AKICOLJ: A book for tom

[coalescent]

The esteemed Mr Anderson passes on this request for book recommendations:

... an SF book for a reading group - needs to be something that non-SF readers would appreciate, not too hard to read, something to get them started with SF. Any ideas? Also needs to be in cheap-ish paperback I suppose.

The need for it to be readily available in paperback probably implies something fairly recent; it needs to be science fiction, not fantasy; and obviously, it needs to be good. Tom is already suggesting The Separation, The Prestige, and ("through gritted teeth") Cloud Atlas. What else should be on this list? (Tom notes that he will find and kill, horribly, anyone who suggests Air.)

(On a separate note, for anyone who might be interested my books-read-in-2006 roundup is here.)

EDIT: Tom has listed the suggestions so far here.

Comments

[twic.myopenid.com (from livejournal.com)]

Also, i like the idea of suggesting something by a big name, to really nail some colours to the mast. 'The Dispossessed' fits the bill perfectly, as does 'Lord of Light', i think. Any more like that?

-- tom

[coalescent.livejournal.com]

The Stars My Destination.

The Space Merchants. Actually, that could work really well.

Heck, most of the Masterworks line, really.

[grahamsleight.livejournal.com]

Or lots of Joanna Russ. :)

[coalescent.livejournal.com]

... which is not in print in the UK. Apart from The Female Man, I guess.

[brixtonbrood.livejournal.com]

Seconded both times - Space Merchants is a very easy read, though might have been overtaken by history, it;s a long time since I read it.
Tiger Tiger is proper SCIENCE FICTION!!!!!, but also a pretty easy read and a rattling good yarn. However, as Torchwood has reminded us, lots of people are not that keen on rapist protagonists.

[twic.myopenid.com (from livejournal.com)]

Tiger Tiger is proper SCIENCE FICTION!!!!!

I realise that this is heresy of an entirely different order of magnitude to not liking 'Air', but i have to confess to not liking 'The Stars My Destination' much. Mostly, i had a problem with Mr Foyle and the uber-bildungsroman aspect of the story; this was a major element of the story, but it only works because he started out as a ludicrous one-dimensional caricature. That's particularly lazy writing.

Christ, this was supposed to be a thread about what books to suggest to some random people in Colchester, not "Tom pisses on every revered classic of SF you've ever heard of". Sorry people!

-- tom