Friday Top 5: SciFi Novels

5) Sun of Suns

Only released recently, this book hasn't had a chance to get anywhere near the big dogs like Dune, but it is on my Top 5, which is definitely something for a series that has only begun.

Sun of Suns is the first book in the Virga series, which takes place in a massive pressurized balloon which holds its very own star. The world creation at play here is awe-inspiring, and though the book is somewhat short, the sheer intensity of the visuals that one gets from reading it more than makes up for its brevity. Entire cities have to be spun up in order to create artificial gravity, and wars are mainly concerned with the smaller city-sized suns that orbit inside the balloon.

I can only assume that the forthcoming books will be just as good as the first one, and if they are, this series could well overtake some of the other books on this list. We'll have to wait and see.

4) Ender's Game

Ender's Game is one of the seminal SciFi novels of my generation, and it holds sway over a large following. The novel is heartfelt and extremely enjoyable, if not extremely deep. It has a lot going on, but it asks easy questions, and in predictable circumstances.

The story follows a young kid named Ender who is enrolled in a military academy during a lull in a intergalactic war with the first alien race that humans have ever encountered. Throughout the book, Ender's special talents are brought into the light, and the book evolves through him into a well rounded and fulfilling story. Bring the rest of the novels in this series into the picture and you have a compelling story that every Science Fiction fan should be consumed by.

3) Snow Crash

Neal Stephenson has proven himself to be an author of many talents, so much so that he would likely have a place in any genre-based novel-list that I could come up with.

Snow Crash is his first really popular book, and it was released alongside Neuromancer, in the Cyberpunk vein. I have read both, and I find Stephenson's work to be much more enjoyable than Gibson's.

Snow Crash follows a computer hacker (what else, this is cyberpunk) through a halfway dystopian world in which the mafia are the good guys, virtual worlds are the mainstream, and a loaf of bread costs millions of dollars (inflation run rampant). The book asks a number of extremely provoking questions, and leaves more than a few up to the reader. It is a joy to read, through and through.

2) The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

This book would be in the #1 slot if the list were more lenient, but The Hitchhiker's guide is more about the comedy than the Science Fiction. That is not to say, however, that the SciFi in this series is worthless, on the contrary, it is sublime.

The book invents laws of physics left and right, and bends them to whatever convoluted corner of the galaxy the heroes are in at present. The names of people and places by themselves are enough to make even the most serious English grandmother titter with delight.

I have never had such an enjoyable experience as I had while reading this series of books, leading me to believe that Douglas Adams was a genius. He was fantastic in every way.

1) Dune

Dune will likely always win any SciFi showdown that it is placed into (unless it is a movie showdown). This series is so mind-numbingly enjoyable that I can't find the right adjectives to describe it.

Herbert's universe is a mashup of ancient Greece and modern technology. Each world has a feel to it, and while the lines between good and evil start out very clearly drawn, they blur quickly, and the reader finds themselves placed into the shoes of vastly different characters throughout the six books.

As the series winds down, you find yourself faced with so many philosophical and ethical questions that entire chapters go by while you contemplate earlier concepts.

Anyone looking to burn a few months should pick up the six books in the Dune series and read them as close to back to back as possible. It will alter your outlook, guaranteed.

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