Favourite Does Not Necessarily Equal Best

To celebrate the opening of an exhibition (Out of this World) at the British Library later this month, today’s Guardian has asked leading SF writers to pick their favourite novel or author in the genre. However, the Guardian’s sub-editors have given the piece the title: The stars of modern SF pick the best science fiction. That adjective “best” doesn’t quite ring true for me. I’m always wary of lists that claim to be a compilation of the “best”: best books, best films, best paintings and so on. “Personal favourites” is a much better description, and makes no claims for absolute rankings, which is, to my mind, quite impossible for art.

I’m pleased to see that some of my own personal favourites appear in the list, and many more are popping up in the lots of comments from people adding their suggestions.