Updates: My Top 11 Science Fiction Novels from the 1960s
April 3, 2012 § 96 Comments
Everyone loves lists!
The 60s produced some of my favorite science fiction works. Many authors moved away from the technologic naivete of pulp sci-fi and predicted less than positive futures (overpopulation, natural disaster, etc) and attempted to instill a more literary quality to their works. I’ve cobbled together a top eleven list — I have probably forgotten a slew of amazing works that I read years ago. Also, I read majority of them before I created my blog and hence do not have reviews — I’ve included a blurb for those without reviews. I’ve linked those that do. And, as I have promised before, a review of J. G. Ballard’s masterful The Drowned World (1962) is on the way!
EDIT: Over the course of reading the comments and glancing over my bookshelves I’ve discovered how much I’d forgotten had been written in the 60s (Vonnegut’s Cat’s Cradle, etc). As a result, I’ll put together a more comprehensive top 20 or so in the near future.
Feel free to list your top 11!
1. Stand on Zanzibar, John Brunner (1968) — is by far the best of the overpopulated world genre (for additional works consult my index). Brunner chronicles a dystopian future society in obsessive and awe-inspiring detail with shreds of newspapers, advertising jingles, quotations from invented books, and even current (60s) events. Be warned: low on plot, heavy on world building, experimental structure…
(Steele Savage’s cover for the 1969 edition)
2. The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula Le Guin (1969) — The Left Hand of Darkness remains Le Guin’s best work. Not only is she literary, but the political ramifications of the premise — androgynous humanoids who randomly become male or female for one month of the year — is unforced and fully realized (she invents mythologies, believable characters, and fascinating societies).
(Uncredited cover for the 1969 edition)
3. Hawksbill Station, Robert Silverberg (1968) (MY REVIEW)
(Pat Steir’s cover for the 1968 edition)
4. The Drowned World, J. G. Ballard (1962) – The world is slowly submerging due to a solar flare, a retreat into a uterine state — a resigned fate. Our “hero” hides from the world in the upper floors of a hotel with limited gasoline to power his airconditioner. A strange man arrives in a casino vessel to collect relics of a past era and a pumping device to “excavate” a submerged city… Beautiful.
(Richard Powers’ cover for the 1966 edition)
5. Synthajoy, D. G. Compton (1968) (MY REVIEW)
(Leo Dillon and Diane Dillon’s cover or the 1968 edition)
6. The Man in the Maze, Robert Silverberg (1968) (MY REVIEW)
(Don Punchatz cover for the 1969 edition)
7. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Philip K. Dick (1968) — Philip K. Dick’s best. There are millions of reviews on the web so I won’t go into any details. But, there’s a scene I remember poignantly — a “chicken head” is “tortured” by androids slowly remove the legs of a spider. Even the androids realize the strange sanctity of every life in a world mostly devoid of life — and use it for their advantage. A deeply philosophical work worth pondering. Bladerunner (a great movie in its own right) in an effort to titillate viewers transformed the android character of the opera singer in the strange scantily clad snake lady — PKD was interested in an android perfecting a human artform and contributing to society not a member of society’s criminal underbelly
(Uncredited cover for the 1969 edition)
8. Dune, Frank Herbert (1965) — no words are needed.
(John Schoenherr’s cover for the 1967 edition)
9. The Man in an in a High Castle, Philip K. Dick (1962) — PKD has an uncanny ability to focus in on the banal and transform it into a deeply poignant and metaphoric moment, object, action. It’s unlike any alternate history you’ll ever read — if American culture became the subject of only antiquarian interest… Our everyman heroes create “american” pottery. Read reviews and plot summaries online — I’ve only pinpointed a thematic element that particularly resonated with me.
(Richard Powers’ cover for the 1974 edition)
10. Solaris, Stanislaw Lem (1961) — I’ve had little exposure to non-English language sci-fi. But, Lem’s vision is the epitome of thought-provoking first contact novel. A philosophical work ruminating ever so delightfully on nostalgia, the nature of sentience, memory, pseudo-science…. Lem’s His Master’s Voice (1983), on a similar subject might be a better novel…. Another “classic” with tons of plot info available on the web.
11. This Immortal, Roger Zelazny (1965) — Zelazny’s best work (yes, better than Lord of Light in my humble opinion) — tied Dune for the Hugo — only in Zelazny’s world (perhaps Delany’s) would a man with mold growing on his face be the subject of a novel. A post-apocalyptical vision of an Earth owned by aliens (for use it for tourism) filled with mutated lifeforms….
(Gray Morrow’s cover for the 1966 edition)
For all my book reviews ordered by rating consult the INDEX
For more articles/lists consult the INDEX
They are all very good books! Having read steadily through the decade, it’s always interesting to see a retrospective selection of the best.
It also might be interesting to read a list by a person who didn’t live through the 60s! It’s all retrospective for me…
It’s interesting to see who isn’t there. None of the Golden Age stalwarts like Heinlein, Simak, etc. and apart from late flowerers like Silverberg and Brunner, none of the real new wave. As I think I may have said elsewhere, I’m impressed that any of it is still readable in objective terms. I’m supposed to be overcome by nostalgia and think it all wonderful (which it wasn’t). It’s reassuring someone new still finds it good.
I’m no fan of Heinlein or Simak. I enjoy a few of their works but have never been swept away in any sense of the word. Remember, these are personal favorites — I’m not trying to put together a most influential (socially, politically, etc) works list.
Thanks for the trip down memory lane. I love that you have a Brunner book. He almost never gets a mention. I read the covers off The sheep look up, The whole man … and wrote an essay for english class about Stand on Zanzibar. The teacher was awed and I got called Browner for the rest of the year. Sad to say my 800 old sci-fi paperbacks moulder in a friends garage in ontario.
Great list. All classics that must be read by any real fan of SF. Sadly, I can’t say I have gotten through them all, but your list makes me want to get them all under my belt.
By the way, didn’t see THE FOREVER WAR, by Haldeman. If it’s not in this list, I’d guess it’s one of your top 20?
The Forever War is from the 70s not the 60s. Actually, surprisingly, it’s not one of my favorite works — a classic definitely but because I’ve read so much, not in my top 20
Interesting. I just read it and found it quite good. The military voice was quite strong, and the ending is somewhat simple, but very satisfying. What exactly didn’t you like about it? Not trying to argue, just curious.
I read it a good 7 or so years ago but I distinctly remember enjoying the book — the sequel, Forever Peace was pretty good as well. Worth reading — a loose thematic sequel…
The Zelazny looks interesting – I have Lords of Light and The Chronicles of Amber on the old TBR, but think I might hunt this down first…
I did read it a long time ago — my opinion might change a bit if I gave it a reread. I enjoyed Lord of Light but wasn’t as impressed — This Immortal feels similar to a work by Delany….
An interesting list. Very strange to consider “This Immortal” (Zelazny’s preferred title was “. . . And Call Me Conrad”) superior to “Lord of Light” and “The Man in the Maze” better than its obvious inspiration, Budrys’s “Rogue Moon” (Budrys’s preferred title being “The Death Machine”).
Do you consider “Slaughterhouse-Five” not SF? And I wonder if you know of Aldiss’s rather neglected “Greybeard.”
I haven’t read Slaughterhouse-Five
It’s on my list. And Greybeard — sitting on the shelf waiting to be read.
My Zelazny kick happened years ago — a reread of his famous Lord of Light might yield a different order.
But, now that I think about it I’d probably include Vonnegut’s Cat’s Cradle (1963) — but again, these lists always leave out notable works by their very nature.
The Stand on Zanzibar cover is by Steele Savage. He also did a bunch of Heinlein covers in the 60′s for Ace.
Thanks! Unfortunately, the Internet Speculative Fiction Database which I use for cover details is not complete….
think you left out the best sf book of the past 20 years: Neuromancer by william gibson.
Ummm, this is a best sci-fi books of the 1960s list (the title). Not the 80s! And, Neuromancer was written more than 20 yeas ago….
Regardless, thanks for stopping by.
An addition that I would like to propose to your list:
Samuel Delany – especially The Einstein Intersection.
I would suggest striking Hawksbill Station.
Anyway, a list indicates a great deal about the list-maker… and yet, these are a wonderful group of stories! grazie mille!
Delany’s Nova is superior to The Einstein Intersection — I don’t think you liked it that much…. I loved Hawksbill Station — whatever. Haha
Great post, and I have to say that you make me realise how much I have to catch up on yet! I do love Philip L. Dick though – he was one of a kind (which may be just as well.)
My list would contain a fair bit of John Wyndham too. he had such a talent for telling a good story deceptively simply.
Thanks for the kind words! Surprisingly, most of Wyndham’s works are from the 50s, not 60s (only Trouble with Lichen and Chocky are from the 60s and two short story collections)… He died in ’69, I guess he wrote very little over the course of the 60s.
Ah- fair enough. Although Trouble with Lichen was pretty decent!
Hehe, I haven’t read that one — or heard of it until I looked it up.
(this is why I want people to list their own top 11 so I discover new books!)
But I agree, PKD is great
Great list! I’ve only read a couple of these (Dune and Left Hand of Darkness), but I’m thinking that I’m definitely going to have to track down copies of Stand on Zanzibar and Solaris.
I think I warned you about Stand on Zanzibar, right? But, if you’re in an avant-garde accepting mood then procure a copy as fast as possible! It’ll be worth it.
Yep, you warned me. I like avant-garde though, so it should be awesome. I’m keeping an eye out for it next time I’m used bookstore shopping.
Great list. Can’t argue with any of the books. Takes me back to the golden age of science fiction. However, I will have to find a copy of The Man in the Maze. I really like Silverberg but somehow missed that book. Need to re-read Hawksbill Station too.
Thanks for the kind words! What are your top 11 (or 10, or 5, or 3) sci-fi books from the 60s?
The Man in the Maze is Silverberg at his darkest. A fascinating character study — unfortunately, people get preoccupied with the “mystery” of the maze which is never solved — it’s simply a backdrop for the character study.
Very nice list. Dune and Lem are shoe-ins, Ballard rocks out, Hawskbill Station is amazing, and you can’t have a best list without Electric Sheep.
I haven’t read Synthajoy, or This Immortal—I hear good things about it, it’s on my buy list—and Left Hand is in my TBR pile (bad experience reading The Dispossessed in college has delayed further LeGuin). And I think my lack of Brunner is apparent.
So to make up for those four with books I -have- read, my list would add The Einstein Intersection, Flowers for Algernon, Slaughter-House Five, and another Dick—take your pick, Palmer Eldritch, Dr. Bloodmoney, Ubik. I might even replace High Castle with Ubik—as a history buff, High Castle fascinates me, but it always felt like nothing happens in it, whereas Ubik blew me away for some reason.
I have a lot of ’60s novels on top of my TBR pile: Babel-17, Camp Concentration, Brunner, more Delany, more Ballard… so my list will probably be different in another six months.
What was your bad experience with The Dispossessed? I also enjoyed The Einstein Intersection but haven’t read Slaughter-House Five yet — as I pointed out in a different comment I’d probably include Vonnegut’s Cat’s Cradle instead of either Synthajoy or This Immortal — but, these are the problems with coming up with lists, especially short ones!
Partly the difference in reading a novel for pleasure and reading a novel for scholarly purposes, partly that one of the requirements was reading The Dispossessed in both chronological and -then- normal order… let me tell you what’s a terrible, terrible idea.
I also forgot that Dangerous Visions and Pavane were from the ’60s. Canticle for Leibowitz is another strong contender, but I felt it hadn’t aged as well last time I read it.
I’ve remembered so many more good books from the 60s — I haven’t read Pavane yet — it’s a testament to the quality sci-fi of the decade. I’ll have to make a longer list….
[...] Joachim Boaz has his excellent picks for the best 11 science fiction books of the 1960′s, and he’s looking for opinions on favorite 50′s sci-fi. [...]
Awesome. I will add the ones I haven’t read to my list. I think The Left Hand of Darkness is always going to top my list though.
Yes, Le Guin is amazing. Thanks!
What, no Nova (seriously – no Nova?), but the (in Science Fiction circles almost consistently overrated) Man in the High Castle which is actually one of Dick’s weaker efforts? I am flabbergasted.
I’m not all that fond of Do Androids… either; his best one in my opinion is Ubik. Love that you included the Lem, and for another non-English masterwork, I’d suggest Hard to be a God, by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, surely a classic.My own list would probably also figure Thomas M. Disch’s Camp Concentration and A Canticle for Leibowitz, by Walter A. Miller, possibly Davy by Edgar Pangborn, and I am sure there are more I just can’t think of right now…
I too love A Canticle — oops, I was under the erroneous impression that it was published in ’59…. I haven’t read Camp Concentration or Davy yet so perhaps the list wil change
Ubik is a wonderful novel… not sure it’s better than Do Androids Dream or Man in a High Castle though
But definitely top 25 books…. Perhaps I’ll expand this list after I read Disch etc.
Since my pingbacks have apparently failed me — My Top 11 ’60s SF list.
What do you say about L. Ron Hubbard’s Battlefield Earth?
Uh, that is complete and utter crap
Reading it felt similar to chewing gravel…
Did you enjoy it?!?
No, just picked it up and went 10% in and am about to give up. Will review shortly. However, it’s on some list of best novels in the English language – which caused me to notice….
Do you know why? Because Hubbard had all his scientologist followers (he created the “religion”) read the book and to this day the scientologists buy his books to keep it up in the best seller lists — wikipedia discusses their mass purchasing/voting strategies.
I knew about scientology. Wow, what a concept! Ok. ’nuff said.
It is really funny seeing the book on best English lit lists
hehe, but now you know why!
And, it was published in the 80s — this is a best of the 60s list.
Yes, didn’t find a better place in your site to post my question….
Hehe, I’ve had a lot of people try to suggest books for my 60s list which aren’t from the 60s — sorry.
But yes, scientologists continue to vote Battlefield Earth into any best of list… A critic’s list (unless they are a scientologist — and lots of early sci-fi writers were — A. E. van Vogt for example) will not list Battlefield Earth.
I really enjoyed reading your list. It made me think back to my SF reading for the 60′s. I love Roger Zelazny. I think I would put both “Lord of Light” and “This Immortal” on my list. I also loved his “Dream Master”(I think that was the 60′s also). Dune is a natural for any list, There’s an early McCaffrey called Restoree that’s a great book. Thanks again for your list.
Thanks for stopping by! Isn’t Restoree a pseudo-satire of women’s roles in sci-fi? I loved the Pern books when I was a kid but haven’t read any of her “sci-fi proper.”
I would like to suggest that you consider Dr. Orpheus (1968, by Ian Wallace) for your list. One of my all-time favorite sci-fi books!
I actually haven’t read any of Ian Wallace’s novels (I’m young yet — I’ll catch up on all the glorious 60s sci-fi eventually!). I’ll go put it on my amazon wish list… Thanks for stopping by!
Oh, isn’t that book two in a series? Or perhaps it isn’t necessary to read them in order?
Okay, from the classic to the obscure. I remember a paperback scifi novel of this era that took place on another planet where novitiates in a secret order to could see the future through “extrapolation”. I was the first time I had seen the word and once I understood the meaning, I assumed that it was used in order to avoid denigration of the characters as “psychic”. Sadly, that’s all I really remember, except that it got thrown out at some point and I never did recall the title. Any ideas on what this proto-Jedi book might have been?
Hmm, unfortunately nothing rings a bell. I’m sorry. Perhaps you should post your question on an amazon forum, i’ve found that people come up with the correct books very quickly!
Thanks again for stopping by!
You sure that isn’t Dune?
Hmm, if he had mentioned a desert as well I’d have thought Dune! The Fremen and the drug were the most memorable aspects of the book for me….
Read most of those when they were published in the sixties. As you say we each have our own favorites. My favorite author is Heinlein his ability to tell more than just a story. Asimov comes next and Dick as well as Clarke. Zelazny’s work I read most of it as it was published and have copies of much of his work that I have bought in the last twelve years as my home burnt thirteen years ago and I lost over 2,000 hardback books and that again in paperback. Love to read and have since I found science fiction when I was in what is now called middle school, it was junior high back then. Stopped counting at 10,000 books read. Now with the ereaders I have over 2,000 to read on mine. Will continue to read until either my eyes can’t or I die.
Hmm, unfortunately, although I’ve read at least 14 or so Heinlein novels his work doesn’t resonate with me. The Moon is a Harsh Mistress is by far my favorite of his — his later work is unreadable — some of his earlier juveniles are fine — and yes, Starship Troopers is probably the best of the juveniles.
Asimov is another author which has never appealed to me — the Foundation trilogy was interesting but ultimately, doesn’t live up to the hype.
I’m glad that you stopped by! Your knowledge on the subject is greatly appreciated! I’m relatively young (mid-20s) so I haven’t amassed a collection nearing that size yet.
My favorites of his were Citizen of the Galaxy, Star Beast which is a hoot, and Have Spacesuit Will Travel (where I was introduced to the concept of a wavicle and that to the rulers of the galaxy democracy and communism would be indistinguishable). Starship Troopers was very clever, they tried to bring the libertarianism and experimental novel structure across in the movie but was ultimately disappointing. I read them as a child and still have an affeciton for them.
I’ve read much of his adult fiction but like you did not care much for them except perhaps The Door into Summer that was pretty priceless, with the cat who was going back and forth between the various doors of the house sure that one of them would have nice weather on the other side of it.
I think any scifi buff should probably read Stranger in a Strange Land once, just for its trippy turn everything upside down view of the 60s, and to understand aging hippies with terms like “grok” and “I am but an egg”. I think it was a follow up to a really good juvenile Red Planet (a decade between the two). but so was Podkayne of Mars that I totally loathed, although the scene where its OK to have sex in public but disgusting to eat in public on Venus still sticks in my head.
I’ve read all of those and again, they were all readable but none of them (besides perhaps Starship Troopers) really resonated with me….
I enjoy his juveniles perhaps more than his more mature novels — Starman Jones has to be one of the best juveniles ever written. And Orphans of the Sky — one of his novels to discuss a generationship.
A Canticle for Leibowitz. (1960) Walter Miller. Very yellowed and very good.
A Canticle will definitely be on my top 20 from the 60s list
Thanks for stopping by!
Tremendous list. His Master’s Voice blew me away when I read it, so even though it didn’t make the cut (and I think I’d have gone for Solaris too) I’m glad to see it getting a shout out.
Well, it would have made the cut if it was from the 60s
It would be on my best of the 80s list! Or even in my top 15 or so all time sci-fi novels.
In all honesty I have no idea when any of Lem’s novels were written. I hadn’t realised they were spread over that distance of time.
I must reread some Lem, he really is brilliant.
I just went through and wrote 40 more possibilities that should be considered and then lost the whole list before posting it. SIGH. The only one on your list I have not read is Synthajoy (although I liked two of his 70′s novels – The Steel Crocodile and The Unsleeping Eye) but I agree with all the others – here are some of my favorites that I would also consider:
Thorns by Robert Silverberg
Nightwings by Robert Silverberg
The Masks of Time by Robert Silverberg
City of Illusions by Ursula K. Leguin
Jagged Orbit by John Brunner
Way Station by Clifford D. Simak
Time is the Simplest Thing by Clifford D. Simak
Babel 17 by Samuel R. Delany
Nova by Samuel R. Delany
Pavane by Keith Roberts
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
Hothouse by Brian Aldiss
Greybeard by Brian Aldiss
Dimension of Miracles by Robert Sheckley
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
The Man Who Fell to Earth by Walter Tevis
Past Master by R.A, Lafferty (Slipstream before it’s time?)
Chthon by Piers Anthony
Emphyrio by Jack Vance
Davy by Edgar Pangborn
Ubik by Phillip K. Dick
The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch by Philip K. Dick
Martian Time Slip by Philip K. Dick
Ring of Ritornel by Charles Harness
Norstrilia by Cordwainer Smith
The Genocides by Thomas M. Disch
Camp Concentration by Thomas M. Disch
Rite of Passage by Alexei Panshin
Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut
There that’s from memory – I really loved the 60′s for SF (started reading in the early 70′s). Anyway – you are right about Canticle for Leibowitz being a 1959 book – the confusion (I believe) is because it won the 1961 Hugo for best book of 1960.
A wonderful list! I’ve read a portion of them — I do love Martian Time-Slip — it’s actually my favorite of PKD’s novels, but, I didn’t include it on the list because I find that Do Androids and The Man in a High Castle are conceptually and intellectually more stimulating.
Yup, I genuinely forgot to include Cat’s Cradle — I loved it. I have Camp Concentration on my shelf (and Norstrilia, The Masks of Time, Rite of Passage, Greybeard, Jagged Orbit, Nightwings on my shelf waiting to be read).
Ubik was great fun — again, almost all of PKD’s novels are top quality. Way Station didn’t resonate with me. I found Thorns to be readable (I have a review on my blog if you’re curious) but not near his best of the 60s. Same with City of Illusions, a great book but not nearly as good as Le Guin’s more famous ones. If I were extending the list — Babel 17 OR Nova (more likely Nova) would find a way into the top 15 or so.
So yes, I’ve read a great portion of those books and they’re all good!
(Besides Way Station — hehe)
Thanks for reminding me of what I first fell in love with in SF! I don’t think I could ever narrow it down to just ten – but 20 might be possible.
Thanks for the kind words! Lists are by their very nature artificial — but yes, a longer list would be slightly easier to make — hehe.
My 11 would be, at the moment at least, in no order:
+ Rite of Passage by Alexei Panshin
+ Empire Star/Babel 17 by Samuel R. Delany
+ Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
+ Farnham’s Freehold by Robert A. Heinlein
+ Stand on Zanzibar by John Brunner
+ Martian Time-Slip by Philip K. Dick
+ Mindswap by Robert Sheckley
+ The Last Starship From Earth by John Boyd
+ Hothouse by Brian Aldiss
+ Way Station by Clifford D. Simak
+ Podkayne of Mars by Robert A. Heinlein
I’m very curious to know your reasoning behind The Last Starship From Earth! I wrote a rather scathing review a while back…. Was very unimpressed.
The Last Starship From Earth is a rather funky book, and I can see why readers wouldn’t like it, and maybe if I reread it now I wouldn’t like it as much as I remember it. But back in the 1960s when I was reading SF as a teenager, writing, plotting and storytelling didn’t count as much as ideas. The Last Starship From Earth had a lot weird ideas in it, especially as an alternate history of a world that had a different Jesus and science developed sooner. Also, the society in it really was a satire on the 60s, and I’m not sure how that would go over now.
I found it funky as well — in the bad way. It wanted to blend alt history and sci-fi but didn’t carry it out very well. And, it didn’t take itself seriously but didn’t seriously want to be a satire either… I was left with a rather bland, “oh, that probably wasn’t worth my time” feel.
Haven’t read many of these, but Dune would for certain be on my list. And given that this would be a “favorite” list some Heinlein and Harrison would be on there for certain.
The Ballard book looks/sounds great. Gonna add that to my list of books to look out for when at the used bookstores.
I highly recommend Ballad’s corpus of sci-fi novels — High-Rise (1975)(perhaps not sci-fi….) is worth reading as well. He’s a really moody, dark, ruminating author — my type!
And as we’ve talked about covers here before, it makes me wanna cry seeing how the publishers wrecked that excellent Powers cover for The Man in the High Castle.
I agree!!! Thankfully the later edition I own has the same cover without that egregious red band….
Forever Peace is one of those “there was no sequel” books for me, like Highlander 2 or Matrix Revolutions. I thought it diminished the original novel. Interesting to hear another view.
Hmm, for me they were only thematically linked — it could have been a completely different “series.” So, why did you dislike Forever Peace?
Hated it to be honest. Still, we can’t always like the same ones.
Missed the “why”. Hard to answer without spoilers. I thought the big reveal both anticlimactic and to be honest kind of dumb. Also, it explained too much.
Hehe, of course not, that would be boring. Again, I read it so long ago that I might have different opinions if I read it now. Especially since I generally dislike 90s sci-fi at the moment.
I just stumbled across your post, and I have to say, great list!! Of course everyone has their preferences, but I can find no reason to disagree with any of the choices, except one: Synthajoy. The reason: I haven’t read it! But your review entices. I’ll have to check it out!
It’s not so often I stumble across a site that doesn’t revel in the mindlessly entertaining side of sf, so, looking forward to reading over your other posts!!
D. G. Compton is a great and sadly underrated/under read author. If you don’t want to read Synthajoy I suggest his most famous work, The Continuous Katherine Mortenhoe (variant title: The Unsleeping Eye) (1974).
Thanks for the kind words!
It is sort of hard, can’t assume that when I first read them was when they were published. For instance, I would have put Hal Clement’s Needle on there but it was actually first published in 1950, I bought my Ace copy in 1964. So that’s out. It is still a great book and author. It’s been fun to be reminded of some of these oldies. I first saw your blog on Io9
My faves are: (although I am sure I will think of others I should have perhaps better listed).
The Boy Who Bought Old Earth and The Underpeople by Cordwainer Smith
The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch by PKD
Davy by Edgar Pangborn.
Three Hearts and Three Lions by Poul Anderson but also Tau Zero
Saga of Lost Earths by Emil Petaja (& the rest of Kalevala series)
Uncharted Stars by Andre Norton (hard for me to pick just one)
Witch World also by Andre Norton
Sword of Aldones by Marion Zimmer Bradley
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. LeGuin
Dimension of Miracles by Robert Sheckley
Venus Plus X by Theodore Sturgeon
The Butterfly Kid by Chester Anderson
Stormbringer by Michael Morcock
Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny
The Maker of Universes by Phillip Jose Farmer
A great list! I’ve read a few of them — Lord of Light, The Three Stigmata, and Witch World. I’ve put the rest on my list. I enjoy Norton but would be reluctant to place her on a best of list.
Can’t miss with that list. I remember when Dune first came out the question being asked was “How far did you get in it?” Most of us SF fans pushed ahead and were glad we did.
I love Dune — as with so many other readers it was the first sci-fi book that really grabbed me. It inspired me to start accumulating the piles and piles that I now own.
[...] Science Fiction and Other Suspect Ruminations, Top 11 Science Fiction Novels from the 1960s. I’m looking forward to exploring some of [...]
Reblogged this on Word Alive and commented:
Great blog I just found. Blog author Joachim Boaz creates a list of some of the best scifi/dystopian/social science novels he has read. Being my graduate studies focused on dystopia I have been really interested in what scifi novels from the 60s have to offer.
Here are my 10 favorite (thus far) 1960s science fiction novels:
Dune
2001: A Space Odyssey
A Canticle for Leibowitz
Stand on Zanzibar
Babel-17
Ubik
The Man in the High Castle
Clans of the Alphane Moon
Deathworld
This Immortal
The 11th spot is left blank; I’m saving it for “The Left Hand of Darkness” which I will be reading soon.
Others that I liked from the 1960s: Le Guin’s first SF trilogy (Rocannon’s World, Planet of Exile, City of Illusions), Space Opera (Jack Vance), Time Tunnel (Murray Leinster), Rite of Passage (Alexei Panshin), Up the Line (Silverberg), Rogue Dragon (Avram Davidson), Way Station (Simak), Greybeard (Aldiss), Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?.
Ones that I liked OK, but didn’t think were great: Stranger in a Strange Land, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, Emphyrio (Jack Vance), The Einstein Intersection (Delany), Picnic on Paradise (Joanna Russ), The Wanderer (Leiber). And, I’ve read a few that I liked minimally or didn’t like at all. I’m currently reading Delany’s Nova, and have to catch up on Vonnegut and Lem, as well as the PKD novels that I haven’t read yet. Wishing you many happy days of reading!