3 years ago
Top 100 Sci Fi & Fantasy Books
It dawned on me that for someone who likes sci-fi and fantasy, I should read some more of it. Below is NPR's audience suggested Top 100 from 2011.I've read the books with comments. Movies don't count, I decided.
1. The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
Read it twice as a teen, once after the movies. I won't dispute the placement due to its legacy. B+
2. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
The movie was better, I think. B+
3. Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card
Thoroughly excellent. A
4. The Dune Chronicles - Frank Herbert
The first three were excellent to very good, then dropped off a cliff. For Dune, A.
5. A Song of Ice and Fire Series - George R.R. Martin
6. 1984 - George Orwell
7. Farenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury
Good book, probably ready for a theatrical update in current social issues. B+
8. The Foundation Trilogy - Isaac Asimov
Enjoyable, and not as inaccessible as the Asimov name had me expect. B-
9. Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
10. American Gods - Neil Gaiman
Revered by so many... I was disappointed with this. Good, but I didn't really care what happened. B
11. The Princess Bride - William Goldman
12. The Wheel of Time Series - Robert Jordan
What started off as possibly the best fantasy series concluded as the longest and wordiest. Sad. B-
13. Animal Farm - George Orwell
14. Neuromancer - William Gibson
15. Watchmen - Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons
16. I, Robot - Isaac Asimov
17. Stranger in a Strange Land - Robert A. Heinlein
Thoroughly stimulating from beginning to end. A+
18. The Name of the Wind - Patrick Rothfuss
My vote for the best fantasy book ever, and hopefully series when it's concluded. A+
19. Slaughterhouse Five - Kurt Vonnegut
20. Frankenstein - Mary Shelley
21. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep - Philip K. Dick
22. The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
23. The Dark Tower Series - Stephen King
24. 2001: A Space Odyssey - Arthur C. Clarke
Read it way back when. Don't need to again. B
25. The Stand - Stephen King
Lengthy but enjoyable. A-
26. Snow Crash - Neal Stephenson
Really good. A-
27. The Martian Chronicles - Ray Bradbury
28. Cat's Cradle - Kurt Vonnegut
29. The Sandman Series - Neil Gaiman
30. A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess
31. Starship Troopers - Robert A. Heinlein
Another stimulating observational story on morals. Not a whole lot of fighting. B+
32. Watership Down - Richard Adams
Read it years ago. Don't remember a bit of it. C
33. Dragonflight - Anne McCaffrey
Read it years ago. Don't remember a bit of it. B-
34. The Moon is a Harsh Mistress - Robert A. Heinlein
35. A Canticle for Leibowitz - Walter M. Miller, Jr.
Ho-hum. Before it's time, I guess, for post nuclear holocaust. C
36. The Time Machine - H.G. Wells
Ahead of its time. C
37. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea - Jules Verne
As above. C
38. Flowers for Algernon - Daniel Keyes
39. The War of the Worlds - H.G. Wells
Good in book, radio, movie, or album. B
40. The Amber Chronicles - Roger Zelazny
41. The Belgariad - David Eddings
42. The Mists of Avalon - Marion Zimmer Bradley
43. Mistborn Trilogy - Brandon Sanderson
Excellent, entertaining, and a pleasure to read. A-
44. Ringworld - Larry Niven
Good, not great. Sequels were as good. B
45. The Left Hand of Darkness - Ursula K. Le Guin
46. The Silmarillion - J.R.R. Tolkein
A long snore followed by a readable section. C-
47. The Once and Future King - T.H. White
A chore, and I was better read for it. Past tense. C
48. Neverwhere - Neil Gaiman
Who says the sewers of London can't be imaginative and enjoyable? B
49. Childhood's End - Arthur C. Clarke
50. Contact - Carl Sagan
51. Hyperion - Dan Simmons
52. Stardust - Neil Gaiman
53. Cryptonomicron - Neal Stephenson
Not sure that I would call this sci-fi or fantasy, but a good read. B+
54. World War Z - Max Brooks
55. The Last Unicorn - Peter S. Beagle
56. The Forever War - Joe Haldeman
57. Small Gods - Terry Pratchett
Ah, British humor, with an axe to grind against religion. B-
58. The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever - Stephen R. Donaldson
59. The Vorsigan Saga - Lois McMaster Bujold
Very entertaining lead character and series. B+
60. Going Postal - Terry Pratchett
British humor well executed in a fictional world. B+
61. The Mote in God's Eye - Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
Enjoyable book. A-
62. The Sword of Truth Series - Terry Goodkind
63. The Road - Cormac McCarthy
64. Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell - Susanna Clarke
You either like the writing style or you don't. Lengthy, but enjoyable. B+
65. I Am Legend - Richard Matheson
66. The Riftwar Saga - Raymond E. Feist
67. Sword of Shannara Trilogy - Terry Brooks
I read this Tolkien ripoff long ago and enjoyed it. I read the first book again recently only to find it very poorly written. D
68. Conan the Barbarian Series - Robert E. Howard and Mark Schultz
69. Farseer Trilogy - Robin Hood
70. The Time Travelers's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
71. The Way of Kings - Brandon Sanderson
Very possibly the next best fantasy series ever. A
72. Journey to the Center of the Earth - Jules Verne
73. The Legend of Drizzt Series - R.A. Salvatore
74. Old Man's War - John Scalzi
Thoroughly excellent, followed by a good sequel then another excellent one. A
75. The Diamond Age - Neal Stephenson
76. Rendezvous with Rama - Arthur C. Clarke
77. Kushiel's Legacy Series - Jacqueline Carey
78. The Dispossessed - Ursula K. Le Guin
79. Something Wicked This Way Comes - Ray Bradbury
Good in every creepy way possible. A+
80. Wicked - Gregory Maguire
81. The Malazon Book of the Fallen Series - Steven Erikson
82. The Eyre Affair - Jasper Fforde
83. The Culture Series - Iain Banks
84. The Crystal Cave - Mary Stewart
85. Anathem - Neal Stephenson
86. The Codex Alera Series - Jim Butcher
87. The Book of the New Sun - Gene Wolfe
88. The Thrawn Trilogy - Timothy Zawn
Is one Star Wars trilogy better than another by the same author? Decent. C
89. The Outlander Series - Diana Gabaldon
90. The Elric Saga - Michael Moorcock
91. The Illustrated Man - Ray Bradbury
92. Sunshine - Robin McKinley
93. A Fire Upon the Deep - Vernor Vinge
94. The Caves of Steel - Isaac Asimov
95. The Mars Trilogy - Kim Stanley Robinson
96. Lucifer's Hammer - Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
The day after a comet strikes the Earth... don't be there. Science and fiction. B+
97. Doomsday Book - Connie Willis
98. Perdido Street Station - China Mieville
99. The Xanth Series - Piers Anthony
100. The Space Trilogy - C.S. Lewis
41.
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