writers (High Rise by Ballard and Inverted World by Priest, for instance).
Thanks for all the thought and care you obviously put into your videos. Your love of science fiction comes through loud and clear.
That's my mission, I'm glad you're enjoying it Lisa, you're very kind.
May happiness rain down on you for your selection of "1984" as the best SF novel ever. It is one of the few novels I have ever read twice, I recommend it to everyone, and I finally convinced my wife to read it and coincidentally she completed it TODAY ! I think of it as more borderline science fiction/ political fiction dystopia, but it is so chilling. I believe that 1984 and "Brave New World" taken together describe the strange amalgam of so much of Western society today. BTW, I was listening to a radio program today and the speaker said that the forthcoming Penguin edition of 1984 will undergo changes to make it more "acceptable" and "accessible" to modern readers who may be offended by Orwell's masterpiece. How tragic it would be if this is true, and if so, does Penguin realize how they are the Big Brother that validates Orwell's warning to us?
I will of course be rioting in the streets if they bowlderise 'Ninteen Eighty-Four'. Thanks for your comment and I can't agree more.
That’s just scary. 😮
Ditto! Read it twice when I was young also.
Great stuff! Even when I’m familiar with the author, I’m unfamiliar with the work in question - e.g., I’d never heard of the Bester collection before and will definitely be checking it out.
Re Neuromancer. The shift from outer to inner space (virtual realities etc) was the genre’s last big innovation imo. I still remember reading that book for the first time and getting goosebumps; I knew right away it was something completely different.
Thanks. The Bester is key to understand where New Wave came from and his finest work. Actually, 'Inner Space' was a term used by Ballard in the early 60s to suggest the focus New Wave would have- the effect of tech on the human mind. Although VR narratives precede Gibson, indeed, it was something very special indeed and the early, original Cyberpunk works were the last great leap in the evolution of SF.
Wot no schlocky space opera!? This is a serious list with some serious depth of expertise on show. Top drawer.
PS I can't see Crash as SF (or sci fi😊) and didn't much enjoy it either. Horses for courses.
Hi there, yes, no schlocky Space Opera is right! Glad you liked it. I do hope you enjoy the rest of the channel content.
'Crash' is here as I feel Ballard expanded the limits of SF and worked hard at blending its psychological impact of cognitive dissonance and acceptance of technology as fundamentally changing human consciousness, thus thrusting the metaphoric power of SF into the cutting edge of Literary Fiction per se. So it's kind of SF in reverse: his use of the car as a Novum ('new thing'), showing how our obsession with it could create a new paradigm is structurally like SF, except that the tech is already with us - but that our minds have changed. It's bending the rules to underline what great SF is all about, I guess. Controversial, I know. Thanks for your views!
Harlan Ellison was an abrasive little goblin that I absolutely adore. His writing asked questions that are still important, more so every day. The stories legitimately go beyond the page and sit in your head where you can mull over them for years. I love PKD too, him and his beautiful mind that was maybe expanded a little to much.
Harlan at his best was the best- with the possible exception of Bester. Subscribe to the channel for more HE!
This video shows the potential that this channel has. It could very well become the biggest SF channel on youtube. The content is fantastic as always, but it also shows that lists like this are something people are looking for. I’m not suggesting that you change the overall direction of your videos, after all, this is YOUR channel. However, as someone who would like this content to be known by more people, it could be a good trade off to drop a video like this every now and then. Amazing stuff and a good bunch of books that are going on my TBR.
On another note, if you could indulge me: do you know a good alternative for bookdepository? International readers are mourning.
Thanks for your comments. Take a look at my backlist and you'll see there are other videos like this- one cannot do 'top tens' and the like every time, but you'll find a wealth of material and there will be a lot more coming. very pleased to have you on board.
Yeah, the whole Book Depository thing is a shame- I buy from multiple sources so have no one answer I'm afraid, plus most of my collecting is secondhand/vintage/out of print, so I use abebooks a lot.
One your finest Stephen. You've got to be the very best and most erudite commentators on the sf scene. You've really rekindled my love of sf after 60 years of being away from it. Full marks.
Many thanks, good to hear from you again!
Loving the In Search Of Space T-Shirt,....
Great video. Thankyou 😀
While watching this video, I have to pause when you showed Crash by J.G. Ballard and ran back to the thrift store I visited yesterday because I saw a copy of that book but did not pay attention. I have it now and will start reading it.
A really nice selection of books, and won't argue with any of your choices. I don't normally enjoy these countdown videos but these two were good as you took the time and I'm not yet ready to put such a beast together.
Moorcock was my route into both Fantasy and SF when I was 12 or 13, I first hit the Cornelius novels when I was eighteen. My choice would have been something slightly later, Blood: A Southern Fantasy with A Condition of Muzak as a close second. Also love Byzantium Endures but while it touches on the fantastical with Pyat's crazy schemes, very much not an SF novel.
Naturally I stumbled onto M. John Harrison from there, really enjoyed his literary novels like Course of the Heart and Signs of Life. I still need to read a few of the more recent ones.
I've read Pavane by Keith Roberts, and the old Pan edition of The Furies has to be one of my all time favourite SF covers, but need to read more of his. I have a few of his sitting in my piles of books.
Crash would also be my choice for Ballard too, it's just an excellent book and one of the ones where I also enjoy the adaptations, both Cronenberg's film and the song(!) Warm Leatherette by The Normal. I still feel as though Ballard is completely unique, he very much has his own voice. I love Concrete Island and High Rise as well, amongst many others. I rate his short story Billenium really highly as well, just that sense of inevitability. I read it again recently in the Damon Knight edited anthology Cities of Wonder and it hits just as well every time. It's one I frequently talk to people about, in Teams calls at work, any opportunity!
I read Wyndham when I was on a post-apocalyptic reading/watching theme for a few years, also hitting John Christopher at the same time, specifically The Death of Grass. It wasn't the first time I'd read him though as we did Empty World in school and I read The Tripods while everyone at school was talking about the TV series (I never saw it at the time). I think I've read most of Wyndham's novel now, even enjoyed The Trouble with Lichen.
For Aldiss I'd pick Hothouse but you can't really go far wrong with him, so many good books. I first got that one from the library when I was in my teens, with no expectation of what I was getting into.
I've read Ellison, Dick and Delany but they're all authors I need to read more of. I have yet to read Gibson. The internet did predate the book slightly, but his ideas definitely drove where it went beyond the sheer act of linking the machines together in a topology with TCP/IP.
Have read a lot of Priest but haven't read The Glamour so need to remedy that. Sounds in the wheelhouse of Iain Bank's The Bridge but I know they're very different writers.
Finally read Clockwork Orange a few years ago and loved it, especially getting my head into the language. Read 1984 much longer ago, but still pretty fresh, and still annoying how it's misused so much in discussions around politics and culture. Will always like the book with its multitude of ideas packed in a short novel.
My wife was showing off that same Pan copy of The Time Machine at the weekend that she'd found. And I've got a similar edition for War of the Worlds. Such a nice little uniform set.
As for female SF authors, I know you touched on some in the previous video. I enjoy Le Guin and Sheri S. Tepper, pretty much anything Angela Carter has put out, but authors like CJ Cherryh, Pat Cadigan and Octavia Butler are still on my to-read list.
Obviously I love a lot of the same stuff as you. "Billennium" is one of the most significant JGB stories, I feel. Thanks for the post. Sorry this is short but I'm preparing to zoom with Chris Priest in a few minutes.
Thank you for this important and personal list. It is rare to find such a collection that is both diverse and cogent.
Thanks. Do watch my huge SF backlist- it is full of such ruminations.
Loved your list! Just for the heck of it, here's my top ten: 10) More Than Human by Theodore Sturgeon; 9} Gateway by Frederik Pohl; 8) Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card; 7} Hyperion by Dan Simmons; 6} Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury; 5) A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter Miller; 4) The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula Le Guin; 3) Brave New World by Aldous Huxley; 2) 1984 by George Orwell; and 1) Dune by Frank Herbert. Some of these don't meet the criteria you established, especially that of being the originator of a key science fiction concept, but I love all of them more than any others I've read, and I guess that's the most important criterion of all.
Read everything on yr list of course and all are in my book, save the Pohl (I selected 'Man Plus' by him instead, which is amazing) and Simmons, which I've always regretted leaving out! Thanks!
Hello there Mr Outlaw Bookseller, I really enjoyed your two videos on your 25 "best" SF books. Quite a different list compared with most of the others out there, of course you have plenty of classics in there at the end of the day a great book is a great book such as FRANKENSTEIN by Mary Shelley, 1984, Do androids dream ..., THE TIME MACHINE, etc but you also have many lesser acclaimed works such as PAVANE, THE GLAMOUR, THE FINAL PROGRAMME, etc all very British! I am your age and also live in the UK and started my SF journey by reading YA SF from the library when I was 8 years old like Danny Dunn time traveler, Space adventures by Hugh Walters and Trillions by Nicholas Fisk. I have subscribed so catch you later.
Cheers!
The Pi Man - my favourite Bester short.
I would probably choose Golem 100 as my favourite novel, although The Demolished Man and the eponymous Tiger Tiger are awesome.
Like your list, although I'd put Bester higher ;)
Yeah, "The Pi Man" is SO important as a precursor of the New Wave and a great, great story in itself. I think 'Golem100' is underrated too, that conceptual breakthrough in the last sentence, another example of his genius.
Your reviews of the books are better than the books themselves :)
No, come on...but thanks!
Great video, was looking for months for a video like this. I feel really transported back to my teenage years, when every sci-fi book just blew my mind.
A lot more like this to watch here, please get on board, you are a welcome Sputnik (Fellow Traveller!).
Outstanding presentation, Stephen, and there are many books on your list that are on mine. Some common author's, but with different books, but overall we coincide quite a bit. I've read most of the works you mentioned, Ballard, Priest, Dick, Bester, Ellison, Wells, are central for me. Wells initiated me into SF with The Time Machine, Dick and Lem opened my eyes to a different dimension in SF, Priest removed and rewired my brain, M. John Harrison put it back in
Chris and Mike keep doing that to me too. Perhaps luckily, I've never met both of them together, but it may happen. Zooming with Chris today, actually. Thanks as ever, Daniel!
Great selection, thank you. I started reading Eric Frank Russell and EE Doc Smith when I was 5 years old back in 1960. To this day I probably read 2 or 3 books a week when I am not gaming. I really appreciate this list and there are some new to me authors for me to explore, so thank you again ^_^ I love Harlan Ellison too.
Thank you for the suggestions and the education!
Enjoyed this hugely, Steve. Was thrilled to see you show your 1976 Pan edition of The Time Machine. That's the one I have (most likely bought at WH Smith in '76). I re-read my original copy just a few months ago. A perfect book from start to finish.
Cheers Clive - yeah, it gets no better than 'The Time Machine', but of an ur-text, I'd say. I bought an old Octopus omnibus of Wells novels in hardcover from Dorothy House the other day with a turqoise jacket and faux-leather binding, good nick, very cheap, but I'm waiting for Penguin or someone to run off a decent TM on its own in hardcover.
came across your channel as bart gave you a shoutout in his video. i recently discovered sci fi as a genre for reading so this video is perfect!
Bart? Not certain who this is, would love to know. Thanks for joining us here, you are very welcome.
Great selection, your passion for the adventure of imagination that is SciFi really shines through, and of course as a younger man in a faraway country I envy you have the luck to meet several of these great and unique minds. Quite a few authors I've never even heard about, so that in itself is a gift.
Speaking of the selection itself, of course I understand it's entirely subjective but my heart plunged when I saw Solaris on the bottom... it's easily my current n° 1, I believe that the only other writer that may have been so far reaching is Wells (who is in a cathegory of his own in terms of genius); I truly believe that Solaris is one of the greatest achievements of the human imagination, ever. If I had to pick ten books to save from the XXth century, and just ten, Solaris would be one of them. And I read it from a translation of a translation!
BTW, your Bester pick made me question your whole selection LOL I've just finished that very book in that very EXACT Pan edition with the kickass cover, and... I found it fairly underwhelming. While some stories are good satire and made me chuckle (specially The Man Who Murdr'd M...), and others are great pieces, specially They Don’t Make Life Like They Used To, with its absurdity and crackling ending, I found it quite dated in many ways. The casual mysogyny of some of these is truly unsufferable (I'm a lefty but not easily triggered); others, like Time Is the Traitor or The Flowered Thundermug are just old and stale. Did love Out of This World (the one with the crossed telephone lines), probably because it's short, unpretentious and warmer than the others. It's a problem when authors believe they are wittier than they truly are, just a happy few can get away with that (I think of Gibson or Ballard: they can).
On the other hand, it's always a good sign when a SF reviewer puts The Forever War above Starship Troopers. I read it from a mouldy (literally) copy of the 1st Spanish ed. when I was 18 and I was absolutely gripped, and disgusted, and amazed. I love that book to bits. Have you checked the 1988 comic book 3-vols adaptation by Marvano? While Marvano made a very competent job (one can only dream of what coud have happened if adapted by the monsters of that era, Moebius, Bilal, Liberatore), it's also a great exaple of a very faithful and respectful adaptation, truly deserves a read.
Anyways, we could all go forever, great selection and thanks for your work, would love to visit your store one day. Loved your accent, it's quite elegant and pleasing to the ear, without the sometimes obnoxious pomp of Standard English that the Amerikaner are so fond of. Cheers from a fellow bookseller, from the melancholic and fabled lands of Buenos Aires.
Many thanks for your comment, you are very kind. Rankings are always difficult and that's why I approached this exercise with trepidation- as I said somewhere, I'm more of a 'body of work'/'writer' guy than a 'this is the best book ever' type.
Re the Bester, I think this is where context and history are vitally important. I regard Art as 'of its time' rather than 'dated'. In ten years, today's work will be 'dated' in most cases but will you still love the things you love now then, or constantly revise your standpoint? Yes, one has to keep up, but not just for the sake of it- qualitative decisions must be based as much on subjective responses like 'I love her prose style,' as objective ones like 'let's look at what was happening in the genre and society at the time this was published'. I don't see Bester as sexist, just reflective of the snappy, hard-boiled storytelling that influenced his style via his reading of crime fiction. Imagine "Time is the Traitor" as a contemporary film- update the dialogue to contemporary parlance, retain the plot and ideas and do the explanatory flashback to why Strapp can make Decisions to an opening air-chase/crash sequence. It would go down a storm. Bester's attitude, style and flash led directly into Gibson (among others- Bill said that Bester, a Beat Generation anthology and the first Velvet Underground album were the key influences upon 'Neuromancer') via the New Wave.
I notice you don't mention 'The Pi Man'- this one is hugely important in the evolution of SF into its most vital, literary period- the New Wave. I'd say read it again and feel the pain and bitterness the protagonist endures, which explains his rapaciousness (a little like Foyle). "Out of this World" does show his sentimental side and I love it too. I see Bester's wit as more like Sheckley's than Gibson's or Ballard's, both of whom I feel are less forgiving (much as I love'em). Bester improves on close re-reading, believe me.
re Lem, have you read 'Fiasco'? If not, you must. There's a video on this channel entitled 'The Problem of Knowledge' in which I look at this novel, 'His Master's Voice' and others- these are neglected books, but thematically identical to 'Solaris', yet no-one seems to read them. They are in print in the USA and UK now.
Yes, the Haldeman is great, love both versions. I'm a Lefty too, by the way, but am not triggered easily at all, as for me it's about economics not Identity Politics. Great to hear from someone in Argentina, please keep watching and commenting!
@@outlawbookselleroriginal Ad Lem - I did see that video you are referencing, made a mental note to comment there and then forgot about it, so here be the place:
I cannot agree more. 'Fiasco' is the ultimate summa of Lem's oeuvre, it concludes, what he started with 'Eden' (also a neglected one!), the whole first-contact-and-the-(im)possibility-thereof line of work. I still remember the strength of impact it had on me when I read it for the first time. Maybe the non-straightforward, episodic structure with many excursions seemingly irrelevant to the main plot makes it less accessible ('His Master's Voice' on the other hand is rather dry and monolithic), but that is no excuse for the reader, of course... btw the very first scene of the book - the robotic manipulator in the crystalline forest - is so hauntingly beautiful and alien, and what's more - it is one of the best examples of true and honest hard SF because it does not ignore momentum and material physics, it builds on them (no quick movements lest you are doomed... just compare it to those ridiculous accelerations and decelerations of common material objects seen on the screen, especially with the advent of (bad) CGI - it's not the quality of textures and rendering, it's the understanding of physics, or lack thereof, what makes it look so ridiculous most of the time).
Lem is really something; many thanks to you for championing his lesser known work. (Dtto The Strugatsky Brothers - 'The Snail on the Slope' and 'The Doomed City' deserve a much wider recognition.)
Ellison's Shatterday has always been a favorite. Thanks for the great content.
Yes, great story and excellent collection, one of my favourites of his after the modern classics of the 60s and 70s. Thank you too.
I have the facsimile edition of Orwell's Nineteen-Eighty-Four as well; such unique work!
You've managed to create a top SF list without Asimov, Heinlein, Clarke, or Herbert -
Well done! (although I'm a bit shocked there is no Dune)
Couldn't squeeze in a little Theodore Sturgeon in there somewhere? Roger Zelazny?
Well, it's subjective as I say. 'Dune' goes out of its way in some senses to resemble a dynastic Fantasy though it is SF of course, but I find the prose style less than inspiring. Sturgeon is great at times, but has never hit me where I live. Zelazny's early work is very good, but I feel he tailed off quickly. Thanks for yr comment.
Extraordinary video and a very nice choice or books. I ve read most of them, but some are really a discovery for me
Glad you liked it!
Excellent selection. Vey pleased that Wells and Wyndham are so high up on this list. Thanks for compiling this for us.
I'm happy to say that I've read most of the books mentioned in this Phase Two list.
Not all though. Small city. Limited selection in the local book shops: one major chain, and one independent once long ago. Thus, some of these authors highlighted in this "series" are unknown to me. That's also the legacy of spheres of publication: Canada is dominated by the United States, and by default, unless a British or Australian author got very popular, most authors who are not American (and popular and contemporary) weren't/aren't sold here. Even Canadian authors are largely unknown.
Yes, I had that impression re cultural production in Canada. British literary SF has never done that well in the USA, so much of which seems parochial in outlook (mind you, Britain can be just as bad sometimes). I'm pleased you enjoyed the videos.
Great list, with some new ones to check out. My seeds into literary SF began with discovering David Pringle's Science Fiction: The 100 Best Novels list on an old online site somewhere. It became my shopping list for a few years as I went to different used book stores and formed a core understanding of sci-fi for me, many of which have showed up on here. Nineteen Eighty Four is such a unique work and was the first entry on Pringle's list. Interesting because it is one of the few SF novels that was required reading in America high school, marking is as part of a literary canon that transcends genre. It might be the only SF book many people end up reading because of that and it still haunts me to this day.
The Pringle book is a key inspiration for me- although DP and I have never met, we interact online and have worked on a shared project with other writers (the 'Deep Ends' anthologies. He's one of the finest critics the genre has ever had. As for Orwell, well, it comes no better than his work...
I didn't realize that the movie "Crash" (1996) was based on a novel by J. G. Ballard. Thanks for the insight.
Ballard's finest, most important and most extreme novel and a landmark of literary history.
Wonderful video. Very informative, with many fascinating insights. Thank you .
Thanks as ever Chuck!
I enjoyed that so much, thanks for making the 2 videos - sublime stuff. One question I have though - since you are such a fan of British SF, I have not heard you mention Olaf Stapledon, you probably do somewhere but I just haven't seen the video yet. I read 'First and Last Men' when I was about 13 and it absolutely blew my mind - when I think about 'punching through into a new reality', that book and Star Maker jump immediately into my head. I love 'Sirius' too, which strikes me as very similar to 'Flowers for Algernon'. I am curious to know what you make of him - possibly not a great prose stylist, but in terms of ideas, I can think of few who have stimulated my brain more.
Another author writing in that Sirius/Flowers for Algernon vein was the Australian SF writer George Turner (1916-1997) (who won the Clarke award for his novel The Sea and Summer (aka The Drowning Towers). Try the sequence Brainchild, The Destiny Makers and Genetic Soldier.
I love 'Sirius', for me his best work. I admire Stapledon's cosmic ideas- how can one not- but in some ways I feel his influence over Clarke (who couldn't write for toffee compared to Olaf) and Clarke's passing this on indirectly to the Big Dumb Object subgenre has for me resulted in a lot of hollow anti-wonder. Inner Space is what I like. yes, 'Sirius' does have affinity with 'Algernon', which I love, but again nobody seems to read much. Video about it coming at some point of course.
Yes, Turner had his moments.
@@outlawbookselleroriginal 'anti-wonder' I love it. Look forward to the Algernon piece - such a moving book. Ted Chiang did a similar short story as well - the name escapes me now but I enjoyed that very much as well.
The story is 'Understand' - very enjoyable romp - a bit like Algernon meets Borges.
Loving the early release 🎉. Cheers.
Cheers Barrie.
I know this comment is late but I had to say that if it was not for this channel, I would not have discovered so many amazing SF writers. Thank you Stephen!
My pleasure, thank you!
@@outlawbookselleroriginal I am curious where you would recommend starting when it comes to Aldiss. I currently own The Saliva Tree, Greybeard and Earthworks.
@@dmbfreak123 Well, as with all recommendations, for them to be valid, it requires some knowledge of the recommendee - but as I don't know your taste, I'd say 'Non-Stop' for structural perfection in conveying the key elements that make for great SF, 'Hothouse' for sheer imagination, 'Greybeard' for English lyricism and literary quality. 'Earthworks' is minor and 'The Saliva Tree' is fascinatingly bonkers.
@@outlawbookselleroriginal Thank you! They sound great. My two favorite authors are Bradbury and Clive Barker. I think I am going to like Aldiss.
I would love to see a list of "most entertaining but not necessarily important" SF books.
Not a bad idea, leave it with me....
@@outlawbookselleroriginal Thinking back on my comment I would like to nominate "The Technicolor Time Machine" (1967) by Harry Harrison.
I read Burgess' "A Clockwork Orange" last year for the first time eventhough I did see the film twice in my student years. Both the novel and the film are masterpieces in my opinion... also I like "The Man in The High Castle", so I'll add "Pavane" to my TBR-list.
If you like these Dick and Burgess classics, 'Pavane' will float it for you.
@@outlawbookselleroriginal I'll give "Quatermass and the Pit" a shot some time as well... have watched a lot of British SF from before my time like the classic Docto Who serials, "Blake's 7" and "Sapphire And Steel" but never came around to Quatermass yet somehow...
@@andrewb.3076 The Quatermass series is the seminal British SF Tv series, starting in the 1950s.
@@outlawbookselleroriginal Steve Donague had recommended his, The Wanting Seed. I've picked it up but haven't read it yet. Any thoughts on that one fellas?
@@FIT2BREAD It's not bad, but none of Burgess' SF is as good as 'A Clockwork Orange' - but I have not read it for a long time. I am a huge Burgess fan though, I'e read about thirty of his books, but none recently.
So many new book ideas to add to my list. Love these videos.
There's a vast backlist of SF here on this channel, based on almost four decades of selling the stuff and over 50 years of reading it.
There's a graphic novel adaptation, from Boom Studios in 2011, of "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep" that uses the full text of the novel. I have all of the monthly installments that came out back then.
Never come across that, but I have to say I'm a hater of unnecessary adaptations of books and films into comics- comics are a great form, but are at their best when presenting original material, I feel. Dick paints enough pictures in my head with the novel for me!
@@outlawbookselleroriginal On the other hand, if the comics introduced PKD to people who might otherwise not have heard of him...
@@justinecooper9575 -Well, good point, of course, always. But you'd need to have your head under a rock to avoid PKD since 'Blade Runner' of course LOL. Seriously, good point.
A fine set of 25 books. Interestingly, I’d say one of my own seminal influences in gravitating towards the more literary end of the spectrum was - along with Aldiss’s Billion Year Spree -that very edition of the Encyclopaedia of SF you showcased in the first video. John Clute’s writing style, particularly in his magazine criticism, could be…um thesaurusal… but his taste was impeccable. And friends with the late great Tom Disch too - the only notable absence in your list, despite a few mentions in your commentary. When I first found a battered donated copy of 334 in the school library back in the ‘70’s, I was astonished by its wit, its style and how effectively it put you in a living, breathing decayed New York with hardly an infodump in sight: his prose is sheer class. Nevertheless, it was delightful to find so many of my perennial favourites here - particularly M. John Harrison, Keith Roberts and Christopher Priest: The Course of the Heart, Molly Zero and The Affirmation are my choices, though Harrison’s latest novel, The Sunken Land Begins to Rise Again, must be the best alien invasion story (if that is what it is) since The Midwich Cuckoos. I could go on - Ballard, Dick, Wells, Le Guin - but suffice it to say you’ve sent me back to my bookshelves to re-engage with some truly wonderful works of cognitive estrangement!
I love all the writers you cite. Tom D nearly got in, he was a true great! Clute is THE MAN! You can't beat the quality of these kind of writers. Part two of my Priest interview will stream in a week or so, CP and I have been friends for decades and Mike Harrison and I have had some literary adventures together across that time too. I never knew Keith, one of my greatest regrets. I knew Ballard a little too, great man. Wyndham was my first obsession - I know his niece but have not seen her for a few years. The New Wave really was the thing!
@@outlawbookselleroriginal It’s wonderful how you’ve been a part of such a significant era of sf; I think it’s this personal connection I responded to when I stumbled upon your channel, and that feeling’s confirmed with every video I’ve watched since. I’ll comment in the relevant videos but a couple of examples: someone else likes ‘The Ice Schooner’! It’s great: Conrad on ice. And that overview of Bob Shaw was heart-warming. I attended an event in Lancaster in, I think, the early 80’s with Chris Priest, Brian Stableford and Bob Shaw - so far, my only direct contact with the producers rather than the product - and, although they were all interesting to talk to, Mr Shaw had a special warmth to him. I accept Other Days, Other Eyes is his best but, weirdly, Medusa’s Children is my favourite - probably because of the novelty of its setting.
You should check A Canticle For Leibowits. Its in my top 3 alongside 1984 and Dying Inside.
Read it in the early eighties and again this year.
I think the commentary about epistemology in cfl, goes over most sf readers heads.
The amazing philosopher Alastair Macintyre devotes a fair amount of time to the concepts brought up in cfl in his book “ after virtue”, which imo is a testament to the merit in the conceptual framework of CFL.
Chris Priest gave me a copy of that early A format paperback of The Glamour and intimated, without saying so directly, that it was the true first edition. It was fairly common practice to circulate an early "overseas" edition for copyright protection purposes. It happened also with Ballard's Empire of the Sun.
I know. I bought my A format copy at the Worldcon in 87 for him to sign for me, as I didn't take any books along, but bought loads there (I think I spent £300!). That was where Chris and I first met and we hit it off immediately- I can't recall what printing it was of the export A format, but of course this was two years after Abacus first published it. We've zoomed this morning and talked about the variant texts in all four editions, video to go up in around 10 days. I remember that 'Empire' one too...trade paperback export editions for the Eire market are often (I'm sure you know this) simultaneous with the UK hardcover, since the Irish market is too small to support many hardcover sales. They pop up on bookseller databases if the company has stores in Eire and the UK and this throws young booksellers every time. And many, many times, customers have said to me 'But I've seen it in paperback,' then I say 'But where? Ireland? The USA? On the other side of customs at an airport,' and the answer is always one of these three...hope you're having a good Easter, mate.
Great list, thank you! im really courious on your opininon about "The Man Who Melted": being published the same year as neuromancer, i feel that Jack Dann book is strangely more pertinent today than Gibson. Thanks!
In the collection but never got around to it, I keep meaning to - another one on the huge TBR. I don't think it was ever published in the UK so I didn't get a copy till a good while later.
Mike Harrison is great, I need to read more of him! I trawled through your videos since this one 9 months ago...did you interview Mike yet? Will take another look again shortly.
The interview with M John was uploaded here last spring- check the SF author interviews playlist.
@@outlawbookselleroriginal thank you, I watched it this evening and really enjoyed it. Now on the Stark Holborn interview now. She is a new writer to me, but I'll definitely be checking her out based on her interests/influences. I was actually in that particular book shop in Bristol a year ago too as it happens.
Fantastic video. I really must re-read 1984, my favourite book for so long.
It gets no better than 'Nineteen Eighty-Four'. Ever.
Thank you, Stephen, for your unselfish sharing of what is really a treasure trove of insight, perspective and honesty from a true champion of SF. We are fortunate to have you there doing that voodoo that you do so well! Was struck by your comment when reviewing Silverberg's "A Time Of Changes", that you aren't put out by the contemporary rage surrounding pronoun usage (or something to that effect, forgive me). That, sir, is a very healthy attitude. Live and let live. Just another reason to love this channel, your honest candor and good nature. Cheers.
Thanks as ever Rick. I'm pretty much an avowed enemy of the Totalitarian worldview of Identity Politics which will destroy civilisation, objectivity, reason, science and progress if we let it. This statement, of course, damns me in the eyes of the orthodox, but of course I don't really care about those who can't yet think for themselves. You can do harm if you try and do good blindly, I think.
@@outlawbookselleroriginal Yes, beware the righteous, they sometimes do bad things in the name of good. I'm channelling The Inquisition here, I think. ;)
Did you maybe read „Nest of Worlds” by Marek S. Huberath? I would place it on my version of this list. For me it was one of those life changing experiences. Something more than just another great new wave novel, evolution of my childhood fascination.
I read it in polish - I am not sure about translation quality but it was done by Michael Kandel so it might be accurate.
I realized, when you pronounced the word “heard”, that I am probably living on a different earth in a different dimension, but I’m still loving your channel. Thanks.
I can't recall in what context I said 'heard', but I think most people think I'm in another dimension, but that's a good place for an SF reader to be, even metaphorically. Very pleased you're enjoying Outlaw Bookseller.
When I was in graduate school students gave a seminar to the faculty examination committee as part of their qualifying exam. I insisted that mine be in room 101 as a homage to George Orwell. Sadly, nobody got the reference.
In our culture as it is, nobody ever seems to get any references to anything, even something as all-pervasive as Orwell's masterwork. Sad, but true...incidentally, that's exactly the kind of thing I'd do as well...
Nice to see R. Silverberg represented here. One of my fave SF stories of all time is his Nebula-winning novella "Sailing to Byzantium". (Actually I always thought it would make a neat movie if done right.)
Thanks. There are many Silverberg videos on this channel- even a SIlverberg playlist, look at the backlist, please!
Great insights. Great books. Great video! Yet more books added to my TBR. Making a trip to Hay on Wye soon. Maybe I'll find some there. I'm a reader who often explores multiple short story anthologies as a way to understand how science fiction and the ideas it explores developed over time. I find this enhances my enjoyment of my reading immensely. Hence why I love the context that you bring to the books you talk about, whether that is about the author's oeuvre, other literature, the times or your own. Keep up the great work.
Many thanks, pleased you enjoyed it. When in Hay focus on Addyman's (not the Addyman Annexe), Cinema Bookshop and Richard Booth. Although Hay is a mere shadow of what it was, it can still eat your time easily and it's hard to see everything. There are several Hay videos and book hauls here, check the Hay playlist. Best of luck!
@@outlawbookselleroriginal A very belated thanks for the recommendations. Hay was a revelation. Picked up some fantastic books (more than I thought I would, but strike while the iron is hot as they say!)
Solid list. Hopefully I’ll complete the gaps in my sci fi canon soon. Have you ever discussed Ubik on this channel? Curious to hear your thoughts.
Only briefly. I almost went for 'Ubik' instead of 'Androids'. I am planning something on it. I don't do much PKD as there's already so much out there (though I love him and had read everything by the mid 80s), but I have some 'unusual PKD' plans...
@@outlawbookselleroriginal looking forward to it
I am amazed at how much I didn't know. I also have been looking for a sci fi book, that is pretty rare. A Sweet Sweet Summer by Jane Gaskill. So I guess my question is have you read it?
I've read her work, but not that one, though I have seen it knocking about many years ago- it's very, very uncommon. There is one on ebay for £130, a Sphere paperback, though I recall a Hodder hardcover and I think it was published in the USA in hardcover too. By the way, if you're searching her, ensure you spell her name correctly- it's Gaskell- if you misspell any element of an author name or book title, it will throw your search, except on amazon, where you can do a fuzzy search, but the more accurate you are the more likely it is you'll find one. Her Atlan fantasy series was very acclaimed and she wrote her first book as a teenager, but she was always a cult figure.
Have you read “Riddley Walker” by Russell Hoban? Seems like the kind of book you would like.
Also liked your reference to “The Inheritors” - I’m still not sure what to make of it, but it’s certainly not quite like any other Conrad.
Yes, first read the Hoban back in the 80s. Can't recall referencing Conrad, but if I did it was possibly in relation to Ballard (specifically 'The Drowned World'). 'The Inheritors' is by WIlliam Golding - unless there's a Conrad short of that title, which is possible, though I know most of his novels and novellas.
This “Inheritors” is the 1901 book by Joseph Conrad and Ford Madox Ford. I think you mentioned it in connection with H.G. Wells.
Incredible list of books. Gave me plenty of authors to add to my TBR. So much to read. So little time. Must..read..faster!!!!!
Go slow, you'll learn more and enjoy more. Read closely. Work through writers chronologically if you can, that's the best way. Context is everything.
Great selection. I love The Book of Skulls. Also love the Hawkwind shirt!
You clearly possess impeccable taste.
That facsimile edition of Nineteen Eighty-Four looks triple plus good. I'll have to seek out a copy.
It's very uncommon and expensive now, though it was remaindered. Cover price in 1984 was £25,I bought mine remaindered within a year of that for £5, it fetches a good bit more now.
Stephen, excellent video, and I really enjoy your in-depth take on these many classic SF works. Your efforts here continue to expand the scope and appreciation I have for the foundational works of SF. Many times I get a good reminder that I need to be a more disciplined reader. So many enthralling books. BTW, I recently grabbed a copy of “The Glamour,” 2d Ed. It’s on the TBR.
Many thanks again Jack- I feel the 2nd edition (abacus) is key. Watch my Priest interview from December last year and today I'm filming part 2 with him, discussing the 80s and 90s work, which is really something. Your support is always appreciated.
@@outlawbookselleroriginal Another new interview with him, I’m looking forward to seeing that. Thank you.
Great stuff as usual, Stephen. Did you attend the Nigel Kneale weekend held at the Chapter in Cardiff in 1999? I was lucky enough to go and got my paperback copy of the Quatermass (Conclusion) signed, which I treasure. The audience gave him a standing ovation after a screening of it too, which he seemed to be genuinely moved by. His influence is enormous over a number of genres as you point out.
Sadly I missed it. I'd have been almost too awed to speak had I been there!
@@outlawbookselleroriginal And of course, Kneale (and Rudolf Cartier) produced what must be the definitive version of Nineteen Eighty Four with the great Peter Cushing.
@@roberthill2199 - First saw it when repeated on BBC early 70s- brilliant. Nice bluray out there now.
@@outlawbookselleroriginal Yeah, the BFI have done a nice job with it. The film sequences look great.
Fascinating list of Science fiction novels Stephen. I have read MJohn Harrison an excellent Author. Neuromancer is on my TBR list heard so much about the book. Philip k Dick I also must check out.
If you like M John, Gibson and Dick will be pushovers for you and both are super-important.
I could listen to you talk about CRASH all day
One day here I will do just that!
I first read Clockwork Orange in January of 1966. Despite Burgess's later disavowal of Kubrick's movie (original ending only), I have always liked the movie as well as the book.
Yep, I love the film too. I am a bit of a Kubrick obsessive also.
@@outlawbookselleroriginal I could never get with 'Eyes Wide Shut' - anytime I try to watch it, I am unable to finish it. I think it's a Tom Cruise thing, although I do like him in Magnolia.
@@michaeldaly1495 -Yeah, not a fave of mine either. I also don't get on with 'Lolita' or 'Strangelove', but that's my Peter Sellers bias kicking in. These days I favour 'The Shining', 'Paths of Glory' and 'Barry Lyndon'
Another outstanding presentation 👍🏻
I do what I can! Salutations to you too!
Great list many thanks, always learning something when watching your videos. Interesting re: Christopher Priest, I will have to check him out.
Thanks again
He's the master, the finest living SF/philosophical writer of fiction in the world. You should start with his earlier pure SF and work up: there's an interview with him on my channel posted in December which looks at his early work and today I'm filming part two with him, in which we'll discuss his 80s/90s novels.
@@outlawbookselleroriginal Fantastic thanks, reading Shaw's Other Days, Other Eyes also enjoying that. Will keep an eye out for the Priest interview, thanks again.
Very good selection and I wouldn't argue with any of them. The only quibbles would be which books by Ballard, Priest and Aldiss to choose. I would have put The Drought or Atrocity Exhibition above Crash, simply because Crash is a book which I admire enormously but don't like very much. I just can't face rereading it. Priest is so difficult to choose from his incredible array of books. I think I would have chosen The Affirmation or The Separation, but The Glamour is brilliant too. Aldiss is a real problem. So many good books but few of them great. I would have chosen Moreau's Other Island or Frankenstein Unbound, but some of his short story collections were excellent too.
Of titles I would have included, I would like to have seen a Tiptree collection, Out of the Everywhere or Star Songs of an Old Primate possibly, and something by Joanna Russ or Gwyneth Jones just to increase the female presence. All of these had a huge impact on me when I first read them and I reread them all the time.
,
Hi Allan - I'm actually taking a break from a two-part zoom session with Chris as I type. As ever, he's in fine irreverent fettle and the interview will go up next week probably. I agree re Aldiss - I love a lot of his work, but there isn't a single one that punches through with the same weight as Ballard (I love the 'the Drought' myself, too), Priest and Roberts. I have a big four with Brian - 'Non-Stop', 'Unbound', 'Greybeard' and 'Hothouse' probably. As this was a personal, subjective list, I didn't go for more female authors as they simply don't usually get to me in the way that male writers do, not an uncommon thing, I know, though I do like Russ a lot. I think what you re-read repeatedly is the test, as you imply. Great to hear from you as ever.
Tiptree's "Her Smoke Rose Up Forever". Aldiss' "Behold the Man". Good stuff.
@@buzzselous3757 -'Behold the Man' is by Moorcock, not Aldiss.
the final programme was also a movie
Yes, if you look at my recent videos, you'll see I used a still from it in a thumbnail. I first saw it in the early 1980s and once had a conversation with the director's wife about it- and with Mike Moorcock, who is less fond of it than me...
That is the best top-XX list of SF in the whole booktube for me.
Many thanks! Do watch my backlist, tons of even better videos in it!
AND it doesn't induce migraines!
Need to see a photo of you in your youth dressed like Jerry Cornelius. 😊 I’m about to read Light by MJH-why is it considered divisive?
None extant, I'm afraid, but I'll see what I can do! 'Light' is divisive because it is regarded as "Brilliant" by Iain M Banks (it said that on the cover for years) but because M John is all about being genuinely speculative and fantastic, his work avoids easy analysis. He's the anti-Banks, really, the writer IMB would have loved to have been but wasn't, despite his skill. Instead, step back and read some of the short work first. Unless you have a love of difficult literary SF, 'Light' can bite you in the ass! Best of luck!
I suppose the choices are really Patternmaster or Lilith’s Brood for sf, but do you have thoughts on Butler? I think the Parable books are fantastic, but they’re certainly more apocalyptic than sci-fi.
I think Butler is powerful, but her prose style has always left me wanting more.....and what isn't SF about apocalypse? 'Parable of the Sower' was published in the early 90s and is set around now, so it's SF by definition. I'm assuming you mean Post-Apocalyptic? Postapocalyptic novels are all SF.
The author that grabbed me in SF was Isaac Asimov. I love your videos, and you've given me plenty of novels to read. It just depresses me that you detest Asimov. Maybe detest is too strong a word, or maybe it isn't, though from what I've watched of you it seems to fit.
Of course no hard feelings whatsoever, this is all subjective and everyone will have their own preferences.
If you look further back to the earlier days of the channel, you'll see two Asimov videos- I actually really like the Robot novels as I feel that's the point he really stepped forward stylistically. I just feel 'Foundation' and the early stories are very overrated, but historically they are of course super-important. As I said, this was a subjective, personal list. Thanks.
@@outlawbookselleroriginal It just feels like there is this huge disconnect when it comes to Asimov. I grew up always seeing him touted as being one of the giant 3 authors of the genre. But when you search TH-cam for opinions and lists he is nearly always ignored and missing. So it makes me scratch my head. How can he be one of the "big 3" and ignored at the same time? You are far from the only creator on YT who feels this way about him. I've scoured lists from prominent creators and it's like he doesn't even exist. Foundation doesn't show up in their lists.
And I agree with you that Foundation isn't his best work. My favorite novels of his are the Elijah Baley books. Thr Caves of Steel, The Naked Sun, and The Robots of Dawn.
I think his status has diminished, and it hurts to watch it occur.
@@butterf1ytsunami -I think you have to look at this historically: when Asimov, Heinlein and Clarke were first writing, there were no books with 'Science Fiction' on the cover: it was all magazines. So classic serials like 'Foundation' (which is what you call a 'fix-up', a serial compiled into a book or three) didn't appear as actual books until the 1950s- the war, of course, got in the way. SF was a minority interest and primarily a magazine phenomenon until the 1950s, when the social and technological situation in the USA changed- Cold War, Flying Saucer Sightings, the advent of Rock & Roll, the renaissance of big budget cinema (including a LOT of SF films) all came along. SO people were catching up on Golden Age (roughly 1939-1946) classic SF well into the 1970s, when those writers I cite became big bestsellers- the magazines were dominant until the early 60s, at which point paperbacks took over.
Now, of course, as with every generation, people entering the reading arena are fixated on the recently published and it now takes much longer to examine 'old' books than it did when I was young - there's a lot more SF than there was when I was a teen, for example. However, Asimov is still going strong saleswise- I sell loads all the time. But SF on Book tube is mostly dominated by a demographic under 40, so naturally, newer books get more coverage.
Thank you for sharing such an eclectic and personal list! I just ordered a few. Can you recommend any other facsimile editions? I admit I am more of a fantasy fan than SF, but most of all it's the craft, the decisions writers make, that I'm fascinated by.
I'm not sure in what context you're using facsimile- it means a reproduction of an original- so please expand on this and I'll see if I can help. Re Fantasy, it's a big big genre, but start by watching my most popular video (easy to find on the channel page), my top ten Sword & Sorcery (Classic Fantasy). Thanks.
@@outlawbookselleroriginal your edition of 1984 was a facsimile edition, which was a term I wasn't familiar with. I looked it up and now understand it is a reproduction of a physical object. So I assume a facsimile edition reproduces the authors edits and marginalia? I find that fascinating - to peek inside an author's head. I thought maybe you would know of other such editions fromm various authors that were worth hunting down. Ones that revealed insights to the writing process etc. I believe I've watched that video and have already started reading many of your suggestions. i just finished the Broken Sword and I'm now reading the Pastel Towers. I'm going to Mongolia next month and for that trip I'm bringing another one you recommended called The Tartar Steppes (thought the vast open expanses were affinal). Thanks as always for your work! Also, do you know Bath Books in Bath? Near the row of houses shaped like a crescent? Its one of my favorite bookshops. The owners are five friends who each work one day per week and then all of them work saturdays (closed on Sundays). Next time you're there, I recommend it!
@@adamgabriele2953 -Sorry Adam, I forgot I included the orwell facsimile, my bad, I filmed the video about a fortnight ago, do apologise. Yes, that book includes a reproduction of the actual ms. on one page and a readable version opposite, so you can see the earlier drafts, corrections etc.
Very few of these things get published and they tend to go out of print quickly as that one did, there was one of Ballard's 'Crash' a few years back edited by Chris Beckett (not the SF writer, different writer with same name).
'The Tartar Steppe' is amazing book, changed my life, but it doesn't directly connect to Mongolia in any way, but that shouldn't stop you. There's a new edition coming out in the USA soon from NYRB Classics entitled 'The Stronghold' which I believe is a new translation. I'll be filming a video about this book when I'm in Italy in May- as of course the author was Italian.
I'm assuming you mean The Royal Crescent- though there are other crescents in Bath, this is the biggest and most famous. I know a secondhand bookshop at Margret's Buildings, which is the one of only two surviving 2nd hand booksellers in Bath from 35 years ago. Margaret's buildings is a paved street (no cars) that leads off Brock Street, which is the road between The Circus (the circular street as it were) and Royal Crescent. I don't know one called Bath Books so maybe it's a new one- I don't spend a lot of time in Bath except when I'm working in a bookshop myself, but I'll double check it. Thanks for your post!
admittedly not SF/F focused but i ncase you step outside those genres now and then (as I have no doubt you do ;)
@@adamgabriele2953 I read and always have read all kinds of things- look deeper into the channel and you'll see other book content and this will return big time later this year, don't get me wrong I love SF, but the main reason I stick to it currently is that it's popular which gets me views and much of my published writing is about/around the genre.
I don't think "A Time of Changes" was as powerful as other novels by Silverberg as "Nightwings", "The Masks Of Time", "Downwards to the Earth", "Dying Inside" and "The Book of Skulls". I think it was the internal monologue I didn't like, but it was very well written and easy to read. I only read "Non-Stop" two years ago, I came to it too late, but it's an early novel. I much preferred his more mature novel "Greybeard". Harlan Ellison was an awesome, fiery spirit, and I think I've read more than a fair amount of his pieces, including that collection. "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" is great, and I've always thought it's one of Dick's and the SF genre's very best novels. Of those by Ballard you mentioned or showed, I really liked "Concrete Island", it makes our ordinary places so mysterious and fascinating. Like Dick's weird places, there's a sort of merging of mind and world, but unlike the devastating changes that create Dick's nightmarish realities, it's accepted with an aesthetic approach.
I'm not sure what George Orwell thought in regards to SF or what his interest in it was he wrote "Nineteen Eight-Four" or what he was really writing about. It's a modern fable about what was then Soviet Russia and totalitarianism, but I'm not sure how conscious he was about writing SF. I suppose he must have been aware of the British and literary tradition, and he was probably similar to authors like Mary Shelley when she wrote "Frankenstein", and Olaf Stapledon, with whom he was contemporaneous. Like him, he was concerned with social issues and the future of the world. If he could have had the chance, he'd probably have emerged as quite a good author of SF.
My own choices would have included Ray Bradbury's "The Martian Chronicles", Olaf Stapledon's "Star Maker", John Crowley's "Beasts", Gene Wolfe's "The Book of the New Sun" or "The Fifth Head of Cerberus", Robert Holdstock's "Mythago Wood" and Anna Kavan's "Ice". I haven't read that Christopher Priest's novel, of those I've read by him, I'd have chosen "The Affirmation", an excellent novel about the strangeness of memory and an unreliable narrator.
As I said, this was a subjective list based on my very personal responses- re Silverberg, I am divided between 'Changes' and 'Skulls'. Orwell knew about SF -he was massively influenced by Wells and read him when young, wrote an essay about him and was also taught as a child by Aldous Huxley. 'Nineteen Eighty-Four' is undoubtedly SF, metaphoric or not. "The Affirmation" is one of my favourite novels and overall you make some excellent choices, all books and writers I love.
@@outlawbookselleroriginal "Nineteen Eighty-Four" is undoubtedly SF and I know he liked Wells, but Orwell wasn't like Olaf Stapledon, who actually was an SF author within general literature. I think Orwell would have read Stapledon though and was probably influenced by him. Regarding my choices, I think it's difficult to chose between and compare Gene Wolfe's two novels.
To my mind, Ballard, like Bester was at his best in the short format.
Probably agree. Vermilion Sands is my pick. Crash does little for me.
I’m ashamed I got below 50% on the Outlaw Bookseller test:
From part 2 I guessed 7 books inc. your number 1 being in that position.
I almost got Molly Zero but I couldn’t quite recall it (I was searching my brain for it but I forgot and moved on). My correct guesses:
Neuromancer
Nineteen eighty four (this will be number 1).
The beast that shouted love…
Do androids…
The Time Machine
The glamour
A clockwork orange
Hey Rose, great to hear from you. Couldn't get at your last comment, made a post about it on the Community page today. Well, this was a subjective best as I said, so I think it'll surprise a lot of youtube viewers and posters- I think it's good to try a 'personal faves' list like this as well as something broader, which was the idea in my book, of course. I've never made a secret of my awe at Orwell, I guess. Good shout on your part! Hope you are well.
@@outlawbookselleroriginal oh no, that will be me and my editing of comments all the time - I probably deleted it.
So tell me… why wasn’t John Scalzi on your list?
🙊
That screenplay was the real Rumpelstiltskin
Your list of top 25 SF books is really interesting, but I would love to know what was your reason to omit authors like : Frank Herbert (Diune), Gene Wolfe (Book of New Sun), Atrhur C. Clarke (Childhood's End), Ray Bradbury (Farenheit 451), Aldous Huxley (Brave New World), Dan Simmons (Hyperion). Don't get me wrong, this is your list and I am not saying your choices are wrong. I am just courious why you didn't put those books on list? BTW thank you for placing my compatriot book on list: Solaris by Stanisław Lem is masterpiece and it deserve to be top 25.
In short, its - as I think I said a subjective list - 'MY top 25' and not any attempt at objectivity: after all, I wrote a bestselling book entitled '100 Must Read Science Fiction Novels' which contains all the books you cite save 'Hyperion' - an exclusion I've always regretted. On a different day, it would be a slightly different 25. I have no qualms about excluding Herbert, Clarke, Wolfe or Huxley, and I left Bradbury out only with great pain, largely because his best SF is short stories in my view, with no one collection matching the fire of Bester and Ellison (who both got in with collections). Much of my preference is based on literary quality as well as invention- Herbert I find graceless, ponderous and dull, Clarke I find virtually unreadable as he has no flair with characters and his ideas are fine, but hardly ever go anywhere and while Huxley was a genius, again, stylistically, he never did it for me. So I cleave to writers who I feel are far better at prose and whose themes and ideas run like quicksilver. I don't believe there is any such thing as a 'best' in the objective sense as readers differ and pinning things down to an absolute limits us I fell, which is why, unlike other youtubers, I may never update this list.
I would include "A Canticle for Liebowitz" by Walter Miller.
I like that novel - it is included in my book '100 Must Read Fantasy Novels' - but personally I've always felt the first act of it far outshines the two that follow. He wrote some great stories too.
In case of Sonic Attack on your district - follow these rules...
Great video, again!
Thank you!
Thank you- Iove your content!!
Very kind, please watch more, you'll find plenty of interest and there are loads of areas I want to cover yet I've barely touched on. Your avatar reminds me of Thora Birch in 'Ghost World' (and the comic of course!)
@@outlawbookselleroriginal I have been binge watching your videos recently.... I love the passion and the indepth, intelligent reviews. Btw, I have just finished reading Ch. Priest's The Glamour ( having read The Affirmation before) and I loved it.... Still analyzing the ending in my head. Thank you for recommending his books ( I saw the two part interview with the writer on your channel) Keep up the good work, please!!!! And greetings from Poland :)
Is there a Patreon associated with this account? Or does anyone know a different way to contribute to this channel? I live in Japan and it won't accept my card or my paypal for the "thanks" function. @Outlaw Bookseller have you considered making a patreon account so we can contribute while you grow the channel?
Thanks Adam but I don't do patreon currently as I don't like the idea of being beholden to anyone. if you can't do super-thanks, why not buy me something from my Amazon wishlist- there's a link in the banner at the top of the channel page- one for my author page, one for my wishlist. Cheers!
@@outlawbookselleroriginal no go unfortunately. Everytime I check it out it redirects me to my American account and wants to send it to my address there. I'll work on the paypal angle for the youtube thanks thing instead. Things are just always difficult when done across national borders, I find, even online.
@@adamgabriele2953 yes, they can be. I'll reconsider the patreon thing over the next few days. But thanks for the kind thoughts!
@@outlawbookselleroriginal I had to make a new account but I figured it out!
@@swampcow60 -Great! There's usually a work-around but I find it's often difficult to get there. Thank you again!
Before 1984 there was We, and that's really Sci-Fi. I never though of 1984 as Sci-Fi, but I understand why you included it here.
I read 'We' back in 1983. Virtually all SF is dystopian and some say the first Dystopia was Plato's 'Republic'. There is a video on the channel why 'Nineteen Eighty-Four' (to give the book its correct title) is definitively SF, entitled 'Nineteen Eighty-Four As Science Fiction': it is full of Science Fiction material - at the time of writing it is set in the future, it is set after a limited nuclear war (still never been one of these, so still an SF conceit), the Floating Fortresses, the Telescreen, Newspeak and the brainwashing techniques used on Smith are all scientific.
@@outlawbookselleroriginal I'm Eastern European and when I first encountered 1984 - I was probably in high school or early university - I thought: well, this is Iron Curtain communism. I completely missed the meaning of Ingsoc and Oceania. Lately I experienced life in Britain and I became aware of some of the concerning things happening in this country and I read again 1984 in English. And now you mentioned some opinions which say that 1984 is actually Britain in 1948, shortly after WWII was won by what today I consider to be THE COMMUNISTS, on both sides of the wall. What was happening in Britain in 1948, beside the first Nationality Act?
@@onehandslinger1475 -The idea that 'Nineteen Eighty-Four' is actually depicting Britain in 1948 is a very old theory in orwell studies- I first encountered this idea in the early 1980s. Obviously then, Britain had been bombed, especially the urban centres, there was rationing until around 1954 and the Labour party had been elected ina landslide victory after the War. But this is ssuperficial stuff, though it was no doubt part of Orwell's ideas in the novel. There are numerous others - The Ministry of Truth is based on the white BBC building in London where Orwell worked during the war as a broadcaster and much of what he broadcast was censored into propaganda and he was acutely aware of this, hence Smith's rewriting of Times articles in the novel (I was actually interviewed for BBC Radio 4 in that very building when promoting my second book back in 2008). Much of t he material orwell wrote about the war in those days was not published until the 1980s for reasons of national security. 'Ingsoc' ('English Socialism') of course implies National Socialism and yet Oceania is predominantly the Americas. Orwell's target was Totalitarianism per se, whether Left or Right. Even the term 'Cold War' - which is depicted between the three super-states in the novel is a phrase Orwell coined. His genius was almost endless.
@@outlawbookselleroriginal the promotion of sexual degradation through pornographic materials for the proles (Pornosec), the body type flourishing in the party (body positivity), the fowl tasting food (impossible burger, eat ze bugs), the removal of words from vocabulary (newspeak/political correctness, hate speech), Ingsoc as Neo-Bolshevism, Death Worship and Obliteration of Self (gender pronouns, gender fluidity) in other parts of the world, thought crime (hate crime), the vilification of capitalism and the list could continue for a long time (I made notes) have nothing to do with national -socialism and everything to do with the SINISTER in this day and age.
P.S. also, obviously there's no nation of Oceania. Oceania, Eurasia and East-Asia are concepts of globalization which is nothing but Trotskyism.
Double-Plus Good list!
Cheers- do watch some more vids on the channel, plenty that you'd like here.
@@outlawbookselleroriginal Will do!
Do you know much about Richard Matheson ?
Fair bit. I love Matheson, cardinally important writer- 'I Am Legen', 'Earthbound', 'Hell House' the short stories, 'The Shrinking Man' (my fave), 'Stir of Echoes', all marvellous stuff.
This is such a great video.
Thanks. Plenty more in this vein here, do watch more.
@@outlawbookselleroriginal Looks like I'll be spending a lot of time on this channel...Looks like we grew up with the same musical and literary influences (I'm 65), so anything you recommend that I haven't read, well, I can obviously trust your recommendations. Well done, you! (Matt @bookpilled recommended your channel)
@@michaelconrad7301 Yeah, me and Matt are mates, he's a great guy. We're hoping to meet up someday, which would be a blast!
More Britts than I'd have gone with...just kidding. Great list. I love when I see a list and can nod my head half the time and shake my head the other half of the time. Glad to see Neuromancer on here. I feel bad for those who read it and do not have the experience of the novel wrapping around them and pulling them into Gibson's amazing and visual virtual world. Another favorite is Frankenstein. Shelley and Asimov were the best at examining humanity using the not-quite-human. Darkside of the Earth is great reading and I completely agree with Time Machine as Wells' best work. Aldiss' Non-stop is just and OK/good read for me, I didn't really care for Ballard's "Crash," and I love that theres a couple of things I haven't read but am adding to my list. excellent video
Thanks again! Yeah, I am a literary patriot to a degree I guess LOL. Bill Gibson is in my top three living writers and I own a complete collection of hardcover firsts by him bought over the years as published, all signed by the great man- I think we've met five times, once very memorably when we hung out together at the London Design Museum launch for 'Virtual Light'....which is thirty years ago! Still have my invite card.
@Outlaw Bookseller very cool. What a great memory to have.
@@FIT2BREAD I think I made a very basic video about this right back in the very early days of the channel- called something like 'An Obscure William Gibson Story'. It was a great evening, one of my most treasured SF memories.
@Outlaw Bookseller oh, I have to ask you...im editing a video where I'm talking about Ballard's The Overloaded Man...got me thinking about Adam Roberts and The Thing Itself. Have you read that treat from your fellow countryman?
@@FIT2BREAD Yes, I read it when it was first published- it's in one of my top 5 videos. I think it's one of the best SF novels this century.
Notice how parts 1 and 2 have nearly the same number of views. On videos this long, that's saying something.
Thanks for this observation, much appreciated. Do watch more of my videos.
My copy says "1984" on the cover but "Nineteen Eighty-four" on the spine haha
Not an uncommon publisher error, revealing a cardinal misunderstanding of the role of Newspeak in Orwell's vision.
funny how so many people leave ray bradbury off. : )
I was in a quandry about this myself. I love Bradbury and he had a big impact upon me, but his SF is only a portion of his output and there are so many shorts. I couldn't pick one collection that rivaled these books for me- but he would be #26.
You mentioned a book 'The Rose' - I didn't quite catch the authors name that you mentioned for that book - but it wasn't the same name as one I have - It's 'The Rose' by Charles L. Harness (1968 - in the UK) which is itself a great SF novel IMHO :-) - enjoyed your selection by the way - quite a few of which I've read and still have.
I have no memory of mentioning 'The Rose' in this video- I've read the Harness book of course, decades ago, a great one- I think you're mishearing me. My accent is difficult for many, being a mixture of Welsh twisted by years of being in England.
@@outlawbookselleroriginal Just checked and the book you mentioned was 'The Road' - sorry, I mis-heard it as 'The Rose' Cheers!
@@daveac -Ah, right! Both great books!
I read my first Sci fi in 1965 AD.
The esoteric stories for me DO NOT stick.
I prefer Azimov over P.K. Dick---everytime.
I prefer Megan O Keefe , Velocity series over PK.
I prefer Modesitt Jr. over most of Iain Banks ( with exceptions)
Yet ...HAZE, FLASH, the HERO Series never get any mention.
Superior storyline that read like a Reacher book by Lee Child. Sophisticated plotting and fascinating extrapolation of trends.
If you like Lee Child, you should try Richard Stark's Parker series- makes Reacher look like a lightweight.
1984 - not a wasted word in that novel.
you are a treasure
So are you for just watching! Cheers!