Monday, September 05, 2011

I'm not a sheep...

but I will follow the herd on occasion, when it provides blog fodder!

Here's the list of NPR's top 100 SF/F titles, with the ones I've read bolded. I added comments as necessary!

1. The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy, by J.R.R. Tolkien (read it once, long ago when I was a teenager...I haven't been able to read it again, I always get bogged down)
2. The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy, by Douglas Adams
3. Ender’s Game, by Orson Scott Card
4. The Dune Chronicles, by Frank Herbert

5. A Song Of Ice And Fire Series, by George R. R. Martin
6. 1984, by George Orwell
7. Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury
8. The Foundation Trilogy, by Isaac Asimov
9. Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
10. American Gods, by Neil Gaiman
11. The Princess Bride, by William Goldman (it's inconceivable to me NOT to have read this classic...;))
12. The Wheel Of Time Series, by Robert Jordan (this is the TRUE never-ending story, and I bailed after reading and re-reading the first six or so books)
13. Animal Farm, by George Orwell
14. Neuromancer, by William Gibson
15. Watchmen, by Alan Moore
16. I, Robot, by Isaac Asimov
17. Stranger In A Strange Land, by Robert Heinlein (of course, Heinlein is the MASTER)
18. The Kingkiller Chronicles, by Patrick Rothfuss (reading this as we speak, so to speak)
19. Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut
20. Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley
21. Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?, by Philip K. Dick
22. The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood
23. The Dark Tower Series, by Stephen King (tried this one and failed; I've not read anything by King since "It" totally terrified me...fucking CLOWN)
24. 2001: A Space Odyssey, by Arthur C. Clarke
25. The Stand, by Stephen King (see above)
26. Snow Crash, by Neal Stephenson
27. The Martian Chronicles, by Ray Bradbury
28. Cat’s Cradle, by Kurt Vonnegut
29. The Sandman Series, by Neil Gaiman
30. A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess
31. Starship Troopers, by Robert Heinlein (duh)
32. Watership Down, by Richard Adams (many times)
33. Dragonflight, by Anne McCaffrey (LOVE this series, I've read it many times and took joy in sharing it with my oldest child, who's also a fan.)
34. The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress, by Robert Heinlein
35. A Canticle For Leibowitz, by Walter M. Miller
36. The Time Machine, by H.G. Wells
37. 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, by Jules Verne
38. Flowers For Algernon, by Daniel Keys (I read this one when I was just a kid, borrowed from my older brothers who were reading it for high school English. DEPRESSING.)
39. The War Of The Worlds, by H.G. Wells
40. The Chronicles Of Amber, by Roger Zelazny
41. The Belgariad, by David Eddings
42. The Mists Of Avalon, by Marion Zimmer Bradley

43. The Mistborn Series, by Brandon Sanderson
44. Ringworld, by Larry Niven (LOVE Ringworld!)
45. The Left Hand Of Darkness, by Ursula K. LeGuin
46. The Silmarillion, by J.R.R. Tolkien
47. The Once And Future King, by T.H. White
48. Neverwhere, by Neil Gaiman
49. Childhood’s End, by Arthur C. Clarke
50. Contact, by Carl Saga (liked this, never watched the movie)
51. The Hyperion Cantos, by Dan Simmons
52. Stardust, by Neil Gaiman
53. Cryptonomicon, by Neal Stephenson
54. World War Z, by Max Brooks
55. The Last Unicorn, by Peter S. Beagle
56. The Forever War, by Joe Haldeman
57. Small Gods, by Terry Pratchett
58. The Chronicles Of Thomas Covenant, The Unbeliever, by Stephen R. Donaldson
59. The Vorkosigan Saga, by Lois McMaster Bujold
60. Going Postal, by Terry Pratchett

61. The Mote In God’s Eye, by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle
62. The Sword Of Truth, by Terry Goodkind
63. The Road, by Cormac McCarthy
64. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, by Susanna Clarke
65. I Am Legend, by Richard Matheson
66. The Riftwar Saga, by Raymond E. Feist (YES, read this, but only the first two series.)
67. The Shannara Trilogy, by Terry Brooks (to me, Terry Brooks epitomizes the author who shoots his wad right off the bat, and is never able to get to that level again)
68. The Conan The Barbarian Series, by R.E. Howard
69. The Farseer Trilogy, by Robin Hobb
70. The Time Traveler’s Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger
71. The Way Of Kings, by Brandon Sanderson
72. A Journey To The Center Of The Earth, by Jules Verne
73. The Legend Of Drizzt Series, by R.A. Salvatore
74. Old Man’s War, by John Scalzi (most definitely an author to watch)
75. The Diamond Age, by Neil Stephenson
76. Rendezvous With Rama, by Arthur C. Clarke
77. The Kushiel’s Legacy Series, by Jacqueline Carey
78. The Dispossessed, by Ursula K. LeGuin
79. Something Wicked This Way Comes, by Ray Bradbury
80. Wicked, by Gregory Maguire
81. The Malazan Book Of The Fallen Series, by Steven Erikson
82. The Eyre Affair, by Jasper Fforde
83. The Culture Series, by Iain M. Banks
84. The Crystal Cave, by Mary Stewart
85. Anathem, by Neal Stephenson
86. The Codex Alera Series, by Jim Butcher
87. The Book Of The New Sun, by Gene Wolfe
88. The Thrawn Trilogy, by Timothy Zahn
89. The Outlander Series, by Diana Gabaldan
90. The Elric Saga, by Michael Moorcock
(very depressing, but my brothers were reading it, so I HAD to, too...:))
91. The Illustrated Man, by Ray Bradbury
92. Sunshine, by Robin McKinley (it's on my TBR list)
93. A Fire Upon The Deep, by Vernor Vinge
94. The Caves Of Steel, by Isaac Asimov
95. The Mars Trilogy, by Kim Stanley Robinson
96. Lucifer’s Hammer, by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle
97. Doomsday Book, by Connie Willis
98. Perdido Street Station, by China Mieville
99. The Xanth Series, by Piers Anthony
100. The Space Trilogy, by C.S. Lewis

I have to say, some of these books (and authors!) I've never heard of! Others are old, beloved friends.

Also, forty out of a hundred, not bad. :D

4 comments:

G in Berlin said...

Thank you for stopping by. I have this list too, but hadn't thought of posting it- perhaps I will do the same....perhaps it says something about me when I say that I have read 70 of these- and I'm not counting series that I haven't actually finished...:-).

Old NFO said...

Not bad, but you've got some catching up to do :-)

Christina RN LMT said...

G, now THAT is impressive! Wow.

NFO, if I haven't read it it's due to lack of interest. Some of these I remember attempting to read, but simply not getting into them. But maybe now that I'm older and wiser (?), I should give them another chance.

G in Berlin said...

There you go- I have posted my (annotated list) and linked to you as well:-).