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In my Internet wanderings, I ran across two book lists
that interested me.
∞
Locus Best All-Time Fantasy Novels
∞
Locus Best All-Time Science Fiction Novels
The lists caught my attention because I consider myself
a science fiction reader, but I've read more books from
the Fantasy list. And I did not enjoy several of the books
that I had read from the Science Fiction list!
Here's the Fantasy List. The ones in bold are the books
I've read.
1) The Lord of the Rings, J. R. R. Tolkien (1955)
2) The Hobbit, J. R. R. Tolkien (1937)
3) A Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula K. Le Guin (1968)
4) The Shadow of the Torturer, Gene Wolfe (1980)
5) The Last Unicorn, Peter S. Beagle (1968)
♥
6) The Once and Future King, T. H. White (1958)
7) Nine Princes in Amber, Roger Zelazny (1970)
8) The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, Stephen R. Donaldson (1977)
9) Dragonflight, Anne McCaffrey (1968)
♥
10) Little, Big, John Crowley (1981)
11) Alice in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll (1865)
12) The Gormenghast Trilogy, Mervyn Peake (1950)
13) The Riddlemaster of Hed, Patricia A. McKillip (1976)
14) The Incompleat Enchanter, Fletcher Pratt & L. Sprague de Camp (1941)
15) Watership Down, Richard Adams (1972)
16) The Dying Earth, Jack Vance (1950)
17) Glory Road, Robert A. Heinlein (1963)
18) A Spell for Chameleon, Piers Anthony (1977)
19) Dracula, Bram Stoker (1897)
20) The Wizard of Oz, L. Frank Baum (1900)
21) Silverlock, John Myers Myers (1949)
22) Something Wicked This Way Comes, Ray Bradbury (1962)
23*) The White Dragon, Anne McCaffrey (1978)
♥
23*) The Stand, Stephen King (1978)
25) Lord Valentine's Castle, Robert Silverberg (1980)
26) The Chronicles of Narnia, C. S. Lewis (1950)
27) The Shining, Stephen King (1977)
28) Conjure Wife, Fritz Leiber (1953)
29*) Deryni Rising, Katherine Kurtz (1970)
29*) The Worm Ouroboros, E. R. Eddison (1922)
31) Witch World, Andre Norton (1963)
32) Salem's Lot, Stephen King (1975)
33) A Wrinkle in Time, Madeleine L'Engle (1962)
And the Science Fiction list...
1) Dune, Frank Herbert (1965)
2) The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K. Le Guin (1969)
3) Childhood's End, Arthur C. Clarke (1953)
4) The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, Robert A. Heinlein (1966)
5) Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert A. Heinlein (1961)
6) The Foundation Trilogy, Isaac Asimov (1953)
7) A Canticle for Leibowitz, Walter M. Miller Jr (1959)
8) Gateway, Frederik Pohl (1977)
9) Ringworld, Larry Niven (1970)
10) The Stars My Destination, Alfred Bester (1956)
11) Lord of Light, Roger Zelazny (1967)
12) More Than Human, Theodore Sturgeon (1953)
13) The Mote in God's Eye, Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle (1974)
14) The Man in the High Castle, Philip K. Dick (1962)
15) The Time Machine, H. G. Wells (1895)
16) Stand on Zanzibar, John Brunner (1968)
17) The Dispossessed, Ursula K. Le Guin (1974)
♥
18*) The Demolished Man, Alfred Bester (1953)
18*) The Forever War, Joe Haldeman (1974)
20) The Martian Chronicles, Ray Bradbury (1950)
21) Starship Troopers, Robert A. Heinlein (1959)
22) Dying Inside, Robert Silverberg (1972)
23) Dhalgren, Samuel R. Delany (1975)
24) Time Enough for Love, Robert A. Heinlein (1973)
25*) Way Station, Clifford D. Simak (1963)
25*) Rendezvous with Rama, Arthur C. Clarke (1973)
27) To Your Scattered Bodies Go, Philip Jose Farmer (1971)
28) Earth Abides, George R. Stewart (1949)
29) The Door Into Summer, Robert A. Heinlein (1957)
30) City, Clifford D. Simak (1952)
31) The Witches of Karres, James H. Schmitz (1966)
32) The City and the Stars, Arthur C. Clarke (1956)
33) The Caves of Steel, Isaac Asimov (1953)
34) 1984, George Orwell (1949)
35) Norstrilia, Cordwainer Smith (1975)
36) Mission of Gravity, Hal Clement (1954)
37) Ubik, Philip K. Dick (1969)
38*) Timescape, Gregory Benford (1980)
38*) 2001: A Space Odyssey, Arthur C. Clarke (1968)
40) Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury (1953)
41) Downbelow Station, C. J. Cherryh (1981)
42) The War of the Worlds, H. G. Wells (1898)
43) Last and First Men, Olaf Stapledon (1930)
44) Double Star, Robert A. Heinlein (1956)
45) Davy, Edgar Pangborn (1964)
15 Fantasy Novels read, three of them favorites.
And 10 Science Fiction Novels read, with only one that
I liked.
There are several books on the SF list
that I've attempted to read but are so horribly boring
I couldn't finish them. And there are several authors in
the SF list that I dislike.
So: am I a fantasy reader, after all?
Hmm. On the SF list, I have read about ½ of those
books within the past 10 years or so. Whereas on the
Fant list, many were read when I was a kid...
I've only read one or two books in the past
10 years.
I guess I'm just someone who likes to read!
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