March 05, 2003
The 50 best...

I saw a link to a list of the 50 best Sci-Fi and Fantasy books of the last 50 years.

Quite a varied and interesting list. You should check it out.

I've read 24 of the 50. Michele's read 14 of the 50. Anyone have more than us?

You can view the list by clicking More... below.

The Most Significant SF & Fantasy Books of the Last 50 Years, 1953-2002


  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


Posted by michael at March 05, 2003 12:32 AM | TrackBack

Comments

I nabbed 16. Glad to see Deathbird Stories on there...

Posted by: BillB [http://squidly.com] on March 5, 2003 05:58 AM

28 for me. I gotta get out more.

Posted by: Joe [] on March 5, 2003 08:11 AM

I've read 2, which is 2 more than I thought I would have done.

Posted by: Mister P. [http://misterp.blogspot.com] on March 5, 2003 08:39 AM

I'm in there with 10. More than I expected because I was out of the reading thing for a long time. I didn't start reading real books again until I started dating my now wife almost 5 years ago.

Posted by: roXet [http://www.roxet.net] on March 5, 2003 08:42 AM

I've also read just 2... should get started with a few other on the list.

Posted by: Keith [http://unrelatednews.com/] on March 5, 2003 09:34 AM

I've got 30, I'd add George R.R. Martin's Song of Fire and Ice, first book is called Game of Thrones.

Hey, I'd never thought I'd find another reference to Cruft, but here ya go...you're also a dog show in Ireland.

Posted by: Jonathan Gilmore [] on March 5, 2003 09:39 AM

14. Although frankly I think I should get some extra credit for The Silmarillion. The Valar smiled upon my third attempt to get through that one, lo these many years ago...

I'm surprised to see Sword o' Sha Na Na on the list - it's LoTR recast, plot point for plot point.

The George R. R. Martin stuff is quite good.

Oh, and what about Zelzany's Amber series? (Thanks, Mike, for turning me on to that one.)

Posted by: Brad [] on March 5, 2003 10:32 AM

Check out Vance's "Dying Earth" series. It's recently been re-released with all 4 books combined into one single, larger book. Some great stuff there.

Posted by: BillB [http://squidly.com] on March 5, 2003 11:50 AM

I've read at least 18 of the 50. It may be more, but I may have forgotten the titles. This is surprising, as I've read little science fiction in the last 10 years.

Posted by: Mom [] on March 6, 2003 07:14 PM

I have only read 7 of them. Glad to see I am Legend and Rendezvous with Rama on there. The whole Rama series is pretty good.

Posted by: Travis [http://www.guyinasuit.com] on March 7, 2003 11:42 AM

16, I think. Brad, you're not the only one who made it through Silmarillion. You're also not the only one who needed more than one attempt to do it. However, having made it through the entire work (and I do mean work), I don't agree that it belongs on any "best of" list.

I think the Tad Williams "Otherland" series merits consideration, especially for an audience of cyberheads...

Posted by: RichS [] on March 8, 2003 07:11 AM
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