 | Hyperion by Dan Simmons
Buy new: $7.99 / Used from: $0.25 A categorical crossover, somewhere between Cantebury Tales, Dune, Stephen King lies Dan Simmons first book in the Hyperion collection. And wow! This book knocks of anything by Frank Herbert, which was my previous number #1 for at least a decade or two.
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 | Children of Dune (The Climax of the Dune Trilogy) by Frank Herbert
Buy used from: $5.99 Book 3 in the Dune series tops my Dune books. Paul Muad'dib as prophet, Leto II becomming the great worm. Alia is possessed. so much juicy stuff here. perhaps the most philosophical in the series... perhaps
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 | Speaker for the Dead (Ender, Book 2) by Orson Scott Card
Buy new: $7.99 / Used from: $1.00 Speaker for the Dead picks up from Ender's Game in a sort of revelatory transformation of genre. This book launches what is probably the best sympathetic look into alien community and communion that sci-fi has to offer. Remarkable.
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 | God Emperor of Dune (Dune Chronicles) by Frank Herbert
Buy new: $16.47 / Used from: $3.97 Leto II's reign totally transforms the universe, especially that desert planet beloved by so many of us. Rivals Children of Dune for high philosophy and intense drama. Herbert is at his best with conflicted characters and the prophetic work of the Atreadis.
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 | The Fall of Hyperion by Dan Simmons
Buy new: $7.99 / Used from: $0.23 Sequel (and for all purpses, the continuation of book one as one work)to Hyperion, the operatic universe unfolded in the first book flowers into full-blown apocalyptic drama. Simply fantastic!
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 | Rama II: The Sequel to Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke
Buy new: $7.99 / Used from: $0.01 Rama aside (it isn't necessary to have read it, though it is a short enjoyable read) the sequel really heats up. Drama off the bat and interesting creatures abound in a tale that is closer to a mystery novel than anything else. Clarke's distinctive style is at full throttle here.
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 | Red Mars (Mars Trilogy) by Kim Stanley Robinson
Buy new: $7.99 / Used from: $0.01 Kim Stanley Robinson's epic begins with a book in which we see, in full hard-sci fi glory, the beginnings of civilization on Mars full of philosophical dispute, epic heros, and the beginnings of global transformation. It's dryness is totally exceeded by the deft execution of its concept. Masterpiece.
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 | Ender's Game Gift Edition (Ender Quartet) by Orson Scott Card
Buy new: $12.89 / Used from: $6.43 Ender's Game is the source book for numerous sequels and is a triumph in itself. Written with the sort of clarity that great writers summon up, fantastic character development, and compelling plot, this book is worthy of its critical acclaim.
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 | The Left Hand Of Darkness by Ursula L. Le Guin
Buy used from: $3.99 Gender undergoes scrutiny in this quick but masterful work. Le Guin's terse style and keen eye leave one wishing there was more from this single source than has been expounded.
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 | The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
Buy used from: $7.95 Atwood is at her post-apocalyptic best here. A critically-acclaimed story examining gender, this work is well worth its achievements as it mirrors for us our own societal repression through the lens of this work's drama.
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 | Out of the Silent Planet (Space Trilogy, Book One) by C.S. Lewis
Buy new: $9.36 / Used from: $4.54 C. S. Lewis, despite his religious writings, produced a jem in this planets' trilogy. This book kicks things off well. I still remember the childlike wonder of my first cosmic voyage with this classic.
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 | American Gods: A Novel by Neil Gaiman
Buy new: $10.19 / Used from: $4.08 Gaiman's works read like a dreamscape where anything is possible, and anyone just might exhibit extraordinary properties. Less Stephen King, though, and more Homer.
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 | 2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke
Buy new: $7.99 / Used from: $2.25 2001 is an obvious classic when attached to the Kubrick film. What the first book promises is well delivered, even if it seems that by later books, we could have journeyed farther than we are taken.
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 | Sphere by Michael Crichton
Buy used from: $2.45 Crichton isn't really a fabulous writer in my opinion (certianly nowhere near Le Guin or Simmons or Atwood etc) but Sphere is an intriguing book that, if not marred by the author's other works, stands out as a solid work in its own right for sure.
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 | Rama Revealed (Bantam Spectra Book) by Arthur C. Clarke
Buy new: $7.99 / Used from: $0.01 Wrapping up the Rama series, Rama Revealed's imagination is equal to our understandably great expectations. Second only to Card's tremendous alien expositions.
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 | Chasm City by Alastair Reynolds
Buy new: $13.00 / Used from: $9.98 While Revelation Space lags between the first few chapters and its ending, Chasm City is a phenomenal sci-fi work, blending twisting narratives, interesting characters, and a visceral feel of this strange land. High marks for this up and coming author.
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 | Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
Buy new: $10.37 / Used from: $6.56 If you haven't read this, I don't know that we can be friends. It's become a tad dated as sci-fi volume continue to mount up, but this work's influence and stature are well founded.
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 | Snow Crash (Bantam Spectra Book) by Neal Stephenson
Buy new: $10.20 / Used from: $4.53 If I considered all of Stephenson's work to be science fiction, he would appear much sooner than this. As I think Crypt and the Baroque cycle are something else entirely, I'll just say that if you haven't read him your life is drabber than it ought to be. This work alone reads like a zebra on acid.
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 | Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
Buy new: $10.17 / Used from: $5.99 Atwood really can't miss, and in Oryx and Crake we see the pharmeseutical (sp?) disaster of our future's future. Another must read.
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 | The Foundation Trilogy by Isaac Asimov
Buy used from: $47.00 Albeit a dry read, Asimov has his sights honed in this epic read of religious/political transformation. Required classic reading perhaps, but it pays off well i think.
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 | That Hideous Strength by C.S. Lewis
Buy used from: $1.89 Descartes' "brain in a vat" modern philosophy gets an instanciation and runs amuck in this gripping work. Lewis should have stuck with science fiction - the world would be a richer place for it.
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