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.

[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).

[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?

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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...

[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)