by Erich Rosenberger M.D.

Created on: July 16, 2007

Science fiction is a broad category of fiction that is bound together by using both science and technology as a foundation for plots and themes. Science fiction novels often involve speculative looks in to the future, with much of the genre being based in future times worlds quite different from our own. Although science fiction uses science and technology as a foundation by which to tell it's stories, the themes found within the genre can most certainly range in to broadly diversified areas such as politics, religion, sex and war. Just about any aspect of the human condition can be found withing the pages of a good science fiction novel, making it a not only a highly versatile gene of fiction, but also one that reflects our humanity, even if most of the characters have tentacles instead of arms.

I will attempt to provide a short list of science fiction novels that will serve as an excellent primer to what is a tremendously large and varied genre of fiction. This group is by no means intended to be comprehensive and certainly fans of sci-fi could put on their Spock-like Vulcan ears and debate my choices endlessly. I also will not provide a detailed review of each book individually, as the focus of this article is the list itself.

"The Moon is a Harsh Mistress", by Robert A. Heinlein.

Fans of Robert Heinlein will debate endlessly which is his best work, but for my money it doesn't get any better than this one. Set at an unspecified time in the near future, this is the story of the revolution and subsequent liberation of the Moon from the control of it's masters on Earth. The story can easily be considered a political manifesto, but it's strength lies in its strong protagonist, who just happens to be a sentient computer. In addition to strong themes in politics, the novel also examines marital structures, finance and everyone's favorite, sex.

Also worth reading by Heinlein are "Stranger in a Strange Land" and "Starship Troopers".

The Foundation Series, by Issac Asimov.

This is a series of seven novels, the first of which was written in eight parts, each published serially in a sci-fi magazine, and only later bound together as a single book. Considered by many to be the best science fiction series ever written, I can't say that I could argue against this. The stories revolve around the decline and fall of the Galactic Empire, and draw obvious parallels to "The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" by Edward Gibbon. The cast of characters is large, but

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