Another meme from Jaquandor, this time about books:
On the following list of somebody’s picks for “the most significant SF and fantasy books ever,” the bolded titles are ones I’ve read; italicized ones are those I plan to read; the strikethrough means I have no interest in the book, for whatever reason; and the question marks are beside those I’ve never of. I’ve put in comments where I felt the need.
Okay, let’s go:
- The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien
- The Foundation Trilogy, Isaac Asimov
(Read it so long ago that I don’t remember much; I’d like to revisit it.) - Dune, Frank Herbert
- Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert A. Heinlein
(One of the genre’s landmarks, the big one that everybody talks about. I don’t know how I’ve managed to evade it all these years.) - A Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula K. Le Guin
(I remember a lot of folks reading this in middle school or thereabouts, but the title does nothing for me, not even tempted.) - Neuromancer, William Gibson
(I need to re-read this one; I think I’d probably appreciate it more now than I did the first time.) - Childhood’s End, Arthur C. Clarke
- Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Philip K. Dick
(The basis for the movie Blade Runner is another I need to re-visit; I remember not understanding much of it when I read it as a kid.) - 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.
(Heard of it, know that it’s supposed to be a big classic, but don’t know enough else about it to have an opinion…) - The Caves of Steel, Isaac Asimov
- ? Children of the Atom, Wilmar Shiras
- Cities in Flight, James Blish
(Blish is best known for novelizing the classic Star Trek episodes, but this novel, in which the Earth is evacuated by lifting entire cities into space, has always sounded intriguing… especially since it reminds me of those Boston album covers I loved so much as a teen!) - The Colour of Magic, Terry Pratchett
(I have a couple of friends who are virtually addicted to Pratchett, but I haven’t yet heard or read anything about his work that appeals to me. Just not my cuppa, I guess…) - ? Dangerous Visions, edited by Harlan Ellison
- Deathbird Stories, Harlan Ellison
- The Demolished Man, Alfred Bester
(Another that I’ve heard of, but don’t know enough about to have an opinion…) - ? Dhalgren, Samuel R. Delany
- Dragonflight, Anne McCaffrey
- Ender’s Game, Orson Scott Card
- The First Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, Stephen R. Donaldson
(Another biggie around Oquirrh Hills Middle School, but they never appealed to me.) - The Forever War, Joe Haldeman
- Gateway, Frederik Pohl
(Heard of it, no opinion…) - Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, J.K. Rowling
(I’ll get around to Mr. Potter one of these days, probably after everyone else has long since lost interest…) - 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
(Heard of it, no opinion…) - ? 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
- Slaughterhouse-5, Kurt Vonnegut
- ? Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson
- Stand on Zanzibar, John Brunner
(Heard of it, no opinion…) - ? The Stars My Destination, Alfred Bester
(Never heard of of this one, obviously, but I think it’s a beautiful title.) - 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
(The adventures of Victorian explorer Sir Richard Burton resurrected and exploring an alien world? Why haven’t I gotten around to this one yet?)
