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

Autumnal · Saturday at 11:00 AM

Hmm. So many possibilities. Norstrilia, by Cordwainer Smith, for the beauty of the language and the deranged genius of its world building.Roadside Picnic, by Boris and Arkady Strugatsky, for its vision of the unknowable embedded in the practicalities of modern life. The Big Time, by Fritz Leiber, serious contender for best time travel story ever, unfolding the fate of the work within a two-room R&R station. Star Maker, by Olaf Stapledon, unfolding the entire history of the universe and beyond, with a chilly vision of who makes it that retains compassion for individuals.

Swanosaurus · 2026-03-09T08:29:20+0000

Clint_L said:
This is one of those books that I respect and want to like more than I actually do. Delaney's writing has never entirely done it for me. He's a super important writer in the pantheon, so this feels like a personal failure.

Don't beat yourself up! It didn't connect with me the first time ... I've read it a total of four times, because I translated it into German (there was an older translation, but they wanted to do a new one, and I got to do it). It took me that many times to really appreciate it, and I only got there because of the translation assignment. Delany is a lot of things, but accessible he is generally not. There's a reason why I would rate it "best", but not "favourite" (I enjoyed "Downbelow Station" by C.J. Cherryh and pretty much everything by Ursula K. LeGuin a lot more).