another somewhat dubious "best of" list

[greygirlbeast]

These things always seem like fun, until I actually start doing them, at which point they quickly turn tedious and dull. In this case, for example, I cannot recall the html for a strike-through, which is just lame, as I've known html since 1995. I blame the Bailey's. Anyway, behind the cut you will find fifty "most significant" science fiction/fantasy novels, spanning the period 1953—2002, as deemed so by no less august and learn'd organization as the Science Fiction Book Club. I'm supposed bold the ones I've read, italicize the ones I've started but never finished, underline the ones I own but never started, strike out the ones I hated, and put an asterisk beside the ones I love. Okay. Here we go:



1. The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien* (one asterisk seems insufficient; maybe five would do)

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. (In my opinion, one of the best sf novels of the 20th Century.)

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* (Again, maybe five asterisks would be suifficient.)

19. The Demolished Man, Alfred Bester

20. Dhalgren, Samuel R. Delany

21. Dragonflight, Anne McCaffrey

22. Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card

23. The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant by Stephen R. Donaldson* (Read these in high school, three or four times through. Loved them. I don't know what I'd think of them now. Even then, I saw a lot of flaws in Donaldson's prose, and he might have been less blantant in his "borrowing" from Tolkien. I did adore the characters and the world, though.)

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* (I loved Rice's first three vampire books when I read them back-to-back in 1989; I have no idea how I'd feel about them today, given how aware I've become aware of her irksome personality and how godsawful the later Vampire Chronicle books are. I'd like to think I could still enjoy them.)

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 (I am truly ashamed to admit having read this book.)

49. Timescape, Gregory Benford

50. To Your Scattered Bodies Go, Philip Jose Farmer



You will note that, sadly, there's a good deal of "classic" sf I've not read and likely never will.

I think there are some pretty glaring and horrendous omissions to this list. Just for starters:

Watership Down by Richard Adams
The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
The Stand by Stephen King
House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
Burning Your Boats by Angela Carter
The Nightmare Factory by Thomas Ligotti
Ghost Story by Peter Straub
The Sandman by Neil Gaiman
Wicked by Gregory Maguire

And that's just for starters, mind you. I could go on and on. I could.

Bedtime for nixars. If I head that way now, I might find sleep by 3 a.m. (CaST).

Comments

[sovay]

Kate Bush, "Houdini"

I have had that song in my head since last night.

Through the glass, I'd watch you breathe
Bound and drowned and paler than you've ever been . . .

For the obvious reasons, I suppose.

And that's just for starters, mind you. I could go on and on. I could.

I'd be curious to see, but only if the exercise wouldn't turn killingly dull halfway through—that's boredom a nixar doesn't need.

[greygirlbeast.livejournal.com]

I have had that song in my head since last night.

It's one of my favorite KB songs. And The Dreaming is my second favorite KB album, right after Hounds of Love.

I'd be curious to see, but only if the exercise wouldn't turn killingly dull halfway through—that's boredom a nixar doesn't need.

I'd be curious to see that list to. Perhaps I will attempt someday. I don't think I could do a worse job than the Science Fiction Book Club.

[sovay]

I don't think I could do a worse job than the Science Fiction Book Club.

I'd trust your list more than theirs . . .

[laudre.livejournal.com]

Back when I was picking up just about anything off the stacks at bookstores to read, I almost but never actually did read the Thomas Covenant books.

From what I have since heard of them, I would probably hate them with the same burning passion that my wife does.

I quite enjoyed the Shannara books... when I was a young teenager. My memories paint the books in a quite positive light, including the sequel quartet, but I have not revisited that world in many years, either to reread the older books or to read the prequel novels. (The only thing I remember strongly disliking is the ending of Elfstones of Shannara.) I don't want to reread them now, because I recognize the validity of the arguments about it being far too derivative of Tolkien's epic, and if there's one issue I have with speculative fiction as a whole is that much of it is a creative wasteland. (This is why when I do find authors who are genuinely inventive, I latch onto them like a leech or a remora, drawing sustenance from the precious fluid.) So, I will probably never go back and read them again, because I've already made that mistake (rereading Pern novels once I got past the age of Iwantadragon).

[greygirlbeast.livejournal.com]

From what I have since heard of them, I would probably hate them with the same burning passion that my wife does.

When I began doing panels at cons, I was taken by surprise at how much some people hate these books and even more surprised at their reasons. Even with the weaknesses of Donaldson's, they're beautiful, powerful books. Even with the obvious Tolkien "borrows." I think that one reason I loved them so (and I'm having to think back almost 25 years years here) was that the characters were so much more "human" than most of Tolkien's. Thomas Covenant is an asshole, but as Donaldson writes, "Only the damned can be saved." I found these books at a time when I needed anti-heroes more than heroes

[ladyeuthanasia.livejournal.com]

Snowcrash was, incidentally, required reading by my mentor, Randy Farmer, when I was doing virtual world story writing for Fujitsu. That's a job I could again and again, just for the reading material.

Also, I was going to say that I met Danielewski's sister when I was doing rope yoga late last year in Burbank. I've been curious about House of Leaves ever since. What -- or whose writing -- is he like?

[scarletboi.livejournal.com]

There's a lot of "hollywood" someone-meets-someone comparisons to Danielewski, but really, he's like nobody I've ever read.

Joyce, Pynchon, Nabokov, Borges... All people I've heard him compared to, but I'd honestly say that nobody's ever done anything like House of Leaves before.

Have a look at the Only Revolutions website. The music on there is by Poe, with him reading sections from the new book.

[ladyeuthanasia.livejournal.com]

Fascinating. Thank you!

[greygirlbeast.livejournal.com]

What -- or whose writing -- is he like?

ASs Sissy said, MZD is pretty much a thing unto himself. There are a lot of obvious influences, but he headed his own way. I will say that MZD is probably the only author since Kathe Koja to have a really powerful impact on my own writing.

[ladyeuthanasia.livejournal.com]

Even more compelling! His sister and my friend (who is a music manager, but not hers) were saying it was X-files-ish, but I had a feeling they were struggling with description. They said his book went around to her peers first, sort of an underground favorite amongst a bunch of band members, then it eventually found true print, as it were.

Okay, wish listing it. Will ask The Frenchman for it 'round Noel. Thank you!

[cause-catyljan.livejournal.com]

Totally agree with your list of surprising exclusions. Especially The Martian Chronicles, which seems an almost criminal oversight. What was so wrong with The Sword of Shannara? Haven't read it, just wondering why you had such an extreme reaction to it.

[greygirlbeast.livejournal.com]

What was so wrong with The Sword of Shannara?

I think maybe someone addresses this below. But. Basically, I found The Sword of Shannara (I didn't even attempt the later books) to be an utterly artless rip-off of Tolkien. The Lord of the Rings is boiled down to a formula. Indeed, I think TSoS should take more blame than any other book for the proliferation of Tolkien rip-offs over the last two decades. In the Thomas Covenant books, Donaldson draws perhaps too heavily upon Tolkien, borrowing when he should find his own ideas, but at least he wasn't artless about it, and he brought something genuiinely new to the mix.

[scarletboi.livejournal.com]

That The Martian Chronicles isn't on there (or Something Wicked This Way Comes, for that matter), removes quite a lot of the credibility I can give this list.

I'd remove the books that only somewhat fit into the "sci-fi/fantasy" category, like Interview with a Vampire and replace them with missing books that dofit.

[edwarddain.livejournal.com]

The Martian Chronicles - 1950

SWtWC? - 1962 (So no clue why it wasn't included)

[scarletboi.livejournal.com]

Ah, I'd missed the (oddly arbitrary, since it's only 49 years) 1953-2002 demarcation.

That explains a bit, but still leaves SWtWC, HoL, and The Haunting of Hill House eligible, yet strangely excluded.

[greygirlbeast.livejournal.com]

The Martian Chronicles - 1950

Whoops.

Still, what's so special about 1953?

No clue.

[edwarddain.livejournal.com]

I just guessed that the date was an issue because somebody else on another LJ had been discussing the fact that The Chronicles of Narnia wasn't on there for the same reason.

[chaos-sleeps.livejournal.com]

I believe this was the list the SFBC did for their 50th anniversary, so that would make 1953 their founding date.

Also, I imagine they don't include things on the list that they don't sell, which explains such things as The Sword of Shanara. But all in all, it's a better list of 50 great books than I would have expected from the SFBC.

[andrian6.livejournal.com]

The Stars My Destination, The Demolished Man and any of Alfred Bester's short stories are highly recommended if you get a chance to read them. "Fondly Fahrenheit" alone is worth looking for his short stories, but when combined with his other works you realize that Science Fiction had an amazing beat poet in its midst with Mr. Bester.

[edwarddain.livejournal.com]

Honestly, I just found the list bizarre because the "start" date was so arbitrary - and there were a host of glaring ommissions from it even with that set of dates in mind.

Not to mention odd choices. Mists of Avalon but not a single Darkover novel?

Lord of Light but not the Amber series?

Honestly, if we're talking "most significant" then the Belgariad by Eddings should be on there because it started the trend towards multi-book saga rather than trilogies (or book series). Not that it's great literature, but it has had a huge impact on the craft and market.

[scarletboi.livejournal.com]

Eddings books were entertaining, but he drove me nuts with his penchant for not just ending with a cliffhanger, but sometimes actually ending in the middle of a frelling sentence! I think the one that comes to mind was in the Eleniad.

[edwarddain.livejournal.com]

They were fun. It would be interesting to re-read them as an adult. There were a number of things that drive me crazy about them by the end. The women are all shrews, the men are all oblivious, Polgara was a nitwit, children are perfection, and a host of other minor annoyances.

I enjoyed them when they came out. Now, I'm holding onto them for my son (who could probably read them if the format didn't scare him).

[sovay]

The women are all shrews, the men are all oblivious, Polgara was a nitwit, children are perfection, and a host of other minor annoyances.

I re-read The Belgariad and The Mallorean last winter in a bookstore, and found that the only characters who held up as people for me were Vella and Beldin; I wouldn't produce either one of them as an example of complex three-dimensionality, but at least they weren't as schematic cardboard as everyone else . . .

[ladyeuthanasia.livejournal.com]

The Amber novels also came to my mind, as well.

[wishlish.livejournal.com]

You know how the rudest thing you can say to someone is, "You haven't read *INSERT NAME OR BOOK HERE*? Oh my god! What's wrong with you! He/She/It is brilliant!"?

Well, I'm trying not to do that in regards to "The Man In The High Castle" by Philip K. Dick. (And I'm surprised that "A Scanner Darkly" didn't rate on that list.) And am I a horrible person for wondering why "Good Omens" isn't on the list, either? Actually, The Dry Salvages should be up there, too...

[greygirlbeast.livejournal.com]

Actually, The Dry Salvages should be up there, too...

Thank you. If only a few hundred thousand people had agreed with you.

[wishlish.livejournal.com]

If a few hundred thousand people ever agree with me, start building the rocketship for the stars, because Earth will be doomed.

[stsisyphus.livejournal.com]

I think there are some pretty glaring and horrendous omissions to this list. Just for starters...The Sandman by Neil Gaiman

Damn snitty of them seeing as I bought at least half of my hardback editions of Sandman from the damn SFBC (yes, you can throw rotten eggs now).

[alphito.livejournal.com]

oh, oh, trying so hard not to do the rude thing with dhalgren (or any of the neveryona books for that matter)! you have a good strong hit of that delightfully-changed-feeling to look forward to, when and if (oh i hope so) you get around to it. it *is* a great big chunk of a book. press like a soldier through the first few pages; they're a gate or a filter, and while they are very relevant to the book, the style of the rest of it is very different. it's definitely worth it!

(says she who bounced off the gates at least seven or eight times over as many years before taking the deep deep breath and slipping through)