Sometime in the summer of 1997, I was 13 years old, I was in a bookstore at the seaside and looking for something to read. I was already an avid reader at that age, but mostly I was reading mythology and mystery. For the past few weeks I had been hooked on Blade Runner, whose VHS recorded from its passage on television I had consumed. So the name Philip K. Dick was on my mind. It was a lucky accident of fate that among the remainder books on display was a copy of the anthology The Defenders of the Earth, sold as a tie-in to Total Recall (another movie I had enjoyed quite a bit). I bought it, read the first story, and was, in the words of my father (another big sci-fi fan) “thunderstruck by science fiction.” In fact, I never stopped.

Science fiction is the genre that has most shaped my tastes as a reader. I have read it extensively, ranging across different authors and subgenres. And the set of tropes on which I am most able to improvise, that is, to be a better facilitator. Too bad that for the most part, they play fantasy (a genre I appreciate but don’t love to the core).

Here is my favorite reading list. It will be much longer than the previous one, you are warned.
Hard Sci-fiAnderson, Poul. Tau Zero
Niven, Pournell & Barnes. Legacy of Heorot Trilogy.
Sagan, Carl. Contact
Sawyer, Robert J. Flashforward
Sawyer, Robert J. Neaderthal Parallax Trilogy
Sawyer, Robert J. Rollback
Sawyer, Robert J. WWW Trilogy
Steele, Allen. Near Space Series
Weir, Andy. The Martian
Soft Sci-fiClark, Arthur C. Songs of Distant Earth
Clark, Arthur C. 2001 A Space Odyssey Series
Dick, P.K. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
Faber, Michel. The Book of Strange New Things
Le Guin, Ursula K. The Hainish Cycle
Lessing, Doris. Canopus in Argos
McIntyre, Vonda N. Dreamsnake
Simak, Clifford D. City
Space OperaBrin, David. Uplift Cycle
Bujold, Lois McMaster. Vorkosigan Saga
Chambers, Becky. Wayfarers
Cherry, C.J. Alliance-Union Universe
Corey, S.A. The Expanse
Herbert, Frank. Dune
McCaffrey, Anne. Dragonriders of Pern Series
Reynolds, Alastair. Revelation Space
Scalzi, John. Old Man’s War Series
Scalzi, John. The Interdependecy
Simmons, Dan. Hyperion Cantos
Smith, E.E. “Doc”. Skylark of Space
Steele, Allen. Coyote Series
Tubb. E.C. Dummarest of Terra Series
Vance, Jack. Gaean Reach
CyberpunkGibson, Willian. Bridge Trilogy
Gibson, Willian. Sprawl Trilogy
Stepheson, Neal. Snow Crash
Future HistoryAnderson, Poul. Technic History
Asimov, Isaac. Robot, Empire and Foundation Cycle
Heinlein, Robert. Future History
Piper, H. Beam. The Terro-Human Future History
Stapeldon, Olaf. The First and the Last Men
Misc.Atwood, Margaret, The Handmaid’s Tale
Aldiss, Brian W. The Hothouse
Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451
Brackett, Leigh. Martian Cycle
Brackett, Leigh. Skaith Trilogy
Cline, Ernest. Ready Player One
Crichton, Michael. Jurassic Park
Eschbach, Andreas. The Carpet Makers
Huxley, Aldous. Brave New World
Lem, Stanislaw. Solaris
McDevitt, Jack. Alex Benedict Series
Orwell, George. 1984
Stepheson, Neal. Anathem
Stross, Charles. Accelerando
Williams Walter Jon. Aristoi