SFFC's 70s SF Novels

[J-Sun]

Well, the Library of America started this with their set of 50s novels and the 60s thread extended the concept. So here's the 70s thread to finish it.

(I would do a 30s/40s thread but I suspect there are too many things that are too great that I like roughly equally for me to say. Kind of like how Haydn wrote the 104 or so symphonies and Beethoven just the 9. It's easy to pick your top 10 Beethoven symphonies but harder to pick your top 10 Haydn symphonies. But, as I said regarding this thread, anyone else is welcome to start such a thread. No mod dibs on this stuff.

Also, I think it's probably time to start considering the 80s classic (1987 was a quarter-century ago) but the forum description says "to the 1970's".)

So:

Poul Anderson - Tau Zero (1970)
Isaac Asimov - The Gods Themselves (1972)
Arthur C. Clarke - Rendezvous with Rama (1972)
Ursula K. LeGuin - The Lathe of Heaven (1972)
Robert Silverberg - Dying Inside (1972)
Norman Spinrad - The Iron Dream (1972)
Joe Haldeman - The Forever War (1974)
Frederik Pohl - Gateway (1977)
James Tiptree, Jr. - Up the Walls of the World (1978)
C.J. Cherryh - The Faded Sun (1978-9)

I'm following hitmouse from the 60s thread with Vance's Planet of Adventure in treating The Faded Sun as one title. And I'm being kind of contrary with the LeGuin but, either way, what did they put in the water in 1972 and where did it go? (I mean, there are additional works from the later 70s like great Pohl and Clarke and other novels, and very good ones by people who didn't quite make my list, such as Martin but, still... '72 was an annus mirabilis.)

Yours?

 

[Ian Whates]

Again, J-Sun, my own pick would coincide with yours in several instances but radically diverge in others:

Poul Anderson - Tau Zero (1970)
Arthur C. Clarke - Rendezvous with Rama (1972)
Ursula K. LeGuin - The Lathe of Heaven (1972)
Robert Silverberg - Dying Inside (1972)
Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle - The Mote in God's Eye (1974)
Joe Haldeman - The Forever War (1974)
Roger Zelazny - Doorways in the Sand (1976)
Frederik Pohl - Man Plus (1976)
Arkady & Boris Strugatsky - Roadside Picnic (1977)
John Varley - The Ophiuchi Hotline (1977)

with honourable mentions for: Silverberg - Downward to the Earth (1970), Dean Foster - Midworld (1975), Budrys - Michaelmas (1977), Clarke - The Fountains of Paradise (1979).

 

[Fried Egg]

My top ten would look something like this:

"A Scanner Darkly" - Philip K Dick - 1977
"Where Late The Sweet Birds Sang " - Kate Willhelm - 1976
"The End Of All Songs" - Michael Moorcock - 1976
"The Dispossed" - Ursula Le Guin - 1974
"The Forever War" - Joe Haldeman - 1974
"Inverted World" - Christopher Priest - 1973
"The Gods Themselves" - Isaac Asimov - 1972
"Dying Inside" - Robert Silverberg - 1972
"A Time of Changes" - Robert Silverberg - 1971
"Tao Zero" - Poul Anderson - 1970

I don't know if I'm breaking any rules by putting Silverberg in there twice but nothing else, for me, came close. I was also tempted by "Book of Skulls", my favourite of all Silverbergs but I disqualified it on the grounds that it's not really SF.

Comparing with other people's lists, I see there are a few that have so far scored every time. But I'm surprised by a few omissions, no "Scanner Darkly" or "Inverted World"? I'm being contrary, apparently, by selecting "The Dispossessed" over "The Lathe of Heaven" but for me, it was a more important work.

 

[iansales]

Gene Wolfe: THE FIFTH HEAD OF CERBERUS (1972)
JG Ballard, JG, CRASH (1973)
Arthur C Clarke: RENDEZVOUS WITH RAMA (1973)
Samuel R Delany: DHALGREN (1974)
Ursula K LeGuin: THE DISPOSSESSED (1974)
DG Compton: THE CONTINUOUS KATHERINE MORTENHOE (1975)
Michael G Coney: HELLO SUMMER, GOODBYE (1975)
M John Harrison: THE CENTAURI DEVICE (1975)
Joanna Russ: THE FEMALE MAN (1975)
Kingsley Amis: THE ALTERATION (1976)
Frederik Pohl: GATEWAY (1976)
Philip K Dick: A SCANNER DARKLY (1977)
John Varley: THE OPHIUCHI HOTLINE (1977)
Richard Cowper: THE WHITE BIRD OF KINSHIP trilogy (1978)

 

[iansales]

Oops, only ten needed. Lose the Clarke, Amis, Pohl and Varley. The Clarke, Pohl and Varley have good central conceits but the other books on the list are better written. The Amis is well-written but a bit lightweight.

 

[Vince W]

In no particular order:

Ringworld - Larry Niven
Gateway - Frederik Pohl
The Forever War - Joe Haldeman
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
The Shockwaver Rider - John Brunner
The Dosadi Experiment - Frank Herbert
Triton - Samuel R. Delany
To Your Scattered Bodies Go - Philip Jose Farmer
The Mote in God's Eye - Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
Titan - John Varley

 

[J-Sun]

Again, J-Sun, my own pick would coincide with yours in several instances but radically diverge in others

Well, not so radically unless you really dislike some of my choices, as I like yours. The Ophiuchi Hotline just missed my list (I think I was deciding between it, Martin, and the Tiptree for the last slot) and I haven't read The Mote in God's Eye or Roadside Picnic so I can't disagree there. I'd also honorably mention Michaelmas (one of the best novels ever but for a couple of, IMO, major flaws and still excellent), and haven't read Midworld. The only reason Man Plus and The Fountains of Paradise are not on my list is because I'd already put another Pohl and Clarke on but all four are essential. The only things I wouldn't put on a top list would be Doorways in the Sand and Downward to the Earth - not that I hate them, but I didn't care for Doorways and, while I thought Downward was mostly great in the course of reading, I was disappointed (or rather, was unhappily unsurprised) by the ending and the sum, but still like it okay. So your list looks great to me.

I don't know if I'm breaking any rules by putting Silverberg in there twice but nothing else, for me, came close. I was also tempted by "Book of Skulls", my favourite of all Silverbergs but I disqualified it on the grounds that it's not really SF.

Nope. As I said to Ian, I personally avoided duplicating authors but actually probably shouldn't have. But if you want to, you can put 10 Silverbergs. I think we've mentioned The Book of Skulls before - I think you inspired me to seek it out (and thanks for that) - and I agree (except that I still prefer Dying Inside): a really powerfully written, well-conceived book but not SF.

I'm being contrary, apparently, by selecting "The Dispossessed" over "The Lathe of Heaven" but for me, it was a more important work.

Yeah, I'd have thought it would be an overwhelming favorite (will probably end up so) and it definitely is the more important work in terms of impact on the field (well, and perhaps of society at large, also).

 

[WmPreston]

No love for John Crowley's Engine Summer (1979)?

 

[hitmouse]

The Visual Encyclopedia of Science Fiction ed. Brian Ash (1977)
Not a novel, but for me the most profoundly influential sf book of the 70s. It provided a history and context, and demonstrated the scope of the field, and had a great collection of art from books and magazines. Really important in the pre-internet, pre-amazon days. Can be picked up online for peanuts.

 

[hitmouse]

Vermilion Sands JG Ballard (1971)
Extro Alfred Bester (1975)
To Your Scattered Bodies Go Philip Jose Farmer (1971)
Ringworld Larry Niven (1970)
Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy Douglas Adams (1979)
Flow My Tears the Policeman Said Philip K Dick (1974)
Lathe of Heaven Ursula LeGuin (1972)
Norstrilia Cordwainer Smith (1975)

The two following are technically written in the 1970s and should be in a list somwhere:
The Shadow of the Torturer Gene Wolfe (1980)
Riddley Walker Russell Hoban (1980)

 

[J-Sun]

If you want to carry those two over and finish that list, I started an 80s thread.

(Oh, but - point of order - I wouldn't count Norstrilia for this thread, as that's a 60s novel that was split and just not put together until the 70s.)

 

[hitmouse]

yeah, fine. Thanks.

 

[gregglory]

You guys are the best ones to ask this question. A SF novel written in the 70s which has a giant hollow planet with a frictionless underground transport system and which changes seasons so slowly the people have evolved to have thick skins in summe and thin in winter. A long novel, at least 500 pages. Anyone know wht it is called?

 

[J-Sun]

You guys are the best ones to ask this question. A SF novel written in the 70s which has a giant hollow planet with a frictionless underground transport system and which changes seasons so slowly the people have evolved to have thick skins in summe and thin in winter. A long novel, at least 500 pages. Anyone know wht it is called?

Sorry, that doesn't ring a bell for me. You might be better off posting in the Book Search forum - while this is a 70s novel thread, the Book Search forum would probably get you more views from a wider audience who would still know their 70s stuff.
_____

As I've said in the 50s and 60s threads (and probably will in the 80s thread) thanks to all who've played and I hope more continue to do so, but I figure it's time to summarize the consensus thus far. The Chron's top 10 70s novels are:

Poul Anderson - Tau Zero (1970)
Larry Niven - Ringworld (1970)
Isaac Asimov - The Gods Themselves (1972)
Arthur C. Clarke - Rendezvous with Rama (1972)
Robert Silverberg - Dying Inside (1972)
Ursula K. LeGuin - The Lathe of Heaven (1972)
Joe Haldeman - The Forever War (1974)
Ursula K. Le Guin - The Dispossessed (1974)
Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle - The Mote in God's Eye (1974)
Frederik Pohl - Gateway (1977)

with Haldeman's The Forever War being the novel of the decade. (Actually, Dick's A Scanner Darkly, Adams' A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and Phil Farmer's To Your Scattered Bodies Go exactly tied with the Asimov, Clarke, and Pohl above, but I'm making the post so I break the ties. The detailed breakdown follows.

(In the listing below, titles are ordered by votes, indicated by the plain numbers, and sub-ordered by total votes for that author, indicated by the parenthetical numbers.)

Voter Abbreviations

FE  = Fried Egg
HM  = Hitmouse
IS  = Ian Sales
IW  = Ian Whates
J   = J-Sun
VW  = Vince W
WP  = WmPreston

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

4
J/IW/FE/VW   Joe Haldeman - The Forever War (1974)

3
J/IW/FE      Poul Anderson - Tau Zero (1970)
J/IW/FE      Robert Silverberg - Dying Inside (1972)
J/IW/HM      Ursula K. LeGuin - The Lathe of Heaven (1972)

2
(5)
FE/IS        Ursula K. Le Guin - The Dispossessed (1974)

(4)
IW/VW        Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle - The Mote in God's Eye (1974)
VW/HM        Larry Niven - Ringworld (1970)

(2)
J/IW         Arthur C. Clarke - Rendezvous with Rama (1972)
J/FE         Isaac Asimov - The Gods Themselves (1972)
FE/IS        Philip K. Dick - A Scanner Darkly (1977)
J/VW         Frederik Pohl - Gateway (1977)
VW/HM        Douglas Adams - The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1979)
VW/HM        Philip Jose Farmer - To Your Scattered Bodies Go (1971)

1
(4)
FE           Robert Silverberg - A Time of Changes (1971)

(3)
IW           Frederik Pohl - Man Plus (1976)
HM           Philip K. Dick - Flow My Tears the Policeman Said (1974)

(2)
IW           John Varley - The Ophiuchi Hotline (1977)
VW           John Varley - Titan (1979)

IS           Samuel R. Delany - Dhalgren (1974)
VW           Samuel R. Delany - Triton (1976)

IS           J.G. Ballard - Crash (1973)
HM           J.G. Ballard - Vermilion Sands (1971)

(1)
J            Norman Spinrad - The Iron Dream (1972)
J            James Tiptree, Jr. - Up the Walls of the World (1978)
J            C.J. Cherryh - The Faded Sun (1978-9)
IW           Roger Zelazny - Doorways in the Sand (1976)
IW           Arkady & Boris Strugatsky - Roadside Picnic (1977)
FE           Christopher Priest - Inverted World (1973)
FE           Kate Willhelm - Where Late The Sweet Birds Sang (1976)
FE           Michael Moorcock - The End Of All Songs (1976)
IS           Gene Wolfe - The Fifth Head of Cerberus (1972)
IS           D.G. Compton - The Continuous Katherine Mortenhoe (1975)
IS           Michael G. Coney - Hello Summer, Goodbye (1975)
IS           M. John Harrison - The Centauri Device (1975)
IS           Joanna Russ - The Female Man (1975)
IS           Richard Cowper - The White Bird of Kinship trilogy (1978)
VW           John Brunner - The Shockwaver Rider (1975)
VW           Frank Herbert - The Dosadi Experiment (1977)
WP           John Crowley - Engine Summer (1979)
HM           Alfred Bester - The Computer Connection [vt Extro] (1975)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Notes

* Brian Ash (editor)'s The Visual Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (1977) got a
  vote, but is not a novel.
* Cordwainer Smith's Norstrilia (1975) got a vote for 70s novel but is really
  an unsplit 60s novel.

 

[gregglory]

Mote in God's Eye has my vote, then Titan.

 

[Bick]

Hmm, good thread. The 70's may rank as my favourite decade for sci-fi - but that may just be nostalgia, or less reading of newer work. Anyway, I'm new here (hello!) but I'll add my views. Some of the best stuff I may not have read (still to read Forever War, for instance, tho its in the mail), but here's a list off the top of my head:

Larry Niven - Protector / Ringworld
Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle - The Mote in God's Eye
Arthur C. Clarke - Rendezvous with Rama
Robert Silverberg - Dying Inside / The World Inside
Frederik Pohl - Gateway
Philip Jose Farmer - To Your Scattered Bodies Go / The Fabulous Riverboat / The Dark Design
Philip K. Dick - Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said
Frank Herbert - Children of Dune

One book I enjoyed a lot and thought would be 70's turns out to miss by one year: Split Infinity by Piers Anthony (1980).

 

[J-Sun]

Another take on the post-LoA 70s books concept. Future contributors to these threads (if any) might benefit from the longer list, especially. His top 12 matches "our" top 13 except for trading Finney's Time and Again and Butler's Kindred for Anderson's Tau Zero, Silverberg's Dying Inside, and Farmer's To Your Scattered Bodies Go. Our list is much better. But it's still a good list with remarkable overlap and, as I say, the extended list. (And the extended list does include the Anderson, Farmer, and Silverberg.)