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 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
I nabbed 16. Glad to see Deathbird Stories on there…
28 for me. I gotta get out more.
I’ve read 2, which is 2 more than I thought I would have done.
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.
I’ve also read just 2… should get started with a few other on the list.
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.
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.)
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.
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.
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.
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…