One of the blogs I follow is FiveBooks, a segment of The Browser: Writing Worth Reading. The site features a daily interview of a renowned authority, invited to discuss his or her area of expertise and provide his or her choice of the best five books to read on that topic. It ranges from fiction to non-fiction, across all genres and subject matters. I like having it in my Google reader because I can just skip the topics that don’t interest me, while those that do have added to my to-read list exponentially.
Recently, Orson Scott Card was given this opportunity. He chose five books that will get readers hooked on science fiction, even if they are new to the genre. Card also briefly discusses the development of the genre itself. Check it out and tell me if these are the five you would have chosen. I thought it might be a slight cop-out to choose two anthologies as two of his five selections, except I keep hearing about one of them as a volume that drew science fiction fans into the genre as children.
Posted by Jenny Colvin
That’s how I watch Charlie Rose and Tavis Smiley on PBS. I record all of them and erase the ones with guests that don’t interest me.
The SCIENCE FICTION HALL OF FAME anthology I think is an excellent choice. If a person new to the genre read it, that person would have a broad look at great early SF.
I’ve only read a few stories from DANGEROUS VISIONS, but appreciate it’s influence on the field.
Will those books get a reader hooked? I don’t know. The novels he’s got there are all books I liked very much, so they might do the trick.
On a slightly different note, we all had our entry books into the genre. Mine was DOLPHIN ISLAND by Arthur C. Clarke. I was hooked instantly.
On another slightly different note, when asked to recommend an SF book to a new reader of SF, I often point them to ENDER’S GAME.
So true! My entry book was Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson.