NPR's Top 100 SFF Books
Stolen from ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
themis . Bolded for read, italicized for started, underlined for meaning to read.
1. The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy, by J.R.R. Tolkien
Haven’t reread these in forever, but they deserve their place at the top for influence and endurance. They’re also melodramatic and depressing, two things that translate pretty well to screen.
2. The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, by Douglas Adams
Not an enormous fan myself, but another granddaddy, so yeah, this should be up here.
3. Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card
Wait, was this list written by a thirteen-year-old?
4. The Dune Chronicles, by Frank Herbert
Couldn’t finish the first one -- actually couldn’t get past the bit where whatshisname was facing the robotic whatever at the beginning. Failed to care. I have it on good authority that lots of people care, though. Of course, I’m being dishonestly absentminded -- it’s impossible to write in this genre without absorbing a lot of peripheral knowledge about Dune whether you want to or not.
5. A Song Of Ice And Fire Series, by George R. R. Martin
We know how I feel about this one. That being said, I don’t think it warrants a #5 spot. It’s a personal favorite, but it hasn’t gotten to legend status quite yet.
6. 1984, by George Orwell
The only book I’ve ever failed to finish because it was too depressing, when I was eight. Finished it later.
7. Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury
For school -- my strongest memory of this was the cartoon of some dude burning to death that a classmate drew after we read it. Also one of my friends wrote Montague/That Evil Boss Guy slash.
8. The Foundation Trilogy, by Isaac Asimov
My dad loves these. I will read them someday for this reason. Still, higher than I, Robot?
9. Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
There was some rhyme about orgy porgy.
10. American Gods, by Neil Gaiman
This book is canned boredom.
11. The Princess Bride, by William Goldman
I think the movie is better compared to other movies than the book is compared to other books, but I liked the book alright.
12. The Wheel Of Time Series, by Robert Jordan
I had my phase with these once, and not even I managed to read them all. They are like, the prototypical crappy overwrought epic fantasy, though, all others are eclipsed by them.
13. Animal Farm, by George Orwell
Poor Boxer.
14. Neuromancer, by William Gibson
15. Watchmen, by Alan Moore
Interesting that this is on here -- I would differentiate fiction from comics here, else we’d be here all day. There’s a difference between something containing science-fiction happenings and something being in the science fiction genre: a lot of SFF enthusiasts protest otherwise, but the fact is publishing classification makes a big difference in publishing history, whether or not you think it’s fair that only certain kinds of fantastical works are labeled as SFF. That being said, Watchmen is amazing and deserves to be on many Top 100 lists; “favoritism” doesn’t encapsulate the feeling.
16. I, Robot, by Isaac Asimov
It’s good and, more importantly, seminal. What’s it doing all the way down here?
17. Stranger In A Strange Land, by Robert Heinlein
I wish I could unread this book.
18. The Kingkiller Chronicles, by Patrick Rothfuss
I tried the first one -- why are these so popular? My eyeballs nearly popped out and rolled away to find a more interesting head.
19. Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut
I’ve never read a novel-length work by Vonnegut. I’d claim this was influenced by the Vonnegut fan who tried to strangle me when I was eleven , but actually it’s because I’ve never gotten around to it.
20. Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley
This takes an interesting place in literary history, for sure, and I find the basic myth of it (and therefore many retellings/homages to it) compelling. I’ve never reread it in full, though.
21. Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?, by Philip K. Dick
22. The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood
Eh.
23. The Dark Tower Series, by Stephen King
These things used to be like the Homestuck of the SFF world. The first one sucked, everyone claimed it got better at the first, people liked them for no particular reason and were preachy and injokey about it, and it got on my nerves.
24. 2001: A Space Odyssey, by Arthur C. Clarke
25. The Stand, by Stephen King
26. Snow Crash, by Neal Stephenson
27. The Martian Chronicles, by Ray Bradbury
Thumbs-up on this one; I haven’t read in forever, but I remember liking this. And a lot of Bradbury, actually, I don’t know what about his work appeals to me but it does.
28. Cat's Cradle, by Kurt Vonnegut
29. The Sandman Series, by Neil Gaiman
Inasmuch as comics in general deserve to be on this list rather than their own, yeah, this one deserves to be here. But it should’ve been above fucking American Gods. Favorite.
30. A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess
31. Starship Troopers, by Robert Heinlein
32. Watership Down, by Richard Adams
It was pretty cool and had one particular section (which I’m sure anyone who’s read it can immediately pick out) which will forever stick in my mind for creepy shit -- it kind of played on my Redwall nostalgia while being many times better.
33. Dragonflight, by Anne McCaffrey
34. The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress, by Robert Heinlein
35. A Canticle For Leibowitz, by Walter M. Miller
36. The Time Machine, by H.G. Wells
37. 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, by Jules Verne
I forget. But I did read it once.
38. Flowers For Algernon, by Daniel Keys
School.
39. The War Of The Worlds, by H.G. Wells
The only thing I was interested in about it as a kid was that the aliens reproduced by budding. Aside from that, Justin Hayward wrote “Forever Autumn” for this, and I like that song.
40. The Chronicles Of Amber, by Roger Zelazny
41. The Belgariad, by David Eddings
42. The Mists Of Avalon, by Marion Zimmer Bradley
I found this cringeily anvilicious even as a kid.
43. The Mistborn Series, by Brandon Sanderson
44. Ringworld, by Larry Niven
45. The Left Hand Of Darkness, by Ursula K. LeGuin
This book is brilliance and I don’t know what it’s doing so far down on this list. Favorite.
46. The Silmarillion, by J.R.R. Tolkien
47. The Once And Future King, by T.H. White
It was too weird and anachronistic.
48. Neverwhere, by Neil Gaiman
It’s okay. Inherently I think it appeals more to the shallow coolness of the world than to anything substantial -- it seems like it’d be a better Echo Bazaar-esque game than a story. And Echo Bazaar is better.
49. Childhood's End, by Arthur C. Clarke
50. Contact, by Carl Sagan
51. The Hyperion Cantos, by Dan Simmons
52. Stardust, by Neil Gaiman
The movie is better. The movie is at least fun.
53. Cryptonomicon, by Neal Stephenson
Actually, I think all of Stephenson’s books are more like the Baccano! of SFF, and none so much as Cryptonomicon. I like this book a lot, but if you are expecting satisfying linear endings this is the wrong author.
54. World War Z, by Max Brooks
55. The Last Unicorn, by Peter S. Beagle
I’m pretty sure I’m the only person in the universe who doesn’t love this book. I don’t hate it, either, but I don’t love it. It left me cold.
56. The Forever War, by Joe Haldeman
57. Small Gods, by Terry Pratchett
Why Small Gods, I wonder? I admire it, like I do some 80% of Discworld novels, but I would put Night Watch or Monstrous Regiment here.
58. The Chronicles Of Thomas Covenant, The Unbeliever, by Stephen R. Donaldson
59. The Vorkosigan Saga, by Lois McMaster Bujold
They’re fun, popular, and not bad -- the plots and dialogue are plenty entertaining, barring Shards of Honor, which I also wish I could unread.
60. Going Postal, by Terry Pratchett
See what I said about Small Gods, although I think I’m slightly less of a Moist fan than most Discworld fans. Moist has some of the same problems as William for me, without being quite as obnoxious: IE taking place in the same city with characters I care more about on the fringes.
61. The Mote In God's Eye, by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle
62. The Sword Of Truth, by Terry Goodkind
I don’t actually wish I could unread this, because then I wouldn’t be able to bitch about it in clear conscience. That being said, this is easily the worst book on this list, in every single way.
63. The Road, by Cormac McCarthy
My only desire to read Cormac McCarthy comes from the fact that a few writers I admire themselves admire him a great deal -- but nothing about his books appeals to me.
64. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, by Susanna Clarke
This land is much too shallow; it is painted on the sky; and it trembles like the wind-shook rain when the Raven King goes by. Favorite.
65. I Am Legend, by Richard Matheson
66. The Riftwar Saga, by Raymond E. Feist
67. The Shannara Trilogy, by Terry Brooks
These are, in fact, really bad, but not offensively bad like Terry Goodkind -- instead more blandly, cannedly, cheesily SyFy Original Movie bad.
68. The Conan The Barbarian Series, by R.E. Howard
69. The Farseer Trilogy, by Robin Hobb
I read the first one -- never really got into it, didn’t read the rest. No objection to it either, but it didn’t particularly capture my interest. Maybe I should give them another shot.
70. The Time Traveler's Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger
This book exists to make people who don’t read feel like they read.
71. The Way Of Kings, by Brandon Sanderson
I didn’t even know this book existed until noted here.
72. A Journey To The Center Of The Earth, by Jules Verne
There was an island that turned out to be a whale.
73. The Legend Of Drizzt Series, by R.A. Salvatore
Okay, that’s kind of adorable.
74. Old Man's War, by John Scalzi
75. The Diamond Age, by Neal Stephenson
See Cryptonomicon, but less nonlinear timejumping and history and more retrofuturism and meta-storytelling.
76. Rendezvous With Rama, by Arthur C. Clarke
I read that “Rendezvous with Ranma.”
77. The Kushiel's Legacy Series, by Jacqueline Carey
For an over-the-top ridiculous BDSM-themed romance novel, the first one was good. And I don’t even mean that as an insult. I may read the others someday.
78. The Dispossessed, by Ursula K. LeGuin
79. Something Wicked This Way Comes, by Ray Bradbury
80. Wicked, by Gregory Maguire
I hated this overwrought book so much I was surprised to discover I liked a short story of his, “Nottamun Town.”
81. The Malazan Book Of The Fallen Series, by Steven Erikson
82. The Eyre Affair, by Jasper Fforde
I found this smug and impossible to engage with meaningfully, but I didn’t finish it, so it could be it got better.
83. The Culture Series, by Iain M. Banks
84. The Crystal Cave, by Mary Stewart
85. Anathem, by Neal Stephenson
Isn’t this really new? What’s with all the newness on this list?
86. The Codex Alera Series, by Jim Butcher
Jim Butcher??
87. The Book Of The New Sun, by Gene Wolfe
88. The Thrawn Trilogy, by Timothy Zahn
89. The Outlander Series, by Diana Gabaldan
Interesting that this made it on at all -- it’s inherently a time travel romance, and this is just opening up publishing categories to be on here. Technically, a “best media with speculative elements” list would be innumerably enormous and also bring in magic realism and other things, so I don’t think they thought about narrowing their list meaningfully.
90. The Elric Saga, by Michael Moorcock
I can no longer think of this as anything but Fullmetal Alchemist.
91. The Illustrated Man, by Ray Bradbury
92. Sunshine, by Robin McKinley
I’m not a McKinley fan, which I think puts me in the severe minority, but I dig Deerskin. I don’t know why I felt the need to note that.
93. A Fire Upon The Deep, by Vernor Vinge
This book was awesome, and got me to like a hard sci-fi plot, which is not easy. Favorite.
94. The Caves Of Steel, by Isaac Asimov
95. The Mars Trilogy, by Kim Stanley Robinson
I was fascinated by Rice and Salt, so I should really read this, particularly since I’ve shaken the man’s hand on more than one occasion. That always makes me feel slightly guilty. Except in the case of David Brin, that guy’s a dick.
96. Lucifer's Hammer, by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle
97. Doomsday Book, by Connie Willis
98. Perdido Street Station, by China Mieville
I’ve never finished a novel-length work by China Mieville. Contrary to popular wisdom, I refuse to believe this is my own fault.
99. The Xanth Series, by Piers Anthony
100. The Space Trilogy, by C.S. Lewis
Off the top of my head, I would've narrowed the list a bit more to print SFF and stuff published within the genre (meaning I'd exclude the likes of Wicked, Outlander, and The Time Traveler's Wife even if I thought they deserved to be there, as well as Watchmen and Sandman, which are greats but not in this industry); while all media crosspollinates and they've all influenced one another, that's true of everything, you could make the same argument of film and fiction, but I'm pretty sure everyone agrees these lists would be impossible to make without any divisons. Aside from that, like so many lists of this nature, this thing has an incredible newness bias -- Patrick Rothfuss, seriously? George R.R. Martin? Susanna Clarke? If you're whapping up Jim Butcher, for God's sake, you might as well include J.K. Rowling for impactfulness -- this list really needs to decide what kind of list it is.
Otherwise, yesterday I went to the Jersey shore for the first time. Today is the Pennsylvania Renfaire, not for the first time. Inbetween I had a complicated dream about a LARP/IF game/virtual reality simulation that turned evil and trapped all the players in but none of the other players would believe it in time -- this was something I discovered in a level that was supposed to be about exorcizing a house haunted by an evil father, but turned out to be possessed by a tainted AI version of the Egyptian god Horus and was far above my level. Then it poisoned all the food and turned all the meat raw. It was the first dreaming simulation of biting into raw chicken I've ever had, I'd rather not repeat it.
themis . Bolded for read, italicized for started, underlined for meaning to read.1. The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy, by J.R.R. Tolkien
Haven’t reread these in forever, but they deserve their place at the top for influence and endurance. They’re also melodramatic and depressing, two things that translate pretty well to screen.
2. The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, by Douglas Adams
Not an enormous fan myself, but another granddaddy, so yeah, this should be up here.
3. Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card
Wait, was this list written by a thirteen-year-old?
4. The Dune Chronicles, by Frank Herbert
Couldn’t finish the first one -- actually couldn’t get past the bit where whatshisname was facing the robotic whatever at the beginning. Failed to care. I have it on good authority that lots of people care, though. Of course, I’m being dishonestly absentminded -- it’s impossible to write in this genre without absorbing a lot of peripheral knowledge about Dune whether you want to or not.
5. A Song Of Ice And Fire Series, by George R. R. Martin
We know how I feel about this one. That being said, I don’t think it warrants a #5 spot. It’s a personal favorite, but it hasn’t gotten to legend status quite yet.
6. 1984, by George Orwell
The only book I’ve ever failed to finish because it was too depressing, when I was eight. Finished it later.
7. Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury
For school -- my strongest memory of this was the cartoon of some dude burning to death that a classmate drew after we read it. Also one of my friends wrote Montague/That Evil Boss Guy slash.
8. The Foundation Trilogy, by Isaac Asimov
My dad loves these. I will read them someday for this reason. Still, higher than I, Robot?
9. Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
There was some rhyme about orgy porgy.
10. American Gods, by Neil Gaiman
This book is canned boredom.
11. The Princess Bride, by William Goldman
I think the movie is better compared to other movies than the book is compared to other books, but I liked the book alright.
12. The Wheel Of Time Series, by Robert Jordan
I had my phase with these once, and not even I managed to read them all. They are like, the prototypical crappy overwrought epic fantasy, though, all others are eclipsed by them.
13. Animal Farm, by George Orwell
Poor Boxer.
14. Neuromancer, by William Gibson
15. Watchmen, by Alan Moore
Interesting that this is on here -- I would differentiate fiction from comics here, else we’d be here all day. There’s a difference between something containing science-fiction happenings and something being in the science fiction genre: a lot of SFF enthusiasts protest otherwise, but the fact is publishing classification makes a big difference in publishing history, whether or not you think it’s fair that only certain kinds of fantastical works are labeled as SFF. That being said, Watchmen is amazing and deserves to be on many Top 100 lists; “favoritism” doesn’t encapsulate the feeling.
16. I, Robot, by Isaac Asimov
It’s good and, more importantly, seminal. What’s it doing all the way down here?
17. Stranger In A Strange Land, by Robert Heinlein
I wish I could unread this book.
18. The Kingkiller Chronicles, by Patrick Rothfuss
I tried the first one -- why are these so popular? My eyeballs nearly popped out and rolled away to find a more interesting head.
19. Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut
I’ve never read a novel-length work by Vonnegut. I’d claim this was influenced by the Vonnegut fan who tried to strangle me when I was eleven , but actually it’s because I’ve never gotten around to it.
20. Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley
This takes an interesting place in literary history, for sure, and I find the basic myth of it (and therefore many retellings/homages to it) compelling. I’ve never reread it in full, though.
21. Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?, by Philip K. Dick
22. The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood
Eh.
23. The Dark Tower Series, by Stephen King
These things used to be like the Homestuck of the SFF world. The first one sucked, everyone claimed it got better at the first, people liked them for no particular reason and were preachy and injokey about it, and it got on my nerves.
24. 2001: A Space Odyssey, by Arthur C. Clarke
25. The Stand, by Stephen King
26. Snow Crash, by Neal Stephenson
27. The Martian Chronicles, by Ray Bradbury
Thumbs-up on this one; I haven’t read in forever, but I remember liking this. And a lot of Bradbury, actually, I don’t know what about his work appeals to me but it does.
28. Cat's Cradle, by Kurt Vonnegut
29. The Sandman Series, by Neil Gaiman
Inasmuch as comics in general deserve to be on this list rather than their own, yeah, this one deserves to be here. But it should’ve been above fucking American Gods. Favorite.
30. A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess
31. Starship Troopers, by Robert Heinlein
32. Watership Down, by Richard Adams
It was pretty cool and had one particular section (which I’m sure anyone who’s read it can immediately pick out) which will forever stick in my mind for creepy shit -- it kind of played on my Redwall nostalgia while being many times better.
33. Dragonflight, by Anne McCaffrey
34. The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress, by Robert Heinlein
35. A Canticle For Leibowitz, by Walter M. Miller
36. The Time Machine, by H.G. Wells
37. 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, by Jules Verne
I forget. But I did read it once.
38. Flowers For Algernon, by Daniel Keys
School.
39. The War Of The Worlds, by H.G. Wells
The only thing I was interested in about it as a kid was that the aliens reproduced by budding. Aside from that, Justin Hayward wrote “Forever Autumn” for this, and I like that song.
40. The Chronicles Of Amber, by Roger Zelazny
41. The Belgariad, by David Eddings
42. The Mists Of Avalon, by Marion Zimmer Bradley
I found this cringeily anvilicious even as a kid.
43. The Mistborn Series, by Brandon Sanderson
44. Ringworld, by Larry Niven
45. The Left Hand Of Darkness, by Ursula K. LeGuin
This book is brilliance and I don’t know what it’s doing so far down on this list. Favorite.
46. The Silmarillion, by J.R.R. Tolkien
47. The Once And Future King, by T.H. White
It was too weird and anachronistic.
48. Neverwhere, by Neil Gaiman
It’s okay. Inherently I think it appeals more to the shallow coolness of the world than to anything substantial -- it seems like it’d be a better Echo Bazaar-esque game than a story. And Echo Bazaar is better.
49. Childhood's End, by Arthur C. Clarke
50. Contact, by Carl Sagan
51. The Hyperion Cantos, by Dan Simmons
52. Stardust, by Neil Gaiman
The movie is better. The movie is at least fun.
53. Cryptonomicon, by Neal Stephenson
Actually, I think all of Stephenson’s books are more like the Baccano! of SFF, and none so much as Cryptonomicon. I like this book a lot, but if you are expecting satisfying linear endings this is the wrong author.
54. World War Z, by Max Brooks
55. The Last Unicorn, by Peter S. Beagle
I’m pretty sure I’m the only person in the universe who doesn’t love this book. I don’t hate it, either, but I don’t love it. It left me cold.
56. The Forever War, by Joe Haldeman
57. Small Gods, by Terry Pratchett
Why Small Gods, I wonder? I admire it, like I do some 80% of Discworld novels, but I would put Night Watch or Monstrous Regiment here.
58. The Chronicles Of Thomas Covenant, The Unbeliever, by Stephen R. Donaldson
59. The Vorkosigan Saga, by Lois McMaster Bujold
They’re fun, popular, and not bad -- the plots and dialogue are plenty entertaining, barring Shards of Honor, which I also wish I could unread.
60. Going Postal, by Terry Pratchett
See what I said about Small Gods, although I think I’m slightly less of a Moist fan than most Discworld fans. Moist has some of the same problems as William for me, without being quite as obnoxious: IE taking place in the same city with characters I care more about on the fringes.
61. The Mote In God's Eye, by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle
62. The Sword Of Truth, by Terry Goodkind
I don’t actually wish I could unread this, because then I wouldn’t be able to bitch about it in clear conscience. That being said, this is easily the worst book on this list, in every single way.
63. The Road, by Cormac McCarthy
My only desire to read Cormac McCarthy comes from the fact that a few writers I admire themselves admire him a great deal -- but nothing about his books appeals to me.
64. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, by Susanna Clarke
This land is much too shallow; it is painted on the sky; and it trembles like the wind-shook rain when the Raven King goes by. Favorite.
65. I Am Legend, by Richard Matheson
66. The Riftwar Saga, by Raymond E. Feist
67. The Shannara Trilogy, by Terry Brooks
These are, in fact, really bad, but not offensively bad like Terry Goodkind -- instead more blandly, cannedly, cheesily SyFy Original Movie bad.
68. The Conan The Barbarian Series, by R.E. Howard
69. The Farseer Trilogy, by Robin Hobb
I read the first one -- never really got into it, didn’t read the rest. No objection to it either, but it didn’t particularly capture my interest. Maybe I should give them another shot.
70. The Time Traveler's Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger
This book exists to make people who don’t read feel like they read.
71. The Way Of Kings, by Brandon Sanderson
I didn’t even know this book existed until noted here.
72. A Journey To The Center Of The Earth, by Jules Verne
There was an island that turned out to be a whale.
73. The Legend Of Drizzt Series, by R.A. Salvatore
Okay, that’s kind of adorable.
74. Old Man's War, by John Scalzi
75. The Diamond Age, by Neal Stephenson
See Cryptonomicon, but less nonlinear timejumping and history and more retrofuturism and meta-storytelling.
76. Rendezvous With Rama, by Arthur C. Clarke
I read that “Rendezvous with Ranma.”
77. The Kushiel's Legacy Series, by Jacqueline Carey
For an over-the-top ridiculous BDSM-themed romance novel, the first one was good. And I don’t even mean that as an insult. I may read the others someday.
78. The Dispossessed, by Ursula K. LeGuin
79. Something Wicked This Way Comes, by Ray Bradbury
80. Wicked, by Gregory Maguire
I hated this overwrought book so much I was surprised to discover I liked a short story of his, “Nottamun Town.”
81. The Malazan Book Of The Fallen Series, by Steven Erikson
82. The Eyre Affair, by Jasper Fforde
I found this smug and impossible to engage with meaningfully, but I didn’t finish it, so it could be it got better.
83. The Culture Series, by Iain M. Banks
84. The Crystal Cave, by Mary Stewart
85. Anathem, by Neal Stephenson
Isn’t this really new? What’s with all the newness on this list?
86. The Codex Alera Series, by Jim Butcher
Jim Butcher??
87. The Book Of The New Sun, by Gene Wolfe
88. The Thrawn Trilogy, by Timothy Zahn
89. The Outlander Series, by Diana Gabaldan
Interesting that this made it on at all -- it’s inherently a time travel romance, and this is just opening up publishing categories to be on here. Technically, a “best media with speculative elements” list would be innumerably enormous and also bring in magic realism and other things, so I don’t think they thought about narrowing their list meaningfully.
90. The Elric Saga, by Michael Moorcock
I can no longer think of this as anything but Fullmetal Alchemist.
91. The Illustrated Man, by Ray Bradbury
92. Sunshine, by Robin McKinley
I’m not a McKinley fan, which I think puts me in the severe minority, but I dig Deerskin. I don’t know why I felt the need to note that.
93. A Fire Upon The Deep, by Vernor Vinge
This book was awesome, and got me to like a hard sci-fi plot, which is not easy. Favorite.
94. The Caves Of Steel, by Isaac Asimov
95. The Mars Trilogy, by Kim Stanley Robinson
I was fascinated by Rice and Salt, so I should really read this, particularly since I’ve shaken the man’s hand on more than one occasion. That always makes me feel slightly guilty. Except in the case of David Brin, that guy’s a dick.
96. Lucifer's Hammer, by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle
97. Doomsday Book, by Connie Willis
98. Perdido Street Station, by China Mieville
I’ve never finished a novel-length work by China Mieville. Contrary to popular wisdom, I refuse to believe this is my own fault.
99. The Xanth Series, by Piers Anthony
100. The Space Trilogy, by C.S. Lewis
Off the top of my head, I would've narrowed the list a bit more to print SFF and stuff published within the genre (meaning I'd exclude the likes of Wicked, Outlander, and The Time Traveler's Wife even if I thought they deserved to be there, as well as Watchmen and Sandman, which are greats but not in this industry); while all media crosspollinates and they've all influenced one another, that's true of everything, you could make the same argument of film and fiction, but I'm pretty sure everyone agrees these lists would be impossible to make without any divisons. Aside from that, like so many lists of this nature, this thing has an incredible newness bias -- Patrick Rothfuss, seriously? George R.R. Martin? Susanna Clarke? If you're whapping up Jim Butcher, for God's sake, you might as well include J.K. Rowling for impactfulness -- this list really needs to decide what kind of list it is.
Otherwise, yesterday I went to the Jersey shore for the first time. Today is the Pennsylvania Renfaire, not for the first time. Inbetween I had a complicated dream about a LARP/IF game/virtual reality simulation that turned evil and trapped all the players in but none of the other players would believe it in time -- this was something I discovered in a level that was supposed to be about exorcizing a house haunted by an evil father, but turned out to be possessed by a tainted AI version of the Egyptian god Horus and was far above my level. Then it poisoned all the food and turned all the meat raw. It was the first dreaming simulation of biting into raw chicken I've ever had, I'd rather not repeat it.
no subject
Ocean City, as a matter of fact, one of Rel's friends rented a beach condo. It was fun, I dove under some waves and got more of a tan.