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[jaxword]

67. The Shannara Trilogy, by Terry Brooks

Brooks LITERALLY rewrote Lord of the Rings with different character names and made millions.

Brooks is a thief and a liar and does not deserve to be on that list.

 

[Kunan]

CTRL + F Crichton



Maybe cause his books are more Thriller, and not has hard fantasy/scifi.

 

[Salazar]

Brian Aldiss got screwed, too.

 

[Ventilaator]

Amazing how one of the worst books I've ever read and one of the best books I've ever read share positions #1 and #2 respectively.

 

[Vibri]

Uh, HIS DARK MATERIALS?

 

[RJT]

Hitchiker's should be first, then 1984, then ASOFAI. So, prettty good list...

 

[Mœbius]

The Forever War should really be top 10; guessing it's because of relative lack of exposure / adaptation.

 

[ZephyrFate]

The Forever War should really be top 10; guessing it's because of relative lack of exposure / adaptation.

The Forever War is a fantastic fucking novel. I agree.

 

[Fjordson]

The Forever War is a fantastic fucking novel. I agree.

That good, huh? Hmmm, I'll have to check it out. Came close to buying it a few times now and it's currently $4.95 on Kindle.

 

[Rubashov]

Goddamnit.

At least Bujold is on there.

I hardly ever see anyone recommend her sci fi stuff. Are all the books worth it and can I pick out a few? I breezed through her first 2 Chalion books and enjoyed them.

 

[Dresden]

I hardly ever see anyone recommend her sci fi stuff. Are all the books worth it and can I pick out a few? I breezed through her first 2 Chalion books and enjoyed them.

Her sf stuff is very good - some of the best in the genre, really.

 

[Tim the Wiz]

Brooks LITERALLY rewrote Lord of the Rings with different character names and made millions.

Brooks is a thief and a liar and does not deserve to be on that list.

I remember coming off Hobb and Tolkien as a kid and trying to read the first book in his original series or whatever and within, like, a hundred pages I experienced not only the biggest and crudest of info-dumps I've ever had the agony of reading, but it also had the most generic D&D/LotR rip-off type shit strewn in amongst there. And, astoundingly, I hear people say they came into fantasy because of that series all the time. Wow, just wow.

But, y'know, Brooks is the inoffensive Terry when it comes to fantasy, so hate for him simply isn't going to come up as often.

 

[Cyan]

I hardly ever see anyone recommend her sci fi stuff. Are all the books worth it and can I pick out a few? I breezed through her first 2 Chalion books and enjoyed them.

Her SF books are some of my favorites in the genre. While all the Vorkosigan series books essentially stand alone, they are far better within the full context of the series. For that reason, I'd suggest going from the beginning.

c/p from an old thread:

Start with either Shards of Honor followed by Barrayar (Shards is chronologically first, but not strictly necessary to enjoy the rest of the series) or Warrior's Apprentice followed by Vor Game (Warrior's Apprentice introduces Miles, the main character of the series).

You can't go wrong either way. Do note that Shards and Warrior's Apprentice were the first two books Bujold ever wrote, and it kind of shows. Their follow-ups were written when Bujold had come closer to mastery of her craft--and both won Hugos.

For reference, since the collections and such can be confusing:

Shards of Honor
Barrayar (Hugo)
+ Collected as Cordelia's Honor

Warrior's Apprentice
Mountains of Mourning (novella) (Hugo/Nebula)
Vor Game (Hugo)
+ Collected as Young Miles

Cetaganda
Ethan of Athos (does not feature Miles, although he is mentioned)
Labyrinth (novella)
+ Collected as Miles, Mystery and Mayhem
[Cyan's note: the weakest of the collections, don't get discouraged!]

Borders of Infinity (novella)
Brothers in Arms
Mirror Dance (Hugo)
+ Collected as Miles Errant

Memory
+ Not in any collection

Komarr
A Civil Campaign
Winterfair Gifts (novella)
+ Collected as Miles in Love

Diplomatic Immunity
+ Collected with Falling Free (below) and Labyrinth (above) in Miles, Mutants and Microbes

Cryoburn
+ Not in any collection - this is latest book, published 10/2010

Falling Free (set in same universe, 200 years before). Consider reading it before Diplomatic Immunity, which is set is same part of space and involves same peoples. (Nebula award winner)

 

[Tim the Wiz]

Bujold is very good and super consistent, even across the 20+ entry Vorkosigan series. And Miles, a hyperactive intelligence in a small, fragile package, is one of SF's great protagonists. So, if you like engaging characters and subterfuge-addictive narrative, her stuff is a pretty good bet.

 

[besada]

Uh, HIS DARK MATERIALS?

It amazes me the number of people who make these sort of posts that clearly haven't bothered to read either the article in the OP or the thread, where it has been explained multiple times that this list doesn't include young reader's fiction.

 

[Rubashov]

For reference, since the collections and such can be confusing:

Thanks. The list of books is intimidating when they're all just in chronological order like on wikipedia. This will help out a lot...once they show up on the kindle store. Boo.

 

[Puddles]

Brooks LITERALLY rewrote Lord of the Rings with different character names and made millions.

Brooks is a thief and a liar and does not deserve to be on that list.

Reading The Eye of the World (1st book in Wheel of Time) right now, and it's pretty clear that it's a repackaging of Fellowship, only the McGuffin is an actual person, and the wizard is female.

 

[Emerson]

I've read quite a lot of these and others mentioned in here, but embarrassingly missed some of the biggest ones. I'll need to rectify that. Here's my list to read, in no order:

the once and future king
long price quartet
american gods
hyperion
dune
ender's game

Which first?

 

[Dresden]

I've read quite a lot of these and others mentioned in here, but embarrassingly missed some of the biggest ones. I'll need to rectify that. Here's my list to read, in no order:

the once and future king
long price quartet
american gods
hyperion
dune
ender's game

Which first?

The order you put them in is fine.

 

[Of All Trades]

It amazes me the number of people who make these sort of posts that clearly haven't bothered to read either the article in the OP or the thread, where it has been explained multiple times that this list doesn't include young reader's fiction.

If Xanth can make the list then that can too.

 

[Fjordson]

I've read quite a lot of these and others mentioned in here, but embarrassingly missed some of the biggest ones. I'll need to rectify that. Here's my list to read, in no order:

the once and future king
long price quartet
american gods
hyperion
dune
ender's game

Which first?

Put Hyperion second and Dune third and the order is pretty good.

 

[JeTmAn81]

Bumpity, just finished Brave New World on audiobook. Impressive, perhaps even more so than 1984. Certainly Huxley's vision of a totalitarian state run on gratification rather than subjugation is a lot more believable.

Edit: Also, 36/100 for me

 

[i_am_ben]

bumping this thread cos I've been making my way through some of the sci-fi books on the list and really loving it. It's been a really great resource thus far.

I've read the first three Foundation novels and The Dispossessed. Are there any other history or socio-economic based books on the list?

 

[noah111]

Anything Arthur C. Clarke, odd about the positioning/order of that list..

 

[Alpha-Bromega]

WOAH fellas, read Canticle for Leibowitz. probably the best post apocalyptic fiction in terms of its ability to get your cranium working, it's great. top 5 sci fi for me

it's perfect for what the above poster is looking for, i think

 

[Dead Man]

bumping this thread cos I've been making my way through some of the sci-fi books on the list and really loving it. It's been a really great resource thus far.

I've read the first three Foundation novels and The Dispossessed. Are there any other history or socio-economic based books on the list?

95. The Mars Trilogy, by Kim Stanley Robinson

Maybe not exactly what you are after, but it is basically a future history of the colonisation fo Mars, and the social, technological, and economic development of Mars.

 

[Salazar]

Thank you for the bump.

Seeing Terry G's name on that list gives me chuckles.

 

[Salvor.Hardin]

Bumping this thread. Just read Brave New World. Fantastic stuff and I'm surprised I haven't heard much about this book from the real world, and not enough from the internet. To me, it's certainly better than 1984, and far more intellectually satisfying. I'm not very well-versed in Shakespeare so a few parts were a bit hard to decipher, but google proved useful.

 

[Nappuccino]

Man... this is why I hate fan lists.

I agree with almost none of the book placements.

 

[AlimNassor]

Chanur Saga

or

The Foreigner series

I quite enjoyed them.