I find Asimov uneven (he published SO MUCH some of it was bound to be awful), but I certainly have enjoyed reading him.
Don't worry, we're sure to spot Faith first. She's like this cleavagy slut-bomb walking around 'Ooh, check me out, I'm wicked-cool, I'm five-by-five.'
Willow ,'Get It Done'
Literary Buffistas 3: Don't Parse the Blurb, Dear.
There's more to life than watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer! No. Really, there is! Honestly! Here's a place for Buffistas to come and discuss what it is they're reading, their favorite authors and poets. "Geez. Crack a book sometime."
-t - Dec 21, 2011 8:43:18 am PST #17116 of 28289
I am a woman of various inclinations and only some of the time are they to burn everything down in frustration
Kathy A - Dec 21, 2011 8:44:20 am PST #17117 of 28289
We're very stretchy. - Connie Neil
I don't think it qualifies as SF/F, but if you go with Gothic Horror as being somewhat in the general genre, that college class also included "The Yellow Wallpaper" in its reading list, which made a huge impact on me at the time.
Ginger - Dec 21, 2011 8:45:20 am PST #17118 of 28289
"It didn't taste good. It tasted soooo horrible. It tasted like....a vodka martini." - Matilda
I'd include The Female Man in any list of important/influential SF.
I have reread the Foundation series as an adult, but not recently. There's a lot more tell than show, but there's also a grand sweep of ideas.
Toddson - Dec 21, 2011 8:57:34 am PST #17119 of 28289
Friends don't let friends read "Atlas Shrugged"
"The Yellow Wallpaper" is one of the scariest things I've ever read.
Strega - Dec 21, 2011 9:03:33 am PST #17120 of 28289
Yeah, I read some of Asimov's short stories; that was enough. The ideas are fun and I certainly understand his importance. But that's not enough to interest me in a novel, much less a series.
The Cold Equations always makes me think of Sheckley's The Cruel Equations. (Although it's actually about the Laws of Robotics.) Anyway, Sheckley's great and very funny.
erikaj - Dec 21, 2011 9:04:29 am PST #17121 of 28289
Always Anti-fascist!
I think because we know it happened to real women(including Gilman herself) I don't like Asimov either, but I'm not really an SF person.
Atropa - Dec 21, 2011 9:16:34 am PST #17122 of 28289
The artist formerly associated with cupcakes.
(Hell, I might as well say, "All Bradbury short stories."
YES. Especially "Homecoming". t obvious bias is obvious
Connie Neil - Dec 21, 2011 9:22:08 am PST #17123 of 28289
brillig
Simak's Goblin Reservation is good. Damn, why are half of my books in the garage behind the decrepit Mustang II!
Ginger - Dec 21, 2011 9:22:14 am PST #17124 of 28289
"It didn't taste good. It tasted soooo horrible. It tasted like....a vodka martini." - Matilda
More...
- Octavia Butler, The Parable of the Sower
- Vernor Vinge, True Names (The Deepness books are really good, but True Names is the most influential)
- Connie Willis, Doomsday Book (I love all of Connie Willis, but many people don't.)
- Jack Vance, The Dying Earth
- Alfred Bester, The Stars My Destination
- Philip K. Dick, The Man in the High Castle, The Game Players of Titan, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
- John Brunner, Stand on Zanzibar
- Frank Herbert, Dune, Dune Messiah
- William Gibson, Neuromancer (and most of the rest, but Neuromancer really marked a sea change in the genre)
- Neal Stephenson, Snow Crash (and the rest, but True Names, Neuromancer and Snow Crash were the cyberpunk books that shaped cyberspace)
Ginger - Dec 21, 2011 9:25:04 am PST #17125 of 28289
"It didn't taste good. It tasted soooo horrible. It tasted like....a vodka martini." - Matilda
I love Clifford Simak, who seems to have fallen along the wayside. Except for some clunky early and late books, I love them all, particularly Goblin Reservation and Way Station.