Turns out, I actively carry 80 of them, in full or part. (Some come in used often enough, that I don't get them new.)
I have read 77 of them, in full or part, and I've read 37 out of the first 40.
About 20 of these titles I don't carry because I just don't believe they are worthy, though this list may help me change my mind. I'll probably add about 15 of them to the rolls.
About 10 of the ones I don't carry, I just never thought of as S.F. per se.
And about 5 I just haven't read and didn't know were so highly thought of.
I'm going to put a (X) in front of every book I've read.
I'm going to put a * in front of every book I try to carry. (I may not always have a copy in stock, but the intent is there.)
I'm going to put a (?) with every book I think is dubious listed as S.F.
I'm going to put a (WTF) with every book I don't think is good enough.
If I don't say anything about a book, it means I totally agree with it's listing.
*(X) 1. The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy, by J.R.R. Tolkien (Countless times....)
*(X) 2. The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, by Douglas Adams (1st book; not my cup of tea.)
*(X) 3. Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card (1st book great, descends in quality...)
*(X) 4. The Dune Chronicles, by Frank Herbert (1st book great, descends in quality...)
*(X) 5. A Song Of Ice And Fire Series, by George R. R. Martin
*(X) 6. 1984, by George Orwell
*(X) 7. Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury
*(X) 8. The Foundation Trilogy, by Isaac Asimov
*(X) 9. Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
*(X) 10. American Gods, by Neil Gaiman
*(X) 11. The Princess Bride, by William Goldman
*12. The Wheel Of Time Series, by Robert Jordan. (Haven't read because seems too basic. Carry in the store, however.)
*(X) 13. Animal Farm, by George Orwell
*(X) 14. Neuromancer, by William Gibson
*(X) 15. Watchmen, by Alan Moore (First comic on the list.)
*(X) 16. I, Robot, by Isaac Asimov
*(X) 17. Stranger In A Strange Land, by Robert Heinlein
*(X) 18. The Kingkiller Chronicles, by Patrick Rothfuss (This is my new favorite series...)
*(X) 19. Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut (?)
*(X) 20. Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley
*21. Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?, by Philip K. Dick (Never got around to reading because of Bladerunner.)
22. The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood (?)
*(X) 23. The Dark Tower Series, by Stephen King
*(X) 24. 2001: A Space Odyssey, by Arthur C. Clarke
*(X) 25. The Stand, by Stephen King
*(X) 26. Snow Crash, by Neal Stephenson
*(X) 27. The Martian Chronicles, by Ray Bradbury
*(X) 28. Cat's Cradle, by Kurt Vonnegut (?)
*(X) 29. The Sandman Series, by Neil Gaiman (2nd comic series listed. Much as I love Gaiman's prose, I think THIS is his magnum opus.)
*30. A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess (No excuses -- again, the movie -- plus it's hard to get through the made-up language.)
*(X) 31. Starship Troopers, by Robert Heinlein
*(X) 32. Watership Down, by Richard Adams
(X) 33. Dragonflight, by Anne McCaffrey (Don't carry, but probably will now.)
*(X) 34. The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress, by Robert Heinlein
*(X) 35. A Canticle For Leibowitz, by Walter M. Miller
*(X) 36. The Time Machine, by H.G. Wells
*(X) 37. 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, by Jules Verne
*(X) 38. Flowers For Algernon, by Daniel Keys
*(X) 39. The War Of The Worlds, by H.G. Wells
*(X) 40. The Chronicles Of Amber, by Roger Zelazny (Personally, I like Lord of Light)
(X) 41. The Belgariad, by David Eddings (An average fantasy, as far as I'm concerned. But maybe I'll start carrying it.)
*42. The Mists Of Avalon, by Marion Zimmer Bradley (WTF) (Sorry, just never appealed to me. Read so slowly, I gave up. I gave this an in stock * because it's always floating around used.)
*43. The Mistborn Series, by Brandon Sanderson (I don't know, I might try reading this.)
*(X) 44. Ringworld, by Larry Niven
*(X) 45. The Left Hand Of Darkness, by Ursula K. LeGuin
*46. The Silmarillion, by J.R.R. Tolkien (Believe it or not, I couldn't finish. Came out too long after my mania for Tolkien.)
*(X) 47. The Once And Future King, by T.H. White (Wonderful book.)
*(X) 48. Neverwhere, by Neil Gaiman
*(X) 49. Childhood's End, by Arthur C. Clarke
*(X) 50. Contact, by Carl Sagan (I've listed that I carry it, because I always have a used copy...)
*(X) 51. The Hyperion Cantos, by Dan Simmons
* 52. Stardust, by Neil Gaiman (Starting to see a pattern; if I've seen the movie, I don't read the book.)
*(X) 53. Cryptonomicon, by Neal Stephenson (Also the Baroque Trilogy -- great stuff.)
*54. World War Z, by Max Brooks (Everyone keeps telling me to read this.)
*(X) 55. The Last Unicorn, by Peter S. Beagle
*(X) 56. The Forever War, by Joe Haldeman
57. Small Gods, by Terry Pratchett (Like Hitchhikers, I just don't enjoy the "cute" S.F.)
*(X) 58. The Chronicles Of Thomas Covenant, The Unbeliever, by Stephen R. Donaldson (WTF) (I really HATED this series -- threw the 3rd book across the room. The writer just came out early in the fantasy sweepstakes and got lucky -- only one series is worst, which I'll mention when we get there. * because it's always around used.)
*(X) 59. The Vorkosigan Saga, by Lois McMaster Bujold (Best S.F. series out there that only those who have read it know about. HIGHLY recommended.)
60. Going Postal, by Terry Pratchett
*(X) 61. The Mote In God's Eye, by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle
62. The Sword Of Truth, by Terry Goodkind (WTF) (I tried reading this, but it was such hackwork, I gave up. Really, people? Read a good fantasy instead.)
*(X) 63. The Road, by Cormac McCarthy (?)
*(X) 64. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, by Susanna Clark. (I wanted to like this book more than I did. I appreciated it more than liked it.)
*(X) 65. I Am Legend, by Richard Matheson
(X) 66. The Riftwar Saga, by Raymond E. Feist (To me, another average fantasy series. However, like Eddings and Hobb, it was O.K. so I may start carrying it.)
(X) 67. The Shannara Trilogy, by Terry Brooks (WTF) (The only series I loathed more than Donaldson's. Again, got lucky in the timing. Shameless and poorly written. Arrgggh.)
*(X) 68. The Conan The Barbarian Series, by R.E. Howard
(X) 69. The Farseer Trilogy, by Robin Hobb (Again, O.K. fantasy -- may carry it.)
*70. The Time Traveler's Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger (?) (I carry this, but in regular fiction.)
*71. The Way Of Kings, by Brandon Sanderson (Can't judge, because I haven't read him.)
*(X) 72. A Journey To The Center Of The Earth, by Jules Verne
*73. The Legend Of Drizzt Series, by R.A. Salvatore (I didn't want to read this, because it's a franchise, but so many people have recommended it, that I may try someday.)
*(X) 74. Old Man's War, by John Scalzi (?) (Just seems like an O.K. writer to me, but people love him.)
*(X) 75. The Diamond Age, by Neil Stephenson
*(X) 76. Rendezvous With Rama, by Arthur C. Clarke
*77. The Kushiel's Legacy Series, by Jacqueline Carey (?) (Honestly, I don't know anything about this one. Which is unusual, as you can tell. Turns out I'm carrying it though.)
*(X) 78. The Dispossessed, by Ursula K. LeGuin
*(X) 79. Something Wicked This Way Comes, by Ray Bradbury
80. Wicked, by Gregory Maguire (?)
*(X) 81. The Malazan Book Of The Fallen Series, by Steven Erikson (Interesting attempt to be different, but really not that well written -- lots of words and slow rollout.)
82. The Eyre Affair, by Jasper Fforde (?) Wow. I haven't even HEARD of this book!
*(X) 83. The Culture Series, by Iain M. Banks (Best S.F. going...)
(X) 84. The Crystal Cave, by Mary Stewart (Read it years ago, never thought to carry.)
*(X) 85. Anathem, by Neal Stephenson
*86. The Codex Alera Series, by Jim Butcher (Author is REALLY popular -- because of the Dresden books which they must consider horror.)
(X) 87. The Book Of The New Sun, by Gene Wolfe (Really should carry this, but seems like not all the books are in print. I'll try again.
88. The Thrawn Trilogy, by Timothy Zahn (As I mentioned about, I don't tend to read "for hire" franchise fiction. In this case, Star Wars.)
*89. The Outlander Series, by Diana Gabaldan (Linda loved this, and I've always meant to read it.)
*(X) 90. The Elric Saga, by Michael Moorcock
*(X) 91. The Illustrated Man, by Ray Bradbury
92. Sunshine, by Robin McKinley (?) ( Another book I don't know anything about. I wonder if these books just have a strong fan lobby. (See Butcher, above.) I didn't like her fantasy books...)
*(X) 93. A Fire Upon The Deep, by Vernor Vinge
*(X) 94. The Caves Of Steel, by Isaac Asimov
*(X) 95. The Mars Trilogy, by Kim Stanley Robinson
(X) 96. Lucifer's Hammer, by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle (Should and will carry.)
(X) 97. Doomsday Book, by Connie Willis (Another book I appreciated more than liked. Should and will carry.)
*(X) 98. Perdido Street Station, by China Mieville (State of the art S.F. writing.)
*(X) 99. The Xanth Series, by Piers Anthony (First three books were moderately amusing.)
100. The Space Trilogy, by C.S. Lewis (Sorry. As much as I loved Narnia and half a dozen other Lewis books, I just couldn't read this turgid thing.)
There is a huge bias toward newer and more popular titles -- which isn't the same thing as TOP in my opinion.
To this list, I would add Armor, by John Steakley; Titan, John Varley; Lord of Light and The Immortal, by Roger Zelazny; Tunnel in the Sky, Robert Heinlein; The Iron Dragon's Daughter, Michael Swanwick; Lensmen, E.E. Doc Smith; Gateway, Frederik Pohl; Waystation, Clifford Simak. Lord Valentine's Castle, Robert Silverberg; Uplift Trilogy, David Brin; The Mars books, Edgar Rice Burroughs; Yarrow, Charles DeLint; Deathworld, (and Stainless Steel Rat) Harry Harrison; Norstrillia, Cordwainer Smith....and many others of the older kind.
4 comments:
Just met you in the store. I am a visitor from Texas who plays in the Sunriver Music Festival and bought the Le Guin. Thanks for your comments and recommendations on the NPR list. Great stuff!-- Paula Bird, http://teachsuzuki.blogspot.com
You picked a good book.
Duncan
I read Starship Troopers and was disappointed with it. Too much philosphy from the perspective of the military and not enough of the movie action. Old Man's War by Scalzi is what Starship Troopers should have been. Space military action written very well. Scalzi has the largest most read blog on the internet... he can't be that bad can he?
At your suggestion Duncan I read Armor. It was a 3 star book. The first part was good. The second part was just... so so. Better than Starship troopers, but only by one star.
Rothfuss's books are great, though The Wise Man's Fear was somewhat a let down compared to his stellar first book...
I totally agree with your opinion of the Belgariad. Just a generic fantasy. Salvatore's Drizzt series is kind of like that too. The first books he wrote for the series sucked pretty bad. But the Dark Elf Trilogy was pretty good. All in all, I don't think it's epic, even though Drizzt is a cool character, albeit a little too overpowered and near invincible with is swordplay.
The most underrated series I think is Conan the Barbarian. It's pretty damn good for being some of the first fantasy work out there.
And finally, I read to Gaiman books recently. Stardust was pretty dang good and felt like an original fairytale. American God's was my second book. And boy what a clunker. I read it because of all the hype. But it was slow, boring, and poorly executed even though the concept was pretty cool. Good write, but boring story. I sure hope his other books are better than American Gods! I even got referred to Gaiman by Rothfuss!
Mistborn series by Sanderson was pretty good. Original magic idea, nice little trilogy, even though the second book felt a little like filler at times. Sanderson is getting a nice little following himself. I heard his finishing touches on Jordan's Wheel of Time series was met with praise. I will definitely be reading more Sanderson and Scalzi.
So many of these books I read when I was young and uncritical. I mean, I judged everything by how entertaining it was, period.
So most of Heinlein was fun to read. I think the first time I figured there was some dubious politics was when I read Farnham's Freehold and thought what a bastard the main character was.
Everything Heinlein after Stranger in a Strange Land, his politics get in the way and all I can think is: 'Dirty Old Man.'
The books on this list that had a profound impact were:
Lord of the Rings. (Of Course. These books are why I do what I do.)
The Once and Future King.
Watership Down.
The books on this list I found incredibly entertaining were:
Snow Crash.
Armor.
Ender's Game.
Dune.
The Verkosigan Saga.
The Conan books.
And of course, Game of Thrones series.
The books I found thought provoking were:
1984. (Disturbing.)
Cryptnomicon.
Foundation.
Brave New World.
The Stand.
The ones I found surprising entertaining and which I am an evangelist for:
Canticle for Leibowitz.
I Am Legend.
The Diamond Age.
Like I said, almost all the books on this list I don't comment on I found very entertaining and thought-provoking, except the noted exceptions.
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