Timothy Bult's Blog

I have loved Science Fiction for about 50 years now. A friend of mine shares her annual list of favorite books at New Year’s, and it sparked me to think through my favorites of all time. This took some work! I had to review my entire Goodreads library, where I have read and rated 273 books so far. I had to carefully scan my multiple bookcases, which are about 75% science fiction. That doesn’t cover everything I’ve read, by a long shot, so I spent time going back through my Kindle library, and dusty recollections of reading everything in the school and public libraries of my youth.

Maybe I’ll do other lists for Fantasy, and some categories of Nonfiction, but for now, here are the greatest works of Science Fiction of all time, IMHO. I welcome insults and corrections and most of all, being told about books I should have placed higher:

1. Neuromancer, and all William Gibson’s interrelated “Sprawl” novels. To me these are the most accurately visionary about future technology, combined with poetic writing, intense characters, and cool martial arts.
2. Asimov’s Foundation Series. Engineering peaceful human progress for millenia, a compelling vision of the pinnacle of science, all told through very human stories.
3. Shikasta, or the whole Canopus in Argos series. Doris Lessing won the Nobel Prize for Literature for a career including this poetic vision of a galaxy-spanning civilization.
4. Asimov’s Robot Novels. Again an enduring scientific vision of the Three Laws of Robotics, rolled out as a series of stories ranging from murder mysteries to children’s stories to riddles.
5. Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, the whole series. We all need a laugh, and Douglas Adams’ deep insights into humanity.
6. Cloud Atlas. Haunting multi-threaded story whose themes of love and hope and kindness war with human evil over multiple generations.
7. Ender’s Game and its first two sequels. A brilliant tragic vision of future interstellar war, a story of childhood genius, sweeping vistas of politics and religion and artificial intelligence.
8. Frank Herbert’s Dune Series
9. A Clockwork Orange
10. Dangerous Visions. Anthology of ground-breaking science fiction short stories, bringing in sex and gender and every possible way of breaking the rules to stimulate thought.
11. Snow Crash. Neal Stephenson’s worthy reboot of cyberpunk, folding in more humor, his political vision, and many cool details of a compelling vision of the Internet’s future.
12. Faith: A Science Fiction Love Story. Perhaps it won’t make everyone’s Top 100 list, but I actually enjoy reading my own novel. I get the inside jokes. I recognize every literary allusion and video game reference and movie and artwork and exotic locale.
13. Songmaster, Orson Scott Card
14. Oryx and Crake, Margaret Atwood
15. The Windup Girl
16. Ringworld
17. Ursula K Leguin’s Hainish Cycle (Left Hand of Darkness, etc.)
18. Brave New World
19. We Are Legion (We Are Bob)
20. Stranger in a Strange Land
21. 1984
22. Ancillary Justice series
23. Sin of Origin, John Barnes
24. Ready Player One
25. Flatland
26. Childhood’s End
27. Austral
28. Dark Matter
29. Battlefield Earth
30. The Bone Clocks
31. Three Body Problem… but I felt the series declined toward its end
32. The Past Through Tomorrow, Robert Heinlein
33. Rainbow’s End
34. The Martian
35. Red Rising Saga
36. The Fifth Season
37. The Snow Queen, Joan Vinge
38. Spin, Axis, Vortex (the Spin Saga Trilogy)
39. Wool
40. The Peripheral, William Gibson returning to visionary sci-fi

Saturday Dec 12, 2020.

Have you ever suffered from a task you’ve put off for months, because it’s repellant - but probably necessary, emotionally painful - but likely rewarding, goes against lots of your intuitions - but is prompted by lots of others? Please forgive me while I vent about mine.

On July 4 of 2020 I proudly published my first book, a literary science fiction / romance / thriller. Although the reviews have been stellar, “Faith” has only sold a handful of copies. I’ve come to think it needs a new title, and a new cover. The title “Faith” doesn’t scream Sci-Fi, and the beautiful painting I bought to serve as cover doesn’t either. People glance at it, and don’t decide to buy. Specifically, 165,216 advertisement impressions on Amazon have led to 220 clicks, which have led to just 48 orders. From what I’ve learned, 5 clicks per order is actually very good, and one click per 1000 impressions is not bad either. Maybe I just need to launch a lot more ads. But I’m pretty sure my alternate title, “Control Theory”, with a professionally designed Sci-Fi cover, would lead to more sales.

So why is “Faith” still the title, and the beautiful painting her cover? It’s so hard to let go! Faith is the main character’s name, and it’s a double-meaning pun, a key theme of the book. It means a lot to me. Same with the painting, whose original hangs in my house, and which matches my image of another main character perfectly. Furthermore, changing a book’s title has consequences. It means a complete relaunch, so the reviews, star-rating, advertisements, ISBN, and sales history all start over. Amazon doesn’t let you retain any of those for a “new” title.

So I’m taking Bryan Cohen’s advice from his Amazon Ad School, and waiting. Let’s see what another month of data tells me. If the conversion rate from views to sales is ok, I can keep Faith as she is. If the data tell me to change, let it be.

Speaking of which, for the Trekkies out there, has anyone got votes for what Saru should settle on for his “engage” phrase? Each captain has their thing. Saru has been trying “execute” and “do it” and others that laughably fail for his earnest voice. How about “let it be”?

Around Valentine’s Day 2015 I was musing that when I retire in a couple decades, I’d like to write a novel. My partner asked “why not start now?” That moment, I became an author. Within a week, I was scribbling random bits of story, and delighting in an hour or two of novel-building every weekend. For a few years, it was one or two hours every Sunday afternoon, our “writing date” at the local Starbucks. Just for fun, my novel slowly grew, in my head and in Dropbox.

With the pandemic of 2020, I had a lot more time on my hands, and poured it into my novel. I’d already submitted “Faith – a Science Fiction Love Story” to a humiliating 128 agents. It was time to self-publish. Faith came out on July 4. I still had time, so I achieved my stretch goal, and published my second book on October 15: “Platform of Hope: Ideas both Conservatives and Liberals Can Love”. “Hope” had been brewing for a year, as I pondered America’s heavily polarized politics, and sought a way I could contribute positively.

This will be a strange Thanksgiving for the US, with scientific pressure to avoid family gatherings, and a year of massive suffering and death worldwide, perhaps difficult to find gratitude. I’ve been extraordinarily lucky, though, and I’d like to share the joy and thanks I feel. I’m grateful for the health and happiness of my whole family. I’m grateful for my wonderful job and career, the democratic society I live in, with all its protections for human rights, and the amazing standard of living that almost everyone in North America and Europe and Australia have the privilege to enjoy. I’m grateful for the people who have picked up my books so far, Faith and Hope, and given me such glowing reviews. I hope to write a lot more, and provide entertainment and useful ideas to many more people. Thank you so much for helping me along that path.

My first book came out on Amazon July 4, 2020. Of course I’m proud of my baby: Faith: A Science Fiction Love Story.

Goodreads has given me wonderful exposure through the “Giveaway Contest” program (still a little time left to get your entry in), and of course it’s gratifying to get some 5-star reviews. But making writing a new career is not easy. The writing is easy, and fun, and a fantastic way to spend time. Building a group of readers is hard. There are about 3.4 million books on Amazon. Even though I’m confident there’s an audience who will love Faith, it’s hard to get noticed among 3.4 million.

I’ve caught the writing bug anyway. Much more will be coming. In the next few weeks, I plan to publish a completely different book:

Hope - a friendly Canadian’s bipartisan platform for a greater America

Watch for the giveaway.

After that, books 3 and 4 are already consuming lots of my brainwaves — feel free to send me suggestions.