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November 12, 2012 by Karen Jensen, MLS

Stephanie’s Top 5 Sci-Fi Reads

November 12, 2012 by Karen Jensen, MLS   Leave a Comment

I was never a big science fiction reader until college.  I thought that it was dorky and that I wouldn’t like any of it.  In college, however, I took this excellent class taught by Dr. Minor (RIP) and from that moment on, I am forever a sci-fi fan.

I love Mike A. Lancaster’s book so much that I thought we could both write a list of our top 5 sci-fi books and then, when your teens get hooked to science fiction (or yourself) you would automatically have a reading list.  His is much more refined than mine but I was super excited that we both had 5 different titles!  So, here is my list of 5…and tomorrow, we will treat you to Mike’s along with a contest!
1. Ubik by Philip K. Dick 

Okay, Philip K. Dick is one of my all time favorite authors.   It was hard to really narrow it down to just one PKD book, but Ubik incorporates everything that I love about the sci-fi genre.  Ubik is considered conceptual fiction and for good reason.  The entire book rotates around a plot where Joe Chip works for a private security firm that basically employees people with various psychic powers.  There is a battle with another firm and all of a sudden, the world starts to deteriorate before Chip and his colleagues’ eyes.  Reality seems to be shifting and it seems as if a consumer product marketed as ‘Ubik’ is the cause. 
There is so much more to this book but it basically is filled with tons of puzzles, tons of moments where you are wondering what the heck is going on, and then tons of moments where you sit back and

 wonder what is real in the world and really start to ponder reality.  I love books like this!  In the end, PDK somehow solves all the dilemmas leaving this as one of my favorite books of all time.  And as a sidenote, if you work with teens, NEVER just say “Have you read any Dick?”.  Doesn’t go over well.  Always introduce him as Philip K. Dick.  TRUST ME.

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2. Neuromancer by William Gibson
I’m a computer junkie.  This is the first book that won the sci-fi triple crown and basically started the cyberpunk subgenre of science fiction.  Gibson creates a world where technology has dominated society but it is crumbling all around them. Henry  Case is a computer hacker and he is caught stealing from his employer who basically drugs him and renders his ability to use the computer system useless.  Case finds someone, Armitage, to fix this for him with some shoddy work on Case’s part and he is cured and placed under the protection of Molly, a professional killer.  As the book unfolds, Case discovers that he has actually been controlled all along by the technology he thought he was in control of.  Love it.  Just love it.
3. Who? by Algis Budrys

Welcome to the age of sci fi written as a futuristic history, and sometimes even actually history, of the Cold War.  This book, written in 1958, takes place after the Soviets kidnap  a top physicist, Dr. Lucas Martino, during an attack and explosion at an Allied research facility.  Several months later, the Soviets hand over Dr. Martino but he has received such extensive surgeries that he no longer has his arm, replaced by a never-before-seen mechanical arm, and his face is completely covered by a metal mask.  Upon further investigation, many of his internal organs are completely replaced by artificial organs and the Allies have no way to find out if Martino is really who he says he is or just a spy for the Soviets.  This begins a long line of interrogation by Shawn Rogers and the entire novel is centered around this quest to discover who this man really is.  The kicker?  They never find out.  It’s super creepy.  I loved every minute of it.

4. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

Much newer than the previous three, this novel immediately became one of my all time favorites.  It’s hard to call this straight science fiction because it’s more of a pop culture infused novel but if you were a hard core nerd in the 80s and fell in love with The Last Starfigher, this book is for you.  And guess what..my teens LOVED this book. 

This may seem like cheating but honestly, my synopsis of this book can’t compare with what is on the author’s website.  So, from readyplayerone.com:
At once wildly original and stuffed with irresistible nostalgia, READY PLAYER ONE is a spectacularly genre-busting, ambitious, and charming debut—part quest novel, part love story, and part virtual space opera set in a universe where spell-slinging mages battle giant Japanese robots, entire planets are inspired by Blade Runner, and flying DeLoreans achieve light speed.
It’s the year 2044, and the real world is an ugly place.
Like most of humanity, Wade Watts escapes his grim surroundings by spending his waking hours jacked into the OASIS, a sprawling virtual utopia that lets you be anything you want to be, a place where you can live and play and fall in love on any of ten thousand planets.
And like most of humanity, Wade dreams of being the one to discover the ultimate lottery ticket that lies concealed within this virtual world. For somewhere inside this giant networked playground, OASIS creator James Halliday has hidden a series of fiendish puzzles that will yield massive fortune—and remarkable power—to whoever can unlock them.  
For years, millions have struggled fruitlessly to attain this prize, knowing only that Halliday’s riddles are based in the pop culture he loved—that of the late twentieth century. And for years, millions have found in this quest another means of escape, retreating into happy, obsessive study of Halliday’s icons. Like many of his contemporaries, Wade is as comfortable debating the finer points of John Hughes’s oeuvre, playing Pac-Man, or reciting Devo lyrics as he is scrounging power to run his OASIS rig.
And then Wade stumbles upon the first puzzle.
Suddenly the whole world is watching, and thousands of competitors join the hunt—among them certain powerful players who are willing to commit very real murder to beat Wade to this prize. Now the only way for Wade to survive and preserve everything he knows is to win. But to do so, he may have to leave behind his oh-so-perfect virtual existence and face up to life—and love—in the real world he’s always been so desperate to escape.
A world at stake.
A quest for the ultimate prize.
Are you ready?

5. Human.4 by Mike A. Lancaster

Last but not least and one of the reasons why I wanted to write these posts, Human.4.  Previously published in the UK as Point 4, Human.4 made its stateside debut in March of 2011.  I didn’t see much about this book and just happened upon it in Overdrive one day while looking for something to browse and wanted to pull a ‘Tom Cruise on Oprah’s couch’ when I was done!  It was everything that the science fiction novels I had read in college had to pull me into the genre and it was spooky…it actually scared the mess out of me and that takes a lot to do.  The book’s amazing format is what makes this a dead set winner for me.  Presented as an edited transcript from the cassette tape recordings of teenager Kyle Straker, we start to hear the chilling and amazing story of Straker himself and what he witnessed during a community talent show where he was ‘hypnotized’ by his friend.  Calling into question the reality of the world around him, Human.4 is science fiction for teens at its absolute finest and a perfect introduction into the world of science fiction for a teen audience who will only want more after reading this novel.  Thankfully, The Future We Left Behind, a companion novel to Human.4 just came out this week.  

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About Karen Jensen, MLS

Karen Jensen has been a Teen Services Librarian for almost 30 years. She created TLT in 2011 and is the co-editor of The Whole Library Handbook: Teen Services with Heather Booth (ALA Editions, 2014).

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