Top 100 Science-Fiction, Fantasy Books

[yathrib]

I am fanatic about Sandman, but I've found Neil Gaiman's (non graphic) novels almost unreadable. I won't say he can't write dialogue, but his deficiencies in that area become more obvious when not in word balloons.

10. American Gods, by Neil Gaiman
29. The Sandman Series, by Neil Gaiman
48. Neverwhere, by Neil Gaiman
52. Stardust, by Neil Gaiman

don't get me wrong - i really loved 'neverwhere'. but 'neil gaiman - greatest sf/fantasy author of all time?' 4 books close to or among the top 50? almost 1/10 of all the top 50?...

these lists depress me...

[IanEye]

*





a strand of silver hanging through the sky - touching more than you see



precious life - your tears are lost in falling rain




*

[Hugh Manatee Wins]

Neil Gaimon is a spook author.

National Propaganda Radio (NPR) recently started a kidz book feature called 'Back Seat Reading Club' that started out with Gaimon's
decoy book about the revival of the Spanish Influenza using corpses dug up out of the permafrost.

Gaimon teamed up with dupe Terry Pratchett to satirize 'The Omen' which was itself a decoy of a NATO nuke targeting plan called 'Clarinet Omen.'

spooks eat kidz for breakfast. and get rich doing so.

[JackRiddler]

Illuminatus. How did we all forget that one? Not quite high literature, but influential: may be forgotten, but it's dissolved into the culture.

[Spiro C. Thiery]

Of course I love lists like this, because I get to be pissed off by my cherished omissions (The Stars My Destination, The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch for sci fi; The Gormenghast Trilogy for fantasy (or at least 2/3rds of it)).

Ha, the "getting to be pissed off" part is funny. We humans cherish that. Reminds me of the R&R Hall, Cream Mag polls, etc. But/And... we get great tips as well

But yes to this:

Why always science fiction/fantasy novels? I would do science fiction/spy novels.

Or let's really open it up, and just talk of imaginative fiction. If that even makes sense, since The Mayor of Casterbridge is also imaginative.

I suppose Lovecraft is allocated the category of horror, but why not horror/fantasy, rather than sci fi/fantasy? Fantasy and Horror, both the genres and the conditions, seem much more akin to me.

Yes, yes, yes. Also, scanning the list, there seem to be some inclusions that are strictly Dystopian and I think an expansion to Horror is necessary for their rightful inclusion (from my under-qualified, sniveling-pedant's perspective).

No Stanislaw Lem? I thought he was supposed to be good. I wouldn't know because I refuse to read his books until I learn Polish.

I hear this, on the absurdity of omission (no wonder he was so disdainful of "SciFi") and the language concern. But hurry up and learn Polish. It will be worth it.

Also, there exists something called 'Strange Fiction'. Although they are collected shorts, Robert Aickman's The Wine-Dark Sea and Painted Devils come highly recommend by me (and the fellows who wrote the Intros in the various editions).

[JackRiddler]

Yee-arrgh. We all forgot Lem. I've read Return From The Stars about a half-dozen times. Also The Fiasco. Also, didn't read Solaris but Tarkovsky made a great film of it.

[Gnomad]

To make you a little less pissed, Jeff, I consider "The Stars my destination" and "The 3 stigmata of Palmer Eldritch" to be in the top 100. The former I was so engulfed in that I read it till the end on one sitting, finishing it in the wee hours of the morning.

Gormenghast I have never even heard of

Jack, was Lem's "Futurological Congress" on anyones list, yet?
Sure is one mine. More so each passing day.

Should also mention Isaac Asimov's "The Winnowing" - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Winnowing
even thou it is a short story.

Also on my list, many books of Jack Vance - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Vance
"The Dying Earth"

The Dungeons and Dragons RPG and associated literature uses a magic system inspired by Jack Vance's Dying Earth series [16]

"Emphyrio"
"To Live Forever"
..for a starter on his works.

Also:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babel-17

Babel-17 is a 1966 science fiction novel by American writer Samuel R. Delany in which the Sapir–Whorf Hypothesis (that language strongly influences thought and perceived reality) plays an important part. It was joint winner of the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1966 (with Flowers for Algernon)[1] and was also nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1967.[2]

During an interstellar war one side develops a language, Babel-17, that can be used as a weapon. Learning it turns one into an unwilling traitor as it alters perception and thought. The change is made more dangerous by the language's seductive enhancement of other abilities. This is discovered by the beautiful starship captain, linguist, poet, and telepath Rydra Wong. She is recruited by her government to discover how the enemy are infiltrating and sabotaging strategic sites. Initially Babel-17 is thought to be a code used by enemy agents. Rydra Wong realizes it is a language, and finds herself becoming a traitor as she learns it. She is rescued by her dedicated crew, figures out the danger, and neutralizes its effects.

The novel deals with several issues related to the peculiarities of language, how conditions of life shape the formation of words and meaning, and how the words themselves can shape the actions of people.

[edit]

I also read everything HP Lovecraft wrote, when I was around 15-17. I had not heard of him, just happened to pick a book from the library shelf (always done that a lot, still do!) and was instantly hooked. Also roleplayed "Call of Cthulhu" back then.

[hanshan]

...

these are both good (top 100? eh)

Richard K. Morgan Altered Carbon: A Takeshi Kovacs Novel (Takeshi Kovacs Novels)

the whole series is worth reading

Chris Moriarty Spin State


...

[slomo]

Reading Paolo Bacigalupi's The Windup Girl. Some very RI themes there. Kind of bleak. Anybody else read it?

[Hammer of Los]

...

Did I already mention Grant Morrison?

What a fine writer he is!

And Steve Ditko?

What about Jack Kirby?

Chris Knowles doesn't write fiction, does he?


ps I really LOVE fantasy and sci fi. I think they go great together too*. Julian May! The Many Coloured Land! Amazingly good books! Go read them! I already mentioned Zelazney's Lord of Light, didn't I?

* The age of aquarius IS the age of integration, after all.




...

[justdrew]

here's a site with another top 100 list, never seen this place before, but it looks like a good production...

http://thisrecording.com/today/2010/1/18/in-which-we-count-down-the-100-greatest-science-fiction-or-f.html

I was going to post the list, but the author's actually written a bit about each book, and there's cover pics, and links, so check it out at the above url

[Jeff]

Thanks for the list, Drew. Reminded of how good Farmer in the Sky is.

Two I don't think have been mentioned yet which made similar impressions on my adolescent mind were L Sprague de Camp's Lest Darkness Fall and Fritz Leiber's Gather, Darkness! The former was an alt-history of time travel and enlightening the Dark Ages, and the latter was a post-apocalpyptic tale of techno-priests, bad faith, and a revolution of liberating witchcraft.

[Twyla LaSarc]

Neil Gaimon is a spook author.

National Propaganda Radio (NPR) recently started a kidz book feature called 'Back Seat Reading Club' that started out with Gaimon's
decoy book about the revival of the Spanish Influenza using corpses dug up out of the permafrost.

Gaimon teamed up with dupe Terry Pratchett to satirize 'The Omen' which was itself a decoy of a NATO nuke targeting plan called 'Clarinet Omen.'

spooks eat kidz for breakfast. and get rich doing so.

He is a scientologist.

https://whyweprotest.net/community/thre ... ont.57367/

He may or may not be working for the CIA and he has his own agenda.

I liked Sandman, Good Omens (Pratchett, c'mon Omen is so effin pop culture, you could hide a barn behind it, I found it good fun) and Anansi Boys.

I make sure my money doesn't go to what his family has committed him to.

[DrEvil]

Not that I'm condoning piracy or anything (Heavens no!), but a quick google search for
SFFEbook 150 Remaster v210
might yield some interesting results for scifi/fantasy buffs

[Twyla LaSarc]

Not that I'm condoning piracy or anything (Heavens no!), but a quick google search for
SFFEbook 150 Remaster v210
might yield some interesting results for scifi/fantasy buffs

Thanks!