For whatever reason, I have the urge to revisit a number of classic science fiction novels (as in pre-1970s) I read when I was younger. And a few I haven't read yet.

The plan is to hit some used bookstores and find old paperback editions of these books.

So far, the list includes:

Stranger in a Strange Land (non-extended version) - RAH
Childhood's End - ACC
Rendezvous with Rama - ACC
Ringworld - Larry Niven
Foundation Trilogy - Asimov
More Than Human - Theodore Sturgeon
Caves of Steel/Naked Sun - Asimov
Martian Chronicles - Ray Bradbury
A Canticle for Leibowitz - Walter Miller Jr
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep - PKD

I'm so far keeping "Dune" off of the list as I plant to revisit that entire series sometime in the future. Also, I have read Bester's "The Stars My Destination" and "Demolished Man" within the last ten years, so no need to hit those again so soon.

Can anyone think of any major ones I'm missing?

The Left Hand of Darkness?

I've been catching up on some classic Sci-Fi myself. Some books that I've read and enjoyed lately have been PKD's "The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch" and "The Man in the High Castle", Robert Heinlein's "Starship Troopers", and Arthur C. Clarke's "2001: A Space Odyssey"

Can't go wrong with Ender's Game.

Not really on his timeline, though, if he wants pre-1970s (even though some of the books on his list are from the 70s).

I've recently re-read Way Station by Clifford D. Simak and Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny. I enjoyed them both even more than when I was a teenager.

I re-read some old-sci fi books I read as a kid: Doc EE Smith's Skylark books (starting with the Skylark of Space).

Yeah, yeah, my dad had them around, that's how I ended up reading them.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._E._Smith

The Skylark of Space was originally written in 1915, published in 1928 (Amazing Stories magazine), and was revised into paper in 1946.

I haven't tracked down the Lensman books yet (first one in 1938 as per Wikipedia), but both George Lucas and JMS (creator of Babylon 5) list them as influences.

The Skylark books certainly felt dated in some ways (especially the way females are regarded), but come off as super-quick paced space operas.
Wiki's criticism is spot on:

Thanks for the suggestions. I don't think I've read any Zelazny or Simak, so "Lord of Light" and "Way Station" sound like good suggestions.

Though I might save "Lord of Light" and "Left Hand of Darkness" for when I get an urge to binge on New Wave Science Fiction (ala PKD and Delany). I think I might've read "Left Hand of Darkness" when I was in Junior High, though I'm not positive. Still need to revisit it eventually if I did.

I have read "Ender's Game" and didn't really like it much at all.

You could (re)read some early Kurt Vonnegut, like Player Piano and The Sirens of Titan.

I'm surprised the topic of the thread is "classic" sci-fi, and nobody's brought up H.G. Wells or Jules Verne. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle also wrote a few sci-fi stories, most notably The Lost World.

Stanislaw Lem would also be a good choice to read some books from, such as Solaris or The Cyberiad.

If we are looking at SF History as opposed to 20th century Golden Age or pre New Wave material I suppose Mary Shelley's <A HREF="http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/SheFran.html" "Target="_blank">Frankenstein" deserves a mention, as does GK Chesterton's SF, although I don't have any specific titles to hand!

For other worthy novels, I would recommend skimming through the following pair of Top 100 listings and maybe noting down any that a) meet your own criteria and b) feature in both lists:

http://classics.jameswallaceharris.com/Lists/ByRank.php

http://www.strangewords.com/weirdbooks/scifi100.html

So it's just novels and not short story collections? I love old-school sci-fi, but some of my favorites were the short story collections. Short stories were really more of an appreciated art form back then, with so many more markets available to authors than today. Now short stories seem an afterthought for novelists to keep busy in their off times, with no expectation for making a living from it.

Some novels (may be some repeats) that are favorites of mine and highly regarded -- some may be slightly after 1970:

Asimov: Foundation Trilogy (true classic, though style if off-putting to some)
Bradbury: Fahrenheit 451, Something Wicked This Way Comes (maybe more horror/fantasy in your eyes though)
JG Ballard: Crystal World, Drowned World
Jose Phillip Farmer: To Your Scattered Bodies Go
Jack Finney: The Bodysnatchers, Time After Time
Larry Niven: Ringworld
Richard Matheson: I Am Legend
Daniel Keyes: Flowers For Algernon
Harry Harrison: Make Room, Make Room, Stainless Steel Rat
John Brunner: Stand on Zanzibar
John Wyndham: Day of the Triffids, Midwich Cuckoos
David Lindsay: Voyage to Arcturus
Brian Aldiss: The Long Afternoon of Earth
Thomas Disch: 334, Camp Concentration

Already mentioned is PK Dick, AC Clark, Heinlein. And some "oldies" like Wells, Verne. If you go back to pulp sci-fi you have Burroughs.

Some others, slightly more recent but still pre-80's:

Joe Haldeman: The Forever War
Harry Harrison: The Deathworld Trilogy
James Blish: Cities in Flight
Authur C. Clarke: Rendevous with Rama
Ray Bradbury: The Martian Chronicles (mentioned already but maybe, IMO, the greatest science fiction novel ever written)

And if you want some great short stories, for all his self-promotion and arrogance, Harlan Ellison is hard to beat. Two great ones are I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream and Repent, Harlequin! Said the Tick-Tock Man. The original teleplay for Star Trek TOS's City On The Edge Of Forever is also brilliant. It's quite different from the filmed version.

I'd throw in:

Alas, Babylon - Pat Frank
"The Guardians of Time" - Poul Anderson



and you just say pre-1970, so don't forget the CLASSIC classics:

War of the Worlds - HG Wells
Jules Verne too (edit - oh, ok - someone has mentioned these...)

For PKD, I suggest "Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said" rather than "The Three Stigmatta of Eldritch Palmer", which was written before he learned to do revisions.

My favorite Asimov short stories are "Nightfall" and "The Last Question". Naturally, they're in different collections.

Is there much of a market for these old sci-fi books? My dad has a ton of them that he want's me to take, but I just don't have the space for them. I'd sell them for him, if I thought it would be worth while. He has lot's sets that have like 2 stories in one book.

It's like used books in general. Depending on the edition, it could be valuable. Or it be completely worthless ... the kind of thing you'd find in the dollar bargain bins of used book stores. You've got to go case by case. Hardcovers (especially those still in fine condition with their dustjackets) are MUCH more valuable. Browse around online (there are many used book stores with catalogs and prices online) and see what the same editions are going for to get an idea.

It really depends on the condition of the books and the titles involved. If they're in good condition but are books/authors nobody's heard of, then they're not going to worth much. Likewise if they're notable titles but in very poor condition. You could take a few books to a local used book dealer to see what they think.

I Am Legend - Richard Matheson
Philip K. Dick short stories / novellas

Old Earth Books has the series in a nice, larger paperback format. The ones you can't get from Amazon (about $10 each) are available from the publisher's website for $15 a piece.

Triplanetary
First Lensman
Galactic Patrol
Gray Lensman
Second Stage Lensman
Children of the Lens

Whee! I generally read new books, but I re-read the Lensman books about once a year. Smith had wonderful storytelling skills, but his writing could be pretty clunky. The Vortex Blaster is one of his better-written novels, and it takes place in the same universe as the Lensman books.

I forgot about that one. Great suggestion.

Rite of Passage by Alexei Panshin
Monument by Lloyd Biggle Jr.
Dorsai! by Gordon R. Dickson

I just went through my probably 3000 paperbacks and am going to get rid of almost 2000.

Don't even know if I'm going to just donate them or try to sell them. Many of them are in good shape, but I've had them for 30 years or more.

And yes, 99% is "classic science fiction - obviously mostly pre 1980"

If you want classic, you can't get more classic than Jules Verne.

It's threads like this that make me realize I don't read enough and that I'll never read all the books I want to. I've been averaging about 3 books a month, and I go through phases similar to what Josh is doing here. I want to read classics, or modern detective, or sci-fi, or whatever. But for every book I get to read, there's a hundred I don't read.

I'm sad now.