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The Most Significant SF & Fantasy Books of the Last 50 Years, 1953-2002 according to Science Fiction Book Club.
I've seen this several places. I've bolded books I've read, and italicized books I started but didn't finish.
1. The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien I've read this one over and over.
2. The Foundation Trilogy, Isaac Asimov I loved the originals trilogy, but started getting lost/losing interest after a while.
3. Dune, Frank Herbert I found this book left in an empty BART car on a tourist trip to SF in the late 60's, and devoured it. The later books never were as magic for me.
4. Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert A. Heinlein I run hot and cold with Heinlein. I can't read Podkayne any more, it makes me too angry. But I do love this one, even with all the gender relations stuff that grates, I still re-read it from time to time.
5. A Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula K. Le Guin I love all of Le Guins stuff, but I liked the Tombs of Atuan a little better because I identified with Tamar.
6. Neuromancer, William Gibson I understand the historial significance, but it's just not my thing. I have tried several times but can't get through it.
7. Childhood's End, Arthur C. Clarke I know I read this one some 30 odd years ago, but I don't remember anything about it.
8. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Philip K. Dick I don't think I finished this one, but I might have. The only Dick I've tried -- he's just not my style.
9. The Mists of Avalon, Marion Zimmer Bradley Loved it. I gave a copy to my sister, but she's too intimidated by the size to even start it, even though her maid reccomends it.
10. Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury I think I originally read this for school, but I have read it on my own since.
11. The Book of the New Sun, Gene Wolfe Heard of it, never read it, but I do have it on order.
12. A Canticle for Leibowitz, Walter M. Miller, Jr. I have it and all the sequels. Another one that should have stopped after one.
13. The Caves of Steel, Isaac Asimov Loved all the R. Daneel books.
14. Children of the Atom, Wilmar Shiras I bought this a couple of years ago, but I think I read it long ago.
15. Cities in Flight, James Blish
16. The Colour of Magic, Terry Pratchett Definately not the best of the Diskworld books. I prefer the Witches books myself.
17. Dangerous Visions, edited by Harlan Ellison I never got what was so great with Harlan. This is the only one of his I read.
18. Deathbird Stories, Harlan Ellison
19. The Demolished Man, Alfred Bester Loved this one, but loved The Stars My Destination better.
20. Dhalgren, Samuel R. Delany To be honest, I think I have read this one years ago, but I am not 100% sure.
21. Dragonflight, Anne McCaffrey Definately not the best of the Pern books -- really had to slog through it.
22. Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card I dont like most of his and won't buy any new ones, but I do like Ender's Game and Speaker for the Dead.
23. The First Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, Stephen R. Donaldson This one was a gift, and I never could quite finish it.
24. The Forever War, Joe Haldeman
25. Gateway, Frederik Pohl Another case of a series that started out strong and go too complicated to keep my attention later. But I did like this one.
26. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, J.K. Rowling I like the books, and the movies, but they aren't anywhere near as great as their hype, to me
27. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams I have to take Adams in small doses.
28. I Am Legend, Richard Matheson The book was good, but the movies much less so, especially the Charlton Heston one. I think I got this book from the Scholastic Readers club back before high school, but I may be remembering wrong.
29. Interview with the Vampire, Anne Rice Another that was OK, but not worth the hype to me.
30. The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K. Le Guin Loved it.
31. Little, Big, John Crowley Another I remember vaguely reading years ago, but don't remember
32. Lord of Light, Roger Zelazny
33. The Man in the High Castle, Philip K. Dick I don't enjoy PKD.
34. Mission of Gravity, Hal Clement Loved it and the sequels.
35. More Than Human, Theodore Sturgeon
36. The Rediscovery of Man, Cordwainer Smith
37. On the Beach, Nevil Shute Extremely depressing. The old movie was pretty good, but I hated the more recent one.
38. Rendezvous with Rama, Arthur C. Clarke
39. Ringworld, Larry Niven
40. Rogue Moon, Algis Budrys
41. The Silmarillion, J.R.R. Tolkien Just couldn't make it all the way through this one, but I did read and re-read parts.
42. Slaughterhouse-5, Kurt Vonnegut Read it for College.
43. Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson Again I think I read it for college.
44. Stand on Zanzibar, John Brunner Both this and Future Shock still stand up quite well I think. I re-read them from time to time.
45. The Stars My Destination, Alfred Bester As noted above, I liked this one better than Demolished Man.
46. Starship Troopers, Robert A. Heinlein This is one of the iffy Heinleins for me. I would have ranked Moon is a Harsh Mistress above this one.
47. Stormbringer, Michael Moorcock
48. The Sword of Shannara, Terry Brooks I read the first few books in his Magic Kingdom series, but never got into Shannara
49. Timescape, Gregory Benford
50. To Your Scattered Bodies Go, Philip Jose Farmer Liked the first one, but again the series got too convoluted to keep up with.
I've seen this several places. I've bolded books I've read, and italicized books I started but didn't finish.
1. The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien I've read this one over and over.
2. The Foundation Trilogy, Isaac Asimov I loved the originals trilogy, but started getting lost/losing interest after a while.
3. Dune, Frank Herbert I found this book left in an empty BART car on a tourist trip to SF in the late 60's, and devoured it. The later books never were as magic for me.
4. Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert A. Heinlein I run hot and cold with Heinlein. I can't read Podkayne any more, it makes me too angry. But I do love this one, even with all the gender relations stuff that grates, I still re-read it from time to time.
5. A Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula K. Le Guin I love all of Le Guins stuff, but I liked the Tombs of Atuan a little better because I identified with Tamar.
6. Neuromancer, William Gibson I understand the historial significance, but it's just not my thing. I have tried several times but can't get through it.
7. Childhood's End, Arthur C. Clarke I know I read this one some 30 odd years ago, but I don't remember anything about it.
8. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Philip K. Dick I don't think I finished this one, but I might have. The only Dick I've tried -- he's just not my style.
9. The Mists of Avalon, Marion Zimmer Bradley Loved it. I gave a copy to my sister, but she's too intimidated by the size to even start it, even though her maid reccomends it.
10. Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury I think I originally read this for school, but I have read it on my own since.
11. The Book of the New Sun, Gene Wolfe Heard of it, never read it, but I do have it on order.
12. A Canticle for Leibowitz, Walter M. Miller, Jr. I have it and all the sequels. Another one that should have stopped after one.
13. The Caves of Steel, Isaac Asimov Loved all the R. Daneel books.
14. Children of the Atom, Wilmar Shiras I bought this a couple of years ago, but I think I read it long ago.
15. Cities in Flight, James Blish
16. The Colour of Magic, Terry Pratchett Definately not the best of the Diskworld books. I prefer the Witches books myself.
17. Dangerous Visions, edited by Harlan Ellison I never got what was so great with Harlan. This is the only one of his I read.
18. Deathbird Stories, Harlan Ellison
19. The Demolished Man, Alfred Bester Loved this one, but loved The Stars My Destination better.
20. Dhalgren, Samuel R. Delany To be honest, I think I have read this one years ago, but I am not 100% sure.
21. Dragonflight, Anne McCaffrey Definately not the best of the Pern books -- really had to slog through it.
22. Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card I dont like most of his and won't buy any new ones, but I do like Ender's Game and Speaker for the Dead.
23. The First Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, Stephen R. Donaldson This one was a gift, and I never could quite finish it.
24. The Forever War, Joe Haldeman
25. Gateway, Frederik Pohl Another case of a series that started out strong and go too complicated to keep my attention later. But I did like this one.
26. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, J.K. Rowling I like the books, and the movies, but they aren't anywhere near as great as their hype, to me
27. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams I have to take Adams in small doses.
28. I Am Legend, Richard Matheson The book was good, but the movies much less so, especially the Charlton Heston one. I think I got this book from the Scholastic Readers club back before high school, but I may be remembering wrong.
29. Interview with the Vampire, Anne Rice Another that was OK, but not worth the hype to me.
30. The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K. Le Guin Loved it.
31. Little, Big, John Crowley Another I remember vaguely reading years ago, but don't remember
32. Lord of Light, Roger Zelazny
33. The Man in the High Castle, Philip K. Dick I don't enjoy PKD.
34. Mission of Gravity, Hal Clement Loved it and the sequels.
35. More Than Human, Theodore Sturgeon
36. The Rediscovery of Man, Cordwainer Smith
37. On the Beach, Nevil Shute Extremely depressing. The old movie was pretty good, but I hated the more recent one.
38. Rendezvous with Rama, Arthur C. Clarke
39. Ringworld, Larry Niven
40. Rogue Moon, Algis Budrys
41. The Silmarillion, J.R.R. Tolkien Just couldn't make it all the way through this one, but I did read and re-read parts.
42. Slaughterhouse-5, Kurt Vonnegut Read it for College.
43. Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson Again I think I read it for college.
44. Stand on Zanzibar, John Brunner Both this and Future Shock still stand up quite well I think. I re-read them from time to time.
45. The Stars My Destination, Alfred Bester As noted above, I liked this one better than Demolished Man.
46. Starship Troopers, Robert A. Heinlein This is one of the iffy Heinleins for me. I would have ranked Moon is a Harsh Mistress above this one.
47. Stormbringer, Michael Moorcock
48. The Sword of Shannara, Terry Brooks I read the first few books in his Magic Kingdom series, but never got into Shannara
49. Timescape, Gregory Benford
50. To Your Scattered Bodies Go, Philip Jose Farmer Liked the first one, but again the series got too convoluted to keep up with.