I thought I'd pick up a sci-fi book from the library but I don't really know which authors are good in this genera. Also what is the best Catholic sci-fi?

Gene Wolfe

Sci Fi or Science Fiction? Because in my mind they are not the same thing 'Sci Fi' is meaningless pop culture crap, Independence Day that kind of crap, 'Science Fiction' is genuine literature.

I'm hardly the expert on this topic but I like Arthur C Clarke, Robert Heinlein and Issac Asimov....

And...oh...Orson Scott Card...I like his stuff too

At the very least I think you need to read the Foundation Series, Starship Troopers, 2001 and Ender's Game.....(the rest of the Ender series is good, but only the first one is really 'essential')

Tim Powers.

Walter Miller, early in his career.

Card is Mormon.

And the others I mentioned were atheists. He asked who the big names in Science Fiction are and I answered him....

A brief history of SF

Precursors rooted in the crime/science short stories of the 19th century
Edgar Poe; believed to be the father of SF -- see short sf collections
Edwin Abott also noted precursor w Flatland:A Romance of many dimensions
Jules Verne, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea

Classical science fiction (40's,50's mostly) were mostly a body of short stories out of magazines like Amazing, it spanned three main topics:
Space, Robots and Distopias
Main exponents & best known work:
Ray Bradbury: Martian chronicles
Isaac Asimov: Foundation Series/ Bicentennial Man
Robert Heinlem: Stranger in a Strange Land
Arthur C. Clark: Childhood's End

New wave/Indy SF / Soft SF (70's,80's) Influenced by fantasy, racial & feminist politics...
Robert Silverberg; Ursula K Leguin: Left Hand of Darkness; Brian Aldiss & Harlan Ellison
(Here I know little as I hate this period.)

Neo-classical revival: interstellar travel, hard math & engineering
Greg Bear: Darwin's Radio & Anvil of Stars
Larry Niven: Ringworld Series & A world out of Time
Also Robert Silverberg....

Cyberpunk is the almost ending wave of SF featuring themes like bio technology, cyberspace, media & multinationals
William Gibson -- Neuromancer
Neal Stephenson -- Snowcrash

Postcyberpunk beginning to explore green revolutions.....
Keeping an eye on Paolo Bacigalupi -- The Windup Girl


Note: Gene Wolf is more of a Fantasy Writer. VERY seminal though, best work Book of the New Sun. The best Catholic written work of hard SF is a Canticle for Leibowitz, Miller unfortunately fell away.

Excellent and highly recommended. But tough reading.

GKC

But a nice guy.

GKC

Have you read any SF that you liked?


In any case, Jack McDevitt. Esp. TALENT FOR WAR, ENGINES OF God, and maybe MOONFALL. My daughter is in that one.


GKC

I have only read "Brave new world" but the english was to dificult for me when I read it some years ago, but the language is not a problem any more. Other then that I don't think I've read any SF except for SF for children when I was young which I absolutly loved.

There where a lot of great tips here! I'll head down to the library soon and check out what they have. I was actually surpised how few relevant hits I got on google when I searched for sci fi, isn't there like one great site out there which reviews the books, and have a list of "must read classics" or something like that? There are many good sites which cover sci fi art, but not so much about the literature.

I went to the library. The selection wasn't very big when it came to English SF, which perhaps is not so strange due to it not being a English library, but I borrowed "The complete Robot" by Isaac Asimov. The librarian would also borrow the other books on my list at other libraries and then notify me. I also borrowed two movies: Metropolis and 2001 a space odysces.

The Robot stories are a good selection.

GKC

Gene doesn't really think of himself as a fantasy writer, though. New Sun/Long Sun series is SF.

GKC

I should say he is a SF themes writer that writes stylistically like a Fantasy writer. (I'm not going to even get into the SF and Fantasy debate. :)! I don't have time for a college thesis.

Me neither. It took me a 2nd reading of SHADOW OF THE TORTURER to realize it was SF.

I'd characterize him as a SF/fantasy/ghost/horror writer, with some personal traits that are sui generis. But good. Reading him is like thorough work-out.

GKC

If you enjoy comic books, I recommend John Ostrander and Jim Starlin. I don't know if Walt Simonson is Catholic, but his stories would make me think so.

I read " a Canticle for Leibowitz" and found it very good. I wasn't that impressed by Isaac Asimov's Robot collection. Perhaps it's because it felt like it was Sci-fi written some time ago with how he described some of the machines. What about Animal Farm? would it be something you guys would recommend?

I would, but not because it's SF; it isn't, it's the technical definition of a fable. But it is great.

GKC

Jules Verne is, by most accounts, the greatest science fiction writer and he was Catholic.
His "rival" - H G Wells, was a sex man libertine. Most would say Verne was miles better.

In the list of Science fiction types two genres I like were not mentioned:
1. Steampunk
"Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell" by Susanna Clarke
From Wiki:
"
Clarke was born on 1 November 1959 in Nottingham, England, the eldest daughter of a Methodist minister.[1] She spent her childhood in various towns across Northern England and Scotland,[2] and enjoyed reading the works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Charles Dickens, and, Jane Austen.[1] She received a Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy, politics, and economics from St Hilda's College, Oxford in 1981. For eight years, she worked in publishing at Quarto and Gordon Fraser.[2] She then spent two years teaching English as a foreign language in Turin, Italy and Bilbao, Spain.
"
ALSO
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Difference_Engine
(I have not read the "The Difference Engine" but wiki says this is a prime example). Putting science fiction into a historical context (normally victorian) is becoming more popular.

2. Science Fiction comedy -
"Night of the Living Trekkies"
This book made me laugh and laugh and laugh. I loved it!
http://www.zombiephiles.com/zombies-ate ... g-trekkies