Couple of weeks ago, I came across this list in NPR books. My brother first shared it with me, then I saw it featured on the websites of a couple of bloggers I follow and then I kept running into it every once in a while. NPR Books asked its readers to vote for their favorite science-fiction or fantasy reads and drew up this list of top 100 from the votes. This is the kind of reading list that I love the best, because it is based on popular opinion and not something that a few people at a table decide from a few nominations. And when I looked through this list, I found very little to complain about. True, I haven't read most of these books, but many are titles that I have been recommended time and again by readers whose tastes I trust. Besides, I like it that the books in the list are not YA fantasy but something that caters to the adult readers as well (or mostly?).
Still, I have to say that I am surprised to see The Time Traveler's Wife and the Outlander series in the list. I read and liked the former, but I wouldn't rate it among the top fantasy reads. As for the Outlander series, I have no interest in reading the books, I know some have loved it and some have felt meh about it, but I have a feeling Outlander and I are not going to get along well. George Martin's series is the one I'm most keen to read - I'm hoping to get a chunk of reading time at some point to work through these HUGE doorstoppers. Do you like this list?
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
- Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
- The Dune Chronicles by Frank Herbert
- A Song of Ice and Fire Series by George R.R. Martin
- 1984 by George Orwell
- Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
- The Foundation Trilogy by Isaac Asimov
- Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
- American Gods by Neil Gaiman
- The Princess Bride by William Goldman
- The Wheel of Time Series by Robert Jordan
Animal Farm by George Orwell- Neuromancer by William Gibson
- Watchmen by Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons
- I, Robot by Isaac Asimov
- Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein
- The Kingkiller Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss
- Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
- Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
- Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick
- The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
- The Dark Tower Series by Stephen King
- 2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke
- The Stand by Stephen King
- Snow Crash Neal Stephenson
- The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury
- Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
- The Sandman Series by Neil Gaiman
- A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
- Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein
- Watership Down by Richard Adams
- Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey
- The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein
- A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr.
- The Time Machine by H.G. Wells (Watched the movie)
- 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne
- Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
- The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells
- The Amber Chronicles by Roger Zelazny
- The Belgariad by David Eddings
- The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley
- Mistborn Trilogy by Brandon Sanderson
- Ringworld by Larry Niven
- The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin
- The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien
- The Once and Future King by T.H. White
- Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
- Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke
- Contact by Carl Sagan
- The Hyperion Cantos by Dan Simmons
- Stardust by Neil Gaiman
- Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson
- World War Z by Max Brooks
- The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle
- The Forever War by Joe Haldeman
- Small Gods by Terry Pratchett
- The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, The Unbeliever by Stephen R. Donaldson
- The Vorkosigan Saga by Lois McMaster Bujold
- Going Postal by Terry Pratchett
- The Mote in Gods Eye by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle
- The Sword of Truth Series by Terry Goodkind
- The Road by Cormac McCarthy
- Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke
- I Am Legend by Richard Matheson
- The Riftwar Saga by Raymond E. Feist
- The Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks
- The Conan the Barbarian Series by Robert E. Howard & Mark Schultz
- The Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger- The Way of the Kings by Brandon Sanderson
- Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne (Watched movie)
- The Legend of Drizzt Series by R. A. Salvatore
- Old Man's War by Jon Scalzi
- The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson
- Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke
- The Kushiel's Legacy Series by Jacqueline Carey
- The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin
- Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury
- Wicked by Gregory Maguire
- The Malazan Book of the Fallen Series by Steven Erikson
- The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
- The Culture Series by Iain Banks
- The Crystal Cave by Mary Stewart
- Anathem by Neal Stephenson
- The Codex Alera Series by Jim Butcher
- The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe
- The Thrawn Trilogy by Timothy Zahn
- The Outlander Series by Diana Gabaldon
- The Elric Saga by Michael Moorcock
- The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury (I've read some stories from this collection)
- Sunshine by Robin McKinley
- A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge
- The Caves of Steel by Isaac Asimov
- The Mars trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson
- Lucifer's Hammer by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle
- Doomsday Book by Connie Willis
- Perdido Street Station by China Mieville
- The Xanath Series by Piers Anthony
- The Space Trilogy by C.S. Lewis
21 book junkies:
I don't read much science fiction or fantasy, so I've only read a few of those books. Having said that, I finished Ready Player One today and thought it was great!
I had also seen that list and have read about 12 of them, mostly a long time ago!
What a great list. I see many on my TBR on this list.
This is a very interesting list. Im going to save it and add a lot of these to my TBR list.
I like the list, and think that there are some very eclectic and interesting things on it, but I might have to agree that Outlander doesn't belong. It's more of a historical fiction rather than fantasy. I mean, there is a little time travel in it, but that's more a setup to the story than a focus of the narrative. I am also excited about the Martin books and just bought the first four in a Kindle bundle. I think my husband would be interested in this list!
Oh yay! Can't wait to hear your thoughts!
Yeah, my read list is also yawn-old. I really feel like reading some of those though.
I love some of the books on this list, I really feel like reading them!
Yay! I really feel like reading some of these.
That's what I remember hearing of Outlander too. It just felt more of a Historical romance than a fantasy to me. That's the same reason I felt Time Traveler's Wife didn't belong either - the time travel thing is just a setup than a major elaborate technical thing.
I can't wait to hear your thoughts on the Game of Thrones series! I'm close to buying my set too!
There are so many great titles on here! Once you finish the Martin series I would ABSOLUTELY recommend Stephenson's Snow Crash (sooo good) and anything by Neil Gaiman. And Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game series... And The Princess Bride...and and and.. many others?
I'm not a bit scifi/fantasy reader, but I have read a handful of these. I really enjoyed "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" A few are on my TBR list, like "American Gods" and "The Princess Bride."
I love science fiction and really should read more on this list (I've only read 16). There are also a few that I have read parts of - like the first book in the Foundation series, and the first in CS Lewis' space trilogy - or longer books like the first half of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. A lot of these are on my list to read though.
I agree that Outlander is more Romance and Historical Fiction that just happens to have time travel involved. I really wouldn't classify it as Sci-Fi. That being said, it's one of my favorite series. Sadly only the first three books held up for me upon my last re-read. I think I may be growing out of the series.
That's a very good list. I haven't read a lot of Sci-fi books, but I really want to expand my horizon. lol. My best friend is now reading the first book in the A Song of Ice and Fire Series by George R.R. Martin. Because there's going to be a tvshow made out of it and it looks awesome, I want to read these books too. Probably will borrow it from her and see how I will like it. :) I hope you will like it too and I'm looking forward to your review of the first book. :)
LOL! I know what you mean! There are so many in there that I want to read! I'm hoping to get through most of the books in that list!
My brother recommended the Androids book too! And American Gods! The latter is another book I want to read asap!
I'm glad that you liked Outlander. I think I've seen the book hyped up so much that I am hesitant. But some day, I could give it a try and see how it goes! I love scifi too, but I realized I watch more of it than read. I need to change that too.
That's my same thought - I want to expand my reading more - try more of those books that I wouldn't read otherwise. I can't wait to read Martin's series!
Great list. Some I have never heard of before and some I really enjoyed reading, like I Am Legend and Time Machine.
I want to read both the books, I'm glad that you enjoyed them.
I do like the sound of Irma Voth; hope to read that one soon.
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