SF booklist memeage

[asterroc]

Yoinked from kadath

According to the Science Fiction Book Club, these are the 50 most significant SF & Fantasy Books of the last 50 Years, 1953-2002. Bold the ones you've read, strike the ones you hated, italicize the ones you couldn't get through, asterisks for the ones you loved (more asterisks, more love), exclamation points for the ones you own.

1. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
2. The Foundation Trilogy by Isaac Asimov
3. Dune by Frank Herbert
4. Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein
5. A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. LeGuin! (previously owned, don't know where it is now)
6. Neuromancer by William Gibson
7. Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke (hm, I might have read it, I forget)
8. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick (I need to read this one)
9. The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley
10. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury*
11. The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe
12. A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller, Jr. (I might have read)
13. The Caves of Steel by Isaac Asimov (might have read?)
14. Children of the Atom by Wilmar Shiras
15. Cities in Flight by James Blish
16. The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett (I don't think I've read anything by him, strangely)
17. Dangerous Visions edited by Harlan Ellison
18. Deathbird Stories by Harlan Ellison
19. The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester
20. Dhalgren by Samuel R. Delany
21. Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey! (enjoyed it, but wouldn't say I loved it)
22. Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card*! (still one of my faves, though the rest of the series I'm mixed on)
23. The First Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever by Stephen R. Donaldson
24. The Forever War by Joe Haldeman
25. Gateway by Frederik Pohl
26. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling (the main thing I liked about this was that it gets kids reading)
27. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams*!
28. I Am Legend by Richard Matheson*! (just recently, on audiobook)
29. Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice (I think my mom owned it)
30. The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin (I think I disliked? I forget)
31. Little, Big by John Crowley
32. Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny
33. The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick
34. Mission of Gravity by Hal Clement
35. More Than Human by Theodore Sturgeon
36. The Rediscovery of Man by Cordwainer Smith
37. On the Beach by Nevil Shute
38. Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke* (I can't remember much of it, but I liked it then)
39. Ringworld by Larry Niven* (OMG yes! I love anything Niven)
40. Rogue Moon by Algis Budrys
41. The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien (way too tedious)
42. Slaughterhouse-5 by Kurt Vonnegut
43. Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson*! (own abridged audio, afterwards read full version in print)
44. Stand on Zanzibar by John Brunner
45. The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester
46. Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein (much better than the movie)
47. Stormbringer by Michael Moorcock
48. The Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks (the only way I got through this was I accidentally read the Elfstones first, and yet I have recently wanted to get back into the series.)
49. Timescape by Gregory Benford (read it for a class. science good, characters are 2-D cardboard cutouts)
50. To Your Scattered Bodies Go by Philip Jose Farmer

Just so you know, the Science Fiction Book Club is the one that keeps sending you unsolicited catalogs entirely full of Honor Harrington paperbacks, Star Wars hardcovers, and Stephen King, with half-naked women sprawled over dragons on the cover and an offer of a free pewter wizard figurine with club membership (see order form for details.)

Comments

[seekingferret.livejournal.com]

I've read 35 of 50. And the list reminds me that I really want to read Little, Big.

[seekingferret.livejournal.com]

Also, books you haven't read that I have and which I highly recommend to you:

Dune: Not because it seems particularly up your alley, but because everyone likes Dune.

Do Android's Dream of Electric Sleep: I think this might make a good book to listen to.

A Canticle for Leibowitz: You usually prefer lighter books than this. It's way more intense than what you seem to like. But this is my favorite work of SF of all time.

Slaughterhouse Five: The great tragicomedy.

Lord of Light, The Stars My Destination: Lumped together because they are both excellent SF retellings of classic literature. Lord of Light retells the Buddhist holy writ as colonization SF. The Stars My Destination retells The Count of Monte Cristo as space opera. The latter MUST be read, not listened to. Bester had a gift for using typography to augment storytelling. Words literally dance across the page.

Also, you should read Pratchett, but I hesitate to recommend The Color of Magic. It's the earliest one and it's a strange book. Charming, but decidedly odd. I'd recommend Men at Arms as an introduction to Discworld.

[demigoth.livejournal.com]

Hrm, I think I'll save the list as a text file for reference. I've read a sad little handful of them.

I highly recommend Pratchett, especially the discworld series (the colour of magic is one, I think). Also Theodore Sturgeon. He has lots of shorter stories you can try to see if you like his style.

[jrtom.livejournal.com]

I don't feel like going through and doing all the formatting, so I'll just supply some summary statistics. :)

Read: 32
Own: 25
Couldn't get through: 2 (Dhalgren and The Book of the New Sun)

[soapfaerie.livejournal.com]

I loved Mists of Avalon. I read it once a year. I know a lot of people who hate it though, haha. My screenname on Shelfari.com is morgainelefey. haha.