Books - Paco's Sci Fi Picks

This list contains 10 entries

About the author: When he's not inventing things that may or may not violate the laws of physics, Paco Ruiz works as a professor of aerospace engineering in a major American university. Now, as everybody knows you don't need a rocket scientist for just about anything, so Paco has had plenty of free time for sideshows: as a lecturer on invention, innovation, and entrepreneurship, composer, ultralight airplane pilot, and author. His first novel, "Guardians of the Past" (Planeta) is due out sometime in January 2008.

About the list: My preference is for science fiction (modern or future setting) versus fantasy (ancient or medieval setting). There is much good in the latter genre, but, alas, I have not read much beyond The Lord of the Rings Clearly someone else can help remedy this unavoidable bias of this list.

Snow Crash

1992 | Neal Stephenson

In the near future, America has lost global dominance in everything except the online underworld and pizza delivery. The hero is a personality in both, and so is the heroine. Together they save the world from a mysterious cybervirus based on the ancient Sumerian language that reprograms people's brains. Despite being written in present tense, it is an amazingly easy read. A must for anyone interested in writing.

Rendezvous with Rama

1972 | Arthur C. Clarke

A giant cylinder drifts into the solar system and an expedition is sent to investigate its contents. Rather than discovering who the aliens are, the humans end up discovering more about themselves. It’s a definite page turner.

Ringworld

1970 | Larry Niven

A motley crew is sent to explore a huge ring in space, which nobody can explain. The especially attractive part of the story is in the interaction between the (very different) characters.

2001: A Space Odyssey

1968 | Arthur C. Clarke

This classic is much more understandable than its film version. The reader is taken from a monolith in ancient earth, to a monolith on the moon, to a giant monolith on a moon of Jupiter, placed there by some unknown aliens to help man make a transition. The most interesting character is HAL-9000, the paranoid computer system controlling the expedition to Jupiter.

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (Original Title of “Blade Runner")

1968 | Philip K. Dick

Taken to the big screen as "Blade Runner", this story centers on a hunter in search of "replicants," artificial humans who are banned under death penalty to come to earth. They keep coming, however, for they want to find a solution to their forced "expiration" at thirty years of age. The novel is gritty and the world gray and compelling, and there is no way to tell, all the way to the end, whether the hero is a replicant himself. 

Flowers for Algernon

1966 | Daniel Keyes

Charlie Gordon goes from an IQ of 20 to supergenius, and back to his former self. This endearing story is particularly good in portraying his inner self, his ambition to become smarter, and the series of fear, despair, acceptance, and final joy as he sinks back into retardation.

Dune

1965 | Frank Herbert

The planet Arrakis contains two things: lots of sand, and giant worms that produce a substance, "spice", which is necessary for interstellar travel. Naturally, the feudal lords running the galaxy are constantly fighting for control of Arrakis. This book centers on the strife of Paul Atreides against the Harkonnen pretenders. In the process, he will discover special powers and a prophecy that makes him a kind of Messiah for the local inhabitants. The book, written in omniscient style, captivates by portraying the strife, from many points of view, in exquisite detail. The sequels are not nearly as fresh, and often become plain weird.

A Canticle for Leibowitz

1959 | Walter M. Miller, Jr.

The world has sunk into a new dark age. Yet, knowledge is still being preserved by a new order of monks. After, a new Renaissance takes place, and eventually the cycle repeats itself. A masterful classic, divided into three snapshots along this timeline. The first one is particularly endearing.

More than Human

1953 | Theodore Sturgeon

This is a very literary piece, centering on a superhuman entity formed by a few humans with special (but not very flashy) powers. It makes you think, but many will not enjoy it.

Lord of the World

1908 | Robert Hugh Benson

It gives me the goose pimples to see how accurately Benson describes the world at the end of the 20th century. One would think he had a crystal ball. Worth every line all the way to the end.

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