Lists
Crazy link of the day: the mimic octopus. I'm a little scared of anything that smart that isn't human.
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The NPR Sci-Fi/Fantasy list. Less because it's a good list (it isn't) and more for lack of much better to do.
Bold if you've read, italicize ones you fully intend to read, underline if it's a book/series you've read part but not all of, strikethrough if you never plan to read.
1. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, by J.R.R. Tolkien
2. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams
3. Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card
This strikes me as something you need to come to as a child. Also, I know how it ends, which probably wrecks a good portion of it.
4. The Dune Chronicles, by Frank Herbert
Read the first one for my Biology of Science Fiction class in undergrad. It was good, but I didn't feel the need to read the rest.
5. A Song of Ice and Fire Series, by George R. R. Martin
I managed all of the first book and liked it (maybe it was some amount of liking mixed with a greater amount of admiration for the risks Martin took with the narrative), but never finished any of the others.
6. 1984, by George Orwell
7. Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury
8. The Foundation Trilogy, by Isaac Asimov
9. Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
10. American Gods, by Neil Gaiman
11. The Princess Bride, by William Goldman
No one is surprised, given my reaction to the movie.
12. The Wheel Of Time Series, by Robert Jordan
I don't really care for fantasy doorstoppers at the best of times, and this series could stop the biggest door in the world.
13. Animal Farm, by George Orwell
14. Neuromancer, by William Gibson
I tried. I failed.
15. Watchmen, by Alan Moore
For the class I TA'ed for my first year in grad school. It was decent, but not enough to make me want to read more graphic novels.
16. I, Robot, by Isaac Asimov
I read "The Evitable Conflict" and maybe one or two other of the stories that make up this collection when I was hunting for material for my sci-fi class. The movie was far better. Asimov had great ideas, but a prose stylist he was not.
17. Stranger In A Strange Land, by Robert Heinlein
I've read more than enough Heinlein. No need to read this one.
18. The Kingkiller Chronicles, by Patrick Rothfuss
Why is this on here? There's been one book released! And the book wasn't even that good!
19. Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut
So much yes.
20. Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley
Probably the most readable novel to come out of the Romantic period. It's pretty badass.
22. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, by Philip K. Dick
23. The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood
I read this when I was seventeen, which is probably the perfect time to read it. Love.
24. The Dark Tower Series, by Stephen King
I've actually been on a King kick lately, having missed him in my youth. I like some of his horror well enough ('Salem's Lot was good, as was Bag of Bones), but actually prefer his non-genre stuff. "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption" is superb. Dark Tower, on the other hand...
25. 2001: A Space Odyssey, by Arthur C. Clarke
Read it in eighth grade. HUGE MISTAKE.
26. The Stand, by Stephen King
27. Snow Crash, by Neal Stephenson
28. The Martian Chronicles, by Ray Bradbury
♥ ♥ ♥
29. Cat's Cradle, by Kurt Vonnegut
30. The Sandman Series, by Neil Gaiman
31. A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess
32. Starship Troopers, by Robert Heinlein
33. Dragonflight, by Anne McCaffrey
34. The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, by Robert Heinlein
35. A Canticle for Leibowitz, by Walter M. Miller
I'm usually not much for post-apocalyptic fiction, but this was excellent. Of course, it also doesn't fit neatly into the post-apocalyptic genre, taking place well after the apocalypse in question, which helps.
36. The Time Machine, by H.G. Wells
One of the first sci-fi books I ever read! I was ten. The image of the tentacled, football-shaped thing that is the last fragment of life on Earth once the sun's expanded and the planet's rotation ceased haunts me to this day.
37. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, by Jules Verne
I actually owned a copy of this when I was at Exeter, but I don't know what happened to it. One day.
38. Flowers for Algernon, by Daniel Keyes
39. The War of the Worlds, by H.G. Wells
Not nearly as good as The Time Machine, but then again I was ten years older.
40. The Chronicles of Amber, by Roger Zelazny
I read the first one, and utterly failed to see what all the fuss was about.
41. The Belgariad, by David Eddings
42. The Mists of Avalon, by Marion Zimmer Bradley
43. The Mistborn Series, by Brandon Sanderson
I gave the first book my best shot. It was not to be.
44. Ringworld, by Larry Niven
45. The Left Hand of Darkness, by Ursula K. LeGuin
I have a copy. It's on my bookshelf. One day, I will read it.
46. The Silmarillion, by J.R.R. Tolkien
The WHOLE THING.
47. The Once and Future King, by T.H. White
I owned a copy of the whole thing, but I dipped into it at random.
48. Neverwhere, by Neil Gaiman
49. Childhood's End, by Arthur C. Clarke
I think after 2001, I'm pretty well done with Clarke, but maybe one day I'll read something else by him.
50. Contact, by Carl Sagan
THIS MADE ME WANT TO BE A RADIO ASTRONOMER. Well, more accurately the movie did, but I read the book right after I saw the movie, so it counts. Too bad I sucked at math.
51. The Hyperion Cantos, by Dan Simmons
I've heard really good things. The first one is high on my to-read list.
52. Stardust, by Neil Gaiman
By far my favorite of Gaiman's books. In general, I'm not a big fan of him, but this is one of my favorites.
53. Cryptonomicon, by Neal Stephenson
54. World War Z, by Max Brooks
55. The Last Unicorn, by Peter S. Beagle
56. The Forever War, by Joe Haldeman
So, so good. Definitely the best choice I made for use in my sci-fi class.
57. Small Gods, by Terry Pratchett
I like Pratchett when he's writing about DEATH. Beyond that, eh.
58. The Chronicles Of Thomas Covenant, The Unbeliever, by Stephen R. Donaldson
I've heard this is good. And apparently it's LOTR if Frodo were a cranky old man, which sounds promising...
59. The Vorkosigan Saga, by Lois McMaster Bujold
I think we all know how much I love me some Vorkosigans. (And Vorpatrils, and Vorbarras, and Ilyans...)
60. Going Postal, by Terry Pratchett
61. The Mote in God's Eye, by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle
62. The Sword of Truth, by Terry Goodkind
I always mix him up with Terry Brooks. One of them is supposed to be absolutely dreadful and the other mediocre trending toward bad, but I can't remember which is which.
63. The Road, by Cormac McCarthy
64. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, by Susanna Clarke
♥
65. I Am Legend, by Richard Matheson
66. The Riftwar Saga, by Raymond E. Feist
67. The Shannara Trilogy, by Terry Brooks
68. The Conan the Barbarian Series, by R.E. Howard
69. The Farseer Trilogy, by Robin Hobb
70. The Time Traveler's Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger
Way too much schmoopy romance in my sci-fi.
71. The Way of Kings, by Brandon Sanderson
72. A Journey to the Center of the Earth, by Jules Verne
One of my favorites as a tween.
73. The Legend of Drizzt Series, by R.A. Salvatore
74. Old Man's War, by John Scalzi
I've heard nothing but good.
75. The Diamond Age, by Neil Stephenson
It's steampunk, and should have appealed, but uuuugh. Too many orgies in between cool uses of nanotech. It ensured I won't read anything by Stephenson again.
76. Rendezvous With Rama, by Arthur C. Clarke
77. The Kushiel's Legacy Series, by Jacqueline Carey
78. The Dispossessed, by Ursula K. LeGuin
79. Something Wicked This Way Comes, by Ray Bradbury
I was a little disappointed at the ending (hug the monster to death!), but up until that point this was great.
80. Wicked, by Gregory Maguire
Mostly I like this because it provided such a great springboard for Elphaba/Galinda femslash.
81. The Malazan Book of the Fallen Series, by Steven Erikson
I've heard enough good about this to want to give it a try, although it is another giant fantasy series.
82. The Eyre Affair, by Jasper Fforde
Christ, this was wretched.
83. The Culture Series, by Iain M. Banks
It sounds awesome. I just haven't made time yet.
84. The Crystal Cave, by Mary Stewart
85. Anathem, by Neal Stephenson
Even people who like Neal Stephenson don't like this one, I hear.
86. The Codex Alera Series, by Jim Butcher
87. The Book of the New Sun, by Gene Wolfe
88. The Thrawn Trilogy, by Timothy Zahn
89. The Outlander Series, by Diana Gabaldon
90. The Elric Saga, by Michael Moorcock
91. The Illustrated Man, by Ray Bradbury
92. Sunshine, by Robin McKinley
93. A Fire Upon the Deep, by Vernor Vinge
Of all the ones on this list I want to get to, this is the one I want to get to the most.
94. The Caves of Steel, by Isaac Asimov
95. The Mars Trilogy, by Kim Stanley Robinson
We read Red Mars in the Bio of Sci-Fi class. It was a little too technical for me; needed more interesting characters.
96. Lucifer's Hammer, by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle
97. Doomsday Book, by Connie Willis
Still my second-favorite of hers, after Passage.
98. Perdido Street Station, by China Mieville
I liked it in spite of Mieville's pretentiousness.
99. The Xanth Series, by Piers Anthony
BWAHAHAHA. Yeah, no.
100. The Space Trilogy, by C.S. Lewis
30 completed, 13 partials (36.5 total?).
This entry was originally posted at http://icepixie.dreamwidth.org/800417.html. It has
comments over there.
*
The NPR Sci-Fi/Fantasy list. Less because it's a good list (it isn't) and more for lack of much better to do.
Bold if you've read, italicize ones you fully intend to read, underline if it's a book/series you've read part but not all of, strikethrough if you never plan to read.
1. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, by J.R.R. Tolkien
2. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams
3. Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card
This strikes me as something you need to come to as a child. Also, I know how it ends, which probably wrecks a good portion of it.
4. The Dune Chronicles, by Frank Herbert
Read the first one for my Biology of Science Fiction class in undergrad. It was good, but I didn't feel the need to read the rest.
5. A Song of Ice and Fire Series, by George R. R. Martin
I managed all of the first book and liked it (maybe it was some amount of liking mixed with a greater amount of admiration for the risks Martin took with the narrative), but never finished any of the others.
6. 1984, by George Orwell
7. Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury
8. The Foundation Trilogy, by Isaac Asimov
9. Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
10. American Gods, by Neil Gaiman
11. The Princess Bride, by William Goldman
No one is surprised, given my reaction to the movie.
12. The Wheel Of Time Series, by Robert Jordan
I don't really care for fantasy doorstoppers at the best of times, and this series could stop the biggest door in the world.
13. Animal Farm, by George Orwell
14. Neuromancer, by William Gibson
I tried. I failed.
15. Watchmen, by Alan Moore
For the class I TA'ed for my first year in grad school. It was decent, but not enough to make me want to read more graphic novels.
16. I, Robot, by Isaac Asimov
I read "The Evitable Conflict" and maybe one or two other of the stories that make up this collection when I was hunting for material for my sci-fi class. The movie was far better. Asimov had great ideas, but a prose stylist he was not.
17. Stranger In A Strange Land, by Robert Heinlein
I've read more than enough Heinlein. No need to read this one.
18. The Kingkiller Chronicles, by Patrick Rothfuss
Why is this on here? There's been one book released! And the book wasn't even that good!
19. Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut
So much yes.
20. Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley
Probably the most readable novel to come out of the Romantic period. It's pretty badass.
22. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, by Philip K. Dick
23. The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood
I read this when I was seventeen, which is probably the perfect time to read it. Love.
24. The Dark Tower Series, by Stephen King
I've actually been on a King kick lately, having missed him in my youth. I like some of his horror well enough ('Salem's Lot was good, as was Bag of Bones), but actually prefer his non-genre stuff. "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption" is superb. Dark Tower, on the other hand...
25. 2001: A Space Odyssey, by Arthur C. Clarke
Read it in eighth grade. HUGE MISTAKE.
26. The Stand, by Stephen King
27. Snow Crash, by Neal Stephenson
28. The Martian Chronicles, by Ray Bradbury
♥ ♥ ♥
29. Cat's Cradle, by Kurt Vonnegut
30. The Sandman Series, by Neil Gaiman
31. A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess
32. Starship Troopers, by Robert Heinlein
33. Dragonflight, by Anne McCaffrey
34. The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, by Robert Heinlein
35. A Canticle for Leibowitz, by Walter M. Miller
I'm usually not much for post-apocalyptic fiction, but this was excellent. Of course, it also doesn't fit neatly into the post-apocalyptic genre, taking place well after the apocalypse in question, which helps.
36. The Time Machine, by H.G. Wells
One of the first sci-fi books I ever read! I was ten. The image of the tentacled, football-shaped thing that is the last fragment of life on Earth once the sun's expanded and the planet's rotation ceased haunts me to this day.
37. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, by Jules Verne
I actually owned a copy of this when I was at Exeter, but I don't know what happened to it. One day.
38. Flowers for Algernon, by Daniel Keyes
39. The War of the Worlds, by H.G. Wells
Not nearly as good as The Time Machine, but then again I was ten years older.
40. The Chronicles of Amber, by Roger Zelazny
I read the first one, and utterly failed to see what all the fuss was about.
41. The Belgariad, by David Eddings
42. The Mists of Avalon, by Marion Zimmer Bradley
43. The Mistborn Series, by Brandon Sanderson
I gave the first book my best shot. It was not to be.
44. Ringworld, by Larry Niven
45. The Left Hand of Darkness, by Ursula K. LeGuin
I have a copy. It's on my bookshelf. One day, I will read it.
46. The Silmarillion, by J.R.R. Tolkien
The WHOLE THING.
47. The Once and Future King, by T.H. White
I owned a copy of the whole thing, but I dipped into it at random.
48. Neverwhere, by Neil Gaiman
49. Childhood's End, by Arthur C. Clarke
I think after 2001, I'm pretty well done with Clarke, but maybe one day I'll read something else by him.
50. Contact, by Carl Sagan
THIS MADE ME WANT TO BE A RADIO ASTRONOMER. Well, more accurately the movie did, but I read the book right after I saw the movie, so it counts. Too bad I sucked at math.
51. The Hyperion Cantos, by Dan Simmons
I've heard really good things. The first one is high on my to-read list.
52. Stardust, by Neil Gaiman
By far my favorite of Gaiman's books. In general, I'm not a big fan of him, but this is one of my favorites.
53. Cryptonomicon, by Neal Stephenson
54. World War Z, by Max Brooks
55. The Last Unicorn, by Peter S. Beagle
56. The Forever War, by Joe Haldeman
So, so good. Definitely the best choice I made for use in my sci-fi class.
57. Small Gods, by Terry Pratchett
I like Pratchett when he's writing about DEATH. Beyond that, eh.
58. The Chronicles Of Thomas Covenant, The Unbeliever, by Stephen R. Donaldson
I've heard this is good. And apparently it's LOTR if Frodo were a cranky old man, which sounds promising...
59. The Vorkosigan Saga, by Lois McMaster Bujold
I think we all know how much I love me some Vorkosigans. (And Vorpatrils, and Vorbarras, and Ilyans...)
60. Going Postal, by Terry Pratchett
61. The Mote in God's Eye, by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle
62. The Sword of Truth, by Terry Goodkind
I always mix him up with Terry Brooks. One of them is supposed to be absolutely dreadful and the other mediocre trending toward bad, but I can't remember which is which.
63. The Road, by Cormac McCarthy
64. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, by Susanna Clarke
♥
65. I Am Legend, by Richard Matheson
66. The Riftwar Saga, by Raymond E. Feist
67. The Shannara Trilogy, by Terry Brooks
68. The Conan the Barbarian Series, by R.E. Howard
69. The Farseer Trilogy, by Robin Hobb
70. The Time Traveler's Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger
Way too much schmoopy romance in my sci-fi.
71. The Way of Kings, by Brandon Sanderson
72. A Journey to the Center of the Earth, by Jules Verne
One of my favorites as a tween.
73. The Legend of Drizzt Series, by R.A. Salvatore
74. Old Man's War, by John Scalzi
I've heard nothing but good.
75. The Diamond Age, by Neil Stephenson
It's steampunk, and should have appealed, but uuuugh. Too many orgies in between cool uses of nanotech. It ensured I won't read anything by Stephenson again.
76. Rendezvous With Rama, by Arthur C. Clarke
77. The Kushiel's Legacy Series, by Jacqueline Carey
78. The Dispossessed, by Ursula K. LeGuin
79. Something Wicked This Way Comes, by Ray Bradbury
I was a little disappointed at the ending (hug the monster to death!), but up until that point this was great.
80. Wicked, by Gregory Maguire
Mostly I like this because it provided such a great springboard for Elphaba/Galinda femslash.
81. The Malazan Book of the Fallen Series, by Steven Erikson
I've heard enough good about this to want to give it a try, although it is another giant fantasy series.
82. The Eyre Affair, by Jasper Fforde
Christ, this was wretched.
83. The Culture Series, by Iain M. Banks
It sounds awesome. I just haven't made time yet.
84. The Crystal Cave, by Mary Stewart
85. Anathem, by Neal Stephenson
Even people who like Neal Stephenson don't like this one, I hear.
86. The Codex Alera Series, by Jim Butcher
87. The Book of the New Sun, by Gene Wolfe
88. The Thrawn Trilogy, by Timothy Zahn
89. The Outlander Series, by Diana Gabaldon
90. The Elric Saga, by Michael Moorcock
91. The Illustrated Man, by Ray Bradbury
92. Sunshine, by Robin McKinley
93. A Fire Upon the Deep, by Vernor Vinge
Of all the ones on this list I want to get to, this is the one I want to get to the most.
94. The Caves of Steel, by Isaac Asimov
95. The Mars Trilogy, by Kim Stanley Robinson
We read Red Mars in the Bio of Sci-Fi class. It was a little too technical for me; needed more interesting characters.
96. Lucifer's Hammer, by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle
97. Doomsday Book, by Connie Willis
Still my second-favorite of hers, after Passage.
98. Perdido Street Station, by China Mieville
I liked it in spite of Mieville's pretentiousness.
99. The Xanth Series, by Piers Anthony
BWAHAHAHA. Yeah, no.
100. The Space Trilogy, by C.S. Lewis
30 completed, 13 partials (36.5 total?).
This entry was originally posted at http://icepixie.dreamwidth.org/800417.html. It has
comments over there.