THE DEBATE IS ON! This week we want your votes and submissions for the best movie adapted from a science fiction novel. While most books that are made into movies fall flat on their faces and leave readers everywhere with scorn and anger in their hearts, there are some shining stars that rise above all […]
THE DEBATE IS ON! Last week we started a poll asking you to submit your votes for the best movie adapted from a science fiction novel. Hundreds of you voted on over 50 movies that were submitted to the debate. Today, we've parred the list down to 11 (to account for the 2 that tied […]
THE DEBATE IS ON! This week we want your votes and submissions for the most iconic character in a science fiction book or series. What makes an iconic protagonist? Is it their ability to overcome all odds? Or, the deep introspection and reflection on some of life's biggest questions? Some have been on epic adventures […]
Did you know that there is an official Discover Sci-Fi Facebook group?
Fuelled by the opinions of hundreds of sci-fi fans like yourself, each week we spark a new debate where you guys battle it out over which books rank at the top of best ever lists.
Ordered from 10 to 1 below based on your votes in the group and on this blog, this week we've got your top 10 selections for the best movie adaptation of a sci-fi book or series.
Click on the links to pick up the books that inspired each of the movies to add to your collection, and then add your comments at the bottom of this post (or in our Facebook group) to let us know if you agree (or not!).
*The results were decided by you based on votes tallied up between our Facebook group and on our blog.
Rounding out the top 10 list is Planet of the Apes, the original 1968 film version, based on the sci-fi novel by Pierre Boulle.
First published more than fifty years ago, Pierre Boulle’s chilling novel launched one of the greatest science fiction sagas in motion picture history.
The novel tells the tale of three human explorers from Earth who visit a planet orbiting the star Betelgeuse, in which great apes are the dominant intelligent and civilized species, whereas humans are reduced to a savage animal-like state.
At number 9, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a 2005 British-American science fiction comedy film directed by Garth Jennings, based upon previous works in the media franchise of the same name, created by Douglas Adams.
After several years of setbacks and renewed efforts to start production and a quarter of a century after the first book was published, the big-screen adaptation of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy was finally shot.
The Time Machine (also known promotionally as H. G. Wells' The Time Machine) is a 1960 American science fiction film in Metrocolor from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, produced and directed by George Pal, that stars Rod Taylor, Yvette Mimieux, and Alan Young. The film was based on the 1895 novella of the same name by H. G. Wells that was influential on the development of science fiction.
The Time Machine received an Oscar for its time-lapse photographic effects, which show the world changing rapidly as the time traveler journeys into the future.
Coming in at number 7, Contact is a 1997 American science fiction drama film directed by Robert Zemeckis. It is a film adaptation of Carl Sagan‘s 1985 novel of the same name; Sagan and his wife Ann Druyan wrote the story outline for the film.
The film won the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation and received multiple awards and nominations at the Saturn Awards.
Ender's Game is a 2013 American military science fiction action film based on Orson Scott Card‘s 1985 novel of the same name. Written and directed by Gavin Hood, the film stars Asa Butterfield as Andrew “Ender” Wiggin (who also came in at #7 in our list of most iconic sci-fi characters), an unusually gifted child who is sent to an advanced military academy in outer space to prepare for a future alien invasion.
War of the Worlds is the second H.G. Wells book-turned-movie to appear on this list. It also came in at #6 on our top 10 list of best post-apocalyptic books of all time.
It has been adapted twice for the big screen, most recently in 2005 in a version directed by Steven Spielberg, written by Josh Friedman and David Koepp, and starring Tom Cruise.
In the film, an American dock worker is forced to look after his children, from whom he lives separately, as he struggles to protect them and reunite them with their mother when extraterrestrials invade the Earth and devastate cities with towering war machines.
Coming in at #4, The Martian is a 2015 science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Matt Damon. The Martian, a novel by Andy Weir, served as the screenplay adapted by Drew Goddard. The film depicts an astronaut's lone struggle to survive on Mars after being left behind, and efforts to rescue him.
The film went over incredibly well with sci-fi fans worldwide, grossing over $630 million worldwide, and earning several awards, including the Hugo Award for Best Long Form Dramatic Presentation, and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor.
Dune is a 1984 American epic science fiction film written and directed by David Lynch and based on the 1965 Frank Herbert novel of the same name. The film stars Kyle MacLachlan as young nobleman Paul Atreides – the character who also got your votes as the #3 most EPIC sci-fi character of all time.
A stunning blend of adventure and mysticism, environmentalism and politics, Dune won the first Nebula Award, shared the Hugo Award, and formed the basis of what is undoubtedly the grandest epic in science fiction. Unfortunately, despite it's popularity, most sci-fi fans would argue that the film adaptation did a poor job of representing the novel.
With a new version coming out in 2020, fans are eagerly anticipating this updated version, which hopefully rings more true to the original book.
At number 2 comes 2001: A Space Odyssey, a 1968 epic science fiction film produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick. The screenplay was written by Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke, and was inspired by Clarke's short story “The Sentinel“.
The film, which follows a voyage to Jupiter with the sentient computer HAL* after the discovery of a mysterious black monolith affecting human evolution, deals with themes of existentialism, human evolution, technology, artificial intelligence, and the possibility of extraterrestrial life. The film is noted for its scientifically accurate depiction of spaceflight, pioneering special effects, and ambiguous imagery.
*HAL-9000 placed in the number 2 slot in our list of top 10 most EPIC sci-fi characters of all time.
Blade Runner is a 1982 science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott. It is a loose adaptation of Philip K. Dick's novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (1968).
The film has influenced many science fiction films, video games, anime, and television series. It brought the work of Philip K. Dick to the attention of Hollywood, and several later big-budget films were based on his work. Seven versions of Blade Runner exist as a result of controversial changes requested by studio executives. A director's cut was released in 1992 after a strong response to test screenings of a workprint. This, in conjunction with the film's popularity as a video rental, made it one of the earliest movies to be released on DVD.
Well, what do you think of that list? Do you agree, or do you feel as though your most-loved movie adaptation is missing/didn't place as you think it deserved? Feel free to join us here in our Facebook group to chime in on the debate, and then check out our most recent poll while you're there. Don't have Facebook? Feel free to add to the comments below.
*All book-related copy in this post was pulled from Amazon & Wikipedia.
Did you know that there is an official Discover Sci-Fi Facebook group?
Fuelled by the opinions of thousands of sci-fi fans like yourself, each week we spark a new debate where you guys battle it out over which books rank at the top of best ever lists.
Ordered from 10 to 1 below based on your votes in the group and on this blog, this week we've got your top 10 selections for the best military sci-fi book/series of all time.
Click on the links to pick up each of these top picks to add to your collection, and then add your comments at the bottom of this post (or in our Facebook group) to let us know if you agree (or not!).
Want to see who didn't make the cut? Click here to view the original poll that inspired this list.
*The results were decided by you based on votes tallied up between our Facebook group and on our blog.
Rounding out the top 10 list is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling Hell Divers series by Nicholas Sansbury Smith. In Hell Divers, Smith unleashes post-apocalyptic science-fiction with the pacing of a thriller. He achieves his world-building succinctly, and moves from thrills to chills without the story becoming a mere catalogue of violence, along with tender moments that round out the characters. Hell Divers offers genre fans everything they could ask for, from fresh takes on the post-apocalypse to social commentary reminiscent of Snowpiercer, and plenty of action. The book's swift, tight plotting will also appeal to thriller fans, with a cliffhanger ending that leaves readers suspended mid-air for the rest of a promised trilogy.
At number 9, The Ember War by Richard Fox is a 9 book series that can be described as “Battlestar Galactica meets Mass Effect.” It is a story of first contact with galactic empires, some with our best interests at heart, others that see us as an infestation to be wiped out. Epic space battles, heroes and villains you'll never forget and just the right amount of humor to make you bust out laughing while you're reading in public.
Bobiverse by Dennis E. Taylor is the story of Robert “Bob” Johansson, who, after becoming financially independent by selling his software company, decides to spend some of his money by contracting to have his head cryogenically frozen by CryoEterna Inc. upon his death. The idea is that his head would be preserved until later, when technology permitted a body to be grown and his thawed head attached to it – thus resuming life. The next day he is unexpectedly killed in an automobile accident, and his contract is activated. He wakes up 117 years later and finds that he has been harvested from his frozen disembodied head and installed in a computer matrix as an artificial intelligence. The world has significantly changed.
Coming in at number 7, is The Lost Fleet by “Jack Campbell,” which is the pseudonym for John G. Hemry, a retired Naval officer (and graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis). As Jack Campbell, he writes The Lost Fleet series of military science fiction novels.
From book 1… Captain John “Black Jack” Geary’s legendary exploits are known to every schoolchild. Revered for his heroic “last stand” in the early days of the war, he was presumed dead. But a century later, Geary miraculously returns from survival hibernation and reluctantly takes command of the Alliance Fleet as it faces annihilation by the Syndic.
Appalled by the hero-worship around him, Geary is nevertheless a man who will do his duty. And he knows that bringing the stolen Syndic hypernet key safely home is the Alliance’s one chance to win the war. But to do that, Geary will have to live up to the impossibly heroic “Black Jack” legend..
In your #6 pick, Scalzi's blending of wry humor and futuristic warfare recalls Joe Haldeman's classic, The Forever War (1974), and strikes the right fan–pleasing chords to probably garner major sf award nominations.
In Old Man's War…with his wife dead and buried, and life nearly over at 75, John Perry takes the only logical course of action left him: he joins the army. Now better known as the Colonial Defense Force (CDF), Perry's service-of-choice has extended its reach into interstellar space to pave the way for human colonization of other planets while fending off marauding aliens. The CDF has a trick up its sleeve that makes enlistment especially enticing for seniors: the promise of restoring youth. After bonding with a group of fellow recruits who dub their clique the Old Farts, Perry finds himself in a new body crafted from his original DNA and upgraded for battle, including fast-clotting “smartblood” and a brain-implanted personal computer. All too quickly the Old Farts are separated, and Perry fights for his life on various alien-infested battlegrounds.
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card is the winner of the 1985 Nebula Award for Best Novel and the 1986 Hugo Award for Best Novel. This futuristic tale involves aliens, political discourse on the Internet, sophisticated computer games, and an orbiting battle station. Yet the reason it rings true for so many is that it is first and foremost a tale of humanity; a tale of a boy struggling to grow up into someone he can respect while living in an environment stripped of choices. Ender's Game is a must-read book for science fiction lovers, and a key conversion read for their friends who “don't read science fiction.”
*Ender's Game placed at #6 on our list of best sci-fi film adaptations.
*Andrew “Ender” Wiggin placed at #7 on our list of most epic sci-fi characters.
At #4 is fan-favorite Dune by Frank Herbert – a book that's shown up in almost all of the top 10 lists we publish. A stunning blend of adventure and mysticism, environmentalism and politics, Dune won the first Nebula Award, shared the Hugo Award, and formed the basis of what is undoubtedly the grandest epic in science fiction.
*Dune came in at #3 on our list of best sci-fi film adaptations.
*The book's protaganist Paul Atreides came in at #3 on our list of most epic sci-fi characters.
*The Bene Gesserit Sisterhood and Baron Vladimir Harkonnen both placed on our list of most epic villains of all time.
Galaxy's Edge is a co-written project by Jason Anspach and Nick Cole. Each book in the Galaxy's Edge series is an essential piece of an interconnected whole. Fight alongside Lieutenant Chhun and Victory Company through the deserts of Kublar in Legionnaire. Join the roguish Captain Keel and notorious bounty hunter Tyrus Rechs as they chase the same target in Galactic Outlaws. Continue to Kill Team to see how all these characters find their place on the galactic stage together, along with Legion Commander Keller, Dark Ops, and the mysterious secret agent X… then brace for a civil war initiated by the enigmatic Goth Sullus in Attack of Shadows.And that's only the beginning.
At number 2 comes the cult classic Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein. This controversial Hugo Award-winning bestseller, a recruit of the future goes through the toughest boot camp in the Universe—and into battle against mankind’s most alarming enemy…
“A classic…If you want a great military adventure, this one is for you.”—All SciFi
*Starship Troopers also placed in our top 10 list of best sci-fi books of all time. Click here to check out the full list.
Craig Alanson is a New York Times best-selling author of the (currently) 7 book Expeditionary Force (ExForce) series. His first audiobook Columbus Day, ExForce book 1, was one of five finalists for Audiobook Of The Year 2018.
And his fans came out in droves in support of his massively successful military sci-fi series, rocketing it to the very top of this exciting debate!
From book 1… We were fighting on the wrong side, of a war we couldn't win. And that was the good news.
The Ruhar hit us on Columbus Day. There we were, innocently drifting along the cosmos on our little blue marble, like the native Americans in 1492. Over the horizon come ships of a technologically advanced, aggressive culture, and BAM! There go the good old days, when humans only got killed by each other. So, Columbus Day. It fits.
When the morning sky twinkled again, this time with Kristang starships jumping in to hammer the Ruhar, we thought we were saved. The UN Expeditionary Force hitched a ride on Kristang ships to fight the Ruhar, wherever our new allies thought we could be useful. So, I went from fighting with the US Army in Nigeria, to fighting in space. It was lies, all of it. We shouldn't even be fighting the Ruhar, they aren't our enemy, our allies are.
I'd better start at the beginning….
Well, what do you think of that list? Do you agree, or do you feel as though your most-loved military sci-fi book/series is missing/didn't place as you think it deserved? Feel free to join us here in our Facebook group to chime in on the debate, and then check out our most recent poll while you're there. Don't have Facebook? Feel free to add to the comments below.
*All book-related copy in this post was pulled from Amazon & Wikipedia.
Did you know that there is an official Discover Sci-Fi Facebook group?
Fuelled by the opinions of thousands of sci-fi fans like yourself, each week we spark a new debate where you guys battle it out over which books rank at the top of best ever lists.
Ordered from 10 to 1 below based on your votes in the group and on this blog, this week we've got your top 10 selections for the best Starship Captains in a book/series of all time.
Click on the links to pick up the books featuring our courageous captains to add to your collection, and then add your comments at the bottom of this post (or in our Facebook group) to let us know if you agree (or not!).
Want to see who didn't make the cut? Click here to view the original poll that inspired this list.
*The results were decided by you based on votes tallied up between our Facebook group and on our blog.
Galaxy's Edge is a co-written project by Jason Anspach and Nick Cole. Each book in the Galaxy's Edge series is an essential piece of an interconnected whole.
Aeson Keel is a main character introduced in book 1, Legionnaire. Captain and owner of the independent freighter ship Indelible VI. He’s adopted the persona of “Wraith”, a bounty hunter, in order to gain access of the underworld where bounty hunters live and work.
Join the roguish Captain Keel and notorious bounty hunter Tyrus Rechs as they chase the same target in Galactic Outlaws. Continue to Kill Team to see how all these characters find their place on the galactic stage together, along with Legion Commander Keller, Dark Ops, and the mysterious secret agent X… then brace for a civil war initiated by the enigmatic Goth Sullus in Attack of Shadows. And that's only the beginning.
Featuring epic space battles, alien gangsters, and several thousand flying Tobey Maguires, Space Team is the first book in the internationally bestselling series by award-winning author, Barry J. Hutchison. It stars small-time crook Cal Carver who, through a series of unfortunate events, finds himself forced into a team of some of the sector's most notorious villains and scumbags and tasked with delivering a package to a warlord-run solar system where the authorities daren't venture.
Craig Alanson is a New York Times best-selling author of the (currently) 7 book Expeditionary Force (ExForce) series. His first audiobook Columbus Day, ExForce book 1, was one of five finalists for Audiobook Of The Year 2018.
The story follows Joe Bishop, a grunt in the army who is on Earth in the US during Columbus Day, one of the US holidays, when Earth is attacked by aliens. During the attack, a second alien race arrives, and it appears, chases off the first. The second alien race stay, enlisting humans to help in a galactic war, and suddenly Joe, who did some interesting things during the interrupted invasion, is thrust into the galaxy as a soldier on another planet.
The Lost Fleet by “Jack Campbell,” which is the pseudonym for John G. Hemry, a retired Naval officer (and graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis). As Jack Campbell, he writes The Lost Fleet series of military science fiction novels.
Captain John “Black Jack” Geary's legendary exploits are known to every schoolchild. Revered for his heroic “last stand” in the early days of the war, he was presumed dead. But a century later, Geary miraculously returns from survival hibernation and takes command of the Alliance fleet as it faces annihilation by the Syndics.
Coming in at number 6, is the revolutionary NYT bestselling Expanse series by James S. A. Corey which introduces Captain James Holden and his crew, as they unravel a horrifying solar system wide conspiracy that begins with a single missing girl.
In your #5 pick, Lazarus Long is a fictional character featured in a number of science fiction novels by Robert A. Heinlein. Born in 1912 in the third generation of a selective breeding experiment run by the Ira Howard Foundation, Lazarus (birth name Woodrow Wilson Smith) becomes unusually long-lived, living well over two thousand years with the aid of occasional rejuvenation treatments.
A duel, in the deepest darks, a savage fight between two veteran warriors, two captains, two heroes. An epic battle that only one can survive. A fight to determine if there is peace, or a bloody war where billions will die…
In Jay Allan's sweeping military sci-fi epic, Blood on the Stars, a distress call from a mining colony at the edge of Confederation space, sends Captain Tyler Barron and his ship forward into the unknown. Barron is the grandson of the Confederation’s greatest hero, and his name has always carried great privilege, along with crushing responsibility. Now he must prove that he has inherited more than just a name from his famous ancestor.
Malcolm ‘Mal' Reynolds was the captain of the Firefly-class transport ship Serenity. During the Unification War, Mal fought for the Independents and was the highest ranking Browncoat to participate in and survive the Battle of Serenity Valley.
Malcolm's main mission is to keep his crew alive and to keep his ship flying. As Firefly writer Tim Minear stated in an interview: “It's just about getting by. That's always been the mission statement of what the show is — getting by.” In Serenity, Mal says of himself: “[If the] Wind blows Northerly, I go North.”
Jean-Luc Picard is a fictional character in the Star Trek franchise, most often seen as the Captain of the starship USS Enterprise-D. As a character in the Star Trek franchise, Picard appears in various books, comics, computer games, and films throughout the 1990s. He is portrayed as being deeply moved by a desire to explore the universe and with a strong sense of duty, however he has misgivings about not having a family. The close-knit crew of the Enterprise provides his main friendships as they take on the Galaxy. Some of his interests, as presented by show include space exploration, Shakespeare, archeology, and earl grey tea.
At #1 is Honor Stephanie Alexander-Harrington (née Honor Stephanie Harrington), a fictional character created in 1992 by writer David Weber as the heroine of the eponymous “Honorverse”, a universe described in a series of best-selling military science fiction books set between 4003 and 4025 AD.
Harrington is an officer in the Royal Manticoran Navy (RMN), the space navy of the Star Kingdom of Manticore, an interstellar monarchy that counterbalances its relatively small size with superior space combat technology and capability. She has a genius for tactical command, often overcoming significant odds in critical battles and frequently finding herself at the centre of significant military actions. Her dedication to duty and uncompromising performance results in receiving numerous awards and promotions, earning the respect of interstellar empires, and accumulating implacable enemies. She is a skilled martial artist and through her association with her treecat companion Nimitz, develops an empathic sense that assists her in understanding the emotions of those around her.
Well, what do you think of that list? Do you agree, or do you feel as though your most-loved military sci-fi book/series is missing/didn't place as you think it deserved? Feel free to join us here in our Facebook group to chime in on the debate, and then check out our most recent poll while you're there. Don't have Facebook? Feel free to add to the comments below.
*All book-related copy in this post was pulled from Amazon & Wikipedia.
Did you know that there is an official Discover Sci-Fi Facebook group?
Fuelled by the opinions of thousands of sci-fi fans like yourself, each week we spark a new debate where you guys battle it out over which books rank at the top of best ever lists.
Ordered from 10 to 1 below based on your votes in the group and on this blog, this week we've got your top 10 selections for the best time travel tales (from a book) of all time.
Click on the links to pick up the books that inspired each of the books to add to your collection, and then add your comments at the bottom of this post (or in our Facebook group) to let us know if you agree (or not!).
Want to see who didn't make the cut? Click here to view the original poll that inspired this list.
*The results were decided by you based on votes tallied up between our Facebook group and on our blog.
Rounding out the top 10 list is Audrey Niffenegger's innovative debut, The Time Traveler's Wife. In this touchingly romantic love story, Niffenegger skillfully interweaves her uniquely compelling take on time travel in well-written prose.
At number 9, is Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut, an American classic, and one of the world’s great antiwar books. Centering on the infamous World War II firebombing of Dresden, the novel is the result of what Kurt Vonnegut described as a twenty-three-year struggle to write a book about what he had witnessed as an American prisoner of war. It combines historical fiction, science fiction, autobiography, and satire in an account of the life of Billy Pilgrim, a barber’s son turned draftee turned optometrist turned alien abductee. As Vonnegut had, Billy experiences the destruction of Dresden as a POW. Unlike Vonnegut, he experiences time travel, or coming “unstuck in time.”
Fifty years after its initial publication at the height of the Vietnam War, Vonnegut's portrayal of political disillusionment, PTSD, and postwar anxiety feels as relevant, darkly humorous, and profoundly affecting as ever, an enduring beacon through our own era’s uncertainties.
From Connie Willis, winner of multiple Hugo and Nebula Awards, comes your #8 pick, a comedic romp through an unpredictable world of mystery, love, and time travel . . .
To Say Nothing of the Dog is a science-fiction fantasy in the guise of an old-fashioned Victorian novel, complete with epigraphs, brief outlines, and a rather ugly boxer in three-quarters profile at the start of each chapter. Or is it a Victorian novel in the guise of a time-traveling tale, or a highly comic romp, or a great, allusive literary game, complete with spry references to Dorothy L. Sayers, Wilkie Collins, and Arthur Conan Doyle? Its title is the subtitle of Jerome K. Jerome's singular, and hilarious, Three Men in a Boat. In one scene the hero, Ned Henry, and his friends come upon Jerome, two men, and the dog Montmorency in–you guessed it–a boat. Jerome will later immortalize Ned's fumbling. (Or, more accurately, Jerome will earlier immortalize Ned's fumbling, because Ned is from the 21st century and Jerome from the 19th.)
Unrivaled storytelling. Unforgettable characters. Rich historical detail. These are the hallmarks of Diana Gabaldon’s work. Her New York Times bestselling Outlander novels have earned the praise of critics and captured the hearts of millions of fans. Here is the story that started it all, introducing two remarkable characters, Claire Beauchamp Randall and Jamie Fraser, in a spellbinding novel of passion and history that combines exhilarating adventure with a love story for the ages.
In your #6 pick, Maureen Johnson, the somewhat irregular mother of Lazarus Long, wakes up in bed with a man and a cat. The cat is Pixel, well-known to fans of the New York Times best seller The Cat Who Walks through Walls. The man is a stranger to her, and besides that, he is dead.
So begins Robert A. Heinlein's To Sail Beyond the Sunset. Filled with the master's most beloved characters, this compelling work broadens and enriches his epic vision of time and space, life and death, love and desire. It is also an autobiographical masterpiece-and a wondrous return to the alternate universes that all Heinlein fans have come to know and love.
In her Time Trader series, Andre Norton tacitly assumes that the physics of time travel differs so significantly from the physics of space travel, especially hyperdrive-propelled interstellar flight, that a civilization that discovers the technology of one simply will not discover the technology of the other. Earth’s physicists have discovered the secret of time travel, but the engineers and scientists who built and use the time transporters have devised a clever way to obtain the secrets of space travel: if it is not possible to discover the secrets, we get them from someone who did.
In Eric Flint's novel of time travel and alternate history, a six-mile square of West Virginia is tossed back in time and space to Germany in 1632, at the height of the barbaric and devastating Thirty Years' War. Repelling marauding mercenaries and housing German refugees are only the first of many problems the citizens of the tiny new U.S. face, problems including determining who shall be a citizen. In between action scenes and descriptions of technological military hardware, Flint handles that problem and other serious ethical questions seriously and offers a double handful of memorable characters: a Sephardic Jewish family that establishes commercial and marital ties with the Americans, a cheerleader captain turned lethal master sniper, a schoolteacher and an African American doctor who provide indispensable common sense and skill, a German refugee who is her family's sole protector, and, not least, King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden. Not, perhaps, as elegant as some time-traveling alternate histories, Flint's is an intelligent page-turner nevertheless.
One of Isaac Asimov's SF masterpieces, this stand-alone novel is a monument of the flowering of SF in the twentieth century. It is widely regarded as Asimov's single best SF novel.
Andrew Harlan is an Eternal, a member of the elite of the future. One of the few who live in Eternity, a location outside of place and time, Harlan's job is to create carefully controlled and enacted Reality Changes. These Changes are small, exactingly calculated shifts in the course of history, made for the benefit of humankind. Though each Change has been made for the greater good, there are also always costs.
On November 22, 1963, three shots rang out in Dallas, President Kennedy died, and the world changed. What if you could change it back? Stephen King’s heart-stoppingly dramatic new novel is about a man who travels back in time to prevent the JFK assassination—a thousand page tour de force.
Following his massively successful novel Under the Dome, King sweeps readers back in time to another moment—a real life moment—when everything went wrong: the JFK assassination. And he introduces readers to a character who has the power to change the course of history.
At #1 is the science fiction classic that coined the term “time machine” and is generally credited with the popularization of the concept of time travel. A must read for any fan of science fiction!
The Time Machine is a science fiction novella by H. G. Wells, published in 1895 and written as a frame narrative. The work is generally credited with the popularization of the concept of time travel by using a vehicle that allows an operator to travel purposely and selectively forwards or backwards in time. The term “time machine”, coined by Wells, is now almost universally used to refer to such a vehicle.
The Time Machine has been adapted into three feature films of the same name, as well as two television versions, and a large number of comic book adaptations. It has also indirectly inspired many more works of fiction in many media productions
Well, what do you think of that list? Do you agree, or do you feel as though your most-loved time travel tale is missing/didn't place as you think it deserved? Feel free to join us here in our Facebook group to chime in on the debate, and then check out our most recent poll while you're there. Don't have Facebook? Feel free to add to the comments below.
*All book-related copy in this post was pulled from Amazon & Wikipedia.
Did you know that there is an official Discover Sci-Fi Facebook group?
Fuelled by the opinions of hundreds of sci-fi fans like yourself, each week we spark a new debate where you guys battle it out over which books rank at the top of best ever lists.
Ordered from 10 to 1 below based on your votes in the group and on this blog, this week we've got your top 10 selections for the most EPIC villain/group of villains, in a sci-fi book or series.
Click on the links to pick up the books antagonized by each of these epic villains to add to your collection, and then add your comments at the bottom of this post (or in our Facebook group) to let us know if you agree (or not!).
*The results were decided by you based on votes tallied up between our Facebook group and on our blog.
Rounding out the top 10 list are the Pierson's Puppeteers, often known just as Puppeteers, who are a fictional alien race from American author Larry Niven's Known Space books. The race first appeared in Niven’s novella, Neutron Star.
A technologically advanced race of three-legged, twin-necked herbivores descended from herd animals, and noted for their so-called cowardice. Their commercial empire directly and indirectly controls events throughout Known Space and beyond, and Puppeteer plots are behind many of the larger events in Known Space. The name “Puppeteer” is purportedly derived from the twin “heads” (not enclosing brains) which perform as both mouths and hands, which strongly resemble sock puppets. The Puppeteer voice range is far greater than the human one, but for speaking to humans they adopt the tone of a very seductive female. It is also suggested that the “Puppeteer” name may derive from their social tendency to be very manipulative. The species were also depicted in Barlowe's Guide to Extraterrestrials.
Coming in at number 9, in Frank Herbert's 1965 novel Dune, the Bene Gesserit are a secretive matriarchal order who have achieved superhuman abilities through physical and mental conditioning and the use of the drug melange. Under the guise of humbly “serving” the Empire, the Sisterhood is in fact a major power in the universe, using its many areas of influence to subtly guide humanity along the path of its own plan for humanity's future.
Gavin Stark is the main antagonist in Jay Allan's expansive Crimson Worlds books. The former head of Alliance Intelligence, and the bitter nemesis of the Marine Corps, he makes his bid for power over the universe. The manufactured clone soldiers of his Shadow Legions have seized control of dozens of colony worlds, imposing his brutal rule over millions of colonists. His plan is no less than to subjugate all mankind under his iron fist.
Will mankind live under the iron boot of Gavin Stark and his clone descendants forever? Or will the series's antagonist Erik Cain and his team of Marines defeat him once and for all? You'll have to dive into the series to find out…
Coming in at number 7, Khan Noonien Singh, commonly shortened to Khan, is a fictional character in the Star Trek science fiction franchise. Although the Star Trek books were written after the TV show came out, they are loved by sci-fi fans everywhere.
The character once controlled more than a quarter of the Earth during the Eugenics Wars of the 1990s. After being revived from suspended animation in 2267 by the crew of the Starship Enterprise, Khan attempts to capture the starship, but is thwarted by James T. Kirk and exiled on Ceti Alpha V to create a new society with his people. In Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, set fifteen years after “Space Seed”, Khan escapes his exile and sets out to exact revenge upon Kirk.
Scorpius, is the half-Sebacean, half-Scarran Peacekeeper, and the primary antagonist of the Farscape series of TV shows, books and comics. He relentlessly pursues John Crichton for the secrets of wormhole technology locked in John Crichton's unconscious mind to create a wormhole weapon.
He is the product of an experiment by the Scarrans – his Sebacean mother was raped by a Scarran to see if there would be any benefit in a hybrid. Raised by Scarrans, he has come to hate them, to reject his Scarran side, and to live for revenge against them.
The Boskone or Boskonia is a criminal organization in the Lensman series of Sci-Fi novels by writer E.E Smith.
Boskone is one of the two superpowers in the Lensverse, and is opposed to Civilization. Having been created possibly even billions of years ago, when the Eddorians first entered our universe, it is much older than Civilization. Due to the nature of the Eddorians and the system they created, it is both extremely hierarchical and utterly ruthless: the concept of “the end justifies the means” is taken to extremes, as Galactic Patrol notes: “Anything – literally anything at all that produced the desired result was commendable; to fail was the only crime. The successful named their own rewards; those who failed were disciplined with an impersonal, rigid severity exactly proportional to the magnitude of their failures.
Coming in at #4, The Mule is a fictional character from Isaac Asimov's Foundation series*. One of the greatest conquerors the galaxy has ever seen, he is a mentalic who has the ability to reach into the minds of others and “adjust” their emotions, individually or en masse, using this capability to conscript individuals to his cause. Not direct mind-control per se, it is a subtle influence of the subconscious; individuals under the Mule's influence behave otherwise normally – logic, memories, and personality intact. This gives the Mule the capacity to disrupt Hari Seldon's** plan by invalidating Seldon's assumption that no single individual could have a measurable effect on galactic socio-historical trends on their own, due to the plan relying on the predictability of the actions of very large numbers of people.
*The Foundation series placed at #1 on our list of top 10 sci-fi books of all time. Click here to view the complete list.
**Hari Seldon came in at #1 on our list of top 10 most EPIC sci-fi characters. Click here to view the complete list.
At #3, the Borg are a fictional alien group that appear as recurring antagonists in the Star Trek franchise. The Borg are cybernetic organisms, linked in a hive mind called “the Collective”. The Borg co-opt the technology and knowledge of other alien species to the Collective through the process of “assimilation”: forcibly transforming individual beings into “drones” by injecting nanoprobes into their bodies and surgically augmenting them with cybernetic components. The Borg's ultimate goal is “achieving perfection”.
At number 2 comes Darth Vader, the primary antagonist in the Star Wars franchise. Star Wars creator George Lucas has collectively referred to the first six episodic films of the franchise as “the tragedy of Darth Vader.”
The first Star Wars novel was published in 1976. In the decades since, dozens of books set in the galaxy far, far away have been released.
Coming in at #1 is the Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, a fictional character from the Dune franchise created by Frank Herbert.
The Baronial leader of House Harkonnen, he rules from his ancestral homeworld of Giedi Prime, exercising a tyrannical rule of exploitation and sadism over the lives of the slaves unfortunate enough to end up in the service of his House. A long-standing rival of House Atreides, the Baron is determined to bring about their end, with particular emphasis on seeing Duke Leto Atreides' humiliating defeat.
Well, what do you think of that list? Do you agree, or do you feel as though your most-loved (feared?) villain is missing/didn't place as you think it deserved? Feel free to join us here in our Facebook group to chime in on the debate, and then check out our most recent poll while you're there. Don't have Facebook? Feel free to add to the comments below.
*All book-related copy in this post was pulled from Amazon & Wikipedia.
Did you know that there is an official Discover Sci-Fi Facebook group?
Fuelled by the opinions of hundreds of sci-fi fans like yourself, each week we spark a new debate where you guys battle it out over which books rank at top of best ever lists.
Ordered from 10 to 1 below based on your votes in the group, this week we've got your top 10 selections for the most iconic character of all time from a sci-fi book or series.
Click on any of the links to pick up the books featuring each character to add to your collection, and then add your comments at the bottom of this post (or in our Facebook group) to let us know if you agree (or not!).
*The results were decided by you based on votes tallied up between our Facebook group and on our blog.
Rounding out the top 10 list is Valentine Michael Smith from the book A Stranger in a Strange Landby Robert A. Heinlein.
Robert Heinlein's Hugo Award-winning all-time masterpiece, the brilliant novel that grew from a cult favorite to a bestseller to a science fiction classic.
Raised by Martians on Mars, Valentine Michael Smith is a human who has never seen another member of his species. Sent to Earth, he is a stranger who must learn what it is to be a man. But his own beliefs and his powers far exceed the limits of humankind, and as he teaches them about grokking and water-sharing, he also inspires a transformation that will alter Earth’s inhabitants forever…
At number 9 is #1 national bestseller, The Gunslinger which introduces readers to one of Stephen King’s most powerful creations, Roland of Gilead: The Last Gunslinger. He is a haunting figure, a loner on a spellbinding journey into good and evil. In his desolate world, which mirrors our own in frightening ways, Roland tracks The Man in Black, encounters an enticing woman named Alice, and begins a friendship with the boy from New York named Jake.
Inspired in part by the Robert Browning narrative poem, “Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came,” The Gunslinger is “a compelling whirlpool of a story that draws one irretrievable to its center” (Milwaukee Sentinel). It is “brilliant and fresh…and will leave you panting for more” (Booklist).
R. Daneel Olivaw is a fictional robot created by Isaac Asimov. The “R” initial in his name stands for “Robot,” a naming convention in Asimov's future society. Daneel appears in Asimov's Robot and Foundation series, most notably in the novels The Caves of Steel, The Naked Sun, The Robots of Dawn, Robots and Empire, Prelude to Foundation, Forward the Foundation, Foundation and Earth as well as the short story “Mirror Image”. He is constructed immediately prior to the age of the Settlers, and lives at least until the formation of Galaxia, thus spanning the entire history of the First Empire, the Second Empire run by the Second Foundation, and finally the group consciousnesses of Galaxia, although this last is uncertain as no book about this was ever written.
“Ender's Game tells the story of a young boy, Ender Wiggin, who is sent to a training academy named Battle School, located in orbit above the Earth, built to train people to become soldiers that will one day battle against a vast alien race known as “Buggers”. Ender goes up there, trying his best to become promoted in the difficult training scheme; his brother and sister are trying to restore the world and to make it a better place. For Ender, the training is tough. He is granted a very special teacher, who will help him to become a commander to save humanity from the Third Invasion.”
Coming in at #7, Andrew “Ender” Wiggin is the main character in Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card, which won the 1985 Nebula Award for Best Novel and the 1986 Hugo Award for Best Novel.
“Join Douglas Adams's hapless hero Arthur Dent as he travels the galaxy with his intrepid pal Ford Prefect, getting into horrible messes and generally wreaking hilarious havoc. Dent is grabbed from Earth moments before a cosmic construction team obliterates the planet to build a freeway.”
Nominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American Read, Discover Sci-Fi fans agree, placing Arthur Dent from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams at #6 on your top list for most iconic sci-fi character.
You'll never read funnier science fiction; Adams is a master of intelligent satire, barbed wit, and comedic dialogue. The Hitchhiker's Guide is rich in comedic detail and thought-provoking situations and stands up to multiple reads. Required reading for science fiction fans, this book (and its follow-ups) is also sure to please fans of Monty Python, Terry Pratchett's Discworld series, and British sitcoms.
Honor Stephanie Alexander-Harrington is a fictional character created in 1992 by writer David Weber as the heroine of the eponymous “Honorverse“, a universe described in a series of best-selling[1] military science fiction books set between 4003 and 4025 AD.
Harrington is an officer in the Royal Manticoran Navy (RMN), the space navy of the Star Kingdom of Manticore, an interstellar monarchy that counterbalances its relatively small size with superior space combat technology and capability. She has a genius for tactical command, often overcoming significant odds in critical battles and frequently finding herself at the centre of significant military actions. Her dedication to duty and uncompromising performance results in receiving numerous awards and promotions, earning the respect of interstellar empires, and accumulating implacable enemies. She is a skilled martial artist and through her association with her treecat companion Nimitz, develops an empathic sense that assists her in understanding the emotions of those around her.
Lazarus Long is a fictional character featured in a number of science fiction novels by Robert A. Heinlein. Born in 1912 in the third generation of a selective breeding experiment run by the Ira Howard Foundation, Lazarus (birth name Woodrow Wilson Smith) becomes unusually long-lived, living well over two thousand years with the aid of occasional rejuvenation treatments.
The Lazarus Long set of books involve time travel, parallel dimensions, free love, individualism, and a concept that Heinlein named World as Myth—the theory that universes are created by the act of imagining them, such that even fictional worlds are real.
Set on the desert planet Arrakis, Dune is the story of the boy Paul Atreides—who would become known as Muad’Dib—and of a great family’s ambition to bring to fruition humankind’s most ancient and unattainable dream.
A stunning blend of adventure and mysticism, environmentalism and politics, Dune won the first Nebula Award, shared the Hugo Award, and formed the basis of what is undoubtedly the grandest epic in science fiction.
HAL 9000 is a fictional character and the main antagonist in Arthur C. Clarke's Space Odyssey series. First appearing in the 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey, HAL (Heuristically programmed ALgorithmic computer) is a sentient computer (or artificial general intelligence) that controls the systems of the Discovery One spacecraft and interacts with the ship's astronaut crew. Part of HAL's hardware is shown towards the end of the film, but he is mostly depicted as a camera lens containing a red or yellow dot, instances of which are located throughout the ship.
Coming in at #1, Hari Seldon from Isaac Asimov's Foundation series is your choice for most epic sci-fi character of all time. This comes as no surprise, as you also voted Asimov's Foundation trilogy as your #1 pick for top sci-fi book of all time in a recent poll (click here to view the complete list).
In his capacity as mathematics professor at Streeling University on the planet Trantor, Seldon develops psychohistory, an algorithmic science that allows him to predict the future in probabilistic terms. On the basis of his psychohistory he is able to predict the eventual fall of the Galactic Empire and to develop a means to shorten the millennia of chaos to follow. The significance of his discoveries lies behind his nickname “Raven” Seldon.
In the first five books of the Foundation series, Hari Seldon made only one in-the-flesh appearance, in the first part of the first book (Foundation), although he did appear at other times in pre-recorded messages to reveal a Seldon Crisis. After writing five books in chronological order, Asimov went back with two books to better describe the initial process. The two prequels—Prelude to Foundation and Forward the Foundation—describe his life in considerable detail. He is also the central character of the Second Foundation Trilogy written after Asimov's death (Foundation's Fear by Gregory Benford, Foundation and Chaos by Greg Bear, and Foundation's Triumph by David Brin), which are set after Asimov's two prequels.
Well, what do you think of that list? Do you agree, or do you feel as though your most-loved character is missing/didn't place as you think deserved? Feel free to join us here in our Facebook group to chime in on the debate, and then check out our most recent poll while you're there. Don't have Facebook? Feel free to add to the comments below.
*All book-related copy in this post was pulled from Amazon & Wikipedia.
Did you know that there is an official Discover Sci-Fi Facebook group?
Fueled by the opinions of hundreds of sci-fi fans like yourself, each week we spark a new debate where you guys battle it out over which books rank at top of best ever lists.
Ordered from 10 to 1 below based on your votes in the group, we kicked off our “top 10” list with a bang seeking out the winner for best sci-fi book of all time.
Click on any of the links to pick up copies of those you're missing from your collection, and then add your comments at the bottom of this post (or in our Facebook group) to let us know if you agree (or not!).
“Johnnie Rico never really intended to join up—and definitely not the infantry. But now that he’s in the thick of it, trying to get through combat training harder than anything he could have imagined, he knows everyone in his unit is one bad move away from buying the farm in the interstellar war the Terran Federation is waging against the Arachnids.”
Rounding out the top 10 list is cult classic Starship Troopers (the first of 3 books by Robert A. Heinlein that made this list). In this controversial Hugo Award-winning bestseller, a recruit of the future goes through the toughest boot camp in the Universe—and into battle against mankind’s most alarming enemy…
“In 1984, London is a grim city in the totalitarian state of Oceania where Big Brother is always watching you and the Thought Police can practically read your mind. Winston Smith is a man in grave danger for the simple reason that his memory still functions. Drawn into a forbidden love affair, Winston finds the courage to join a secret revolutionary organization called The Brotherhood, dedicated to the destruction of the Party. Together with his beloved Julia, he hazards his life in a deadly match against the powers that be.”
At number 9, George Orwell’s 1984 has taken on new life with extraordinary relevance and renewed popularity in recent days. Among the seminal texts of the 20th century, Nineteen Eighty-Four is a rare work that grows more haunting as its futuristic purgatory becomes more real. Published in 1949, the book offers political satirist George Orwell's nightmare vision of a totalitarian, bureaucratic world and one poor stiff's attempt to find individuality. The brilliance of the novel is Orwell's prescience of modern life–the ubiquity of television, the distortion of the language–and his ability to construct such a thorough version of hell. Required reading for students since it was published, it ranks among the most terrifying novels ever written.
“In Heinlein's gripping tale of revolution on the moon in 2076, “Loonies” are kept poor and oppressed by an Earth-based Authority that turns huge profits at their expense. A small band of dissidents, including a one-armed computer jock, a radical young woman, a past-his-prime academic and a nearly omnipotent computer named Mike, ignite the fires of revolution despite the near certainty of failure and death.”
Widely acknowledged as one of Robert A. Heinlein's greatest works, The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress rose from the golden age of science fiction to become an undisputed classic–and a touchstone for the philosophy of personal responsibility and political freedom. A revolution on a lunar penal colony–aided by a self-aware supercomputer–provides the framework for a story of a diverse group of men and women grappling with the ever-changing definitions of humanity, technology, and free will–themes that resonate just as strongly today as they did when the novel was first published.
“On a beautiful world called Pern, an ancient way of life is about to come under attack from a myth that is all too real. Lessa is an outcast survivor—her parents murdered, her birthright stolen—a strong young woman who has never stopped dreaming of revenge. But when an ancient threat to Pern reemerges, Lessa will rise—upon the back of a great dragon with whom she shares a telepathic bond more intimate than any human connection. Together, dragon and rider will fly . . . and Pern will be changed forever.”
Coming in at #7, read Dragonflight and you're confronted with McCaffrey the storyteller in her prime, staking a claim for being one of the influential fantasy and SF novelists of her generation – and doing it, remarkably, in the same novel.
“Louis Wu, accompanied by a young woman with genes for luck, and a captured kzin – a warlike species resembling 8-foot-tall cats — are taken on a space ship run by a brilliant 2-headed alien called Nessus. Their destination is the Ringworld, an artificially constructed ring with high walls that hold 3 million times the area of Earth. Its origins are shrouded in mystery.”
Winner of both the Hugo and Nebula Awards for Best Novel, RINGWORLD remains a favorite among science fiction readers, and came in at #6 according to the DSF community.
“Ender's Game tells the story of a young boy, Ender Wiggin, who is sent to a training academy named Battle School, located in orbit above the Earth, built to train people to become soldiers that will one day battle against a vast alien race known as “Buggers”. Ender goes up there, trying his best to become promoted in the difficult training scheme; his brother and sister are trying to restore the world and to make it a better place. For Ender, the training is tough. He is granted a very special teacher, who will help him to become a commander to save humanity from the Third Invasion.”
This futuristic tale involves aliens, political discourse on the Internet, sophisticated computer games, and an orbiting battle station. Yet the reason it rings true for so many is that it is first and foremost a tale of humanity; a tale of a boy struggling to grow up into someone he can respect while living in an environment stripped of choices. Ender's Game is a must-read book for science fiction lovers, and a key conversion read for their friends who “don't read science fiction.”
“Raised by Martians on Mars, Valentine Michael Smith is a human who has never seen another member of his species. Sent to Earth, he is a stranger who must learn what it is to be a man. But his own beliefs and his powers far exceed the limits of humankind, and as he teaches them about grokking and water-sharing, he also inspires a transformation that will alter Earth’s inhabitants forever…”
Robert Heinlein's Hugo Award-winning all-time masterpiece, the brilliant novel that grew from a cult favorite to a bestseller to a science fiction classic.
“Join Douglas Adams's hapless hero Arthur Dent as he travels the galaxy with his intrepid pal Ford Prefect, getting into horrible messes and generally wreaking hilarious havoc. Dent is grabbed from Earth moments before a cosmic construction team obliterates the planet to build a freeway.”
Nominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American Read, Discover Sci-Fi fans agree, placing The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams at #3 on your top sci-fi book list.
You'll never read funnier science fiction; Adams is a master of intelligent satire, barbed wit, and comedic dialogue. The Hitchhiker's Guide is rich in comedic detail and thought-provoking situations and stands up to multiple reads. Required reading for science fiction fans, this book (and its follow-ups) is also sure to please fans of Monty Python, Terry Pratchett's Discworld series, and British sitcoms.
“This Hugo and Nebula Award winner tells the sweeping tale of a desert planet called Arrakis, the focus of an intricate power struggle in a byzantine interstellar empire. Arrakis is the sole source of Melange, the “spice of spices.” Melange is necessary for interstellar travel and grants psychic powers and longevity, so whoever controls it wields great influence.
The troubles begin when stewardship of Arrakis is transferred by the Emperor from the Harkonnen Noble House to House Atreides. The Harkonnens don't want to give up their privilege, though, and through sabotage and treachery they cast young Duke Paul Atreides out into the planet's harsh environment to die. There he falls in with the Fremen, a tribe of desert dwellers who become the basis of the army with which he will reclaim what's rightfully his. Paul Atreides, though, is far more than just a usurped duke. He might be the end product of a very long-term genetic experiment designed to breed a super human; he might be a messiah. His struggle is at the center of a nexus of powerful people and events, and the repercussions will be felt throughout the Imperium.”
A stunning blend of adventure and mysticism, environmentalism and politics, Dune won the first Nebula Award, shared the Hugo Award, and formed the basis of what is undoubtedly the grandest epic in science fiction.
“The Foundation Trilogy is a series of tales set so far in the future that Earth is all but forgotten by humans who live throughout the galaxy. Yet all is not well with the Galactic Empire. Its vast size is crippling to it. In particular, the administrative planet, honeycombed and tunneled with offices and staff, is vulnerable to attack or breakdown. The only person willing to confront this imminent catastrophe is Hari Seldon, a psychohistorian and mathematician. Seldon can scientifically predict the future, and it doesn't look pretty: a new Dark Age is scheduled to send humanity into barbarism in 500 years. He concocts a scheme to save the knowledge of the race in an Encyclopedia Galactica. But this project will take generations to complete, and who will take up the torch after him?”
Coming in at #1 , The Foundation Trilogy, by Isaac Asimov is loved by sci-fi fans the world over. Asimov was one the world's most celebrated and prolific science fiction writers, having written or edited more than 500 books over his four-decade career. Your choice of Foundation being the top read in sci-fi is recognized by sci-fi fans everywhere. In 1966, the Foundation Trilogy received the Hugo Award for Best All-Time Series, beating out the Lord of the Rings.
Well, what do you think of that list? Do you agree, or do you feel as though your most-loved book is missing/didn't place as you think it deserved? Feel free to join us here in our Facebook group to chime in on the debate, and then check out our most recent poll while you're there. Don't have Facebook? Feel free to add to the comments below.
*All book-related copy in this post was pulled from Amazon and Wikipedia.