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SF & Fantasy books important to you --
My turn for the sf/f book meme that's going around. I pinched this from AT Campbell.
Below is a list of the 50 most significant science fiction/fantasy novels, 1953-2002, according to the Science Fiction Book Club. You're supposed to 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
It is interesting how, if you miss the most important books by an author, and read something that did not impress you, you don't go back to find others. Phil Farmer comes to mind -- I picked up a reprint that turned out to be a soft porn collection, got it signed for a friend, and still haven't read one another friend recommended to me. I own GATEWAY but have not read it, and I have read several Bester novels, but not DEMOLISHED. I haven't even read three of LeGuin's SF novels that are related -- possibly because I loved DARKNESS and EARTHSEA so much. I read the first Elric, and should have read them when I was 12 -- or started with STORMBRINGER. So I don't read Moorcock. I haven't read everything by Heinlein, either.
I hated one of Scott Card's books, so I don't read his stuff -- even recommended things. And I hate books that start with addicts. It's just my personal thing. So I've never gone back to read NEUROMANCER.
Of course, there are authors I feel have been neglected in this list, like McKillip, or Miller & Lee, or Tepper (GRASS is in my top twenty SF books ever!) But tell me -- are there seminal books that you have missed, simply because you hated other books from that author? Or own but still haven't read? I have several Delaneys, but haven't read them. (Something that comes to mind is HOW LATE THE SWEET BIRDS SANG. I was going to read all the Hugo winners -- but something about the subject of this book held me off. Perhaps because I have no biological children, and we don't really have a good way yet to store DNA for cloning. I'm still carrying it around...)
Below is a list of the 50 most significant science fiction/fantasy novels, 1953-2002, according to the Science Fiction Book Club. You're supposed to 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*
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
49. Timescape, Gregory Benford*
50. To Your Scattered Bodies Go, Philip Jose Farmer
It is interesting how, if you miss the most important books by an author, and read something that did not impress you, you don't go back to find others. Phil Farmer comes to mind -- I picked up a reprint that turned out to be a soft porn collection, got it signed for a friend, and still haven't read one another friend recommended to me. I own GATEWAY but have not read it, and I have read several Bester novels, but not DEMOLISHED. I haven't even read three of LeGuin's SF novels that are related -- possibly because I loved DARKNESS and EARTHSEA so much. I read the first Elric, and should have read them when I was 12 -- or started with STORMBRINGER. So I don't read Moorcock. I haven't read everything by Heinlein, either.
I hated one of Scott Card's books, so I don't read his stuff -- even recommended things. And I hate books that start with addicts. It's just my personal thing. So I've never gone back to read NEUROMANCER.
Of course, there are authors I feel have been neglected in this list, like McKillip, or Miller & Lee, or Tepper (GRASS is in my top twenty SF books ever!) But tell me -- are there seminal books that you have missed, simply because you hated other books from that author? Or own but still haven't read? I have several Delaneys, but haven't read them. (Something that comes to mind is HOW LATE THE SWEET BIRDS SANG. I was going to read all the Hugo winners -- but something about the subject of this book held me off. Perhaps because I have no biological children, and we don't really have a good way yet to store DNA for cloning. I'm still carrying it around...)
no subject
Of the ones you haven't read that I have, I'd recommend Mission of Gravity (and, if you like that, its sequel Star Light).
I'm a little bemused that there's nothing by Schmitz on the list. Surely his Telzey Amberdon stories were at least as influential as some of the ones listed?
no subject
I would think so -- he had his pioneers dealing with some very strange lifeforms. I also loved WITCHES OF KARRES, just because it was fun.
no subject
Hal Clement was very nice to me when I started out as an SF writer. So I should get my hands on that, if for no other reason.
By the way -- Bill Lindblad, the bookseller at ALIEN MOTIVES, keeps an eye out for my books, and does not sell them at a huge markup. You could tell him what you're looking for, and see if he has it. He's at amotives AT hotmail DOT com.