Michael Lee's Top Ten Science Fiction Novels

I've been looking forward to this list for a while, because I'm not nearly as well read as I should be, and the main staple of my book diet has been Doctor Who novels over the last couple of years. I'm picking the first ten books that come to my mind that I really enjoyed, in hope to see other people's lists for other recommendations.

Some of these books I may not have read in fifteen or so years; some I may have read more recently. There are so many books I don't tend to reread books I've already read. [Of course, I do watch movies more than once and tv episodes more than once -- just a different set of habits, I suppose.]

I am only including text novels -- though this is on the assumption that we will do a comics list at some point so I can include the Sandman and Watchmen at that point in time.

In no particular order:

• The Time Machine, H.G. Wells
  Really, all time travel stories owe a debt to this novel. It is that simple.

• The Time Ships, Stephen Baxter
  A sequel to the above book, and as such an interesting contrast -- it's more interested in the mechanics of time travel and the consequences, and as such it's more about the science than the fiction -- but it has some really amazing sequences in the book.

• The Tripods, John Christopher
  As a kid I devoured these books; one of the most memorable and positive parts of being a boy scout was that they were also adapting these stories into a serialized comic strip form in Boys' Life. Sadly, the TV series never made it through all of the books. There is also a prequel, When the Tripods Came but I've never read it.

• Dune, Frank Herbert
  There was a period in High School where I was reading all of these in sequence -- the series started strong and then weakened as the books went on, but it was always an enjoyable and fantastic series to read.

• The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
  Hysterically funny. It's been years since I've read them -- so of course my memories of the series come more from the TV series than the novels -- but it was hysterical. One of my first excursions on my own as a kid was to try to see Douglas Adams at a bookstore in Dinkytown -- probably Dreamhaven -- sadly I never actually got there, as I got lost on the bus system and ended up in downtown St. Paul instead.

• Love and War, Paul Cornell
  I wanted to pick one specific Doctor Who title that I really enjoyed rather than cop out and pick the series as a whole -- and as the book that reinvigorated my interest in Doctor Who, this is it. Doctor Who novels -- even more so than the tv series that spawned it -- move all over the map, from simple adventure stories of all types to more ambitious fare. Sadly out of print. [Another recommended book that is in print is The Infinity Doctors by Lance Parkin, which is a standalone novel.]

• Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien
  I actually did reread this within the last couple of years -- and it's how complete a world it is that is amazing. I've never gone much beyond the Hobbit (which I'm including here) and the Lord of the Rings, but there's a depth to the universe that's amazing. Can't wait for the film.

• The Chronicles of Narnia, C.S. Lewis
  I have extremely fond memories of this series -- as I was growing up, my parents would start reading some of them to me, and then eventually I would finish reading the series. If there is any proof that parents should read to their children -- this series is it for me.

• Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert Heinlein
  I read this in junior high school for a book report years and years ago. I honestly remember very little of the novel -- just that it completely blew me away at the time.

• Foundation, Isaac Asimov
  For about a year I worked my way through this series -- either reading through a book or two, or when I was driving back and forth from Milwaukee to Minneapolis, I'd put in one of them as a book on tape.