a book meme

[kmusser]

That list of 100 SF/F books that's been going around:



Bold what you've read, italicise what you want to read, underline what you've read part of, commentary in parentheses.

1. The Lord Of The Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkien (the grand-daddy, deservedly so)
2. The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, by Douglas Adams (I love this book, but #2?)
3. Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card (I love this book, but #3?)
4. The Dune Chronicles, by Frank Herbert (The first one counts as great, I think I made it to the third before giving up on the others - read some of the prequals as well and found them enjoyable but not of the same caliber)
5. A Song Of Ice And Fire Series, by George R. R. Martin (would be my #2)
6. 1984, by George Orwell (read for school)
7. Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury (read for school)
8. The Foundation Trilogy, by Isaac Asimov (would be #2 in importance to the genre, but I've always found Asimov's writing kind of dry)
9. Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
10. American Gods, by Neil Gaiman (awesome book, but for Gaiman I'd list Sandman higher)
11. The Princess Bride, by William Goldman
12. The Wheel Of Time Series, by Robert Jordan (I read half of one of them and just never got sucked in)
13. Animal Farm, by George Orwell (read for school)
14. Neuromancer, by William Gibson
15. Watchmen, by Alan Moore
16. I, Robot, by Isaac Asimov
17. Stranger In A Strange Land, by Robert Heinlein (one of those formative books when I was younger, explains a lot)
18. The Kingkiller Chronicles, by Patrick Rothfuss (first on the list that I've never heard of, should I hunt it down?)
19. Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut (read for school)
20. Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley (I have a copy, but have never gotten around to reading it)
21. Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?, by Philip K. Dick (read recently, I was surprised by how drastically different it was from Blade Runner)
22. The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood
23. The Dark Tower Series, by Stephen King (about half way through them, I do want to finish them eventually)
24. 2001: A Space Odyssey, by Arthur C. Clarke (have seen the movie)
25. The Stand, by Stephen King
26. Snow Crash, by Neal Stephenson (love this one)
27. The Martian Chronicles, by Ray Bradbury
28. Cat's Cradle, by Kurt Vonnegut (another formative book, probably even more key than Stranger in forming my worldview)
29. The Sandman Series, by Neil Gaiman (great stuff, those that dismiss Gaiman based only on his novels are missing out)
30. A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess (saw the movie)
31. Starship Troopers, by Robert Heinlein
32. Watership Down, by Richard Adams (saw the movie)
33. Dragonflight, by Anne McCaffrey
34. The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress, by Robert Heinlein
35. A Canticle For Leibowitz, by Walter M. Miller
36. The Time Machine, by H.G. Wells
37. 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, by Jules Verne (I may have started this at one point, but I don't think I ever finished it)
38. Flowers For Algernon, by Daniel Keys
39. The War Of The Worlds, by H.G. Wells (have listened to the radio broadcast, which is awesome)
40. The Chronicles Of Amber, by Roger Zelazny
41. The Belgariad, by David Eddings
42. The Mists Of Avalon, by Marion Zimmer Bradley (my introduction to Paganism)
43. The Mistborn Series, by Brandon Sanderson
44. Ringworld, by Larry Niven
45. The Left Hand Of Darkness, by Ursula K. Le Guin
46. The Silmarillion, by J.R.R. Tolkien (via audiobook, I never could make it through the dead tree version)
47. The Once And Future King, by T.H. White (read for school, after I had already read Malory, thought this was crap in comparison)
48. Neverwhere, by Neil Gaiman
49. Childhood's End, by Arthur C. Clarke
50. Contact, by Carl Sagan
51. The Hyperion Cantos, by Dan Simmons
52. Stardust, by Neil Gaiman
53. Cryptonomicon, by Neal Stephenson
54. World War Z, by Max Brooks
55. The Last Unicorn, by Peter S. Beagle
56. The Forever War, by Joe Haldeman
57. Small Gods, by Terry Pratchett (what's this doing so far down the list? It would be in my top 10. Definitely my favorite Discword book)
58. The Chronicles Of Thomas Covenant, The Unbeliever, by Stephen R. Donaldson (read the first book and thought it was horrible)
59. The Vorkosigan Saga, by Lois McMaster Bujold
60. Going Postal, by Terry Pratchett
61. The Mote In God's Eye, by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle
62. The Sword Of Truth, by Terry Goodkind
63. The Road, by Cormac McCarthy
64. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, by Susanna Clarke
65. I Am Legend, by Richard Matheson
66. The Riftwar Saga, by Raymond E. Feist (have read a good chunk of it, but certainly not the whole thing)
67. The Shannara Trilogy, by Terry Brooks (I read the first 3 when I was in H.S. They're pretty bad)
68. The Conan The Barbarian Series, by R.E. Howard
69. The Farseer Trilogy, by Robin Hobb (read one in the middle and found it so-so)
70. The Time Traveler's Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger
71. The Way Of Kings, by Brandon Sanderson
72. A Journey To The Center Of The Earth, by Jules Verne
73. The Legend Of Drizzt Series, by R.A. Salvatore
74. Old Man's War, by John Scalzi
75. The Diamond Age, by Neil Stephenson
76. Rendezvous With Rama, by Arthur C. Clarke (ought to be higher)
77. The Kushiel's Legacy Series, by Jacqueline Carey
78. The Dispossessed, by Ursula K. Le Guin
79. Something Wicked This Way Comes, by Ray Bradbury
80. Wicked, by Gregory Maguire
81. The Malazan Book Of The Fallen Series, by Steven Erikson
82. The Eyre Affair, by Jasper Fforde
83. The Culture Series, by Iain M. Banks
84. The Crystal Cave, by Mary Stewart
85. Anathem, by Neal Stephenson
86. The Codex Alera Series, by Jim Butcher
87. The Book Of The New Sun, by Gene Wolfe (one of the few books I've read that I felt went over my head)
88. The Thrawn Trilogy, by Timothy Zahn
89. The Outlander Series, by Diana Gabaldan (on my list)
90. The Elric Saga, by Michael Moorcock
91. The Illustrated Man, by Ray Bradbury
92. Sunshine, by Robin McKinley
93. A Fire Upon The Deep, by Vernor Vinge (a great book, Vernor Vinge ought to be up higher)
94. The Caves Of Steel, by Isaac Asimov
95. The Mars Trilogy, by Kim Stanley Robinson
96. Lucifer's Hammer, by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle
97. Doomsday Book, by Connie Willis
98. Perdido Street Station, by China Mieville (Mieville, like Vinge is totally awesome and underrated)
99. The Xanth Series, by Piers Anthony (I think I read the first dozen or so, the first 4 are actually good, then it quickly deteriorates)
100. The Space Trilogy, by C.S. Lewis (this and not Narnia? granted I actually did like this one better)

What's missing?

Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling (a bit boggled by this being left off)
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle (I mean really!)
Taran Wanderer series by Lloyd Alexander (my favorite fantasy books as a kid)
Chalion series by Lois McMaster Bujold
The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell (both disturbing and awesome)
Declare by Tim Powers (or at least something by Powers, he's got lots of great stuff)
Sewer, Gas & Electric by Matt Ruff
Uplift series by David Brin (good stuff, especially Startide Rising)
Earth by David Brin
Fionavar Tapestry by Guy Gavriel Kay
Archangel by Sharon Shinn
Earthsea series by Ursula K. Le Guin (I liked these better than the Hainish series books that they do list)
Callahan's series by Spider Robinson
Gate to Women's Country by Sheri S. Tepper
The Land of Laughs by Jonathon Carroll

Comments

[radiant-one.livejournal.com]

Ridiculous that Marion Zimmer Bradley is only there once and at #42!!! That is criminal!!!

I have 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea if you want to read/finish it.

[evcelt.livejournal.com]

Are they actually in some kind of order? Maybe it's sales rank or something rather than merit or popularity.

The Kingkiller Chronicles, by Patrick Rothfuss (first on the list that I've never heard of, should I hunt it down?)

Yes... though it's coming out slowly... the two books that are out are great.