The Evolution of Science Fiction discussion

We are looking for sci-fi nominations from the 1980's. The only books that cannot be nominated are those that have previously been read and they can be found here

Current Nominations:
A Matter for Men by David Gerrold
Child of Fortune by Norman Spinrad
Startide Rising by David Brin
Riddley Walker by Russel Hoban
Timescape by Gregory Benford
Blood Music by Greg Bear
The Integral Trees by Larry Niven
Downbelow Station by C. J. Cherryh

I'll nominate A Matter for Men by David Gerrold which reads very well as a standalone, IMO. It started out as part of a planned trilogy, Gerrold went on to make it into 5 books. He says the 'Farside of the Sky' trilogy isn't really a prelude to it, although it read like one.

It's been a really long time since I read it, but I remember thinking it was one of the first books about conquering a planet via invasive species. Kind of a cross between terraforming & guerrilla warfare. The rest of the series gets more into psychological effects that I didn't care for, but this book is good.

I nominate _Child of Fortune_ by Norman Spinrad. One of my favorite novels. In the exotic interstellar civilization of the Second Starfaring Age, youthful wanderers are known as Children of Fortune. This is the tale of one such wanderer, who seeks her destiny on an odyssey of self-discovery amid humanity's many worlds. Arresting and visionary, Child of Fortune is a science-fictional On the Road.

Its average goodreads rating is over four stars.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6...

Ronald wrote: "I nominate _Child of Fortune_ by Norman Spinrad. One of my favorite novels. In the exotic interstellar civilization of the Second Starfaring Age, youthful wanderers are known as Children of Fortune..."

I only learnt about Spinrad through this group and i've now read two of his books Osama the Gun and The Iron Dream both of which were pretty good especially the former. Child of Fortune is the next of his books on my to read list.

Child of Fortune is one of my favorite novels, but I feel that potential voters should be aware of some things:

1. The book is written in a new dialect of English, which consists of a smattering of words from other languages such as French, Spanish, German, und so weiter. Comprende? I had no problems reading it, but some goodreads reviewers didn't care for it. And I can understand that, for I gave up reading a short story where the first person narrator communicated in a dialect of the English language.

2. The sexual content of the story is much above the norm for a science fiction novel. This might be a negative for some. Or a plus for others.

I nominate Startide Rising by David Brin (1984).

I owned this book for a long time, never got around to reading it, and finally gave it away. I still want to read it. Maybe now is the time.

It's the second book in the series, but the first book doesn't sound that great to me. Goodreaders say the book can be read as a standalone.

Also, Brin revised this book in the 1990s to correct inaccuracies, so that's the edition we should probably read. Does that make it a 1990s book?

CS - the first book in the series, Sundiver, isn't worth reading, and it's not really necessary for background.

CS wrote: "I nominate Startide Rising by David Brin (1984).

Also, Brin revised this book in the 1990s to correct inaccuracies, so that's the edition we should probably read. Does that make it a 1990s book? ..."

As this won the Hugo and Nebula awards in the 1980's it seems that it should be considered here. Wikipedia says "It was revised by the author in 1993 to correct errors and omissions from the original edition." I guess this means that the story hasn't completely changed? - if so I think we can leave it here unless anyone objects even if we end up reading the revised version.

I'm going to nominate Riddley Walker by Russell Hoban. It may not be an easy read as it's written in a dialect he's created.

Jo wrote: "...I guess this means that the story hasn't completely changed?"

I would not expect an author to fiddle with an award-winning story. I expect Brin altered some details to correct scientific information in the original book.

Timescape by Gregory Benford. I don't think I've read any of this author and this one has been on my to-read list for a long time.
1980 BSFA Winner
1980 Nebula Winner
1981 Campbell Winner
1981 Locus SF Nominated

I've got a few 80's Sci fi on my to-read shelf, none of which I own and none of which I remember when or why I added them, but I shall choose one!

I'd like to nominate Blood Music by Greg Bear please.

I would like to nominate:
The Integral Trees by Larry Niven

1985 winner of Locus Award

1985 Nominee for:
Hugo
Nebula
Science Fiction Chronicle Reader

Thank you.

Wow, so far all the nominees are male authors! I would like to nominate Downbelow Station by C.J. Cherryh, Hugo winner for 1982, and one of my top 5 SF novels of all time.

I also vote for Downbelow Station by C. J. Cherryh

I'll nominate Timescape, but I must admit many of the books in the March list sound fantastic. Can't wait.

I agree the nominations look good this month. As there are quite a few nominations this month I wonder if we might have more than one winner as i'm not sure there is an obvious favourite in the list.