The SF and Fantasy Canon, according to...well, me.

Each of these books I can recommend wholeheartedly. They are my all time favorites.

Not a lot of surprises here, but I've included a few esoteric quirky choices.

If your favorite books aren't on the list, I either purposely or unpurposely left them off. If the latter, I will add, if the former, I will tell you why.

There are classics that I just didn't like something about them, such as Childhood's End, by Arthur C. Clarke, which was a great book right up to the ending, but I hated the ending. That kind of thing.

Many series seem to lose steam, in my opinion, so I list the books only so far as they are great.

I've tried just about every fantasy series there is, and most fall very short for me. I've included only those that I think rise to greatness. (I actively dislike books by Donaldson and Brooks and Goodkind, among others.)

There are many books I enjoyed but didn't love, so for instance Ready Player One or Harry Potter or Hunger Games. You know, nice reads, but not in the canon.

62 entries, will go to 100 as I'm reminded, or my standards loosen?

The Once and Future King, T.H.White
Lord of Light, Roger Zelazny
Chronicles of Amber, Roger Zelazny (First five only)
This Immortal, Roger Zelazny
Lord of the Rings (including the Hobbit), J.R.R. Tolkien
Narnia, C.S. Lewis
Tunnel in the Sky, Robert Heinlein
Dune, Frank Herbert (only the first)
The Iron Dragon's Daughter, Michael Swanwick
2001, Arthur C. Clarke
Ender's Game (only the first)
Watership Down, Richard Adams (Shardik was great too.)
Conan the Conqueror, Robert E. Howard (the whole Conan oeuvre, actually, but only by REH)
Armor, John Steakley (Vampires was great too)
Vorkosigan Saga, Lois McMasters Bujold (the early ones, really) and her World of Five Gods trilogy.)
Startide Rising (and Uplift Wars, only those two) David Brin
The Postman, David Brin
Foundation Trilogy, Isaac Asimov (the original trilogy)
Robot Books, Isaac Asimov (Caves of Steel; I, Robot; The Naked Sun)
The Difference Engine, William Gibson and Bruce Sterling
Deathworld Trilogy, Harry Harrison
Canticle for Leibowitz, Walter M. Miller, Jr
Way Station, Clifford D. Simak
The Stand, Stephen King
Consider Phlebas, Iain M. Banks (all the Culture novels are excellent)
Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson
Elric Saga, Michael Moorcock
The War Hound and the World's Pain, Michael Moorcock
Diamond Age, Neal Stephenson
The Baroque Cycle, Neal Stephenson (including Cryptonomicon)
Book of the New Sun, Gene Wolfe
Devil in the Forest, Gene Wolfe,
Yarrow, Charle de Lint
Tea with a Black Dragon, R.A. MacAvoy
The Lensmen Series, E.E. Doc Smith
Fire Upon the Deep, Vernor Vinge
Battle Circle, Piers Anthony (only Anthony I ever liked, but I really liked this)
Name of the Wind, Patrick Rothfuss (and The Wise Man's Fear)
The Martian Chronicles, Ray Bradbury
Something Wicked This Way Comes, Ray Bradbury
Song of Ice and Fire, George R.R. Martin (only the first three)
Tuf Voyaging, George R.R. Martin
The Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula Le Guin (first three books only)
The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula Le Guin (or The Dispossessed)
Gateway, Frederick Pohl
The Void Captain's Tale, Norman Spinrad
Lord Valentine's Castle, Robert Silverberg
The Beginning Place, Ursula Le Guin
1984, George Orwell
Brave New World, Aldous Huxley
Tales of Neveryon, Samuel R. Delany
Valis,Philip K. Dick
Earth Abides, George Stewart
Ubik, Philip K. Dick (gotta be in a certain mood)
Perdido Street Station, China Mieville (also liked The Scar, the rest are too much...)
I Am Legend, Richard Matheson
The Witches of Karres, James H. Schmitz
Hyperion, Dan Simmons, (and Fall of Hyperion, only those two)
Mars Trilogy, Kim Stanley Robinson
Cat's Cradle, Curt Vonnegut
The Forever War, Joe Haldeman
Princess of Mars, Edgar Rice Burroughs (I devoured every Mars, Venus, Tarzan, and Pellucidar book I could get my hands on.)
Alas, Babylon, Pat Frank
Languages of Pao, Jack Vance (actually every word he ever wrote)