Only Forward, Michael Marshall Smith Roadside Picnic, Arkady & Boris Strugatsky The Mote In God's Eye, Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle Babel 17, Samuel Delany Neuromancer, William Gibson any of Isaac Asimov's robot stories The Demolished Man, Alfred Bester The Prestige, Christopher Priest The Star Fraction, Ken MacLeod and I'll think of a hundred more the moment I hit 'send', no doubt...

Dune - Frank Herbert Neuromancer - William Gibson Dangerous Visions - Harlan Ellison The Left Hand of Darkness - Ursula K. Le Guin Her Smoke Rose Up Forever - James Tiptree, Jr. Parable of the Sower - Octavia Butler Snow Crash - Neal Stephenson On the Beach - Nevil Shute Starship Troopers - Robert Heinlein

I'll add my seconds (thirds) for: Neuromancer Roadside Picnic Dune And add: Mission: Earth - L. Ron Hubbard (10 books combining to make 1 novel, insanely long, but well worth it. over all, it is the best sci-fi I have read) Final Blackout - L. Ron Hubbard (No, I'm not a Scientologist, but it has to be said that Hubbard is among the best sci-fi writers of the last 100+ years, although American's might take offence to this novel) Foundation (the original - Isaac Asimov Crashlander - Larry Nevin The Stainless Steel Rat - Harry Harrison And many more that I am trying to remember right now.

The Foundation Trilogy - Isaac Asimov Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury Parable of the Sower - Octavia Butler 1984 - George Orwell Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card (OSC) Speaker for the Dead - OSC Xenocide - OSC Armor - John Steakley Slaughterhouse Five - Kurt Vonnegut The Time Machine - HG Wells

Hyperion/Fall of Hyperion Dan Simmons Dune - Frank Herbert The Harvest - Robert Charles Wilson Mockingbird - Walter Tevis Stranger in a Strange Land -Robert Heinlein Snow Crash - Neil Stephenson Footfall - Larry Niven/Jerry Pournelle The Forever War -Joe Haldeman The Mars Trilogy - Kim Stanley Robinson The Left Hand of Darkness - Ursula K. Le Guin

A Scanner Darkly -- Philip K Dick The Martian Chronicles -- Ray Bradbury Stranger in a Strange Land -- Robert Heinlein Foundation Series -- Issac Asimov The Brentford Triangle -- Robert Rankin The Dancers at the End Of Time -- Michael Moorcock Illuminatus! -- Robert Anton Wilson Foucault's Pendulum -- Umberto Eco Snow Crash -- Neal Stephenson Neuromancer -- William Gibson The Midwich Cuckoos -- John Wyndham War of the Worlds -- H.G. Wells The Stars My Destination -- Alfred Bester Gormenghast Series -- Mervyn Peake

Ooh, my favourite genre! These are the books I return to again and again. -Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood -Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood -Children of Men by P.D. James -Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess -Spares by Michael Marshall Smith -Mistress of Silence by Jacqueline Harpmann -Drowned World by J.G. Ballard -One of Us by Michael Marshall Smith

Debbie, Only Forward is in my top ten all time favourite sci fi books along with Spares, which I've listed below. Have you read any of Smith's other non sci fi stuff?

I read the first of his non- SF books, but it felt quite conventional, compared to the energy and wit of Only Forward and Spares. I often wonder what happened there...

HitchHiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson Dune by Frank Herbert Illuminatus Trilogy by Robert Anton Wilson Neuromancer by William Gibson The Time Machine by HG Wells 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A Heinlein I'll leave the last one off, because I just realized I haven't named any non-American, non-European books. I'm sure there are some out there that should be on this list.

Foundation - Asimov Misc short story collection - Asimov (IMO his best stuff) 2001 - Clarke Phillip k dick - take your pick Bradbury - Martian. Chronicles / farenheit Dune - Herbert Enders game The doomsday book connie willis (barely sci fi but heh) Something somebody cyberpunk (not an actual title just think something in the sub genre is required sci fi reading) something somebody space opera.

What a fantastic list. Here are the 64 suggestions to date. Anything else? 1. 1984 by George Orwell 2. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne 3. 2001 by Clarke 4. A Scanner Darkly by Philip K Dick 5. any of Isaac Asimov’s robot stories 6. Armor by John Steakley 7. Babel 17 by Samuel Delany 8. Bradbury by Martian. Chronicles / farenheit 9. Children of Men by P.D. James 10. Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess 11. Crashlander by Larry Nevin 12. Dangerous Visions by Harlan Ellison 13. Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson 14. Drowned World by J.G. Ballard 15. Dune by Frank Herbert 16. Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card (OSC) 17. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury 18. Final Blackout by L. Ron Hubbard (No, I’m not a Scientologist, but it has to be said that Hubbard is among the best sci-fi writers of the last 100+ years, although American’s might take offence to this novel) 19. Footfall by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle 20. Foucault’s Pendulum by Umberto Eco 21. Foundation Series by Isaac Asimov 22. Gormenghast Series by Mervyn Peake 23. Her Smoke Rose Up Forever by James Tiptree, Jr. 24. HitchHiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams 25. Hyperion/Fall of Hyperion Dan Simmons 26. Illuminatus Trilogy by Robert Anton Wilson 27. Misc short story collection by Isaac Asimov (IMO his best stuff) 28. Mission: Earth by L. Ron Hubbard (10 books combining to make 1 novel, insanely long, but well worth it. over all, it is the best sci-fi I have read) 29. Mistress of Silence by Jacqueline Harpmann 30. Mockingbird by Walter Tevis 31. Neuromancer by William Gibson 32. On the Beach by Nevil Shute 33. One of Us by Michael Marshall Smith 34. Only Forward by Michael Marshall Smith 35. Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood 36. Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler 37. Phillip k dick by take your pick 38. Roadside Picnic by Arkady & Boris Strugatsky 39. Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut 40. Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson 41. Spares by Michael Marshall Smith 42. Speaker for the Dead by OSC 43. Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein 44. Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein 45. The Brentford Triangle by Robert Rankin 46. The Dancers at the End Of Time by Michael Moorcock 47. The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester 48. The Forever War by Joe Haldeman 49. The Foundation Trilogy by Isaac Asimov 50. The Harvest by Robert Charles Wilson 51. The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin 52. The Mars Trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson 53. The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury 54. The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham 55. The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A Heinlein 56. The Mote In God’s Eye by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle 57. The Prestige by Christopher Priest 58. The Stainless Steel Rat by Harry Harrison 59. The Star Fraction by Ken MacLeod 60. The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester 61. The Time Machine by HG Wells 62. War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells 63. Xenocide by OSC 64. Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood