Top 100 SF meme

[drscott]

...courtesy discord35. Finally a meme for me! I've read the bolded ones....

1. Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke
2. Foundation by Isaac Asimov
3. Dune by Frank Herbert
4. Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick
5. Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein
6. Valis by Philip K. Dick
7. Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
8. Gateway by Frederick Pohl
9. Space Merchants by C.M. Kornbluth & Frederick Pohl
10. Earth Abides by George R. Stewart
11. Cuckoo’s Egg by C.J. Cherryh - hard to believe I've missed this
12. Star Surgeon by James White
13. The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch by Philip K. Dick
14. Radix by A.A. Attanasio
15. 2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke
16. Ringworld by Larry Niven
17. A Case of Conscience by James Blish
18. Last and First Man by Olaf Stapledon
19. The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham
20. Way Station by Clifford Simak
21. More Than Human by Theodore Sturgeon
22. Gray Lensman by E. E. “Doc” Smith
23. The Gods Themselves by Isaac Asimov
24. The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin
25. Behold the Man by Michael Moorcock
26. Star Maker by Olaf Stapledon
27. The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells
28. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne
29. Heritage of Hastur by Marion Zimmer Bradley
30. The Time Machine by H.G. Wells
31. The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester
32. Slan by A.E. Van Vogt
33. Neuromancer by William Gibson
34. Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
35. In Conquest Born by C.S. Friedman
36. Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny
37. Eon by Greg Bear
38. Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey
39. Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne
40. Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein
41. Cosm by Gregory Benford
42. The Voyage of the Space Beagle by A.E. Van Vogt
43. Blood Music by Greg Bear
44. Beggars in Spain by Nancy Kress
45. Omnivore by Piers Anthony
46. I, Robot by Isaac Asimov
47. Mission of Gravity by Hal Clement
48. To Your Scattered Bodies Go by Philip Jose Farmer
49. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
50. The Man Who Folded Himself by David Gerrold
51. 1984 by George Orwell
52. The Strange Case of Dr. Jeckyl And Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
53. Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson
54. Flesh by Philip Jose Farmer
55. Cities in Flight by James Blish
56. Shadow of the Torturer by Gene Wolfe
57. Startide Rising by David Brin
58. Triton by Samuel R. Delany
59. Stand on Zanzibar by John Brunner
60. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
61. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
62. A Canticle For Leibowitz by Walter Miller
63. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
64. No Blade of Grass by John Christopher
65. The Postman by David Brin
66. Dhalgren by Samuel Delany
67. Berserker by Fred Saberhagen
68. Flatland by Edwin Abbot
69. Planiverse by A.K. Dewdney
70. Dragon’s Egg by Robert L. Forward
71. Downbelow Station by C.J. Cherryh
72. Dawn by Octavia E. Butler
73. Puppet Masters by Robert Heinlein
74. The Doomsday Book by Connie Willis
75. Forever War by Joe Haldeman
76. Deathbird Stories by Harlan Ellison
77. Roadside Picnic by Boris Strugatsky & Arkady Strugatsky
78. The Snow Queen by Joan Vinge
79. The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury
80. Drowned World by J.G. Ballard
81. Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
82. Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson
83. Upanishads by Various [ed: huh?]
84. Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
85. Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
86. The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin
87. The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham
88. Mutant by Henry Kuttner
89. Solaris by Stanislaw Lem
90. Ralph 124C41+ by Hugo Gernsback
91. I Am Legend by Richard Matheson
92. Timescape by Gregory Benford
93. The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester
94. War with the Newts by Karl Kapek
95. Mars by Ben Bova
96. Brain Wave by Poul Anderson
97. Hyperion by Dan Simmons
98. The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton
99. Camp Concentration by Thomas Disch
100. A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs

This is a pretty good list of "conceptually most important" SF, which is not exactly the same as "what somebody who wanted to know about SF should read" -- that list would be much more modern. Some of the classic concepts have been done better, and if highest entertainment value were added as a goal a lot of the older works would lose out.

Here's the list of what I would have someone read today:

1. Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke
2. Foundation by Isaac Asimov
3. Dune by Frank Herbert
4. Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick
5. Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein
8. Gateway by Frederick Pohl
16. Ringworld by Larry Niven
21. More Than Human by Theodore Sturgeon
31. The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester
32. Slan by A.E. Van Vogt
33. Neuromancer by William Gibson
34. Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
36. Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny
37. Eon by Greg Bear
38. Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey
41. Cosm by Gregory Benford
43. Blood Music by Greg Bear
46. I, Robot by Isaac Asimov
47. Mission of Gravity by Hal Clement
48. To Your Scattered Bodies Go by Philip Jose Farmer
51. 1984 by George Orwell
53. Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson
54. Flesh by Philip Jose Farmer
55. Cities in Flight by James Blish
57. Startide Rising by David Brin
58. Triton by Samuel R. Delany
60. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
61. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
62. A Canticle For Leibowitz by Walter Miller
63. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
64. No Blade of Grass by John Christopher
68. Flatland by Edwin Abbot
71. Downbelow Station by C.J. Cherryh
72. Dawn by Octavia E. Butler
73. Puppet Masters by Robert Heinlein
74. The Doomsday Book by Connie Willis
75. Forever War by Joe Haldeman
76. Deathbird Stories by Harlan Ellison
78. The Snow Queen by Joan Vinge
81. Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
84. Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
85. Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
86. The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin
87. The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham
88. Mutant by Henry Kuttner
92. Timescape by Gregory Benford
93. The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester
96. Brain Wave by Poul Anderson
97. Hyperion by Dan Simmons
98. The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton
99. Camp Concentration by Thomas Disch

Adding:

101. Slaughterhouse-5 by Kurt Vonnegut
102. The Chrysalids by John Wyndham
103. Chocky by John Wyndham
104. The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinlein
105. [most of the Heinlein juveniles - Podkayne of Mars, Citizen of the Galaxy, Farmer in the Sky, Tunnel in the Sky, etc.]
106. [various Miles Vorkosigan books by Lois McMasters Bujold]
107. Metropolitan by Walter Jon Williams
108. Aristoi by Walter Jon Williams
109. Perdido Street Station by China Mieville
110. Ilium by Dan Simmons
111. The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson
112. A Fire upon the Deep and A Deepness in the Sky by Vernor Vinge
113. Cyteen by CJ Cherryh

Comments

[ricksf.livejournal.com]

Never knew you were well versed in scifi. Years back when I had a regular daily train commute to/from work, I did one heck of a lot of reading of many of the books on your list. Always had a special love for the Cities in Flight/Blish, I, Robot series/Asimov, and Foudation series/Asimov, not sure why. The list brings back a lot of memories, thanks!

[dr-scott.livejournal.com]

I'm so well-read because of a childhood of social isolation. I would check out ten books a week at the library and spent most of my free time reading. I was never much for reading while on public transit (in Boston) -- too distracting. Drowsing or speculating about fellow passengers, most of the time...

[rootbeer1.livejournal.com]

I'd add The Dying Earth by Jack Vance (or The Complete Dying Earth anthology).

[dr-scott.livejournal.com]

I know it's considered a classic, but I have managed to [blush] not read it yet. :)

[excessor.livejournal.com]

I've only read 17 of the original list and only one in the list you added. I feel so unliterate.

[dr-scott.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't worry. I'm the outrider here.

[cowboygreg.livejournal.com]

Interesting (and there's some books I need to pick up or rearrange on the To-Be-Read stack), but there are some strange omissions from the list -- no John Varley or Spider Robinson, for one thing, and I can't believe Niven and Pournelle's A Mote In God's Eye, Oath Of Fealty, or Footfall didn't make the cut....

[dr-scott.livejournal.com]

At least Moat ought to be in there. The orginal list is biased toward originality, though, so if a later work follows a familiar formula, no matter how well, it tends to be left off.

[discord35.livejournal.com]

Tunnel in the Sky is one of my favorite Heinlein novels. Another novella that I would add to the list is True Names.

[dr-scott.livejournal.com]

Gotta watch out for them there stobor!

Agreed on True Names. Actually there's a lot more recent work that could be added if I wanted to spend a day weighing and searching.

At the ConJose, Vinge announced (to great acclaim) that he was retiring from his professor job and would be able to devote full time to writing. So we can expect to see some more good stuff from him soon.

Gene Wolfe

[(Anonymous)]

You must must MUST read the Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe, consisting of (depending on the printing) the volumes: The Shadow of the Torturer, The Claw of the Conciliator, The Sword of the Lictor, The Citadel of the Autarch, The Urth of the New Sun. I would describe it as standing at the swirling border between sf and fantasy. Jack Vance (Dying Earth) and Jorge Luis Borges (Library of Bable, Tlön ...) are prime influences. I've read most of the books on these lists, and little else comes close to the combination of deep ideas and deep language. I could comment at length on a number of them, but I'll save up my 2 cents to spend entirely on spreading the word about Gene Wolfe (who in his day job designed the machine that makes Pringles).

Re: Gene Wolfe

[dr-scott.livejournal.com]

You've (if you're Scott!) recommended that before -- naturally I haven't gotten around to it. Next trip to the used bookstore I'll look for it. I've read and enjoyed some other Gene Wolfe, but not that. And add to "border of SF and fantasy" China Mieville, the newest star in that area.