[Roland 85]

Ok, so this is yet another recommendation thread, I guess. I am interested in stories (mostly novels, although short stories are also fine if you can tell me the particular collection where I could find them) exploring generation ships. If you could summarize the concept of what you recommend in a few words as well, that would be awesome :)

[Chuffalump]

It's been a looooong time but Rogue Ship by A.E. van Vogt.

Deals with the stresses of the microcosm that is ship society, the changing imperatives of the crew over the years and also uses Lorentz-Fitzgerald Contraction in a weird way.

Not saying it's a great book..... but it matches your request.

[mylinar]

Well one of the better examples of a generation starship has to be Book of the Long Sun by Gene Wolfe. There are a number of threads on this forum if you do a quick search. There you can get everything from a synopsis to a complete review which would be filled with spoilers.

[Roland 85]

I have a separate shelf dedicated to Wolfe ;) Haven't read the Long Sun books yet though.

[psikeyhackr]

Orphans of the Sky by Heinlein was my first generation ship story.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orphans_of_the_Sky

Rite of Passage by Alexi Panshin is a different kind of generation ship story.

http://www.adherents.com/lit/bk_Pans_RiteOfPassage.html

Voyage from Yesteryear by James P. Hogan may qualify.

http://www.troynovant.com/Grube/Hogan/Voyage-from-Yesteryear.html

psik

[Zeratul]

Brian Aldiss's Non-Stop is a really good example. As for a summary - I read it a long time ago and what I remember vividly is a huge spoiler, so the only resume I can give is that the main character lives in a primitive tribal society on a huge generation ship.

Le Guin's novella Paradises Lost is highly recommended too. During the travel of a generation ship, a religion starts to develop among the new generations who have seen nothing but the ship during their lives which claims that their journey won't ever end, there's no target planet to reach and they should remain on the ship forever.

[Hobbit]

Would second Orphans in the Sky.

And add Greg Bear's Anvil of Stars.

Mark

[Rob B]

Check out this recent thread (a couple of weeks old)
Migration Sci-Fi novels (more inside) (http://www.sffworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27855) or this one (about a year old)
Favorite Generation Ship Stories (http://www.sffworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=22847).

[Roland 85]

Thanks, Rob! And yes, I've read Orphans, it was amazing!

Any idea where I can find the LeGuin novella?

[Zeratul]

Le Guin's novella can be found in the The Birthday of the World collection.