Gacked from scendan

[madbaker]

So the Science Fiction Book Club has listed what they see as the 50 most significant Scifi and Fantasy books of the last 50 years. I thought that I would copy scendan, in listing them and bold the ones that I have read.  With occasional comments.


1. The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien (I read this when I was eight. I cried when Shelob stung Frodo and I thought he died.)
2. The Foundation Trilogy, Isaac Asimov (One of the first SF series I read. I liked it better then, before Asimov fell victim to the dreaded Unified Universe Disease, where you tie every single book you ever wrote into the same universe, regardless of whether it makes any sort of sense.)
3. Dune, Frank Herbert (If he had stopped there, it would have been a better book.)
4. Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert A. Heinlein (I've read the uncut version. Let's just say that editors often earn their pay.)
5. A Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula K. Le Guin
6. Neuromancer, William Gibson (I loved it when it was revolutionary rather than a "seminal cyberpunk work". Also when it was a fantastic first book rather than the only decent thing he wrote for fifteen years) 
7. Childhood’s End, Arthur C. Clarke
8. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Philip K. Dick (I loved this. I also liked Bladerunner, although I was glad they changed the title, since the only thing it had in common was the main character's name.)
9. The Mists of Avalon, Marion Zimmer Bradley (Meh. Never had any interest in her works.)
10. Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury (A wonderful man - I got to sit with him over dinner in college.)
11. The Book of the New Sun, Gene Wolfe (Okay, I actually only got through 3/4 of the series before giving up in disgust. I kind of liked the first book, though.  Especially having a torturer's guild, and a color that is deeper than black.)
12. A Canticle for Leibowitz, Walter M. Miller, Jr. (I read this as part of a History and Religion class in college.)
13. The Caves of Steel, Isaac Asimov
14. Children of the Atom, Wilmar Shiras
15. Cities in Flight, James Blish
16. The Colour of Magic, Terry Pratchett (I enjoyed this one. Then they went downhill for the next 57 books.)
17. Dangerous Visions, edited by Noted Futurist Harlan Ellison
18. Deathbird Stories, Noted Futurist Harlan Ellison
19. The Demolished Man, Alfred Bester
20. Dhalgren, Samuel R. Delany
21. Dragonflight, Anne McCaffrey (Better before she gave in to simply writing romances with a SF overlay. I didn't much care for the rest of the series.
22. Ender’s Game, Orson Scott Card (I loved, loved the short story.  The novels - especially as the series went on - not so much.)
23. The First Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, Stephen R. Donaldson (Count me in the "hate" column)
24. The Forever War, Joe Haldeman
25. Gateway, Frederik Pohl
26. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, J.K. Rowling
27. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams (I have a towel in my car at all times.  'Nuff said.)
28. I Am Legend, Richard Matheson
29. Interview with the Vampire, Anne "batshit" Rice (My comment while reading: "Enough with the whining already!")
30. The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K. Le Guin
31. Little, Big, John Crowley
32. Lord of Light, Roger Zelazny (My all-time fave fave fave Zelazny book. One of his favorites, too. At least that's what he said in '89 or so.)
33. The Man in the High Castle, Philip K. Dick
34. Mission of Gravity, Hal Clement
35. More Than Human, Theodore Sturgeon
36. The Rediscovery of Man, Cordwainer Smith
37. On the Beach, Nevil Shute
38. Rendezvous with Rama, Arthur C. Clarke
39. Ringworld, Larry Niven
40. Rogue Moon, Algis Budrys
41. The Silmarillion, J.R.R. Tolkien (I tried to read this at eight, but gave up and skipped to the end where the good stuff about forging the Rings was.)
42. Slaughterhouse-5, Kurt Vonnegut (Why is this man considered a legend? I hated everything of his I read.)
43. Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson (The first Stephenson I read.  About the best, I think.)
44. Stand on Zanzibar, John Brunner
45. The Stars My Destination, Alfred Bester
46. Starship Troopers, Robert A. Heinlein (The book that started me reading SF. I still have that very copy, salvaged from the elementary school library when it closed.)
47. Stormbringer, Michael Moorcock
48. The Sword of Shannara, Terry Brooks (Of all the Tolkein ripoffs to choose from, I read this one. Can I have my ten hours back?)
49. Timescape, Gregory Benford
50. To Your Scattered Bodies Go, Philip Jose Farmer

Comments

[tsgeisel.livejournal.com]

I read The Sword of Shannara before I read LoTR. I didn't understand the fuss...

Now it's been so long that I just don't remember it.

[goldenstag.livejournal.com]

48. The Sword of Shannara, Terry Brooks (Of all the Tolkein ripoffs to choose from, I read this one. Can I have my ten hours back?)

Hahaha. Ah yes. The Sword of Shanana ... one of the worst reads of my life.

[cvirtue.livejournal.com]

I have no idea why it's on the list. I liked it a bit, but I was 13, and there was actually a girl who got to Do Things in there, so that was about all I needed. Oh, and I liked the illustrations.

But that pretty much sums it up.

HERETIC!

[learnteach.livejournal.com]

PRATCHETT IS A GHOD!

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PRATCHETT IS A GHOD! <FROTH,FROTH, HONK, SQUEE!>

I dunno. I think his best book, of all of them (and I do mean all of them) has to be "Wee Free Men" for me.

But it's a hard, hard, choice. Still, if he's gone downhill, it's been a slow coast compared to all those other hotrodding authors there. Piers Anthony, etc.

And try the Le Guin, you might like it. I can loan you a copy if you like.

Re: HERETIC!

[madbaker.livejournal.com]

As I said, I actually liked The Colour of Magic. But his quality declined as the series went on. And on. And on. Ad nauseum.

He may well have gotten better at some point, but I'd long since lost interest.

(Piers Anthony, on the other hand, was never any good. I just didn't know any better when I was ten.)