This particular meme has been spreading through the blogging community I frequent, especially scienceblogs (of which I read about 1/3), and I thought I would chime in.
First off, here’s the list:
- The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien
- The Foundation Trilogy, Isaac Asimov
- Dune, Frank Herbert
- Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert A. Heinlein
- A Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula K. Le Guin
- Neuromancer, William Gibson
- Childhood’s End, Arthur C. Clarke
- Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Philip K. Dick
- The Mists of Avalon, Marion Zimmer Bradley
- Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury
- The Book of the New Sun, Gene Wolfe
- A Canticle for Leibowitz, Walter M. Miller, Jr.
- The Caves of Steel, Isaac Asimov
- Children of the Atom, Wilmar Shiras
- Cities in Flight, James Blish
- The Colour of Magic, Terry Pratchett
- Dangerous Visions, edited by Harlan Ellison
- Deathbird Stories, Harlan Ellison
- The Demolished Man, Alfred Bester
- Dhalgren, Samuel R. Delany
- Dragonflight, Anne McCaffrey
- Ender’s Game, Orson Scott Card
- The First Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, Stephen R. Donaldson
- The Forever War, Joe Haldeman
- Gateway, Frederik Pohl
- Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, J.K. Rowling
- The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
- I Am Legend, Richard Matheson
- Interview with the Vampire, Anne Rice
- The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K. Le Guin
- Little, Big, John Crowley
- Lord of Light, Roger Zelazny
- The Man in the High Castle, Philip K. Dick
- Mission of Gravity, Hal Clement
- More Than Human, Theodore Sturgeon
- The Rediscovery of Man, Cordwainer Smith
- On the Beach, Nevil Shute
- Rendezvous with Rama, Arthur C. Clarke
- Ringworld, Larry Niven
- Rogue Moon, Algis Budrys
- The Silmarillion, J.R.R. Tolkien
- Slaughterhouse-5, Kurt Vonnegut
- Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson
- Stand on Zanzibar, John Brunner
- The Stars My Destination, Alfred Bester
- Starship Troopers, Robert A. Heinlein
- Stormbringer, Michael Moorcock
- The Sword of Shannara, Terry Brooks
- Timescape, Gregory Benford
- To Your Scattered Bodies Go, Philip Jose Farmer
It’s important to look at this list with the title in mind. The 50 most significant novels, not the best-written or most engaging. That being said, I’d love to find the originator of this list and argue with them, because some of the items are very very odd. (21:10 Edit: Apparently this list was created by the Science Fiction Book Club)
- The Lord of the Rings belongs on this list, but the Silmarillion? No. Only true Tolkien fans read that book (and I have, 3 times), but it’s only a significant book from the perspective that it is the whole backstory and world-building-basis for Tolkien’s philology. I don’t think it belongs here.
- The Caves of Steel, by Issac Asimov? Again, I question the relevance. I, Robot would have been a better selection.
- The Colour of Magic, by Terry Pratchett? It’s the first Discworld novel, so that gives it some gravitas, but it’s not the best one by far. I would have picked a different Terry Pratchett book, because I do agree that he should be represented.
- Interview with a Vampire, by Anne Rice? Nah. Is this a claim that Anne Rice founded modern gothic writing? Because the quality of the novel certainly does not place it on this list.
- Ringworld, by Larry Niven. I’m a HUGE fan of Larry Niven, but I was about to go off about why I don’t think he belongs on this list. But then I realized that he does belong on this list, and I couldn’t decide which novel it should be. Ringworld is as good as any other, although Footfall or Mote in God’s Eye are contenders.
- Starship Troopers, by Robert Heinlein. It is a great story, but Most Significant? Negative.
- The Sword of Shannara, by Terry Goodkind. This is the worst example of rehashed Tolkien in all of the world. Elfstones and Wishsong had all of the good writing of Sword, and none of the blatantly stolen themes! Pick one of them…
As always with one of these lists, you can argue for years about it, and everyone will have a different opinion. However, “Most Significant” is easier to quantify and can lead to some good substantial arguments
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