Atlas Insider
Atlas Insider: Cyborganization Nation
While MDK is—in almost every true meaning of the term—a “small business,” the nature of what we sell and how we sell it is always getting bigger. Since each Field Guide stays in print in perpetuity (fingers crossed!), that means that we always stock yarn and sundries to pair with the projects in each one. When we add a new Field Guide, we add corresponding yarn for it, which means the amount of yarn at MDK Atlas HQ is never going to get smaller; it will expand forever, like the universe or me after I eat two bagels.
For a while, we’ve been riiiight on the edge of being able to keep up with all of it via our antiquated inventory and order-packing system: print the order, walk down the aisle, find the yarn, put it in a box, ship it, and at the end of the day just pray that we got it all right. When a box of yarn is empty, we go over to Ashley and tell her “zero [whatever]” and she looks it up on her Commodore 64 and sometimes that zero is … well … a surprise!
It’s a system ripe for error—even with double checking—because we’re, well, human, which means we are never really thinking about orders but instead why we feel so terrible after our two-bagel breakfast. But no matter how many ways we try to foolproof the current system, it turns out that approximately none of us seem to use the same system of Arabic numbers and we can each count things three times, pack them twice, and still get eleven different results.
But! Thanks to the mad skillz of Allison (who I hear is someone who works here), we’re about to switch over to some all-laser-beam, UPC-based beep-beep robots-from-the-sky system that is designed to cut down on the occasional inventory error, the even LESS occasional shipping error, and, of course, kill us in our sleep in their effort to take over the world.
You won’t notice the difference, other than perhaps to marvel about how exactly correct your order is … but you’ve probably been marveling about that all along, right? We’re hopeful that our new science-based overlords will cut down on the occasional oversell (that’s when we sell more than we have, and it’s always sad to send that email) and also keep us from accidentally sending you a dozen skeins of Big Wool when all you ordered was a measuring tape (IT’S HAPPENED).
It’ll be slower on our end for a few days, until the Skynet robots teach us how to not have emotions and stay focused on the task at hand WITHOUT CEASING but we’ll be up to speed in no time.
I might have mixed feelings about this.
A Giveaway
Inspire … or make us shiver … about the sci-fi future. The prize? One ball each of Rowan Big Wool in Citron (new color!) and Smoky for your very own Rubble Hat or Stripey Hat by Jen Geigley from Field Guide No. 12: Big Joy.
How to enter?
Two steps:
Step 1: Sign up for our weekly newsletter, Snippets, right here. If you’re already subscribed, you’re set.
Step 2: Question: What’s your favorite futuristic/sci-fi book, movie, or show? Leave us your answer in the comments.
Deadline for entries: Sunday, September 5, 11:59 PM Central time. We’ll draw a random winner from the entries. Winner will be notified by email.
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Green Soylent: the movie that forever ruined my love for tulip flowers.(I may have mispelled it, since I saw it when I was 8 years old and in Spanish it’s called Cuando el destino nos alcance: something in the line of Whenever destiny catches up with us
I remember Soylent Green, but my favorite is Star Trek.
Heinlein’s Stranger in a Strange Land. But for sure, the Outer Limits used to really freak me out as a kid
My husband and I pondered this before I looked at the comments. So cool to see many listed that we thought of as great! I, too, am taking plenty of notes for later. My current fave is Fahrenheit 451, which I am reading (listening to) for the first time, read by Ray Bradbury himself. Chilling. Other personal notables from the recent and distant past: Twilight Zone, Outer Limits, War of the Worlds (book and Tom Cruise film version), The Time Machine, The Handmaid’s Tale, 1984, Devs, Ex Machina, and, from 1966, a shoutout for Fantastic Voyage!
Dune for me!
Fahrenheit 451.
SOYLENT GREEN IS PEOPLE!!
I know!
Tee hee: My college roommate watched my face as the lovely surprise was revealed in the movie. I was nonplussed! She nearly peed her pants!
How about author? Octavia Butler. Very thought provoking.
I second Octavia Butler. Read The Accidental Beggar. You are welcome.
I, too, remember being disturbed by this movie, but I remember it as “Soylent Green”!
Soylent Green put me off of non-meat protein forever!
Absolutely. There is a drink now called Soylent. Really freaky.
and missed the closing ). Sorry!
I spent a lot of time as a kid reading the sci-fi writers of the 60s and 70s. Harlan Ellison and Philip K. Dick are masters, but also rather full of themselves. Douglas Adams’s Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series serves up the tired old tropes of the genre with brilliant wit and a keen understanding that the shiny, bright future will, much like the present, be peopled with incompetents, shouters, con men, and paranoid androids.
I have to go with humor… Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy for books and the old Red Dwarf TV series from the BBC.
Book and mini series, “November 22, 1963” by Stephen King. Really makes you think about how little events can change the course of history. Also, James Franco with his shirt off. Just saying.
Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein (a fave when I was 16; embarrassing now); skipping the obvious (2001), the movie Brother from Another Planet; and I’m a long time Trekkie
November 22, 1963 is a great Stephen King book!
But for sheer fun,The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and its’ sequels or The 5th Element.
As a child I loved A Wrinkle in Time. Haven’t seen the movie.
I love Dr Who, old and new.
Red Dwarf, campy British fun.
Loved both Firefly and Farscape!
Blade Runner is hard to forget. The end is so poignant.
Then there’s the classic Twilight Zone episode To Serve Man
How could I have forgotten Eureka, the tv series!
I have tv stations that show Time Tunnel (still a favorite), My Favorite Martian, The Jetsons, Lost in Space, the 1st 4 Star Trek Series.
I’m going to have to make some notes on books I haven’t read…
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell (the book). Multi-genre, if that’s a word, at least one of which is futuristic/Sci Fi. So great! Read it!
Foundation series by Isaak Asimov. The most amazing series of books I’ve ever read – and I read about 50 books a year!!
Definitily the German mini series “Dark”.
I was at a very impressionable age when “Star Wars” came out. That spaceship flying up into the screen at the beginning gave me shivers. I look back at how much joy I got from it.
Ooh, that’s a good one!
“Children of Men” Honestly, it’s the only futuristic movie I’ve seen.
The P D James novel it’s based on is excellent too!
Hm, tough question as my husband’s the big future guy. We’ll go with Dune, movie and book. (I’ve only seen the movies.)
Yep, “Dune” is my fave sci fi book. Impatiently waiting for Denis Villenueve’s adaptation, due in October. His previous efforts have been excellent (‘Arrival’, Bladerunner 2049’) so I have high hopes.
That movie is brilliant.
Anything written by Connie Willis, especially “To Say Nothing of the Dog”. She weaves futuristic time travel with history with respect for her characters and her readers. Also particularly good on audiobooks:)
Another voice for Connie Willis. I read Doomesday Book in high school and absolutely loved it.
He short stories are masterful, too.
I had completely forgotten about “To Say Nothing of the Dog”! I loved that, and now I have to go dig through the bookcases so I can read it again! Thanks for the reminder. I’ll go with TSNotD for my current fav.
I am soooooo disappointed that I don’t yet have a flying car! When I was a kid watching The Jetsons, l just KNEW I would have a flying car early in my adult years. Went on Medicare this year and still waiting.
Connie Willis for me too! Especially Domesday Book (especially relevant right now), and To Say Nothing of the Dog. But like Mary said, they are all good. And Lilith’s Brood by Octavia Butler, after whom the Perseverance landing site on Mars is named.
Fahrenheit 451.
I’ll have to go with Fahrenheit 451
Jen – also my favorite sci-fi as I’m not a big sci-fi fan. But the message in this one is pretty strong. Always loved sharing it with students.
“The Man in the High Castle”—WOW—just WOW!!!
Going to date myself! Fahrenheit 451
Not dating yourself…the feature film was made in 2018, so maybe you are a youngster!
Dune, but that was 50 odd years ago.
What’s wrong with that? Dune is good! I love Dune. Apparently enough people love Dune that they are making a movie based on it (again.)
Third movie version of Dune. Each great in its own way.
Still waiting for my flying car, but I’ll stick with The Jetsons.
1984. Still the most eerily accurate. But Margaret Atwood’s Oryx and Crake and one or 2 related dystopia novels are very very very close to what this world is now. With a glimmer of hope!
I love the Oryx and Crake books. I’ve read them multiple times. Atwood is an excellent writer.
I agree, Margaret Atwood is a great author.
I am Legend
Movie or book? I loved the movie, the book left something to be desired.
Star Wars – I am not a fan of sci-fi but I enjoyed the movies
Not a sci-fi fan (it’s all can do to keep up with the present!) but writing just to say I’ve never received an incorrect order. But I would have been happy to receive a dozen skeins of Big Wool. Unfortunately, I was brought up well so I would have returned it!
Stranger in a Strange Land
I like the Star Wars series.
SG-1 which I learned to love when my son was young and we watched together. Also love Independence Day and The Day After Tomorrow—I’ll watch them whenever they show up on TV.
Book- A wrinkle in time. Even though that was my fave as a teenager, I still love it. Movie- Soylent Green is one I’ve seen multiple times.
Fahrenheit 451!
The Fifth Element, especially Milla Jovovich saying “multi pass.” Entire movie is a hoot.
Best bit are the costumes, designed by Jean Paul Gaultier
Oh yes, I watch it whenever it’s on.
Or the chicken scene.
For me, my favorite is “The Stand” by Stepen King. It’s also my all time favorite book. Maybe it’s time to read it again! Looking forward to seeing what others share.
And it’s been made into a movie also. . .with Gary Sinise and Molly Ringwald. And a series which i haven’t seen but may look up now. The movie was great also!
I’m telling my age here, but does, “My Favorite Martian” from the old days count as Sci-fi? More recently, “A Wrinkle in Time.”
Not only are MDK orders fulfilled correctly, they are beautifully packaged with little goodies included!
Can’t watch sci-fi movies and knit, so no favs. Don’t read sci-fi books – unless you put memoirs and autobiographies in that category. But I do knit. Sci-fi sox.
Book by Mary Doria Russell, The Sparrow, this is one of the best books and one of the hardest books I’ve ever read,
Yes! Love this book! Have recommended it many times.
The Sparrow is one of my 3 favorite books. The author was so gracious and signed my copy when she was touring for A Thread of Grace
Ooo yes! I devoured that book and it’s sequel. Very thought provoking in our mindset towards life on other planets, and how they might look at us.
Love The Sparrow and the sequel! Compelling and sooo good! I read both books many years ago and they are still on my favorites list.
I don’t know if it’s a favourite, but I’ve spent many lockdown evenings knitting as my husband and I work our way through the original Star Trek series.
My husband and I have spent the last year watching an episode each Saturday night.They are campy and sometimes very dated but still fun (and I can’t count the times we’ve both said “I don’t remember seeing this one before.” Amazing how one short-lived show spawned a whole universe of shows/movies. Enjoy the new movies with Chris Pine and company too.
Original series is the best! Tried to watch the next generation, etc and they just are not compare to Kirk and Spock and the gang.
The Stand by Stephen King.
Me too!
I loved Dune when it first came out and can’t wait for the new version!
Show: Star Trek! The most classic futuristic TV show, in my opinion.
Book: The Fifth Season, by N.K. Jemisin. An absolute stunner, diverse in every which way, apocalyptic, and with an unmistakable voice.
Movie: perhaps The Martian? Only very slightly in the future.
Stargate: SG-1 and Stargate: Atlantis
Oh, another one I used to watch faithfully.
SG-1 was an awesome show, I miss it.
I’m a Trekkie. Always havre been, always will be. Every series.
Me too – one of these days I’m going to bite the bullet and get the channel to stream Picard and the other new versions.
Old school 1960 “Time Machine”. Gotta love it. the 2002 version is good as well, but I prefer the older version as, well, I am an older version also 🙂
Movie – Blade Runner with Harrison Ford. The book it is based on, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K Dick, is a pretty good read.
The Day the Earth stood Still is the best old movie for sifi ever
My husband even remembers the words spoken by the alien lol
Klatu barrata niktoe
The Martian by Andy Weir
Fine book and movie adaptation with Matt Damon.
He is an astronaut stranded on Mars. Gripping survi al tale about the human spirit and ingenuity.
High on my list is classic Doctor Who. My English husband has loved it since he was a boy. He’s finally embarked on a project to watch (or listen, if it was a lost story) to the entire series in order with me, so that’s our new Sunday lunchtime tradition. We’re partway through the Fourth Doctor now.
We also name all our pets after classic Doctor Who characters, following on to my parent’s tradition of naming all their pets after Sherlock Holmes characters. Our border collies are Saja (for Sarah Jane Smith) and Brig (for Brigadier General Sir Alastair Gordon Lethbridge Stewart) and our cat is Piper (after Highland piper Jamie McCrimmon).
Not much of a Sci-Fi fan so I will say, A Wrinkle in Time.
The Fifth Season. N.K. Jemisin.
Great series! (Though I am eagerly awaiting her next installment in “The City We Became Series”…)
THe Martian. Sci/fi is my least favorite film/book category. I’m not even sure if The Martian qualifies!
Live long and prosper! Always Star Trek.
Water shortages leave me haunted by memories of Frank Herbert’s Dune, where people wore gear that processed urine into the water they would drink.
Station Eleven, not sci fi but set in the future after a deadly virus has swept across the world and caused civilisation to collapse it’s fabulous.
Yes, that is a great book. Much in rotation since mid-March of last year, too!
That is a great book. I liked it best when it gets into rebuilding society. I am always cheered by the cooperative way the “good guys” do it.
Dr Who
I don’t have any original titles to contribute, but I agree with the commenters who posted about Station Eleven, The Stand, Ray Bradbury anything, The Passage and Star Trek. And Andy Weir; I loved The Martian, but Project Hail Mary was the best book I’ve read so far this year.
My first sci-fi book,Have Spacesuit-Will Travel,which started me at a very young age on a lifetime love of futuristic books,movies,and art.
Lost in Space. Because it’s funny unlike a lot of sci-fi which is way too earnest for my taste. See how it got into DGs writing there! Proof!
The Loved One author Evelyn Waugh
When I was little, the flying monkeys in the wizard of Oz scared me. Favorite future book would be the Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy especially the fourth book of the trilogy
Omg! Hands down it is X-Files. I could binge watch this series with Mulder and Scully Every Day !
Oh, how could I forget X files. So good right?
A Wrinkle in Time
Wrinkle in Time was my favorite childhood book, and then I borrowed all the other LEngle books from the library one summer. Lots of good role model characters for the young ones, and the not so young, too! Might have to revisit these!
Close Encounters
Love that movie!
Movie: Gattaca
Books: Either Enders Game or the In Death series
TV show: Firefly
I could see either the movie or the books coming to fruition in the near future.
Star Trek since the 1960’s!
I’m not a huge sci-do fan as I once was but I still love A Wrinkle in Time.
Does The Wizard of Oz count?
“Alien”, the movie. In my house we invented the “Ripley Scale” which measures other action stars against Sigourney Weaver’s Ellen Ripley, as she is the highest level (this is not debatable) of the ultimate bad**s.
Original and Next Gen “Star Trek” always on since I was a kid!
Oh my. I love all these old movies.
Star Trek, the original TV series.
My favorite series of SciFi books are the Pern books by Anne McCaffrey (and yes, they are science fiction). I love those books and have read them all several times, both in publication order and in chronological order.
Such a good question and so many good answers. My most recent favorites are books: “Columbus Day” by Craig Alanson (a great alien invasion type book) and “We Are Legion (We Are Bob)” by Dennis E Taylor. Both are the first and best books in their series.
Yes—We Are Legion is funny!
Miss Peregrine’s School for Peculiar Children.
I too would have returned the Big Wool. Last week I returned two extra lids to the Container Store.
Children of Men, hand’s down.
The Sparrow. I rarely reread but I’ve read this one 3 times. It
Star Trek! The original of course!
Not a sci-fi fan but love to knit. And to get beautiful packages from MDK.
Star Trek all the way!
Stranger in a strange land. I always wanted to meet Lazarus Long …
Hurricane Ida
The book Station Eleven which I thought of immediately when this pandemic began.
I am in the middle of this now// so far, totally captivated. I love how, after the apocalypse, the traveling theater group finds its audiences want only Shakespeare.
Big Brother. I can never think of that old English nursery rhyme “oranges and lemons, sing the bells of St. Clemons” without shuddering.
Handmaid’s Tale when it first came out started me on Sci-fi reading. Earth by David Brin and Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell( Book and movie…Come on, it was Tom Hanks). Then, all the volumes of all the Fantasy Science Fiction authors gave me much pleasurable reading.. gnomes, elves and dragons!!!and Bilbo…
I love the Star Trek reboots with Chris Pine and Simon Pegg.
I love that post!! Has to be Galaxy Quest for me.
Galaxy Quest is an awesome move! Watched it I don’t know how many times and still laugh! “ Never give up. Never surrender!”
Star Trek- a total fav!
My pick is the 2004 movie Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. And, my orders from MDK have always been correct. Yea.
A Wrinkle In Time.
I’m not a sci-fi fan but I am going to say Star Wars because I remember going to the movie with my dad. That was the best!
I feel compelled as an Oregonian to mention Ursula K Leguin. Also c’mon people: Harry Potter!
2001: A Space Odyssey, – I like to watch it every once in a while.
Star Trek from when I was a kid and all the Star Wars movies
This is important, y’all: Murderbot, by Martha Wells.
THE BEST!
Yes definitely Murderbot!
Yes Murderbot, I like the characters snarkiness.
The Man Who fell to earth! with David Bowie.
I have to go back to Star Trex it makes me remember how impressive all the special effects were for a tv show in the 1960’s. The stories were well written and it makes me feel like A kid again when I stumble upon the reruns.
Looks like I’m the odd person out. Not a big sci-fi fan, but loved Back to the Future and The Martian.
Not into si-fi but how about “ET” for an experience with an extra terrestial?
The Expanse! I couldn’t wait for season 6, so I have now read the whole series. Lol!
Firefly! Or maybe Dr. Who.
Star Wars the first movie which I believe is Star Wars IV
The Dark Tower Series by Stephen King. I cannot tell you how many times I’ve read it. 7 books. Over 3000 pages of gloriousness. I read it every other Summer. It’s my thing.
I started reading it for the first time a couple of weeks ago and CannotPutItDown
An oldie but goodie, THE CHRONICLES OF THE CHEYSULI by Jennifer Roberson. Generations of a Shape-Changing culture inspire the shape-changing of a ball of Big Wool into a lovely hat!
Star Wars, definitely Star Wars.
Favorite Sci-fi would be Star Trek
1984 by George Orwell
Galaxy Quest!!
Ready Player One as an audiobook (definitely NOT the movie).
I definitely preferred the book, as well!
Mars Attack of course! Such a cast of stars and Tom Jones singing to boot. Scouts honor, panties on you’ll love it.
The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury was my first science fiction book. I read it in high school 55 years ago and I still love it.
The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury… but I’d rather read Atlas Insider than science fiction any day!
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (all of them), by Douglas Adam’s. My favorite number will forever be 42.
Me too, Mary! 42 is even part of my email address. 🙂
Farenhuit 451
The Matrix!
still in love with Star Trek.
I really enjoy the Terminator movie series.
Does A Wrinkle In Time count???
Not a sci fi fan but If Back to the Future counts; I loved that and saw it numerous times.
The Sparrow series by Mary Doria Russell
Ooo… sci-Fi is my favourite! How to pick just one…. I teach middle school so how could I not consider the still loved Maze Runner books (also made into movies and they’re surprisingly still AMAZING!), but then there’s the classic Star Trek which keeps expanding and growing, I’m currently LOVING Star Trek: Lower Decks, but then the cult classics of FireFly and Farscape. Currently I’m watching Salvation (on Netflix) and it’s amazing, but then again how can you ignore the cultural phenomenon of The 100? Over on Amazon Prime they’re purchased and continued to produce more seasons of The Expanse, which I highly highly recommend. Back to the classics though, the ending of Battlestar Galactica has always stayed with me.
I think over all, if I have to choose just one, I’m going to go with The Expanse, partially because it still has more story coming, and partially because my husband just gets so excited for it!
Back to the Future
Sci-fi future, DG? We’re living la vida sci-fi!!! Headline: “Global pandemic shuts down the world (for 2 years)” and then beneath the fold “Vaccine available. Masses refuse.”
So sad and so true
I love The Graduate! One of the all time greats!
Story line is timeless! And the acting??? Superb!
My all time favorite of a series that I have returned to for the last 40 years are The Dragonriders of Pern
I love the Silo Trilogy (Wool, Shift, Dust) by Hugh Howey.
Yes, these were gorgeous.
The Sparrow, Station Eleven, too many
Star Trek!
I enjoyed watching The Mandalorian with my grandsons.
Quantum Leap (show), Forever by Pete Hamilton (book)
I’m current binge watching the Dr. Who series(again). I’ve seen them so many times that it’s not an issue to try to knit and listen and know exactly what’s going on. It’s fun to go back and see the originals and how they did the special effects.
My favorite is “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy “ .
Let’s face it…The Jetsons made us all feel like the future was something worth looking forward to.
Agree!! Wish a had a Rosie robot housekeeper
The Last Ship: They had a pandemic, created a cure inside of two years with only a little gene analyzer and saline, spread the cure, and beat all the bad guys who kept trying to stop them or the cure.
Anything by Connie Willis but especially The Domesday Book. Great to see so many titles I have read over the years. Good luck with the robots!
“The Stand” by Stephen King. The expanded version’, which is about 500 pages longer than the the book that was printed originally. My favorite book by my favorite fiction author. I also love the movie version, which was true to the book. I’m also a big Star Trek fan, but the original series is my least favorite (few strong female characters, lots of sexual stereotyping). Next Generation and the new movies all the way for me!.
I can’t believe no one has mentioned Galaxy Quest. You’ve got to love a good spoof. And, Alan Rickman.
The Stand by Stephen King. Scared me!
Yes, that was a good one too.
The Fifth Element
Favourite sci-fi show has to Star Trek with William Shatner. Showing my age
Silent Running or Logan’s Run- Both were classics, both had different versions of hope….
Star Wars. I have seen them all first with my son and now with my grandsons.
My favorite Sci-fi book is the post-apocalyptic, paranormal romance that I am currently writing. Working title is, “Wolfie”
Star Trek!
Stars wars!! Entire set!
Star Trek to Star Wars nat. They’re our DNA now.
Favorite futuristic book is Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel.
Remake of “The War of the Worlds” radio show narrated by Orson Welles.
TV shows: the original Star Trek series and Lost In Space. “Danger! Danger! Warning! Warning!”
The Dark Tower Series by Stephen King.
Day the Earth Stood Still, original version with Michael Remy. Such a great movie.
My Dad took me to see that movie when I was probably too young for it but that’s what I think of whenever I think of science fiction movies. I loved it but didn’t like the remake.
anything by Ursula LeGuin
Wow! Didn’t think there any Commodores still in existence. Favorite sci-fi? Aside from anything Star Trek, it has to be Hitchikers’ Guide to the Galaxy, full of brilliant insights like: “There is a moment in every dawn when light floats, there is the possibility of magic. Creation holds its breath.”
Scythe by Neal Schusterman very warily accurate in today’s world especially the third book in the series. For movies I like the newer Star Trek series with Chris Pine as Captain Kirk.
The Dragonriders of Pern series by Anne McCaffrey (but not the ones when her son took over – didn’t care for those).Mankind is so focused on technology that a group takes spaceships to colonize another planet, and when they get there destroy all the tech to go back to a simpler way of life. But then have to create dragons to save themselves and the planet! Terrible synopsis of the books – they’re fabulous – and did I mention the dragons FLY!!!
Oh … learning a new system. Even when its simple, it can be frustrating. Good luck!
My fav sci-fi Interstellar. I loved it (or maybe it was Matthew McConaughey).
Star Wars all the way!
I second everything already mentioned in the comments!
A few more great authors: Adrian Tchaikovsky, Dan Simmons, Sherri S. Topper, Becky Chambers, Nnedi Okorafor, Joan D. Vinge…I could go on and on!
Recently, NPR came up with a list of the 50 best science fiction and fantasy books of the last 10 years. Check it out!
Without a doubt, the book Dune.
Iain M. Banks’ Culture Series is a hands-down favorite! Each book is unique and delightful in its own way, but ‘The Player of Games’ is my favorite so far and best to read first. I’m halfway through reading the series in order, yet I’m already looking forward to reading through them all again when I’ve finished!
(He also writes other genres as Iain Banks, but his Science Fiction is all as Iain M. Banks).
Star Trek TNG. Also, my orders have always been correct and packaged very well.
I will always love E.T- Phone Home! First with my kids and then with my grandkids. And thanks for the question cause these comments are giving me great suggestions
Ok, I’m going to say Star Wars. 7-9 or 4-6 but under no circumstances, 1-3. Blah on those.
I like Jack Finney’s novel Time and Again. A very curious time travel back into old New York.
Firefly!
Firefly!
Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood! I taught it for almost 20 years (Representations of Motherhood, a Women’s Studies course) and never tired of it. Students and I always marveled at how prescient it was—-had details of current society that had not existed when it was pub in 1985. Many students were from the Boston area and delighted in figuring out particular settings. The tv show doesn’t hold a candle to the book.
Anything by Roger Zelazny!
“Moon of the Crusted Snow” by Waubgeshig Rice. Waubgeshig Rice is an Anishinaabe writer, journalist & radio host from Wasauksing First Nation, Canada. This post-apocalyptic novel is set in a small northern Anishinaabe community, and was a great read…and timely!
Great recommendation! It and Station Eleven were One Book One Community Reads in my area, to encourage the community to read and discuss the same book.
I have a friend who writes SciFi so I’m going to pitch his book – Bright Moment by Daniel Marcus. Available on Amazon
Not a sci fi fan but I also loved the Sparrow series.
1984 and Fahrenheit 451 really upset me. I still love A Wrinkle in Time best and loved sharing it with y students and family.
This isn’t my preferred genre, but an oldie I have always enjoyed is Alas Babylon, a book about a town in Florida that survives some kind of apocalypse
I read Alas Babylon in middle school and lost sleep for a while worrying about apocalypse…..
I’m definitely an “into the Black” still-mourning-for-FireFly fan, but I’ve been influenced by (and fallen in love with) many, many different sci-fi worlds since I was a tiny chit reading Mary Cavendish’s 1666 story “The Blazing Word” with a flashlight under the covers at my grandparents’ cabin over 60 years ago … and then there was Asimov and the rock has been rolling down the hill ever since.
Dune (first book only) and Dr. Who.
LOL, I remember having a Commodore64,1979!? And I can relate to countless times of counting stitches, marking, recounting and getting different numbers; then after knitting the second row end up with the wrong number. I love so many sci-fi/action/adventure flicks. Lost in Space always got me mad at the Dr. So not my favorite. At the moment I can only think of Dr. Who, Star Trek, Star Wars. If DC/Marvel count , then all of those too. LOL. Now for a Blueberry bagel with strawberry cream cheese.
Dune. Stranger in a Strange Land. The Word for World is Green. Earth Sea Trilogy. Foundation. I love science fiction and yarn.
Not really into sci-fi but I loved the old Star Trek series with Captain Kirk.
Loved a Wrinkle in Time —the novel.
The Fifth Season by NK Jemisin. She created a protagonist who’s imperfect and challenges us to love her anyway. And boy, I do. This book made me think about the world in new ways.
1984 by Orwell
Star Trek: Deep Space 9 is by far my favorite sci-fi show. I’ve watched the series so many times I could probably quote every episode line for line, lol.
“A Crack in Creation” by Doudna/Sternberg is the story of discovery—where sci-fi is more sci than fi. This story of discovery resembles a detective tale. The bonus is an informed opinion in some of the most important conversations of our future. Personally, I closed the book with more faith in our future. Solutions to big problems seem more possible. Who knew the scientists were hope salespeople!
The Martian.
Book and movie.
I enjoyed reading i, Robot when my husband suggested it early in our marriage. A few days ago the movie popped up in “suggested viewing” after I finished 4400. I wasn’t expecting it to be as good as the book but it surprised me.
I’m glad to know the yarns for all the projects in the Field Guides will remain in stock in perpetuity. As soon as my budget allows I’ll be ordering a big box of Big
Wool to knit myself a Main Squeeze. (That may actually be soon. I finally finished last year’s taxes last night and discovered we’ll be receiving a hefty refund from Federal, more than offsetting what we owed State.)
The Hail Mary Project is amazing!!!
Firefly! The sadly canceled TV show, movie, and now fabulous board game that I force other people to play with me. Also comic books. I HAVE THEM ALL.
First Contact, a startreck movie. It seems you are being taken over by the Borg. Resistence is futile!
Oooh that’s a toss up 1984 or Fahrenheit 451 I’d have to say off the top of my head.
Station Eleven
Where are all the Isaac Asimov fans? Love the Foundation series and of course, the Robot books, beginning with Caves of Steel.
Show: Battlestar Galactica (the reboot). Book: The Sparrow by Andrea Doria Russell.
Read, no, LISTEN to, Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir. A clever alien and saving the earth.
‘Project Hail Mary’ by Andy Weir
Best Sci-Fi my husband has read in a very long time…..
Not really into scifi, but I loved The Jetsons (still do!).
But can it stop me from sending my order to the recipient of my last MDK gift like I did earlier this week? That would be an excellent tool!
My first sci-fi book was A Wrinkle in Time (my 4th grade teacher read it to us). Other faves include The Doomsday Book, Blade Runner, and Firefly.
I would have to say Star Trek TNG
I like a lot of sci-fi, most of which has already been mentioned here, but “He, She and It” by Marge Piercy is another one that comes to mind.
Star Trek!
So many favorites! Dune. Yes. But also The Thomas Covenant series (Stephen R. Donaldson). Every last one is brilliant. Stranger in a Strange Land and its sequels. Take me away!
I was waiting for someone to mention Donaldson. Very memorable books, since I read them 30 years ago!
The original BBC radio broadcast recording of The Hitchhiker’s Guide; anything by Connie Willis; and 2001: A Space Odyssey, because Kubrick.
So so many, but in keeping with the topic: The Murderbot Diaries by the great Martha Wells.
Most of my favs have been mentioned, so I will say Ender’s Game (book).
Yes! I just finished reading the last book of The Murderbot Diaries a couple of weeks ago and immediately talked my husband into listening to the whole series on audiobook together now that our shared commute is starting back up.
Another favorite of mine is The Imperial Radch series by Ann Leckie.
Post apocalyptic futures for me. Mad Max, Blade Runner and even Fight Club. The fashion in these films inspires otherworldly knitwear, worn with vintage rags, sweaters and hats that might have holes or appear to be purposefully unraveling a little. Think knitwear from either comme des garçons or R13. Swoon.
Time Enough For Love by Robert L Heinlein. Any of his, really- his stories were my introduction to sci-fi. Only one got made into a movie, & they changed a viral part of the story, so I don’t recommend it
…and Red Dwarf. Still cracks me up.
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir. It is fantastic! Even better than The Martian and Artemis, which were nothing great!
That is supposed to be “ both great”. Thanks, Autocorrect!
1984.
Jennifer government or
Midnight library
Both, quirkey lil reads
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig is wonderful! A must-read.,
I just finished Midnight Library. What a great book!
Dr. Who is my favorite sci-fi show
Foundation by Isaac Asimov (and it’s series) is my favorite classic sci fi. Ted Chiang’s Stories of Your Life and Others is my favorite contemporary sci fi.
Books by Octavia Butler, Heinlein, Asimov, Arthur C Clarke. Movies: Close Encounters of the Third Kind, 2001: A Space Odyssey, ET, Star Wars, The Day the Earth Stood Still. And all the original Star Trek.
Sorry about the punctuation. Why is auto-correct never correct?
I always knew yarn was indeed ‘String Theory’.
(Apparently the way it can tangle and knit, however, is ‘chaos theory,’ according to Eldest).
Anyway – Star Trek. Doctor Who.
My grown up boys will say Star Wars.
I say we are living in the updated version of ‘The Andromeda Strain.’
There are so many!
Avatar. Robocop
Back to the Future Series
Terminator series
Empire Strikes Back
ET- WALL-E
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Men in Black
Total Recall
Inception
“The Phantom Tollbooth” by Norton Juster.
Oh yes!!!!!
1984, since we’re living it now.
Dune, the novel, and subsequent books in the series. Amazing.
I have major love for Season One of “Space: 1999.” (Season Two went off the rails a bit … and by “a bit,” I mean “what did you do with Professor Bergman, you maniacs.”)
Speaking of robot overlords…the 2004 reboot of Battlestar Galactica! So good!
Hearts in Atlantis by Stephen King
Book: Lucifer’s Hammer, David Niven & Larry Pournelle
Movie: ET, The Extraterrestrial
TV Show: Star Trek, The Original Series
Love Lucifer’s Hammer! Is it a Suzanne thing???
I enjoy funny or positive/uplifting sci-fi…so Jetsons, Lost in Space, Star Trek, Star Wars, Galaxy Quest, Interstellar, The Martian, etc.
2001-Space Odyssey – the idea that the computer could take over shook me in my boots!!! and so uncaring!!!
The Human by Matt Haig. I liked it because the “non-human” becomes more human in the end. It’s a surprisingly sweet story.
The “Dune” series is awesome!
I’m a committed sci-fi fan, so this is a tough question for me. I really love Star Trek. There’s a million other great shows and movies, but the Trek world endures and can be reimagined in so many ways. All hail Gene Roddenberry!
Handmaid’s Tale and A Wrinkle in Time are two of my favorites.
Dune
Hmmm..hard to choose berween The Stand and Ender’s Game…named my cat Ender so i’ll go with that
Life is my source of science fiction
My favorite sci-fi show it’s all oldie, but I love it – Eureka. It is very funny, entertaining, and binge worthy.
We are binge-watching Eureka now — and it holds up amazingly well. (It’s available on amazone Prime and Peacock, if you want to catch up.) What shocks me is that it was created pre-smartphone — and still the tech seems OK!
Yuck. “Amazon Prime,” of course.
Fahrenheit 451 – a classic that reads better as an adult than it did in high school.
The first book that came to mind is Dune
Wool by Hugh Howey! How could it be anything else?
Star Trek Next Generation. Engage!!
My favorite Trek series is TNG too. Make it so! I could never decide whether Captain Picard or Number One Will Riker was more swoon-worthy!
Star Wars
Recently read Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir and enjoyed it. Amusing and interesting.
Something Wicked this Way Comes
The Martian by Andy Wier, book and movie with Matt Damon.
Thanks for the giveaway.
The old TV show- My Favourite Martian.
Bill Bixby
Station Eleven is my favorite sci-fi book of all time. Emily St. John Mandel told people not to read it during the pandemic, but I think you should, if you haven’t.
I think all the time about “Survival is insufficient.” Without art, literature, music, the art of creating, would mere existence be worth anything?
Star Trek for sure!
I’m surprised no one has mentioned a true old classic – On The Beach by Neville Shute!
TV: People of Earth, movie: Interstellar, book: The Power
The Outlander series, books and tv version.
I’m not a sci-fi fan, I did enjoy watching The Jetsons as a child.
Never tire of “Close Encounters” and looking forward to the new “Dune”.
Any Star Wars movie. Awesome
Firefly and Serenity
The Star Trek reboots
The Fifth Element
Star Trek forever and always!
Oh yes.Star Trek. Still my favourite. Which captain is your preferred series.
Does anyone remember the Twilight Zone? Is that sci-fi enough for us non-sci-fi genre people?
A classic, with Rod Serling! And Outer Limits
none, I haven’t watched any
Mars Attack
The original movie- The Day the Earth Stood Still. (1950’s)
Great cast. Much better plot than the remake.
The boy says “ hey He corrected the professor’s math!”
The Man in the High Castle
“Tell the Machine Goodnight” by Katie Williams…..a quirky and cute debut novel.
Fahrenheit 451
The Jetsons
Serenity/Firefly, with NK Jemisen, Guardians of the Galaxy, and all things Philip K. Dick close seconds.
I’m waiting for new episodes of Doctor Who. And I loved Firefly. I’m not sure I believe DG about all the shipping mistakes – I always love how beautiful my packages from MDK are. And have taken their correctness for granted, I’m afraid.
The error percentage is really really low but when we make one, it’s always hilariously wrong.
Like so many people, I became a fan of Star Trek because of the optimistic future it presents: a peaceful (mostly) federation of planets, with the “military” — Starfleet — focused on exploration and learning. All based on a “Prime Directive” that comes down, basically, to “do no harm.” Nice place to live, I think. Especially right now.
The Martian. My go-to inspiration for any challenge: “I’m gonna science the sh** our of this.”
I’ve gotten pretty deeply invested in James S.A. Corey’s series, The Expanse. Eight books, other novellas and now a show on Amazon. Complex story lines, human colonization of the solar system, aliens…what’s not to like?
You are so funny. Outer Limits.
WALL-E, Star Wars, currently enjoying Umbrella Academy.
Well I agree with all of the selections and remembered watching lots of them – and want to watch them again! But I am surprised that I didn’t see Blade Runner! That would be up there at the top of my list for movie. Book on the other hand has to be Beggars in Spain – no question! Everyone in my family has read that book and we all refer to parts of it constantly. If you like this genre you MUST read Beggars in Spain by Nancy Kress!!
There is nothing better than knitting to Star Trek though … Live Long and Prosper!
So many great books that would fit this category, many already named. Newest favorite is Radio Life by Derek Miller.
My favorite book is Dune by Frank Herbert.
I have two! Leviathan Wakes by James SA Corey and Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel. Wait, I have three! Also the Murderbot series by Martha Wells! Read them I promise you’ll love them all!
The Tripods trilogy books by John Christopher (pen name) (The White Mountains, The City of Gold and Lead, and The Pool of Fire). Read them in grade school and have re-read several times. They were the start to my love of sci-fi. Wrote a letter to the author (early 1970s) via publisher as a class assignment. Didn’t realize he was British and received a personal letter from him on airmail stationary. Thrilling! (I still have the letter.)
I am going with the Jetsons!!
The Martian
Mandelorian
Movie: Fifth Element (re watched too many times to count!), Book: Stranger in a Stangeland (read as a teenager and stuck with me) or Wrinkle in Time (my all time favorite book ever.)
Back to the future. The jetsons.
Does Galaxy Quest qualify? I watch it every year or so.
Ex Machina
My favorite sci-fi movie it “ET”
Silent Running, the movie with Bruce Dern,
A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller, Jr.
And I have a hard time remembering Star Trek is not real. Anybody else hoping to go to Bozeman MT on April 5, 2063?
Congrats on the system update. Favorite all time book is “Replay” by Ken Grimwood and favorite TV series is “Dr Who”
2001 A Space Odyssey, the original Star Trek
Star Trek: Next Generation!
My favorite will always be the TV show, Lost in Space. It had the best robot ever. Moving around, arms waving and stating “Warning warning…”
Silent Running is the first sci-fi movie I remember seeing in a theater and it really stuck with me. In high school I hated having books assigned for me to read until Ursula LeGuin’s The Dispossessed…it made me think. I really should re-read it.
The Quiet Earth.
I really enjoyed The Martian by Andy Weir, and the subsequent movie.
We also enjoyed Away, a Netflix mini-series. I am hoping for a second series.
Thanks for this fun giveaway contest!
Star Wars, of course!
As a child A Wrinkle in Time was one of my favorite books. Later, anything by Anne McCaffrey for escapist beaching.
Fahrenheit 451. Ray Bradbury was a great author (and supporter of libraries ).
2001 A Space Odyssey. And all the sequels by Arthur C. Clarke. Just fabulous. Also his series Rendevouz with Rama. Such creativity and imagination.
Anything written by Margaret Atwood is my favorite, whichever one I just finished is my absolutely ultimate favorite.
Dune!
The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell. It is a superb story of space travel, human relationships and philosophy. I don’t read sci-fi much, but this story captivated me. Take it from a librarian knitter, this is a great read!
One of my favorites is Three Hearts and Three Lions, by Poul Anderson. A parallel universe fantasy. I’m not much for dystopia and post-apocalyptic – too much like real life these days!
The Beforeighers. A short series on HBO. I loved it too much. I think it was the Viking policewoman.
Hands down “Blade Runner”, director’s cut.
TV shows: Star Trek series (especially Picard) and Dr. Who
I don’t normally watch sci fi but “Man in the high castle” caught my attention.
This one was easy for me. Blade Runner. Top 5 movie all time.
Glory Road by Robert Heinlein. Used to read it once a year, haven’t for awhile. So its time to read it again!
Inception. As a person who has vivid dreams and some times I wonder, “was that memory real or just a dream”, I could relate to it.
The Day the Earth Stood Still was my intro into the Sci Fi world…unless you count Lost In Space.
Dr. Whoooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!! All of them!!!! 😀
Fav books – Red Rising series by Pierce Brown. Fav show – Eureka
I did enjoy the Jetsons when I was a kid. Flying cars would be so cool. And a robot maid would be great!
“Warning, Will Robinson” ….Haven’t heard that for ages. Are we that old? Dredging up the sci-fi movies…does anybody remember the one with the giant, possibly irradiated, crabs that ate almost everybody?
I’m not a fan of sci-fi/fantasy reading, but my hubby loves Iain Banks’ books. I really enjoy everything Star Trek/Star Wars and above all: FARSCAPE – Oh, I bemoaned the cancellation of that one. I own the entire series on DVD. Yes, I am that old.
I always got a chuckle out of watching Red Dwarf with my daughter. It’s the future, but instead of ultra efficient whiz bang technology, it’s bureaucratic foolishness like you would expect if you have ever had to truly deal with corporate management. Somehow, I don’t think moving into the future will elevate humans to some idealistic higher plain of behavior.
Best sci-fi movie…Bucharoo Banzai Across the 8th Demension!
Fahrenheit 451, although Soylent Green is a close second!
I vote for Aliens. That “creeped” me out the first time I saw it.
Not a big fan, but Close Encounters was one that really captivated me.
Dune!
Best book ever Earth Abides. Hope it’s still in print.
The book Logan’s Run. It’s dated now, but it was a good read.
Mork and Mindy for obvious reasons!
The original Blade Runner is my all time favorite sci-fi movie. Rutger Hauer. Sigh.❤️❤️
Not huge on sci-fi but do realty enjoy Andy Weir. Loved both the book and movie of The Martian & am hoping the make a movie from Hail Mary!
A trilogy written in 1967 called Tripods by John Christopher has never left my head. I read the books as a young teenager. In it, the human race has been taken over by alien transmissions that have been sent via television. Humans are “capped” so they do not think independently and are the servants of the aliens that now inhabit and rule the earth. I am anxious every time I watch TV and all of DG’s great telly suggestions are a mixed blessing! LOL
Station Eleven!
WAY STATION by Clifford D Simsk
On oldie classic important enough to be on Audible, which didn’t exist in it’s time.
I love that it’s set in rural Wisconsin, an area I’m familiar with.
Not a fan of sci-fi, but I did enjoy the 1949(?) classic novel Earth Abides by George Stewart.
I will also hold the first Star Wars movie forever in my heart because my son was born the day it was released and he is a mega-fan to this day.
Star Trek is one of my long-time favorites 🙂
Firefly! I even made a couple Jayne hats!
The Martian. I listened to it on Audible (for free!). What a great listen!! I don’t usually like science fiction, but this was amazing!
Eureka – it’s a tv show that aired about 15 years ago, about a secret community living under a biodome-like bubble that made the community invisible. Its citizens consisted of super smart scientists whose mission was to invent super cool things for the benefit of all humanity. The kind of show that made you wish very much that it wasn’t fiction.
A Wrinkle in Time as a nine-year-old and The Stand as a young adult. So many great recommendations in the comments!
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, since high school, a very long time ago
Firefly AND/OR Dr. Who (especially the historical episodes—Van Gogh!)
Murderbot Diaries! Very different from most things I read ( sci fi generally not my cup of tea!) but totally creative and well- written. Central “ character” is wonderful. I completely binged the whole series of novels!
2022
Battlestar Galactica- Starbuck!
The Cell
The Stand
Alien
Terminator
Rocky Horror Picture Show
The Passage
One I read decades ago, a paperback from the Beaver (UT) public library found decades ago – about a future where, after yet another Great War, cities could only exist with populations fewer than 3,000 people. Can’t remember the name of it.
N. K. Jemisin’s Broken Earth Trilogy – she’s a genius !
All the Star Wars films.
The Rolling Stones by Robert Heinlen. I loved a lot of his books
My choice would be “Loki”
The bulk of my reading and viewing since I was a child has wound through the sci-fi realm… how could I pick just one? Star Trek; Star Wars; everything Arthur C., Atwood, and Heinlein; Hunger Games; Red Rising; Wool; and how about Andy Weir? Yes, there are too many to list, but this is a good start.
I’ve never seen a Star Wars movie, nor a Star Trek movie or even a tv Episode, no Dune, no Avatar, not even E.T. You get the picture. As far as books go, my favorite sci-fi book is The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams. It’s also the only sci-fi book I’ve ever read, so there’s that.
But as sci-fi books go I know this book has an element that should appeal to knitters. Central to the story is – spoiler alert – a towel. Here is the author himself on the importance of having a towel if you go hitchhiking through the galaxy:
“A towel, [The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy] says, is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have. Partly it has great practical value. You can wrap it around you for warmth as you bound across the cold moons of Jaglan Beta; you can lie on it on the brilliant marble-sanded beaches of Santraginus V, inhaling the heady sea vapors; you can sleep under it beneath the stars which shine so redly on the desert world of Kakrafoon; use it to sail a miniraft down the slow heavy River Moth; wet it for use in hand-to-hand-combat; wrap it round your head to ward off noxious fumes or avoid the gaze of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal (such a mind-boggingly stupid animal, it assumes that if you can’t see it, it can’t see you); you can wave your towel in emergencies as a distress signal, and of course dry yourself off with it if it still seems to be clean enough.”
Who wouldn’t want to knit yourself a towel for Towel Day, celebrated by Galaxian Hitchhikers everywhere each May 25th?
I just finished reading “Ready Player One”, so it’s my new favorite. Gotta love the 80s!
Firefly all the way and every day.
Dune by Frank Herbert
Cinder (novel)by Marissa Meyer
Stranger Things or Cloud Atlas
The Forever War by Joe Haldeman-honestly, a comment on war.
Star Wars- Return of the Jedi. Any of them but episode 1-3.
So I’ll really date myself by remembering watching from behind my mom, a “terrifying” cardboard carrot lurking dangerously toward the family on Lost in Space!
Speaking of Will Robinson…Lost in Space, of course! The original tv series. Only. My sisters and I used to act out the characters. I always got to be the Robot just so I got to say The Line. Ah the good old days, when warnings of imminent danger were so clearly delivered
As a library worker, all these comments have been great & mind-expanding to read! Thanks so much for the recommendations!
HUGE sci-fi fan. Favorite TV: anything in the Trek universe.
Book: Way Station by Clifford Simak
Movie: Arrival
Favorite book:Lathe of Heaven. I found it in the 70s and made my sisters-in-law (there are 5) book club read it last year. Still awesome.
Blade runner movie : the Harrison Ford one
Thanks
Ooh, anything by Asimov still thrills me when I read it!
Dr. Who!
I’m a big Star Trek fan. I’ve watched from the beginning when I had to sneak a peak at the original series. I love them all. The corny movies, Next Generation, the newer series Picard and Discovery, Lower Decks and the not star trek but equally good Mandalorian. I’m not a convention person no dressing up for me. I just love the stories and imagination.
The Doomsday Book by Connie Willis
The Outlander
Monsters inc!
I thought of several old favorites but have to go with something newer – Ken Liu’s The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories. This book boggles the mind and heart.
This is an amazing collection of short fiction. Usually these are categorized as speculative fiction, stories that take place beyond our known world, and I am fitting them into sci-fi here. I’ve read nothing else like them, they leave my head spinning, and I’m glad I found them.
The TV series “Stargate”
The book A Canticle For Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr., or maybe Neuromancer by William Gibson (not to be confused with The Matrix, but that’s a story of court cases …)
Red rising
Almost any of the Vorkosigan Saga, but especially the 1st, Shards of Honor
Wow, I have not felt so over the moon to know EXACTLY what everyone is talking about! I have read/enjoyed all but one book mentioned in the ~400 comments. My dad read me Asimov in lieu of fairy tales at a tender age, and I now realize I have not missed much since…all the way through to The Martian and Children of Time. If not for all that SciFi reading, I could gotten a LOT of knitting accomplished!
Thanks DG, once again you reeled us in, lol!
Back to the Future
Firefly. Love the mix of Wild West and the future.
For me it’s a toss up between “Brave New World” and the super disco era film, “Logan’s Run”. Both are classic and with some relevant modern echos. This was a fun post, thanks for all of the “Terminator” references!
One of the most terrifying books for me that has stuck in my memory since the 70s, is Mutant 59: The Plastic Eaters. Plastic eating bacteria wreak havoc across the Earth. It doesn’t seem so far fetched when there are already bacteria that eat oil, and plastic, of course, is a petroleum product.
That said, two of my favorite books are humorous ones: Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, and Borgel by Daniel Pinkwater (which I think is much better as an audio book read by the author.)
How about Lady Hawk, Logan’s Run, and Soldier … just to name a few that haven’t been mentioned.
I’ve never been a huge sci-fi fan but, I never missed an episode of the original Star Trek! And, who could not love E.T.!!!
Let’s go with Gattica today.
I really loved Martha Wells’ murderbot series… but Soylent Green and Connie Willis’ book All Clear is also fantastic. Good luck with the robots !
The Jetsons.
So many choices but my fave book would be Dune, world building on an epic scale (and hasn’t dated at all).
Fave movie would be The Matrix – Morpheus’s monologue about reality is genius.
PS – honorable mention should go to Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, especially the bits about
Vogon poetry and the whale& petunias.
Snowcrash be Neal Stephenson
Doctor Who. Hands down. I am writing this whilst sipping coffee from my TARDIS coffee mug.
And my favorite book as a child- a wrinkle in time
Have to mention early China Mieville since no one did. The Scar.
Perdido Street Station a superb one to statr with. Beautifully written dystopia. Great worlds creator.
My current favorite sci-fi series begins with the book, “We Are Legion (We Are Bob),” by Dennis E. Taylor — the whole series is known as “The Bobiverse.” (Don’t worry, DG…if this series is anything to go by, your new computer overlords are going to be entertaining as hell, not to mention super efficient and kind!)
I haven’t seen this one pop in the comments yet but think it deserves big love: WOOL by Hugh Howey. I mean, c’mon, it’s called WOOL! 🙂
(And the rest of the series, too. I just checked and it’s set to release on Apple TV next year.)
The Handmaid’s Tale
Octavia Butler’s The Parable of the Sower.
Citron! I always want all the things citron. Yum.
As for the dystopian robot future, well, I’ve been reading Stephen King’s Dark Tower series, and it’s all I can think about. So, like, John Wayne and a screwball who would have been comic relief in some terrible 80s flick irritating an AI supertrain until it doesn’t kill them, quite… It’s hard to ‘splain in a soundbyte.
Oh, and let’s also give a shout-out to David Foster Wallace’s dystopia in Infinite Jest:
-the years became sponsored, so it was no longer going to be “2023” but “The year of the Depends Adult Undergarment”
-he nailed video calls, saying that as video phones became more common, people kept upping their cosmetic and wig game, and fake backgrounds until they finally put up mannequins of themselves and talked from off screen
-the Infinite Jest is just a video, so gripping and engaging that you literally just sit and watch it and let your body systems end
(Straps on Fitbit, steps away from computer…)
way too many to count. no way can i pick an all time favorite, but my current favorite, which i just discovered, is Reincarnation Blues by Michael Poore
2001: A Space Odyssey
My current favorite Science Fiction book is “Black Sun” by Rebecca Roanhorse.
The High Crusade by Poul Anderson! It’s as much satire as it is space opera, and it’s hysterical!
2001: A space odyssey
I’m not going to claim “favorite” but one I’ve been liking is Altered Carbon (both the book and the TV series.)
My favorite science fiction book is “True Names” by Vernon Vinge. In 1981, Vinge imagined cyberspace and internet with spooky accuracy years before the World Wide Web came to be. Among TV series, Babylon 5, Firefly and The Expanse are my favorites.
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel. Despite its pandemic roots, the concepts it brings forward about living post-technology are fascinating.
My Favorite Martian.
All time favorite is “The Hitchhikers Guide” books. Recent love is Dennis E Taylor’s Bobiverse series.
Klara and the Sun is my current most favorite Sci-Fi. Love some well written dystopian fiction.
Star Trek. Still waiting for transporters
My favorite Sci-Fi movie is “Back to the Future”. Who doesn’t want to go either back or forward in time? This classic is still enjoyable no matter how many times you watch it, Sonja Myklebust
I like Neal Stephenson’s older books. Anathem is probably my favorite…
I enjoyed watching “The Hunger Games” trilogy.
There are so many but “The Expanse” tops my list.
The book The Jane Austen Project, by Kathleen Flynn. Perfect for those who enjoy Austen fan fiction, with a twist.
I’ve been a huge fan of Robert Heinlein since I was a teenager. I think my favorite book is “Time Enough for Love”, with “Stranger in a Strange Land” coming in second. This forward thinking writer was having his characters use personal computers and cel phones in books he wrote in the 1940’s.
I’m not much of a sci fi person, but Star Trek is always a good choice.
Wool. By Hugh Howey
Recently started watching The Expanse – totally sucked me in!
Mine would definitely have to be The Stand by Stephen King. I don’t have any interest in the movies or tv shows, but this one totally absorbed 2-3 days of my life the first time I read it. A close runner up would be The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood (also the book!).
Recently, The Water Knife. By Paolo Bacigalupi.
The Hitchhikers Guide To the Galaxy is memorable & all time favorite would have to be Fahrenheit 454 after childhood Wrinkle In Time
For surprising speculative short fiction: the LeVar Burton Reads podcast. Transporting!
Dune by frank herbert. The book more than the movie
Original Star Trek television series!!
My favourite sci-fi book of all times is Ken Macleod’s Learning the World, which is set in a future in which humans are colonizing new planets. It is a story of how the inhabitants of a planet and the humans who intend to colonize their solar system, discover and start to learn about each other. It shows both sides of a ‘first contact’ event, and also has interesting ideas about how humankind evolves, by integrating their minds with the collective mind of the internet.
My favourite sci-fi book series is Kim Stanley Robinson’s Mars colonisation trilogy Red Mars, Blue Mars, Green Mars. Scientists lead the way, longevity medicine unbalances the world population, and an alternative system of government for Mars, base on global conferences (such as the contemporary climate conferences, or the UN Development Goals conferences).
My current favourite sci-fi series is ‘See’, with the always impressive Jason Momoa. Survivors of a pandemic emerge to build new ‘tribal’ communities and fight, or hide, for survival. The twist is that all survivors are blind (their offspring too).
Firefly
I’m going with Westworld (TV Series) and The Mandibles (book) by Lionel Shriver. Both are pretty bleak dystopia, if you’re into that kind of thing.
Hmmm. Don’t usually go for sci-fi so I’ll just say 1984. Is that futuristic now?
The Sparrow is a wonderful sci- fi book that I’ve reread several times – with a sequel Children of God. Highly recommend!
Soylent Green left me worried for all humanity when I saw it as a teenager.
Super loyal disciple for Star Trek anything– I’d happily spend time with either James T. Kirk but I’d die in the name of duty for Jean Luc Picard!!
And most recently — there are very real lessons to be learned from Margaret Atwood’s Handmaid’s Tale!!!
Sara
Trekkie here. Had a nearly life-size poster of Captain Picard in my office until I retired and then at home in my bedroom for years. Just barely cleared it out during lockdown cleaning/clearing.
It’s tough. The Oxford Collection of Science Fiction Short Stories (ed by Tom Shippey) or McSweeney’s Mammoth Treasury of Thrilling Tales for books, but also love the Day After Tomorrow and 2012 for movies. Do disaster movies count as Sci Fi? Edge of Tomorrow is also a favourite.
William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy vintage Star Trek, without a doubt. As children, we used to make phasers from Lego. I always had to be Lt Uhura because she was the only girl!
two bagel breakfast! LOL
My favorite series of all time was the Dune Series by Frank Herbert. I may be showing my age but I was ripe for it at the time.
Digital Fortress by Dan Brown
Ready Player One. The book is SO much better than the movie. I’m a huge VR fan. 🙂
Does Outlander count? I’ve become mildly, OK maybe more than that, obsessed. Especially when they feature hand made knits! Oh, to time travel…
In my college days I read lots of sci-fi and not sure I could pick out a best but I did love Philip K. Dick books.
My favorite SciFi books are The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series.
I was never a big sci-fi fan, but I recall Fahrenheit 451 as excellent . And my dad introduced me to Fantastic Voyage when I was in high school… but my husband’s favorite is Time Machine. Guess I have to read that one now… Thanks DG!! Love your weekly ramblings and all the great responses. Hope I win one of these days 🙂
… and did anyone mention Men In Black? I love Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones together in that series.
2001: A Space Odyssey! Anything that Ray Bradbury or Isaac Asimov wrote. Star Trek and Stargate…..The X-Files, and the list goes on. Alternate realities are especially appealing during lockdown.
Back to the Future!
Dune!
Lost In Space, the original tv show. I was fascinated by that potato chip making device.
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – original BBC radio series.
Does Star Trek count? We’re talking from the 70’s Star Trek!!
Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein
Battlestar Galactica, but the one which showed when I was a kid, not the reboot. I loved Twiki the robot, and their swish metallic jumpsuits!
And my goodness -V!!! They are showing the original series again on the Syfy channel, and dammit, it still holds up! That scene where the mouse was eaten… my eyes practically popped out of my head at that!
Gish Jen’s “The Resisters.”
Silence of the Lambs. I read the book and saw the movie but the book was better! It still creeps me out!
Anything at all by Ursula LeGuin.
Resident Alien
Oh, lordy, I came here with an answer to your question but now looking at the first few comments I realize that I like all those other things too! Let’s just say my favourite futuristic/sci-fi book, movie, or show is Terminator 2, but of course Star Wars, Cloud Atlas and that Stephen King novel are all great too.
The Martian!
Mary Doria Russell’s novel The Sparrow – a Jesuit priest in space. . .
Terminator always
My favorite futuristic book is Fahrenheit 451 — though quite a few things in it no longer seem so futuristic!
1984 a classic
1984 by George Orwell.
Star Trek: The Next Generation! I was a young mom at the time and I looked forward to it each week!
Star Wars. As a teen I was enthralled. Much later my young children agreed with my taste.
Have reread A Wrinkle in Time several times!
I’m a big SF fan so I have lots of “favorites”, but lately I’m really into The Expanse on TV.
It has to be The Stand by Stephen King.
I read The Passage Triology by James Cronin this summer and found it compelling. Global pandemic meets vampires meets survival saga.
I gotta go with the X-Files!
Firefly!
Star Trek!
Lois McMaster Bujold’s Vorkosigan series — specifically, A Civil Campaign.
Star Wars and The Jetsons as a kid.
Would The Giver by Lois Lowry be considered Sci Fi? Don’t read much of this genre, but as a school media specialist I read it and loved it.
So-o-o cool to read all the SF reader replies in a yarn column! We are legion! Been reading SF since grade school; it’s difficult to pick one writer / one book. My SF book collection fills two walls of shelves in the guest bedroom. For my listening pleasure, LeVar Burton Reads.
3rd Rock From the Sun
The book The Giver. When my son was a late middle schooler he devoured this book. Then I noticed he read and re-read it through the years. I finally decided I needed to learn what intrigued him so and read it myself. Beautiful!
Soylent Green!
World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie Apocalypse. I can’t believe I’m admitting this but this book was enthralling. I read it at the start of the pandemic. Not recommended.
Night Gallery.
The Fifth Season by N K Jemisin, and the other two books in the trilogy.
“I, Robot”. The movie in particular. Seeing the self driving cars and robots gone bad.
Hands down, Star Wars…when the first movie came out we rushed to the theater big screen and watched as the starship slowly moved over us and left us cowering in our seats, only to then be enthralled by the special effects of the rest of the movie ! I have not forgotten that feeling of excitement for a new generation of movie making and every time I watch the movie it returns.
Spaceballs!
I love the movie The Martian with Matt Damon!
None. Not my genre.
The Chrysalids by John Wyndham was part of our reading list in high school. I’m not a Sci-Fi fan But honestly I loved this book and if I’m still thinking about it approximately 44 years later I’d say that counts as a favorite!
The Silo series from Hugh Howey, which ironically starts with the short story ‘Wool.’ The tale starts in a dystopian future where people are forced to live in a mostly underground Silo because the outside has been made toxic. The mystery of the Silos origins and the roles of the people within keep you hooked as you go through the series.
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1967, anyone?)
Them (you know who is marching, and they aren’t interested in your picnic)
The Blob
Yes!
Ender’s game (the book, not movie) and its companion Ender’s Shadow.
Anything Neil Gaman!
I liked the British series “Years and Years” from 2019. Dystopian and scary.
Hey, I actually don’t care for Sci Fi, but I did love the Twilight Zone.
The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell.
I have never forgotten There Will Come Soft Rains by Raymond Bradbury. It is labeled a poem, but to me reads like a short story. I read it in high school, and for some reason it made quite the impression. Basically that the world will continue even without humans…if we don’t destroy it all together. A gentle story with a chilling effect.
Not a big sci/fi or futuristic fan, but did enjoy reading The Handmaids Tale
Anything Douglas Adams please! And Space Opera by Catherynne Valente is delightfully in the same vein. Funny funny funny.
Blade Runner. I don’t know how many times I’ve watched that film. Science fiction is my favorite genre in print and film. I could give a huge long list, but Blade Runner beats the others because of the atmosphere.
I would LOVE this giveaway. I just bought enough Glum to knit the cardigan in Big Joy. The Citron/Smokey combo would make a great coordinating hat.
Dr. Who
My very first, Fahrenheit 451!
Guardians of the Galaxy movies! The best soundtrack. I am Groot…
Not my fave genre (my little brother claims this category and writes sci fi as well), but “Children of Men” really got to me. One of my sons recommended it for our every other week fam cinema club. It’s stark and terrifying in all the right ways. But the music and details in every scene blew me away.
ET was my favorite movie. Thanks for the giveaway.
Star Trek Next Generation
Handmaids Tale
Favorite all-time Sci-fi production has been “Lathe of Heaven” by Ursula Le Guin. Just the first iteration I watched in the 70’s (yes I’m well-aged) on TV it was an eye opener that Sci Fi needn’t be fantasy but possibility. The book was a revelation as well, and I was a well read Sci-Fi reader or so I thought until I read it afterward.
Sci-fi is my favorite. I grew up reading Heinlein in elementary school in the old days. And the original Star Trek. In college, my friends and I drove the 50 plus miles to Indianapolis to see Star Wars. My favorites in my old age is the original The Day the Earth Stood Still.
Close Encounters.
Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein. It makes me think I can grok a new language, like knitting.
November 22, 1963!
Original Time Tunnel tv series I watched as a child. Think it starred James Darren.
I’m into Hallmark movies, cozy mysteries, and comedy…but do love Star Wars 🙂
Outer Limts, Close Encounters and the ever heart warming ET. Oh and the Day the Earth Stood Still. EKTU Barata Nikto!
Show from my youth, long time ago!, Lost in Space
Star Wars
The Outer Limits from the year 1963
Station Eleven—Emily St John Mandel
Honestly im not into sci-fi or futuristic anything. But i do like the newer Star Trek movies with Chris Pine and Karl Urban. Lots of eye candy there.
Matrix 1 is my favorite futuristic movie. Matrix 2 & 3 are weak, but the first one is profound and I love it.
Sci-fi isn’t really my cuppa, though I did grow up with Star Wars and Star Trek re-runs. That said, I really enjoyed Firefly, which I didn’t see till years after it aired.
All the ones mentioned are wonderful. One that hasn’t been mentioned is Ursula LeGuin’s The Left Hand of Darkness.
Star Treck
Star Wars, Star Trek, and Dr. Who as broad categories. I love the new Star Trek series Discovery. Basically, I love that each of these series has brought forward a strong female lead to kick butt and have emotions.
Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card is a fantastic sci-fi book. Equally excellent is the parallel telling of the tale from the perspective of another of the book’s characters, called Ender’s Shadow. Highly recommend both.
Sci-fi is not my thing, but I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen iRobot as my husband mindless vegs out to it.
An old favorite of mine is “The War of the Worlds”!
Dr.Who with David Tennant as The Doctor.
Star Trek
I’m not really a sci-fi person but who doesn’t love Mad Max!?
Just finished Hail Mary by Andy Weir. Great book!!! I love his writing – he is a master writing about very technical subjects and lacing it with humor. Fun book, I highly recommend!
I’m going to go with the Mandolorian! That show was soo good!
A Wrinkle in Time. Still after many years, and many rereads and the rest of the series
Fall, or Dodge in Hell is the best syfy/fantasy book I’ve read in years.
Since The Handmaid’s Tale is becoming reality, 11-22-63 by Stephen King.
Douglass Adam’s and the entire Hitchhiker’s series is my favorite. Love that Martina Behm named patterns after it!
Dr. Who!
Fav SiFi is a new one shown to me by my daughter… The Umbrella Academy on Netflix
Oh and also classic The Dark Crystal by Jim Henson
Fun! I love Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie
The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension!
I just finished Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir and WOW! I loved it. So much more than just a cool, futuristic Sci-Fi novel….climate change, friendship, social consciousness. Check it out!
Favorite futuristic tv show The Jetsons from my childhood!!
I guess it is actually back to the past, but I love the Outlander book series. And then there was the wonderful ET, back in the day!
Dune series
I’ll always be a Star Wars fan. I discovered it when I was in middle school and I’ll love it forever.
Sorry, I don’t have a favorite, I’m too busy knitting all the MDK yarn snd patterns I have!
Wow! This list is a goldmine of need-to-reads! I love it. I have to go with “The Handmaid’s Tale” at this point; anything by Atwood and especially “The Blind Assassin”, but that doesn’t fit into this category as well. Obviously, I have a lot of reading to do! Thanks for this!
Men in Black
The Sparrow, By Mary Doria Russell. I read it at least ten years ago and it still haunts me.
Star Trek—the original series. Watched it as a child and still get a kick out of it now.
Battlestar Galactica! So say we all.
The Day the Earth Stood Still. I was mesmerized when I watched this the first time as a little kid! Also loved the original Star Trek show with Captain Kirk and Spock. Also the Andromeda Strain! To this day I am reminded of that book every time I see blinking red lights!
Book: The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K LeGuin. Dune by Frank Herbert (several movie versions, Sting was in the first). Neck and neck for the best ever sci-fi. Social and political commentary, yes, but great stories, too. Restoree by Anne McCaffrey is a close third. I have read and reread these many, many times.
Definitely Back to the Future series with Michael J Fox. 🙂
Stephen King The Stand – and not sure if it would count as sci-fi but Atlas Shrugged…both of these books I will remember forever, and I’ve actually read them both more than once (which is a labor of love since they are both huge!)
Back to the Future 1 & 2
My favorite dystopian film is Blade Runner!
movie: fifth element (in spite of it not passing bechdel test); show: doctor who (b/c it’s bigger on the inside); book: resistance is futile by jenny t. colgan (who also sometimes screenwrites for DW!)
I don’t have a strong sci-fi streak, so can I get away with saying ET?
I’m a big ol’ Doctor Who fan, ever since my teen years when Tom Baker was The Doctor. I’m also a fan of the spin-off series, Torchwood (Captain Jack Forever!) and The Sarah Jane Adventures.
The Fifth Element. Bruce Willis at his best.
Star Wars!
Disney’s Fantasia.. I’m a SciFi wimp!
My favorite sci-fi book is Dune – wonderful story!
Loved the Firefly TV series.
Movie: 2001: A Space Odyssey, and show: Fringe. No doubt about it.
Slow River by Nicola Griffith (Published in 1996, it was spot on predicting future products – I remember a description of a device like an iPad)
What the frell? How could I say anything but Farscape? It’s one thing to have robots on a space ship, it’s another story when the actual ship IS a creature itself!
Original Star Wars movie, in the front row because we didn’t get there hours early. Talk about ducking in your seat!
Station Eleven. Which of course, I had to reread during the pandemic!
Star Trek, of course. My husband insists he never got to see the episode which ran on Jan 28, 1971, since he had to take me to the hospital as I was about to give birth to our firstborn.
OMG, where to start?? I cut my teeth on “Star Trek”, due to my favorite aunt’s obsession and JJ Abram’s reboot is fabulous! I also had a hefty crush on Billy Mumy from “Lost in Space”, and I love the reboot of that chestnut–more drama! Dr Who is a longtime bingeable joyride. My favorite has to be the Star Wars series, including The Mandalorian (adorable Grogu!!). I feel like that one is “mine” since it was the first Sci-fi movie I recall in my lifetime being excited about. I used to think sci-fi movies were monster movies (Godzilla, Mothra, even King Kong), so outer-space movies were uber-cool to me, and still are!
Ursula K. Le Guin is my ride-or-die. The Lathe Of Heaven is but one favorite of hers. I think of it often in these troubled times.
The Wizard of Oz – Dorothy travels in spaceship (balloon) to foreign planet (Oz) and meets aliens (munchkins). The end.
The Blob♀️. I went to a Sci-Fi themed Halloween party as the blob.
Oops … The Blob!
Oooo…so hard to pick JUST ONE favorite, but for those less familiar with the current but incredibly delightful stuff: Anything by Becky Chambers – “The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet” to kick off her Wayfarer Anthology, or if you need to channel your inner robot, Martha Wells’ Murderbot Diaries is a hoot too.
“The Space Between Worlds” by Micaiah Johnson
Any other Spider Robinson fans? Especially the short stories…
Arthur C Clarke, Rendezvous With Rama.
The pandemic turned me into a Trekkie!
The Martian
The Fly!
My favourite sci-fi series is The Handmaid’s Tale.
I love Blade Runner, and also the Mars trilogy book series by Kim Stanley Robinson. So much good stuff out there, this was tough to choose!
The very first Star Wars movie. I remember how amazing it seemed since there had never been anything like it before. And then came the million sequels and prequels and new characters and I lost interest. But I still remember how cool it was to see the first one!
I loved Soylent Green and I’m a great fan of The Handmaid’s Tale. When I was a kid I read a book called Red Planet and also Stranger in a Strange Land which I remember enjoying. Reading was a way for me to “escape” to another world, or live vicariously through other people and it fires up my imagination. I have a hard time understanding people who don’t read books.
So one that stayed with me for years was Logan’s Run. Hmm. Glad we do not send people to sleep as they turn 30. Some utopia.
Ender’s Game, no contest
Favorite sci-fi – I should be cool and say something like Dune or Arthur C. Clarke’s Rama, which I did like, but the truth is I like the grunginess of Star Wars.
Star Trek and Star Wars wins every time for me.
I love Lois McMaster Bujold’s Vorkosigans for space opera. Grew up on Heinlein, Norton, and McCafferty. Honestly it’s a tough call! Lol
Doomsday Book, definitely the best!
I’m married to a Star Trek and Star Wars fan. My favorite Start trek is “Deep Space Nine” because of the strong female characters and let’s be honest – the Bajorans have the best jewelry in any galaxy.
Lost in Space, The Jetsons, and the original Star Trek series.
Mine was a little known show called Eureka. A fantastic little town where the smartest people live who lives in a small town who hires a US Marshall after fixing a science experiment which went wrong. Fantastic show.
books: We Are Legion (We Are Bob) [especially funny] or Ready Player One [80s pop culture references galore]
television series: Orphan Black
Ray Bradbury short stories are among my favorites in that genre, especially the Martian Chronicles and Fahrenheit 451. Also The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy!
The Fifth Element
Station Eleven, as many people have mentioned before. Relevant for our current times.
Going way out here, not a huge sci-fi fan but the Star Svensdotter series by Dana Stabenow were what I considered well written, logical and entertaining.
Without a doubt it is Dune by Frank Herbert!!!
So many fun sci-fi books and shows and movies that I can’t pick a favorite. Right now I’m enjoying Manifest.
Ender’s Game is my favorite sci-fi book.
the jetsons!
My new favorite is Kazuo Ishiguro’s Klara and the Sun, which gives lots to contemplate about how we use machines (and people) to control our lives, and how machines affect us and our future.
The Twilight Zone
THE Martian
Kindred by Octavia Butler
Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 – book and movie. My worst nightmare, outlawing and burning books!
Star Trek (Next Generation) and a book called “Into the Woods”
Her
I’m aging myself but our high school English Literature class was assigned to read George Orwell’s “1984”. (1984 was still in the future for us in 1968.) It’s amazing how many of the big brother is watching you techniques have already happened!
Star Trek! I’ve been watching all the different series since the pandemic started and it’s so comforting in a way…except for the Borgs. The Borgs are scary.
I am a Star Trek fan and love the movies and the tv series as well.
Any of Philip K Dick’s stories. I see he’s been popular in the comments! “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” Is a fave, and it’s interesting to watch the many movies made of his work and compare them to the original stories!
Lost In Space! Warning Will Robinson! Warning ⚠️
Dr. Who and the Weeping Angels episodes
“Stranger Things” is my favorite science fiction.
I agree with many comments,Soylent Green very disturbing.
Enders Game
My current favorite (and as a Sci-Fi fan I have had many over the years) is Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir for one of the best first contact books ever! This alien could have knit a sweater out of anything!
Back to the future. Good, clean fun.
I loved The Martian by Andy Weir.
Oh, so many!! Dune, a book which spawned many, many sequels, is magnificent!
Tank Girl! Lori Petty is my hera forever!!
“Time Machine” 1960 version with Rod Taylor, Yvette Mimieux, Alan Young and others. Thanks for the reminder of how much I enjoy this movie. Bonnie
Chiller, a super scary tv show. One episode (the needle brain operation—the aliens were trying to implant this thing in a human’s brain) made quite the impression on me as a child.
The Princess Bride, hope that counts
Not a single book, but a scifi series, the Vorkosigan Saga by Lois McMaster Bujold. Wonderful characters who grow over the series, laugh-out-loud humor, adventure, romance, mysteries, just plain great stories. The first book is Shards of Honor. (And if you like audiobooks, these are fantastically narrated by Grover Gardner)
Star Wars, of course.
I loved the tv show “Life on Mars” – pick me!!!
Battleship Galactica, old and new for TV. All books by Michael Crichton and Dean Koontz.
As a sci fi fan, I agree with many of the previous comments. My current favorite is anything in The Expanse series.
I was an ardent Star Trek fan as a teenager.
It’s gotta be Dr. Who – the David Tennant years (of course!)
In my teen years, I devoured all the books on my parents’ shelves, including many by sci-fi authors. So many to choose from! Fahrenheit 451 will always be near and dear.
Book-from many years ago and it might have been this first sci-fi i read-Robert Heinlein’s ‘Stranger in a Strange Land’.
Movie-as always, the original ‘Star Wars’