Philosophical Science Fiction discussion

If you have recommendations or general comments about books in this genre list them here. If you want to list what you currently reading this is the spot too!

There are so many good books that can fit here I listed some to get us started!

My favorite is the Enders Game series. I love the moral questions that are raised in each book. It's really about morality more than philosophy, but it does make you think about what they actual definition of "human" is. At what point is enslaving an "animal" the same as enslaving a "human". This can sort of feed into the things about the Piggies from the SftD/Xenocide/CoTM trilogy and EarthFall/Earthborn

It's been a very long time since I read them, but I loved the Foundation books by Isaac Asimov. He was a man before his time. Also, the very small sci-fi books by C.S. Lewis were interesting and made you think about whether or not we're "alone" and what "they" might be like ...

I only read the first Ender book and really enjoyed it. Maybe I need to pick up the rest?

My favorite books in the Enders game series wasn't the first I love Speaker of the Dead the second but Children of the mind and Xenocide hold my heart.

wow, there are so many choices! one of the things I like about the science fiction and fantasy genre is that it often asks interesting questions, and makes you think. alright then, in no particular order:

dune - frank herbert
hyperion - dan simmons
enders game - orson scott card
book of the new sun - gene wolfe
the traveler - john twelve hawks
red mars - kim stanley robinson
otherland - tad williams
faded sun trilogy - c j cherryh
the diamond age - neal stephenson
anathem - neal stephenson
stranger in a strange land - robert heinlein

ok, if I don't stop at some point... I love all the authors and books I just listed, but I suppose the hyperion series and the red mars series made the most difference in terms of my personal philosophy and how I try to live my life. the dune series and pretty much everything by neal stephenson or gene wolfe made me think the most about humanity and progress in general.

I recently read FlashForward by Robert J. Sawyer and really enjoyed it except for the ending! It does make you sit and think about how you would cope with seeing 23 years into the future-how would it affect your decisions in life? Would you try to change things? Knowing you are still alive then would it reduce your stress about dying? Is the future set or can we change it? Fascinating!

Now looking forward to watching the TV series though I know its way different from the book!

I like Kim Stanley Robinson's 'Years of Rice and Salt'
(alternative history where nearly every European dies in the Black Death while Chinese and Moslem civilizations become dominant in the world) and several Philip K. Dick novels.

Here is a book which you might not have even heard
about. I just discovered it at the Boulder Public
Library many years ago. The following is a short
review then:

I just finished reading a new book entitled "A Disturbance of Fate" by Mitchell J.Freedman. It is 687 pages in small print and published by Seven Locks Press. It is an alternative history novel dedicated to folk singer Phil Ochs and Michael Harrington "who believed in the Kennedys." With extensive footnotes which are fascinating. (Harrington authored a famous book which helped inspire the war on poverty. He was also the main spokesman for democratic socialism for many years).

In the "timeline" of this book, Robert Kennedy is not assassinated but gets elected president in 1968. There is a progressive palace revolt in the AFL-CIO
removing George Meany. The labor and civil rights movements join together to organize Southern workers whether they are black or white. RFK's Secretary
of Labor Walter Reuther works closely with them. Oh yeah, major labor law
reform is passed. Kennedy also pushes a program to rebuild the inner cities
in the North.

RFK ends the Vietnam war almost entirely before inauguration. There are free elections in South Vietnam and the NLF (Vietcong) candidate for president gets a plurality and forms a coalition government. The North Vietnamese politburo is divided about what to do. But the Russians and Chinese tell them not to intervene. This is because RFK is ending the Cold War. This is partly due to some international crises that don't happen in our "timeline" (like a rebellion in Poland which escalates almost out of control).


There is no Christian right in this timeline. RFK is not culturally conservative but is cautious about abortion and gun control and sexual mores. The counterculture sort of fizzles out. Ronald Reagan runs against RFK in 1972. The issue of race has greatly diminished since many Southern white workers formed unions with black workers.

The Republicans are taken over by cultural liberalism and economic libertarianism. RFK amends the Equal Rights Amendment somewhat and it gets passed. But before this, Reagan supports an uncompromised ERA. He also seems supportive of gay rights (while RFK is quiet about the issue).

Michael Harrington becomes head of the World Bank. But that happens many years later under the administration of President Ralph Yarborough.

I am tempted to summarize the whole plot...which would be impossible since it is extremely detailed. Except for a few minor characters, everyone in the novel
appears in our "timeline."

I like Kim Stanley Robinson's 'Years of Rice and Salt'
(alternative history where nearly every European dies in the Black Death while Chinese and Moslem civilizations become dominant in the world) and several Philip K. Dick novels.

Here is a book which you might not have even heard
about. I just discovered it at the Boulder Public
Library many years ago. The following is a short
review then:

I just finished reading a new book entitled "A Disturbance of Fate" by Mitchell J.Freedman. It is 687 pages in small print and published by Seven Locks Press. It is an alternative history novel dedicated to folk singer Phil Ochs and Michael Harrington "who believed in the Kennedys." With extensive footnotes which are fascinating. (Harrington authored a famous book which helped inspire the war on poverty. He was also the main spokesman for democratic socialism for many years).

In the "timeline" of this book, Robert Kennedy is not assassinated but gets elected president in 1968. There is a progressive palace revolt in the AFL-CIO
removing George Meany. The labor and civil rights movements join together to organize Southern workers whether they are black or white. RFK's Secretary
of Labor Walter Reuther works closely with them. Oh yeah, major labor law
reform is passed. Kennedy also pushes a program to rebuild the inner cities
in the North.

RFK ends the Vietnam war almost entirely before inauguration. There are free elections in South Vietnam and the NLF (Vietcong) candidate for president gets a plurality and forms a coalition government. The North Vietnamese politburo is divided about what to do. But the Russians and Chinese tell them not to intervene. This is because RFK is ending the Cold War. This is partly due to some international crises that don't happen in our "timeline" (like a rebellion in Poland which escalates almost out of control).


There is no Christian right in this timeline. RFK is not culturally conservative but is cautious about abortion and gun control and sexual mores. The counterculture sort of fizzles out. Ronald Reagan runs against RFK in 1972. The issue of race has greatly diminished since many Southern white workers formed unions with black workers.

The Republicans are taken over by cultural liberalism and economic libertarianism. RFK amends the Equal Rights Amendment somewhat and it gets passed. But before this, Reagan supports an uncompromised ERA. He also seems supportive of gay rights (while RFK is quiet about the issue).

Michael Harrington becomes head of the World Bank. But that happens many years later under the administration of President Ralph Yarborough.

I am tempted to summarize the whole plot...which would be impossible since it is extremely detailed. Except for a few minor characters, everyone in the novel
appears in our "timeline."

I like many of the books listed in previous comments. Here are a few related ones that I highly recommend:

Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus (Card) - What would happen if Columbus' discovery didn't lead to a European conquest of the New World? How would you go about changing history, and what would the world be like instead?

Calculating God(Robert J. Sawyer) - Aliens come down and request to speak to a scientist about God. They believe in God; why is it so hard for humans to? An interesting discussion ensues.

Oh calculating god sounds good. I didn't really like pastwatch it is the only book of cards that i haven't liked.

Yeah, I wouldn't say Pastwatch is Card's best book, and it's certainly a different tone and style than the Ender series.

I did like 2 things about it. One, the "great person" theory that implies that key people have a profound influence on how history turns out. Two, I'm a sucker for stories that involve self-sacrifice. There's something about it that always gets me.