Some Favorite Classic Science Fiction Novels; Part 1

What Are Yours?

A friend of mine recently asked me what I would consider my favorite science fiction novels. What science fiction novels would I recommend for a library to introduce new readers to the classic works that built the genre, and the historically significant works that put modern science fiction into context?

This requires working with cross purposes. There are “classic” works I don’t particularly care for, the reading of which will “build character” and “educate the reader in the origin of the tropes and concepts we take for granted today.” Many classics, however, are rip-roaring tales of adventure that hold up well despite being a century or more old. They are a pleasure to read - not an obligation. I’ll identify which is which - in my opinion - as we proceed.

Also, the boundary of science fiction was not as well-surveyed a century ago as it is today. Science fiction arose as a subgenre from within the broader category of speculative fiction. Early science fiction shared many elements with horror, fantasy, adventure, techno-thrillers, and other such tales that a more modern purist might find beyond the metes and bounds of proper science fiction. With those caveats in mind, let’s begin.

Jules Verne (1828-1905) has sometimes been called the “father of science fiction,” although others might argue H.G. Wells deserves the title. No matter. Verne wrote a number of excellent adventure novels including Journey to the Center of the Earth (1864), From the Earth to the Moon (1868), Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas (1870), and Around the World in Eighty Days (1872). The Mysterious Island (1875) is my favorite Verne novel. The story opens with a daring balloon escape by Union prisoners of war who find themselves landing on the eponymous island. A cameo appearance by Captain Nemo from Twenty Thousand Leagues… helps tie the story into the broader context of the Verne-o-verse. It’s worth checking out.

A hardcover collection of four Verne novels, sadly not including The Mysterious Island, is available.

Nineteenth-century science fiction might today be called more of a techno-adventure or thriller. It often involved an adventuresome voyage of discovery to an unexplored or unfamiliar realm. The speculative scientific elements of the story were in support of the overall adventure tale, not the end in itself.

In King Solomon’s Mines (1885) by H. Rider Haggard, Englishman Sir Henry Curtis enlists the aid of famed hunter, explorer, and adventurer Allan Quartermain to find Curtis’s brother who went missing in Africa while searching for King Solomon’s mine. Haggard pioneered the “lost world” genre with novels like She: A History of Adventure (1887), and King Solomon’s Mines inspired a host of imitators.

I’d argue that H.G. Wells (1866-1946) is the true “father of science fiction.” The War of the Worlds (1898) pioneered the alien invasion story.

The Time Machine (1895) pioneered the time travel story and the dying Earth genre, and further showed Wells’s view of the coming split in human evolution between the working class “Morlocks” and the leisured class “Eloi” who have lost the will to live and have become food for their Morlock overlords.

The Island of Doctor Moreau (1896) depicts a mad scientist who uplifts animals to create human-like hybrids, a story with relevance to today’s genetic engineering. Travis J.I. Corcoran explores similar themes with his uplifted dogs in his Aristillus series beginning with The Powers of the Earth.

The Invisible Man (1897) features another mad scientist who discovers how to render himself invisible. Running short of money to fund his experiments, he begins to prey on increasingly hostile neighbors and townsfolk. The Invisible Man explores the question of what a driven individual might do when shielded from the consequences of their actions by the super-power of invisibility.

A hardcover collection of five H.G. Wells novels is available.

A number of modern authors have written pastiches that employ elements of these early novels to retell or extend upon the classic works of H.G. Wells and his contemporaries. These are a fun and easy way to hop into the literary universe of Verne, Wells, and their contemporaries. I particularly recommend John Taloni’s The Compleat Martian Invasion: Earth’s Defense Awakens and C.A. Powell’s The Last Days of Thunder Child.

H.G. Wells is a particularly important author because he was a central figure in the “open conspiracy” and their “blueprint for a world revolution.” His novels reflect many of the themes, ideas, and thinking that inspired the “New World Order” that even now is attempting to dissolve national boundaries and unite the globe under the rule of a supposed technocratic elite. The Wikipedia article offers a reasonable summary of Wells’s New World Order. An insightful exploration of Wells’s work and political impact is here, although I won’t vouch for all of the author’s conclusions.

The 1936 movie, Things to Come, based on Wells’s 1933 novel, Shape of Things to Come, does an excellent job of portraying the idealized technocratic future for which H.G. Wells advocated. In the wake of a decades-long war and deliberately engineered pandemic, a cabal of engineers employ their superior intellects and technology to force their enlightened technocratic rule upon the demoralized and barbarous survivors, ultimately resulting in a utopian paradise.

William Hope Hodgson wrote The Night Land in 1912, a work of supernatural horror in the dying Earth genre. I found it so bleak I couldn’t finish it, but I understand why it is so well regarded. Hodgson inspired a host of modern re-interpreters, including John C. Wright’s Awake in the Night Land, and Fenton Woods’s, Nightland Racer. Arguably, these are more horror or speculative fiction, but they incorporate elements of speculative science that make them a border-line call.

Edgar Rice Burroughs (1875-1950) created not only Tarzan, but also John Carter, a dashing Virginian Civil War veteran who is miraculously transported to Mars while prospecting for gold in Arizona.

Burroughs was the archetype of a pulp fiction writer. In the early twentieth century, popular fiction widely circulated in low-cost magazine with poor quality “pulpy” paper. The resulting “pulp fiction” featured fast-paced, serialized stories with colorful characters, exotic settings, and sensationalism: shocking or thrilling plot twists, violence, and intrigue to capture the reader's attention.

A Princess of Mars, first of Burroughs’s “Barsoom” novels, began to be serialized in 1912 in the story, Under the Moons of Mars, and under the pseudonym, “Norman Bean.” Burroughs had asked to use the pseudonym “Normal Bean” with the implication that despite the fantastic nature of the story, the author was of sound mind. Sadly, a typographer “corrected” it to “Norman.”

Like H.G. Wells, Burroughs was influenced by then prevalent scientific speculation that Mars was a dying, arid planet traversed by canals.

The novel begins with John Carter, who finds himself mysteriously transported to the planet Mars, known as Barsoom by its inhabitants. On Mars, Carter discovers that due to the lower gravity, he possesses enhanced strength and agility. He also encounters various alien species and becomes involved in the conflicts between them.

Carter meets and falls in love with Dejah Thoris, a princess of the Martian city-state of Helium. The two become embroiled in the political struggles and wars among the different Martian city-states, where they must navigate treacherous landscapes, strange cultures, and challenging opponents. Carter’s unique Earth abilities give him an advantage on Mars, and he becomes a central figure in the battles that unfold.

The novel combines elements of violent swashbuckling adventure, westerns, romance, and imaginative science fiction. It’s notable for its depiction of a unique Martian society, as well as its exploration of themes such as heroism, loyalty, and the clash of cultures. A Princess of Mars is one of the early classics of the science fiction genre and has had a significant influence on subsequent works in the genre, inspiring the popular “sword and planet” stories in which an Earthman travels to a distance planet and engages in mêlée violence in strange surroundings.

You can get seven of Burroughs’s Barsoom novels for the ridiculously low price of $2.99 on Amazon, or free from Project Gutenberg if you download them individually.

Another prominent pulp writer, Robert E. Howard (1906-1936), looked to the distant past with his Conan the Barbarian stories. The character’s adventures are set in the “Hyborian Age,” a mythical ancient world filled with civilizations, monsters, and magic. Conan’s stories typically revolve around his exploits as a warrior, thief, and adventurer. This elaborate world-building made Conan a major influence on the “swords and sorcery” genre.

A barbarian hero from the distant land of Cimmeria, Conan has immense strength, skill, cunning, and a strong moral code. As a wandering adventurer, he travels through various lands, encountering different cultures, monsters, and challenges. He often becomes embroiled in conflicts, whether due to his own goals, chance encounters, or because of his sense of justice. The stories involve action, adventure, battles, swordplay, and confrontations with supernatural forces. Howard’s fast-paced narratives, dynamic action, and cliffhanger endings were an inspiration to many later writers.

His stories were “edited” and “improved” by later writers, so your best bet is to avoid the many Kindle editions and go straight to Project Gutenberg for the original public domain stories. If you insist on Kindle or want a dead-tree edition, this version looks promising. And Conan continues to inspire modern writers who have written more stories in Howard’s universe. Check out the Legend Chuck Dixon’s Siege of the Black Castle.

Conan fits more closely into the fantasy genre, but there are elements that influenced the future course of science fiction. Some Conan stories feature remnants of advanced ancient civilizations, often described as having technologies beyond the understanding of the people in Conan's time. This echoes themes common in science fiction, where lost or forgotten technologies play a significant role in the narrative. A few Conan stories involve the idea of alternate worlds or dimensions that exist alongside the primary world. And the Hyborian Age offers an alternate or secret history, tropes that have become common in science fiction.

Finally, I should offer homage to a final pulp writer, one of the pioneering writers of horror, H.P. Lovecraft (1890-1937). Lovecraft is best known for his depictions of cosmic horror, where the unknown and the incomprehensible are central themes, and the insignificance of humanity in the face of vast, uncaring cosmic forces is a recurring motif. His “Cthulhu Mythos,” featuring vast ancient malevolent beings, eldritch lore that can drive a seeker to madness, and cosmic horror, was a great influence on subsequent writers. Lovecraft’s complete works are available on Amazon.

I never much got into Lovecraft’s original work, but I have enjoyed a couple of modern novels that rely on the Cthulhu Mythos. I highly recommend J.P. Mac’s Hallow Mass. A college student must rise to the occasion when an unspeakable evil threatens, not just her campus, but also all of existence. H.P. Lovecraft is a taste I never acquired, but J.P. Mac makes the Lovecraft mythos accessible to non-fans like me in this brilliant, clever mix of unspeakable horror, ironic humor, and modern-day campus political correctness.

In Vin Suprynowicz’s The Miskatonic Manuscript, modern-day rare book collectors discover that Lovecraft was inspired by real, if arcane, technology that enables passage to a parallel reality with “rampaging tyrannosaurs, naked jungle girls, man-eating spiders, and some seriously heavy drugs.” A bit risqué, but I enjoyed it.

We’re running out of room for this installment. Who did I overlook? Which authors should I consider as we move forward? I’ll consider your input as I present Part 2, next time.