Bold means I've read it.
The Most Significant SF & Fantasy Books of the Last 50 Years, 1953-2002
- The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien
- The Foundation Trilogy, Isaac Asimov
- Dune, Frank Herbert
- Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert A. Heinlein
- A Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula K. Le Guin
- Neuromancer, William Gibson
- Childhood's End, Arthur C. Clarke
- Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Philip K. Dick
- The Mists of Avalon, Marion Zimmer Bradley
- Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury
- The Book of the New Sun, Gene Wolfe
- A Canticle for Leibowitz, Walter M. Miller, Jr.
- The Caves of Steel, Isaac Asimov
- Children of the Atom, Wilmar Shiras
- Cities in Flight, James Blish
- The Colour of Magic, Terry Pratchett
- Dangerous Visions, edited by Harlan Ellison
- Deathbird Stories, Harlan Ellison
- The Demolished Man, Alfred Bester
- Dhalgren, Samuel R. Delany
- Dragonflight, Anne McCaffrey
- Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card
- The First Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, Stephen R. Donaldson
- The Forever War, Joe Haldeman
- Gateway, Frederik Pohl
- Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, J.K. Rowling
- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
- I Am Legend, Richard Matheson
- Interview with the Vampire, Anne Rice
- The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K. Le Guin
- Little, Big, John Crowley
- Lord of Light, Roger Zelazny
- The Man in the High Castle, Philip K. Dick
- Mission of Gravity, Hal Clement
- More Than Human, Theodore Sturgeon
- The Rediscovery of Man, Cordwainer Smith
- On the Beach, Nevil Shute
- Rendezvous with Rama, Arthur C. Clarke
- Ringworld, Larry Niven
- Rogue Moon, Algis Budrys
- The Silmarillion, J.R.R. Tolkien
- Slaughterhouse-5, Kurt Vonnegut
- Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson
- Stand on Zanzibar, John Brunner
- The Stars My Destination, Alfred Bester
- Starship Troopers, Robert A. Heinlein
- Stormbringer, Michael Moorcock
- The Sword of Shannara, Terry Brooks
- Timescape, Gregory Benford
- To Your Scattered Bodies Go, Philip Jose Farmer
It does strike me that I haven't been reading much SF of late. I've been a bit bogged down in a nonfiction book for a while, and need to get to something lighter.
If you feel like playing, the list is at The News Blog.
3 comments:
These are always fun, but more frequently the lists aren't as useful as the discussion about what's *not* on the lists. Once every year or so there's something like this on Slashdot, and I occasionally search for those old discussions for good book ideas. Unfortunately, I rarely have the time to actually act on such information.
Oddly, the list of books I've read is almost exclusively a subset of what you've read, Chard. I've read numbers 1-4, 7, 8, 12, 22, 26, 27, 38, 39, 41-43, and 46. I also read #16 (The Color of Magic) but you haven't (and I heartily recommend the entire Discworld series, as it's often pretty good satire disguised as a collection of silly puns). Only 17 out of 50, but as you say, it's not really a "You Must Read These" sort of list. :)
A lot of those books which I haven't read I've at least heard of and would like to. The Anne McCaffrey I tried to read when I was far too young to appreciate them, and after reading Eregon recently I've decided that I should definitely read some of her stuff (and also the Earthsea stories by Le Guin), as they're both strong influences (stolen sources?) for Eregon. Avalon just never grabbed me, and 451 I've got but just haven't picked up yet. I've also heard a lot of good about I Am Legend. As for Benford, I kinda soured on him with the last few Rama stories, but I'm not sure how much of that was his fault and how much Clarke's....
Hmmm. I read the first of the Discworld series, I think, and it didn't grab me. I either borrowed it or tossed it, or maybe I'm thinking of something else entirely. But I don't have a copy here.
Earthsea is definitely on my list. I like LeGuin (as I think I mentioned somewhere in the blog).
Jan and I plowed through two or three of the Avalon books. I liked them, but they're too long.
And I never got through the rest of the Rama series. The first one exemplifies what I said about overrated books. I think I read two, but after the first, I was clear that I really didn't want to read them all. I must have read some other Benford, at some point, but I can't figure what.
Fahrenheit 451 is very, very good. I like Bradbury in general. I'm quite partial to his book "Green Shadows, White Whale," about his experience writing the screenplay for Moby Dick. But then, I would be.
Speaking of books that should have made the list, I'd say The Chronicles of Narnia are a huge oversight.
I do recommend LeGuin.
What's Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone?
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