Right now we’re all experiencing testing times, mentally, socially, economically and politically; as we try to make sense of the constantly changing landscape of a world in the grips of a pandemic. Finding something to escape into is getting harder by the day. I regularly find myself scouring the internet looking for movies, shows and documentaries which might give me the opportunity to forget myself and the troubles around me (if only for a couple of hours each day). But gradually, I’m also being pulled back to books I haven’t read in a decade or two (hello, ‘The Running Man‘, my old friend), and, as I’m aging, I’m finding new meaning and tone to stories that I had already established an affection for – though now, with the wisdom of an older head and more than enough time to revisit them.
Reading has always been a means of escaping the hectic world we inhabit; to journey into the world of someone else, viewing life through the lens of another person – usually someone completely different to ourselves. Their words, their thoughts, their language. We get to become that fly on the wall people always talk of.
As a Terminator Fan, the many Terminator books and comics have always pulled me back to the universe of John Connor and SkyNet, with its many idiosyncrasies. From Serena Burns and Dieter von Rossbach, to Dudley, to the truly ginger Ginger, from Jane Connor, to Molly Kookesh, and much much more. All of these amazing characters and stories which lead back to the mind of James Cameron, and that first movie: The Terminator (1984).
So, where does Jim go to escape the panic of this ever-changing world – and Which stories inspired him to inspire others?
Without further ado, here’s a list of books that Mr. James Cameron has stated are his science fiction favorites – maybe you’ll find something interesting. Maybe you’ll find an escape.
Let me know what you think…
*The books listed below were cited in the 2018 book: “James Cameron’s Story of Science Fiction”, and are in no particular order.
Fahrenheit 451 (1953)
Written by: Ray Bradbury.
Publisher: HarperCollins
ISBN: 9780006546061
Pages: 192
Dimensions: 198 x 129 x 18 mm
Synopsis:
” ‘It was a pleasure to burn. It was a special pleasure to see things eaten, to see things blackened and changed.’
Guy Montag is a fireman. His job is to burn books, which are forbidden, being the source of all discord and unhappiness.
Even so, Montag is unhappy; there is discord in his marriage. Are books hidden in his house?
The Mechanical Hound of the Fire Department, armed with a lethal hypodermic, escorted by helicopters, is ready to track down those dissidents who defy society to preserve and read books.”
Childhood’s End (1953)
Written by: Arthur C. Clarke.
Publisher: Del Rey
Pages: 256
Dimensions: 197 x 130 x 17 mm
ISBN: 9780345444059
Synopsis:
“Spaceships have suddenly appeared in the skies above every city on the planet. Inside is an intellectually, technologically, and militarily superior alien race known as the Overlords. At first, their demands seem benevolent: unify Earth, eliminate poverty, end war. But at what cost? To those who resist, it’s clear that the Overlords have an agenda of their own. Has their arrival marked the end of humankind . . . or the beginning?”
Dune (1965)
Written by: Frank Herbert.
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
ISBN: 9780340960196
Number of pages: 592
Dimensions: 196 x 130 x 46 mm
Synopsis:
“Melange, or ‘spice’, is the most valuable – and rarest – element in the universe; a drug that does everything from increasing a person’s life-span to making interstellar travel possible. And it can only be found on a single planet: the inhospitable desert world Arrakis.
Whoever controls Arrakis controls the spice. And whoever controls the spice controls the universe.
When the Emperor transfers stewardship of Arrakis from the noble House Harkonnen to House Atreides, the Harkonnens fight back, murdering Duke Leto Atreides. Paul, his son, and Lady Jessica, his concubine, flee into the desert. On the point of death, they are rescued by a band for Fremen, the native people of Arrakis, who control Arrakis’ second great resource: the giant worms that burrow beneath the burning desert sands.
In order to avenge his father and retake Arrakis from the Harkonnens, Paul must earn the trust of the Fremen and lead a tiny army against the innumerable forces aligned against them. And his journey will change the universe.”
The Hyperion Cantos:
*A series of science fiction novels written by Dan Simmons.
Written by: Dan Simmons.
Hyperion (1989)
Publisher: Orion Publishing Co
ISBN: 9780575099432
Number of pages: 496
Dimensions: 132 x 200 x 32 mm
Synopsis:
“It is the 29th century and the universe of the Human Hegemony is under threat. Invasion by the warlike Ousters looms, and the mysterious schemes of the secessionist AI TechnoCore bring chaos ever closer.
On the eve of disaster, with the entire galaxy at war, seven pilgrims set fourth on a final voyage to the legendary Time Tombs on Hyperion, home to the Shrike, a lethal creature, part god and part killing machine, whose powers transcend the limits of time and space. The pilgrims have resolved to die before discovering anything less than the secrets of the universe itself.”
The Fall of Hyperion (1990)
Publisher: Orion Publishing Co
ISBN: 9780575099487
Number of pages: 560
Dimensions: 198 x 131 x 36 mm
Synopsis:
“The mysterious Time Tombs are opening and the Shrike that has risen from them may well control the fate of all mankind. The Ousters are laying siege to the Hegemony of Man and the AIs we created have turned against us to build the Ultimate Intelligence; God. The God of Machines. His genesis could mean annihilation for man.
Something is drawing the hegemony, the Ousters, the AIs, the entire universe to the Shrike.”
Endymion (1996)
Written by: Dan Simmons.
Publisher: Orion Publishing Co
ISBN: 9780575076396
Number of pages: 624
Dimensions: 178 x 112 x 46 mm
Synopsis:
“Two hundred and seventy-four years after the fall of the WorldWeb in Fall of Hyperion, Raoul Endymion is sent on a quest. Retrieving Aenea from the Sphinx before the Church troops reach her is only the beginning. With help from a blue-skinned android named A. Bettik, Raoul and Aenea travel the river Tethys, pursued by Father Captain Frederico DeSoya, an influential warrior-priest and his troops. The shrike continues to make enigmatic appearances, and while many questions were raised in Hyperion and Fall of Hyperion, still more are raised here. Raoul’s quest will continue.”
Neuromancer (1984)
Written by: William Gibson
Publisher: Orion Publishing Co
ISBN: 9781473217386
Number of pages: 320
Dimensions: 199 x 133 x 23 mm
Synopsis:
“The Matrix: a world within a world, a graphic representation of the databanks of every computer in the human system; a consensual hallucination experienced daily by billions of legitimate users in the Sprawl alone. And by Case, computer cowboy, until his nervous system is grievously maimed by a client he double crossed. Japanese experts in nerve splicing and microbionics have left him broken and close to death. But at last Case has found a cure. He’s going back into the system. Not for the bliss of cyberspace but to steal again, this time from the big boys, the almighty megacorps. In return, should he survive, he will stay cured.”
The Forever War (1974)
Publisher: Orion Publishing Co
ISBN: 9780575094147
Number of pages: 256
Dimensions: 198 x 132 x 24 mm
Written by: Joe Haldeman.
Synopsis:
“Private William Mandella is a reluctant hero in an interstellar war against an unknowable and unconquerable alien enemy. But his greatest test will be when he returns home. Relativity means that for every few months’ tour of duty centuries have passed on Earth, isolating the combatants ever more from the world for whose future they are fighting.”
The Stars My Destination (1957)
Publisher: Orion Publishing Co
ISBN: 9780575094192
Number of pages: 256
Dimensions: 135 x 200 x 20 mm
Written by: Alfred Bester.
Synopsis:
“Gully Foyle, Mechanic’s Mate 3rd Class.
EDUCATION: none
SKILLS: none
MERITS: none
RECOMMENDATIONS: none
That’s the official verdict on Gully Foyle, unskilled space crewman.
But right now he is the only survivor on his drifting, wrecked spaceship, and when another space vessel – the Vorga – ignores his distress flares and sails by, Gully becomes obsessed with revenge. He endures 170 days alone in deep space before finding refuge on the Sargasso Asteroid and returning to Earth to track down the crew and owners of the Vorga. But, as he works out his murderous grudge, Gully Foyle also uncovers a secret of momentous proportions … “
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress (1966)
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
ISBN: 9781473616127
Number of pages: 416
Dimensions: 199 x 136 x 27 mm
Written by: Robert A. Heinlein.
Synopsis:
“In 2075, the Moon is no longer a penal colony. But it is still a prison…
Life isn’t easy for the political dissidents and convicts who live in the scattered colonies that make up lunar civilisation. Everything is regulated strictly, efficiently and cheaply by a central supercomputer, HOLMES IV.
When humble technician Mannie O’Kelly-Davis discovers that HOLMES IV has quietly achieved consciousness (and developed a sense of humour), the choice is clear: either report the problem to the authorities… or become friends.
And perhaps overthrow the government while they’re at it.“
Starship Troopers (1959)
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
ISBN: 9781473616110
Number of pages: 288
Dimensions: 198 x 130 x 20 mm
Written by: Robert A. Heinlein.
Synopsis:
“5,000 years in the future, humanity faces total extermination.
Our one defence: highly-trained soldiers who scour the metal-strewn blackness of space to hunt down a terrifying enemy: an insect life-form known only as ‘Bugs.’
This is the story of trooper Johnny Rico, from his idealistic enlistment in the infantry of the future through his rigorous training to the command of his own platoon. And his destiny is a war that will span the galaxy.”
Solaris (1961)
Publisher: Faber & Faber
ISBN: 9780571311576
Number of pages: 224
Dimensions: 198 x 129 x 13 mm
Written by: Stanislaw Lem
Synopsis:
“When Kris Kelvin arrives at the planet Solaris to study the ocean that covers its surface he is forced to confront a painful, hitherto unconscious memory embodied in the physical likeness of a long-dead lover. Others suffer from the same affliction and speculation rises among scientists that the Solaris ocean may be a massive brain that creates incarnate memories, but its purpose in doing so remains a mystery . . . Solaris raises a question that has been at the heart of human experience and literature for centuries: can we truly understand the universe around us without first understanding what lies within?”
The Time Machine (1895)
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
ISBN: 9780141199344
Number of pages: 128
Dimensions: 198 x 129 x 7 mm
Written by: H. G. Wells.
Synopsis:
“A Victorian scientist develops a time machine and travels to the year 802,171 AD. There he finds the meek, child-like Eloi who live in fear of the underground-dwelling Morlocks. When his time machine goes missing, the Traveller faces a fight to enter the Morlocks’ domain and return to his own time.”
Ringworld (1970)
Publisher: Orion Publishing Co
ISBN: 9780575077027
Number of pages: 288
Dimensions: 195 x 132 x 23 mm
Written by: Larry Niven.
Synopsis:
“Pierson’s puppeteers, strange, three-legged, two-headed aliens, have discovered an immense structure in a hitherto unexplored part of the universe. Frightened of meeting the builders of such a structure, the puppeteers set about assembling a team consisting of two humans, a puppeteer and a kzin, an alien not unlike an eight-foot-tall, red-furred cat, to explore it. The artefact is a vast circular ribbon of matter, some 180 million miles across, with a sun at its centre – the Ringworld. But the expedition goes disastrously wrong when the ship crashlands and its motley crew faces a trek across thousands of miles of the Ringworld’s surface.”
Will you be reading any of the books we’ve listed?
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