THE SPICE MUST FLOW
Thanks to tricstmr for posting this! I posted some comments and thoughts below on books that didn't make the cut but should have damn-it!!!!
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****-->I read the entire trilogy out loud to my boyfriend while he sculpted...great memories ;) Loved these books and still do!
2. The Foundation Trilogy, Isaac Asimov
3. Dune, Frank Herbert****--->serious FAVORITE sci-fi book of all time!!!! ****
I would definitely agree with this book being significant. Not only is it a wonderful sci-fi story but it speaks to political, environmental, etc issues as well. A book before it's time!
fyi: The first 3 books are awesome...then the books get weaker. I even liked the prequels(by his son) the Butlerian Jihad/Machine Crusades/Battle of Corin.
*sigh* My goal in life is to learn the 'Weirding Way'....
4. Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert A. Heinlein-->fucking hated this book. Read it when in H.S. And didn't like it...then read it again as an adult thinking maybe I'd 'get it'...but I didn't.
5. A Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula K. Leguin-->considered reading but have yet to; haven't read anything by her
6. Neuromancer, William Gibson
7. Childhood's End, Arthur C. Clarke--->surprised it wasn't 2001: A space odyssey
8. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Philip K. Dick****
9. The Mists of Avalon, Marion Zimmer Bradley****-->ummm, not exactly sci-fi. This is a females' perspective on the Arthurian story. Definitely in my top 5 favorite books of all time(!!) but not sci-fi (I suppose maybe fantasy...).
10.Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury
I put the rest under a cut for your pleasure ;)
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--->read many of these as a youth
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--->havent' been able to bring myself to read these yet
27. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams****Hilarious! I would put this higher on the list
28. I Am Legend, Richard Matheson
29. Interview with the Vampire, Anne Rice****-->WTF? Loved the bood...was obsessed w/all things vampire in H.S. But would not consider this sci-fi.
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-->I would have picked A Scanner Darkly!
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-->bleh, a Hobbit bible
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
For a sci-fi chick, I didn't do so well on this list (mostly the second half...hadn't even heard of many of them!). However, I don't exactly agree with this list either :P
Thoughts:
One HUGE disappointment was nothing by Dan Simmons. HYPERION is phenomenal!!!!
Or how about Mary Doria Russell's the SPARROW?!
..and for fantasy, why not Neil Gaiman's AMERICAN GODS?!
Serious disappointment those (especially Hyperion!!!) not being on the list!!!! mother-frakers...
They are also missing some 'classics' like 1984(!) and Brave New World(!) or the Handmaids Tale (!). WTF?! Published pre-1953 except for the Handmaid's tale. Hmmm, also thinking, A Clockwork ORange by Anthony Burgess
And for kids what about the NARNIA series (they have Harry Potter:P)!!! WTF squared?!published pre-1953
At least my beloved DUNE was on the list....
(edit) Damn, I'm going to keep adding to this as I remember...
Another book that I feel is significant is CONTACT by Carl Sagan.
That's def a sci-fi book!
P.S. Please add any of your rec'ds of sci-fi books you think I might enjoy! &/or books you think should have made the cut!
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****-->I read the entire trilogy out loud to my boyfriend while he sculpted...great memories ;) Loved these books and still do!
2. The Foundation Trilogy, Isaac Asimov
3. Dune, Frank Herbert****--->serious FAVORITE sci-fi book of all time!!!! ****
I would definitely agree with this book being significant. Not only is it a wonderful sci-fi story but it speaks to political, environmental, etc issues as well. A book before it's time!
fyi: The first 3 books are awesome...then the books get weaker. I even liked the prequels(by his son) the Butlerian Jihad/Machine Crusades/Battle of Corin.
*sigh* My goal in life is to learn the 'Weirding Way'....
4. Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert A. Heinlein-->fucking hated this book. Read it when in H.S. And didn't like it...then read it again as an adult thinking maybe I'd 'get it'...but I didn't.
5. A Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula K. Leguin-->considered reading but have yet to; haven't read anything by her
6. Neuromancer, William Gibson
7. Childhood's End, Arthur C. Clarke--->surprised it wasn't 2001: A space odyssey
8. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Philip K. Dick****
9. The Mists of Avalon, Marion Zimmer Bradley****-->ummm, not exactly sci-fi. This is a females' perspective on the Arthurian story. Definitely in my top 5 favorite books of all time(!!) but not sci-fi (I suppose maybe fantasy...).
10.Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury
I put the rest under a cut for your pleasure ;)
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--->read many of these as a youth
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--->havent' been able to bring myself to read these yet
27. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams****Hilarious! I would put this higher on the list
28. I Am Legend, Richard Matheson
29. Interview with the Vampire, Anne Rice****-->WTF? Loved the bood...was obsessed w/all things vampire in H.S. But would not consider this sci-fi.
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-->I would have picked A Scanner Darkly!
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-->bleh, a Hobbit bible
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
For a sci-fi chick, I didn't do so well on this list (mostly the second half...hadn't even heard of many of them!). However, I don't exactly agree with this list either :P
Thoughts:
One HUGE disappointment was nothing by Dan Simmons. HYPERION is phenomenal!!!!
Or how about Mary Doria Russell's the SPARROW?!
..and for fantasy, why not Neil Gaiman's AMERICAN GODS?!
Serious disappointment those (especially Hyperion!!!) not being on the list!!!! mother-frakers...
They are also missing some 'classics' like 1984(!) and Brave New World(!) or the Handmaids Tale (!). WTF?! Published pre-1953 except for the Handmaid's tale. Hmmm, also thinking, A Clockwork ORange by Anthony Burgess
And for kids what about the NARNIA series (they have Harry Potter:P)!!! WTF squared?!published pre-1953
At least my beloved DUNE was on the list....
(edit) Damn, I'm going to keep adding to this as I remember...
Another book that I feel is significant is CONTACT by Carl Sagan.
That's def a sci-fi book!
P.S. Please add any of your rec'ds of sci-fi books you think I might enjoy! &/or books you think should have made the cut!