Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Top 50 Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Thanks Jar!

This is a list of the 50 most significant science fiction/fantasy novels, 1953-2002, according to the Science Fiction Book Club. Bold the ones you've read, strike-out the ones you hated, italicize those you started but never finished, put an asterisk beside the ones you loved and put a '#' next to the ones you intend to read some time.

1. The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R.Tolkien*
2. The Foundation Trilogy, Isaac Asimov 
3. Dune, Frank Herbert  *
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
8. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Philip K. Dick

9. The Mists of Avalon, Marion Zimmer Bradley #
10. Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury
11. The Book of the New Sun, Gene Wolfe
12. A Canticle for Leibowitz, Walter M Miller Jr
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
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
22. Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card  **
23. The First Chronicles of Thomas Covenant Unbeliever, Stephen R. Donaldson
24. The Forever War, Joe Haldeman*
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

28. I Am Legend, Richard Matheson #
29. Interview with the Vampire, Anne Rice
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
34. Mission of Gravity, Hal Clement
35. More Than Human, Theodore Sturgeon
36. The Rediscovery of Man, Cordwainer Smith
37. On the Beach, Nevil Shute
38. Rendezvous with Rama, Arthur C. Clarke
39. Ringworld, Larry Niven 
40. Rogue Moon, Algis Budrys
41. The Silmarillion, J.R.R. Tolkien
42. Slaughterhouse-5, Kurt Vonnegut 
43. Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson  **
44. Stand on Zanzibar, John Brunner
45. The Stars My Destination, Alfred Bester
46. Starship Troopers, Robert A. Heinlein  **
47. Stormbringer, Michael Moorcock
48. The Sword of Shannara, Terry Brooks
49. Timescape, Gregory Benford
50. To Your Scattered Bodies Go, Philip Jose Farmer

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7 comments:

Kirk said...

Dude, Budd, you need to have a # next to Moorcock's Stormbringer. You'll be bolding it and putting an asterisk beside it, I guarantee. You may want to start at the beginning of the Elric Saga, but I mention Stormbringer because it's the one on the list.Oh, and LeGuin's The Left Hand of Darkness is one of the most incredible sci-fi stories I've ever read. Be sure to check it out, too.

Budd said...

[いいですね]

Kirk said...

If I may be so bold as to implore you not to waste your time on unmitigated crap like Battlefield Earth. That book is big enough to choke Leviathan and it's written by one of the worst pulp sci-fi hacks of all time. In other words, it's a very large pile of offal. Seriously, do yourself a favor and skip it. It starts out pretty good, but gets absolutely abysmal just when you realize you've dedicated too much time to it. Life's too short to read Hubbard. </rant>

Budd said...

Unlike others, I did not hate the movie. But it was a date movie with my current wife, that I have not seen since, so rose colored glasses and all. I have always heard that the book was a lot better and wasn't bad. It is a tome though.

jar said...

I'm afraid I have to agree with Kirk here about Battlefield Earth. I'm really careful with my books (and still have some paperbacks from the 60's that I've read multiple times that are in ok shape), but I've literally used Battlefield Earth as a doorstop.If you feel the need to know the story, watch the horrible movie adaptation instead (John Travolta). You'll only waste 2 hours :-).And I even like pulp sci-fi hack (EE Doc Smith anyone?)....I hope you enjoy Fire upon the Deep. One of my fav's.... If you do, then I'd recommend Rainbow's End.

Tubbydammer said...

EE 'Doc' Smith wrote great stuff. It wasn't politically correct nor great literature, but it was great space opera and highly entertaining.

melanaise said...

missing stuff.