This entry was published at least two years ago (originally posted on January 19, 2010). Since that time the information may have become outdated or my beliefs may have changed (in general, assume a more open and liberal current viewpoint). A fuller disclaimer is available.
Obviously, a list like this one is subject to a lot of debate due to everyone’s personal taste. Still, it’s not a bad list of works. Herewith, in true blog-meme style, the list, with those that I’ve read in bold. 35 out of 100. Not bad, but could be better!
(Note: Though this list is numbered 1-100, it should be read as being 100-1. That is, the #100 spot on this list is the #1 spot on the original list. Just a side effect of the HTML list that I don’t feel like trying to hack around.)
- The Word For World Is Forest by Ursula K. LeGuin
- Sorcerer’s Son by Phyllis Eisenstein
- Beggars in Spain by Nancy Kress
- The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch
- Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson
- Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke
- The Company by K.J. Parker
- An Evil Guest by Gene Wolfe
- Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton
- Danny, The Champion of the World by Roald Dahl
- Camp Concentration by Thomas Disch
- Swordspoint by Ellen Kushner
- Song of Kali by Dan Simmons
- Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card
- A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter Miller
- Sphere by Michael Crichton
- Fevre Dream by George R.R. Martin
- The Alteration by Kingsley Amis
- The Dragonriders of Pern by Anne McCaffrey
- The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers
- Watership Down by Richard Adams
- Griffin’s Egg by Michael Swanwick
- Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan
- Free Live Free by Gene Wolfe
- Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke
- Ringworld by Larry Niven
- Schismatrix by Bruce Sterling
- Old Man’s War by John Scalzi
- Maske: Thaery by Jack Vance
- The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley
- The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury
- Flow My Tears The Policeman Said by Philip K. Dick
- The Gods Themselves by Isaac Asimov
- The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson
- The High Crusade by Poul Anderson
- A Song for Lya by George R.R. Martin
- At the Mountains of Madness by H.P. Lovecraft
- Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
- Wildlife by James Patrick Kelly
- The Book of Knights by Yves Maynard
- The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan (Well, I made it up to book six or seven, then decided to wait until he was dead or the series was finished, since there was no end in sight. Now he’s dead, and I’m just waiting for the last book to appear in paperback before starting over.)
- Forever Peace by Joe Haldeman
- Nightwings by Robert Silverberg
- The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
- Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
- Gravity’s Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon
- The Book of the Short Sun by Gene Wolfe
- The Forever War by Joe Haldeman
- Foundation by Isaac Asimov
- The Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. LeGuin
- The Wizard Knight by Gene Wolfe
- The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
- The Demon Princes by Jack Vance
- Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
- The Baroque Cycle by Neal Stephenson
- Alastor by Jack Vance
- The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells
- Flatland by Edwin Abbott
- Farmer in the Sky by Robert Heinlein
- A Scanner Darkly by Philip K. Dick
- Animal Farm by George Orwell
- The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
- Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
- Lyonesse by Jack Vance
- Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein
- True Names by Vernor Vinge
- Ubik by Philip K. Dick
- The Hyperion Cantos by Dan Simmons
- Citizen of the Galaxy by Robert Heinlein
- A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
- A Fire Upon The Deep by Vernor Vinge
- Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov
- More Than Human by Theodore Sturgeon
- Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
- 1984 by George Orwell
- I Am Legend by Richard Matheson
- The Cadwal Chronicles by Jack Vance
- Lost Horizon by James Hilton
- Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
- The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
- The Fifth Head of Cerebus by Gene Wolfe
- A Song of Ice And Fire by George R.R. Martin
- Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein
- The Fionavar Tapestry by Guy Gavriel Kay
- The Master and the Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
- The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick
- All My Sins Remembered by Joe Haldeman
- The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
- Planet of Adventure by Jack Vance
- Dune by Frank Herbert
- A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
- The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. LeGuin
- The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe
- Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
- Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
- Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay
- The Dispossessed by Ursula K. LeGuin
- The Dying Earth by Jack Vance
- The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinlein
- The Book of the Long Sun by Gene Wolfe
It makes me sad that A Wrinkle in Time is significantly higher on the list than Ender’s Game. I guess it’s a product of it’s time, because when I read it a couple years ago I was downright insulted by the anti-communist propaganda throughout. Although Ender’s Game got Card in trouble for being a Hitler apologist, so maybe it’s not really that different after all.
And is Watership Down really scifi/fantasy? I mean, the rabbits communicated in english, but is that really all it takes?
Where is Neuromancer?
Run, don’t walk, to read The Dispossessed, A Fire Upon the Deep, Cat’s Cradle, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, Forever War, and Tigana. Holy Zarquon.
Not listed, but great: Rainbows End (Vinge) (and yes, there is no apostrophe), Anathem (Stephenson).
If you haven’t already read all of the Hugos and Nebulas, you know what you doing – move all zig.
Finally, a separate mention for The Demolished Man (Alfred Betster, the first Hugo winner). It’s unlike anything I’ve ever read. And yes, the Babylon 5 character is his namesake.
Erp, that’s ‘Bester’. Sheesh.
I lost track of my count… But if I can make any recommendations for ones you haven’t read – anything by Joe Haldeman, anything by Guy Gavriel Kay (the Fionavar Tapestry in particular is amazing, but Tigana is also absolutely brilliant), and anything by John Scalzi. No William Gibson is an absolute travesty, as well.
I’m reading Le Guin’s The Word for World is Forest right now, and I think Vinge’s A Fire Upon The Deep will be next, as Vinge is the Guest of Honor at Norwescon this year. The rest (especially those recommendations above) are definitely on my “to read eventually” list — it’s all a matter of which ones I find when I go used-book trolling. Thanks for the recommendations!
Let’s see… 23 books on that list that I’ve read. But a lot of the ones I haven’t read are on my (eternally growing) list of stuff I want to read some time.
I’m feeling pretty good about myself because I’ve read two you haven’t (although you’ve read far more of them than I have, of course): The Man in the High Castle (86) and The Left Hand of Darkness (92). They should be on a shelf in the living room somewhere, if you want to read them.
You seem to have made the mistake of placing what should be number 1 with number 88. It’s ok, I’m still learning my numbers too.