4 Overrated Sci-Fi Classics (and 4 to Read Instead)

Despite winning the Hugo in 1962, this one doesn’t hold up very well. It was certainly provocative for its time: it follows Valentine Michael Smith, who was raised on Mars by (you guessed it) Martians, as he returns to Earth and learns about human society. He makes friends and enemies, and some of Heinlein’s Martian customs are indeed interesting, but Smith’s reintegration into human life isn’t for everyone. Sure, there’s his curiosity about religion (a major facet of this novel). Then there’s the orgies. As an avid romance reader, I can tell you there’s nothing worth noting here. All in all, the novel reads very strangely, and not in a good way.

You want a character raised outside of society? A story where big questions arise related to capitalism, religion, and colonization? Genre-bending aficionado Moreno-Garcia delivers in droves with this reimagining of a different sci-fi classic: H.G. Wells’s The Island of Doctor Moreau. Carlota’s father (the aforementioned Dr. Moreau) has created a small community of human-animal hybrids, and they’re the only companions Carlota has ever known. She’s lived on her father’s remote estate in the Yucatán peninsula with the hybrids her entire life, subject to his moods and experiments. But when Dr. Moreau’s investors come asking questions and human contemporaries enter her life, Carlota’s world is overturned. Let’s just say this book will get your heart pounding for more than one reason!

Rendezvous with Rama is one of the books that famed sci-fi writer Arthur C. Clarke was most known for. It’s about a mysterious object in space and the crew of humans who are tasked with studying it. There are different theories on the object, which humans name Rama, and a handful of developments as it moves closer to Earth. Despite that, while there are interesting details the reader learns alongside the characters, there’s not much by way of character development or plot events. It’s sort of low-grade interesting in some of its philosophical concerns, but generally speaking, it’s a slow burn that never really progresses.

Like Clarke’s novel, Robopocalypse raises interesting questions around the boundaries between artificial and biological life. One significant difference — besides the fact that Wilson’s plot is incredibly fast-paced and covers a lot of ground — is that it takes place entirely on Earth. It’s the not-too-distant future and robots have seized control of the planet. The novel is written in a way that emulates oral histories, so you get a lot of different perspectives and voices even as several of the main characters are nicely developed. The book’s publication in the 21st century also means that its exploration of technology is much more relevant.

I know this is the book that inspired the film Bladerunner, but it’s such a disappointing read. It was published in the late 1960s, and Dick’s portrayal of women is, er, in line with the times. (Lots of issues with sexuality and desire here, and I’m not even getting into the depiction of the main human female character, Iran.) Add to that unlikeable protagonist Rick Deckard’s obsession with status and general lack of empathy for human and animal life and, well, you might start to understand why I put this one on here. It’s hard to uncouple the book from the film in some ways, but whether or not you’re a fan of the film, the book just doesn’t hold up.