100 Greatest SFF Novels of All Time

[Lapis Exilis]

I just found this very interesting list and was curious what others might think of it. It is not the standard list - particularly in terms of its #1 pick which I've never even heard of (the title, that is, I know the author's name). It includes some dubious entries (I suppose an argument could be made for The Fountainhead being science fiction but it seems a stretch), it tends to the older (leaving out, for example, William Gibson), as well as other curious omissions (Bester, Wyndham, Verne and Atwood), and I must admit to having my doubts about anyone who would put Sphere on a list of best anything, and the descriptions of why many of the books fall where they do are minimal at best - but it's interesting nonetheless.

I'm sad to say I've only read 27 of the books on it, though I may use it as a guide for further reading. I like this list though, because it rightly dubs Watership Down the best novel ever written from an animal's point of view. So, there's my personal prejudice...

100 Greatest SFF Books of All Time

And for the sake of discussion, here's another 100 Best (though it's science fiction only) that seems to have a wider range, though I find it's #1 dubious at best (I really don't care for that book - the "twist" I saw coming a couple of miles away).

And for balance: 100 Greatest Fantasy Novels

Thoughts?

 

[Mistral]

here's 111 SF novels you should read before a supernova kills us all
from librarything.com

1984 by Orwell, George
Fahrenheit 451 by Bradbury, Ray
Dune by Herbert, Frank
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Universe by Adams, Douglas
Frankenstein by Shelly, Mary
I, Robot by Asimov, Isaac
Ender's Game by Card, Orson Scott
Brave New World by Huxley, Aldous
Foundation by Asimov, Isaac
The Time Machine by Wells, H. G.
The War of the Worlds by Wells, H. G.
2001: A Space Odyssey by Clarke, Arthur C.
Invisible Man by Wells, H. G.
Journey to the Center of the Earth by Verne, Jules
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Verne, Jules
The Handmaid's Tale by Atwood, Margaret
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Stevenson, Robert Louis
A Clockwork Orange by Burgess, Anthony
Slaughterhouse-Five by Vonnegut, Kurt
Stranger in a Strange Land by Heinlein, Robert A.
The Martian Chronicles by Bradbury, Ray
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Dick, Philip K.
Childhood's End by Clarke, Arthur C.
Flowers for Algernon by Keyes, Daniel
The Caves of Steel by Asimov, Isaac
Something Wicked This Way Comes by Bradbury, Ray
Jurassic Park by Crichton, Michael
Neuromancer by Gibson, William
The Nine Billion Names of God by Clarke, Arthur C.
A Canticle for Leibowitz by Miller, Walter M.
Nightfall by Asimov, Isaac
Starship Troopers by Heinlein, Robert A.
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Heinlein, Robert A.
The Mote in God's Eye by Niven, Larry and Pournelle, Jerry
Red Mars by Robinson, Kim Stanley
Ringworld by Niven, Larry
The Andromeda Strain by Crichton, Michael
Cat's Cradle by Vonnegut, Kurt
Cyteen by Cherryh, C. J.
I Sing the Body Electric by Bradbury, Ray
Snow Crash by Stephenson, Neal
The Day of the Triffids by Wyndham, John
Contact by Sagan, Carl
On the Beach by Shute, Nevil
The Illustrated Man by Bradbury, Ray
The Lathe of Heaven by Le Guin, Ursula K.
The Ship Who Sang by McCaffrey, Anne
The Stainless Steel Rat by Harrison, Harry
The Stars My Destination by Bester, Alfie
Barrayar by Bujold, Lois McMaster
The Forever War by Haldeman, Joe
The Giver by Lowry, Lois
Cryptonomicon by Stephenson, Neal
Foreigner by Cherryh, C. J.
Rendezvous with Rama by Clarke, Arthur C.
The Dispossessed by Le Guin, Ursula K.
The Gods Themselves by Asimov, Isaac
The Time Traveler's Wife by Niffenegger, Audrey
Children of Men by James, P. D.
Dangerous Visions by Ellison, Harlon
Downbelow Station by Cherryh, C. J.
Old Man's War by Scalzi, John
Crystal Singer by McCaffrey, Anne
Doomsday Book by Willis, Connie
Lucifer's Hammer by Niven, Larry and Pournelle, Jerry
The City and the Stars by Clarke, Arthur C.
The Demolished Man by Bester, Alfie
Blood Music by Bear, Greg
Footfall by Niven, Larry and Pournelle, Jerry
Hyperion by Simmons, Dan
Solaris by Lem, Stanislaw
Songs of Distant Earth by Clarke, Arthur C.
Stand on Zanzibar by Brunner, John
Stars in my Pocket, Like Grains of Sand by Delany, Samuel
The Diamond Age by Stephenson, Neal
The Island of Doctor Moreau by Wells, H. G.
The Man in the High Castle by Dick, Philip K.
The Midwich Cuckoos by Wyndham, John
Time Enough for Love by Heinlein, Robert A.
To Ride Pegasus by McCaffrey, Anne
To Say Nothing of the Dog by Willis, Connie
To Your Scattered Bodies Go by Farmer, Philip Jose
Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang by Wilhelm, Kate
A Princess of Mars by Burroughs, Edgar Rice
A Scanner Darkly by Dick, Philip K.
Anathem by Stephenson, Neal
Grass by Tepper, Sherri S.
Invasion of the Body Snatchers by Finney, Jack
Little Brother by Doctorow, Cory
Sphere by Crichton, Michael
Tau Zero by Anderson, Poul
The Best of Cordwainer Smith by Smith, Cordwainer
A Fire Upon the Deep by Vinge, Vernor
Alas, Babylon by Frank, Pat
At the Mountains of Madness by Lovecraft, H. P.
Babel-17 by Delany, Samuel
Breakfast of Champions by Vonnegut, Kurt
Chrysalids by Wyndham, John
City by Simak, Clifford
Double Star by Heinlein, Robert A.
Earth by Brin, David
Gateway by Pohl, Frederik
Islands in the Sky by Clarke, Arthur C.
Kindred by Butler, Octavia
More Than Human by Sturgeon, Theodore
On Basilisk Station by Weber, David
The Coelura by McCaffrey, Anne
The Pride of Chanur by Cherryh, C. J.
The Speed of Dark by Moon, Elizabeth
The Ugly Little Boy by Asimov, Isaac and Silverberg, Robert
Uglies by Westerfeld, Scott

It was voted on by members of the Green Dragon sf/fant group over there. Not perfect-but neither is the linked list in the OP. It's all opinion, IMO-I dislike Phillip K Dick, for example, in most of his work but he's on the list.

ed-now the second SF list in the OP makes sense, mostly. There's only 4 I haven't read and maybe 3 I read but didn't care for.

 

[GodThingFormerly]

100 Greatest SFF Books of All Time

No Fiasko by Stanislaw Lem - holy shit, there's nothing by Lem! - nor Destination: Void by Frank Herbert nor even Star Maker by Olaf Stapledon (who is also MIA). The chump who compiled that list can shove it.

SLR

 

[Mistral]

100 Greatest SFF Books of All Time

No Fiasko by Stanislaw Lem - holy shit, there's nothing by Lem! - nor Destination: Void by Frank Herbert nor even Star Maker by Olaf Stapledon (who is also MIA). The chump who compiled that list can shove it.

SLR

Now, now, there's only so much room available...

 

[Caliburn24]

Of the 34 books on the list that I have actually read only a few I really disagree with.

Sphere
Speaker for the Dead
Diamond Age
Mists of Avalon

One of the unspoken criteria behind such a list is that each book needs to have some big profound complex idea. But to me just having some complex idea does not actually make a book good or great.

Were I to make my own list it would be weighted far more towards books that I enjoyed, rather than ones that had some profound concept.

 

[Andrew_Kearley]

100 Greatest SFF Books of All Time

No Fiasko by Stanislaw Lem - holy shit, there's nothing by Lem! - nor Destination: Void by Frank Herbert nor even Star Maker by Olaf Stapledon (who is also MIA). The chump who compiled that list can shove it.

SLR

Now, now, there's only so much room available...

Yeah, which mieans the choices need to be more carefully considered. I'd agree that omitting Lem and Stapledon is ridiculous, and makes it hard to take the list seriously.

 

[Cicero]

And for the sake of discussion, here's another 100 Best (though it's science fiction only) that seems to have a wider range, though I find it's #1 dubious at best (I really don't care for that book - the "twist" I saw coming a couple of miles away).

And for balance: 100 Greatest Fantasy Novels

Thoughts?

I didn't read the "twist" as being so important to the reader as it was to the character who experienced it. The novel, more than anything else, is a study in violence and empathy.

 

[Rii]

Nice to see Ursula Le Guin get several look-ins. I'm reading The Left Hand of Darkness at the moment, actually.

 

[Lapis Exilis]

Of the 34 books on the list that I have actually read only a few I really disagree with.

Sphere
Speaker for the Dead
Diamond Age
Mists of Avalon

One of the unspoken criteria behind such a list is that each book needs to have some big profound complex idea. But to me just having some complex idea does not actually make a book good or great.

Were I to make my own list it would be weighted far more towards books that I enjoyed, rather than ones that had some profound concept.

I'd have to argue with you on Mists of Avalon, which is about the passing of an age in much the same way LotR is - except Mists is about something that actually happened, the transition from paganism to Christianity in England, which has always been mythologically coded in the Arthurian tales, which, over time, became Christian adaptations of Celtic pagan mythology. So, in that way, it is actually superior to LotR because it has a meta-narrative the other book lacks. It's also the most original revamping and reinterpretation of the Arthurian mythos since The Once and Future King.

And for the sake of discussion, here's another 100 Best (though it's science fiction only) that seems to have a wider range, though I find it's #1 dubious at best (I really don't care for that book - the "twist" I saw coming a couple of miles away).

And for balance: 100 Greatest Fantasy Novels

Thoughts?

I didn't read the "twist" as being so important to the reader as it was to the character who experienced it. The novel, more than anything else, is a study in violence and empathy.

Perhaps. But if so, I must say it struck me as a fairly sophomoric treatment of those themes. Granted, it's been years since I read it so perhaps revisiting it I would see why it is so popular, but at present its standing completely baffles me. Card is entertaining, but I've never encountered anything by him that was more than two inches deep.

 

[Canadave]

No Fiasko by Stanislaw Lem - holy shit, there's nothing by Lem! - nor Destination: Void by Frank Herbert nor even Star Maker by Olaf Stapledon (who is also MIA). The chump who compiled that list can shove it.

SLR

Now, now, there's only so much room available...

Yeah, which mieans the choices need to be more carefully considered. I'd agree that omitting Lem and Stapledon is ridiculous, and makes it hard to take the list seriously.

I think the fact that he buries one Clarke book down in the 70s, calling his writing clumsy (though a legitimate criticism, much of the time), then adding in lots of Asimov and Heinlein (who were often equally clumsy) also calls the list into question. The lack of Childhood's End alone...

 

[Reverend]

Damn, I'm not nearly as well read as I like to think I am. I don't even recognise a 10th of these titles.

It was voted on by members of the Green Dragon sf/fant group over there. Not perfect-but neither is the linked list in the OP. It's all opinion, IMO-I dislike Phillip K Dick, for example, in most of his work but he's on the list.

Though I like PKD to a point, I think I understand the sentiment. Like him or not there's no denying the importance of his work. Likewise, I really dislike some of Heinlein's later novels (the ones where he developed an incest fixation) but again, some of them are important works.

For me, Dune should always be in at least the top 5, but then it is my favourite book.

 

[Mistral]

Damn, I'm not nearly as well read as I like to think I am. I don't even recognise a 10th of these titles.

It was voted on by members of the Green Dragon sf/fant group over there. Not perfect-but neither is the linked list in the OP. It's all opinion, IMO-I dislike Phillip K Dick, for example, in most of his work but he's on the list.

Though I like PKD to a point, I think I understand the sentiment. Like him or not there's no denying the importance of his work. Likewise, I really dislike some of Heinlein's later novels (the ones where he developed an incest fixation) but again, some of them are important works.

For me, Dune should always be in at least the top 5, but then it is my favourite book.

Ironic-I hated Dune even though I forced myself to plough thru to the third book. It just never grabbed me. My point, which I think you got,is that the list(s) contain important titles that maybe aren't for everyone, taste-wise.

 

[stonester1]

I would add Madeline L'Engle's A Wrinkle In Time

 

[UncleRogi]

I would add Madeline L'Engle's A Wrinkle In Time

I too am a huge Dune Fan; books 1-4.

The Dragonriders saga offers so many stories, it might never end

One of my fav's I saw missing is Sci-Fi & Fantasy: The Saga of Pliocene Exile, Julian May

Want a good Horror/Sci-Fi? This Perfect Day By Ira Levin.

Foundation stand up well, till the Robots.

Nightfall, asimov, and also "Let There Be Light" (short story)

Do Androids dream of Electric Sheep?, PKD

Riverworld, Philip Jose Farmer. Another infinite story potential series.

Any thing by Le'Guin. Did she do The EarthSea books, but those are more fantastical.

Farenheit 451, Horrible, Horrible people

The Eyes of Heisinberg, Frank Herbert

Weird one, but I liked The Integral Trees by Niven..

With all the series listed, I think I hit 100 seperate books, but could think of many more if I sit a think a bit

 

[Trent Roman]

I've only read about twenty of those. Reminds much of how many books I keep meaning to read but never seem to get around to.

But Frankenstein at #6? Madness. I will stand upon mountaintops and proclaim Frankenstein the best novel ever, regardless of genre. The most beautifully crafted expression of the form, an inexhaustible treasure trove of the human condition.

Fictitiously yours, Trent Roman

 

[Starbreaker]

I have read or own many of those.

And I hate Frankenstein.

 

[UncleRogi]

But Frankenstein at #6? Madness. I will stand upon mountaintops and proclaim Frankenstein the best novel ever, regardless of genre. The most beautifully crafted expression of the form, an inexhaustible treasure trove of the human condition.

The First, best, and copied ad infinitum

 

[Owain Taggart]

That's a pretty good list. I can personally recommend Poul Anderson's The High Crusade. It's like Monty Python in space!

 

[Pemmer Harge]

Good to see The Left Hand of Darkness get ranked so highly. It's such a good book that I took my TrekBBS moniker from it. Le Guin is phenomenal.

 

[Red Ranger]

Looking at these lists, I've actually read more of them than I thought possible over the years. Certainly glad to see Cordwainer Smith's works represented. His stories would be hard to adapt to the screen, but I wish they would before I die. Ditto for Childhood's End, one of Arthur C. Clarke's most disturbing novels.