KRAD's Inaccurate Guide to Life - snurched from nightwolfwriter

12:40 am November 15th, 2006




			KRAD's Inaccurate Guide to Life - snurched from nightwolfwriter ramblings from a mad fedora'd writer

kradical


	snurched from nightwolfwriter
	*Edited to correct screw-ups in the original meme that accreted. It's not Time's list, and it only goes to 2002. Also it's not 100% in rank order. Oops.* The most significant SF/F novels from 1953-2002 according to the Science Fiction Book Club. Bold the ones you have read, strikethrough the ones you read and hated, italicize those you started but never finished and put a star next to the ones you love. Note that only the top ten are in rank order, and after that they're alphabetical by title. (I should add that I don't agree with many of their choices, but what the hey...) 1. The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien * 2. The Foundation Trilogy, Isaac Asimov 3. Dune, Frank Herbert 4. Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert A. Heinlein * 5. A Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula K. Le Guin * 6. Neuromancer, William Gibson 7. Childhood's End, Arthur C. Clarke 8. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Philip K. Dick 9. The Mists of Avalon, Marion Zimmer Bradley * 10. Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury 11. The Book of the New Sun, Gene Wolfe 12. A Canticle for Leibowitz, Walter M. Miller, Jr. * 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 17. Dangerous Visions, edited by Harlan Ellison * 18. Deathbird Stories, Harlan Ellison 19. The Demolished Man, Alfred Bester * 20. Dhalgren, Samuel R. Delany 21. Dragonflight, Anne McCaffrey 22. Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card * 23. The First Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, Stephen R. Donaldson 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 * 28. I Am Legend, Richard Matheson 29. Interview with the Vampire, Anne Rice 30. The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K. Le Guin * 31. Little, Big, John Crowley 32. Lord of Light, Roger Zelazny 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 42. Slaughterhouse-5, Kurt Vonnegut 43. Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson 44. Stand on Zanzibar, John Brunner 45. The Stars My Destination, Alfred Bester * 46. Starship Troopers, Robert A. Heinlein 47. Stormbringer, Michael Moorcock 48. The Sword of Shannara, Terry Brooks 49. Timescape, Gregory Benford 50. To Your Scattered Bodies Go, Philip Jose Farmer Current Mood: thoughtful Current Music: "Give It Up" by the Randy Bandits

22 comments or Please comment


	Comments

	From: scifi451	Date: November 15th, 2006 07:10 am (UTC)		(Link)

Why do you agree with many of them?

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	From: kradical	Date: November 15th, 2006 07:26 am (UTC)		(Link)

Well, just off the top of my head, Dangerous Visions isn't a novel, and if you're going to include anthologies, some more should maybe be on there; I'm willing to bet real money that this same list made ten years from now would not have any Harry Potter books on it; if you're going to include an Anne Rice vampire novel, make it The Vampire Lestat, which was a) the breakout book and b) the better book; I'd have put The Moon is a Harsh Mistress ahead of any other Heinlein books, though both Strange and Starship Troopers should be on there, too; if you're going to include Terry Brooks, you should include Robert Jordan, since they're more or less doing the same thing; yes, it's a movie tie-in, but why isn't 2001 on the list? And so on...

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	From: skidspoppe	Date: November 15th, 2006 08:02 am (UTC)		(Link)

I agree with most of what you got there, except the Harry Potter thing. I bet if you look at the list in ten years Potter will be on the list (if for no other reason than the editor compiling it will remember it fondly from his/her own childhood)

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	From: kradical	Date: November 15th, 2006 08:14 am (UTC)		(Link)

I don't agree. I don't think the Potter books have any kind of staying power, and I honestly believe that 10-15 years from now, people will barely remember them.

Admittedly, I have yet to acquire a taste for the Rowling Kool-Aid. *grin* I read Harry Potter and the Philosopher's/Sorcerer's Stone and thought it was a cute little book that I mostly enjoyed (though I found the title character to be by far the least interesting person in the book, and got quite frustrated with being constantly told he was a great wizard without ever really being shown it), and I got to the end of the book filled with precisely no desire to read any subsequent books (though the second book is sitting on my shelf under R).

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	From: skidspoppe	Date: November 15th, 2006 03:41 pm (UTC)		(Link)

She doesn't reallyhit her stride until the third book. The first book, yes, spends WAY too much time world building and falls pray to a number of first book woes (telling, not showing being primary among them). Once she moves on though, she really starts to nail the characters. And again, I'll agree that Harry is usually the least interesting but the way he interacts with those around him as he ages never pander to the audience. She's not afraid to have her lead character be a dick solely because he's 15 and going through puberty. She's also not afriad to kill off main characters to further the storyline, both of which are welcome changes, especially in what is nominally dubbed "children's literature."

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	From: zvi_likes_tv	Date: November 15th, 2006 06:38 pm (UTC)		(Link)

Rowling learns how to write by book five and she gets a competent editor in book 6. I expect that book 7 will actually be worthy of all the praise heaped on book 1.

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	From: mabfan	Date: November 15th, 2006 01:03 pm (UTC)		(Link)

I'd have put The Moon is a Harsh Mistress ahead of any other Heinlein books,

Absolutely.

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	From: oneminutemonkey	Date: November 15th, 2006 08:05 am (UTC)		(Link)

I'm somehow surprised you've never read Forever War. It, and Starship Troopers, were perhaps the most influential military SF of my childhood... they represent such distinctly different generations. (I can thank my father for leaving the military SF and the Asimovs and Heinleins around for me to find early on...)

Of course, I've never read Dune. I was traumatized by the 1984 film, and haven't gone near the series since. :>

Snow Crash, while typically weird in that Neal Stephenson way, does have a brilliantly fun action sequence in the first 30 pages or so... I don't care a lot for the rest of the book, but that first bit rocks.

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	From: kradical	Date: November 15th, 2006 08:15 am (UTC)		(Link)

I'm surprised I never read Forever War, either, though I did read a comic book adaptation of it some years back, but that doesn't really count.

Don't let the wretched movie (or the differently wretched Sci-Fi miniseries) turn you off Dune. It's a helluva book that David Lynch did no favors for. I wouldn't bother with the sequels -- either the ones written by Frank Herbert or by Kevin J. Anderson and Chris Herbert -- but the first book's a classic.

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	From: mabfan	Date: November 15th, 2006 01:28 pm (UTC)		(Link)

By the way, the list doesn't appear to be from Time magazine, nor does it go to 2006:

http://www.sfbc.com/doc/content/sitelets/FSE_Sitelet_Theme_2.jhtml?SID=nmsfctop50

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	From: querldox	Date: November 15th, 2006 01:29 pm (UTC)		(Link)

Odd, the previous instances of this meme I've seen have credited the list to SFBC, and end at 2002.

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	From: girasole	Date: November 15th, 2006 01:38 pm (UTC)		(Link)

It is an odd list. I have read more of them than you have (having several decades on you) but the one you haven't read that you must is Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash.
We will never agree about Harry Potter. I think she is a fabulous storyteller and a damn fine writer, and I cannot wait for the next and last book. There is no way of changing your mind, of course, but I think her books are going to be classics indeed, for generations of children and teens (and adults).
Girasole, who loved Harry Potter before all the hype.

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	From: andrewwheeler	Date: November 15th, 2006 02:12 pm (UTC)		(Link)

Others have mentioned some of this, but let me sum up:
1) the list is from the Science Fiction Book Club, not Time
2) it was done in 2003
3) it was originally titled "The Most Significant SF & Fantasy Books of the Last 50 Years, 1953-2002," before the 'Net had its way with it
4) the top ten are ranked, but the rest of the list is in alphabetical order by title
5) the original list is available here.

Andy Wheeler, SFBC Factotum

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	From: popfiend	Date: November 15th, 2006 04:43 pm (UTC)		(Link)

MUST READ SNOW CRASH.

The hero's name is Hiro Protagonist. It's worth it for that alone.

:)

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	From: debg	Date: November 15th, 2006 05:10 pm (UTC)		(Link)

Hell, I barely read scifi/fantasy, but the moment I glanced at that list and saw that "Canticle" wasn't in the top five, they lost all cred with me.

Of course, the three that I *do* read, the ones that made both genres damned near impossible for me to go back to because nothing else I ever read in thise genres came within light years, are "Canticle", "Little, Big" and "Childhood's End." And is Childhood's End even on that list?

Yes, I am a freak with no SFWA cred at all...

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	From: debg	Date: November 15th, 2006 05:27 pm (UTC)		(Link)
	addendum

Ah, okay, found Childhood' End. Ten points for having it in the top ten.

They lose the ten back again for ranking Douglas Adams so low, though.

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	From: kradical	Date: November 16th, 2006 01:46 pm (UTC)		(Link)
	Re: addendum

As I said when I just edited the post, Adams wasn't "low." As

andrewwheeler pointed out, the first ten are the only ones ranked -- #11-50 are all in alphabetical order by title.

This is what happens on the Internet. *sigh*

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	From: debg	Date: November 16th, 2006 04:57 pm (UTC)		(Link)
	Re: addendum

OK, they have their cred back, then. Because I don't do rankings, not if I can humanly avoid them (is La Giaconda "better" than the Madonna of the Rocks?,) but their top ten, in terms of significance, make sense to me, even if I abominate their top pick.

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	From: altariel	Date: November 15th, 2006 05:48 pm (UTC)		(Link)

My 'must read' suggestion: Slaughterhouse-5. Genius.

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	From: meggins	Date: November 16th, 2006 12:17 am (UTC)		(Link)

Snowcrash seems to be a love it or hate it book. The very part, the "action" beginning (with the Deliverator, if I remember), that someone chose to single out here put off several readers that I know. I didn't mind it, but I didn't really get hooked until the linguistics kicked in. I was loving that part, but, even as I read it, I was wondering "How many people will care about this?"

Agree totally on Dune. And its filmed versions. And the sequels.

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	From: jacylrin	Date: November 17th, 2006 06:45 pm (UTC)		(Link)

1. The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien
2. The Foundation Trilogy, Isaac Asimov
3. Dune, Frank Herbert (and yes, I like the Lynch movie, not because it's comprehensible, but because I like the visuals. And the evil costuming that resulted (see icon)... and no, don't read beyond the first book of the series, the rest is nucking futs)
4. Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert A. Heinlein *
5. A Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula K. Le Guin *
6. Neuromancer, William Gibson
7. Childhood's End, Arthur C. Clarke
8. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Philip K. Dick
9. The Mists of Avalon, Marion Zimmer Bradley
10. Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury
11. The Book of the New Sun, Gene Wolfe
12. A Canticle for Leibowitz, Walter M. Miller, Jr. *
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
17. Dangerous Visions, edited by Harlan Ellison
18. Deathbird Stories, Harlan Ellison
19. The Demolished Man, Alfred Bester
20. Dhalgren, Samuel R. Delany
21. Dragonflight, Anne McCaffrey *
22. Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card *
23. The First Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, Stephen R. Donaldson
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 *
28. I Am Legend, Richard Matheson
29. Interview with the Vampire, Anne Rice
30. The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K. Le Guin
31. Little, Big, John Crowley
32. Lord of Light, Roger Zelazny
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
42. Slaughterhouse-5, Kurt Vonnegut
43. Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson
44. Stand on Zanzibar, John Brunner
45. The Stars My Destination, Alfred Bester
46. Starship Troopers, Robert A. Heinlein
47. Stormbringer, Michael Moorcock
48. The Sword of Shannara, Terry Brooks
49. Timescape, Gregory Benford
50. To Your Scattered Bodies Go, Philip Jose Farmer

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From: (Anonymous)	Date: March 6th, 2007 06:39 pm (UTC)		(Link)
Selections

I would eliminate Fantasy from this list. I am one of those who never accepted adopting Fantasy as part of the Sci Fi genre. While I loved Lord of the Rings (a fantasy title) the number one book(s) in my opinion is The Foundation Trilogy.

Farenheit 451 is not one of Bradbury's best works. His best works are short stories which may explain why this one made the list.

I agree that the Moon is a Harsh Mistress should replace Starship Troopers.

Finally, I would nominate another favorite or mine, "Invaders from the Infinite", by John W. Campbell.

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