Top 50 SF/F books.

[gridlore]

The Most Significant SF & Fantasy Books of the Last 50 Years, 1953-2002 according to Science Fiction Book Club.

I've bolded the ones I've read, italicized the ones I started and never finished, and done a strike through on the ones I've read and hated.


1. The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien (Took me a while, because the books can be such a slog. Don't think I'll read them again.)
2. The Foundation Trilogy, Isaac Asimov (Asimov really isn't my style, but I loved these books. There should have only been three.)
3. Dune, Frank Herbert (One of my all-time favorites. Not so big a fan of the sequels.)
4. Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert A. Heinlein
5. A Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula K. Le Guin
6. Neuromancer, William Gibson
7. Childhood's End, Arthur C. Clarke (Amazingly enough, I only read this recently when it was nominated for a Retro Hugo)
8. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Philip K. Dick (I prefer Blade Runner)
9. The Mists of Avalon, Marion Zimmer Bradley
10. Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury (Had to read it in High School. Hated every word.)
11. The Book of the New Sun, Gene Wolfe
12. A Canticle for Leibowitz, Walter M. Miller, Jr. (It just lost me.)
13. The Caves of Steel, Isaac Asimov
14. Children of the Atom, Wilmar Shiras
15. Cities in Flight, James Blish
16. The Colour of Magic, Terry Pratchett (Call me weird, but I do not get Prachett.)
17. Dangerous Visions, edited by Harlan Ellison
18. Deathbird Stories, Harlan Ellison
19. The Demolished Man, Alfred Bester
20. Dhalgren, Samuel R. Delany
21. Dragonflight, Anne McCaffrey (on kshandra's recommendation. Good, and I read all the other books in the series, but a bit light for me.)
22. Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card (I really think the novella was much better. I won't read Card these days for personal reasons.)
23. The First Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, Stephen R. Donaldson (Literary Vomit.)
24. The Forever War, Joe Haldeman (One of my all-time favorites)
25. Gateway, Frederik Pohl
26. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, J.K. Rowling
27. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams (I love every incarnation of THHGTTG)
28. I Am Legend, Richard Matheson
29. Interview with the Vampire, Anne Rice (I just didn't care about these folks.)
30. The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K. Le Guin
31. Little, Big, John Crowley
32. Lord of Light, Roger Zelazny
33. The Man in the High Castle, Philip K. Dick (Muddled, confusing, and boring.)
34. Mission of Gravity, Hal Clement (This book may be the one that turned me into a planet-designing geek)
35. More Than Human, Theodore Sturgeon
36. The Rediscovery of Man, Cordwainer Smith
37. On the Beach, Nevil Shute (Saw the movie first.)
38. Rendezvous with Rama, Arthur C. Clarke (Decent, but not my favorite of his.)
39. Ringworld, Larry Niven (Still a classic. another case of a book that really didn't need a sequel, let alone three!)
40. Rogue Moon, Algis Budrys
41. The Silmarillion, J.R.R. Tolkien
42. Slaughterhouse-5, Kurt Vonnegut (My favorite Vonnegut book.)
43. Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson
44. Stand on Zanzibar, John Brunner
45. The Stars My Destination, Alfred Bester
46. Starship Troopers, Robert A. Heinlein (Probably the one book that influenced me more than any other I've ever read.)
47. Stormbringer, Michael Moorcock (The original Emo Boy!)
48. The Sword of Shannara, Terry Brooks
49. Timescape, Gregory Benford (Started it, and then just lost interest.)
50. To Your Scattered Bodies Go, Philip Jose Farmer (I've read all the Riverworld books and collections.)

Comments

[chadu.livejournal.com]

Posted my list!

cu

[twfarlan.livejournal.com]

It's an interesting list. Naturally, I've got my own list of "why wasn't this chosen/why WAS this chosen" which I think everyone does when a list like this comes out. I always wonder at the criteria they used.

I'm positively thrilled to see that no Robert Jordan trash ended up among the rest.

I'll post this in my journal with my own notations. Thanks, Doug.

[silverstorm2013.livejournal.com]

RE: Terry Pratchett

Take my advice; skip a bit into the later disk world books. Most are stand alone/self contained trilogies so you don’t really have to read them in any order. After looking at your book selections I think “Guards! Guards! (Book one of the guards saga), “Monstrous Regiment” (stand alone so far) or “Going Postal” (Stand alone) would appeal to you.

There might be a few background characters who will get mentioned and you’re going to go huh? But their mostly just that, background and not important to the plot.

[arib.livejournal.com]

Of all of these authors, Hal Clement is the only one I've managed to meet.

Nice fellow, shame he's gone.