This is not a 100 Best SF post
Recently (by my busy standards) there was another blip on the “Best SF” screen, this one a popularity contest by NPR that satisfied almost no-one.
And for me (among others) it raised the question: What is “best”? Does it include staying power? Scope? Subject matter? And who gets to decide? When it comes down to it, every person’s experience of a book is different. Every list of the “best” is subjective.
And there’s nothing stopping me from creating my own list! My criteria were two: the book must have made a strong impression on me, and I must have not changed my mind since I first read it. Whether they can be considered “best” by some objective (hah!) standard is completely beside the point.
So, without further ado, I give you
Fifty F&SF Books that Blew My Mind
- Peter S. Beagle, The Last Unicorn
- Carol Berg, The Books of the Rai-kirah
- Ray Bradbury, The Martian Chronicles
- Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451
- Lois McMaster Bujold, Paladin of Souls
- Lois McMaster Bujold, Ethan of Athos
- C. J. Cherryh, Cuckoo’s Egg
- Gordon R. Dickson, Dorsai!
- Amanda Downum, The Drowning City
- E. R. Eddison, The Worm Ouroboros
- Claudia J. Edwards, Bright and Shining Tiger
- Suzette Haden Elgin, Native Tongue
- Jasper Fforde, The Eyre Affair
- Alan Dean Foster, Nor Crystal Tears
- Neil Gaiman, The Sandman
- William Gibson, Neuromancer
- Barbara Hambly, Those Who Hunt the Night
- Robert A. Heinlein, Time Enough For Love
- James Hilton, Paradise Lost
- Christopher Hinz, The Paratwa Trilogy
- Aldous Huxley, Brave New World
- M. Bradley Kellogg, Lear’s Daughters
- Janet Kagan, Hellspark
- Guy Gavriel Kay, The Lions of Al-Rassan
- Ellen Kushner, Swordspoint
- Megan Lindholm, Wizard of the Pigeons
- Scott Lynch, The Lies of Locke Lamora
- Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, Watchmen
- Ursula K. LeGuin, The Left Hand of Darkness
- Ursula K. LeGuin, The Word for World is Forest
- R. A. MacAvoy, The Grey Horse
- Anne McCaffrey, The Ship Who Sang
- Vonda M. McIntyre, Dreamsnake
- Patricia A. McKillip, The Riddle-Master Trilogy
- Carla Speed McNeil, Finder
- Elizabeth Moon, Remnant Population
- George Orwell, 1984
- Terry Pratchett, Thud!
- Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman, Good Omens
- Mickey Zucker Reichert, The Last of the Renshai
- Anne Rice, Interview with the Vampire
- Mary Doria Russell, The Sparrow
- Dan Simmons, The Hyperion Cantos
- Sherwood Smith, The Inda series
- Wen Spencer, A Brother’s Price
- George R. Stewart, Earth Abides
- J. R. R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings
- Jules Verne, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
- Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse Five
- T. H. White, The Once and Future King
So, there you have it – now you know how to write a novel that will impress me! … Well, no. This doesn’t help at all, does it? They’re virtually all different. The only thing they have in common is me. To my way of thinking, this is the only really legitimate kind of “best” list.
Your mileage, as they say, may vary. As it should be.
Diary of a Text Addict 
Paul (@princejvstin) said,
October 16, 2011 at 2:07 pm
I’d have to think long and hard to come up with a list such as yours, Kris.
diaryofatextaddict said,
October 16, 2011 at 3:07 pm
That’s why it took me something like 2 months to finish it, eh? It was quite an exercise.
I may start working on a list of another 50 really excellent F/SF books that didn’t quite make the mind-blowing list.
Paul (@princejvstin) said,
October 18, 2011 at 7:27 am
And I see newly self published author and acquaintance of Mine Bryan Thomas Schmidt decided to answer your entry. 🙂
70 Most Memorable Science Fiction & Fantasy Books I’ve Read (to date) | Bryan Thomas Schmidt said,
October 17, 2011 at 2:02 am
[…] Author Kris Keegan did it, so I thought a list of my own top genre books would be fun. I am not listing these in any particular order. And where series are involved, I just list the series rather than individual books. But this is a list of books with great meaning to me. Unlike the NPR list which was definitely flawed, this one reflects the books which changed my life in many ways. Some because they opened my mind to new possibilities. Some because they were such a ball. Others for philosophical or craft reasons. In any case, it’s a personal list. I’m sure many of your favorites might be missing and some listed you might question. Feel free to recommend books for future reading in comments. […]
jenn said,
October 17, 2011 at 10:52 pm
Typo?
“The World for World is Forest”
It’s ‘word’ isn’t it?
I’ve not read it.
Not read a lot of this list. Looks like a ‘to do’ list to me. Thanks!
diaryofatextaddict said,
October 18, 2011 at 9:12 am
Drat! You’re right, thank you.
And I think lists that include obscure things (and some of these are quite out of print, I believe) are more interesting, don’t you? Anybody can read the most popular books. Finding some of these would be a real challenge … for those who don’t, like me, already own them. 😎