![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Finally prompted to this by ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
doc_mystery and a long incubation period.
"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 *
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.
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
As many others have mentioned, this is a bloody funny list, but then it's no more peculiar than most such lists. I really should do something tonhw's Hugo and Nebula reading lists, but I don't see myself having his willpower to complete the project.
doc_mystery and a long incubation period."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 *
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.
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.
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.
49. Timescape, Gregory Benford
50. To Your Scattered Bodies Go, Philip Jose Farmer
As many others have mentioned, this is a bloody funny list, but then it's no more peculiar than most such lists. I really should do something to
nhw's Hugo and Nebula reading lists, but I don't see myself having his willpower to complete the project.
(no subject)
You have a pretty good hit rate! Must google Pohl's Gateway because a) I am not quite sure I have not read it and b) I usually like his stuff.
(no subject)
Matheson's I Am Legend is worth tracking down; it's really a short novel or novella, and it's been made several time into films.
I'm also noting with interest that of the 15 or so lists of other persons I've seen, not one person has indicated they have read #14: Shiras' Children of the Atom.
::B::
(no subject)
It's a pretty skewed selection, but hey, you work with what you're given.
I've heard good things about the Matheson, and I think it was part of the Gollancz SF Masterwork series, which republished lots of really good novels.