Journey to imagined worlds in classic science fiction series

I’ve been reading science fiction since about the age of 13, and in 40 years have seen no reason to cease. There are the classics and the neoclassics, and despite the moaning of purists that the golden age is behind us, there are still many works of merit. For this review, I’ve included a classic series and a couple neoclassic series. All are worth reading for their perspectives and insights.

Isaac Asimov, best known for his robot tales, also wrote of a crumbling Galactic Empire and, in Foundation, of the efforts to create a colony that would “incubate art, science, and technology, and form the nucleus of the Second Empire.” The concept is still fresh, and these books make for fascinating reading and encompass, if I may lightly pun, a universal approach to the rise and fall of civilizations.

What happens when an alien culture from another world and human civilization make contact? C.J. Cherryh, in her Foreigner series, explores just that concept. The focal character, Bren Cameron, is a diplomat on the tightrope wire—intercessor to human and the Aveti (an alien species that is mathematically gifted, relatively technologically unskilled, and subscribes to an unusual code of conduct). These books present totally alien culture in unrest and uneasy forging of resources.

Red Mars, Green Mars, and Blue Mars, is a neoclassic trilogy that covers the colonization and transformation of the planet into a human-livable environment. Kim Stanley Robinson’s underlying science is solid and quite realistic. I read these when they were first published and was impressed by the substantive and detailed descriptions. The author is meticulous in his writing, and, in my opinion, they are more the story of the evolution of the planet than the characters who inhabit it.

If you haven’t tried the field of science fiction, I suggest you start with one of these series. There are no bug-eyed-monsters; no conquering heroes that save the universe single-handedly; and no skimpily clad females with an intelligence quotient equivalent to bust size. Instead, these tales deliver good, solid, crisp, analytical writing and draw alternate futures in bold, realistic strokes. The books are refreshing and well worth the read.