One 'o them meme things
Aug. 14th, 2011 09:27 pmvia firecat. npr's sf list, my version
1. The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy, by J.R.R. Tolkien
2. The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, by Douglas Adams
3. Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card
As with firecat, read the first two, the first in magazine. Never read anything else, don't care to.
4. The Dune Chronicles, by Frank Herbert
Read the first one, then I the second later, then damned if I can remember. Oh, and the concluding line of the first one must rank today, out of its time, as one of the stupidest sentences in all of sf.
5. A Song Of Ice And Fire Series, by George R. R. Martin
6. 1984, by George Orwell
7. Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury
8. The Foundation Trilogy, by Isaac Asimov
9. Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
10. American Gods, by Neil Gaiman
11. The Princess Bride, by William Goldman -- thank you, spider robinson.
12. The Wheel Of Time Series, by Robert Jordan
13. Animal Farm, by George Orwell
14. Neuromancer, by William Gibson -- but it reminded me way too much of EE Smith. They're all fundamentally preppies.
15. Watchmen, by Alan Moore. My parents wouldn't let me read comic books because they were subversive, and it stuck.
16. I, Robot, by Isaac Asimov
17. Stranger In A Strange Land, by Robert Heinlein
18. The Kingkiller Chronicles, by Patrick Rothfuss
19. Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut
20. Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley
21. Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?, by Philip K. Dick
22. The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood
23. The Dark Tower Series, by Stephen King
24. 2001: A Space Odyssey, by Arthur C. Clarke
25. The Stand, by Stephen King
26. Snow Crash, by Neal Stephenson -- read the diamond age, seemed like close enough.
27. The Martian Chronicles, by Ray Bradbury
28. Cat's Cradle, by Kurt Vonnegut -- as with the orwell, it was assigned reading in high school...
29. The Sandman Series, by Neil Gaiman
30. A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess -- I might have finished it, don't remember. The language bored me.
31. Starship Troopers, by Robert Heinlein
32. Watership Down, by Richard Adams
33. Dragonflight, by Anne McCaffrey and the whole damn rest of the first generation of pern.
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
38. Flowers For Algernon, by Daniel Keys
39. The War Of The Worlds, by H.G. Wells
40. The Chronicles Of Amber, by Roger Zelazny -- damn, he could write.
41. The Belgariad, by David Eddings
42. The Mists Of Avalon, by Marion Zimmer Bradley -- probably the only MZB I didn't read...
43. The Mistborn Series, by Brandon Sanderson
44. Ringworld, by Larry Niven
45. The Left Hand Of Darkness, by Ursula K. LeGuin
46. The Silmarillion, by J.R.R. Tolkien
47. The Once And Future King, by T.H. White -- most of it, I think. When I was a kid.
48. Neverwhere, by Neil Gaiman
49. Childhood's End, by Arthur C. Clarke
50. Contact, by Carl Sagan
51. The Hyperion Cantos, by Dan Simmons -- the first couple, then I got tired, kinda like with Gene Wolfe.
52. Stardust, by Neil Gaiman
53. Cryptonomicon, by Neal Stephenson -- maybe someday, maybe not.
54. World War Z, by Max Brooks
55. The Last Unicorn, by Peter S. Beagle--not his best work, I think.
56. The Forever War, by Joe Haldeman. One bleeping episode at a time.
57. Small Gods, by Terry Pratchett
58. The Chronicles Of Thomas Covenant, The Unbeliever, by Stephen R. Donaldson-- there's a book's worth of time I'll never get back.
59. The Vorkosigan Saga, by Lois McMaster Bujold
60. Going Postal, by Terry Pratchett
61. The Mote In God's Eye, by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle
62. The Sword Of Truth, by Terry Goodkind
63. The Road, by Cormac McCarthy
64. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, by Susanna Clarke -- started it, intend to finish it, no real hurry.
65. I Am Legend, by Richard Matheson
66. The Riftwar Saga, by Raymond E. Feist
67. The Shannara Trilogy, by Terry Brooks
68. The Conan The Barbarian Series, by R.E. Howard -- I kinda like the musical version better.
69. The Farseer Trilogy, by Robin Hobb
70. The Time Traveler's Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger--J read it, I didn't much.
71. The Way Of Kings, by Brandon Sanderson
72. A Journey To The Center Of The Earth, by Jules Verne
73. The Legend Of Drizzt Series, by R.A. Salvatore
74. Old Man's War, by John Scalzi--started it, might finish when the kids are older.
75. The Diamond Age, by Neil Stephenson
76. Rendezvous With Rama, by Arthur C. Clarke
77. The Kushiel's Legacy Series, by Jacqueline Carey
78. The Dispossessed, by Ursula K. LeGuin
79. Something Wicked This Way Comes, by Ray Bradbury
80. Wicked, by Gregory Maguire
81. The Malazan Book Of The Fallen Series, by Steven Erikson
82. The Eyre Affair, by Jasper Fforde
83. The Culture Series, by Iain M. Banks
84. The Crystal Cave, by Mary Stewart
85. Anathem, by Neal Stephenson
86. The Codex Alera Series, by Jim Butcher
87. The Book Of The New Sun, by Gene Wolfe--started, then stopped
88. The Thrawn Trilogy, by Timothy Zahn
89. The Outlander Series, by Diana Gabaldan--J has read it, I've read a little
90. The Elric Saga, by Michael Moorcock
91. The Illustrated Man, by Ray Bradbury
92. Sunshine, by Robin McKinley
93. A Fire Upon The Deep, by Vernor Vinge
94. The Caves Of Steel, by Isaac Asimov
95. The Mars Trilogy, by Kim Stanley Robinson--a few pages
96. Lucifer's Hammer, by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle-- I think I found a copy in a bus station. It was a mistake.
97. Doomsday Book, by Connie Willis-- Well, yeah, but I liked ... Dog so much better.
98. Perdido Street Station, by China Mieville-- Imagine reading this, to the accompaniment of offkey mozart, while sitting in a room with a napping baby you're still not entirely sure will survive. Someday I'll read more of his stuff, or maybe not.
99. The Xanth Series, by Piers Anthony it is my secret shame. Oh, wait.
100. The Space Trilogy, by C.S. Lewis -- except for the last half of the last book, which I could not comprehend.
Anyone who has gotten this far will see a pattern: stuff that came out before I hit mid-career, stuff that came out before the kids were born. Many of the ones I haven't read, I either never heard of or don't think of as sf&f -- go figure. Oh, and most of the books I've read in the past 5-10 years are nowhere near that list...
1. The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy, by J.R.R. Tolkien
2. The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, by Douglas Adams
3. Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card
As with firecat, read the first two, the first in magazine. Never read anything else, don't care to.
4. The Dune Chronicles, by Frank Herbert
Read the first one, then I the second later, then damned if I can remember. Oh, and the concluding line of the first one must rank today, out of its time, as one of the stupidest sentences in all of sf.
5. A Song Of Ice And Fire Series, by George R. R. Martin
6. 1984, by George Orwell
7. Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury
8. The Foundation Trilogy, by Isaac Asimov
9. Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
10. American Gods, by Neil Gaiman
11. The Princess Bride, by William Goldman -- thank you, spider robinson.
12. The Wheel Of Time Series, by Robert Jordan
13. Animal Farm, by George Orwell
14. Neuromancer, by William Gibson -- but it reminded me way too much of EE Smith. They're all fundamentally preppies.
15. Watchmen, by Alan Moore. My parents wouldn't let me read comic books because they were subversive, and it stuck.
16. I, Robot, by Isaac Asimov
17. Stranger In A Strange Land, by Robert Heinlein
18. The Kingkiller Chronicles, by Patrick Rothfuss
19. Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut
20. Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley
21. Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?, by Philip K. Dick
22. The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood
23. The Dark Tower Series, by Stephen King
24. 2001: A Space Odyssey, by Arthur C. Clarke
25. The Stand, by Stephen King
26. Snow Crash, by Neal Stephenson -- read the diamond age, seemed like close enough.
27. The Martian Chronicles, by Ray Bradbury
28. Cat's Cradle, by Kurt Vonnegut -- as with the orwell, it was assigned reading in high school...
29. The Sandman Series, by Neil Gaiman
30. A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess -- I might have finished it, don't remember. The language bored me.
31. Starship Troopers, by Robert Heinlein
32. Watership Down, by Richard Adams
33. Dragonflight, by Anne McCaffrey and the whole damn rest of the first generation of pern.
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
38. Flowers For Algernon, by Daniel Keys
39. The War Of The Worlds, by H.G. Wells
40. The Chronicles Of Amber, by Roger Zelazny -- damn, he could write.
41. The Belgariad, by David Eddings
42. The Mists Of Avalon, by Marion Zimmer Bradley -- probably the only MZB I didn't read...
43. The Mistborn Series, by Brandon Sanderson
44. Ringworld, by Larry Niven
45. The Left Hand Of Darkness, by Ursula K. LeGuin
46. The Silmarillion, by J.R.R. Tolkien
47. The Once And Future King, by T.H. White -- most of it, I think. When I was a kid.
48. Neverwhere, by Neil Gaiman
49. Childhood's End, by Arthur C. Clarke
50. Contact, by Carl Sagan
51. The Hyperion Cantos, by Dan Simmons -- the first couple, then I got tired, kinda like with Gene Wolfe.
52. Stardust, by Neil Gaiman
53. Cryptonomicon, by Neal Stephenson -- maybe someday, maybe not.
54. World War Z, by Max Brooks
55. The Last Unicorn, by Peter S. Beagle--not his best work, I think.
56. The Forever War, by Joe Haldeman. One bleeping episode at a time.
57. Small Gods, by Terry Pratchett
58. The Chronicles Of Thomas Covenant, The Unbeliever, by Stephen R. Donaldson-- there's a book's worth of time I'll never get back.
59. The Vorkosigan Saga, by Lois McMaster Bujold
60. Going Postal, by Terry Pratchett
61. The Mote In God's Eye, by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle
62. The Sword Of Truth, by Terry Goodkind
63. The Road, by Cormac McCarthy
64. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, by Susanna Clarke -- started it, intend to finish it, no real hurry.
65. I Am Legend, by Richard Matheson
66. The Riftwar Saga, by Raymond E. Feist
67. The Shannara Trilogy, by Terry Brooks
68. The Conan The Barbarian Series, by R.E. Howard -- I kinda like the musical version better.
69. The Farseer Trilogy, by Robin Hobb
70. The Time Traveler's Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger--J read it, I didn't much.
71. The Way Of Kings, by Brandon Sanderson
72. A Journey To The Center Of The Earth, by Jules Verne
73. The Legend Of Drizzt Series, by R.A. Salvatore
74. Old Man's War, by John Scalzi--started it, might finish when the kids are older.
75. The Diamond Age, by Neil Stephenson
76. Rendezvous With Rama, by Arthur C. Clarke
77. The Kushiel's Legacy Series, by Jacqueline Carey
78. The Dispossessed, by Ursula K. LeGuin
79. Something Wicked This Way Comes, by Ray Bradbury
80. Wicked, by Gregory Maguire
81. The Malazan Book Of The Fallen Series, by Steven Erikson
82. The Eyre Affair, by Jasper Fforde
83. The Culture Series, by Iain M. Banks
84. The Crystal Cave, by Mary Stewart
85. Anathem, by Neal Stephenson
86. The Codex Alera Series, by Jim Butcher
87. The Book Of The New Sun, by Gene Wolfe--started, then stopped
88. The Thrawn Trilogy, by Timothy Zahn
89. The Outlander Series, by Diana Gabaldan--J has read it, I've read a little
90. The Elric Saga, by Michael Moorcock
91. The Illustrated Man, by Ray Bradbury
92. Sunshine, by Robin McKinley
93. A Fire Upon The Deep, by Vernor Vinge
94. The Caves Of Steel, by Isaac Asimov
95. The Mars Trilogy, by Kim Stanley Robinson--a few pages
96. Lucifer's Hammer, by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle-- I think I found a copy in a bus station. It was a mistake.
97. Doomsday Book, by Connie Willis-- Well, yeah, but I liked ... Dog so much better.
98. Perdido Street Station, by China Mieville-- Imagine reading this, to the accompaniment of offkey mozart, while sitting in a room with a napping baby you're still not entirely sure will survive. Someday I'll read more of his stuff, or maybe not.
99. The Xanth Series, by Piers Anthony it is my secret shame. Oh, wait.
100. The Space Trilogy, by C.S. Lewis -- except for the last half of the last book, which I could not comprehend.
Anyone who has gotten this far will see a pattern: stuff that came out before I hit mid-career, stuff that came out before the kids were born. Many of the ones I haven't read, I either never heard of or don't think of as sf&f -- go figure. Oh, and most of the books I've read in the past 5-10 years are nowhere near that list...