Once again, my sheep-like characteristics manifest themselves and I find myself dutifully following Orac, PZ, Bora, Joseph, John, Rob, and Afarensis in listing (in bold) those of the "Most Significant SF & Fantasy Books of the Last 50 Years" that I have read.
- 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
Meh. Nineteen out of fifty. I used to read a lot more of this kind of stuff.
Comments
I've read all but 6 14 40 43 and 49. However, a lot of them I didn't particularly care for. This list is pretty odd, I think.
Posted by: The Ridger | March 11, 2007 5:21 PM
I've read almost all of those and liked them. In my old age, for some reason I'm liking authors that would never make anyone's list - saberhagen and foster (an arizonian). Little to do with actual science, but more with characterization and imagination, and most importantly - good escapism.
Posted by: Ardneh | March 11, 2007 7:37 PM
I've only read 1, 4, 8, 27, 29 and 43. Dang! Even more books for me to read and I still haven't made it through Neal Stephenson's Baroque Cycle yet. :) Some other SF and fantasy authors I recommend are Ken MacLeod (especially his "Fall Revolution" series) and James Morrow.
Posted by: Sean | March 12, 2007 4:08 AM