You tell me… I put out a subtle call for this the other day, then decided I'd have to be a little more loud about it: I want to compile a list of classic SF. Nothing newer than, say, published 20 years ago. If you have a link to where the book can be read free, feel free to include it! I'll create a page and coallate the list when we hit 50 or more books.
clas·sic
adjective
1. of the first or highest quality, class, or rank: a classic piece of work.
2. serving as a standard, model, or guide: the classic method of teaching arithmetic.
You can't have a classic that has not shown enduring quality. I'm not looking for books that are popular simply because they 'ought to be' for the messages they contain. I'm looking for the books that you come back to time and again, that you recommend to friends, family, and anyone who will stand still long enough to fill their ear with it. Story is king, and without it, fiction is nothing. I took a quiz, one of those silly 'how many SF classics have you read? and was startled and dismayed to see many books that aren't old enough to qualify as classics. I refuse to accept the idea of 'instant classic,' there is no such thing.< Now, Jules Verne's Mysterious Island, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Edgar Rice Burrough's Princess of Mars. HG Wells, Shelley's Frankenstein… those are all classics. But I know that my education in SF is woeful, I am always learning and adding 'Oh, I need to read that!' titles. So… What do you suggest? I have already had Robert Heinlein's Door Into Summer, Asimov's Foundation (which I have not personally read) and Olaf Stapledon's Starmaker nominated. Off topic: it's certainly not a classic. I am, on the other hand, rather proud of this story, and it is free until May 17th. Click on the cover icon to get your free fiction from me!
