Anyhow, the deal is that I bold the ones I've read, italicize the ones that I've started but never finished, underline the ones that I own but have never started, strike out the ones I hated, and put an asterisk beside the ones I love.
2. The Foundation Trilogy, Isaac Asimov (I loved the first one. I'm not sure why I haven't finished the series)
3. Dune, Frank Herbert* (I love the first three novels of the Dune series.)
4. Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert A. Heinlein
5. A Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula K. Le Guin
6. Neuromancer, William Gibson (I'm not sure why I haven't finished this one. I like Gibson's style.)
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* (I loved this at one time. I haven't read it in years, and I don't know how I'd feel about it now. I think it was more of an adolescent kind of thing.)
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* (I only give this an asterisk because I love Discworld as a whole. This is the first book in the series, and they get better as you go along)
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 Chronicles of Thomas Covenant by 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 (Why the hell haven't I finished this? Douglas Adams is great, and this is THE Douglas Adams novel.)
28. I Am Legend, Richard Matheson
29. Interview with the Vampire, Anne Rice
30. The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K. Le Guin* (Ursula Le Guin writes brilliant science fiction.)
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 (This is another one that I don't know why I haven't finished it. I've really enjoyed what I've read.)
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*
10 comments:
Interesting list. I know I've probably said this before, but The Silmarillion should be right at the top of your "to-read" pile. It is an absolutely unique reading experience.
I'm surprised that the Mists of Avalon made the list... that behemoth is weird, and not necessarily in a good way. It's a good read, but it's lacking the "weight" or emphasis of most of the other selections.
Tolkien is not sci fi.
Tolkien is not sci fi.
There are quite a few items on the list that don't qualify as sci-fi, and it seems like there are some pretty big omissions as well. For example, where is 2001: A Space Odyssey?
Interesting list. I know I've probably said this before, but The Silmarillion should be right at the top of your "to-read" pile. It is an absolutely unique reading experience.
I know. I'll get to it one of these days. Honest. I'm still not sure whether I should read that one first or if should start with The Lord of the Rings Trilogy.
There are loads of good books missing on the list if you ask me. CJ Cherryh wrote several excellent sci fi novels, not least 'The Chronicles of Morgaine'.
'Armor' by John Steakley.
Almost any book by Verner Vinge or Sherry Tepper.
'Vurt' by Jeff Noon.
'Solaris' by Lem or 'Contact' by Sagan.
I haven't read any of the authors that you listed, but they're all on my list of things to read, particularly Solaris. That one seems like it would be right up my alley.
Its very... eastern European
After I posted that comment, I decided to pick up a copy and read it. I actually finished it today, and I thought it was excellent. It was one of the more chilling novels that I've read recently, and I think that I was more haunted by the things that you don't see.
Have you seen the film?
I did, and I liked it. I haven't seen it in a while, but since I just finished the book, I plan on watching it again in the near future to see what I think of it now.
I liked it too, but this was probably becaue its been so long since any one made a science fiction film which didn't involve a lot of weapons being fired
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