SFBC 50 novels meme

[dsrtao]

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   - overrated: this is more notable because it established cyberpunk than anything else.
Childhood’s End, Arthur C. Clarke
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Philip K. Dick
The Mists of Avalon, Marion Zimmer Bradley - disliked, but finished.
Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury
The Book of the New Sun, Gene Wolfe - I've read other Wolfe, and usually liked him.
A Canticle for Leibowitz, Walter M. Miller, Jr. - intensely disliked.
The Caves of Steel, Isaac Asimov
Children of the Atom, Wilmar Shiras
Cities in Flight, James Blish - I generally don't like Blish at all.
The Colour of Magic, Terry Pratchett - not his best, by far.
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 - Got a few chapters in, thought about ripping the book up.
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*
I Am Legend, Richard Matheson
Interview with the Vampire, Anne Rice - I think The Vampire Lestat was the best she's done.
The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K. Le Guin
Little, Big, John Crowley
Lord of Light, Roger Zelazny - He did better, too.
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 - one of the first of the Big Dumb Object novels.
Ringworld, Larry Niven - a better BDO novel
Rogue Moon, Algis Budrys
The Silmarillion, J.R.R. Tolkien - there are very few people who have read this and not Lord of The Rings. I am one.
Slaughterhouse-5, Kurt Vonnegut - overrated as an author
Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson*
Stand on Zanzibar, John Brunner* - one of his classics, along with Jagged Orbit and The Shockwave Rider
The Stars My Destination, Alfred Bester* - wow
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

Comments

[dreda.livejournal.com]

The point of the list is "significant," right? I have been assuming that as I've read over it - Neuromancer is hugely significant for hurling a genre into the collective consciousness, even if it really isn't his best work or even that shatteringly fabulous. "Overrated" often goes hand in hand with significant, I have noticed.

I tell myself this is why the Terry Brooks is on the list, although I'm not sure why that crappy monstrosity is more significant than the other crappily monstrous contenders.

[hungrytiger]

A Canticle for Leibowitz, Walter M. Miller, Jr. - intensely disliked.
May I ask why? I recall it as being a "wow" book for me, but then I read it a long time ago when I was more interested in organized religion than I am today, so that may have colored my feelings.

The Colour of Magic, Terry Pratchett - not his best, by far.
In fact, it so turned me off to him that I never read any other Discword books until a few years ago when I had some Pratchett fans tell me which ones would be worth my while (Small Gods and Mort helped me gain some respect for him)

The First Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, Stephen R. Donaldson - Got a few chapters in, thought about ripping the book up.
I'm finding it interesting how many people in my circle who are doing this meme hated this book (myself included).

Rendezvous with Rama, Arthur C. Clarke - one of the first of the Big Dumb Object novels.
LoL! I actually preferred Rama to Ringworld, but that's just a great way of referring to them.

The Stars My Destination, Alfred Bester* - wow
Wow indeed. I read this for the first time about six or seven years ago and it went straight to my personal top 10 list [of course, I also love The Count of Monte Cristo, and in many ways TSMD is an SF version of it]. It's amazingly rare for a SF book written over 50 years ago to still speak so well to contemporary audiences, but this one really manages it.

[dsrtao]

I find Leibowitz boring, really. There are no characters I want to identify with or root for, no sense of wonder; just a plodding futility.

My first Pratchett was Small Gods, then Guards, Guards!. That helped, I think.

BDO is not my invention, sadly. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Dumb_Object

If you like Bester and Dumas, I predict that you do or will like Brust. Yes?

[hungrytiger]

Yes on Brust, though I've been disappointed by his last few books (particularly the latest one).

I'm starting to feel that he hit his peak in the late 80s / early 90s with the middle few Vlad books and first two Phoenix Guards books (both of which I was indeed nuts over as you would guess). Since then I feel like he's been coasting.