SF Book Meme, swiped from andpuff

[jennythereader]

This is a list of the 50 most significant science fiction/fantasy novels, 1953-2002, according to the Science Fiction Book Club.


Bold the ones you've read, strike-out the ones you hated, italicize those you started but never finished and put an asterisk beside the ones you loved. -I added the rule: Underline the ones you've heard of, but don't remember if you've read or not.-

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 (I couldn't finish it the first time I tried. What? I was 12.)
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*

Comments

[jennythe-reader.livejournal.com]

Yeah, they aren't the same thing at all. However, if we create a "new" genre called Speculative Fiction, then both Science Fiction & Fantasy could be considered subcatagories of that.

I wonder what the criteria were for going on the list. There were things I wouldn't have included, and there were things missing that I would have included. Although, much as I love The Postman, I don't think I would put in in an All-Time Top 50 list.

Actually....

[tetsujinnooni.livejournal.com]

Much of Science Fiction and Fantasy belong under the old definition of Romance (no, not the smutfactory variety, the OLD definition). By that definition. Fantasy even moreso than science fiction. Note that this also gets much alt-hist or historical-setting-novels like the Hornblower series.

Then Speculative Fiction can take on any of the "change this premise, what happens", in whichever setting (past/present/future) without worrying about whether it's "Skiffy" enough...

Then you can have fun discussions (for warped, warped values of fun like hotspurre and I use) about whether a given work of media or writing is speculative fiction or not.

Gets really interesting when we start picking apart works that're obviously a speculative fiction core plot with a action movie candy coating for the masses and media executives... (matrix reloaded, minority report, paycheck...)

Re: Actually....

[jennythe-reader.livejournal.com]

That's a good way to think of it.

When I get a chance I'll have to re-draw, and then post, the chart of genres and sub-genres (and sub-sub-genres and sub-sub-sub-genres, etc) that I've come up with over the years.