Posted on 08/11/2011 5:46:33 PM PDT by Tanniker Smith
More than 5,000 of you nominated. More than 60,000 of you voted. And now the results are in. The winners of NPR's Top 100 Science-Fiction and Fantasy survey are an intriguing mix of classic and contemporary titles.
A quick word about what's here, and what's not: Our panel of experts reviewed hundreds of the most popular nominations and tossed out those that didn't fit the survey's criteria (after — we assure you — much passionate, thoughtful, gleefully nerdy discussion). You'll notice there are no young adult or horror books on this list, but sit tight, dear reader, we're saving those genres for summers yet to come.
So, at last, here are your favorite science-fiction and fantasy novels. (And a printable version, to take with you to the bookstore.)
OK My "No, and" (or maybe it's a "Yes, but") moment on this came during a similar rant I was making to the owner of my favorite SF/Famtasy specialty bookshop. Then in a "This will only embarass me if I permit it", I glance over to the New Arrivals shelf and notice she has Gordon Dickson's "Dragon on the Border" in. Score!
While Fantasy in bulk tends to the mind-numbing, in the hands of a proper SF author like Gordon Dickson, Poul Anderson, L Sprague deCamp, Elizabeth Moon, Mary Gentle (or on a slightly different note, Cordwainer Smith), fantasy is a totally different breed. It's about the author having the discipline to set the rules of the fantasiverse beforehand and then telling a story within those limits. (Sort of like how Science Fiction should be done)
And I note that none of those authors made the list - No Dragon and the George, no Merman's Children, no Incomplete Enchanter, no The Sheepfarmer's Daughter, no Grunts.
Where have NPR listeners been for the past 50 years? It's like these NPR SF fans live in a world of their own ... (OK think I'm losing the point again, all SF fans do this)
Where is L.Ron Hubbard? Well, from an historical perspective, I guess he ought to be on this list. (But so should many better authors.) Writing-wise I find him very dated. JMO.
I love both her series, but Vorkosigan is not as good an example of SF as Chalion is of Fantasy.
IMHO, “Scanners Live in Vain” is one of the finest SF short stories ever written. Anyone on this thread who posesses $20 and no exposure to Cordwainer Smith owes it to themselves to purchase a copy of “The Rediscovery of Man”.
Thank you for posting this list.
This is one of the things I love about FR. Unexpected, welcomed info.
There are a few books on that list I haven’t read yet. Gotta fire up my Kindle.
Thanks again!
Left Hand of Darkness and The Handmaid’s Tale are there due to all the women who came to vote for Wicked and Outlander and stayed to vote their college reading list...
Both are good fantasy.
She is a very strong female character, but it’s survival that leads her to be that person, not rebellion. Plus she kind of reminds me of me...I’m not the ‘typical’ female either. LOL!
I just recently re-read Midnight and Exiles and have the other Well World on the Nook if I can ever wrest it away from my wife.
I enjoyed those books as much now as I did when I first read them 30 years ago. I liked the 4 lords books also from Chalker.
As a more general comment on this list, there's some real crap on there.
Wicked??? Are you kidding me?
The Mars Trilogy from KSR????? Those books are a great concept that absolutely fails in execution. Pure snooze inducing garbage. It took me MONTHS to get through them and I burn A book a week normally and often one a day if i'm sick, snowed in or on vacation. I hated those books.
Dan Simmons Hyperion books definitely belong on the list as do all the Heinlein, Asimov, Clarke books listed.
I really love the Robin Hobb books despite, in general, not enjoying female authors as much. I like the cold hard edges you get from Niven. As an aside, I recently read Fallen Angels from Niven as listed up thread and consider it one of his much weaker works.
As others have stated, the Hammer's Slammers books are notably absent as is John Ringo but I'm not surprised that some NPR tofu eater wouldn't enjoy The Last Centurion or when the Slammers annihilate whatever is in their path :)
Jack Campbell wrote a series of JAG in Space novels under his real name, John Hemry. Completely awesome, but out of print. Just saw on Amazon that they’re being republished in the spring- they are well worth seeking out.
Did you know he actually ran for political office as a socialist ? He was also a staffer when Upton Sinclair ran for governor of CA on a socialist platform (although he ran on the Dem ticket) in 1934.
I’ve read everything Heinlein ever wrote and I was shocked when I found out he’d once been a socialist.
That political activism phase of Heinlein's life also resulted in his writing the non-fiction political activism "how to" book "Take Back Your Government". If adapted to modern technology, the methods he outlined would still be applicable today.
What surprised me was that I don’t think I read much science fiction but I’ve read a lot of the top 20 here.
But the bottom line is that the list does very well demonstrate that art is subjective.
I prefer Jim Butcher’s “Dresden Chronicles”. How about a few “steampunk” novels next time?
I loved that book. Ish and Em.
Nobody writes like Jack Vance. I’m reading the Demon Princes again right now. He was good friends with Herbert, and was actually with him in mexico when the first kernels of Dune were being formulated, but he never read it! Pretty funny stuff. He doesnt read sci-fi/fantasy, just doesn’t care for it.
For my money the best two writers right now are Gene Wolfe and Jack Vance, and Vance is retired, he’s in his mid-90s.
Freegards from the IPPC
Some of the books i would vote for in a top 20 (let alone a top 100) list that weren't included in the NPR list:
The Golden Age trilogy by John C Wright (of note for Freepers - the author is reputed to be very conservative and it does have a strong conservative current throughout, but that's not why i include this work in my top 20).
Solaris by Lem Stanislaw
Destination Void by Frank Herbert (this doesn't receive high ratings from most readers but i found it fascinating as an exploration of consciousness)
The Dosadi Experiment by Frank Herbert (book 2 in the Whipping Star binary)
Hellstrom's Hive by Frank Herbert (yes i'm a huge Herbert fan)
Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake (book 2 of the Gormenghast trilogy...way too dark for my taste, but i can't deny it's a monumental work in this field)
Hart's Hope / Wyrms by Orson Scott Card (two very good early Card books that are dark but not as dark as Gormenghast)
The End of Eternity by Isaac Asimov (i rank this right up there with his original Foundation novels)
My guess is it will be included in a list geared toward books aimed at younger readers. On the NPR page it states that "you'll notice there are no young adult or horror books on this list, but sit tight, dear reader, we're saving those genres for summers yet to come"....which is also why the Harry Potter series wasn't listed.
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