My 30 Must-read Fantasy Novels and Book Series

Good day, Dear Reader!

In my last blog, I gave you a list of my Top 40 Sci-Fi reads. I had fun creating that post so, being the voracious reader that I am, I’ve decided to keep going and make it a series. As I mentioned, Science Fiction and Fantasy are my two favorite genres with the former just edging out the latter. Therefore, this time I’ll discuss my ‘must-reads’ in the Fantasy genre.

The standard definition for the Fantasy literary or cinematic genre is that it is an imaginative or fanciful work usually containing folkloric, magical, mythical, or supernatural elements and/or themes in a non-technological setting. Under the ‘Fantasy’ umbrella, there are several sub-genres:

Ø  Epic Fantasy – Sometimes called High or Heroic Fantasy. As the name suggests, these are Fantasy tales set in a massive, grand scale. These stories usually involve some sort ‘hero’s journey’ quest for a world-changing artifact or goal. They also almost always include some sort of high stakes struggle between the forces of Good and Evil. The two best examples of this sub-genre will be in the list;

Ø  Sword and Sorcery Fantasy – Sometimes presented as “Sword-n-Sorcery”, this is fairly self-explanatory. Whether they are barbarians, gladiators, knights, etc., or just some sort of mercenary with edged weapons, the sword-wielders are usually contesting in some way or another against some form of magic user;

Ø  Mythological Fantasy – Even though Mythology is its own literary genre, this sub-genre of Fantasy usually takes existing ancient cultural mythology and expands upon it, occasionally blending elements different mythos;

Ø  Dystopian Fantasy – As with Dystopian Science Fiction, this sub-genre tends to have a very dark, almost hopeless view of how Humanity would come out of a world-changing cataclysm. In the Fantasy flavor of Dystopian tales, the world is almost always thrown back to the Iron Age or earlier, and the rediscovery of ‘lost’ technologies is not part of the story at all. There may be references to ‘The Time Before’, but the plot and story usually deal solely with the tale’s contemporary issues. These tales often include elements of Sword and Sorcery Fantasy;

Ø  Magical Realism Fantasy – Sometimes called “Low Fantasy”, this is a sub-genre that usually includes either unexpected magical elements or a universe where magic is either part of or exists alongside everyday life, sometimes both. This sub-genre has its own sub-genres:

Ø  Urban Fantasy – this is usually a story cycle or arc, often a collection of short stories and novellas, in which fantastical characters, artifacts, and/or situations are placed in a real world urban setting;

Ø  Paranormal Romance – Usually a tale of romance between a ‘normal person’ and some sort of supernatural entity, this sub-genre tends to blend the lines between Urban Fantasy, Coming-of-Age Tales, and Romance. Two of the most notable examples are the motion picture Ghost (1990) and the Twilight Saga books written by Stephenie Meyer;

Ø  Dark/Grimdark Fantasy – This sub-genre combines the elements of Fantasy, Horror, and often Dystopian Fantasy in dark stories designed specifically to unnerve and frighten the reader. These stories tend to be disturbing, hopeless, and rarely (if ever) have a happy ending. The best examples of this are the works of H. P. Lovecraft.

Many people consider Mythology, Fables, and Fairy Tales to be sub-genres of Fantasy, but I don’t. In the opinions of many educated people, Mythology is its own genre with Fables and Fairy Tales being sub-genres thereof.

Now that I’ve laid the groundwork for this list, here are the Fantasy stories that I feel exemplify the best in Fantasy literature (again, in alphabetical order by author):

Ø  A very prolific author of both Fantasy and Science Fiction literature is Piers Anthony. In fact, one of his Fantasy series is officially the longest running fictional novel series in the history of the printed word. Anthony’s works run the gamut from serious tales and series to light-hearted, humorous, almost snarky and satirical works. Here are three of my favorites of his:

Ø  The Xanth Series – At 47 novels and counting, this is Anthony’s record holder. The stories take place in the land of Xanth, a magical world where all Humans have ‘talents’ to one extent or another, and is inhabited by many other sentient races in addition to the Humans. Other than its endurance, the hallmark of these stories is humor. Anthony liberally uses puns, wordplay, and bad jokes throughout the books, starting with many of the titles. Definitely a must have;

Ø  The Apprentice Adept Heptalogy – This is a fascinating series that alternates between Fantasy and Science Fiction. However, I include it here because the primary plot device is a portal between the worlds of Phaze and Proton which is natural ‘magic’ and not technological. These tales are wonderfully complex and humorous, and though Anthony uses puns and wordplay here as well, there are nowhere near as many as there are in Xanth;

Ø  The Incarnations of Immortality Octology – This is a fun, satirical series that proposes that certain of the anthropomorphic representations of immortal concepts…specifically Death, Time, Fate, War, Nature, Evil, Good, and Night…are actually jobs with a regular turnover carried out by different Humans throughout the ages. Each of the 8 books deals with a different one of the Incarnations. Anthony has woven a wonderful tapestry of engrossing tales that even touch on how each of these Incarnations have been addressed by various cultural mythologies throughout time.

Ø  The Thieves World Anthologies edited by Robert Lynn Asprin and Lynn Abbey – In 1978, during a casual gathering at “Boskone”, the Boston Science Fiction Convention, Asprin, Abbey, and Gordon R. Dickson were discussing the challenges of worldbuilding in Epic and Heroic Fantasy when Asprin proposed that, instead of every author beating his or her head against the writing table, trying to create a unique world of their own, how wonderful and how much easier it would be if all of their favorite Sword and Sorcery characters existed in the same universe, settings, and time frames. With that one wistful wish, a series of anthologies were born that would affect the careers of over two dozen authors, mostly for good. Set in an unnamed fictitious world in the seedy city of Sanctuary, the various short stories are rife with Sword and Sorcery tropes, including a disreputable tavern in the disreputable part of a disreputable town called ”The Vulgar Unicorn” (you do NOT want to know what the unicorn on the sign is doing that makes him so vulgar!) where many of the tales start. The stories in the 14 anthologies plus 7 ‘official’ Thieves World novels and 8 other novels that take place in the Thieves World universe and expand on many of the short stories are wonderful, engaging, and full of action and adventure. These tales deal with many different themes, including (but not limited to) morality, situational ethics, imperialism, duty, devotion, love, honor, loyalty, and even homosexual marriage. These anthologies are also a great way to sample the work of numerous authors without spending a fortune.

Ø  The MythAdventures Series by Robert Lynn Asprin, later with and then by Jodie Lynn Nye – If you like bad jokes and puns as much as I do, then these are the stories for you. This Fantasy series is also a Satirical series with tongue firmly set in cheek. It takes place in a universe where ‘Demon’ is actually short for ‘Dimensional Traveler’, the inhabitants of the dimension of Klah are known as ‘Klahds’, and the inhabitants of the dimension of Perv are known as ‘Pervects’ (NOT Perverts!). The two main characters are a bumbling Klahd apprentice magician named Skeeve and a Pervect Wizard named Aahz. Asprin and Nye openly and unapologetically borrow elements, themes, and even jokes and routines from everyone, most notably Damon Runyon’s Prohibition-era novels and the Bing Crosby/Bob Hope Road movies. If you want to laugh your tail off, this is where to start.

Ø  The Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks – While this was written to be a Children’s Fantasy, this book also appeals to adults. It wonderfully yet gently deals with themes such as disappointment, ethnic bigotry, spiritual and emotional growth, and friendship.

Ø  Peter Pan and Wendy by J. M. Barrie – The classic Fantasy about an orphan who has chosen to never grow up, his sidekicks The Lost Boys, the fairy Tinkerbell, London children Wendy Darling and her brothers, John and Michael, a tribe of Native Americans, the epitome of greed and evil, the pirate Captain Hook, and a ticking crocodile. This tale examines longing, self-discovery, first love, loyalty, jealousy, and the transition from childhood to adulthood. This is a must-have for any personal library.

Ø  The Peter and the Starcatchers Quintet by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson – These books are part prequel and part reimagining of the Nineteenth Century Fairy Tale Peter Pan and Wendy by J. M. Barrie. I normally don’t like reimaginings, but Barry and Pearson did a brilliant job of taking elements that Barrie hinted at in the original story and fleshing them out while staying true to the spirit of the source material. If you love Peter Pan, then you’ll probably at least really like Peter and the Starcatchers.

Ø  The Land of Oz Stories by L. Frank Baum – While technically Children’s Fantasy, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and the 13 books that followed are all delightful Fantasy for all ages. Apocryphal stories have claimed that Baum created the first Oz stories for one of his children when they were ill, but Baum had been writing fiction and plays for some time before The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was first published, so who knows. The stories address themes such as longing, poverty, perseverance, con artists, bigotry, totalitarianism, loyalty, and devotion.

Ø  Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury – As I mentioned in the previous post, Ray Bradbury was a very versatile writer. While he tended to consider even his Sci-Fi stories to be Fantasy, this tale is a brilliant example of Magical Realism Fantasy that very adroitly illustrates the admonition, “be careful what you wish for…you might get it.” This is a cautionary tale that deals with the themes of pride, avarice, wrath, envy, and vanity.

Ø  The Russian Trilogy by C. J. Cherryh – Equally adept with both, Science Fiction and Fantasy, C. J. created this Mythological Fantasy trilogy based on myths from the Dnieper (Dnipro) River Valley in medieval Russia (now on the border between Belarus and Ukraine). The books are brilliantly written, engaging, and explore timeless themes.

Ø  The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever by Stephen R. Donaldson – Divided into three Chronicles, these ten books wonderfully blend elements of Epic Fantasy, Dystopian Fantasy, Sword and Sorcery Fantasy, and Urban Fantasy. One of the things that makes these stories unique is that their anti-hero protagonist, Thomas Covenant, wasn’t just emotionally and morally flawed, but he was physically ill. Because Donaldson’s father was a medical missionary, he spent part of his childhood living in leper colonies in India, so he gave Covenant Hansen’s Disease, a.k.a. Leprosy. In addition to being an epic (anti) Hero’s Journey, the stories are also surreptitiously educational in that the reader learns what a modern leper has to do every day just to survive. Even though the stories sometimes take a dark turn, Donaldson does a masterful job exploring angst, depression, chronic illness, devotion, betrayal, feudalism, love, hope, and despair.

Ø  The Spellsinger Octology by Alan Dean Foster – This series is a wonderful example of Magical Realism Fantasy. In the first book, Foster introduces us to Jonathan Thomas Meriweather, a law student, part-time wannabe rock guitarist, and janitor who is pulled into a parallel dimension of anthropomorphic animals and magic. Once there, he discovers that, with the help of a guitar-like instrument, he can perform magic using his repertoire of classic rock songs…such as using the Beach Boys version of Sloop John B to create a boat…often with unpredictable and humorous results. Fun, witty, and adventurous, these books are definitely worth the read.

Ø  American Gods by Neil Gaiman – The epitome of Urban Fantasy, American Gods also includes elements of Mythological Fantasy and Americana Fiction. Gaiman blends several different pantheons of ancient and modern Mythology in the setting of modern America. Fun, satirical, somewhat sacrilegious, and intriguing, it’s a great read.

Ø  The Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind – Sixteen full-length novels broken up into 5 story arcs, this series is a wonderful example of Epic Fantasy. Through a series of events, a young woods guide named Richard Cypher discovers that he is actually a “Seeker”…an arbiter of Truth and Right…empowered by the Sword of Truth. Richard and his companions end up fighting everything from an empire ruled by a Dark Wizard, a Theocracy, a Collective Oligarchy, and more. Goodkind unapologetically imbues Richard with his own philosophy…a love of individualism, personal freedom, Human Rights, and personal honor. A TV series, Legend of the Seeker (2008) was created from the first two books. In spite of the executive producers swearing to Goodkind that they were huge fans of the books and would remain completely true to the original text if the author gave them the rights to create the show, it began to immediately change elements key to all 5 story arcs, making it a lousy adaptation of The Sword of Truth stories. Stick with the books. Oh, and the first book introduces to the Rules of Wizardry, the first of which is summarized as, “people are stupid.” The full explanation of the Rule makes it considerably less insulting.

Ø  The Magicians Trilogy by Lev Grossman – A wonderful Urban Fantasy with Epic Fantasy elements about a Brooklyn High School student who is ‘invited’ to apply for the only College of Magic in North America and who discovers that his favorite Narnia-esque fantasy series is real. The stories follow his adventures with his best friend from High School and several of his magic classmates both in college and in the magical land of Fillory. Fun, engaging, and adventurous, these tales are wonderful!

Ø  The Wheel of Time Series by Robert Jordan, with the last three novels being co-authored with Brandon Sanderson – A brilliant Epic Sword and Sorcery Fantasy series set in a world of magic and mysticism. An attempt was made at adapting the stories as a streaming series, but as with The Sword of Truth, the writers made too many key changes for it to be considered an adaptation. Even though the series drags a bit in the third quarter of the books, it is a wonderful read.

Ø  The Pendragon Cycle by Stephen R. Lawhead – These 6 books are an updated and more historical take on the Arthurian legends. Lawhead actually moved to Oxford, England to thoroughly research Ancient Celtic myths, legends, and culture to make the tales more historically accurate. He even added elements of Roman history and the legend of Atlantis. The Pendragon Cycle is a beautiful variation of the premier legend of Britain.

Ø  The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis – Another great blend of Epic and Sword and Sorcery Fantasy. As with Peter Pan and The Wizard of Oz, The Chronicles of Narnia were originally written as Children’s Fantasy but are perfect for everyone, no matter their age. Lewis was a Christian Apologist, so the stories are subtly laced with Christian Allegory, exploring themes such as faith, honor, duty, loyalty, betrayal, atonement, and martyrdom. Definitely a must have in any personal library.

Ø  Le Morte d’Arthur by Sir Thomas Mallory – One of the earliest known compilations of the tales and legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. A must have in any personal library.

Ø  Elric of Melniboné by Michael Moorcock – Part of Moorcock’s ‘Eternal Champion’ cycle, the 6 original Elric stories are pure Sword and Sorcery Fantasy. The titular anti-hero is an albino wizard who is the last Emperor of the declining Melniboné and who wields a cursed, sentient sword named Stormbringer that supplies its wielder with energy and strength by absorbing the Souls of its victims. While the stories can be dark and melancholy, they are wonderfully written and engrossing. The Progressive Rock song Black Blade by Blue Öyster Cult is actually about Elric and Stormbringer, and even features Moorcock performing the spoken word dialogue.

Ø  Animal Farm by George Orwell – Written as a cautionary tale about Marxism, this is a Dystopian Fantasy about anthropomorphic animals who rebel against the farmer and take over the farm, creating a Communist collective. Being the smartest of the animals, the hogs become the ruling class, gradually taking over the collective until they are the Tyrannical despots dominating all the other animals. This book needs to be read by everyone so that it can become fiction again.

Ø  The Discworld Series by Sir Terry Pratchett – If you like the idea of laughing your tail off to satire, puns, and parodies while reading intricate, well-crafted Fantasy, this 41 novella series is perfect for you. The series alternates between eight different story arcs that focus on different characters and often weave into other books in the series. I just can’t say enough good things about these books. All hail the Great A’Tuin!

Ø  Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Sir Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman – This is a hilarious Urban Fantasy about the End Times by two wonderful authors that think at right angles to the rest of the world. An angel and a demon team up to sabotage the End of the World and hilarity ensues.

Ø  The Wizarding World of Harry Potter by J. K. Rowling – J. K. beautifully and masterfully blends Epic Fantasy and Urban Fantasy into a tale of Good versus Evil that explores how two people with almost identical origins and upbringings can end up on diametrically different paths simply based on the choices they make. While the movies are really good, the books are phenomenal.

Ø  Sir J. R. R. Tolkien is almost unanimously considered to be the Father of Epic Fantasy. He was a Professor of English Language and Literature, a Philologist, and a Linguist who created the entire and complete spoken and written languages for the Elvish and Dwarven races of his Middle Earth, the setting of his most famous works. These stories literally inspired every other story on this list:

Ø  The Hobbit, or There and Back Again – Written as a Children’s Fantasy, The Hobbit has become deeply ingrained in Western Culture. It is a grand tale about self-discovery, overcoming self-doubt, rising to the occasion, duty, loyalty, intellect, and understanding that anyone, no matter how humble their beginnings, can become the Hero;

Ø  The Lord of the Rings – Originally broken up and published in three parts because it was considered to be too long for a single book, this is a sequel to The Hobbit. As he wrote it, Tolkien noticed it was decidedly more adult than its predecessor, but continued on the path the story dictated. This tome has three different simultaneous quests that wind around and through each other in all three parts until the exciting climax. This is a tale of generational heirlooms, legacy, duty, personal fortitude, perseverance, intellect, loss, and redemption;

Ø  The Silmarillion - Edited by Christopher Tolkien and Guy Gavriel Kay, this anthology was published posthumously. While writing The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien wrote several outlines and short stories for himself in order to work out the mythology and history of Middle Earth. He had discussed with his son, Christopher, the possibility of ‘cleaning up’ his background reference works and publishing them as the Quenta Silmarillion, but he passed away before seriously beginning the work. Tolkien had appointed his son as Literary Executor, so after his father’s death, Christopher worked with family friend and author in his own right, Guy Gavriel Kay, to organize some of the material into this single coherent, beautifully detailed volume.

Ø  A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court by Mark Twain – This is Twain’s satirical look at feudalism and monarchy while celebrating individualism, personal ingenuity, and democratic principles. This parable is told from the point of view of a Nineteenth Century engineer who, after a blow to the head, finds himself in the Court of King Arthur. Bitingly funny and witty, this classic should be in every house.

Ø  The Once and Future King by T. H. White – This is an omnibus of 4 novels that were a Twentieth Century update of the Fifteenth Century Le Morte d’Arthur by Sir Thomas Mallory. While there is much debate about whether the tales of King Arthur are Fantasy, History, or Mythology, I am firmly in the camp of the first. Also, Disney’s animated movie The Sword in the Stone is based on the first part of this tome.

So, there you have it, Dear Reader, my personal all-time Top 30 Fantasy books and series. In my humble yet educated experience, every one of these novels, anthologies, and series should be in every private collection, especially for every true fan of the Fantasy genre.

Until next time, be well…

© 2009, 2024 James P. Rice

My 40 Must-read Science Fiction Novels and Book Series

Good day, dear reader!

Lately, I’ve noticed a trend in almost every ‘news’ feed of one ‘click bait’ list after another touting itself as the definitive collection the ‘all-time greatest’ of something. All of them are very subjective and the authors rarely explain or defend why they believe those items belong on their list. In one day alone, there were lists of 15, 25, and 50 ‘must-read’ or ‘all-time greatest’ science fiction novels in one feed. These three lists were varied and different, with a few exceptions appearing on each list, and the three authors couldn’t even agree on what constituted ‘science fiction’.

So, I’ve decided to throw my hat into the ring. I’ve been an avid, even voracious reader since I was very young. I’ve read and enjoyed stories of pretty much every genre, but my favorites are Fantasy and Science Fiction, with Sci-Fi barely edging out the former. Therefore, that’s where I’ll start.

The standard definition for Science Fiction holds that it is a literary or cinematic fiction genre based on speculative or fantastical technologies or discoveries, locations and situations alien to normal Human experience (such as in Space or on extraterrestrial planets), and interaction with sentient beings other than Homo Sapiens. Within Science Fiction itself there are several sub-genres:

Ø  “Hard” Science Fiction - Usually takes place in the era contemporary with the story’s release or in the immediate future, often involving “worst case scenarios” of then-current technologies, and often including detailed technical descriptions;

Ø  Speculative Fiction – Could be set in any time period, but takes current technology, scientific knowledge, and even social patterns, and extends them out through the “next most likely logical step(s)” to the stage at which they are presented in the story. May be a parable for major events during the author’s lifetime. May occasionally contain a fantastical element;

Ø  Science Fantasy – Usually involves technologies, places, and events created out of whole cloth. One of the best examples of this sub-genre in my lifetime begins, “A Long Time Ago, In A Galaxy Far, Far Away…”;

Ø  Post-Apocalyptic or Dystopian Fiction – As the name indicates, this genre tends to have a very dark, almost hopeless view of how Humanity would come out of a world-changing cataclysm…often nuclear war, major natural disaster (such as an asteroid striking Earth), or even an alien invasion. Usually hallmarked by Humanity being thrown to a technological level decades, even centuries earlier than that of the cataclysm and forced to deal with the ‘new normal’. Humanity is often depicted as automatically reverting to its baser instincts: tribal barbarism, highway robbery, and even cannibalism. Often used as a parable to oppose a political ideology;

Ø  Sci-Fi Horror – While Horror is its own genre of Fiction, this is usually one of the other Science Fiction genres with one or more Horror elements integral to the main plot. The best example of this sub-genre in my lifetime is the movie Alien (1979);

Ø  Cyberpunk – Often considered a sub-genre of the Post-Apocalyptic or Dystopian Fiction sub-genre, Cyberpunk is often set in a world following some sort of societal collapse and usually includes a significant amount of cybernetic technology, the blurring of the line between Humanity and machines, and main characters that are criminals, revolutionaries, or both.

Ø  Steampunk – This sub-genre usually features advanced machinery and technology based on Nineteenth Century steam power and gear-and-pulley technology. They often take place in later historical periods in a world or universe where these technologies were improved and advanced, but never replaced by new discoveries.

Two of the three lists I previously mentioned included Japanese Manga and American Comic Books. While I agree that nothing could be more Science Fantasy than a humanoid orphan from another planet who develops amazingly extraordinary powers and abilities just because he now lives on Earth, I tend to separate those two media from classically defined literature. I must admit, though, that since the 1960s, there have been some very astute, deep, insightful, and intricate story arcs in both Comic Books and Manga.

So I now share with you the Science Fiction stories that I feel exemplify the best of Science Fiction literature (in alphabetical order by author):

Ø  The inaccurately named Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy trilogy by Douglas Adams – Even though this series eventually ended with six books, Adams insisted it continue to be referred to as a Trilogy (when the fifth book was released, the blurb on the cover stated that it was “the book that gives a whole new meaning to the word ‘trilogy’”. Originally a radio play written by Douglas, this series teaches us that Humans are only the third most intelligent species on Earth, that bureaucrats suck on every planet, that one should always have a towel, and that the answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything is simple but no one knows the question. A black, absurdist comedy married a Science Fantasy trope and gave birth to this marvelous tome.

Ø  The original Foundation trilogy by Isaac Asimov, PhD – You can’t go wrong with any of the stories written by any of the original three Grand Masters of Science Fiction. In addition to being one of the “Big Three”, Asimov was a professor of Biochemistry at Boston University, an Astronomer, and a Historian. Though there ended up being seven Foundation novels…the original trilogy, prequels, and sequels…the first published novel is the place to start. Foundation is the story of a mathematical genius named Hari Seldon who develops a new calculus of sociology that uses the statistical laws of Mass Action to predict the future actions of large populations, and the foundation of encyclopedists he creates to save and steward all the knowledge of Humanity and to guide the galactic civilization through a series of major crises in order to minimize their effects. Asimov himself once said that the premise was based on History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon and Asimov’s own musings on what might have minimized the aftermath that led to the Dark Ages. The stories are brilliant and engrossing, and the characters are very richly developed. The idea of applying statistical analysis to large populations proposed in these stories would eventually see the light of day in the real world in the form of the Strauss-Howe Generational Theory and the book The Fourth Turning by researchers William Strauss, JD, and Economist and Historian Neil Howe.

Ø  The Complete Robot by Isaac Asimov, PhD – This is an omnibus anthology of Asimov’s robot short stories originally published in I, Robot and The Rest of the Robots, plus stories that were included in five other anthologies, as well as four robot stories that had not been previously included in any collections. Asimov is the brilliant thinker who gave us the Three Laws of Robotics, introduced in the 1942 short story Runaround which is included in this anthology. The stories deal with subjects such as how Human society would evolve if robots were an ever-present part of everyday life, how Humans would react if robots became fully self-aware and sentient, how self-aware robots would react to the integrated Three Laws, sentient robot Rights, how sentient robots would integrate into Human society, and the emotional bonds between Humans and sentient robots and how loss affects both.

Ø  The Ice People by Rene` Barjavel – The English translation of a novel originally published in France as la Nuit des temps (The Night of Time). It is the story of a French expedition to Antarctica that discovers the ruins of a 900,000 year old Human civilization. Scientists from all over the world head to the site and help the French expedition discover a protected bunker in which a man and a woman are in suspended animation. The woman is awakened first and, using a technological translator located in the bunker, proceeds to tell the story of the war and the doomsday weapons that destroyed Humanity’s first great technological civilization, and actually tilted the Earth over twenty degrees and shifted the magnetic poles. Published at the height of the Cold War between the USA and USSR, the novel is a cautionary tale that displays the struggle between intellectually honest scientists and political ideologues, and how far an ideologue will go to bury a truth that disputes his or her ideology. There is also romance and a twist at the end.

Ø  A successful writer in the genres of Fantasy, Horror, Mystery, Realistic Fiction, and Science Fiction, Ray Bradbury was often referred to as a ‘Midwestern Surrealist’. He himself actually resisted being labeled as a Science Fiction writer, preferring instead to be associated with the Fantasy genre. While his titles that I’ve included here have strong Fantasy overtones, they are also replete with Science Fiction imagery and themes:

Ø  The Illustrated Man – This is a collection of short stories with the recurring theme of the conflict of the unfeeling mechanics of technology with the psychology of Human Beings. The seemingly unrelated stories are tied together by the titular story about a vagrant tattooed, from head to toe, who used to work as a carnival side-show freak. He meets our intrepid narrator along his wanderings and tells him that the tattoos were created by a time-traveling woman, that each is individually animated, and that they each tell a different story which are then related in the other tales in the anthology. The stories deal with many different aspects of the Human social condition: isolation, facing imminent death, provincialism, ethnic bigotry, spirituality, indoctrination, exile, disaffection, vengeance, and radical acceptance.

Ø  The Martian Chronicles – This is another short story analogy with a common theme threading through the stories. These wonderful tales deal with a post WWII America and the constant concern of nuclear war, four different expeditions to explore and settle Mars, ethnic and religious bigotry, historical revisionism, censorship, conformity, and cautionary tales about the hazards of militarism as science, technology, and prosperity advances.

Ø  Fahrenheit 451 – A dystopian cautionary tale about a future tyrannical American society where books have been outlawed and where professional “Firemen” are used to burn books wherever they’re found. One such Fireman becomes disillusioned with his role in censoring literature and destroying knowledge and eventually becomes part of an underground movement to preserve what he previously destroyed. Originally published in 1953, Fahrenheit 451 is one of the best of the post WWII novels warning of the dangers of collectivism and ‘benevolent’ oligarchies.

Ø  A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess – This is a Dystopian novel set in the near future in a Britain that has a USSR-style Marxist society and which focuses on a sub-culture of extremely violent youth gangs. The protagonist and narrator, Alex, is the leader of one such teenage gang. He relates some of his adventures with his gang, his arrest by the authorities, their attempt to use an experimental scientific treatment to completely cure him, and the experiment’s failure and unintended consequences. His narration is liberally sprinkled with ‘Nadsat’, the street slang patois of English blended with Russian that the author made up for the book. Burgess created a wonderfully complicated character in Alex, a violent, narcissistic sociopath with whom the reader starts to empathize and even root for. For example, while his peers like and follow the latest pop music, Alex prefers classical music, most notably the works of Ludwig von Beethoven. Burgess has given us an insightful look into the lower strata almost always created by any Marxist regime.

Ø  The inclusion of this author in my list is rather complicated for me. On one hand, Edgar Rice Burroughs was an ardent proponent of eugenics and a vocal supporter of the concept that the hereditary nobility of Western Europe, just because of an accident of birth, were superior to all other ethnicities on Earth…beliefs that have earned him a place on the ash heap of history along with all the other bigoted garbage. On the other hand, however, he was a brilliant author of fiction, having a special talent for adroitly and seamlessly blending Sci-Fi and Fantasy. This is best exemplified in the following series that he wrote:

Ø  The Barsoom Series – a.k.a. The Mars Series. “Barsoom” is the name that the native races of Mars call their planet and the majority of the books in this series are about, or involve in some way or another, American Earthman John Carter, Barsoomian Princess Dejah Thoris, and Barsoomian warrior Tars Tarkas and their families. Fantastical ancient technology that almost appears to be magic transports Carter to Mars where swashbuckling action and adventure proceed to occur. Burroughs one of the first authors to incorporate the scientific fact that Mars’ gravity is only about 38% that of Earth, so in the books, John Carter’s heavier skeleton and musculature give him extraordinary strength and speed, making him something of a ‘super warrior’. With a fast pace, each of the books deal with themes such as duty, honor, love, snobbery, and racism.

Ø  The Caspak Series – This is one of Burroughs’ ‘lost world’ series and is also a ‘found tale’ sort of story. Written toward the end of WWI, Caspak takes place towards the end of the ‘Great War’ and starts off with the discovery of a manuscript sealed inside a thermos floating off the coast of Greenland. The manuscript, written by Bowen J. Tyler, tells the tale of an intrepid crew of a British tugboat that is sunk in the English Channel by German U-boat, U-33, who then turn the tables and take over the U-boat after it surfaces. A series of adventures that include avoiding British and American warships, control of the U-boat changing between the Brits and Germans several times, as well as a saboteur keeping the U-boat from going where anyone wants it to go, end up with the U-33 making its way South in the Atlantic to the Antarctic Sea where they find the fabled island of Caprona. Low on supplies and fuel, they search for a way to make landfall on the island ringed by sheer high cliffs, ultimately discovering a subterranean outlet for a freshwater stream large enough for the U-boat to navigate. What they find is a land in the caldera of an ancient volcano that is populated by prehistoric creatures (yes, including dinosaurs) and primitive Humans. Duty, greed, honor, persistence, treachery, and the Human Spirit are all explored in these stories.

Ø  The Pellucidar Series – Burroughs’ other ‘lost world’ series is also a ‘hollow earth’ tale. While testing an experimental mining machine that is dubbed, ‘the iron mole’, David Innes and Abner Perry break through the inner crust of the Earth to discover the land of Pellucidar. It is a primitive land populated by primitive Hominids, a mix of fantastical and prehistoric creatures (again including dinosaurs), and is ruled by a race of intelligent reptiles that appear to have evolved from pterosaurs who have psychic powers. The first three books are definitely the best of the series, but they’re all ‘ripping yarns’ full of action and adventure and deal with themes such as duty, honor, loyalty, racism, slavery, and the Human Spirit.

Ø  Midnight at the Well of Souls by Jack L. Chaulker – This engaging work of Science Fantasy is the first book of the Well World series and posits the question, “what if you discovered that God is really a supercomputer?” The principal cast of characters includes an interplanetary drug lord, a psychotic archaeologist, a mathematical wunderkind, and an interplanetary freighter captain who just may be more than he appears. The entire Well World series is a wonderful romp in the tradition of the old style space operas with this introduction being the best of the bunch.

Ø  The Morgaine Cycle by C. J. Cherryh – While this quadrology is primarily of the Fantasy genre, the core plot includes Science Fantasy elements, principally the ‘Gates’ (which are technological portals through time and space built by an ancient race), so I include it in Sci-Fi. The principal characters are Morgaine, one of the agents sent to destroy the civilization-destroying Gates, and her companion Vanye, an exiled warrior who released Morgaine from being trapped in a century-long stasis in one of the lesser Gates. As the two strive to close the remaining Master Gates on various worlds, they have to contend with political intrigue, mad rulers, religious cults, narcissistic warlords, and the mores and taboos of various cultures. Ms. Cherryh has done a great job weaving a number of Earth’s cultures from different ages into an epic quest.

Ø  Another of the three Grand Masters of Science Fiction, Sir Arthur C. Clarke was a Mathematician, a Physicist, Futurist, and Inventor who used his knowledge and mastery of science and technology to not just write Hard Science and Speculative Fiction, but also textbooks and non-Fiction analyses of various subjects. Out of all his works, here are his Science/Speculative Fiction works that I consider ‘must read’:

Ø  2001: A Space Odyssey – This book is actually the novelization of the script for the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey that Sir Arthur wrote with Stanley Kubrick, which was in turn a movie adaptation and expansion of Clarke’s short story The Sentinel. Being from one of the Big Three Original Grand Masters, both this novel and the original short story are sublime works of art. In this tale, Clarke brilliantly weaves astronomy, metaphysics, philosophy, physics, the conflict between cold technology and Human emotion, and many of the questions Humans have been asking since the dawn of time into an engaging, exciting, and thought provoking story.

Ø  Rendezvous with Rama – This is Sir Arthur’s opus about Humanity’s first contact with the technology of an alien civilization. After a catastrophic asteroid strike, Earth establishes the Spaceguard system to detect and monitor both Near Earth and Deep Space Objects and to provide early warning about any potential impacts. When Spaceguard detects a massive object approaching but still outside the orbit of Jupiter that is heading toward the inner solar system at over 62,000 miles per hour, the Earth launches an unmanned probe that discovers the object is a completely smooth, almost perfect cylinder 31 miles long and 12 miles wide, rotating at 4 RPMs. The ensuing story is a wonderful tale of exploration and Human ingenuity, with a little spirituality and political intrigue mixed in.

Ø  Childhood’s End – This is another novel that evolved out of a short story Clarke wrote…Guardian Angel. Childhood’s End is the story of a peaceful ‘invasion’ of Earth by an alien race known only as the Overlords. Their arrival ushers in decades of an apparent worldwide utopia under indirect Overlord rule, but at what cost to the Human Race? Another brilliant story by Sir Arthur that addresses evolution, xenophobia, ancestral memory, the cost of surrendering Freedom for security, and the struggles of free will verses blind servitude in a gilded cage.

Ø  The Pip and Flinx tales by Alan Dean Foster – Taking place in Foster’s “Humanx Commonwealth” universe, these 15 novels are about the planet-hopping adventures of Human empath Philip Lynx (a.k.a. Flinx) and his ‘minidrag’ Pip. The stories are all adventurous, engaging, and just plain fun. If you can, read them in chronological order and not in the order in which they were released.

Ø  The Eden Trilogy by Harry Harrison – This is a wonderful parallel universe Science Fantasy story about a version of Earth that never experienced the asteroid impact that wiped out the dinosaurs in the Cretaceous period. As a result, the dominant species that evolved over the intervening 65 Million years evolved from the mosasaur, a Late Cretaceous amphibious lizard most closely related to today’s monitor lizard. Due to an evolutionary glitch, North America and the Caribbean Islands became unviable for this dominant species, so a human-like species descended from Central American Ceboidea primates instead of African primates filled the apex predator niche in North America. The story primarily revolves around the dominant, technologically advanced Yilane` discovering the humanoid, late Stone Age level Tanu during an expedition seeking new resources and territories to colonize. The trilogy smoothly and eloquently deals with matriarchy, xenophobia, slavery, and the cultural conflict between an advanced colonial power and a primitive society.

Ø  Now, if you’ve read more than a couple of my previous blog posts, then you probably know that my all-time favorite author is LT Robert A. Heinlein (ret.). Heinlein was the first Grand Master of Science Fiction, the Father of Speculative Fiction, a graduate of the Naval Academy at Annapolis, an Aeronautical Engineer, a Scientist, an Inventor, a Futurist, one of the founders of the Libertarian Party, a Historian, a World Traveler, and a devout student of the Human Condition. A number of words and phrases he originally coined in his works have become ingrained in the American Societal psyche…words and phrases such as “Grok”, “TANSTAAFL! (There Ain’t No Such Thing As A Free Lunch!)”, and “Pay it Forward.” Many of his works took place in a contiguous universe spanning hundreds of years that his publisher, John W. Campbell, Jr., dubbed, “Heinlein’s Future History”. Campbell’s title for this group of works proved to be prophetic as a number of the things that Heinlein wrote about between 1939 and 1950 actually came to pass in the last quarter of the Twentieth Century and into the first quarter of the Twenty-first. Therefore, now that I’m finished gushing, it should be no surprise that the next several books are all by the inimitable Grand Master.

Ø  The first is The Past Through Tomorrow. This is an anthology of most of the Future History short stories and novellas written prior to 1967. The stories deal with the collapse of the American Constitutional Republic, the theocratic dictatorship that took its place, “The Crazy Years”, the persecution and flight of a special minority known as the Howard Families, political intrigue, the Human drive to learn and explore, and interplanetary colonization.

Ø  Red Planet – Though it is one of Heinlein’s ‘juveniles’ that were published as a series by Scribner’s, it is a very sophisticated work. It’s the story of two friends attending a boarding school on Mars who get caught up in political intrigue and the nefarious plans of their headmaster and the Corporate Administrator appointed by the company that owns the colony on Mars. The story maturely deals with xenophobia, friendship, colonization, corporatocracy, revolution, and diplomacy.

Ø  The Puppet Masters – Written and originally published in 1951, this is a Dystopian story of a surreptitious invasion by a parasitic race of aliens that also happens to be an allegory for the ‘Red Scares’ of the Cold War. It deftly deals with infiltration at the highest levels, mass paranoia hysteria, intrigue, and espionage.

Ø  Methuselah’s Children – While the original serial version of this story is included in The Past Through Tomorrow, the expanded version that was published by itself is also wonderful. This tale deals in depth with the long-lived Howard Families, their persecution by those with ‘normal length’ lives, and their attempt to escape and form their own colony on another planet. This story also introduces one of Heinlein’s most popular and most enduring (in more ways than one) characters, Lazarus Long, née Woodrow Wilson Smith. The themes Heinlein deals with are bigotry, free will, selective breeding, freedom, and self-determination.

Ø  Starship Troopers – This is a coming-of-age novel that follows a young upper middle class man from high school into a military academy and then on into an interstellar war. Even though Heinlein’s critics claimed that the military oligarchy known as the Terran Federation in the novel proved that Heinlein was some sort of raving fascist, the story is much deeper than that. The aliens with which Humanity is at war started it by firing large meteorites at some of the solar system’s largest cities, resulting in the more military stance of the Terran Federation. In the classroom scenes, the protagonist and others, both students and teachers, discuss philosophical and moral issues such as suffrage, civic virtue, duty, juvenile delinquency, pragmatism, and war as a response to violent attack. The novel also deals with friendship, teamwork, loyalty, and earned respect. While the Paul Verhoeven movie Starship Troopers is a fun Military Sci-Fi romp, it is a lousy adaptation of the novel, and Verhoeven said he did that intentionally because he loathed Heinlein and everything in which he believed. Stick with the novel.

Ø  Stranger in a Strange Land (the 1991 uncut ‘original’ version) – Robert Heinlein’s magnum opus about Valentine Michael Smith, a human born onboard the first manned mission to Mars, raised entirely by the ancient race of Martians, and brought to Earth by the second manned mission. Expanding on aspects of Martian culture Heinlein first introduced in Red Planet, the story centers around Michael giving his ‘official guardians’ the slip and exploring Human culture and society incognito with his new friends and “Water Brothers”, and ultimately becoming an almost messianic martyr. This novel deals with it all: action, adventure, intrigue, spirituality, organized religion, morality, philosophy, property rights, freedom, free will, kindness, loyalty, love, duty, devotion, and much more. Read it over and over until you truly grok.

Ø  Glory Road – Part Science Fantasy, part Sword and Sorcery Fantasy, this novel is a treat. Published in 1963, it is about a recently discharged military veteran of an unnamed war in Southeast Asia who, while wondering what to do next with his life, out of curiosity answers an add that simply asks, “Are you a coward?” This results in a multidimensional quest to retrieve the Egg of the Phoenix. This tale is more than a traditional Hero’s Journey as it doesn’t stop with the ‘happily ever after’. Rather, it continues and explores what happens to the hero when the journey is over. Action, adventure, inter-dimensional travel, sword fights, narrow escapes, duty, honor, loyalty, love, earned respect, bravery, and gadgets that would make Q envious are all found in Glory Road.

Ø  Farnham’s Freehold – A wonderful tale that turns many of the narratives of the Twenty-first Century on their ears, even though it was written and published in 1964. The story is about a family, their daughter’s friend from college, and the family valet take refuge in the family bomb shelter during a nuclear attack. Somehow, a direct hit doesn’t destroy them, rather it sends them either into an alternate reality or into a future time where things are far different. Dealing with Human and Civil Rights, loyalty, alcoholism, devotion, ethnic bigotry, Cold War paranoia, and even cannibalism, this novel will make you think and make the heads of certain idealogues explode.

Ø  Time Enough for Love – This and The Past Through Tomorrow are tied for my absolute favorite books. Time Enough for Love is part anthology, part novel. As with Bradbury’s The Illustrated Man, this tome introduces the primary narrator in the first story who then goes on to tell the other stories in a sort of ‘reverse Scheherazade’. Even though it deals with many of Heinlein’s favorite themes such as duty, honor, loyalty, Human Rights, industry, polyamory, ingenuity, quality of life, and persistence, the Grand Master also chose to examine the morality of incest in a variety of possible situations, which has made this possibly his most controversial book. In spite of a couple of ‘critics’ stating that all the main characters were basically the same, I found them richly developed, warm, likeable, and unique.

Ø  Friday – This is the story of Friday Jones, a.k.a. Marjorie Baldwin, a combat courier for a quasi-military organization. What makes Friday special is that she’s an ‘Artificial Person’ (or just AP)…a genetically engineered Human designed to be mentally and physically superior to normal Humans. In this future, North America has become ‘Balkanized’…the nations we know have fractured and split into numerous smaller countries and even city-states. Friday is one of Heinlein’s first person action-adventure stories that skillfully and beautifully deal with some serious subjects such as international and interplanetary espionage, bigotry and discrimination, and cataclysmic terrorism, in addition to love, family, duty, and honor. She may be ‘artificial’, but Friday is a wonderfully warm, lovable, exciting person and her story is a work of art.

Ø  Job: A Comedy of Justice – As one might infer from the title, this novel examines religion, often satirically. The story revolves around Alex, a fundamentalist Christian political activist, and Magrethe (a.k.a. Marga), a Danish cruise ship hostess who believes in the ancient Norse pantheon, corrupts Alex, and loves every minute of it. Alex and Marga go through more than their share crises and challenges, many caused by the Norse God of Mischief, Loki, but with the permission of Jehovah as a somewhat Jobian series of tests. Many consider this book to be tedious and blasphemous, but I thought it was an intriguing study of the Many Faiths Theory of Religious Diversity. Dealing with spirituality, cultural and religious intolerance, love, devotion, duty, and persistence, I think any Christian with an open mind will love this thought-provoking story.

Ø  The Dragonriders of Pern by Anne McCaffrey, later books with and by her son, Todd “McCaffrey” Johnson – This is a series of stories that, as of 2022, is comprised of 24 novels, 2 collections of short stories, and an ancillary guide and atlas. The stories take place on the Human colony world of Pern in the Rukbat start system. Unfortunately, the original explorers and colonists were unaware that, approximately every 250 Pernese years, or ‘Turns’, a roque planet known colloquially as The Red Star that is in an eccentric elliptical orbit comes close enough to Pern for a mycorrhizoid spore known as ‘Thread’ that voraciously consumes all organic matter to transfer continuously from the Red Star to Pern for approximately 50 Turns. Because of the devastation this causes every 250 years, the descendants of the colonists have been reduced to an almost pre-industrial feudal civilization, and have even lost most of their history, including their origin on Earth. After the first onslaught of Thread, the remaining colonial scientists took an indigenous species of small lizard that had a limited ability to breathe fire and, through a combination of selective breeding and genetic manipulation, created a bus-sized, intelligent, quasi-telepathic species they call Dragons in an attempt to fight the periodic threat of Thread. The complete series encompasses approximately 2,500 Turns of the Human experience on Pern, with some of the later books even looking back at the original orbital survey of the planet and the first fall of Thread and the tales are engrossing, charming, imaginative, and almost magical. McCaffrey creates well-crafted, deep characters, some of whom are loveable and some of whom the reader loves to hate. The author deftly deals with issues and themes such as natural disaster, the Human Spirit, duty, devotion, feudal politics, hereditary privilege, family, love, and cultural acceptance. If investing the time to read the entire series is too much, at the very least read the original trilogy.

Ø  The Ringworld quadrology by Larry Niven – Set in Niven’s “Known Space” universe and integral to other stories in that universe, these are his original stories about a massive rotating ring, approximately one million miles wide and 186 million miles in diameter, at the center of which is a Sun-like star, and on the inner surface of which is a lush, inhabited world with a breathable atmosphere. The Ring spins so that the inertia creates a centrifugal force that creates a gravity approximately 99% of Earth’s. Basically, this is a unique take on the scientific concept of a Dyson Sphere. There is lots of action and adventure, and Niven masterfully navigates themes such as cultural conflict, greed, political intrigue, duty, honor, persistence, and survival.

Ø  Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley – Often dismissed as merely a Gothic Horror story, it is considered by many to be the very first true Science Fiction novel, originally published anonymously in 1818. While it does include elements of Gothic Horror and Romance, it is a story of scientific hubris, alienation, self-discovery, loss, and tragedy. Though she was only 18 when she started writing the novel, and actually did so as part of a competition with friends, Shelley does a magnificent job of addressing and examining scientific ethics, social mores, intellectual awakening, and the unintended consequences of unbridled experimentation.

Ø  In addition to the Big Three, there were two authors who predated them who were Masters in their own rights. All three of the Grand Masters, as well as many, many other authors (and not just in Science Fiction), have cited both of these writers as having been either an inspiration, an influence, or both. The first of these two Early Masters that I’m including on this list is the French author, Jules Verne. Here are his works that I consider to be ‘must reads’. They are the principle works in his Voyages Extraordinaires sequence:

Ø  Journey to the Center of the Earth - Originally published in French as Voyage au centre de la Terre, this is the story of a Victorian-era German scientist who finds a coded note within the pages of an old manuscript of an Icelandic saga that appears to have been written by a Sixteenth Century alchemist. When decoded, it is the instructions on how to find the entrance to another world hidden underground, so the scientist sets out with his nephew and a guide to explore the passage. Verne based his tale on Old Norse legends of another world under the crust of the Earth, but moved it from the realm of myth and legend to Science Fiction by incorporating very accurate depictions of Victorian science and technology. This novel inspired both Sci-Fi and Fiction stories and series from the likes of Doyle, Burroughs, and Tolkien, and even several story arcs in Doctor Who. Come see where it all began.

Ø  Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea – Originally published in French as Vingt Mille Lieues sous les mers, is the story of a French marine biologist who is invited by the U. S. government to join a Naval expedition being sent to find and kill a mysterious sea monster that has been sighted by numerous ships. The story introduces readers to Captain Nemo, a bitter, disillusioned, self-exiled genius marine engineer and biologist, physicist, and inventor. While in the Victorian era this novel was Science Fantasy, many of the scientific and technological devices Verne describes have become commonplace in our modern world, almost making it a work of Hard Science Fiction. This is an action-adventure that deftly addresses hubris, revenge, thirst for knowledge, and duty.

Ø  Around the World in Eighty Days – Originally published in French as Le Tour de monde en quatre-vingts jours, this is the tale of a wealthy English bachelor who accepts a wager for half of his fortune with his peers at an exclusive club to embark on what seems to be to them an impossible task: to travel completely around the world in eighty days or less at a time when a fast ship would take 20 days just to cross the Atlantic and the average train traveled no more than 20 miles per hour. Verne does an insightful job of examining and incorporating the new technologies that had just been introduced to the Victorian world in this novel that also examines themes such as cultural differences, the effects of new technologies on different cultures, personal growth, mercy, persistence, and ingenuity.

Ø  The Martian by Andy Weir – The son of a Physicist, Weir was a Computer Science student when he began a thread on the social media platform, Reddit, inviting everyone to weigh in on the discussion, “Other than the spaceship, what would a real manned mission to Mars need to survive?” The resulting discussion and debate would expand to include, “what unexpected cataclysms and events might possibly happen and how would the Astronauts survive with just what was on hand?” This inspired Weir to start writing this story, which he originally serialized on his blog before it was published as a novel. Dealing with themes such as the hazards of exploration, the Human Spirit, persistence, politics, loyalty, and survival, The Martian is a brilliantly entertaining Hard Science/Speculative Fiction novel.

Ø  The second of the two Early Masters I mentioned is H. G. Wells, the writer considered to be the Father of Science Fiction. In addition to his brilliant, insightful works in Science Fiction, he also wrote Social Commentary, Political Commentary, History, Popular Science, Satire, and Biographies, as well as his own Autobiography. He was a social critic and Futurist who believed in the possibility of a scientific Utopia and foresaw the advent of aircraft, tanks, space travel, nuclear weapons, and something resembling the World Wide Web. His stories included here are the ones I consider to be his seminal works:

Ø  The Time Machine – The story of a Victorian Scientist and Inventor who builds the titular contraption and travels to a post-apocalyptic Earth. This story is often credited with the popularization of time travel stories. In this novel, Wells examines themes such as cultural snobbery, class division, unbridled warfare, weapons of mass destruction, survival, and desire.

Ø  The War of the Worlds – While it is just one of a number of ‘invasion fiction’ stories from the Victorian Era, this novel is the pinnacle of that sub-genre. The War of the Worlds is a first-person narrative of an invasion of England from Mars. In this novel, Wells masterfully addresses themes such as Victorian fears, superstitions, and prejudices, the theory of evolution, scientific ignorance, Human Spirit, devotion, love, loss, grief, and imperialism.

Ø  First Men in the Moon – Inspired by From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne, this is a Science Fantasy tale about an eccentric Scientist & Inventor and a businessman who travel to the Moon in one of the former’s inventions and discover an intelligent, advanced insect-like race living there. In it, Wells deftly deals with themes such as xenophobia, unbridled experimentation, persistence, and the Human Spirit.

Ø  The Shape of Things to Come – In this almost prophetic tale, a long economic Depression results in a major war that leaves Europe devastated, threatened by plague, and thrown back into a Medieval existence. However, a network of pilots and engineers from the various air forces of the various warring nations create and maintain a network of airfields from which they work to restore the world, eventually establishing a ‘benevolent dictatorship’ in the form of a Technological Oligarchy. Addressing themes such as nationalism, war, weapons of mass destruction, education, monoglotist policies, eugenics, and utopian ideas.

There you have it, Dear Reader, my personal all-time Top 40 Sci-Fi books and series. In my humble yet educated experience, every one of these novels, anthologies, and series should be in every private collection, especially if you consider yourself to be a Sci-Fi Aficionado.

Until next time, be well…

© 2009, 2024 James P. Rice