SF Books Meme

[kerravonsen]

Gakked from l_zinkiewicz:
Below is Time's most significant SF novels between 1953-2006.

The meme part of this works like so: Bold the ones you have read, strike through the ones you read and hated, italicize those you started but never finished and put a star next to the ones you love.

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 (liked it first, hated it later)
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 (hated it so much I couldn't finish it)
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 (I've read a couple other Pratchetts but not this one)
17. Dangerous Visions, edited by Harlan Ellison
18. Deathbird Stories, Harlan Ellison
19. The Demolished Man, Alfred Bester*
20. Dhalgren, Samuel R. Delany (I love Babel-17, but it isn't on this list!)
21. Dragonflight, Anne McCaffrey* (okay, half the love is nostalgia...)
22. Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card*
23. The First Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the 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 (I've got it, but it's still on my to-read pile)
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 (another one on my to-read pile...)
44. Stand on Zanzibar, John Brunner
45. The Stars My Destination, Alfred Bester*
46. Starship Trooper, Robert A. Heinlein
47. Stormbringer, Michael Moorcock
48. The Sword of Shannara, Terry Brooks (derivative tripe)
49. Timescape, Gregory Benford
50. To Your Scattered Bodies Go, Philip Jose Farmer

Comments

[izhilzha.livejournal.com]

I'm going to do this here, since I think I did a similar one on my LJ sometime last year:

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 (hated it so much I couldn't finish it)
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 (I love Babel-17, but it isn't on this list! [ditto])
21. Dragonflight, Anne McCaffrey
22. Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card*
23. The First Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the 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* (includes a moment which is the best differentiation between friendship and romance that I have ever read)
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 (bah. I've read The Diamond Age....)
44. Stand on Zanzibar, John Brunner
45. The Stars My Destination, Alfred Bester*
46. Starship Trooper, Robert A. Heinlein
47. Stormbringer, Michael Moorcock
48. The Sword of Shannara, Terry Brooks (derivative tripe, yes, but I can't quite hate it--I had too much fun playing spot-the-Tolkien-character)
49. Timescape, Gregory Benford
50. To Your Scattered Bodies Go, Philip Jose Farmer

Clearly, I need to read some more scifi. O_o

[wneleh.livejournal.com]

This looks like what my parents recommended that I read when I started getting into SF ~1978. So I've read a bunch of them, but then, well, I found other SF authors I liked better in general.

So - where's Bujold, Cherryh, or Brin? L'engle or Gibson? Or even I-can't-stand-him Weber?

I just. I can't say this list is sexist, exactly, because there are a few women, but there's a lack of what, I guess, I think of books with a feminine sensibility. And I write this as someone who hates it when things are described as masculine and feminine, for many reasons.

- Helen

[kerravonsen]

I am rather surprised at the lack of Cherryh. I suspect that Bujold isn't there because she's "popular" rather than "groundbreaking".

I have to point out that Gibson is on the list.

[wneleh.livejournal.com]

Yes, there Gibson is! I can't remember what of him I read - didn't like it much - but many guys in college were into him.

- Helen

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

You like Cordwainer Smith too! :-D

I did that list slightly differently (underlining the ones I loved) a couple of months ago here.

[kerravonsen]

You like Cordwainer Smith too!

He is underappreciated by the world. 8-)

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I love his way with words; I can even handle tragedy and horror when written in that dry, lyrical, verbally inventive style.

[jinxed-wood.livejournal.com]

What I can't figure out is why Iain M Banks isn't on the list. Surely 'The Player of Games' should be mentioned...

[kerravonsen]

Who would you kick off to make room for him?

[jinxed-wood.livejournal.com]

The Sword of Shannara of course!. How did that childish bit of tripe made it onto the list? They had to have been joking.

[kerravonsen]

True.