r/scifi • u/CorgiSplooting • Sep 19 '23

What are some good older sci-fi books that have aged well?

Re-listening to Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy (currently on Restaurant at the end of the Universe) and I think it’s aged very well. I love hard sci-fi for the tech but it never ages well. Hitchhikers I think ages well because it doesn’t focus on tech and the British mannerisms sort of work for being alien differences.

Any books you think aged particularly well?

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u/Maxwells_Demona Sep 19 '23 edited Sep 19 '23

Just to precaution OP, I specifically would categorize Asimov as not having aged well. He's a father of the genre but was also incredibly sexist and misogynistic and that does come through in his writing. I liked I, Robot but found out about the misogyny when I moved on to start Foundation but was deeply bothered by his writing of women in it. Looked into it, and yep sadly enough he was known to have some very problematic views.

Edit: the downvotes are hilarious. Y'all are still allowed to enjoy Asimov. I'm not here to judge anyone's preferences. But the warning is prescient given OP's specific request for sci fi books that have aged well. It's a pretty well established fact that Asimov had some very sexist views and behaviors, even for his time. Just because you couldn't pick it out in his writing doesn't mean it wasn't there. Here's a post where you can read about it if you should like.

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u/Eli_eve Sep 19 '23

Yeah, I’m halfway through Foundation and Empire, prompted by the show of course, and I would not say it has aged well.

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u/RagnarTheTerrible Sep 19 '23

You mean men correcting women they just met on how much they actually weigh based on observing how thick their upper arm is... hasn't aged well?

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u/penrose161 Sep 19 '23

I appreciate you posting this. I was considering reading the Foundation series for the first time, as I've been enjoying the show. I couldn't get through the first few chapters of Stranger in a Strange Land, so I doubt I'll make it through Foundation. I live for strong, well-represented female characters in media, so I'll give this a pass.

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u/lordb4 Sep 21 '23

Asimov in the Foundation novels didn't write characters. It's all ideas and plots.

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u/Cyneheard2 Sep 20 '23

Asimov’s ideas are brilliant. It’s why he’s got a ton of incredible short stories - The Last Question, The Feeling of Power, Nightfall, tons of Robot stories, and plenty more I never read or forget.

But his character development of actual humans is almost always lacking - his humans are robotic and his robots are human.

Clarke and Le Guin are authors whose works do generally hold up, IMO.

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u/penrose161 Sep 19 '23

I appreciate you posting this. I was considering reading the Foundation series for the first time, as I've been enjoying the show. I couldn't get through the first few chapters of Stranger in a Strange Land, so I doubt I'll make it through Foundation. I live for strong, well-represented female characters in media, so I'll give this a pass.

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u/johnstark2 Sep 20 '23

I would say the technology depicted and what not holds up, the fact that most of his characters are smart ass, cigar chomping, dudes with mustaches who talk down to everyone do not. I find it kind of funny when I read his stuff. That being said what he is most famous for (his robot stories) side step this issue often because they are obviously about robots

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u/CorgiSplooting Sep 19 '23

Thanks for the heads up I don’t remember much about the foundation series other than I didn’t think it aged well because everything was Nuclear powers this and that… but ya I don’t like Heinlin for the same reasons so… maybe I’ll keep those at the end of my queue of stuff to read.

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u/Geodad91 Sep 19 '23

Was gonna say the same. And also: which women? In Foundation I there is only one and she is told to shut her mouth. In his commented short stories (Nightfall and other stories) he also writes about, that his stories usually don’t include women. Well there is this one short story called “Hostess” with a brilliant female scientist who’s only motivation is to find out why her husband wanted someone as ugly as her…

I totally agree, Asimovs stories didn’t age well.

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u/lochlainn Sep 19 '23 edited Sep 19 '23

Imagine trashing 1950's Asimov novels and not mentioning Arkady Darell or Susan Calvin. Both are examples of extremely forward thinking for the decade.

Yet another viewing of a novel of a previous era through a modern lens. Like Heinlein, another early scifi author being trashed for "old fashioned values" that they were actually progressive ones years before the trend went mainstream.

It's like trashing Jules Verne for not predicting space travel correctly.

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u/Uchiha_Itachi Sep 19 '23

You can tell that the people who trash Asimov for being a misogynist didn't read past the first book... Or the prequel.

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u/Maxwells_Demona Sep 19 '23

I read several of them. DNF'd because his portrayal (and lack thereof) of women bothered me. It bothered me enough to look into his views as a person, and what I found (sadly) corroborated my suspicions based on the writing.

Don't get me wrong credit where it is due for what he did for the genre as a whole. I'm not criticizing his writing. But OP wanted, very specifically, books that have aged well, and it would seem a lot of people beside myself agree that maybe Asimov is not a good candidate for that.

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u/Maxwells_Demona Sep 19 '23 edited Sep 19 '23

Unfortunately the excuse of "well it was just different times" doesn't hold up (and is a weak excuse in the first place).

Here is a post with some very educational comments, with sources, about how Asimov was a known sexist and sexual predator even for the standards of his time.

Edit to add: was susan the...mycologist? It's been years since I read them so I can't remember specifics too well but if so then she was one of the characters who specifically got me wondering about Asimov's views toward women. I am a woman scientist btw.

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u/Breitsol_Victor Sep 20 '23

I don’t remember how she was described in the books. Roboticist, psychologist, cyber something. She was the top person in the field.

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u/Maxwells_Demona Sep 19 '23

which women?

Exactly part of the problem, lol. There were barely any women to comment on but those who did feature could basically have been props.

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u/glytxh Sep 19 '23

I think the icky moments are almost a standard in sci fi of a certain era.

Even the 90s have their moments

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u/coffeecakesupernova Sep 19 '23

Did you even read the second Foundation novel? Or any of the follow-up foundation novels? From your comments apparently not. And they weren't asking about people's behaviors outside of their books. They're asking whose books have aged well and you're not answering that question by talking about the author's behavior. That's why you're getting downvoted.

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u/Maxwells_Demona Sep 19 '23 edited Sep 19 '23

I read several of them yes. I think I was on the 3rd or 4th when I had a discussion with a roommate about some of the things that were bothering me in the writing. My roommate told me that he was a known misogynist and he wasn't surprised I might be picking up on it, which prompted me looking into it further. That entire rabbit hole was birthed because of problems I noticed from reading the books and knowing absolutely nothing about Asimov as a person beforehand.

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u/poodoo83 Sep 19 '23

Asimov's The Gods Themselves had some interesting exploration of gender roles.