The following list of the 50 most significant SF and Fantasy books comes from here.
Books in bold are ones that I have read.
The Most Significant SF & Fantasy Books of the Last 50 Years, 1953-2002
- The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien
- The Foundation Trilogy, Isaac Asimov
- Dune, Frank Herbert
- Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert A. Heinlein
- A Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula K. Le Guin
- Neuromancer, William Gibson
- Childhood's End, Arthur C. Clarke
- Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Philip K. Dick
- The Mists of Avalon, Marion Zimmer Bradley
- Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury
- The Book of the New Sun, Gene Wolfe
- A Canticle for Leibowitz, Walter M. Miller, Jr.
- The Caves of Steel, Isaac Asimov
- Children of the Atom, Wilmar Shiras
- Cities in Flight, James Blish
- The Colour of Magic, Terry Pratchett
- Dangerous Visions, edited by Harlan Ellison
- Deathbird Stories, Harlan Ellison
- The Demolished Man, Alfred Bester
- Dhalgren, Samuel R. Delany
- Dragonflight, Anne McCaffrey
- Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card
- The First Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, Stephen R. Donaldson
- The Forever War, Joe Haldeman
- Gateway, Frederik Pohl
- Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, J.K. Rowling
- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
- I Am Legend, Richard Matheson
- Interview with the Vampire, Anne Rice
- The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K. Le Guin
- Little, Big, John Crowley
- Lord of Light, Roger Zelazny
- The Man in the High Castle, Philip K. Dick
- Mission of Gravity, Hal Clement
- More Than Human, Theodore Sturgeon
- The Rediscovery of Man, Cordwainer Smith
- On the Beach, Nevil Shute
- Rendezvous with Rama, Arthur C. Clarke
- Ringworld, Larry Niven
- Rogue Moon, Algis Budrys
- The Silmarillion, J.R.R. Tolkien
- Slaughterhouse-5, Kurt Vonnegut
- Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson
- Stand on Zanzibar, John Brunner
- The Stars My Destination, Alfred Bester
- Starship Troopers, Robert A. Heinlein
- Stormbringer, Michael Moorcock
- The Sword of Shannara, Terry Brooks
- Timescape, Gregory Benford
- To Your Scattered Bodies Go, Philip Jose Farmer
Any thoughts about additions or deletions to the list? Which one should be my next completion?
3 comments:
My (somewhat surprisingly) short list of these esteemed tomes I've actually read:
1. The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien
10. Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury
20. Dhalgren, Samuel R. Delany
22. Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card
23. The First Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, Stephen R. Donaldson
27. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
29. Interview with the Vampire, Anne Rice
39. Ringworld, Larry Niven
41. The Silmarillion, J.R.R. Tolkien
42. Slaughterhouse-5, Kurt Vonnegut
43. Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson
48. The Sword of Shannara, Terry Brooks
Hello, I am crashing this site as I read Kathy McC's other blog, hope you don't mind. I was also surprised at my surprisingly short list of these that I've read:
1. The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien
2. The Foundation Trilogy, Isaac Asimov
5. A Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula K. Le Guin
8. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Philip K. Dick
10. Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury
13. The Caves of Steel, Isaac Asimov
26. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, J.K. Rowling
27. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
33. The Man in the High Castle, Philip K. Dick
41. The Silmarillion, J.R.R. Tolkien
I would say that I don't think The Philosopher's Stone is the best Harry Potter book to date, plus there are many more books in the Foundation saga by Asimov than the trilogy.
Man, it's been a long time since I read some good SF. I better get started on the rest of the list.
33 out of 50 in my library. I've read others on the list but didn't find them to be keepers. For instance, I can understand why Anne Rice and J.K. Rowling are on the list even though I don't care for the work.
1. The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien - Curious the list has this tome but not The Hobbit
2. The Foundation Trilogy, Isaac Asimov
3. Dune, Frank Herbert - Important only due to the press received. Not that outstanding as a Sci-Fi work
4. Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert A. Heinlein - Important only due to the press received. Heinlein had many better works (Glory Road, Moon is a Harsh Mistress, Orphans of the Sky). Stranger marked the begining of the end for the real Heinlein.
5. A Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula K. Le Guin – Good, but not her best. Other works were more so (The Dispossessed)
7. Childhood's End, Arthur C. Clarke – Arguably his best work
8. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Philip K. Dick
10. Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury – Would have loved to have seen a Bradbury/Orwell coauthored work
13. The Caves of Steel, Isaac Asimov – Wonder why the Foundation series got full credit and the Robot Trilogy didn’t. I Robot was the better of the three
15. Cities in Flight, James Blish – A wonderful work of imagination
16. The Colour of Magic, Terry Pratchett – Anything by Pratchett
17. Dangerous Visions, edited by Harlan Ellison
18. Deathbird Stories, Harlan Ellison
22. Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card
23. The First Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, Stephen R. Donaldson - Not a bad read, but I sure don't understand why it would be on this list
25. Gateway, Frederik Pohl
27. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams – Too early lost to us
28. I Am Legend, Richard Matheson - Again a good read, but not Earth-shattering
30. The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K. Le Guin
32. Lord of Light, Roger Zelazny
33. The Man in the High Castle, Philip K. Dick
35. More Than Human, Theodore Sturgeon - Sturgeon is a profoundly good author. His thunder was stolen by accident of birth. He had to compete with the "Big 3"
36. The Rediscovery of Man, Cordwainer Smith
38. Rendezvous with Rama, Arthur C. Clarke – Can’t agree. Clarke is a favorite author and the book is good, but not high on my list
39. Ringworld, Larry Niven
41. The Silmarillion, J.R.R. Tolkien - The book became famous only because of a famous author. No good enough to be on a movers and shakers list
42. Slaughterhouse-5, Kurt Vonnegut – Vonnegut should have gotten more than one mention on this list. The man is genius. Dead-eye Dick is a must read.
44. Stand on Zanzibar, John Brunner - Another of those not belonging on a movers and shakers list
46. Starship Troopers, Robert A. Heinlein – Only because of the press and the movie. This was juvie Sci-Fi
47. Stormbringer, Michael Moorcock - Another not belonging on the list
50. To Your Scattered Bodies Go, Philip Jose Farmer - Farmer is another fitting in the under-rated catagory. His work is well above average.
Some classic authors and their work are overlooked. For instance, Aldous Huxley, L. Sprague De Camp, Ben Bova, Lester Del Rey, Poul Anderson, A.E. Van Vogt, Damon Knight, Anthony Burgess, Gordon Dickson, etc, etc.
Highest mention should go to John Campbell and his Analog and Amazing Stories magazines. Where would Sci-Fi be without the pulps?
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