Great Works of Science Fiction
I first became interested in Science Fiction because of a 1970’s magazine called “Speed and Power”. This was very much aimed at the boys (this was the 70’s) with stories about vehicles of all kinds but every week it included a Science Fiction short story, quite often something by Arthur C. Clarke. The magazine came out when I was 10 years old and ran for a couple of years, really sparking my interest in Clarke and Science Fiction in general. My parents were kind enough to drive me into town every couple of weeks to use the “Big” library, which had a pretty good SF and fantasy section, which was near the arrow in the image below:
This was perfect for me because as someone once said:
The golden age of Science Fiction is thirteen
Over time I believe that I read everything written by Clarke (including the non-fiction) and much other Science Fiction and I continue to do so today. When younger tended not to hang to the physical books that I’ve owned, selling them or donating them to free up shelf space or thinking that I would never read them again.
Now that I’m older and have a little more time and physical space on my hands I’d like to re-build at least some of the books that I have enjoyed the most in physical form, sometimes to re-read but mostly just for the pleasure of seeing them neatly organised on a shelf!
The following pages list what is on my shelf and a little about why they are there!
If you have any thoughts or comments on my selection, or suggestions for anything else that should be there please get in touch via the contact form below.
Why Science Fiction?
Although it isn’t the only genre I read it is the one that I always go back to and the one that contains most of my “comfort” reads when I’m feeling down! What is the attraction?
Well for me, I think it is the fundamental optimism of science fiction - even if the future portayed is a bit dystopian at least there is an acknowledgement that we have a future; and that future is enabled by science and technology, not superstition and ignorance. I’m already living in some of the future predicted by Arthur C. Clarke and have genuine hope that science and technology can take us even further.
(SF Logo by demco.com)