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Sunday, August 31, 2014

Info Post
By Mattie MacDonald


Brave New World by Aldous Huxley is considered a classic piece of literature and one of the first and best sci fi novels ever written. The story is set in a dystopian future where people are psychologically manipulated and conditioned for the benefit of the powers that be.

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury is also set in a near-future dystopia. The title refers to the temperature at which paper spontaneously ignites and the firemen in the novel burn books. The plot revolves around fireman Guy Montag who lives a lonely and desolate existence where people never read, enjoy nature or think independently. Montag slowly begins to question the meaning of his life and finally discovers the value of literature and moves boldly to save the books and his own life.

Frank Herberts Dude is set in a far off planet known as Arrakis. The planet is the source of melange, which is a drug that grants immortality. The planet is the stage for a major family feud over power and the plot follows the quest of a Duke called Paul Atreides to attain his rightful place on the throne.

Phillip L Dick's novel. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep was turned into a cult movie known as Bladerunner. It is a post-apocalyptic story and humans have fled to Mars. While on Mars humans have androids that work for them as slaves. Many of the androids escaped and returned to earth. The book's protagonist, Rick Deckard is a bounty hunter who tracks down and retires these androids. He finds himself on a quest to find eight androids that killed their masters back on mars.

Kim Stanley Robinson's Red Mars is a must-read for any science fiction fan. It is set in the near future where humans have begun to colonise Mars. Back on Earth, arguments erupt regarding whether to make another Earth via terraforming or to leave the planet as it is.

The famous astro-physicist, Carl Sagan's novel Contact is set in the near future. The protagonist, Ellie Arroway works for SET and discovers radio signals from a planet 25 light years away, indicating that the planet contains intelligent life. The novel explores how humans may react when they make first contact with extra-terrestrial intelligence.

The Foundation trilogy by Issac Asimov is considered classic literature. Set in the far future, humans have spread throughout the galaxy and established an empire that is about to collapse due to corruption, bureaucracy and political infighting. The historian Hari Seldon sets out to preserve all knowledge in a vast encyclopedia. He brings many eminent scientists and scholars together on a planet to bring a new era of humanity.

No science fiction novel list is complete without War of the Worlds by HG Wells. The story is well known; Earth is invaded by Martians operating giant tripod like vehicles using total war to subdue humanity because they covert the Earth's resources. When Orson Wells first read the story on the radio in 1938 many listeners began to panic, thinking that it was actual breaking news!




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