The most significant SF&F novels (according to Time)

[fenchurch]

Snagged from vampry.
The most significant SF/F novels from 1953-2006 according to Time. Bold the ones you have read, strikethrough the ones you read and hated, italicize those you started but never finished and put a star next to the ones you love.


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

Okay, so I guess this is a pretty good indication that I read a LOT of SF&F. And the one book on the list I haven't read yet is currently sitting on my Teetering Pile. Also, there's just the one book that I read and hated because, generally, if I hate a book, I don't finish reading it... that particular book was assigned at school, which is the only reason I read it all the way through. And as for the list, I was a little surprised that they picked Mission of Gravity over Needle by Hal Clement. They're both good, but I've always thought the latter had a lot more long term influence on the genre. I can also think of quite a number of books that deserve to be on that list and a few that are there and probably shouldn't be.

Comments

[nutmeg3.livejournal.com]

Interesting list, but...no Martin? No Miles Vorkosigan? No The Last Unicorn? It seems too heavy to me on the Old Guard, who were great when I was twelve but have been superceded by a lot of better books that have come since. (Which I freely admit might not have existed without the old guys, but I still think they're better.) It seems heavy on the SF vs. the F, too, though I didn't do a count on that (or of the Old vs. New Guards, for that matter; it's just a feeling).

[silmaril.livejournal.com]

...and what's The Sword of Shannara doing there when The Lord of the Rings is already there at the top?

[ludditerobot.livejournal.com]

Let me guess: For LoTR, you gave up somewhere between the flight from the Shire and Weathertop, right? Between Tom Bombadil and the Prancing Pony Inn? That's where I gave up the first time, and I struggled the second time. And if you can somehow get past all that, the story doesn't drag ever again.

[luminosity]

I'm so glad to see Phil Farmer and Frederick Pohl in there. Gateway, Beyond the Blue Event Horizon and Heechee Rendezvous are books that I read over and over again.

To Your Scattered Bodies Go, IMO, is the least of the Riverworld series. The Fabulous Riverboat really took off. And his Image of the Beast! Wow ...

[rambles]

[julia-here.livejournal.com]

Wizard of Earthsea and not The Dispossessed? These people have no sense.

Julia, too scattered to go through the list right now, but boy, howdy do I agree with you on On The Beach

[mlgm.livejournal.com]

I've read many on this list and it makes me realize two things: I like fantasy much more than whoever made this list and I like women writers much, much more than whoever made this list. No Nicholas Stuart Grey or R A MacAvoy? Now working for me.

[jerrymcl89.livejournal.com]

If their definition of Fantasy is expansive enough to include Anne Rice, I would have to say that Stephen King ought to be pretty annoyed by his omission.

[hlynn.livejournal.com]

Wow, I need to catch up on my reading. I've read books by some of those authors, and a few on the list to boot, but there's a bunch I've never even heard of.

I am glad to see Frederik Pohl on there, since he's been around as long as Asimov but with a tenth of the notoriety. I got to meet him a few years ago when I took a SF&F lit class taught by his wife, Elizabeth Anne Hull. He's a great guy and a great writer, to boot.

[pmgoose.livejournal.com]

I've only read about 10 of these, so I guess I'm a slacker:

1. The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien*
4. Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert A. Heinlein
6. Neuromancer, William Gibson
8. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Philip K. Dick*
10. Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury*
22. Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card*
26. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, J.K. Rowling*
27. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams*
29. Interview with the Vampire, Anne Rice
41. The Silmarillion, J.R.R. Tolkien

[rosiewook.livejournal.com]

For my own pride, I'm glad to see that I've read a good chunk of these. (I got into "old school SF" before I figured out there was this whole fantasy genre to enjoy.)

And as much as I love, love, LOVE the Harry Potter series, I'm kinda surprised to see it on here. I guess it's important because it has introduced a lot of people to fantasty. But I'm sure there are many who are miffed to see it there.