NPR Top 100 Science Fiction/Fantasy Books
By
all_hell,
Posted on: 2011-08-03 05:39 in Comic and Hero-Villain Culture
Dammit, that's hard!
I stopped re-guessing and just hit submit after I had gotten to F and changed my answers three times.
Comrade Smersh, KGB Special Section 8 50 Inv/Fire, Fire/Rad, BS/WP, SD/SS, AR/EM
Other 50s: Plant/Thorn, Bots/Traps, DB/SR, MA/Regen, Rad/Dark - All on Virtue.
-Don't just rebel, build a better world, comrade!
I hate these things....you know why? The top 10 or so will be current or relatively current works. It is impossible to have the perspective to actually vote on these things.
I remember seeing a listing by Billboard for Top 100 songs of all time back in 1975.....you know what was number 1? Kung-Fu Fighting. Where would you rank it on a list now?
--Frog
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Yeah, there are some really obvious choices on there, like War of the Worlds, Journey to the Center of the Earth, The Time Machine, Stranger in a Strange Land, etc. I found myself voting more for fantasy works than SF works, and other than LotR, I also found myself voting for less likely candidates. |
Originally Posted by Frogfather
I hate these things....you know why? The top 10 or so will be current or relatively current works. It is impossible to have the perspective to actually vote on these things.
I remember seeing a listing by Billboard for Top 100 songs of all time back in 1975.....you know what was number 1? Kung-Fu Fighting. Where would you rank it on a list now? --Frog |
I wasn't trying to skew the results, but I was voting for things I had read and which I thought were quite good. I think the fact that they are passing this by a "panel of experts" will ensure that something like the Kung-Fu Fighting example doesn't happen this time around.
And I don't know where I'd rank KFF on a list of the top however many songs of all time today, but you have to remember, in 1975 there were only like 1000 songs total.
(Sometimes, I wish there could be a Dev thumbs up button for quality posts, because you pretty much nailed it.) -- Ghost Falcon
The main thing I'm taking away from that list is that I'm woefully under read in my favorite genres.
I did manage a vote, even though some of my favorite works didn't make the list For instance Bujold's Curse of Chalion and Paladin of Souls. Also Feist/Wurts Empire trilogy totally wipes the floor with anything Feist produced on his own.
@True Metal
Co-leader of Callous Crew SG. Based on Union server.
Stephenson, Mieville, A Song of Fire and Ice, Dune
That pretty much took up all my votes.
Agua Man lvl 48 Water/Electric Blaster
"To die hating NCSoft for shutting down City of Heroes, that was Freedom."
My votes included:
The War Trifecta (Armor, Ender's Game, The Forever War)
Foundation and Lensmen
Dune
Elric
The Deed of Paksenarrion
And a couple of others I don't recall off the top of my head. Too many deserving books on that list.
Fun fact: I have read, or at least made a serious attempt to read, 111 entries on that list.
Comrade Smersh, KGB Special Section 8 50 Inv/Fire, Fire/Rad, BS/WP, SD/SS, AR/EM
Other 50s: Plant/Thorn, Bots/Traps, DB/SR, MA/Regen, Rad/Dark - All on Virtue.
-Don't just rebel, build a better world, comrade!
Quote:
Nicely played.|
Originally Posted by Smersh
Fun fact: I have read, or at least made a serious attempt to read, 111 entries on that list.
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I was proud that I at least recognized nearly all.
And was happier to know I owned or read many... but did not count, and I'm sure my total would be less than 111.
*tips hat*
City of Heroes was my first MMO, & my favorite computer game.
R.I.P.
Chyll - Bydand - Violynce - Enyrgos - Rylle - Nephryte - Solyd - Fettyr - Hyposhock - Styrling - Beryllos - Rosyc
Horryd - Myriam - Dysquiet - Ghyr
Vanysh - Eldrytch
Inflyct - Mysron - Orphyn - Dysmay - Reapyr - - Wyldeman - Hydeous
Quote:
I recognize virtually all of them. There are many I have yet to read.
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Originally Posted by Chyll
Nicely played.
I was proud that I at least recognized nearly all. And was happier to know I owned or read many... but did not count, and I'm sure my total would be less than 111. *tips hat* |
Comrade Smersh, KGB Special Section 8 50 Inv/Fire, Fire/Rad, BS/WP, SD/SS, AR/EM
Other 50s: Plant/Thorn, Bots/Traps, DB/SR, MA/Regen, Rad/Dark - All on Virtue.
-Don't just rebel, build a better world, comrade! A vote for David Eddings' Belgariad is a vote for the 'literary equivalent of peddling dope.'
too damn hard
Too many good choices... head might explode...
I had to break mine in half, going between ones I thought had a impact on the genre and are great for that reason, and ones that I just simply enjoy for the great story (but maybe didn't have the impact).
My Votes (in no particular order)
Lord of the Rings
Foundation Trilogy
20000 Leagues Under the Sea
2001
Once and Future King
Dune
Black Jewels Trilogy
Shannara Series
Codex Alera
Riftwar
To TrueMetal: I agree about the Empire series that Feist/Wurts did.
Also kinda suprised the Jim Butcher's Codex Alera made the list but Dresden did not... Always that Dresden was the more popular of his series (love them both regardless)
Was nice to see Robert J Sawyer on the list. Didn't vote for him, because I hadn't read that particular entry, but he's a damn good writer of optimistic sci-fi.
Also didn't vote for Cryptonomicon, one of my top 5 books all time, because it's not something I'd consider sci-fi.
One of Stephenson's other 84 books on the list, The Diamond Age did get my vote as something interestingly different. Likewise for Ender's Game by Card
The Day of the Triffids was one I voted for. Its basic premise is one I see mirrored in a lot of zombie stuff, with the movie 28 Days Later pretty much just swapping out killer plants for killer zombies.
The Time Machine was my favourite of Wells books that I have read, and got a vote. I think Journey to the Center of the Earth got my other old timey vote for awesome.
Conan, the Dark Tower, LotR, and a few other series let me vote for a few dozen books all told, which is cheating I suppose, but it's not my list.
They ALL float down here. When you're down here with us, you'll float too!
@Starflier
Ender's Game was on the list, and that makes me happy.
August 31, 2012. A Day that will Live in Infamy. Or Information. Possibly Influence. Well, Inf, anyway. Thank you, Paragon Studios, for what you did, and the enjoyment and camaraderie you brought.
This is houtex, aka Mike, signing off the forums. G'night all. - 10/26/2012
Well... perhaps I was premature about that whole 'signing off' thing... - 11-9-2012
Huh, glad to see the "Legend of Drizzt" on there, and I may have over looked it, but I didn't see the Dragon Lance Chronicles on there which strikes me as odd that the chronicles didn't show up.
Most of my picks were fantasy in nature since I was a D&D junkie at the time I started reading novels
------->"Sic Semper Tyrannis"<-------
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I had the exact opposite reaction.
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Originally Posted by ebon3
Huh, glad to see the "Legend of Drizzt" on there, and I may have over looked it, but I didn't see the Dragon Lance Chronicles on there which strikes me as odd that the chronicles didn't show up.
Most of my picks were fantasy in nature since I was a D&D junkie at the time I started reading novels |
Comrade Smersh, KGB Special Section 8 50 Inv/Fire, Fire/Rad, BS/WP, SD/SS, AR/EM
Other 50s: Plant/Thorn, Bots/Traps, DB/SR, MA/Regen, Rad/Dark - All on Virtue.
-Don't just rebel, build a better world, comrade!
Quote:
Indeed.|
Originally Posted by Zortel
A vote for David Eddings' Belgariad is a vote for the 'literary equivalent of peddling dope.'
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I was actually rather surprised to see that series on there to be honest. I really enjoyed it when I was younger, and I still have some extremely dog-eared copies of the books laying around, but I don't know if I'd put them in a 'Top X' list.
Going back over my votes, it appears that I only voted for one single 'new' book, and that was Sanderson's The Way of Kings. Other than that I voted for generally older stuff, or at least things not from the last decade.
- The Demolished Man
- The Diamond Age
- Don't Bite the Sun
- Dune
- Ender's Game
- The Left Hand of Darkness
- The Once and Future King
- Parable of the Sower
- The Worm Ouroboros
Oh man, I was just going through and noticed I forgot to vote for I Am Legend. Dangit.
MA Arcs: Yarmouth 1509 and 58812
As much as I like Tanith Lee, I'm surprised to see Don't Bite the Sun there and not, say, The Silver Metal Lover or Night's Master or even Red as Blood.
And why is Discworld represented by two different books?
And where's Earthsea? Where's Jack Vance?
Anyway, my votes: Foundation, LotR, The Stars My Destination, Going Postal, Elric, Gormenghast, The Crystal Cave, The Martian Chronicles, To Say Nothing of the Dog, and Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser.
I might have voted for Riddley Walker or Little, Big, both of which I love, but I'm not really sure they belong on this list.
34 heroes,
20 villains, Victory, Justice, Infinity, Virtue, Triumph, Exalted -- some more active than others
I couldn't finish it, it was too hard, too many choices.
Animal Farm and Watership Down are 2 awesome books about 20th goverment/society that I have never even considered SF/Fantasy in the past. I realize the talking animals should have given it away, but that list is hard enough without putting those 2 in there as well.
I threw in the towel when I realised I only had room for one Stephenson book and I couldn't make up my mind between Anathem and Snow Crash.
That list helped me decide the next two books I'm gonna read though.
Difference Engine (reread) Is there anything more Steampunk on that list?
The Windup Girl Been eyeing this book at the bookstore for a while.
The omission that surprised me most was The Mercenary by Jerry Pournelle.
Of course, I just reread it, and discovered that I really couldn't stomach it the second time around, so that might be something to do with it as well.
Comrade Smersh, KGB Special Section 8 50 Inv/Fire, Fire/Rad, BS/WP, SD/SS, AR/EM
Other 50s: Plant/Thorn, Bots/Traps, DB/SR, MA/Regen, Rad/Dark - All on Virtue.
-Don't just rebel, build a better world, comrade! I wish I could've just foregone voting for other stuff and voted for the Illustrated Man ten times over. Granted, it kinda gets to cheat, since it's a collection of stories, but those stories just make it the epitome of great science fiction in pretty much every possible way.
My 10 votes:
American Gods, by Neil Gaiman
Armor, by John Steakley
Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card
The Lord of the Rings trilogy, by J.R.R. Tolkien
Neuromancer, by William Gibson
Something Wicked This Way Comes, by Ray Bradbury
The Stand, by Stephen King
Stranger in a Strange Land, by Robert Heinlein
Time Enough for Love, by Robert Heinlein
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, by Jules Verne
Trimming the list of loved stories down to a mere 10 was a brutal exercise. So many honorable mentions it hurts.
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Originally Posted by Chazzmatazz
Trimming the list of loved stories down to a mere 10 was a brutal exercise. So many honorable mentions it hurts.
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Agreed, and as so many have already shared - as with everyone else I had to, painfully, leave off many works that I consider worthy by nearly any criteria. My 10 votes were a mix of material that I feel is of great and lasting influence generally or inspiring to me personally as a reader of sci-fi/fantasy:
- Armor, by John Steakley
- The Conan The Barbarian Series, by R.E.Howard
- The Dune Chronicles, by Frank Herbert
- Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card
- The Lord of the Rings trilogy, by J.R.R. Tolkien
- House of Leaves, by Mark Danielewski
- The Kingkiller Chronicles, by Patrick Rothfuss (note: I know there is apprehension with something too recent being here - and the third in this trilogy isn't even published yet - but it really is that good IMO)
- The Scar, by China Mieville
- The Vlad Taltos Series, by Steven Brust
- The War of the Worlds, by H.G.Wells
City of Heroes was my first MMO, & my favorite computer game.
R.I.P.
Chyll - Bydand - Violynce - Enyrgos - Rylle - Nephryte - Solyd - Fettyr - Hyposhock - Styrling - Beryllos - Rosyc
Horryd - Myriam - Dysquiet - Ghyr
Vanysh - Eldrytch
Inflyct - Mysron - Orphyn - Dysmay - Reapyr - - Wyldeman - Hydeous
Quote:
I'm sure, people either detest Bob Salvatore as a hack or cant stand his character but Drizzt's popularity is undeniable, especially after the "Dark Elf Trilogy. His popularity transcended D&D fans even, popular to the point that a travelogue more or less was printed for people who had never played D&D or messed around in the realms so that they could get a better idea of where the books were set. |
Originally Posted by Smersh
I had the exact opposite reaction.
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Or not surprised that the Chronicles didn't make it? Honestly I would have expected them to show up before Drizzt and company. Dragonlance seemed to have as much appeal if not more than all the dark elf stuff.
Personally I never really read the core Dragonlance stuff other than Dragons of Spring Dawning, but I liked some of the other books like the trilogy focused on the twins as well as the book about Kaz.
------->"Sic Semper Tyrannis"<-------
Quote:
It was both, actually.|
Originally Posted by ebon3
I'm sure, people either detest Bob Salvatore as a hack or cant stand his character but Drizzt's popularity is undeniable, especially after the "Dark Elf Trilogy. His popularity transcended D&D fans even, popular to the point that a travelogue more or less was printed for people who had never played D&D or messed around in the realms so that they could get a better idea of where the books were set.
Or not surprised that the Chronicles didn't make it? Honestly I would have expected them to show up before Drizzt and company. Dragonlance seemed to have as much appeal if not more than all the dark elf stuff. Personally I never really read the core Dragonlance stuff other than Dragons of Spring Dawning, but I liked some of the other books like the trilogy focused on the twins as well as the book about Kaz. |
I like reading franchise fiction - I've just never read a DnD novel I enjoyed. I think that's more to do with me than the fiction itself. I would have liked to have seen, say, Planet of the Apes on the list instead of Drizz't. I never cared for Salvatore's writing, and the Dragonlance book I checked out of the library was the core trilogy... it was awful, and annotated by the authors. Talk about self-congratulatory...
But, if I'm honest with myself, that's me snarking about things I don't enjoy personally. There's room for a lot of different tastes out there.
Comrade Smersh, KGB Special Section 8 50 Inv/Fire, Fire/Rad, BS/WP, SD/SS, AR/EM
Other 50s: Plant/Thorn, Bots/Traps, DB/SR, MA/Regen, Rad/Dark - All on Virtue.
-Don't just rebel, build a better world, comrade!
National Public Radio recently polled its followers to compile the top 100 Science Fiction/Fantasy works. They put together a really nice reading list (well worth perusing and plotting future literary acquisitions).
Well, now they are soliciting voting to narrow it to the cream of the crop.
Get out the vote!