Tom's Favorite Books

Foundation Trilogy

The first three are great. The extended trilogy is great. In fact, I could list every Isaac Asimov book I've ever read among my favorites.

Lord of the Rings Trilogy

Top honors for pure escapism, and solidly written.

DragonRiders of Pern Trilogy

The first three, that is. Not necessarily the best quality work that I've read, but when it comes to pure escapism, this series may even rival the Lord of the Rings books.

A Fall of Moondust

I like Arthur C. Clarke almost as much as Asimov. They just don't write bad books.

The Moon is a Harsh Mistress

Robert A. Heinleins best novel. In general though, I favor his short stories.

The Illustrated Man

Ray Bradbury's short stories at their very best.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Science Fiction is rarely this amusing. In fact, any fiction is rarely this amusing. The later ones are good too, but not quite the same.

Dune

But I never would have read it if I had known how long the series was going to go on. I've liked most of Frank Herbert's work (not quite all).

Red Mars

by Kim Stanley Robinson. Good hard science, interesting politics, good characters, surprising story changes, long book. Top notch. I've read Green Mars also, and liked it too. This is a truly epic story being told here. Haven't read Blue Mars yet.

Neutron Star

I haven't read much of Larry Niven so far, but what I've read I really like. Ringworld is very good too, but the short stories in this book are intelligent, instructive, hard s.f.; the stuff I live for.

Neuromancer

Not typically my kind of s.f., but this is still a great book.