What is the single best science fiction novel of all time?

[Parmandur]

Ultimately, this is a subjective distinction, yet at the same time I think there is a pretty clear distinction between science fantasy like Dune and science fiction like, say, Solaris or Neuromancer. Or for a more recent example, Children of Time.

Not really, though...? I can think of few things less clear in literary genre.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I don't think you can say "single best". Best in what way? I've read a lot of hugely entertaining but ultimately forgettable pulp sci fi. Whilst I can see the case for Dune, which is definitely science fiction, despite some fantasy authors mimicking it's tropes. I also like Dune Messiah, it's shorter and punchier. Personally, I would select 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Possibly because it was the first "grown up" science fiction I read. If I try to remove personal factors, I would select The War of the Worlds. Not only did it invent Alien Invasion and Cosmic Horror, it is fantastically well written (which is perhaps why radio adaptations have been more memorable than movie versions). But on a personal basis, I find Wells a bit too downbeat to be really enjoyable.

 

[Arilyn]

Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles. Bradbury's writing lingers in the mind and this one is superb.

 

[DrunkonDuty]

Hyperion by Dan Simmons.

I'd include Fall of Hyperion as it really is a direct continuation of the story in the first book. BUT it is possible to stop at the end of the first volume and have a perfectly satisfying story arc. So, just Hyperion.

Left Hand of Darkness is right up there too. Neuromancer kicked off a whole subgenre. And Frankenstein kicked off the genre as we know it.

 

[HaroldTheHobbit]

This is really an impossible question, with the plethora of subgenres and great books.

But if I have to pick one, I must say Neuromancer, just because of how it made my head explode in my early teens.

Neal Stephenson is still my number one author though.

 

[ilgatto]

Use of Weapons, by Iain M. Banks.

 

[Reynard]

NOTE: I didn't read the thread.

ANSWER: Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke

ALSO: Dune is overrated.

 

[Cadence]

Oh wait. Definition question. Assume it only ever came out as the collected edition, is Moore and Gibbons "Watchmen" a science-fiction novel?

 

[Parmandur]

ALSO: Dune is overrated.

But what if by your saying Dune is overrated, it has now become the underrated scrappy underdog...?

 

[Clint_L]

I see what you did there.

In the spirit of the thread, I'm going to give this a true. But what make a story the best? You could argue that being influential is what makes a book best and Dune has certainly inspired a lot of other work. Warhamer 40k would be very different without Dune. I'm going to go with a classic, Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelly.

Yeah, the more I think about it, the more I want to switch to Frankenstein as well. All of the main pillars of modern science fiction are built right there, by an eighteen year old author. It's a really astonishing work.

The thing that holds me back is that she's not as good a writer as most of the others that are being cited in this thread. But in terms of foundational ideas and influence, Shelley is untouchable.