Top Ten Speculative Fiction Novels of All Time! (Speculative includes SF, Fantasy and its many subgenres, Magical Realism, Steam and Cyber Punk, Horror and, well everything that crosses boundaries and gives literary snobs fits). Remember you don't need to make it to ten, just share what you want, and explain, concisely, your choices.
Here are mine (no ranking, just ten):
Neuromancer by William Gibson: Essential reading for our digital age. Waaay ahead of its time.
American Gods by Neil Gaiman. Great use of mythic figures in a contemporary setting. Riordan wishes he could do this.
The Lord of the Rings by Tolkien. Lives up to the hype. Either you get it or you don't.
Perdido Street Station by China Mieville. Freaky weird stuff, crosses too many genres to keep track of.
Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin. Perhaps the most literary of this bunch, a fantastical urban tale set in NYC. Wonderful.
The Earthsea Trilogy by Ursula K. LeGuin. Blew mymind when I was twelve and I've reread it many times. The first one involves a dark, dark quest.
Mythago Wood by Richard Holdstock. Heady, myth-heavy and influential in shaping "urban" fantasy/folklore based new fiction.
The Stand by Stephen King. Horror, western, fantasy, SF all thrown together. Dis King all you want, he will stand the test of time.
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Phillip k. Dick. Existentialist, dystopian crime fiction at its best.
The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley. All right its trashy but beautiful, powerful women doing magic is a good thing in my book.
What's wrong with trashy? I love Shana Abe's Smoke Thief and the other books in the Dragon series. They are beautifully written, and yea, a tad hot, but I find most books in this genre tend to be.
ReplyDeleteI am in a reading rut and I have been reading old favorites for the second+ time. Nothing has new has rocked me lately. I think I'll give Winter's Tale a try. I'll let you know what I think.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteTop Ten Speculative Fiction Texts (Many of My Favorites are on Paul's List) I would Add:
ReplyDeleteInvisible Cities Italo Calvino
Einstein's Dreams Alan Lightman
Hyperion Dan Simmons
A Brave New World Aldous Huxley
The Dispossessed Ursula K. Leguin
Dune Frank Herbert
The Simulacra Philip K. Dick
The Island of Dr. Moreau HG Wells
A Modern Utopia HG Wells
1984 George Orwell
You mean there are other books out there other than 6th grade novels? Wow!! I've been stuck in my room for too long!!!
ReplyDeleteWhile I've got a moment let me add a few more and just ramble. First, one of my favorite subgenres is "urban" fantasy. This is a misnomer as the setting doesn't have to be in a city. The idea is that the fantasy takes place here in our world, unlike the "high fantasy" of Tolkien et al. It often draws upon myth/folk/faerie tale elements. The best examples above would be Mythago Wood and American Gods. Great other ones are The Wood Wife by Terri Windling, The War for the Oaks by Emma Bull, and anything by Charles de Lint (I recommend Somewhere to be Flying). If you are into this stuff check out the Mythopoeic Awards:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.mythsoc.org/awards/
Mike,I love Dune. Didn't get into reading all of them but the first was great.
ReplyDelete