Bored, so. . . baa!

[velvetpage]

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

Comments

[firesign10.livejournal.com]

That was a fun one!

[nottheterritory.livejournal.com]

I'm surprised you haven't read Dune - aside from the fact that it was the subject of one of the most sublime dead-pan one liners I have ever heard from your husband, or indeed from any man* - it strikes me as a book that tackles many subjects you would be really interested in: politics, skullduggery and politics, religion and politics (and the conflict between its institutionalized and grass roots forms) and ecology polticis... and also politics. You get the idea. It really is one of those books that you think is terribly over-rated until you read it. Sadly, I don't feel anything else Herbert ever wrote lived up to it. Without wanting to lay it on too thick, I think if you intend to keep writing books along the lines of the Dolphin Book, you owe it to yourself to check out Dune.

*"So I'm thinking of getting the Dune roleplaying game," he said, fixing me with a penetrating stare, "then, we too, could play a dangerous game." I promise you, if you know Herbert's writing style it's Ethel-Merman-and-Jimmy-Durante-singing-Kate-Bush funny.

[dagoski.livejournal.com]

Cool! A holiday reading list! I'm really surprised that Sword of Shannara made the list. It was a very mediocre series. Engaging, but derivative in many ways. I'm disappointed that The Two Faces of Tomorrow didn't make it. BTW, feel free to add me to your writing filter. I'll need something to take my mind off stats drudgery. I'll have to put together a writing filter for the infrequent writing I do these days.

The Demolished man was a fun read.

[tormentedartist.livejournal.com]

Hmm, they are missing a lot of cool stuff. Like some Jack Vance. If you haven't read him, do so ASAP. Trust me.

[ghostwes.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it is kind of an odd list. Sounds more like one reader's favourites than the most "significant" ones. Lots of Hugo and Nebula award winners are missing, which is also strange.

[athelind.livejournal.com]

Why do you have "I loved'em" asterisks next to books that aren't "I read them" bold?

[athelind.livejournal.com]

I don't know; I can see reasons for almost every one of these to be considered a milestone of some kind.

Actually, even the one that I'd consider an exception -- The Sword of Shanana -- was something of a milestone, when you think about it; it opened the floodgates of blatant Tolkien pastiches that now dominate the fantasy shelves.

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

Piet has kept telling me that, and I've seen swathes of two different film versions, but I've never managed to make inroads into his library. I was thinking I should use this list as a jumping-off point and start with the ones that are already here.

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

Okay! I can't promise I'll be writing much, but I'll post it when I do.

As for Sword of Shannara - I tried to get into that series in high school and it drove me crazy. The only book of his that I ever loved was the tongue-in-cheek Pratchet-style one about the country for sale.

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

Because I copied the list from sassy_fae and forgot to take out all of her asterisks. :)

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

I've read some Vance, and liked the style of it.

[nottheterritory.livejournal.com]

Neither of the films are really viable as adaptations - in fact the National Lampoon parody probably gives you more insight into the original novel than the films. The first one especially, the David Lynch one, is beautiful to look at but, well, it's a David Lynch film... The mini-series? Well they turn Princess Irulan (a minor character in the book) into a kind of decadent, late Roman Nancy Drew!

The things is, the book is so focused on the inner lives of the protagonists that it really does make for lousy film-making...