It's NPR's Top 100 Science-Fiction and Fantasy survey as nominated by listeners And what's fun is that you can take the survey and see how many of the hundred you've read. It's a real mix of classic and contemporary. -- FRANKENSTEIN to 1984 to THE LORD OF THE RINGS to HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE to GAME OF THRONES -- and all sorts of other goodies in between.
I was once -- back in junior high and high school -- a serious sci-fi fan. Heinlein, Asimov, Bradbury, Norton . . . and many, many more. I had a subscription to the magazine Fantasy and Science Fiction and made little dabs at writing fantasy/sci-fi short stories. And I watched the night sky, waiting for a space ship to materialize and take me to some faraway planet.
By college, I'd quit waiting for the spaceship and had fallen into the fantasy worlds of T.H. White, C. S. Lewis, Mary Stewart's Arthurian books, and J. R. R. Tolkien. I still read some sci-fi -- mainly Heinlein -- but my subscription to F&SF lapsed.
For the past forty years, I've paid little attention to Sci-Fi -- Dune broke a long spell of no Sci-Fi reading --and, with a few notable exceptions, haven't paid much attention to fantasy either. My older son read lots of Piers Anthony and Robert Asprin but they never appealed to me -- only Douglas Adams and, more recently, Neil Gaiman have really captured my loyalty.
So I was surprised to find that I'd read exactly fifty of the 100 books listed -- and found myself thinking of others that I would have added . And finding old friends I'd forgotten as well as enticing titles luring me back into the Fantasy and Sci-Fi fold.
What about you? Even if you don't consider yourself a reader of these genres, you might be surprised to find some familiar titles on this list.
13 comments:
OK I bite, I'm going to go look at the list - can't believe I will come anywhere near your 50!
I doubt I've read a single one! I don't think I've ever been through a Sci-Fi phase.
I am not a Science-Fiction and Fantasy reader and never really was except for Ray Bradbury and such but occasionally following someone's advice I am reading one.
I'll look for the test to try and recognize at least the names of books and authors.
In fact I Do read science fiction :-) I read 12 of the one in the list...
I've never really got into Sc-fi, and this is reflected in my score of 12.
ah our development as readers is very similar...i went from sci fi to fantasy...i still read in the genre for fun on occassion....
I continue to read sci-fi, not always the latest or best. But how life follows art never ceases to amaze me. Read something, go to a talk and the speaker is right on the same topic in the book, which had nothing in common with him until that day. Someone does something and someone else says, that is just like that joke I heard yesterday.
Hmmm...have only read 24, somewhat surprising because I like science fiction, but only on the edge of science fact type science fiction. I don't like what I refer to as 'space cowboy' stories or space war stories. My very favorite author wasn't on the list so the list is iffy for me. Without Jack Finney I don't think you can have a best of sci fi list.
Lynne in GA
Lynne -- I loved Jack Finney -- was it TIME AFTER TIME or what? Will have to look for that to re-read.
My score was 36, but it would have been higher had they included Marion Zimmer Bradley, H. Beam Piper, Andre Norton, Suzette Haden Elgin, Sherri S. Tepper, to name a few.
Don't over look The Hum and The Shiver by Alex Bledsoe.
The Finney books were "Time and Again" and the later sequel "From Time to Time." He also did dozens of short stories, many of which you can find now on the net.
Lynne in GA
Like you, I went on a major sci-fi bender in junior and high school, until college derailed me with war memoirs, then true crime, and finally back to science fiction. I haven't read as many as you from the list, but if I could clear my to be read pile, it might be a tie :)
Of course, the list made me add a few authors and titles to my wish list. I couldn't be farther behind on my intended reading if I tried.
But thanks for the entertaining diversion and wistful look through my book piles.
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