I think this shows I'm horribly pedestrian in my Sci-Fi tastes

[likethebeer]

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.

Edit: Why 1953 as a start date? We've been wondering that, and I may have come across an answer (i.e., "typed it into wikipedia"):

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

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. [well, sort of: they played this on Old Time Radio Drama. It was really ridiculous to listen to. I didn't like it. Nothing would happen and nothing would happen and nothing would happen, and then I missed an episode, and the next thing I knew they'd discovered atomic energy. ALthough I did listen to almost all of the episodes, despite the fact that I would sit there going, "That's it? What the hell!"]
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

Comments

horribly pedestrian

[regatomic.livejournal.com]

hehe to each his own,..
i've read all these and twenty times more,..:)

Re: horribly pedestrian

[likethebeer.livejournal.com]

And I'm supposed to be a person who likes books. What the hell is wrong with me?

wrong with me?

[regatomic.livejournal.com]

nothing babe,..
i just devour books as they come across my path,..most people can't do that, life gets in the way,..;)

Re: wrong with me?

[likethebeer.livejournal.com]

Sometimes I devour, but sometimes I'm oddly dreamy about things. Well, and the internet gets in the way a lot of the time (but it's not like I've had the internet for 20 yaers!).

[coconuthead.livejournal.com]

I've only read three or four of them.
1, 26, 27, and . . .well, I guess that's it.

[likethebeer.livejournal.com]

I'm surprised by all the white space on my list. Although, i have read sci-fi, just not things on this list. I haven't read any sci-fi or fantasy lately, I don't think.

[ghostwes.livejournal.com]

Heh, I'm even beating the guy on my list whose novel was up for a Hugo. This is awesome!

[likethebeer.livejournal.com]

You're beyond us all.

[sirreal13.livejournal.com]

I can't believe they didn't list Robert Silverberg ("Tom O'Bedlam", "To Live Again")...

They should have included some pre-1953 writers, like Verne or H.G. Wells.

But Harry Potter??? That's fantasy. I though sci fi had to be plausible.

[sirreal13.livejournal.com]

I've read Ursula LeGuin, but not the ones listed (except for starting the Earthsea series)

[likethebeer.livejournal.com]

I feel like I've read Ursula LeGuin, but I can't remember for the life of me what it was. Maybe a short story.

[sirreal13.livejournal.com]

I read "The Lathe of Heaven" about a guy named George Orr ("Jor Jor"?) who dreams things and then they happen because his dreams create a new reality... Imagine a world where pulling an all-nighter could save the world; where Voluntary Insomnia could avert disaster... It's been a long time, but it's a good read.

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

There's a lot of fantasy on the list. I'm wondering about Interview with the Vampire

[likethebeer.livejournal.com]

True. Still, I bowed to the urge to state what I've read (or mostly not read).

[semerkhet.livejournal.com]

The list specifically says that it includes sci-fi and fantasy. I'm a little bit dubious of the combined list as well, but I'd hardly say that plausibility is a requirement for science fiction. Depends on your definition of plausible. By my definition, most of the sci-fi out there isn't "plausible" but that doesn't stop some of it from being excellent fiction.

As for Canticle for Leibowitz, I must recommend that you try again with the actual book. I'm having a hard time imagining the story translating very well into a radio show. It's a good book, though extremely pessimistic.

I'd also recommend LeGuin's Left Hand of Darkness. Very interesting to see what elements of style remain the same from fantasy Earthsea to her science fiction.

I also highly recommend Gene Wolf's Book of the New Sun series. His writing style is a bit enigmatic, but then again I kind of like Thomas Pynchon, so there you are.

[likethebeer.livejournal.com]

mda and I, during the weeks that Canticle for Leibowitz was on the radio, kept thinking that they turned a 3-page story into a 14-hour radiothon.

*snag*

[lynedd.livejournal.com]

Oooh, I am so doing this one!

Eee, books!

Re: *snag*

[likethebeer.livejournal.com]

ghostwes has been beating everyone so far--you should check out his listing.

Re: *snag*

[lynedd.livejournal.com]

For someone who actually dislikes S/F, I think I did pretty good :P

Re: *snag*

[likethebeer.livejournal.com]

yeah, you're totally beating me. I should edit my post, because I read 3 books from the Shannara series and really didn't like it. So a strike-out should be there. Maybe I didn't want to offend?

On the other hand, I read Eragon, and while it wasn't "blow me away" fantastic, I still appreciated it, and really had a pretty good time with it. wtf.