6 of the Greatest Sci Fi Books of all Time

As with fantasy, there are just a massive number of great sci fi books out there, and BookTube has a lot of great "best of" lists. But who inspired the writers who make these lists? What are the books and writers who fueled the imaginations of today's great writers?
That's what we're looking at today: 6 of the greatest sci fi books of all time that have inspired generations of readers and writers. Please join the conversation!
Oh, and please subscribe too, if you're into that kind of thing. We appreciate it!
Image of android from Unsplash: Photo by Aideal Hwa on Unsplash (unsplash.com/@aideal)

[@WELinde]

Starting with these six, I think I'd then add Aldous Huxley, Ray Bradbury, and Robert Heinlen

[@susantownsend8397]

I remember reading the Big Three (Heinlein, Asimov,and Clarke) in my early teens but I often forget that my 60+ year love of sci-fi actually began with Jules Verne when I was about 8 or 9, moving on to Edgar Rice Burroughs and HG Welles. I didn’t read Frankenstein until much later but I always include it in my top-whatever lists. I would include Canticle for Leibovitz as best of post apocalyptic lit.

[@D3Reads]

I appreciate that! And I agree about Canticle for Leibowitz! I'm planning on doing some "best of" subgenres (I'm currently working on a Best Military SciFi), and now I think a "best dystopian/apocalyptic scifi" list needs to happen! Thank you!

[@jasonodonnell5177]

@@D3Reads Elizabeth Moon has some great Mil SciFi.

[@D3Reads]

@@jasonodonnell5177 Wow what a timely comment! I'm planning on recording our military sci fi episode tomorrow (probably to be released next week, unless I get lucky with the edits). I'm not familiar with Moon's work, though. Where would you suggest a new reader of her novels could start? Because I'm on a mil sci fi bender right now!

[@jasonodonnell5177]

@@D3Reads It's been over a decade since I have read them, but... I believe Once a Hero was the first of her books I read and really enjoyed it. Hunting Party is actually the first in her Serrano Legacy series, which has seven(?) books including Once a Hero. There is also her Vatta series.

[@tadeyishu]

I would agree with Dune, both the Frank and Brian Herbert books I'm at 22 books and counting,, didn't notice any difference in writing styles, loved the all details in the expanded worlds, prequels and sequels, I'm sure there would be another writer in all the many books I've read but theses stand out.

[@D3Reads]

Whoa! I've got to try those out. I wasn't sure I wanted to go beyond FH's body of work, and so I've avoided anything after Chapterhouse. But I'm a little more open minded these days, so I'll have to check them out now. Thank you for that! My To Read List doesn't have enough scifi on it at the moment.

[@PhantomMagician1846]

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley is one that speaks to our time and everybody should read it

[@VinnieBartilucci]

E. E. "Doc" Smith. The man invented Space Opera. Like H. Rider Haggard, who is credited for creating the "Lost World" novel, Smith created a sub-genre that continues to gain new additions today. I'd recommend the Lensmen books, but it's The Skylark of Space that really did it. It was the cover story of Amazing Stories, the same issue that featured Armageddon 2419, the story that would become Buck Rogers.

[@D3Reads]

I am ashamed to admit that I am not familiar with Smith's work. I really appreciate this comment. I've gotten tons of fantastic sounding book recommendations, and I'm really excited to read these books. Thank you!

[@jasonodonnell5177]

@@D3Reads You must read the E.E. Doc Smith

[@daleswanson2988]

I have been reading sci-fi since I was about 13. Early on I read all I could find by Asimov, Clarke, Heinlein, and Bradbury. Fast forward a few years and I have read many other classic sci-fi authors, including Murray Leinster, A.E. Van Vogt, Hamilton Edmond, Eric Frank Russel, Poul Anderson, and Cifford Simak. I must also include Stanley Weinbaum. Sadly he died in his early 30's from cancer so his volume of work is low. He wrote one of the funniest short stories in the September 1934 issue of Wonder Stories, a pulp edited by Hugo Gernsback. The story "The Ideal" relates several fantastic but almost plausible theories expounded upon by his professor Van Manderpootz. His novel "The Black Flame" is also excellent.

[@D3Reads]

I've had Anderson and Van Vogt on my Must Read list for a while (recommended by previous folks), but there are a number of authors here I don't have on my radar at all. I've been looking up their works and Weinbaum's stories sound amazing. Thanks for the recommendations !

[@chrisw6164]

Music too loud, turn it down a notch. Nothing wrong with background music but put it a little more in the background. Good vid

[@D3Reads]

Thanks for that feedback! I've wondered if I had it at the right volume, and so I appreciate that immensely. And thanks for watching!

[@cylelle376]

I've read four out of these six (Verne, Wells, Herbert and Burroughs with John Carter being my first ever SF/Fantasy when I was around 7 or 8). I never tried Frankenstein, but think I might have started, but not finished, Foundation. The other one I'd add to this list of must-reads is the first Professor Challenger novel by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, "The Lost World" (not the one related to Jurassic Park) which I suspect is another book that influenced a whole lot of others that came after it (including possibly, and ironically if so, Jurassic Park).

[@D3Reads]

I've had The Lost World on my radar for a while, but I always seem to bump it for other books. That's bad on my part, since it is a classic. You're no doubt right that it rightfully belongs on any legit "best of" lists, so thanks for that! We'll likely do a refresh of this topic and I'm sure this will be included then.

[@henriklarsen1504]

William sleator house of Stairs the green futures of Tycho

[@D3Reads]

I'll have to add these two to the list! I've never read them (though Green Futures of Tycho sounds really familiar, so it's possible I read it years ago and have completely forgotten it). But they both sound amazing!

[@eriolduterion8855]

Major influences on me and SF: Andre Norton, John Campbell, John Brunner, James Blish, EE "Doc" Smith, George O. Smith, Arthur C. Clarke, Poul Anderson, Jack Williamson, CJ Cherryh, Gardner F. Fox, Fred Hoyle, Robert A.Heinlein, Keith Laumer, CM Kornbluth, Emil Petaja, Frederick Pohl, Zenna Henderson, Alan Nourse, Walt & Leigh Richmond, Joseph L. Green, AE Van Vogt, & Roger Zelazny. I'm willing to go out on a limb, and recommend ANYTHING by these authors, although I do have favorites, and of course think some stories better than others. (Incidentally, I've read all 6 of those, and the ONLY one I really detested was Dune. Verne's Two Thousand Leagues Under the Sea & From Earth to the Moon are also incredibly important, as is Well's Invisible Man. Burroughs also wrote a series of a world within the Earth called Pellucidar, as well as an adventure type similar to the Barsoom series set on Venus.)

[@D3Reads]

This is the most comprehensive list of greats I've seen! There are a number you've mentioned that I need to catch up with (Hoyle, Van Vogt, Green stand out), as I don't think I've read any of their works. I've been surprised by the number of people who have commented their dislike of Dune, which I very much enjoy. Thanks so much for the list, as it's added quite a bit to my "must read list"

[@jasonodonnell5177]

Cordwainer Smith...

[@balrog7252]

I'm just asking out of curiosity. I take it you haven't read Cixin Liu's Remembrance of Earth's Past because that's the only reason this trilogy wasn't on this list?

[@eriolduterion8855]

Cixin Liu is not one of the FOUNDATIONAL authors of the genre. He is a MODERN author and IMO quite worth reading.

[@balrog7252]

​@@eriolduterion8855 Look at the title of this video again and ask yourself whether your entry is justified. The film presents the greatest SF books, not FOUNDATIONAL SF authors. And can you point me to where I wrote that Cixin Liu is one of the FOUNDATIONAL authors of this genre? And if you think that only FOUNDATIONAL authors should be included here, I would like to know why Arthur C. Clark, undoubtedly one of the FOUNDATIONAL authors, is not on this list? Why isn't Hyperion on this list? Dan Simmons is also one of FOUNDATIONAL SF authors? Why can only books be placed here that are at least 30 years old and not from 10 or 5 years ago? It is not the age of the book that determines whether it is the greatest, but its content. A book becomes the greatest the moment it is published, if it is worth it.

[@igorgoliney9494]

Lem