Thursday, September 4, 2014

The Best Sci Fi Novels Ever

By Mattie MacDonald


Aldous Huxley's Brave New World is considered a literary classic and one of the fist science fiction novels. The book is one of best sci fi novels ever written is set in a near future dystopia and human beings are manipulated and controlled using psychological techniques to serve the powers that be.

Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 is another science fiction classic. The story is set in a dystopian near future where "Firemen" burn books. One such Fireman is Guy Montag who lives a desolate and lonely existence in a world where people do not read, enjoy their natural surroundings or think for themselves. Montag begins to question his life before eventually discovering literature. He then decides to bravely save all the books and restore his life. The title is names after the temperature at which paper spontaneously ignites.

Another classic science fiction novel is Dune by Frank Herbert. Set in a far away planet called Arrakis, the story revolves around a feuding family and their control over a drug called mellange that gives those who take it immortality. The protagonist, Duke Paul Atreide fights the families for his rightful place on the throne.

Do Androids Dream of Electric sheep? Was make into a cult movie called Bladerunner. Another dystopia the plot is set in a post apocalyptic Earth where the majority of animals and plants are extinct and most humans have colonized Mars. The humans on Mars have Android slaves but many of them have fled to Earth. Rick Deckard is a bounty hunter on Earth with a task of finding eight androids that murdered their masters back on Mars.

Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson is another great sci fi read. The story is set in the near future when humans begin to colonise Mars. Arguments erupt back on Earth as to whether the planet should be terraformed or left as it was.

Contact by the renowned astro-physicist, Carl Sagan blends hard sci fi with a fantastic story line. It is the story of a woman who works for SETI who discovers noise coming from an earth like planet via a radio telescope.

Issac Asimov is one the most important authors in sci fi and his hard science fiction Foundation Trilogy is an essential read for any fan of the genre. It is set in the far distant future and humanity has colonized the galaxy. An empire has been established but it is breakdown under the weight of political infighting, corruption and bureaucracy. Hari Seldon is a historian who decides to bring to together the galaxies most eminent scholars and historians to create a vast encyclopedia and launch a new era for humanity.

No list of science fiction novels is complete without HG Wells War of the Worlds. The plot is well known; Earth is invaded by Martians that operate huge tripod like vehicles. They use total war to subdue humans because they want to get hold of the Earth's resources. In 1938, Orson Wells read the first chapter of story on the radio, which sent many listeners into a panic because they thought the story was a news flash!




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