Best 100 SF

[kengr]

Note:, I don't agree that these are the best or even that some are SF.


Bold means I've read it.

1 Childhood's End Arthur C. Clarke
2 Foundation Isaac Asimov
3 Dune Frank Herbert
4 Man in the High Castle Philip K. Dick (may have, but not sure)
5 Starship Troopers Robert A. Heinlein
6 Valis Philip K. Dick
7 Frankenstein Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
8 Gateway Frederik Pohl
9 Space Merchants Frederik Pohl
10 Earth Abides George R. Stewart
11 Cuckoo's Egg C.J. Cherryh
12 Star Surgeon James White
13 The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch Philip K. Dick
14 Radix A. A. Attanasio
15 2001: A Space Odyssey Arthur C. Clarke
16 Ringworld Larry Niven
17 A Case of Conscience James Blish
18 Last and First Man Olaf Stapledon (started, couldn't finish)
19 The Day of the Triffids John Wyndham
20 Way Station Clifford D. Simak
21 More Than Human Theodore Sturgeon
22 Gray Lensman E.E. "Doc" Smith
23 The Gods Themselves Isaac Asimov
24 The Left Hand of Darkness Ursula K. Le Guin
25 Behold the Man Michael Moorcock
26 Star Maker Olaf Stapledon
27 The War of the Worlds H. G. Wells
28 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea Jules Verne
29 Heritage of Hastur Marion Zimmer Bradley
30 The Time Machine H. G. Wells
31 The Stars My Destination Alfred Bester
32 Slan A. E. Van Vogt
33 Neuromancer William Gibson
34 Ender's Game Orson Scott Card (only the short stories that went into it)
35 In Conquest Born C. S. Friedman
36 Lord of Light Roger Zelazny
37 Eon Greg Bear
38 Dragonflight Anne McCaffrey
39 Journey to the Center of the Earth Jules Verne
40 Stranger in a Strange Land Robert A. Heinlein
41 Cosm Gregory Benford
42 The Voyage of the Space Beagle A. E. Van Vogt
43 Blood Music Greg Bear
44 Beggars in Spain Nancy Kress
45 Omnivore Piers Anthony
46 I, Robot Isaac Asimov
47 Mission of Gravity Hal Clement
48 To Your Scattered Bodies Go Philip Jose Farmer
49 Brave New World Aldous Huxley
50 The Man Who Folded Himself David Gerrold
51 1984 George Orwell
52 The Strange Case of Dr. Jeckyl And Mr. Hyde Robert Louis Stevenson
53 Snow Crash Neal Stephenson
54 Flesh Philip Jose Farmer (Warning! not for the squeamish!)
55 Cities in Flight James Blish
56 Shadow of the Torturer Gene Wolfe
57 Startide Rising David Brin
58 Triton Samuel R. Delany
59 Stand on Zanzibar John Brunner
60 A Clockwork Orange Anthony Burgess
61 Fahrenheit 451 Ray Bradbury
62 A Canticle for Leibowitz Walter M. Miller Jr.
63 Flowers for Algernon Daniel Keyes (have read the short story)
64 No Blade of Grass John Christopher
65 The Postman David Brin
66 Dhalgren Samuel R. Delany (not on a bet!)
67 Berserker Fred Saberhagen
68 Flatland Edwin Abbott Abbott
69 Planiverse A. K. Dewdney
70 Dragon's Egg Robert L. Forward
71 Downbelow Station C. J. Cherryh
72 Dawn Octavia E. Butler
73 The Puppet Masters Robert A. Heinlein
74 The Doomsday Book Connie Willis
75 Forever War Joe Haldeman
76 Deathbird Stories Harlan Ellison
77 Roadside Picnic Arkady Strugatsky
78 The Snow Queen Joan D. Vinge
79 The Martian Chronicles Ray Bradbury
80 Drowned World J.G. Ballard
81 Cat's Cradle Kurt Vonnegut
82 Red Mars Kim Stanley Robinson
83 Upanishads Various
84 Alice in Wonderland Lewis Carroll
85 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Douglas Adams
86 The Lathe of Heaven Ursula K. Le Guin
87 The Midwich Cuckoos John Wyndham
88 Mutant Henry Kuttner
89 Solaris Stanislaw Lem
90 Ralph 124C41+ Hugo Gernsback
91 I Am Legend Richard Matheson
92 Timescape Gregory Benford
93 The Demolished Man Alfred Bester
94 War with the Newts Karl Kapek
95 Mars Ben Bova
96 Brain Wave Poul Anderson
97 Hyperion Dan Simmons
98 The Andromeda Strain Michael Crichton
99 Camp Concentration Thomas M. Disch (the short story was bad enough. Ick!)
100 A Princess of Mars Edgar Rice Burroughs

Comments

[popesnarky.livejournal.com]

I've read a large number of these, own over half (IIRC), and actually liked quite a few...OK, a list: Read and may own: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 13 (I think), 15, 16, 17, 19, 21 (the short version, at very least, when I was a kid), 23 (I think), 24, 25, 27, 28 (got bored and didn't finish), 30, 33, 36, 38, 39, 40, 42, 45, 46, 48, 49, been meaning to read 50, 51, 52, 56, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 65, 66, 67, 73, 76, 79, 81, bits of 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 91, 98, and 100; 98% certain that I own, though it may be buried inside the stacks of boxes right outside my room: 1, 2, 3, 5, 8(?), 9(?), 15, 16(?), 17(? One of 'em...), 21(?), 22, 24(?), 25, 29, 32(?), 33, 34, 37, 40, 42, 43, 45, 46, 48, 49, 51, 55, 56, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 65, 66, 67, 72, 73, 79, 81, 82, 85, 86, 87, 93, 97, 100 (alright, it /seemed/ like over half, but it's just under...); actually really liked: 3, 4, 5, 8, 13, 16, 19, 21, 24, 25, 27, 30, 33, 38, 40, 42, 45, 48, 59, 60, 61, 62, 65, 66, 73, 76, 79, 81, and 85. Yes, I prefer Harlan to Isaac, on the whole, and I honestly did finish Dhalgren -- quite a read, though the diary entries kinda force one to back-track a fair amount, in order to continue reading them in anything remotely resembling a linear manner (take the totally non-linear approach, and you'll get lost -- there's plenty of unavoidable non-linearity as it is). All-in-all, I recommend this list, with an eye towards reading as many different oeuvres as possible -- Heinlein, Moorcock, Anthony and MZB should be enough to take up a decade or so, between collecting and reading 'em...;-{)}

[kengr]

I gave up on Delany after Nova. I *should* have given up after the Towers of Toron trilogy.

But Babel 17 & Ballad of Beta 2 are great.

[kengr]

Heinlein, Moorcock, Anthony and MZB should be enough to take up a decade or so, between collecting and reading 'em...;-{)}

You must read slowly :-)

To give you an example, I managed to read The Deed of Paksenarrion (a rather thick Trade paperback) in about 12 hours. It severely impacted my reading of LJ & my mail though.

[popesnarky.livejournal.com]

Well, I'd imagine the collecting part would take awhile -- it did with me...In fact, I was being optimistic.;-{)}

[kengr]

Ah. That's right, you don't have a resource such as Powells Books in your city. :-)

[popesnarky.livejournal.com]

Wouldn't say that -- but I'm not rich. Takes awhile to buy that many books...

[kengr]

Used book stores are your friend.

[popesnarky.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, they aren't necessarily as well-stocked as one might wish. Not to mention that I have a habit of not trading my books away unless they're accidentally purchased copies of ones I already have...Remember those stacks of boxes?
;-{)}

[kengr]

Oh, I don't trade books away at used book stores. But even good condition used books are cheaper than new. And places like Powells often have all sorts of things hiding in them.

Re: Collecting the complete works of sf authors

[popesnarky.livejournal.com]

True. But collecting one entire oeuvre, much less four, of a rather prolific author, buying only second-hand, can take a long time, unless one is willing to spend a great deal of time to find them relatively quickly, which means that work would necessarily suffer, *unless* one is unemployed/on welfare, in which case funds are more limited. If one is independently wealthy, of course, it's all very much simpler -- buy 'em wholesale, all at once. But where's the fun in that? ;-{)}