Caitlín R. Kiernan (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
greygirlbeast) wrote2006-11-20 12:36 am
greygirlbeast) wrote2006-11-20 12:36 am
another somewhat dubious "best of" list
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).
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.
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).
no subject
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).
no subject
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