sci fi and fantasy books

[low_delta]

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 and put an asterisk beside the ones you loved.

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 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
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

That's ten. I read a lot of science fiction and fantasy when I was in my teens and twenties. I kind of gave up after that. I liked most of the ones I bolded. Can't say I loved them. Maybe I did at the time, but the excitement wore off. Dune is one of the few books I ever started but gave up. Did not like it at all. I had friends who were into a lot of this list. Donaldson, Brooks, Heinlein. I was never interested in any of those. I read a lot of Tolkien, Asimov, Niven, Piers Anthony, McCaffrey and Wells.

I wonder why they picked 1953. I just checked my bookshelves, and City, by Clifford Simak came out in 1952. I think the only Heinlein I ever read was from the forties.

Comments

I wonder why they picked 1953.

[likethebeer.livejournal.com]

I thought maybe it had to do with when they started awarding the Hugo, but my book of Hugo winning stories begins in 1955.

Ah. Somebody's been reading wikipedia (surprise):

While "bests" had been voted upon at all conventions there were no awards until the 11th Worldcon (Philadelphia, 1953) and this was, at the time, considered a one-time event. However for the 13th Convention (Cleveland, 1955) it was decided to make the physical awards a permanent feature.

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

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

I still doubt if it had to do with the awards. I wonder if that's when some so-called "modern era" began. Maybe they wanted to keep the historical predecessors out of the running. Like H.G. Wells. People who get respect for starting it all. I don't know.

[ravenfeather.livejournal.com]

See my comment to Mike.. it is the same. I was surprised you didn't have more bolded out. An assumption on my part. *grin*

I was struck by the inclusion/exclusion line. Why Pratchett and not X-Anthony?

My absolute favorites are a part of this list, but it still seems very light and fluffy.. like it wasn't targeted at the people who read the genre.

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

Some of it is light and fluffy, and some of it is solid. Soem of it, I suspect, is a little darker, but that's only a guess, since I haven't read those. There were a couple I'd never heard of.

I'd like to say that I was surprised that Pratchett and Brooks (Shanarra) were included, since they seem very lightweight, but I've never read them. I read a lot, for a couple of decades, but I wouldn't say voraciously. I've got less than sci fi/fantasy 100 books on my shelves, so I've probably read less than 200 in total. Maybe more. My last period was cyberpunk, of which only one is on this list. I went through a classics period. I read all of McCaffrey's dragon books, and there's only one here. I spent several years in bookstores searching the racks for interesting books. None of those, even if they were really good, garnered much long-term support.