Whipping Star
From inside cover: In the future, "jumpdoors" presented to mankind by the mysterious entities known as Calebans have made instantaneous travel -- to any point in the Galaxy -- a commonplace. But the Calebans are vanishing, and now only one is left -- and two agents of the Bureau of Sabotage make a horrifying discovery: When the last Caleban dies, so will everyone, everywhere, who has ever used a jumpdoor! And nobody is known not to have "jumped" at least once.... The Caleban must be kept alive -- but it is under contract to a psychotic millionairess who is subjecting it to systematic, damaging torture.... From this weird situation, Frank Herbert spins a colorful, fast-moving tale, set in an exotic future civilization -- deft, dramatic, shimmering with the "sense of wonder" that marks the best SF.
Stats for nerds
5recommend
16mentions
14people
2008–2026years
44% recommend56% neutral
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- I like the Dosadi books, Whipping Star, the short stories in Eye, Eyes of Heisenberg, Destination: Void, The Santaroga Barrier (which my wife hates), Under Pressure and Hellstrom's Hive. If I had to pick just one it might be Whipping Star but maybe Under Pressure is the hardest sci-fi.
- I see overread books like Dune and Hitchhiker's Guide to the Universe as part of the problem, not part of the solution. Back in the 1980s there were so many "sci-fi fans" who had read Hitchhiker 20 times but never read Asimov or Heinlein or Dick or Smith or LeGunn or Pohl or...
I am a big fan of Frank Herbert's other books, particularly The Santaroga Barrier, Under Pressure, Destination Void, Eyes of Heisenberg, Whipping Star and the Dosadi books. I can't stand Dune but for some reason people read it over and over again and don't get into the rest of Herbert never mind any other authors.
I'd also blame Tor press for the downfall of sci-fi. Some of their books were groundbreaking like Ender's Game and Forge of God but because they represented a counter-reformation to the "new wave" which made Smith look cool again (great!) but really diminished the range of stories people would tell instead of expanding it. There was also the expansion of fantasy megaseries like Xanth (way too squicky for visual adaptation) and Discworld (too bad visual adaptations stopped when Pratchett passed away, but at least I can go to a Hogfather showing on the epiphany and cosplay as Twoflower)
I kinda feel about Vinge the way I feel about Niven, he didn't quite continue the promise he showed in his early career in his late career. Same with Charlie Stross, who became as bad a left wing nut (sees a fascist under every rock) as Niven was a right wing nut and gave up on the promising Eschaton series for just plain tiring series like The Merchant Princes (Xanth envy without the notes at the end about how much the author hates writing them?)
I liked the self-published We are Legion (We are Bob) which I found at the Salvation Army. Also
https://www.amazon.com/Terraformers-Annalee-Newitz/dp/125022...
for a very recent book.
- Or Whipping Star by Frank Herbert (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whipping_Star)
- I like the list.
It's the kind of list an English professor might make, not necessarily a sci-fi fan. In particular, Dick's genius was recognized only after his death.
Even though sci-fi sometimes rises above other genre literature, it's not taken that seriously by literary types. Baudrillard talks a lot about Dick and Ballard and that's it. Stanislaw Lem (whose Cyberiad ought to be on that list instead of The Futurological Congress) himself said that Phillip K. Dick was on a whole other level than other sci-fi writers.
Notably the list subverts the category of "novel" by adding a lot of things (comic books, concept albums) that aren't really novels.
I think Fred Pohl is missing (say Gateway) and also Joe Halderman (Worlds!). I'd rather see any Frank Herbert book but Dune (say Whipping Star or The Santaroga Barrier.) For that matter I'd like to see something from Heinlein before he had the stroke like The Moon is a Harsh Mistress or Glory Road. I'd also want to see Niven's Neutron Star (a set of short stories that read like a novel) but despite some "new wave" sensibilities Niven comes across as reactionary today because the Tor Books revival (Forge of God and Enders Game) of sci-fi in the 1980s liked Heinlein and Niven and Doc Smith better than LeGunn, Dick, Ballard, Herbert, etc.
On the other hand, put a sci-fi fan in charge of making this list and it's no doubt they'll add a stick of books from some author who is a "no account" in literary circles like Piers Anthony -- still I would try to slip him in at his most psychedelic.
- On that exact note -- I can recommend "Whipping star", a sci-fi novel by Frank Herbert (of Dune fame).
- Some iconic science fiction books that can stand alone:
Some of these are the beginnings of series or have sequels, or exist in a larger continuum of stories. But each can be read and appreciated on their own. If you find one you really like, it's not hard to see if there are more in a series or sequel.Asimov: The Gods Themselves Clarke: Childhood's End, Rendezvous with Rama Herbert: Dune, Whipping Star Bradbury: Fahrenheit 451 Bester: The Demolished Man, The Stars My Destination (also called "Tiger, Tiger") Niven: Ringworld Niven and Pournelle: The Mote in God's Eye, Footfall Gibson: Neuromancer Stephenson: Snow Crash, The Diamond Age Bear: The Forge of God, Eon Sagan: Contact van Vogt: The Voyage of the Space Beagle Lem: Solaris Atwood: The Handmaid's Tale LeGuin: The Left Hand of Darkness Lewis: Out of the Silent PlanetEdit: formatting
