Saturday, July 3, 2010

The Most Significant Science Fiction and Fantasy Books of the Last 50 Years, Part I

I’ve been a member of the Science Fiction & Fantasy Book Club for several years now, and I always enjoy reading the latest news about books of this type when their monthly newsletter (and order form) arrives in my mailbox at home.
Back in 2003, the Science Fiction & Fantasy Book Club published a recommended reading list that they called “The Most Significant Science Fiction and Fantasy Books of the Last 50 years (1935-2002). Tonight, I give you the first 25 books on that list. Check the site tomorrow for books 26-50.
Here’s the first half of the list:
1. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
2. The Foundation Trilogy by Isaac Asimov
3. Dune by Frank Herbert
4. Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein
5. A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin
6. Neuromancer by William Gibson
7. Childhood’s End by Arthur C. Clarke
8. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick
9. The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley
10. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
11. The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe
12. A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr.
13. The Caves of Steel by Isaac Asimov
14. Children of the Atom by Wilmar Shiras
15. Cities in Flight by James Blish
16. The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett
17. Dangerous Visions by Harlan Ellison
18. Deathbird Stories by Harlan Ellison
19. The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester
20. Dhalgren by Samuel R. Delany
21. Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey
22. Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
23. The First Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever by Stephen R. Donaldson
24. The Forever War by Joe Haldeman
25. Gateway by Frederik Pohl
Over the years, I’ve had a chance to read a number of the above books, and I’ve always wanted to read some of the others listed here. Which have you read? What did you think of them? Which would you recommend? Let us know in the comments section below.

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