What's Your Favorite SF Novel? - Democratic Underground

Arkham House

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Tue Jan-03-06 08:27 PM
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What's Your Favorite SF Novel?

Note--I said "SF", not "Sci Fi"...using that Accursed Term is a good way to lose brownie points with anyone who knows the field, though opposing it might be a Lost Cause by now...:-(... My own knowledge SF is primarily of the 1940-80 era, that of 40s Modern SF, the Post-Modern 50s, the New Wave 60s, and the Eclectic 70s...I've kind of lost track of the field since Cyberpunk came along, so I might not be the best judge. But knowing the historical roots of the field has its advantages, too... There are many possibilities for best SF novel. There's "Lord of the Rings", if you included fantasy--and if you did, I'd choose that. But it's my thread, and my rules, so--despite the fact that the line between "fantasy" and "science fiction" is essentially nonsensical--I'm defining SF as "science fiction".
OK--my short list would include Asimov's Foundation Trilogy, Herbert's Dune, Sturgeon's More Than Human, Bester's The Stars my Destination, Leguin's The Left Hand of Darkness, Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land and Moon is a Harsh Mistress, and a couple of "sleeper" titles--Wilson Tucker's The Day After Tomorrow, and Fredric Brown's What Mad Universe. Ultimately, though, you have to pick a Heinlein--or at least I do...and while he wrote a dozen titles you could choose as #1, my vote ultimately goes to *Beyond This Horizon*.
This is an extraordinary novel in many ways. Not least because it appeared in Astounding in 1942--Heinlein's first burst of creativity, when he was inventing modern SF for John Campbell in the pages of the greatest of all pulp mags...yes, even greater than Black Mask. But *Beyond This Horizon* has almost no trace of pulp in it. Admittedly, there's a plot about a particularly bone-headed group of "revolutionaries"...but they're dispatched relatively easily, and it's obvious Heinlein isn't very interested in them. What the story is really about is a tour of a projected Utopis--and unlike every other fictional Utopia, the future in *Beyond This Horizon* is one in which you might actually want to live. The others are either duull as dishwater, with everyone walking around talking like wooden Indians proclaiming how wonderful it all is, or else they're really Distopias, concealed nightmares. Not this book--Heinlein was at his youthful peak, and he makes this world incredibly dynamic and alive. No other SF writer could approach Heinlein in describing dynamism, and no future was ever more realized than this one. Another interesting aspect of this Utopia is its remarkable economic system, a strange--and oddly plausible--combination of Socialism and Capitalism, very radical and very interesting for those who remember Heinlein as a right-wing Libertarian.
Throw in a touch of mysticism, and some comic relief in a 20th century man who is revived in this future and reinvents football, and you have as ebullient a stew as Heinlein ever created. The seeds of the "later" Heinlein--who eschewed pulp plotting for sociological concerns--is in this story, which I firmly believe is the best single piece of literature ever produced by the American pulps. Anyone who wants to flame me, agree, disagree, whatever...let me see your selections...:-)...