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Ursula Le Guin's The Dispossessed immediately occurred to me upon reading your third sentence. Wonderful work by a wonderful author.
Real programmers use butterflies
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Chris C-B wrote: if the core story could be written for any other genre, then it ain't SciFi.
I guess it therefore depends upon what you consider the "core story" to be. I've found most if not all science fiction to be retellings of classic themes in a science fiction setting.
By that reasoning, your list would not just be short - it would be empty.
Software Zen: delete this;
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No, not empty! To start, the two I have already mentioned match my criterion - 'Contact' and '2001', although '2001' was a film before it was a book. There many examples, like the original H. G. Wells 'War of the Worlds', 'The Mote in God's Eye', 'The Tommyknockers' and even TV dramas like 'Quatermass and the pit'.
The one thing I will concede is that the majority have one thing in common - earth science is pretty much 'present day', with the science fiction bit coming from an alien civilization.
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I only have one sci-fi book, Polaris, by Jack McDevitt. The main character gets involved in a 60 year old mystery about a crew disappearing from an interstellar yacht. It was one of those random grab books I picked up, and I enjoyed the read.
Otherwise, my bookshelves are lined with Fantasy novels; Forgotten Realms and The Wheel of Time sort of stuff. 
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Kris Lantz wrote: Otherwise, my bookshelves are lined with Fantasy novels; Forgotten Realms and The Wheel of Time sort of stuff
they get a couple of shelves at my place too.
- Tolkien: Middle Earth
- Weiss & Hackmann: Dragonlance serie && The Death Gate Cycle
- Many others.... more Dragonlance (I think I have almost the whole set)
- Miguel de Castro: El pais inerme (not sure if it has been translated to english, but if yes... a nice one too)
-
M.D.V. 
If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about?
Help me to understand what I'm saying, and I'll explain it better to you
Rating helpful answers is nice, but saying thanks can be even nicer.
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I'll have to explore the Dragonlance books once I finish up the WoT. I'm ready to read something else. 
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It is a bit like with star wars... first the main trilogy, then the prequels, then the continuation of the first plot, then parallel stories...
I recommend you to start by the main plot and then the continuation of the main plot. They are the best 6 books, then some of the prequels (I specially liked the ones by Flint the dwarf and Tas the kender, I found them really funny).
M.D.V. 
If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about?
Help me to understand what I'm saying, and I'll explain it better to you
Rating helpful answers is nice, but saying thanks can be even nicer.
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Nelek wrote: Weiss & Hickmann: Dragonlance serie && The Death Gate Cycle
I loved SciFi books as a kid. These were every bit as good as anything I read back then! Read them standing up in the bookstore! Only Ender's Game comes to mind as being equal or better. But haven't read much since then.
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Oooo! Add in Robert L. Forward to that list - "Dragon's Egg" and "Flight of the Dragonfly" / "Rocheworld" are well worth a read.
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony
"Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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Oooo indeed. On my list too! 
Software Zen: delete this;
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Too many to count. I have about 500 songs my ten top favourite songs, same with books.
Day of the Triffids - John Wyndham (plus all his other books)
Nightfall - Isaac Asimov (Ok everything by Asimov)
Dune - Frank Herbert
Martian Cornicles - Ray Bradbury.
Riverworld - Philip Jose Farmer
Anything by Larry Niven.
Everything by Terry Pratchett (not strictly sci-fi though)
Loved Brave New World (& the old movie + new TV series).
Then there's Arthur C. Clarke, Harry Harrison, Eric Frank Russel, Robert Sheckley to name a few.
// TODO: Insert something here Top ten reasons why I'm lazy
1.
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How could I forget Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars & Gold Coast books.
// TODO: Insert something here Top ten reasons why I'm lazy
1.
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yes, yes, yes.
The Mars trilogy is excellent...
I'd rather be phishing!
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Because it's annoying what people are doing to Dr. Seuss books now.
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PC gone mad!
Never underestimate the power of human stupidity -
RAH
I'm old. I know stuff - JSOP
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The mind has the best special effects with no budget!
2001, Rama, I Robot, The Expanse, Seveneves, Neuromancer...More probably!
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Rama was weird, I need to read it again to have a better opinion of it.
I'd rather be phishing!
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- Just about anything by Frank Herbert. For Dune, I'd stop at God Emperor of Dune.
- Nathan Lowell's Ismael Wang books - he's an 18 year old thrust into an interstellar merchant fleet of solar clippers.
- The entire Robots to Empire and Foundation series by Asimov
- Heinlein's future history series
- Stainless Steel Rat series
- Brave New World
- Starship Mage series by Glynn Stewart. They won't win awards but they're fast, fun romps through the future.
I'm sure there are others but these are off the top of my head.
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obermd wrote: Just about anything by Frank Herbert. For Dune, I'd stop at God Emperor of Dune.
Agreed. I've read a few of the in-universe books by his son Brian and Mark Anderson. They weren't bad, just there was a bit too strong a whiff of capitalizing on his dad's talent.
Software Zen: delete this;
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Probably...
The Foundation series (the original 3 books, a bit less for the other prequels and sequels).
Dune (the original 3 books, obviously, and a bit less for the other prequels and sequels)
The Lost Fleet (Jack Campbell)
And I know, unpopular and controversial because of the Author and what he stand for (will remain nameless and no link provided), but they are fun and entertaining....
Battlefield Earth (the movie was horribly bad) and Mission Earth.
I'd rather be phishing!
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 I never realized this was the same person (the book author and the controversial one). I am speechless.
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Maximilien wrote: Battlefield Earth
The book I enjoyed, the film stands out as one of the absolute worst ever.
Never underestimate the power of human stupidity -
RAH
I'm old. I know stuff - JSOP
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