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GSV’s Science Fiction and Fantasy page |
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Shown above is (part of) the (SF) library. If you’re a fan, and double click to get the full size picture, you can doubtless spot some of the volumes. Altogether there is space for about 1,400 books, mostly ‘mass market paperback’ size, so when the total starts to exceed this, the excess have to go back to the used bookshops .. luckily there are several of those within easy reach.
I like my SF stories without glaring errors in the science, and I prefer them light and humerous, rather than dark and unneccessarily convoluted (exit Mary Doria Russell and Gene Wolfe, right there). All the books are catalogued in Access, along with several thousand that I don’t have, and about 30 that I am actively looking for (at reasonable ‘reading copy’ prices). This makes it fairly easy to spit out lists and summaries .. below, for instance, is a list of my all time favourites (subject to me re-reading them and changing my mind).
If you want a really comprehensive (but still incomplete) database of ‘science fiction’, you need to visit the Internet Speculative Fiction Database at http://isfdb.tamu.edu/. If you want more opinions than just mine, then I can recommend the ‘Top 100’ database at http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Cavern/6113/top100.html .. more particularly the ‘full list’ of several thousand books, and reader ratings. |
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All Time Favourites |
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Author Name(s) |
Book Title |
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Aldiss - Brian Wilson & Harrison - Harry |
The Astounding-Analog Reader Book Two |
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Allen - Roger MacBride |
The Ring of Charon |
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Anderson - Poul |
Trader to the Stars |
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Anthony - Piers |
The ‘Cluster’ series |
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Anthony - Piers |
Battle Circle |
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Asimov - Isaac |
the ‘Foundation’ trilogy |
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Asimov - Isaac |
Foundation's Edge |
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Banks - Iain M. |
Excession |
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Banks - Iain M. |
The Player of Games |
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Bass - T. J. |
Half Past Human |
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Bear - Greg |
Eon |
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Bester - Alfred |
The Demolished Man |
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Bester - Alfred |
Tiger, Tiger (aka The Stars My Destination) |
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Biggle - Lloyd Jr. |
All the Colours of Darkness |
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Blish - James |
A Clash of Cymbals |
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Blish - James |
Earthman Come Home |
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Brin - David |
Startide Rising |
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Brin - David |
The Postman |
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Brown - Frederic |
The Mind Thing |
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Budrys - Algis |
Who? |
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Bujold - Lois McMaster |
A Civil Campaign |
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Bujold - Lois McMaster |
Barrayar |
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Burkett - William R. Jr. |
Sleeping Planet |
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Carnell - John |
No Place Like Earth |
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Cherryh - Carolyn Janice |
Downbelow Station |
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Cherryh - Carolyn Janice |
the ‘Faded Sun’ trilogy |
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Cherryh - Carolyn Janice |
The Pride of Chanur |
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Clarke - Arthur C. |
A Fall of Moondust |
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Clarke - Arthur C. |
Rendezvous with Rama |
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Clement - Hal |
Mission of Gravity |
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Cowper - Richard |
The Road to Corlay |
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Daley - Brian |
Jinx on a Terran Inheritance |
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Dalmas - John |
The Varkaus Conspiracy |
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Davis - Gerry & Pedler - Kit |
Mutant 59 the Plastic Eater |
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Elliot - John & Hoyle - Fred |
A for Andromeda |
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Galouye - Daniel Francis |
Dark Universe |
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Green - Joseph L. |
Conscience Interplanetary |
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Grimwood - Ken |
Replay |
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Hamilton - Peter F. |
The Reality Dysfunction |
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Harness - Charles L. |
The Paradox Men |
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Harrison - Harry |
The Deathworld Trilogy |
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Harrison - Harry |
The Stainless Steel Rat |
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Harrison - Harry |
West of Eden |
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Heinlein - Robert A. |
Double Star |
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Heinlein - Robert A. |
Glory Road |
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Heinlein - Robert A. |
Stranger in a Strange Land |
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Heinlein - Robert A. |
The Door into Summer |
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Heinlein - Robert A. |
The Man Who Sold the Moon |
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Heinlein - Robert A. |
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress |
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Heinlein - Robert A. |
The Past Through Tomorrow Vol.1 |
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Henderson - Zenna |
Pilgrimage |
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Herbert - Frank |
Dune |
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Kornbluth - Cyril M. & Pohl - Frederick |
The Space Merchants |
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Kornbluth - Cyril M. & Pohl - Frederick |
Wolfbane |
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Lewis - Clive Staples |
The ‘Narnia’ chronicles. |
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Martin - George R. R. |
Tuf Voyaging |
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McCaffrey - Anne |
Dragonflight |
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McCaffrey - Anne |
Dragonquest |
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McDonald - Ian |
Chaga |
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Miller - Walter M. Jr. |
Conditionally Human & Other Stories |
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Moran - Daniel Keys |
The Long Run |
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Niven - Larry |
A Gift From Earth |
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Niven - Larry |
Crashlander |
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Niven - Larry |
Neutron Star |
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Niven - Larry |
Protector |
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Niven - Larry |
Ringworld |
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Niven - Larry & Pournelle - Jerry |
Footfall |
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Niven - Larry & Pournelle - Jerry |
Lucifer's Hammer |
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Niven - Larry & Pournelle - Jerry |
The Mote in God's Eye |
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Piper - H. Beam |
Little Fuzzy |
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Pratchett - Terry |
The Light Fantastic (and other Discworld novels) |
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Raphael - Rick |
The Thirst Quenchers |
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Rowling - Joanne K. |
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban |
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Russell - Eric Frank |
Men, Martians, and Machines |
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Russell - Eric Frank |
Three to Conquer |
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Russell - Eric Frank |
Wasp |
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Schmitz - James H. |
Agent of Vega |
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Schmitz - James H. |
The Telzey Toy and Other Stories |
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Schmitz - James H. |
TnT: Telzey & Trigger |
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Simak - Clifford D. |
Aliens for Neighbours |
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Simak - Clifford D. |
All Flesh is Grass |
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Simak - Clifford D. |
City |
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Simak - Clifford D. |
They Walked Like Men |
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Simmons - Dan |
The Hyperion cantos. |
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Smith - Cordwainer |
Norstrilia |
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Tepper - Sheri Stewart |
After Long Silence (aka ‘The Enigma Score’) |
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Tepper - Sheri Stewart |
Raising the Stones |
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Tepper - Sheri Stewart |
The Family Tree |
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Tolkien - John Ronald Reuel |
Lord of the Rings |
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Tolkien - John Ronald Reuel |
The Hobbit |
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Van Vogt - Alfred Elton |
The Pawns of Null-A |
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Van Vogt - Alfred Elton |
The Weapon Makers |
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Van Vogt - Alfred Elton |
The World of Null-A |
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Vinge - Joan D. |
The Snow Queen |
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Vinge - Vernor |
A Deepness in the Sky |
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Vinge - Vernor |
A Fire Upon the Deep |
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Vinge - Vernor |
Marooned in Real Time |
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Vinge - Vernor |
The Peace War |
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Wilson - Robert Charles |
Darwinia |
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Wyndham - John |
The Chrysalids |
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Zelazny - Roger |
Lord of Light |
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Zelazny - Roger |
This Immortal |