Sci-fi Classics

Science fiction books have always been a famous and successful genre. Today, we are going to visit some of the sci-fi classics, very famous back in the golden era of this literature, but today a little bit forgotten (when they shouldn´t be forgotten at all)...

I, Robot (Isaac Asimov)

Please, if you have seen that horrible, ignorant and disgusting film of Will Smith, forget that awful thing right now.

“I, Robot” is actually a collection of tales written back in the youth of Isaac Asimov. The book depicts a society in which robots and humans work together, and both depend on each other. The tales cover a grand variety of situations, from dramas full of mystery to a simple argument in a living room in which a man complains about his robotic assistant, always setting out moral and even philosophical problems.

The great thing about this book is that it is not at all fiction. This book (well, Isaac Asimov actually) established the three laws of the robotics, and all today´s robots follow the design and patterns shown inside the pages of this unforgettable book.

It is indeed a masterpiece, essential for all readers.

Dune (Frank Herbert)

Dune is another unforgettable and essential book. It was an instant success back when it was published.

The book shows a galaxy (our galaxy) divided into feudal dominions, all of them loyal to an Emperor (who actually has the supreme force). However, it is a feminine order, the Bene Gesserit, which hasthe most important role: preserving the human race and its technology.

The starring of the book, a boy, heir of the House Atreides, discovers to be a Bene Gesserit, a role only available to certain people, so yes, he is special. From then on, an unforgettable plot emerges and the galaxy will never be the same again...

After this first book, a very long saga was written, but if you don´t have time to read them all, this one, the first one, is actually the best of the saga.

Fahrenheit 451 (Ray Bradbury)

In a not so remote future, the firefighters don´t extinguish the fires, they provoke them by burning down books.

A future society where books (and reading in general) are illegal, and thinking is not very well seen, that´s the world where Fahrenheit 451 takes place.

But all of a sudden, a firefighter, with a normal life, burning books all day long, has a talk with a girl, the girl switches on the mind of the firefighter and then everything begins to happen, leading to an unforgettable end to a plot which makes you stay reading in your room until you finish the very last page of this masterpiece.

It is, indeed (and most of the people agree), one of the best science fiction books ever written, raising not only moral but philosophical and psychological issues. It is just oppressing to imagine, while reading this book, a world where all the things depicted in here happen… and realize that some the “horrible” things which happen in the book are not so fictional…

1984 (George Orwell)

The Hunger Games, Divergent, The Maze Runner… It is great to see that so many people are interested in copying (and not in a good way, not at all) this glorious masterpiece, and indeed one of the best sci-fi books ever published.

In the pages of 1984 a world, horrible yet attractive and safe, wants to be discovered. The nation, called Oceania, in which the book takes place, is depicted from the perspective of Winston, one member of The Party, worker at the ministries which control the society, literally.

The content of 1984 cannot be explained in a couple of paragraphs, a summary of this book cannot be written, it is just impossible to describe in just a few words the oppression of the Room 101, or how you can feel to know that Big Brother is watching everything you do (because you really connect with the characters of the book).

And let´s not even talk about the issues it raises…

An essential book, unavoidable to all readers, even if you don´t like the genre.

Foundation (Isaac Asimov)

And I’m finishing with my personal favorite saga, and considered (together with the books I´ve shown you, and a few more) the best sci-fi saga ever written. The Foundation saga is formed by around ten books, if we count the prequels (five prequels, by the way). But if you have to read one, you have to read this one.

Foundation is a collection of stories. It depicts how the Galactic Empire, which controls all stars in the known universe, collapses. However Hari Seldon, a psychohistorian (read the book, and you will know what psychohistory is), wants to prevent the collapse of the whole human race.

To do so, he founds two foundations, each one in each extreme of the galaxy, to be the core of a second and more powerful Galactic Empire. The book depicts the progress of the first of those two foundations, immersing you in an epic and unforgettable journey throughout the galaxy.

However, and believe me, once you finish this book, you will want to continue with the rest (because once you finish the book, you will want to know what happens to the declining Galactic Empire, and to the Second Foundation…).