American Literature: Three Books Project

Genre Study

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Genre: Science Fiction

Read one early, middle, and contemporary work. Ask yourself how the genre has developed (changed/stayed the same) over time. Choose from among these titles or suggest one to me:

    Early
    • Looking Backward by Edward Bellamy
    • "Hans Pfaal" and other stories by Edgar Allan Poe
    • A Voyage to the Moon by George Tucker
      Not quite 200 pages, but possibly the very first scifi written in the U. S.
    • A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain
    Middle
    • I, Robot by Isaac Asimov
    • Foundation by Isaac Asimov
    • The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury
    • Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank
    • Citizen of the Galaxy by Robert Heinlein
    • Dune by Frank Herbert
    • A Canticle for Liebowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr.
    • Player Piano by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
    • Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
    Contemporary
    • Neuromancer by William Gibson
    • The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick
    • Ender's Game or Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card
    • Paladin of Souls or Mirror Dance by Lois McMaster Bujold
    • Forever Peace by Joe Haldeman
    • Feed by M.T. Anderson
    • Kindred or other titles by Octavia Butler (negotiable)

    I am willing to consider other titles and writers. Talk to me if you have a suggestion.

Updated August 14, 2011.