The Sword and Laser discussion

I enjoy this particular science fiction storytelling device. Does anyone know of any other novels that have generation ships as the primary setting? Or the outcome of such a mission?

Thanks, in advance.

If your okay with short stories Ursula K. Le Guin's anthology The Birthday of the World and Other Stories has a short story about a generational ship. It's called Paradise Lost.

Wikipedia has a short list to start with.

One of my favorite books
The Dark Beyond the Stars by Frank M. Robinson

I've been meaning to reread that. I should do so sooner rather than later. :)

Dust by Elizabeth Bear.

Orphans in the Sky by Robert Heinlein

Methuselah's Children also by Heinlein.
I particularly like the way that one works out.

Litany of the Long Sun and Epiphany of the Long Sun by Gene Wolfe are fantastic. (And much more accessible than the Book of the New Sun, IIRC.)

Thanks for all the suggestions. I've added all of these titles to my ever growing To-Read shelf.
Except for the Heinlein, since I've read pretty much all of his fiction. Although, reading the synopsis for Orphans in the Sky makes me want to re-read it in the near future. And I am having trouble remembering the story behind Methuselah's Children from the GR plot summary. So I might need to re-read that one as well.

Warren wrote: "Methuselah's Children also by Heinlein.
I particularly like the way that one works out."

Wasn't this the one where the old guy got his brain transplanted into the body of a young woman? I don't remember any of it taking place off Earth. Most of my Heinlein reading was done in the late 1970s - early 1980s, so I could easily be mistaken.

I think I've read or seen something where a generation ship is either nearing it's destination or breaking down, but the passengers no longer know that they are on a ship. No clue what it was, though.

The movie Pandorum with Dennis Quaid?

http://letterboxd.com/film/pandorum/

Richard wrote: "Wasn't this the one where the old guy got his brain transplanted into the body of a young woman?"

I am pretty sure you're thinking of I Will Fear No Evil.

Pandorum had stasis pods that went wrong long enough for evolution to happen, not technically a generation ship. Still, a decent enough film if you don't mind the mutant cannibal trope.

Richard wrote: "Pandorum had stasis pods that went wrong long enough for evolution to happen, not technically a generation ship. Still, a decent enough film if you don't mind the mutant cannibal trope."

Oh I do Clarice. I do. phphpphph. (Excuse my Hannibal Lecter). Great movie Pandorum.

Book of the Long Sun by Gene Wolfe. THE best! Comprising 4 books Nightside: The Long Sun, Lake of the Long Sun, Caldé of the Long Sun, and Exodus from the Long Sun.

Caveat: This is Gene Wolfe.

Disclaimer: Gene Wolfe books will make you gibber

Louie wrote: "Richard wrote: "Wasn't this the one where the old guy got his brain transplanted into the body of a young woman?"

I am pretty sure you're thinking of I Will Fear No Evil."

And then Steve Martin made a movie about it

Mike wrote: "Caveat: This is Gene Wolfe."
Cattfish wrote: "Disclaimer: Gene Wolfe books will make you gibber"

I've never read any Gene Wolfe. What's wrong with his books/writing?

Louie wrote: "Richard wrote: "Wasn't this the one where the old guy got his brain transplanted into the body of a young woman?"

I am pretty sure you're thinking of I Will Fear No Evil."

Ah, yes! I'm sure I've also read Methuselah's Children, but I apparently remember absolutely nothing about it.

Gene Wolfe has an amazing ability to wrap you up in a story only for you to go back and realize you have no clue what actually just happened: think China Mieaville but less grounded in reality

Ship of Fools by Richard Paul Russo

The brain transplant is in I Will Fear No Evil. You probably read Methuselah's Children in the short story collection The Past Through Tomorrow.

Richard wrote: "...I think I've read or seen something where a generation ship is either nearing it's destination or breaking down, but the passengers no longer know that they are on a ship. No clue what it was, though"

I suspect you are thinking of Ben Bova's Exiles trilogy. , specifically End of Exile. Here's the link to the Kindle version of the trilogy on Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/The-Exiles-Tril...

Definitely a good read, I enjoyed the first when I was in my early teens. Still have the tattered copy on my bookshelf. Didn't read the 2nd and 3rd until much later.

Louie wrote: "I enjoy this particular science fiction storytelling device. Does anyone know of any other novels that have generation ships as the primary setting? Or the outcome of such a mission?

Thanks, in a..."

A recent entry in the sub-genre: Hull Zero Three by Greg Bear.

Richard wrote: "Louie wrote: "Richard wrote: "Wasn't this the one where the old guy got his brain transplanted into the body of a young woman?"

I am pretty sure you're thinking of I Will Fear No Evil."

Ah, yes! ..."

Methusela's Children is about the Howard Families, a group of people who were bred together for longevity.

Doc

Going back a bit further than most recommendations, there's Non-Stop by Brian Aldiss from 1958, published in the U.S. under the spoiler title Starship.

[Why a spoiler? The protagonist doesn't know he's on a generation ship for much of the story. I didn't spoiler-protect any of this because I gave it away just by posting in this thread.]

are they any just 'straight' generation ship books? I'm reading 2312 so I don't really want to read a book that is using scifi as a substructure to explore gender issues or what it means to be human.

Maybe I should just come back to generation ships later after more light reading. I clicked through on a lot of the book suggestions here, and judging from what I read in the reviews, I guess they are just too easy to be used to explore deep themes. :)

Midesaka wrote: "Non-Stop by Brian Aldiss
Why a spoiler? The protagonist doesn't know he's on a generation ship for much of the story. I didn't spoiler-protect any of this because I gave it away just by posting in this thread."

I read this a couple of years ago, and I believe that particular plot twist was spoiled for me early on. Although, having that fore-knowledge just made me appreciated the subtle hints along the away about the true nature of the characters environment. Definitely a good read of this sub-genre.

10 Futuristic Technologies That Will Never Exist

Check out #5

His argument against Generation Ships amounts to "meh, too much work". And 'unethical'? Talk about a lack of imagination when it comes to the sort of context which would compel a society to build a generation ship...

Hi there,

thank you for having (had) this discussion. There are a couple of additional titles I have added to my sf-generation-ship book-list. There are some more in it. And actually I am not even sure, whether I will be able to read them all (in time) or not ... The list is rich of interesting titles covering the last about 70 years of SF literature ... Awesome.

If you feel inclined, check the list. Maybe you will find a few more titles you might be interested in reading them.

About Pandorum: Yes, the "Elysium" was meant to be a sleeper-ship; but it partially has turned into a generation-ship as well, which allowed the mutants actually to evolve, which they didn't in just a moment, but very likely over a certain period of time - that is: generations.

And yes: This. Movie. Is. Really. Cool. And. Sadly. Very. Underestimated. By. The. Audience.

All the best!
Liam