[baaa]

[perlmonger]

via lpetrazickis

SFBC’s Most Significant SF & Fantasy Books of the Last 50 Years, 1953-2002

1 The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien *
2 The Foundation Trilogy, Isaac Asimov #
3 Dune, Frank Herbert *
4 Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert A. Heinlein
5 A Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula K. Le Guin *
6 Neuromancer, William Gibson *
7 Childhood’s End, Arthur C. Clarke
8 Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Philip K. Dick
9 The Mists of Avalon, Marion Zimmer Bradley
10 Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury
11 The Book of the New Sun, Gene Wolfe
12 A Canticle for Leibowitz, Walter M. Miller, Jr.
13 The Caves of Steel, Isaac Asimov
14 Children of the Atom, Wilmar Shiras
15 Cities in Flight, James Blish
16 The Colour of Magic, Terry Pratchett
17 Dangerous Visions, edited by Harlan Ellison
18 Deathbird Stories, Harlan Ellison
19 The Demolished Man, Alfred Bester *
20 Dhalgren, Samuel R. Delany
21 Dragonflight, Anne McCaffrey #
22 Ender’s Game, Orson Scott Card
23 The First Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, Stephen R. Donaldson #
24 The Forever War, Joe Haldeman
25 Gateway, Frederik Pohl
26 Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, J.K. Rowling
27 The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams *
28 I Am Legend, Richard Matheson
29 Interview with the Vampire, Anne Rice
30 The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K. Le Guin *
31 Little, Big, John Crowley
32 Lord of Light, Roger Zelazny *
33 The Man in the High Castle, Philip K. Dick
34 Mission of Gravity, Hal Clement
35 More Than Human, Theodore Sturgeon **
36 The Rediscovery of Man, Cordwainer Smith
37 On the Beach, Nevil Shute
38 Rendezvous with Rama, Arthur C. Clarke
39 Ringworld, Larry Niven #
40 Rogue Moon, Algis Budrys
41 The Silmarillion, J.R.R. Tolkien
42 Slaughterhouse-5, Kurt Vonnegut
43 Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson *
44 Stand on Zanzibar, John Brunner **
45 The Stars My Destination (Tiger! Tiger!), Alfred Bester **
46 Starship Troopers, Robert A. Heinlein
47 Stormbringer, Michael Moorcock
48 The Sword of Shannara, Terry Brooks
49 Timescape, Gregory Benford
50 To Your Scattered Bodies Go, Philip Jose Farmer

as odd as these lists always are: eg. no Ballard or Aldiss at all, but the Mists of fucking Avalon is there. But hey!

ETA the loved */hated thang everyone else seems to be doing, with melusinehr‘s friend’s suggestion of a # for a couple I loved first time round but, for one reason or another, have lost enthusiasm for.

Comments

[timill]

See this post from james_nicoll for some explanation.