That SF book meme
This is kind of all over my flist, although most recently on capra_maritimus LJ.
This is the Science Fiction Book Club's list of the fifty most significant science fiction/fantasy novels published between 1953 and 2002. 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.
Beacause I'm nothing if not opinionated I annotated this. Um. In a way that may annoy both Heinlein fans and MZB fans. So yeah.
Also, still sick. Whoo only not.
. The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien -- I'll admit that I read this at exactly the wrong age; too old too appreciate it for the fantasy and too young to realize that what I was reading was mythology. These days I do enjoy reading it, and yes moreso since the movies came out and I have voices for the characters, and yet it still
2. The Foundation Trilogy, Isaac Asimov -- interesting series over all but not one I love.
*3. Dune, Frank Herbert Only the first one would get a "loved" from me. Some of the followups were decent but nothing was like reading Dune for the first time. This book doesn't quite fill the space for me that LotR does for other people, but it comes close.
4. Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert A. Heinlein -- Do. Not. Get. Me. Started. Just don't.
5. A Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula K. Le Guin It never grabbed me the way a lot of her other works did.
*6. Neuromancer, William Gibson -- not my favorite of his, but I really did love this book. While it wasn't the first book in the genre and certain things about it seem kind of dated, it did define the genre for so many readers and set a pretty damn good standard for other writers to follow. Plus, I like his style of writing a lot.
7. Childhood's End, Arthur C. Clarke -- For the most part Clarke's a better short story writer than novelist and it wasn't until much later in his career that he started creating characters good enough to go with his ideas. I enjoyed this book, but I can't say I loved it the way I loved Imperial Earth or Rendezvous with Rama. If you want Clarke at his very best, get your hands on a copy of "The Star."
8. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Philip K. Dick -- Excellent and surprisingly readable given that it's PKD.
9. The Mists of Avalon, Marion Zimmer Bradley While I can't say I hated it, but man, I wasn't wild about it. In talking this over with Nancy just now, I think I narrowed it down to a couple of things. One, trying to redeem a character that's been written as evil for 700 years or so takes more subtlety than MZB brought to bear; I could almost feel the effort and man that's something you don't want to see in a book. Two, the message in the end was Pagans = all that is noble and good and right, and Christians = all that is mean and cruel and ignorant. And even as a pagan I don't buy that and find it horribly simplistic. Three--so I can't count--it's not the feminist version of the saga that so many claim it is because hello? Way to make your own heroine look good by taking and making the other main female character in the saga even more passive than most versions of her usually are. Making Lancelot gay did not make up for making Guinevere such a dreadful character. Honestly, it could be argued that King Arthur the movie was more feminist than Mists of Avalon.
10. Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury -- It totally deserves it's place on the list of Timeless Freakin' Classics but not a book I utterly loved
*11. The Book of the New Sun, Gene Wolfe -- I don't know if it's the character (cheer up emo Torturer) or the instances of stories within stories or the strange world Wolfe built or the fact that he's a very good writer, but this series is truly unique and most people love it or hate it. Wolfe's writing is strange and oddly beautiful at times.
12. A Canticle for Leibowitz, Walter M. Miller, Jr. -- I always felt like I should like this one more than I did. I enjoyed it but that's all.
13. The Caves of Steel, Isaac Asimov -- Wow, I made it to #13 before hitting something I never read. Early android/robot books don't do much for me; I think it's that I don't like the whole AIs that physically mimic humans thing.
14. Children of the Atom, Wilmar Shiras -- uh oh. This is #14 and I can't remember ever hearing of it.
15. Cities in Flight, James Blish -- I barely remember this but I do remember thinking it was fun.
16. The Colour of Magic, Terry Pratchett -- I've never ever finished a Prachett book, not even Good Omens. I know. I suck.
17. Dangerous Visions, edited by Harlan Ellison -- this is one of those Must Reads that I have never read. Naughty me.
18. Deathbird Stories, Harlan Ellison -- and now, you know? I don't really want to read anything by him.
19. The Demolished Man, Alfred Bester -- One of those classics I should have read and never have.
20. Dhalgren, Samuel R. Delany -- So many people love or loathe this book; I just got bored.
21. Dragonflight, Anne McCaffrey -- there should be a way to mark "loved at the time," because oh Gods did I ever. Now? The flaws seem to leap off the page and yell at me. Brandishing tent pegs.
*22. Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card -- I'm glad I knew nothing about Card when I read this because it really is incredibly excellent, but now I'd want to give it a miss because I loathe the author so much.
23. The First Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, Stephen R. Donaldson -- *small voice* Um, I kind of liked it. Not loved it, but it was unlike any fantasy I'd ever read at the time. Eventually I got fed up with Thomas. Cheer up emo leper.
24. The Forever War, Joe Haldeman -- I have no idea why I never read this.
25. Gateway, Frederik Pohl -- On the other hand, Pohl's writing always bored me for some reason so I know why I never read this.
*26. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, J.K. Rowling -- I like the books, I enjoy them, I like writing about the characters, but...I just don't love them. She's only a mediocre writer and her world building isn't all that good. So why the love? How else would I have met Nancy, hmmm? Also, FW would be a more boring place, so for those two reasons, I say: here's the love, JKR!
*27. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams -- OMG so freakin' brilliant. I bought my first copy of this in a W.H. Smith in Oslo in the summer of 1980. By the time that vacation was over, I think I'd read the entire thing out loud to the whole family. When we got home--Belgium--my dad mentioned at work and one of his Brit co-workers taped the records made of the radio broadcasts. Bits of HHGG became part of the family's personal language the same way Monty Python had.
28. I Am Legend, Richard Matheson
29. Interview with the Vampire, Anne Rice -- another "loved it at the time" book. Now, it just makes me want to laugh. Talk about "cheer up emo vampire!"
*30. The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K. Le Guin -- there is something about this book and I can't really pin it down, but there's an almost...quiet beauty to it. Not a single word is wasted and the pace of both the novel and the characters' journeys are perfect. And finally, the story is Just That Good. I need to read this again.
31. Little, Big, John Crowley -- I've been told over and over that I should read this, and not in a pushy way, just people saying "hey you might like it" and yet I never have.
32. Lord of Light, Roger Zelazny -- I remember enjoying this immensely and yet it hasn't really stuck with me. I think I need to read it again. Oh hey thanks SF list.
33. The Man in the High Castle, Philip K. Dick -- It might not have been the first historical "what if" AUs but it remains one of the most interesting. Can't say I love it though.
34. Mission of Gravity, Hal Clement
35. More Than Human, Theodore Sturgeon -- Sturgeon is another writer who, for some reason, I've never enjoyed all that much. Dunno why really.
36. The Rediscovery of Man, Cordwainer Smith -- never read this. I quite liked Norstrilia though.
37. On the Beach, Nevil Shute -- This was published in 1957; I don't know if this was the first "after the bomb" books or not, but it's one of those books--along with the American written Alas, Babylon, published two years later--that resonated with me when I first read it. I can't say that I loved it because there's too much about being the age I am and growing up in the shadow of the bomb like I did wrapped up in this book and in this whole genre of books for me to use the word "love."
*38. Rendezvous with Rama, Arthur C. Clarke -- I read Clarke before I read the more "adult" Heinlein books and therefore it was Clarke's rather matter-of-fact handling of bisexuality and polygamy in this very book, rather than Heinlein's "see how hip I am" version, that were my first introduction to the idea of alternate lifestyles. And for that I say, "Thank the good Goddess!" Plus this book is a totally fascinating bit of world building and is a pretty good story. The sequel on the other hand...bit. Hard.
*39. Ringworld, Larry Niven -- The asterisk here is more for Larry Niven in general, although I really did like Ringworld a lot and am hugely amused at it being right after Rendezvous with Rama on the list. Niven's writing is just plain fun and I was not surprised when I saw him at a con and he turned out to be both a really nice guy and a great storyteller.
40. Rogue Moon, Algis Budrys
41. The Silmarillion, J.R.R. Tolkien -- to be honest, and please, flist, don't hate me for this, I've never even tried.
42. Slaughterhouse-5, Kurt Vonnegut -- Yet another writer I'm supposed to like but don't.
*43. Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson -- One of the best cyberpunk books ever hands down, and I say that with confidence even though I haven't read every single book in the genre. Never mind the genre though, this is a fantastic novel.
44. Stand on Zanzibar, John Brunner
45. The Stars My Destination, Alfred Bester
46. Starship Troopers, Robert A. Heinlein -- *sighs* You know, there are Heinlein books I kind of like. In spite of it's flaws I think The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress is quite good, and some of his YA are entertaining reads. But in general? It's not even as much my politics in terms of being a Liberal and having some serious issues with aspects of Libertarianism -- although that is it in the case of this particular book--as it is my politics in terms of being a feminist. I loathe the way that Heinlein treats his women--and yes that is one of the flaws of Moon. It's beyond annoying and into downright creepy. They're all brilliant, beautiful, open-minded about sex and they are looking to marry Daddy and settle down and raise a ton of kids. It's icky. Oooops. I said "don't get me started" above, didn't I? I'll stop now.
47. Stormbringer, Michael Moorcock -- OK yeah another "cheer up emo character" type of book, but I enjoyed the scope of Moorcock's idea for the Eternal Champion.
48. The Sword of Shannara, Terry Brooks -- No really, I stopped reading this book because I hated it so much. It's totally awful and I suspect the only reason it's on this list is that it sold huge and enabled much better fantasy to be published. Aside from maybe something by John Norman, it would have been hard for worse fantasy to be published.
49. Timescape, Gregory Benford -- Another "should read" that I have yet to read.
50. To Your Scattered Bodies Go, Philip Jose Farmer -- Loved at the time. Mom and I got into the series, and we had Inter Library Loan requests all over the DoD library system in Europe trying to pull the series together. By the time we got our hands on the third or fourth one, we realized something: we were bored with it. I think what happened is that he had a good idea and no real clue as to what his ending was.
This is the Science Fiction Book Club's list of the fifty most significant science fiction/fantasy novels published between 1953 and 2002. 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.
Beacause I'm nothing if not opinionated I annotated this. Um. In a way that may annoy both Heinlein fans and MZB fans. So yeah.
Also, still sick. Whoo only not.
. The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien -- I'll admit that I read this at exactly the wrong age; too old too appreciate it for the fantasy and too young to realize that what I was reading was mythology. These days I do enjoy reading it, and yes moreso since the movies came out and I have voices for the characters, and yet it still
2. The Foundation Trilogy, Isaac Asimov -- interesting series over all but not one I love.
*3. Dune, Frank Herbert Only the first one would get a "loved" from me. Some of the followups were decent but nothing was like reading Dune for the first time. This book doesn't quite fill the space for me that LotR does for other people, but it comes close.
4. Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert A. Heinlein -- Do. Not. Get. Me. Started. Just don't.
5. A Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula K. Le Guin It never grabbed me the way a lot of her other works did.
*6. Neuromancer, William Gibson -- not my favorite of his, but I really did love this book. While it wasn't the first book in the genre and certain things about it seem kind of dated, it did define the genre for so many readers and set a pretty damn good standard for other writers to follow. Plus, I like his style of writing a lot.
7. Childhood's End, Arthur C. Clarke -- For the most part Clarke's a better short story writer than novelist and it wasn't until much later in his career that he started creating characters good enough to go with his ideas. I enjoyed this book, but I can't say I loved it the way I loved Imperial Earth or Rendezvous with Rama. If you want Clarke at his very best, get your hands on a copy of "The Star."
8. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Philip K. Dick -- Excellent and surprisingly readable given that it's PKD.
9. The Mists of Avalon, Marion Zimmer Bradley While I can't say I hated it, but man, I wasn't wild about it. In talking this over with Nancy just now, I think I narrowed it down to a couple of things. One, trying to redeem a character that's been written as evil for 700 years or so takes more subtlety than MZB brought to bear; I could almost feel the effort and man that's something you don't want to see in a book. Two, the message in the end was Pagans = all that is noble and good and right, and Christians = all that is mean and cruel and ignorant. And even as a pagan I don't buy that and find it horribly simplistic. Three--so I can't count--it's not the feminist version of the saga that so many claim it is because hello? Way to make your own heroine look good by taking and making the other main female character in the saga even more passive than most versions of her usually are. Making Lancelot gay did not make up for making Guinevere such a dreadful character. Honestly, it could be argued that King Arthur the movie was more feminist than Mists of Avalon.
10. Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury -- It totally deserves it's place on the list of Timeless Freakin' Classics but not a book I utterly loved
*11. The Book of the New Sun, Gene Wolfe -- I don't know if it's the character (cheer up emo Torturer) or the instances of stories within stories or the strange world Wolfe built or the fact that he's a very good writer, but this series is truly unique and most people love it or hate it. Wolfe's writing is strange and oddly beautiful at times.
12. A Canticle for Leibowitz, Walter M. Miller, Jr. -- I always felt like I should like this one more than I did. I enjoyed it but that's all.
13. The Caves of Steel, Isaac Asimov -- Wow, I made it to #13 before hitting something I never read. Early android/robot books don't do much for me; I think it's that I don't like the whole AIs that physically mimic humans thing.
14. Children of the Atom, Wilmar Shiras -- uh oh. This is #14 and I can't remember ever hearing of it.
15. Cities in Flight, James Blish -- I barely remember this but I do remember thinking it was fun.
16. The Colour of Magic, Terry Pratchett -- I've never ever finished a Prachett book, not even Good Omens. I know. I suck.
17. Dangerous Visions, edited by Harlan Ellison -- this is one of those Must Reads that I have never read. Naughty me.
18. Deathbird Stories, Harlan Ellison -- and now, you know? I don't really want to read anything by him.
19. The Demolished Man, Alfred Bester -- One of those classics I should have read and never have.
20. Dhalgren, Samuel R. Delany -- So many people love or loathe this book; I just got bored.
21. Dragonflight, Anne McCaffrey -- there should be a way to mark "loved at the time," because oh Gods did I ever. Now? The flaws seem to leap off the page and yell at me. Brandishing tent pegs.
*22. Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card -- I'm glad I knew nothing about Card when I read this because it really is incredibly excellent, but now I'd want to give it a miss because I loathe the author so much.
23. The First Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, Stephen R. Donaldson -- *small voice* Um, I kind of liked it. Not loved it, but it was unlike any fantasy I'd ever read at the time. Eventually I got fed up with Thomas. Cheer up emo leper.
24. The Forever War, Joe Haldeman -- I have no idea why I never read this.
25. Gateway, Frederik Pohl -- On the other hand, Pohl's writing always bored me for some reason so I know why I never read this.
*26. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, J.K. Rowling -- I like the books, I enjoy them, I like writing about the characters, but...I just don't love them. She's only a mediocre writer and her world building isn't all that good. So why the love? How else would I have met Nancy, hmmm? Also, FW would be a more boring place, so for those two reasons, I say: here's the love, JKR!
*27. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams -- OMG so freakin' brilliant. I bought my first copy of this in a W.H. Smith in Oslo in the summer of 1980. By the time that vacation was over, I think I'd read the entire thing out loud to the whole family. When we got home--Belgium--my dad mentioned at work and one of his Brit co-workers taped the records made of the radio broadcasts. Bits of HHGG became part of the family's personal language the same way Monty Python had.
28. I Am Legend, Richard Matheson
29. Interview with the Vampire, Anne Rice -- another "loved it at the time" book. Now, it just makes me want to laugh. Talk about "cheer up emo vampire!"
*30. The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K. Le Guin -- there is something about this book and I can't really pin it down, but there's an almost...quiet beauty to it. Not a single word is wasted and the pace of both the novel and the characters' journeys are perfect. And finally, the story is Just That Good. I need to read this again.
31. Little, Big, John Crowley -- I've been told over and over that I should read this, and not in a pushy way, just people saying "hey you might like it" and yet I never have.
32. Lord of Light, Roger Zelazny -- I remember enjoying this immensely and yet it hasn't really stuck with me. I think I need to read it again. Oh hey thanks SF list.
33. The Man in the High Castle, Philip K. Dick -- It might not have been the first historical "what if" AUs but it remains one of the most interesting. Can't say I love it though.
34. Mission of Gravity, Hal Clement
35. More Than Human, Theodore Sturgeon -- Sturgeon is another writer who, for some reason, I've never enjoyed all that much. Dunno why really.
36. The Rediscovery of Man, Cordwainer Smith -- never read this. I quite liked Norstrilia though.
37. On the Beach, Nevil Shute -- This was published in 1957; I don't know if this was the first "after the bomb" books or not, but it's one of those books--along with the American written Alas, Babylon, published two years later--that resonated with me when I first read it. I can't say that I loved it because there's too much about being the age I am and growing up in the shadow of the bomb like I did wrapped up in this book and in this whole genre of books for me to use the word "love."
*38. Rendezvous with Rama, Arthur C. Clarke -- I read Clarke before I read the more "adult" Heinlein books and therefore it was Clarke's rather matter-of-fact handling of bisexuality and polygamy in this very book, rather than Heinlein's "see how hip I am" version, that were my first introduction to the idea of alternate lifestyles. And for that I say, "Thank the good Goddess!" Plus this book is a totally fascinating bit of world building and is a pretty good story. The sequel on the other hand...bit. Hard.
*39. Ringworld, Larry Niven -- The asterisk here is more for Larry Niven in general, although I really did like Ringworld a lot and am hugely amused at it being right after Rendezvous with Rama on the list. Niven's writing is just plain fun and I was not surprised when I saw him at a con and he turned out to be both a really nice guy and a great storyteller.
40. Rogue Moon, Algis Budrys
41. The Silmarillion, J.R.R. Tolkien -- to be honest, and please, flist, don't hate me for this, I've never even tried.
42. Slaughterhouse-5, Kurt Vonnegut -- Yet another writer I'm supposed to like but don't.
*43. Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson -- One of the best cyberpunk books ever hands down, and I say that with confidence even though I haven't read every single book in the genre. Never mind the genre though, this is a fantastic novel.
44. Stand on Zanzibar, John Brunner
45. The Stars My Destination, Alfred Bester
46. Starship Troopers, Robert A. Heinlein -- *sighs* You know, there are Heinlein books I kind of like. In spite of it's flaws I think The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress is quite good, and some of his YA are entertaining reads. But in general? It's not even as much my politics in terms of being a Liberal and having some serious issues with aspects of Libertarianism -- although that is it in the case of this particular book--as it is my politics in terms of being a feminist. I loathe the way that Heinlein treats his women--and yes that is one of the flaws of Moon. It's beyond annoying and into downright creepy. They're all brilliant, beautiful, open-minded about sex and they are looking to marry Daddy and settle down and raise a ton of kids. It's icky. Oooops. I said "don't get me started" above, didn't I? I'll stop now.
47. Stormbringer, Michael Moorcock -- OK yeah another "cheer up emo character" type of book, but I enjoyed the scope of Moorcock's idea for the Eternal Champion.
48. The Sword of Shannara, Terry Brooks -- No really, I stopped reading this book because I hated it so much. It's totally awful and I suspect the only reason it's on this list is that it sold huge and enabled much better fantasy to be published. Aside from maybe something by John Norman, it would have been hard for worse fantasy to be published.
49. Timescape, Gregory Benford -- Another "should read" that I have yet to read.
50. To Your Scattered Bodies Go, Philip Jose Farmer -- Loved at the time. Mom and I got into the series, and we had Inter Library Loan requests all over the DoD library system in Europe trying to pull the series together. By the time we got our hands on the third or fourth one, we realized something: we were bored with it. I think what happened is that he had a good idea and no real clue as to what his ending was.