What an outstanding book.
Nothing by Alfred Bester?
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.)
Enders Game......ug.
Please send Freepmail to get on or off this rarely-used list.
I’m sure I can say the same about 4 or 5 others.
many of these books are crap, but there are some I don’t know about which may be a nice read.
The Lord of the Rings is #1.
As it should be.
1
The Lord Of The Rings
by J.R.R. Tolkien
Tolkien’s seminal three-volume epic chronicles the War of the Ring, in which Frodo the hobbit and his companions set out to destroy the evil Ring of Power and restore peace to Middle-earth. The beloved trilogy still casts a long shadow, having established some of the most familiar and enduring tropes in fantasy literature.
I would have added David Weber’s Honor Harrington series and Robert E. Howard’s Conan series to the list. But I’m not an Asimov fan.
LOVED the first 2 books in that series, but by the 3rd I just couldn't stay focused on it.
“The Mote in God’s Eye” made 61. I would have rated it higher. And,,,, it would make a great movie series!
bump.
Forever War & The Mote in Gods Eye are very good.
I have read more than half of those...
Like eating candy.
I think the top ten is solid except for the omission of Heinlein and the inclusion of the nihilistic Douglas Adams. Considering it’s NPR, the list is not bad at all.
There are a few eyeroll choices, and the descriptions are very tendentious (Starship Troopers is “controversial” yet man-hating The Handmaid’s Tale isn’t “controversial” at all)
How is Starship Troopers controversial?
Oh ya mean the part where citizens have more rights than the leaches.
I read the first book it was good.
Me too, but about half of the ones I did read were crap.
Science fiction for popular consumption and not the Science Fiction enthusiast.
I don’t read that many science fiction books anymore (well like 0) but I’ve read 7 of the top 10.
The Wheel Of Time Series
by Robert Jordan
At 13 volumes and counting, this sweeping — some would say sprawling – richly imagined epic chronicles the struggle between servants of the Dark One and those of the champion of light known as the Dragon Reborn.
Would probably be in the top 5 if Jordan would have kept the series at his originally planned 5 books. The first 4 books were some of the best fantasy I've read since Lord of the Rings. Unfortunately, under pressure from his publisher to keep a successful series going, Jordan kept agreeing to extend the storyline, first to 7, then to 10, then to 12 books, he actually died before book 11 and another author has taken over, which I believe the new author has agreed to ANOTHER 3 books. (I gave up after #10.) Unfortunately, Jordan's original story line never changed from his original plan, so most of the content from book 6-10 are essentially "fluff" and the core story moves at a snails pace. To put it into context, Imagine if J.K. Rowlings would have agreed to extend the Harry Potter series from 7 to 14 books. However, the story didn't really change, she just "padded" the original 7 books with pages of detailed descriptions of Hogwarts, dozens of characters that are only vaguely related to the story and many pointless story arcs not remotely related to the main plot.
Agreed, Just about the only book I have ever read that really seemed to "get right" just what it might be like when humanity made "first contact" with an alien race.
What an outstanding book.
Nothing by Alfred Bester?
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