Pick your top ten scifi/fantasy titles.

[Ken Morgan]

Pick your top ten scifi/fantasy titles.

http://www.npr.org/2011/08/02/138894873/vote-for-top-100-science-fiction-fantasy-titles

It stopped me at ten…..I would have picked at least twenty….

Mine were:

The Fionavar Tapestry Trilogy, by Guy Gavriel Kay
The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, by Douglas Adams
The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy, by J.R.R. Tolkien
Memory And Dream, by Charles de Lint
The Neanderthal Parallax Trilogy, by Robert J. Sawyer
The Riftwar Saga, by Raymond E. Feist
The Outlander Series, by Diana Gabaldan
The Shannara Trilogy, by Terry Brooks
The Stand, by Stephen King
The Sword Of Truth, by Terry Goodkind

 

[Empty Hands]

"Perdido Street Station" by China Mieville (i've liked everything he's written)
Either "Anathem" or "Snow Crash" by Neal Stephenson
Either "Warbreaker" or "The Way of Kings" by Brandon Sanderson
Books 1-3 (not 4 or 5) of "A Song of Ice and Fire" by George RR Martin
Books 1-6, 12-13 (not the rest) of "The Wheel of Time" by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson
"The Malazan Book of the Fallen" by Steven Erikson (some problems, but a remarkably ambitious series)
The first few of the Kushiel books by Jacqueline Carey (very few fantasy/scifi authors even attempt to explore sexuality, she stands out for this)
"Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell" by Susanna Clarke (19th century setting for a fantasy, very cool)
"Dune" by Frank Herbert (the original book ONLY! and none of the execrable books by his son!)
"Watchmen" by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons (it counts!)

Well, that's 10, but I'm missing plenty of real standouts, I know.

 

[HammockRider]

Nice list Ken. I's love to find time to read The Riftwar Saga, Sowrd of truth and The Shannara Series. You're right, picking just 10 is tough. These are just off the top of my head and some of them could change depending on my mood on any given day.

The Sword of Fire & Ice series by George R.R. Martin. The first book is The Game of Thrones
Lord of the Rings Trilogy by Tolkein
Hitchhikers Guide by Douglas Adams
The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett
Ringworld by Larry Niven
The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton
Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Phillip K. Dick
Circus of Dr. Lao by Charles Finney
Killer by David Drake

 

[Empty Hands]

The Riftwar Saga, by Raymond E. Feist
The Shannara Trilogy, by Terry Brooks

I read these, and similar series like the Weiss/Hickman books when I was younger, and loved them. I find that they haven't aged well for me. The worst offender in that regard are the books by David Eddings. I just don't get much out of them as an adult.

The Sword Of Truth, by Terry Goodkind

This series I grew to despise towards the end, especially with "Faith of the Fallen". I never finished it. The absolute worst part was the ever-perfect wish fulfillment character of Richard, who eventually became a vehicle to give speeches on Terry Goodkind's political views. Communism is bad, we get it. The constant rape and sado-masochism got pretty old too. That said, I loved the TV show.

 

[Nomad]

I'm going to cheat by leaving The Fionavar Tapestry and Lord of the Rings off my list, since they were mentioned in the OP, even though they rightfully belong at or near the top of my list as well.

For ten more...

Drenai Tales (Druss, Waylander, etc) by David Gemmell
The Wayfarer Redemption series by Sara Douglass
The Gap series by Stephen R. Donaldson
The Lost Fleet by Jack Campbell
Codex Alera and Dresden Chronicles by Jim Butcher (cheating again, by doing a twofer)
Mistborn Trilogy by Brandon Sanderson
The Belgariad by David Eddings
The Dragoncrown War by Michael Stackpole
Winter of the World by Scott Michael Rohan
The Renshai Chronicles by Mickey Zucker Reichert

I know I'm leaving some excellent series off my list, but this is what I can come up with off the top of my head.

Oops... hadn't realized we were supposed to pick them off the list in the OP's link... oh well, I'm going to let mine stand, since I think there are some better choices there than in the top 100 nominated...

 

[Sukerkin]

Well, I consider myself pretty well read ... the fact that one room of my house is a library backs that up ... but some of the titles being mentioned here are new to me .

Picking a top ten is always going to be an excercise in what you think right now and what you recall off the top of your head too .

I could list a great many books and series of books that have garnered my favour - some because of their innate inventiveness and quality and some just because I enjoyed reading them.

So with those provisos in place, I shall list what occurs to me now as I sit here, rather than pondering deeply on the matter .

In no particular order -

Lord of the Rings trilogy - Tolkien
Honour Harrington series - Webber
Chronicles of Thomas Covenant series - Donaldson
Dragonlance Chronicles - Weis & Hickman
BattleTech {pretty much any and all of dozens of books but especially the Grey Death Legion and Sword & Dagger series'}
Belgariad series - Eddings
Saga of Exiles - May
Wheel of Time - Jordan & Sanderson
Legacy of Heorot - Niven, Pournelle & Barnes
Guardians of the Tall Stones/The Silver Vortex - Caldecott

And I'm out of choices before I even get onto the Foundation Trilogy, the Rama cycle, Damiano's Lute et al!

 

[Ken Morgan]

Well, I consider myself pretty well read ... the fact that one room of my house is a library backs that up ... but some of the titles being mentioned here are new to me

Chronicles of Thomas Covenant series - Donaldson

What titles?

Thomas Covenant was a great series!

 

[Jenna]

Some great diversity so far Mine are perhaps a little more eclectic and doubtless some would irk the fantasy purists anyway, whatever in no particular order...

The Onion Girl ~ Charles de Lint - my life as told in a fantasy novel

Interesting Times ~ Terry Pratchett - simply because it was the first (of many) Discworld I ever read

At the Mountains of Madness ~ HP Lovecraft
Call of Cthulhu ~ HP Lovecraft
Yes, horror writer HP Lovecraft - and do not argue that this is horror not fantasy as the execution is most def fantasy

Metamorphosis ~ Franz Kafka - yes it is perhaps at the edge of what is described commonly as fantasy, still it is pure allegorical weirdness in print

Use of Weapons ~ Iain M Banks
Consider Phlebas ~ Iain M Banks
Matter ~ Iain M Banks
I have to admit when I started reading Culture novels I found them weighty with tech, now I simply cannot get enough of the Culture. I find the technology utterly entrancing.

Perdido Street Station ~ China Mieville
Iron Council ~ China Mieville
I love the organic machine viscerality of these novels

 

[Mark Jordan]

A lot of good choices but here's mine (not in order)
A Storm of Swords: A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin
The Wayfarer Redemption series by Sara Douglass
The Fionavar Tapestry Trilogy, by Guy Gavriel Kay
Lord of the Rings trilogy - Tolkien
Bridge Of Birds, by Barry Hughart
The Callahan's Series, by Spider Robinson
The Dark Tower Series, by Stephen King
The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett
The Night's Dawn Trilogy, by Peter F. Hamilton
Parable Of The Sower, by Octavia Butler

 

[Sukerkin]

What titles?

Do you mean which titles that people have listed are new to me, mate?[/quote]

Thomas Covenant was a great series!

Indeed it is and holds the distinction of being the only series ever that required me to have an OED to hand whilst reading it :lol:.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, by Douglas Adams
The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy, by J.R.R. Tolkien

Yep.

"Dune" by Frank Herbert (the original book ONLY! and none of the execrable books by his son!)

Yep.

I'll add:

Retief of the CDT, by Keith Laumer
I, Robot, by Isaac Asimov
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, by Robert Heinlein
The Wizard in Spite of Himself, by Christopher Stasheff
Callahan's Crosstime Saloon, by Spider Robinson
The Magic Goes Away, by Larry Niven
Books of the Swords, by Fred Saberhagen
Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card
Me, by Thomas T. Thomas
Neuromancer, by William Gibson
The Time Machine, by HG Wells

 

[Buka]

Lucifer's Hammer - Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle
Stranger in a Strange Land - Robert Heinlein
Swan Song - Robert McCammon
Watchers - Dean Koontz
Frankstein - Mary Shelly
Replay - Ken Grimwood
The Time Machine - H.G. Wells
Lord of the Rings
Phantoms - Dean Koontz
The Green Mile - King

 

[Ken Morgan]

Do you mean which titles that people have listed are new to me, mate?

Yes.

BTW everyone, there is a link in the OP where you can vote. I based my choices on the books listed, though a few of my wants where not in the list provided.

 

[Steve]

Props to everyone. I've read many of the books on your lists. You guys have good taste. Jenna, HP Lovecraft definitely counts!

Here's my list. Some I haven't read since I was a kid, but remain good memories. Really, it would be impossible to narrow things down to books. As a kid, and even now, if I find an author I enjoy, I'll read pretty much everything by him or her. I'm not going to try and rank them in order, but here's my top ten:

1. The Elric of Melnibone series by Michael Moorcock (the first six books)
2. The Black Prism by Brent Weeks
3. Cormac Mac Art series by Andrew J. Offutt
4. Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card (not the series, just the first book)
5. Dune by Frank Herbert (again, not the series)
6. Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser series by Fritz Lieber (The Swords Series)
7. Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever series by Stephen R. Donaldson (except the last book. I read the first 5 twice, but never could get through White Gold Wielder)
8. Stranger in a Strange Land by Heinlein
9. The Time Machine by HG Wells
10. Hyperion by Dan Simmons

 

[Razor]

The Black Cloud - Fred Hoyle
The Day of the Triffids - John Wyndham
His Dark Materials - Phillip Pullman
Night's Dawn Trilogy - Peter F. Hamilton
Void Trilogy - Hamilton
Various Discworld books - Terry Pratchett
Paycheck - Phillip K. Dick
Old Kingdom Trilogy - Garth Nix

I have a few classics around which I haven't read yet too, which I need to get on to some time....

 

[billc]

-The hobbit
-The deeds of Paksinarion series, Elizabeth Moon
-The Bazil Broketail series, Christopher Rowley
Robert Heinlein
-Starship Troopers
-stranger in a strange land
Edgar Rice Burroughs
-A princess of mars
-the Gods of mars
Michael Moorcock
-the runestaff series
-Michael Kane series ( a tribute to John Carter of Mars)
Robert Adams
-The first few Horseclans novels
Terry Pratchett
-the city watch novels
-the witches novels
Robert E. Howard (L. Sprague Decamp)
-The books about Conan
Larry Niven
-The mote in Gods eye
-dream park
-Old Mans War, John Scalzi

 

[WMKS Shogun]

Most of my picks have been mentioned by someone or another, but I suppose I will just put forth one author (two novels at present)
Patrick Rothfuss's The Kingkiller Series: The Name of the Wind and The Wise Man's Fear.
Fantastic books where the world feels like it has a good, believable history, and like me, the main character is a ginger!