Geoff Coupe's Blog

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Top SF and Fantasy Books

OK, here’s the list arrived at by the Science Fiction Book Club of the most significant 50 books of SF and Fantasy for the last 50 years. The list is annotated by me as follows:
Highlighted – I’ve read it
Asterisked – a favourite.
 
The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien *
The Foundation Trilogy, Isaac Asimov
Dune, Frank Herbert
Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert A. Heinlein
A Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula K. Le Guin *
Neuromancer, William Gibson
Childhood’s End, Arthur C. Clarke
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Philip K. Dick
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. *
The Caves of Steel, Isaac Asimov
Children of the Atom, Wilmar Shiras
Cities in Flight, James Blish
The Colour of Magic, Terry Pratchett
Dangerous Visions, edited by Harlan Ellison *
Deathbird Stories, Harlan Ellison
The Demolished Man, Alfred Bester *
Dhalgren, Samuel R. Delany
Dragonflight, Anne McCaffrey
Ender’s Game, Orson Scott Card
The First Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, Stephen R. Donaldson
The Forever War, Joe Haldeman
Gateway, Frederik Pohl
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, J.K. Rowling
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams (TV) *
I Am Legend, Richard Matheson
Interview with the Vampire, Anne Rice
The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K. Le Guin *
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 * 
The Stars My Destination, Alfred Bester *
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  

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5 responses to “Top SF and Fantasy Books”

  1. Gelert Avatar
    Gelert

    Good list – glad to see A Wizard of Earthsea up there, but – no George R.R. Martin? No Robin Hobb?

    Reply
  2. Geoff Avatar
    Geoff

    Gelert, I have to confess that I’ve never even heard of Robin Hobb (ducks quickly). My only excuse is that by the time of her first major work (the Farseer Trilogy, published in 1995), I tended not to read much from the Fantasy genre. I’d got so fed up of wading through acres of dreck on the bookshops’ Fantasy bookshelves, trying to find a decent book, that I had all but given up trying. And while I might redeem myself in your eyes by the fact that I have heard of George R. R. Martin, I only have one book of his – and that’s a collection of short stories… I suppose that the author I was a little surprised not to see is Robert Silverberg – I would have thought that his books set on Majipoor would have been derserving of a mention.

    Reply
  3. Gelert Avatar
    Gelert

    Oh man, you HAVE to read this: http://www.amazon.com/Game-Thrones-Song-Fire-Book/dp/0553573403. Really you do. It is a masterwork. Read number one, and I guarantee you will be reaching for the rest. Treat yourself.
     
    The Farseer Trilogy is also well worth reading, at least I think so, and I recommended it to another ‘fussy’ s and f reader, who went on the read them all.

    Reply
  4. Geoff Avatar
    Geoff

    Gelert, OK, I’ll take your advice. A Game of Thrones has been ordered. We’ll see what I make of it/them. Er, "fussy"? – moi?

    Reply
  5. Gelert Avatar
    Gelert

    Ok. Make that ‘particular’. I know what you mean about trawling the shelves. Now I’m nervous about the book…… but hey, you can’t fail with it, what am I saying.

    Reply

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