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What were the major ideas of sci-fi published in the latest 60's and 70's? I remember the Cold War and supercomputers but that's about it. Any books you'd recommended written in that era that exemplifies the trends of that time?
Sci-fi was becoming psy-fi, with Le Guin and Ellison leading the way, probing our psyches via alternate modes of being (but hasn't sci-fi always already explored those things?) While <i>Locus Awards</i> isn't the end-all of sci-fi, their list of short sci-fi from the '70s includes:
"The Death of Dr Island" by Gene Wolfe,"The Day Before the Revolution" by Ursula K. Le Guin,
"Jeffty is Five" by Harlan Ellison,
"The Persistence of Vision" by John Varley.
These selections from the winners in: "The Locus Awards: Thirty Years of the Best Science Fiction and Fantasy," Charles N. Brown and Jonathan Strahan, eds. (New York: Harper Collins, 2004).
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I think one of the better "new psychology" school of sci-fi books is Frederik Pohl's Gateway, circa 1977.
Link:
Gateway
Oh yeah, and they also made it into a video game.
Janissaries, by Jerry Pournelle
Inherit the Stars, by James P. Hogan
Callahan's Crosstime Saloon, by Spider Robinson
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The main character in _Gateway_ wasn't gay. He described himself as "pretty straight" and remained that way throughout the book. At one point, he TRIED to sound like he had homosexual tendencies, but that was obviously a red herring to try to throw off his psychologist (and that red herring really didn't stand a chance of working, on the shrink OR on the reader.) It IS true that the book showed a society more accepting of homosexuality. Maybe Zeugma is thinking of some SEQUEL where the character comes out? I don't know. I never read any of the sequels. Personally, I would have loved that book a lot more if the main character hadn't been such a despicable person.
Anyway... major sci-fi ideas of the late 60s and 70s. Well, you mention the cold war. How about HOT war? I'm thinking of _The_Forever_War_ by Joe Haldeman.
And how about irreverent satire as an idea? I'm sure you've heard of _The_Hitchhiker's_Guide_to_the_Galaxy_ by Douglas Adams.
And although the whole "cyberpunk" thing wouldn't really flourish until the 1980s, it had its roots in the 70s, with books like _Do_Androids_Dream_of_Electric _Sheep?_ by Philip K Dick. (People still talk about that book today, as the "Off-Topic Discussions" sub-forum will attest.)
And speaking of cybernetics, there's _The_Ship_Who_Sang_ by Anne McCaffrey.
Then there's good old-fashioned space-opera. Back in the 1970s, Alan Dean Foster's "Flinx" books were actually... you know... GOOD. There were _The_Tar-Aiym_Krang_, _Bloodhype_, _Orphan_Star_, and _The_End_of_the_Matter_. It should go without saying that space opera was important in the 70s. I mean, if you've never heard of a space-opera movie from the 70s, something is seriously wrong.
And speaking of galactic empire stories, there's _The_Mote_in_God's_Eye_ by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle.
For artificial worlds, there's _Ringworld_ by Larry Niven and _Colony_ by Ben Bova.
And that brings to mind _To_Your_Scattered_Bodies_Go_, _The_Fabulous_Riverboat_, and _The_Dark_Design_ - the first 3 "Riverworld" books by Philip José Farmer.
Also in the 60s and 70s, Robert Heinlein, in books like _The_Moon_Is_A_Harsh_Mistress_ and _Time_Enough_For_Love_, explored some of his most important themes, such as individualism, libertarianism, and free expression of physical and emotional love.
Arthur C. Clarke did some of his best-known work during that era, with books like _2001:_A_Space_Odyssey_, _Rendezvous_with_Rama_, _The_Fountains_of_Paradise_, and _Imperial_Earth_. His books give you that sense of wonder, an important theme for sci-fi of ALL eras.
I'm told that _The_Bug_Wars_ by Robert Asprin is notable for having no humans in it (beyond a brief mention at the beginning).
And speaking of things alien, there's _The_Andromeda_Strain_ by Michael Crichton. And _The_Gods_Themselves_ by Isaac Asimov has the most alien world I've ever seen in fiction. It also has an interesting theme: all people, including scientists, distort the facts to fit their beliefs. (And of course, the book has Asimov's usual themes of humanism, progress and its setbacks, etc.)
Then there's _Slaughterhouse-Five_ by Kurt Vonnegut.
And Roger Zelazny wrote his best-known sci-fi at that time, like _Lord_of_Light_ and _Doorways_in_the_Sand_.
(As a disclaimer, I haven't actually read all the books I mention in this thread - only most of them. But I keep HEARING about all these books, anyway.)
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The 1970s is notable for the rise of the 'New Wave' in science fiction, a movement which arguably began in the middle part of the 1960s with writers such as JG Ballard, Brian Aldiss, Frank Herbert, Ursula LeGuin, Roger Zelazny, Philip K. Dick and Michael Moorcock. This movement argued for SF to expand to incorporate 'literary' ideas beyond the mere use of science and technology alone. SF books in the 1970s tended to be either examples of this or reactions against it.
Key works of this period (including some just before) would include:
LORD OF LIGHT by Roger Zelazny (an SF spin on Hinduism)
STAND ON ZANZIBAR by John Brunner (a book about overpopulation)
THE LEFT HAND OF DARKNESS by Ursula K. LeGuin (about gender identity)
SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE by Kurt Vonnegut, Jnr.
RINGWORLD by Larry Niven (a big dumb object novel)
TAU ZERO by Poul Anderson
TO YOUR SCATTERED BODIES GO by Philip Jose Farmer
THE GODS THEMSELVES by Isaac Asimov
DYING INSIDE by Robert Silverberg (a book about telepathy)
RENDEZVOUS WITH RAMA by Arthur C. Clarke
THE DISPOSSESSED by Ursula K. LeGuin
FLOW MY TEARS, THE POLICEMAN SAID by Philip K. Dick
THE INVERTED WORLD by Christopher Priest
THE FOREVER WAR by Joe Haldeman (a satire of the Vietnam War)
GATEWAY by Frederick Pohl
DYING OF THE LIGHT by George R.R. Martin
THE HITCH-HIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY by Douglas Adams
THE FOUNTAINS OF PARADISE by Arthur C. Clarke
THE SHOCKWAVE RIVER by John Brunner
A DREAM OF WESSEX by Christopher Priest (an early virtual reality novel)
And, most essentially, THE SHADOW OF THE TORTURER by Gene Wolfe (published in 1980, but written in the late 1970s and the first part of THE BOOK OF THE NEW SUN, one of the all-time must-reads of the genre).
For short fiction, George R.R. Martin was probably the dominant author of the genre in that field, with works such as A SONG FOR LYA, SANDKINGS, THE WAY OF CROSS AND DRAGON, MEATHOUSE MAN and NIGHTFLYERS. The Harlan Ellison-edited DANGEROUS VISIONS and AGAIN, DANGEROUS VISIONS were also important in featuring the best of numerous authors writing in that form.
Just out of curiosity, joela, why are you especially interested in the sci-fi that particular era right now?
Oh, I should have mentioned that of all the books I listed, my favorite is _Rendezvous_With_Rama_, although honorable mention should be made of _The_Andromeda_Strain_.
Does anyone know where joela is?
I don't know about anyone else, but I keep wondering why he asked about that particular era. I also wonder if he found any of our suggestions helpful.
(Maybe he's not responding because he doesn't like ANY of our responses, and feels that it would be impolite to say so. :) )