My Reading List: Upcoming Classic Sci-Fi Novels

With more sitting-around time on my hands in these days of the coronavirus, I've been reading a lot more, and I know there'll be even more opportunity ahead to spend poring over the pages of some great fiction. I need some good escapist stuff to get me through this stressful period. Though I've read some sci-fi in fits and starts over the past ten or so years, it is only recently that I've really been re-bitten by the far-out fiction bug. When I was a young lad and into my teens, I read a fair bit of the spacy, futuristic stuff. Old standards by wizards of the written word like Arthur C. Clarke, Robert Heinlein, Frank Herbert, Ray Bradbury, Ursula K. LeGuin, and so on. In more recent years, I've delved into gems by both veterans of the genre and newer names, a mix of the likes of William Gibson, Michael Crichton, Robert J. Sawyer, Charles de Lint, Andy Weir, Margaret Atwood, Kurt Vonnegut, Ted Chiang (short fiction, actually), and Liu Cixin.

Very recently, the itch was undeniably strong, so I sought out some lists of the most highly regarded science fiction to pinpoint books I have never read. I have a bit of a wish list of my own now, based on both my interest in particular areas of SF and curiosity about unknown (to me) authors. I have a little pile of goodies on deck that I can't wait to attack soon. Right now, I have the Dan Simmons novel Hyperion on the go, and am enjoying it immensely. Why did I never read this sooner? I remember seeing this book - and its striking, colourful cover art - many times on store shelves over the past few decades. Slightly intrigued, but always with a dismissive mindset "ah, I'm done with that stuff", I passed it by. Anyway, I'm only partway through it at the moment, but it's proving its status as a more modern classic (published in 1989).

In the wings I have The Mote in God's Eye by Larry Niven, another book I've noted on store shelves many times over the decades. Apparently, it's required reading for fans of the genre, so I'm gonna do it. There's also Anathem by Neal Stephenson, which I've never heard of before, but its "first contact" story sounded super-intriguing, so I jumped on that, too. By the way, what made it extra appealing to finally do this little SF shopping spree was Indigo's recent online free shipping deal - probably inspired by the caronavirus sealing anxious readers into their homes, in need of books. These purveyors of the printed word knew we avid readers would need to stock up on satiating materials to see us through this bizarre lockdown period. Me, I'm fortunate (or not, my feelings sway from one side to the other and back again) enough to still be employed (at an essential service... a grocery store) and earning a paycheque. Mind you, that comes with the catch that I have to work around a crew of employees and scads of customers in a grocery store day in and day out. It has its drawbacks and - small - rewards, to be sure.

Anyway, when I'm not a slave to the grind, I am housebound and devouring book after book. One other novel in my "to read" pile is Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke, a story I've been aware of since grade school, when I saw a classmate hauling a dog-eared copy around with his homework. Yet I never sought it out... I just paused to glance at that familiar cover art on bookstore shelves over and over again, decade after decade. Finally, it is in the rotation.

A more recent purchase waiting for my attention is one I bought from the "cheapie shelves" at Chapters, Ball Lightning, by Cixin Liu. Liu is one of my favourite modern authors, with his own special brand of hard sci-fi blended with warm and very real characterizations. 

Down the road, I think I'd like to tackle the famed Foundation and its follow-ups by Asimov, The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester, Ice by Anna Kavan, A Scanner Darkly by Philip K. Dick, Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson, and Metro 2033 by Dmitry Glukhovsky. All come highly recommended, some of them I've heard of before, other titles are new to me.