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#101 |
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fifth level cleric
Join Date: Oct 2011
Posts: 38
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Newer:
His Dark Materials trilogy, Phillip Pullman Bas-Lag series, China Mieville Song of Fire & Ice series, GRRM Harry Potter series, JK Rowling Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson classics: Foundation series, Isaac Asimov Hobbit/Lord of the Rings: JRR Tolkien Dune, Frank Herbert The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, Robert Heinlein Brave New World, Aldous Huxley 1984, George Orwell The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, Phillip K Dick (1965) Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Phillip K Dick (1968)
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Out now! Satanic Hell - a digital comic about a metal band trapped in a religious dystopia ![]() Satanic Hell on Facebook Twitter: Grigoris |
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#102 |
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New Fish; Learning About Thick Skin
Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 15
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The Book of the New Sun
Gene Wolfe 1980-83 (published in four parts as Shadow of the Torturer, Claw of the Conciliator, Sword of the Lictor, and Citadel of the Autarch) Science Fiction Severian of the Guild of Torturer's odyssey through an ancient Earth under a dying red sun. |
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#103 |
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Mostly harmless
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Gormenghast Mountain ;_;
Posts: 46
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I'm both proud and a little bit sad to be, I'm pretty sure, the first person to mention Mervyn Peake's first two Gormenghast novels:
Titus Groan (1946) Gormenghast (1950) Also, put me down for: Alice in Wonderland/Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series by Douglas Adams The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick VALIS (1981) by Philip K. Dick Radio Free Albemuth (1985) by Philip K. Dick A Scanner Darkly (1977) by Philip K. Dick The Transmigration of Timothy Archer (1982) by Philip K. Dick
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You can sip me like a fine Cabernet, So I can make you drunk enough to love me... |
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#104 |
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New Fish; Learning About Thick Skin
Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 15
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+1 for Titus Groan and Gormenghast. I was just thinking about rereading those. Why didn't I think of that?
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#105 |
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Sophipygian
AW Moderator
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Chicago, Illinois USA
Posts: 7,251
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I also overlooked Mervyn Peake. I'd also like to add votes for his Titus Groan and Gormenghast, as well as Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five.
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#106 |
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Sophipygian
AW Moderator
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Chicago, Illinois USA
Posts: 7,251
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Here's an updated list of what's been nominated so far. I know this isn't my thread, but thanks, everyone, for taking the time.
Anyone is welcome to vote for must-read sf and fantasy, and nominate anything they think deserving. Douglas Adams, The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy Douglas Adams, The Hitch-Hiker's Guide (series) Isaac Asimov, Foundation Isaac Asimov, Foundation (series) Isaac Asimov, I, Robot Isaac Asimov, Robot (series) Robert Asprin, Thieves' World Margaret Atwood, Oryx and Crake Margaret Atwood, The Year of the Flood L. Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451 Ray Bradbury, The Golden Apples of the Sun Ray Bradbury, The Martian Chronicles Ray Bradbury, Something Wicked This Way Comes Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Land That Time Forgot Edgar Rice Burroughs, Martian (series) Edgar Rice Burroughs, Pellucidar Jim Butcher, Dresden Files (series) Octavia E. Butler, Dawn Octavia E. Butler, Wild Seed Orson Scott Card, Ender's Game Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland C.J. Cherryh, The Chronicles of Morgaine C.J. Cherryh, Downbelow Station Arthur C. Clarke, Childhood's End Arthur C. Clarke, 2001: A Space Odyssey Michael Crichton, Jurassic Park John Crowley, Aegypt (series) John Crowley, Little, Big L. Sprague de Camp, The Goblin Tower Philip K. Dick, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Philip K. Dick, The Man in the High Castle Philip K. Dick, Radio Free Albemuth Philip K. Dick, A Scanner Darkly Philip K. Dick, The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch Philip K. Dick, The Transmigration of Timothy Archer Philip K. Dick, VALIS Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol Stephen R. Donaldson, Lord Foul's Bane Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World David Drake, Lord of the Isles (series) Harlan Ellison, Dangerous Visions Harlan Ellison, Deathbird Stories Carol Emshwiller, The Mount Philip José Farmer, To Your Scattered Bodies Go Raymond Feist, Faerie Tale Alan Dean Foster, Icerigger Neil Gaiman, American Gods Neil Gaiman, Sandman William Gibson, Neuromancer Tom Godwin, The Survivors William Goldman, The Princess Bride Phyllid Gotlieb, Sunburst Joe Haldeman, The Forever War Peter F. Hamilton, The Night's Dawn Trilogy Robert Heinlein, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress Robert Heinlein, Starship Troopers Robert Heinlein, Stranger In a Strange Land Robert A. Heinlein, Time Enough for Love Zenna Henderson, Ingathering: The Complete People Stories of Zenna Henderson Frank Herbert, Dune Frank Herbert, Dune (series) Homer, The Odyssey Nalo Hopkinson, Midnight Robber Robert E. Howard, the Conan (series) L. Ron Hubbard, Battlefield Earth Barry Hughart, The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox Aldous Huxley, Brave New World Diana Wynne Jones, The Merlin Conspiracy Robert Jordan, The Wheel of Time (series) Guy Gavriel Kay, Lions of Al-Rassan Guy Gavriel Kay, Tigana Daniel Keyes, Flowers for Algernon Stephen King, The Dark Tower (series) Stephen King, The Eyes of the Dragon Stephen King, The Stand Katherine Kurtz, Deryni Chronicles Tanith Lee, The Silver Metal Lover Ursula K. Le Guin, The Dispossessed Ursula K. Le Guin, The Left Hand of Darkness Ursula K. Le Guin, A Wizard of Earthsea Fritz Leiber, the Fafhrd & Gray Mouser (series) Madeleine L'Engle, A Wrinkle in Time C. S. Lewis, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe Stanislaw Lem, Solaris Sergei Lukyanenko, Nochnoi Dozor (The Night Watch) George R. R. Martin, A Game of Thrones George R. R. Martin, A Song of Ice and Fire (series) Richard Matheson, I Am Legend Cormac McCarthy, Blood Meridian Cormac McCarthy, The Road Dennis McKiernon, the Mithgar (series) China Miéville, Bas-Lag series China Miéville, Perdido Street Station Walter M. Miller, A Canticle For Leibowitz David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas L.E. Modesitt, Jr., the Saga of Recluce (series) Elizabeth Moon, The Deed of Paksenarrion Michael Moorcock, the Elric series Michael Moorcock, The Eternal Champion (series) Alan Moore, Watchmen C. L. Moore, Shambleau and Others Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle, Lucifer's Hammer Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle, The Mote in God's Eye Ben Okri, The Famished Road George Orwell, 1984 Mervyn Peake, Gormenghast Mervyn Peake, Titus Groan Tim Powers, The Anubis Gates Terry Pratchett, The Colour of Magic Terry Pratchett, Hogfather Terry Pratchett, Reaper Man Philip Pullman, His Dark Materials Patrick Rothfuss, The Kingkiller Chronicle J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter (series) J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone Joanna Russ, The Female Man Brandon Sanderson, Mistborn: The Final Empire Robert J. Sawyer, Calculating God John Scalzi, Old Man's War Mary Shelley, Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus Mary Shelley, The Last Man Dan Simmons, Hyperion William Sleator, House of Stairs E. E. "Doc" Smith, the Lensman (series) Neal Stephenson, Anathem Neal Stephenson, The Baroque Cycle Neal Stephenson, Snow Crash Bruce Sterling and William Gibson, The Difference Engine Mary Stewart, The Crystal Cave Bram Stoker, Dracula Theodore Sturgeon, E Pluribus Unicorn Theodore Sturgeon, Some of Your Blood Theodore Sturgeon, Venus Plus X Jonathan Swift, Gulliver's Travels James Tiptree, Jr., Her Smoke Rose Up Forever J. R. R. Tolkien, The Hobbit J. R. R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings J. R. R. Tolkien, The Silmarillion Jules Verne, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea Joan D. Vinge, The Snow Queen Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five David Weber, Honor Harrington (series) Manly Wade Wellman, Who Fears the Devil H.G. Wells, The Time Machine H.G. Wells, The War of the Worlds T.H. White, The Once and Future King Connie Willis, All Clear Connie Willis, Blackout Connie Willis, Doomsday Book Scott Westerfeld, The Succession Gene Wolfe, The Book of the New Sun Virginia Woolf, Orlando Roger Zelazny, The Chronicles of Amber (series) |
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#107 |
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Don't fix what ain't broke.
AW Moderator
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Bend, Ore
Posts: 6,993
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Yeah, what we're after here, is the number of nominations for any one title. (We're competing with the somewhat flawed--according to many AW members--NPR poll.) Alessandra's list contains 154 titles, but which has most votes?
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~ Vita Brevis, Ars Longa ~ "There is a technical, literary term for those who mistake the opinions and beliefs of characters in a novel for those of the author. The term is 'idiot.'" —Larry Niven, quoted by S. M. Stirling. SaraP advises to just go back and ass it in. |
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#108 |
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Sophipygian
AW Moderator
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Chicago, Illinois USA
Posts: 7,251
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Lord of the Rings. It's either 12 or 13 votes total. I actually hand-tallied all the votes when I compiled the list above, but I worried numbers would be distracting. Kinda dumb, now I think of it. I can pull out my notes and post them tomorrow if you like, but right now I've stayed up longer than I ought to have and am drooping off to bed.
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#109 |
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Classy
Join Date: Jun 2012
Posts: 61
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Another vote for Wolfe's Book of the New Sun.
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"If you dream the proper dreams, and share the myths with people, they will want to grow up to be like you." - Ray Bradbury Twitter, @johnnyvonrotten
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#110 |
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Sophipygian
AW Moderator
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Chicago, Illinois USA
Posts: 7,251
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Good morning, and here's the number of votes so far (assuming I've counted right; people are welcome to double-check), in order of magnitude, including Johnny Von Rotten's last vote. At the moment I'm counting individual books as separate from their series, but Pthom may wish to combine votes:
13 votes: J. R. R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings 8 votes each: Douglas Adams, The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy Frank Herbert, Dune 6 votes each: Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451 George R. R. Martin, A Song of Ice and Fire (series) J. R. R. Tolkien, The Hobbit H.G. Wells, The Time Machine 5 votes each: Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland Robert Heinlein, Stranger In a Strange Land Ursula K. Le Guin, A Wizard of Earthsea Mary Shelley, Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus 4 votes each: Isaac Asimov, Foundation L. Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz C. S. Lewis, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe George Orwell, 1984 3 votes each: Isaac Asimov, I, Robot Ray Bradbury, Something Wicked This Way Comes Orson Scott Card, Ender's Game Michael Crichton, Jurassic Park William Gibson, Neuromancer Robert Heinlein, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress Homer, The Odyssey Aldous Huxley, Brave New World Stephen King, The Dark Tower (series) Ursula K. Le Guin, The Left Hand of Darkness J. R. R. Tolkien, The Silmarillion Jules Verne, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea T.H. White, The Once and Future King 2 votes each: Douglas Adams, The Hitch-Hiker's Guide (series) Isaac Asimov, Foundation (series) Margaret Atwood, Oryx and Crake Arthur C. Clarke, 2001: A Space Odyssey Philip K. Dick, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Philip K. Dick, The Man in the High Castle Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World William Goldman, The Princess Bride Joe Haldeman, The Forever War Robert Heinlein, Starship Troopers Diana Wynne Jones, The Merlin Conspiracy Ursula K. Le Guin, The Dispossessed Madeleine L'Engle, A Wrinkle in Time Walter M. Miller, A Canticle For Leibowitz Mervyn Peake, Gormenghast Mervyn Peake, Titus Groan Terry Pratchett, The Colour of Magic Terry Pratchett, Hogfather Terry Pratchett, Reaper Man Patrick Rothfuss, The Kingkiller Chronicle J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone John Scalzi, Old Man's War Neal Stephenson, Snow Crash Bram Stoker, Dracula Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five Gene Wolfe, The Book of the New Sun One vote each: Isaac Asimov, Robot (series) Robert Asprin, Thieves' World Margaret Atwood, The Year of the Flood Ray Bradbury, The Golden Apples of the Sun Ray Bradbury, The Martian Chronicles Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Land That Time Forgot Edgar Rice Burroughs, Martian series Edgar Rice Burroughs, Pellucidar Jim Butcher, Dresden Files (series) Octavia E. Butler, Dawn Octavia E. Butler, Wild Seed C.J. Cherryh, The Chronicles of Morgaine C.J. Cherryh, Downbelow Station Arthur C. Clarke, Childhood's End John Crowley, Aegypt (series) John Crowley, Little, Big L. Sprague de Camp, The Goblin Tower Philip K. Dick, Radio Free Albemuth Philip K. Dick, A Scanner Darkly Philip K. Dick, The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch Philip K. Dick, The Transmigration of Timothy Archer Philip K. Dick, VALIS Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol Stephen R. Donaldson, Lord Foul's Bane David Drake, Lord of the Isles (series) Harlan Ellison, Dangerous Visions Harlan Ellison, Deathbird Stories Carol Emshwiller, The Mount Philip José Farmer, To Your Scattered Bodies Go Raymond Feist, Faerie Tale Alan Dean Foster, Icerigger Neil Gaiman, American Gods Neil Gaiman, Sandman Tom Godwin, The Survivors Phyllis Gotlieb, Sunburst Peter F. Hamilton, The Night's Dawn Trilogy Robert A. Heinlein, Time Enough for Love Zenna Henderson, Ingathering: The Complete People Stories of Zenna Henderson Frank Herbert, Dune (series) Nalo Hopkinson, Midnight Robber Robert E. Howard, the Conan (series) L. Ron Hubbard, Battlefield Earth Barry Hughart, The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox Robert Jordan, The Wheel of Time (series) Guy Gavriel Kay, Lions of Al-Rassan Guy Gavriel Kay, Tigana Daniel Keyes, Flowers for Algernon Stephen King, The Eyes of the Dragon Stephen King, The Stand Katherine Kurtz, Deryni Chronicles Tanith Lee, The Silver Metal Lover Fritz Leiber, the Fafhrd & Gray Mouser (series) Stanislaw Lem, Solaris Sergei Lukyanenko, Nochnoi Dozor (The Night Watch) George R. R. Martin, A Game of Thrones Richard Matheson, I Am Legend Cormac McCarthy, Blood Meridian Cormac McCarthy, The Road Dennis McKiernon, the Mithgar (series) China Miéville, Bas-Lag series China Miéville, Perdido Street Station David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas L.E. Modesitt, Jr., the Saga of Recluce (series) Elizabeth Moon, The Deed of Paksenarrion Michael Moorcock, the Elric series Michael Moorcock, The Eternal Champion (series) Alan Moore, Watchmen C. L. Moore, Shambleau and Others Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle, Lucifer's Hammer Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle, The Mote in God's Eye Ben Okri, The Famished Road Tim Powers, The Anubis Gates Philip Pullman, His Dark Materials J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter (series) Joanna Russ, The Female Man Brandon Sanderson, Mistborn: The Final Empire Robert J. Sawyer, Calculating God Mary Shelley, The Last Man Dan Simmons, Hyperion William Sleator, House of Stairs E. E. "Doc" Smith, the Lensman (series) Neal Stephenson, Anathem Neal Stephenson, The Baroque Cycle Bruce Sterling and William Gibson, The Difference Engine Mary Stewart, The Crystal Cave Theodore Sturgeon, E Pluribus Unicorn Theodore Sturgeon, Some of Your Blood Theodore Sturgeon, Venus Plus X Jonathan Swift, Gulliver's Travels James Tiptree, Jr., Her Smoke Rose Up Forever Joan D. Vinge, The Snow Queen David Weber, Honor Harrington (series) Manly Wade Wellman, Who Fears the Devil H.G. Wells, The War of the Worlds Connie Willis, All Clear Connie Willis, Blackout Connie Willis, Doomsday Book Scott Westerfeld, The Succession Virginia Woolf, Orlando Roger Zelazny, The Chronicles of Amber (series) (I'm not sure we're doing a whole lot better than the notorious NPR survey here vis-à-vis women and PoC.)
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"Confessions of a Postmodern Pre-Raphaelite" -- my blog Alessandra Kelley, Fine Art, Illustration, and Egg Tempera Instruction Last edited by Alessandra Kelley; 06-19-2012 at 10:41 PM. Reason: typo in a name |
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#111 |
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figuring it all out
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 69
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Three of my favorites:
Dune Ender's Game 1984 (I'll have to read The Time Machine.) |
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#112 |
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Super Browser
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: In a van down by the river
Posts: 10,171
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Happily surprised to see Foster's Icerigger on there. But saddened that none of Poul Anderson's books made the cut.
tri
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BLOG http://guerrillawarfareforwriters.blogspot.com/ WAR GATE http://www.amazon.com/The-War-Gate-e...9233675&sr=1-1 WOLFEN STRAIN http://www.amazon.com/The-Wolfen-Str...vglnk-c1189-20 Planet Janitor. |
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#113 | |
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Sophipygian
AW Moderator
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Chicago, Illinois USA
Posts: 7,251
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Quote:
So ... nominate away! There's still time. And ... was that a vote for Icerigger? |
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#114 |
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Super Browser
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: In a van down by the river
Posts: 10,171
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Oh, yes, that was a vote for Icerigger.
tri
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BLOG http://guerrillawarfareforwriters.blogspot.com/ WAR GATE http://www.amazon.com/The-War-Gate-e...9233675&sr=1-1 WOLFEN STRAIN http://www.amazon.com/The-Wolfen-Str...vglnk-c1189-20 Planet Janitor. |
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#115 |
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The Indomitable Snowman
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: IN SPAAAAAAAACE!
Posts: 54
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Adding votes for:
Fahrenheit 451, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, The Man in the High Castle, Slaughterhouse-Five, and Flowers for Algernon. And because I feel they're especially important: Solaris. Solaris, Solaris, Solaris. (I'm not trying to stuff the ballot box. I just keep repeating that name in my head. I can't think it just once.) The protagonist lives on a ship in the orbit of a living planet, and that planet attempts to understand humans while the humans attempt to understand it in a story that is part horror, part beautiful, part loving, and part terrifying. Some of Your Blood, Venus Plus X, E Pluribus Unicorn. I hope something by Sturgeon ends up on the final list because his style is so smooth and his descriptions so dead-on that every time I read one of his stories, I both learn something and feel like a failure as a writer. Adding to the list: The Stars My Destination (also called Tiger! Tiger!) by Alfred Bester (1956). Beyond the fact that the simplest summary of the plot is it's The Count of Monte Cristo in space, The Stars My Destination has a gritty, modern writing style; an everyman protagonist that Bester still gets you to root for, even though he's really a terrible person when you get down to it; action; betrayal; and toward the end some typographical tricks/images in line with the text that show the protagonist's mental state in a way I have yet to see in another book unless it's Bester's The Demolished Man. |
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#116 |
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Cave Lurker
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Portland, OR
Posts: 248
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Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, The Complete Fairy Tales (1812-1864)
Charles Perrault, The Complete Fairy Tales Homer, The Odyssey Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings Heinlein, Stranger in a Strange Land Terry Goodkind, The Sword of Truth Neil Gaiman, American Gods Anne Rice, The Vampire Lestat (1985): The Vampire Lestat re-invented the mythic monster and opened up a new future for misunderstood creatures of the night. Robin McKinley, The Hero and the Crown (1984): The Hero and the Crown is a coming of age story of shy princess turned dragon slayer. Patricia McKillip, Song for the Basilisk (1998): Basilisk seamlessly combines myth, poetry, and adventure. Terry Brooks, The Sword of Shannara (1967): While derivative, the Shannara books put fantasy on the bestseller list and launched a genre: they were great fun, too. H.P. Lovecraft, The Complete Works: Lovecraft's mind-bending views of various dimensions, including our own, are not to be missed. Beowulf (c. 8th century): The legendary Beowulf battles monstrous Grendel and his mother. Barbara Hambly, Mother of Winter (1996): Mother of Winter involves high fantasy, crossing dimensions, scientific analysis, and excellent writing. Emma Bull, War for the Oaks (1987): A rock & roller in Minneapolis finds herself a sudden pawn of faerie in this early urban fantasy.
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http://shannonknight.net |
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#117 |
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New Fish; Learning About Thick Skin
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Montreal, Canada
Posts: 33
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philip pullman's series
His Dark Materials 1995 Golden Compass 1997 The Subtle Knife 2000 The Amber Spyglass |
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#118 |
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only knows enough to be dangerous
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Washington (the state)
Posts: 394
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I like Armor by John Steakley. Definitely one of my favorites.
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"Oh my God! I got Grandma in my eyes!" |
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#119 |
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New Fish; Learning About Thick Skin
Join Date: Sep 2011
Posts: 41
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Robin Hobb, The Farseer Trilogy
Assassin's Apprentice (1995) Royal Assassin (1996) Assassin's Quest (1997) Hobb tells a familiar story with beautiful prose and the poignant knowledge that life isn't always a fairy tale. C.S. Friedman, The Coldfire Trilogy Black Sun Rising (1991) When True Night Falls (1993) Crown of Shadows (1995) An ugly anti-hero in a world that needs just that. Jacqueline Carey, The Sundering Banewreaker (2004) Godslayer (2005) Underrated story inversion by a very talented writer. This is the Lord of the Rings, if the PoV characters had all served Sauron. Jacqueline Carey, Kushiel's Legacy Kushiel's Dart (2001) Kushiel's Chosen (2002) Kushiel's Avatar (2003) Not for everyone, but the Kushiel series does a good job of showing a very different kind of hero. Politics and intrigue suffuse the story, and the 'almost history' serves to highlight and magnify resonating themes throughout; the roles of religion, class, and sexuality that sometimes fall out of focus in other stories. Stephen Donaldson, The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever Lord Foul's Bane (1977) The Illearth War (1977) The Power that Preserves (1977) Eh, can you tell I like anti-heroes? Donaldson's prose makes these books worth reading just for the brilliance of the language. He also plays with and subverts the mythic ideas so important to fantasy: the hero, the saviour, the prophecy, even the villain. Seconding (or thirding): George R. R. Martin, A Song of Ice and Fire Patrick Rothfuss, The Kingkiller Chronicle Robin McKinley, The Hero and the Crown Cormac McCarthy, The Road |
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#120 |
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They are all perfect....
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: The 5-0
Posts: 3,672
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Dragons of Autumn Twilight, Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman, 1984, Fantasy.
This book is a great example of multiple character development. Last edited by L. Y.; 07-14-2012 at 12:43 PM. |
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#121 |
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They are all perfect....
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: The 5-0
Posts: 3,672
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The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, C. S. Lewis, 1950.
A classic. |
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#122 |
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Sophipygian
AW Moderator
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Chicago, Illinois USA
Posts: 7,251
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I've been going back and forth on this, because it's a comic, but I just re-read it and it's every bit as deep and astonishing as I remember, so...
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind by Hayao Miyazaki, 1983. An incredible, vivid, moving, melancholy epic of a world ruined by human folly and ecological damage, with the hope of redemption and some powerful Buddhist allegories, peopled by unforgettable characters and some of the richest fantasy storytelling of the twentieth century. |
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#123 |
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Cave Lurker
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Portland, OR
Posts: 248
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Ursula Le Guin, The Left Hand of Darkness
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http://shannonknight.net |
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#124 |
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Trying to become my own shero...
Join Date: Feb 2012
Posts: 796
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A few nominations before time runs out:
The Secrets of Jin-Shei, Alma Alexander, 2004. Secondary world fantasy based loosely on imperial China, this is a story of the seduction of immortality, of betrayal and sacrifice, of love and redemption - and above all, the bonds of sisterhood. Grendel, John Gardener, 1971. Fantasy. A retelling of the epic Beowulf exploring the nature of monstrosity and despair, and the power of myth and legend. Parable of the Sower, Octavia Butler, 1993. Science fiction. The bildungsroman of a young African-American woman that takes place at the beginning of the end of civilization as we know it. Labyrinths, Jorge Luis Borges, 1964. Fantasy. The world's first hypertext work, concerning the nature of reality, philosophy, time, infinity, and paradox. The Robber Bridegroom, Eudora Welty, 1942. Fantasy. A dark satirical romp through fairy tales, the history of the frontier, and contemporary southern society. (Note: historical perspective must be applied.) And, finally - since this list includes poems and comics - this is a play, which is closer to a movie than a book, but it's so foundational that it seems like it should be included IMO... A Midsummer Night's Dream, William Shakespeare, 1590ish. Fantasy. 'Nuff said. |
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#125 |
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figuring it all out
Join Date: Aug 2012
Posts: 72
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Title: Homeland
Author: R A Salvatore Copyright: 1990 Genre: Fantasy Why: It's one of the most immersible books I've ever read. I feel as if I am there with the characters. |
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