And I’ll play along on the book meme…
Via Mostly Cajun, and a WHOLE bunch of other folks, the NPR’s Top 100 Science Fiction and Fantasy novels with the ones I have read in bold:
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- This SHOULD be required reading for everybody today! It is now on the required reading list for the Military!
4. The Dune Chronicles, by Frank Herbert Well, I read the original and that was it… Lost interest…
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 – THIS was one of Isaac’s best.
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
21. Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?, by Philip K. Dick
22. The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood
23. The Dark Tower Series, by Stephen King
24. 2001: A Space Odyssey, by Arthur C. Clarke
25. The Stand, by Stephen King
26. Snow Crash, by Neal Stephenson
27. The Martian Chronicles, by Ray Bradbury
28. Cat’s Cradle, by Kurt Vonnegut- Another HARD read…
29. The Sandman Series, by Neil Gaiman
30. A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess
31. Starship Troopers, by Robert Heinlein
32. Watership Down, by Richard Adams
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 This one was HARD to get through…
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 – I will be. I’ve actually read ALL his books…
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- Read all three of his…
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 Gabaldan
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 – And after I was done, my reaction was “Meh.”
96. Lucifer’s Hammer, by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle
97. Doomsday Book, by Connie Willis
98. Perdido Street Station, by China Mieville
99. The Xanth Series, by Piers Anthony
100. The Space Trilogy, by C.S. Lewis
I’ve read over half of them, after all those LOOOOOONG flights are good for something, along with a bunch of nights in hotels…
I also recommend getting an e-reader, as they DO save money, space, and are convenient as hell 🙂
But some, like Gaiman, I just can’t get into… Others not on the list, Andre Norton, Spider Robinson, John Ringo, David Drake, and a bunch of others in the long past…
Sadly, if you gave this list to a teen today, I’d have doubts that they would have read 10 of them…
And if you go over to Kevin’s blog Smallest Minority, he’s starting his own Top 100 list!
If you gave this list to a teen, today, I doubt any could read the list!
You’ve read some that I haven’t and missed some that I have. Flowers for Algernon was made into a movie called Charly, staring Cliff Robertson. Just about the time the MASH movie came out I think. Book was good, movie wasn’t bad.
le Guin’s The Dispossessed is one you’d probably like. Many of those on the list fall more in the fantasy genre than sci-fi. le Guin is both artist and philosopher.
I Robot was one of the first sci-fi books I read, and Asimov is my all-time favorite author. The movie with Will Smith is a sorry excuse. They had to wait for Asimov to die before they could peddle that garbage.
I didn’t see Heinlein’s Orphans of the Sky on the list… or did I miss it. Definitely a top 100 novel for me.
Being stuck in some of those forsaken West African outposts and backwater South American airports made good time for reading.
Andre Norton: Time Traders, and a lot more!
I recommend the Watchmen graphic novel.
Better than the movie.
Clifford Simak. I left out Cities in Flight. Good one too. and its kind of interesting that Greg Bear is left off the list. Lots of folks think he is Heinlein reincarnate.
Worthy cause, Ambulance Driver. I wear both a belt and suspenders. How do you keep a kilt on?
Guffaw- I hope at least SOME of them can read…
MB- Thanks for the recommendations! Their list is kinda funky… They ARE missing good books!
Ed- That’s one I haven’t read, thanks too!
MB- Yep Greg Bear is good!
WSF- Dunno, I don’t have one, and sure as hell ain’t gonna wear one 🙂 That would give commando a whole NEW meaning!!!
Just read this post and have read all you highlighted except 30,53,83,+86. Add too yours 14,18,40,42,48,52,62,67,78,89,100.
Have been a member of the SFBC ever since I found them 20 years or so ago. I have 23 milk cases full of those same sized books in my attic, and at least one of my 15 year old granddaughters is working her way thru them. She especially loves the A. McCaffery, Dragon riders of Pern series! Me too!
Are you still enjoying those classroom days?
Still no work on my SCAR 17!!! Man, my gun shop must be on the bottom of the list!
I’m a little confused. Why do we care what NPR thinks?
Ev- When you don’t have TV or the internet or Playstations and that crap, you read 🙂 Glad the grand is reading, it will not hurt her! I can give my dealer a call if you want me to!
Andy- All I can say is boredom??? 🙂
The largest percentage of that which is on NPR is apolitical, entertaining, educational and worthwhile. Cutting off the nose to spite the face is not necessarily the best of policies.