A Classic Science Fiction Starter Kit

A Classic Science Fiction Starter Kit
Steve Donoghue’s Science Fiction/Fantasy Starter Kit:
• The Lost Tapes #1: An ...

[@Burps___]

Pierre Boulle's 1963 *Planet of the Apes* is another timeless sci-fi classic that spawned the mega-franchise. Thank you for the other strong science fiction suggestions, Mr Vaughan. 🦍

[@wbbartlett]

Earth Abides is amazing. Poignant, gripping, heartbreaking.

[@garylovisi357]

Michael, great choices, a fun walk down sf reading memory lane.

[@mrgauth]

Great List. Love the old covers. They take me back to combing through old bookshops in my youth. Sadly, where I live there are no bookstores, new or used. Very sad. Some of those I have not read and will look for.

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

No bookstores!? That’s terrible!

[@sylvaindore3190]

Foundation is one of them I wanted to try long time ago. Might put it on top of my "to read" book.

[@fangs1972]

Took forever to watch this video because I kept pausing it to look for and add your recommendations.

[@TheMcMonster]

More starter packs, please. You really got me interested in Kate Wilhelm, her Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang is among my top favorite s-f and I need to check her other books.

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

Check out Steve Donoghue. He has a ton of excellent starter kits.

[@mushfiquefahim141]

I feel joy whenever I see some love shown for Earth Abides. A classic that only keeps growing in my estimation. Excellent list, sir!

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

Thanks! That’s a great book.

[@ThisJustInBookTube]

Just when I thought I might be setting aside science fiction for a while, you dump this on me. Great list!

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

Sorry! I don’t think you will regret reading any of these though.

[@Zozette27]

My favourite invasion story is ‘The War of the Worlds’ by HG Wells, it is the first sci-fi book I remember reading. I also liked ‘Martians Go Home’ by Fredric Brown, the Martians aren’t dangerous instead they are very annoying, rude and love invading people ‘s privacy, they cause all sorts of problems.

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

I really enjoyed Martians Go Home.

[@michaelkennedy2057]

Thank you for the starter kit!!

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

You are very welcome!

[@bookfantastic]

Great starter kit. I read all of them except The Martian Chronicles (though I read "Mars is Heaven!), The Blue World, and The Killer Thing. I think I added the last two titles to my wanted list because of you. I think I know where I can pick up The Blue World, but The Killer Thing has evaded me so far. Yes, I preferred "Who Goes There?" over Frozen Hell. Earth Abides is different as most post apocalypse stories fall into the standard "we want your women" plot. This an inevitable part of human nature in such a situation. Earth Abides includes it, but in a very subtle way that does not overwhelm the book, and then it adds some philosophical ideas regarding justice. Great starter kit.

[@DuckRon626]

I saw the 50s version of The Body Snatchers as a kid in the theater when it came out. As young kids we had a hoot with it. The aliens had a zipper down their back. Special effects weren't as good back in those days.

[@TheMikester307]

Wonderful choices! I will also recommend reading some classic short stories. Start with the ones in "The Science Fiction Hall of Fame" edited by Robert Silverberg. It's been reprinted and there were sequels. Marvelous anthologies.

[@alexiskiri9693]

Looking good, looking suave. Your valet deserves a raise.

[@Kikilang60]

One of the best dressed people on KZbin.

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

Wilkins is always asking for more money! Now I’ll have to give it to him!

[@michaelharrington7656]

Thank you and well done. I find I like science firction from the early H.G.Wells and through the American golden age until about 1960. Thereafter it becomes more hit and miss, though I love the Twilight Zone TV series and never get bored with it. Rod Serling made it with love. I would have found a place for good old E. E. "Doc" Smith.His style was a little crude but he had a remarkable imagination and was the father of all space opera.

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

I’m about due to reread Smith.

[@zkinak2107]

I just picked up a 1st edition hardcover of the 5th John carter book the other day. The book will be 100 years old exactly next month making it the oldest book I own!

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

Fantastic!

[@sgriffin9960]

Great selection! I've either read or have on hand most of these.

[@muhlenstedt]

What a great list ! Thank you very much.

[@lavernehodge3320]

Very good selection. Thank you

[@THyland626]

I agree about not watching the Dune film till they make the second part. I learned that lesson the hard way after the Golden Compass.

[@vickiragland8066]

Thank you for a great list.

[@DDB168]

The Time Machine - HG Wells; Foundation - Isaac Asimov; A Princess of Mars - Edgar Rice Burroughs; Who Goes There? - John W Campbell; The Stars My Destination - Alfred Bester; Earth Abides - George R Stewart; Childhood's End - Arthur C Clarke; The Body Snatchers - Jack Finney; The Martian Chronicles - Ray Bradbury; The Killer Thing - Kate Wilhelm; Starship Troopers - Robert A Heinlein; The Blue World - Jack Vance; The Left Hand of Darkness - Ursula K Le Guin; City - Clifford D Simak; Dune - Frank Herbert Great list. 👍

[@muhlenstedt]

thank you very much!!!!

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

Thanks!

[@evanames5940]

I have only read a few but added two to my must-read list. So, thanks.

[@AAron-gr3jk]

More like this please. Help us lesser read to identify the real gems

[@BluesFenix]

Thank you for this list, I'm familiar to say 75% of it but I did get a few other titles I didn't heard before. Fortunately, I was able to find all of them (even the rare ones) on e-Form, added to my list to purchase them ASAP. Excellent channel!

[@BartelsBookshelf]

I've been in the mood for some vintage sci-fi lately, so this fit the bill perfectly. :) And most of these I haven't read, except for Childhood's End and The Martian Chronicles, both of which I agree are essential. I haven't even *heard* of The Killer Thing and The Blue World, so that gives me a lot of new books to look for. XD Great video!

[@Marco_Cadabra]

Excellent, thanks for this list. I mostly read horror, but you managed to sort of get me hooked on (classic) SF. As of now, I‘ve read less than half of the books on this list, intending to read all of them soon.

[@stephenwalker2924]

Great list. I mostly read Horror but I'm intrigued to start reading more SF, mostly because of your recommendations. I was surprised too because I've read a number of the books you mentioned - maybe I'm keen on the Horror/SF overlaps that often occur in genre fiction. Thanks.

[@ItsTooLatetoApologize]

Very awesome list! I really need to read some of these.

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

Yes. But finish writing that book first! Both my mother and I are dying to read it!

[@HeyYallListenUp]

A lot of great recommendations, most of which I need to read.

[@angelica351a]

Thanks for the list

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

Thanks for watching!

[@alexiskiri9693]

Interesting list. Read everything except the Kate Wilhelm and the Jack Vance. I have read Wilhelm and Vance but not those specific novels.

[@thelocksmith679]

I'm currently reading a collection of Phillip K Dick short stories. Wanted to thank you for suggesting Arthar Machen, I ordered a book of his short stories for my October reading, The Great God Pan is my favorite so far.

[@MasterMalrubius]

I have to say I was never able to get into "Foundation". I know it is a great book/series. All my friends have gone wild over it and how I need to read it. But I've tried several times and for some reason it just did not get me going. I've read most of the others and those I have read are all awesome. I love the John Carter of Mars series and Princess of Mars is one of the standouts. I would include "The Mote in God's Eye" by Jerry Pournelle and Larry Niven. Classic sci-fi with a bit of serious science included. I just ordered "City" by Simmak. I've read a couple of his long ago and I remember having enjoyed them. Also the classic "Star Man's Son" by Andre Norton. Easy and quick read but was an early apocalyptic future story. Another excellent video from Stately, Vaughn Manor. Kudos for keeping the classics alive.

[@thebookishbryants]

I just order The Killer Thing from eBay, and I am really excited to get to it! Great video! Now I am going to go watch the horror one. Scott.

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

I hope you enjoy The Killer Thing!

[@Zozette27]

I love ‘Earth Abides’, it is in my 20 favourite novels of all time. Another post apocalyptic novel I love is ‘Davy’ by Edgar Pangborn which is set centuries after the collapse of civilisation. No one else seems to have read it, I have not seen anyone mention it on Booktube.

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

Davy seems hard to get here.

[@jade7398]

My cool video! I am going to read the Princess of Mars because of you. My favourite classic science fiction writer is Jules Verne :) I love his use of imagination, transporting us to completely different worlds, and at the same time he comes up with scientific explanations for the strange things that happen.

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

Jules Verne is fantastic.

[@EntertheBook]

Oh didn’t know they made half a movie. Dune is my classic read on my December TBR. I don’t know most of these but I wasn’t into even thinking about sci fiction til my love for Verne got me interested.

[@bookssongsandothermagic]

Great choices of books - it does make me want to do a video on recommended 21st century science fiction, though, as I imagine people may have heard of some of these classics but not know where to go beyond that. When I started reading more ferociously 5-6 years ago I was really interested in what had come out in the gap when I stopped reading fiction for a bit….so you have inspired me to plan a 21st century video….great video though as always!

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

That’s a great idea. I can’t wait to watch it!

[@bookssongsandothermagic]

@@michaelk.vaughan8617 thanks - judging by my list so far it will probably be a Top 20

[@alexiskiri9693]

🎶🎶🎶 "This is a man's world, this is a man's world, but it would be nothing, nothing, without a woman or a girl"🎶🎶🎶 My favorite version of this song is when Pavarotti and James Brown sing together live. Amazing. If you haven't seen this, go look it up on youtube. You wouldn't think they would balance on a musical level, but they do.

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

I need to see that!

[@thewritestuffofficial]

I think the two that I’m going to start with are Dune (because I already feel like I’ve committed some atrocity by not reading it yet) and Foundation. Asimov always seemed like a must for sci-fi! Thanks for the recs!

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

Thanks for watching!

[@midnightgreen8319]

I just finished Dune, excellent read! I've got the first three Barsoon books in one volume that's up very soon.

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

One can never visit Barsoom too often.

[@mikeschroeder6867]

A great list! I have only two comments. First, I didn't even know that "The Invasion of the Body Snatchers" was a book. If it is hard to find, let me recommend "The Puppet Masters" by Robert Heinlein. Like your pick, the book is about an alien invasion that captures/uses individual humans. A good book and , I believe, still in print. Second, "Starship Troopers" gets a bad rap regarding it being a book about Militarism and Fascism. One reason this is so is that ST is a book of Military SF and by definition involves the military. In the society depicted, individuals must earn their franchise (i.e., the right to vote) by doing service for 2 years. Many think that that service must be in the military. This is false. It is made quite plain in the portion of the book where main character is joining up that there are numerous, non-military, ways to serve your time. Johnny Rico ends up in the MI because it wouldn't have been much of a Military SF novel if he had served his time terraforming Venus. Further, the entire book serves as a view into Heinlein's beliefs concerning the purpose and correctness of military service. Given his background (Naval Academy grad and wartime military service) it isn't surprising he has the views he does. I recommend individuals read "The Forever War" by Joe Haldeman to get an different view on these topics . I would point out that Heinlein liked and recommended Haldeman's book.

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

You are right, I should have said government service instead of military, though from what I remember society seemed rather dominated by a military elite in that book. I did read The Puppet Masters and liked it. I think The Body Snatchers was a better book though. Thanks for the comment. I appreciate it.

[@marsrock316]

This would make an excellent list for the syllabus of an Intro to SF course. I initially expected to a have read most of them , but I'm at about two out of three, some of which I read as a teenager. I suspect that Simak would affect me differently now that I'm older. The one I would most like to re-read is Princess of Mars. I'm a bit reluctant after trying to re-read some Tarzan and finding that it wasn't quite as good as my young brain thought. (Encountering La of Opar again, she who fired my teenage um... hormones, wasn't the same).

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

As for myself, La still commands my attention.

[@davebrzeski]

There is an ebook of 'The Killer Thing' from Gateway/Orion (2012), but I think it may well be UK only due to copyright issues.

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

Yeah, I don’t see it available here, unfortunately.

[@troytradup]

Great starter kit, although I'd probably try to sneak in a Joanna Russ and an Octavia E. Butler as well. I know, I know, the list quickly becomes endless.

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

Most of their books were written in my lifetime so obviously they can’t be classics! I’m too young!

[@troytradup]

@@michaelk.vaughan8617 LOL, ah sorry, my bad!

[@Zozette27]

Strangely ‘The Killer Thing’ is available as a Kindle book on Amazon Australia but not on Amazon US. I just bought a copy.

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

I hope you enjoy it!

[@culturefan]

Good list. I was hoping you'd have The Stars My Destination on there, however, I liked the character or anti-hero? Gully Foyle. He sort of reminded me of the Punisher or Pendleton's Mack Bolan. Just a dark character. I might probably add, The Forever War on a list, though maybe more modern-ish. I wondered if you'd read the book, The Humanoids by Jack Williamson.

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

I read it many years ago. I need to read it again. It’s in one of those boxes somewhere.

[@fen938]

I still haven't read 'dune' and 'who goes there'....😒😒 But i WILL! And tbh can't wait! I've been stuck on Titus Crow right now...Gotta love them occult detectives right?

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

I need to read Titus Crow. I really enjoy Lumley.

[@tonygriego6382]

I loved Starship Troopers. That and "All You Zombies" have always been my favorite Heinlein stories. What did you think of their various adaptations?

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

I enjoyed Starship Troopers. I’ve never seen any adaptation of All You Zombies.

[@tonygriego6382]

@@michaelk.vaughan8617 lt's called "Predestination" it came out in 2014 with Ethan Hawke. I think it's pretty good, you ought to give it a shot.

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

@@tonygriego6382 I will. Thanks!

[@colonelweird]

The Killer Thing is available on Kindle in the UK, but not the US.

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

😩

[@paulmonahawk4921]

Love these videos! Do you have a fantasy edition in the works Mike?

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

I wouldn’t be surprised if I ended up doing one.

[@jeremyfee]

While watching the video, I went online and bought a used copy of The Killer Thing by Kate Wilhelm; I wanted to be quick before the other 12k subscribers to this channel bought them all. :)

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

Ha! I suspect there are plenty of copies of that great book out there. I hope you enjoy it.

[@BookBlather]

Great list! I’m conflicted about Childhood’s End. I thought it was a very neat idea, but I didn’t think there was a whole lot to the book. I’m not sure exactly what else I expect to be included to tell that story, but I feel like there should have been something more. Regarding Foundation… loved that series, but my one complaint (not until the second book) was the Muse. I felt like that was a pretty drastic introduction of the fantastical that dominated an awful lot of that volume. What are your thoughts on that? I somewhat recently rewatched the 70’s version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and oh boy, I found that movie scary. Definitely feel like this one deserves a top spot in horror as well as sci-fi.

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

I didn’t feel that way about the Mule. I probably need to read all the Foundation books again.

[@adriensbookchannel3475]

Great vid! Which would you read first - Starship Troopers or City?

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

City.

[@Creek54]

I'm kinda partial to Planet of the Apes by Pierre Boulle. I'm not a judge of great writing but I loved the concept. And it's thought provoking.

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

I love that book too.

[@Jamesdhillegas]

Have you ever read any Haruki Murakami? (Not classic sci fi I realize but just wanted to ask in general).

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

Not yet.

[@disshelvedwithadamwhite8731]

Even a sci fi die hard like me learned of a few books here. Back to Amazon…

[@denisadellinger4543]

If someone wanted to know the best science fiction books to read, you would certainly be the first person to ask, because you have just about read them all and are able to cut through the weeds to find the flowers.

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

Actually, I would say both Shawn D. Standfast and Steve Donoghue have read a good deal more than me. I’ve read my share though.

[@GypsyRoSesx]

You know who else is amazing when it comes to sci-fi? The Outlaw Bookseller

[@bucephalas67]

Do you ever read any Larry Niven ? Classic Sci fi on my bookshelf. Also would you consider that The Martian Chronicles and various early Twilight Zone episodes have a mutual influence ? 🤔

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

I do like Niven. Both Chronicles and Twilight Zone have had a huge influence. I suspect Twilight Zone might have had more, but that’s a tough call.

[@MagusMarquillin]

I've read the first and the last, but I will read all the rest. They will be mine. No Jules Verne though, should we read into that?

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

No, I just thought H. G. Wells was a better place to start with the old-timey stuff. I really like Verne.

[@expressoric]

I can recognise H. G. Wells "The Time Machine" as an important influence on SF without really liking it, if you see what I mean. "The Stars My Destination" was very good, as was I think "Starship Troopers", but Ray Bradbury's "The Martian Chronicles" showed him to be an elegant stylist with an eerie and melancholy imagination, that has been more memorable. "The left Hand of Darkness" is excellent, but "Dune" is not so good, that I found to be tedious because of it's length and rambling prose. A very good video though.

[@stevengentry9396]

That's a really interesting list. These things are always fun, seeing what someone would recommend in a certain area or genre as a starting point. There are 2 or 3 on your list that I haven't read, so I'll give them a try.

[@stews9]

My experience of the Dune books is that the initial book is a genuine classic, but that each successive sequel notched down a peg or two until it bottomed out. I tend to advise people definitely read Dune, then to follow their own interests as far as the other volumes go.

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

I think I liked them a bit more than you did. Especially God Emperor.