What's your favourite older SF story?

[ECSNorway]

Hmmm, this is an excellent question. In a lot of ways it begs the difference between "things I liked 20 years ago" and "things I like now that are old".

Weber's Mutineer's Moon is definitely that old, as is On Basilisk Station and the next couple of Harrington books.

C J Cherryh's The Pride of Chanur et seq., Downbelow Station, and much of the rest of the Alliance/Union universe, date to that period.

Chris Stassheff's The Warlock in Spite of Himself...

Robert Lynn Asprin's Thieves' World shared-universe stuff

Barbara Hambly's 'Darwath' trilogy

I was a big fan of Mercedes Lackey's 'elves in modern day' stuff, back then... Still find it readable

Mary Gentle's Golden Witchbreed, one of the early "diplomatic" sci-fi stories

The first two volumes of P C Hodgell's 'Kencyrath' stories, and the first three of Miller & Lee's 'Liaden' universe, are all excellent

Herbert's Dune, of course.

I could probably add a dozen more, I was a voracious reader even then....
--
Sucrose Octanitrate.
Proof positive that with sufficient motivation, you can make anything explode.

[Logan Darklighter]

One of the most interesting things that I find "dates" classic and even more modern sci-fi is the rise of the personal communications revolution. 
Let's face it - even 15 years ago - did anyone at all foresee how much our lives would be changed by the use of cell phones? Not to mention the iphone? 

What you have these days in the iphones and Androids of today is the Star Trek communicator and tri-corder with access to the ship's computer rolled into one. Only MORE so. The i-phone is a portable computer, position tracker, communicator the likes of which very few sci-fi authors even dreamed of. It can do all of that and more. Even Star Trek TNG and the like are now hopelessly dated by comparison. 

The Moon is a Harsh Mistress still holds up as a cracking good story. I reread it as recently as 18 months ago. And one of the things that struck me about the book was that all the technology held together remarkably well, save for one thing. And a younger reader would notice it and think about it instantly. 

"What's all this business with the stationary phones/comm stations in the walls of the Lunar Cities? Nobody has personal communication?" 

In fact, they don't. And the central premise of the story - that of the central computer Mike/Adam Selene controlling all the communications as he does either wouldn't work very well if they did, or it would change the story pretty significantly!

And so it goes. Science marches on and leaves Sci-fi in the dust sometimes. 

[Bob Schroeck]

One other thing about The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress that comes across as dated: "What? Computers can manipulate visual data and synthesize TV signals? Incredible!"
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

[Ebony]

Bob Schroeck wrote:

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One other thing about The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress that comes across as dated: "What? Computers can manipulate visual data and synthesize TV signals? Incredible!"

I reread Friday a few years back and realized that the amazing piece of detective work that Friday does to research the Shipstone Corporation was essentially data mining on the World Wide Web and that, these days, ANYONE can do that.  
Ebony the Black Dragon
http://ebony14.livejournal.com

"Good night, and may the Good Lord take a Viking to you."

[Jinx999]

There's an Arthue C Clarke book, The Songs of Different Earth, which as an aside mentions cellphones (worn as watches) as an aside, and mentions that the first thing that happens in a horror story is the characters leaving theirs behind.

[robkelk]

There's an Arthue C Clarke book, The Songs of Different Earth, which as an aside mentions cellphones (worn as watches) as an aside, and mentions that the first thing that happens in a horror story is the characters leaving theirs behind.

So the progression of technology was spot-on, but the psychology was off. Who'd leave their cellphone behind nowadays?
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[robkelk]

One other thing about The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress that comes across as dated: "What? Computers can manipulate visual data and synthesize TV signals? Incredible!"

Mike did it in real-time, with audio. We're almost at that point - give it a year or so.
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[Kurisu]

ECSNorway wrote:

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Robert Lynn Asprin's Thieves' World shared-universe stuff

If you would consider his other Titles, as well...
...'sides, Phil Foglio got involved, too.
_____
DEATH is Certain. The hour, Uncertain...