The NPR "Top 100 SFF Books" meme

[starlady]

Or basically, how much of your lifetime reading capacity have you wasted reading popular crap by mostly white men?

by way of boundbooks:  NPR Books: Your Picks: Top 100 Science-Fiction, Fantasy Books
NPR Books: Monkey See: NPR's Top 100 Science Fiction And Fantasy Novels: Parsing The Results

Bold if you've read, italicize ones you fully intend to read, underline if it's a book/series you've read part but not all of. Also added troisroyaumes's strikethrough if you never plan to read.

boundbooks - I'm also adding a * if I'd recommend reading it!

1. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, by J.R.R. Tolkien*
2. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams
3. Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card
4. The Dune Chronicles, by Frank Herbert
5. A Song of Ice and Fire Series, by George R. R. Martin
6. 1984, by George Orwell*
7. Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury
8. The Foundation Trilogy, by Isaac Asimov
9. Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley*
10. American Gods, by Neil Gaiman
11. The Princess Bride, by William Goldman
12. The Wheel Of Time Series, by Robert Jordan
13. Animal Farm, by George Orwell*
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
18. The Kingkiller Chronicles, by Patrick Rothfuss
19. Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut
20. Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley*
22. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, by Philip K. Dick
23. The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood
24. The Dark Tower Series, by Stephen King
25. 2001: A Space Odyssey, by Arthur C. Clarke
26. The Stand, by Stephen King
27. Snow Crash, by Neal Stephenson
28. The Martian Chronicles, by Ray Bradbury
29. Cat's Cradle, by Kurt Vonnegut
30. The Sandman Series, by Neil Gaiman
31. A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess
32. Starship Troopers, by Robert Heinlein
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*
38. Flowers for Algernon, by Daniel Keys
39. The War of the Worlds, by H.G. Wells
40. The Chronicles of Amber, by Roger Zelazny
41. The Belgariad, by David Eddings
42. The Mists of Avalon, by Marion Zimmer Bradley
43. The Mistborn Series, by Brandon Sanderson
44. Ringworld, by Larry Niven
45. The Left Hand of Darkness, by Ursula K. LeGuin*
46. The Silmarillion, by J.R.R. Tolkien*
47. The Once and Future King, by T.H. White
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
58. The Chronicles Of Thomas Covenant, The Unbeliever, by Stephen R. Donaldson
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
67. The Shannara Trilogy, by Terry Brooks
68. The Conan the Barbarian Series, by R.E. Howard
69. The Farseer Trilogy, by Robin Hobb
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
77. The Kushiel's Legacy Series, by Jacqueline Carey
78. The Dispossessed, by Ursula K. LeGuin*
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*
88. The Thrawn Trilogy, by Timothy Zahn*
89. The Outlander Series, by Diana Gabaldon
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
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 Miéville*
99. The Xanth Series, by Piers Anthony
100. The Space Trilogy, by C.S. Lewis


I cannot believe there's no…actually, no, I can believe just about anything. I'm glad I didn't waste too much of my life reading all these Clarke and Heinlein and Asimov books, though.

Is The Crystal Cave good?  It's almost the only book on here that I haven't heard of and sounds interesting.

Comments

[oursin]

It's years since I read The Crystal Cave but I remember it as enjoyable, providing you like Arthuriana, and it's an interesting take on that.

[rodo]

That list makes me want to take up Perry Rhodan (only I plan to do something else in the next ten years) and something by Lem. Is there any author but Jules Verne on there who didn't write in English?

[starlady]

*squints* Nope, I don't think so. Bleh.

[lilacsigil]

The Crystal Cave and the three sequels are a really interesting Merlin-centric take on the Arthur legend. I loved them as a teenager and found they stood up well to re-reading (much better than many of my other teen favourites!)

[blueswan]

Here via my network. I'm currently re-reading The Crystal Cave and enjoying it very much. It's been a long time since I first read it and I think it holds up very well.

[ambyr]

Not that you need to justify your reading or anything, but any particular reason you're opposed to A Fire upon the Deep? (I suppose I feel it deserves better than be lumped in the same category as Xanth and Drizzt.)

[holyschist]

I cannot speak for starlady, but I intensely hated A Fire Upon the Deep, not because it was abysmal writing or borderline pedophiliac like Xanth but because I thought the characterization was flat and implausible, the basic premise ridiculous, and the underlying ethics gross. I pretty much hated it, but in a different way.

I don't think "strikethroughs" are all in the same category, necessarily--I know my list had a combination of authors I knew I hated and subgenres that just didn't interest me (I struck through all the epic Tolkien-mold fantasy, but that doesn't mean I think it must be terrible).

[ambyr]

Huh. I fully support your right to hate the book, but I would not have guessed you hated it from that review! You are a much nicer review than I am.

(It is mostly the Tines that I reread it for. I tend to forget--and even skim--the other plotline.)

[holyschist]

Welllll, I did not hate it initially--I read it compulsively and thought there was a lot of cool stuff in it at the time, and just felt sort of dissatisfied. The hate of the underlying ethics and whatnot grew on me over the following year.

(I did think the aliens--both the Tines and the Skroderiders--were pretty interesting, and better-characterized than the humans. Unfortunately, there was everything else, and I thought the "twist" with the Skroderiders was cheap.)

[ambyr]

Yeah, I can see that. I had a similar reaction to the prequel.

So what we need is fanfiction about the Tines doing their own thing and being awesome at it, clearly!

[holyschist]

I would probably read it, but I do not long for it in my heart.

I wouldn't mind a fixit making the Skroderiders not SPOILER ex machina, though. Man, that annoyed me.

[starlady]

I…have heard things. Maybe a strikeout is actually a bit strong, considering how little intention I have of reading many of the things I didn't strikeout, but.

[holyschist]

The Crystal Cave is Arthurian historical fantasy (IIRC heavier on the historical, but with definite magical elements); I adored it to pieces as a teenager, but I haven't reread it recently. I'd say it's worth reading, at any rate, unless you don't like Arthuriana--it's a classic Arthurian book for a reason.

[meganbmoore]

I remember liking The Crystal Cave, but (like the majority of those onthe list that I've read) haven't read it since high school.

As has been sussed out in comments elsewhere: Most/a lot of the SFF by women or about girls fell into the criteria of what the listmakers considered YA/kids, even if not all of what they write/wrote falls into that. There's a YA version coming out next year, but it seems to be considered a category for "lesser" works.

Doesn't address the lack of, say, Joanna Russ, Octavia Butler or Ellen Kushner.

[starlady]

Or C.J. Cherryh or Patricia McKillip or Andre freaking Norton!!!

I'm absolutely not surprised about the contents of the list, and I don't find the listmakers' arbitrary, stupid limits particularly surprising either, which is part of why I didn't bother to offer commentary on the books themselves or on the list. We've said this all before and I'm just taking it as read. But oh is it infuriating if I let myself think about it.

[contrary]

I liked but did not love the Crystal Cave series as a kid, though it's been an awfully long time since I read it. I recall it taking the "this looks like magic... but maybe it's just luck and unusual natural phenomenon and altered mental states? ... but it sure does have that magic feel!" approach to its supernatural elements that some authors take. I find that kind of thing a bit frustrating unless done very well, but YMMV. Also I've never been crazy about the Arthurian plot arcs anyway.

Okay, I feel like we've had this conversation before, but no TH White? I am mildly surprised.

Also, WRT to the list, how the hell did they pick up one Robin McKinley and have that one be Sunshine? I mean, I like Sunshine, but it's hardly the most loved OR most influential of her books. I suspect it might be their YA bar, but Sunshine really is not no more nor less a YA than, say, the Blue Sword or Hero and the Crown.

AND now that I'm ranting, have you noticed that "young woman comes of age" is YA, but "young man comes of age" isn't? Xanth Chronicles and Ender's Game, I'm looking at you (and a few others)...

[starlady]

I tried T.H. White at least once that I can recall. I seem to remember deciding around the time that Arthur lived for months as a goose that I had better ways to spend my life. And at this point I have no impulse to go back.

I think we can all agree that this list is bullshit, yes. And re: McKinley specifically, the Damar books have been released in adult editions at least once that I know of, and I would've thought Beauty or Deerskin would be the one book of hers, which are both fairly adult.

[seichan]

thought i would recognize more of these, but i guess i'm not as much of a sff reader as i thought.

i did read & enjoy #1-2. :)

[starlady]

I distinctly remember laughing at only one of the jokes in Hitchhiker's Guide when I read it; I fully suspect that I was too young to grasp most of the humor. But I don't feel much impulse to reread at this point.

As far as this list goes: you're not missing much. I do recommend the starred books, but that's about it.

[(Anonymous)]

One of his ex-coworkers on Dr Who said that he was great at one-liners, but terrible at keeping the plot coherent.

I personally fully agree with that. There was a lot of cleverness, and it definitely changed the way scifi was percieved, but as an actual plot it was totally incoherent. Not to mention occasionally squicky on the ladybusiness front.

[aquaeri]

I've read Cryptonomnicon, and ended up deciding that Neal Stephenson thinks he's more interesting than I do. I was mostly entertained, but gosh, the digressions and lectures that I didn't think added anything.

On the other hand, I would suggest thinking about Contact. Sagan made the main character a woman, and I found her believable and complex. And the religious/spiritual discussions add to the overall sensawunda. (The movie does not handle the religion/spiritual bits so well, and should maybe have dropped them, but Jodie Foster is a great Ellie Arroway.)

Handmaid's Tale is in my opinion better if you remember that Atwood has odd ideas about SF and doesn't read it.

[starlady]

I actually love Stephenson a lot, but I've only read The Baroque Trilogy thus far, which I think has given me a warped perspective based on other things I've heard.

I'm not opposed to reading Contact, I liked the movie and Carl Sagan was awesome.