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- smackhero, on 10/10/2007, -0/+22"A Wrinkle In Time" really brings back old memories--such an excellent novel for young adults. i think i read it in 6th or 7th grade, but i'd like to pick it up again one of these days.
and am i the only person who absolutely loved The Tripods trilogy--The White Mountains, The City of Gold and Lead, The Pool of Fire--and the postliminious prequel, When the Tripods Came, by John Christopher/Samuel Youd? those were probably the first sci-fi novels i ever read and immediately got me hooked on the genre.
i loved all of John Christopher's sci-fi fantasy novels as an adolescent, and i literally checked out every single one of them that our public library carried--i even went to the larger public library in the next city over to check out more of his novels. the Sword of the Spirits is another great post-apocalyptic sci-fi fantasy trilogy he wrote, and one of epic proportions and ingenious/mind-blowing design. it's terribly tragic that these books are so hard to find these days.
anyway, i'm not as well read as i'd like to be, but i love sci-fi. so, thanks for the great list. - mtrip, on 10/10/2007, -0/+16The old school way to pirate books.
- CasinoJack, on 10/10/2007, -4/+18'L. Ron Hubbard - Battlefield Earth' is the 53rd best sci-fi book of all time?
- Auto, on 10/10/2007, -0/+14...
In your opinion. - iViper, on 10/10/2007, -1/+13Robert Heinlein is on a roll
- Magsec, on 10/10/2007, -0/+12Dugg for Slaughterhouse Five.
- yargthepirate, on 10/10/2007, -4/+15i thought the book of mormon was pretty good sci-fi reading.
- MarkDykeman, on 10/10/2007, -1/+12I've read the top 12. I'm surprised that Dune is #1. I'm pleased at how well Hyperion and Hitchhikers Guide did.
- SteeleyDan, on 10/10/2007, -0/+9Dune was awesome, but Ender's should be number 1, followed by H2G2
- neuropsychguy, on 10/10/2007, -1/+9As much as I love Ender's Game, I probably enjoyed the rest of the series more. Don't get me wrong, I think Ender's Game is a better classic Sci-Fi book than the others but the rest of the series are philosophical and meaningful. I know a lot of people disagree with me, but I just wanted to point out that there are good reasons that "Speaker for the Dead" is on the list.
- bittie, on 10/10/2007, -1/+9http://xkcd.com/304/
- whatthefu, on 10/10/2007, -5/+13Orwell's 1984 wasn't so much science fiction as it was other things, which is why I don't feel like it should belong on this list. A Clockwork Orange should be higher, Battlefield Earth should be nowhere near this list, Andromeda Strain wasn't good in my opinion, and Brave New World should be higher than Ender's Game if you ask me, but that's just my opinion.
- DJCult, on 10/10/2007, -3/+10Booo, Hissss
- dewyjuhl, on 10/10/2007, -0/+7Its a list of really good sci-fi books but it doubles as a list of really ***** movies!
- sinfony, on 10/10/2007, -0/+7I've always thought Hyperion was pretty much awful, to be honest. Advice to sci-fi writers: don't try to write sex scenes. Ever. Please.
- BevansDesign, on 10/10/2007, -0/+7Yeesh. Go to a ***** library. That's what they're there for.
- DeadRooster, on 10/10/2007, -0/+71984 was definitely science fiction, but it's message was so overpowering and prophetic that it's hard to think of it as SF.
- art42, on 10/10/2007, -2/+9No Harlan Ellison? Sad.
- DeadRooster, on 10/10/2007, -0/+7The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress is one of my favorites--glad to see it's in the top 20. Stranger In A Strange Land is good too.
- hoovcluck, on 10/10/2007, -0/+6Finally, a Digg worthy of a bookmark!
- DJCult, on 10/10/2007, -0/+6You are absolutely not the only person who loved them. They were read to me in sixth grade, and they have been one of my favorite series EVER. There was also this author named William Sleator, who wrote a book called 'Interstellar Pig', which is probably my favorite book to this day, even though it is meant for young adults.
- AyoRayRay, on 10/10/2007, -0/+6All these books are classic science fiction books, almost all public libraries are bound to have it.
- Perk, on 10/10/2007, -1/+7Say what you want about Scientology (and I'll probably agree with you), but Hubbard is actually a darn good fiction writer.
- inactive, on 10/10/2007, -4/+9 I read a lot of those...I'm also not a big Dune fan...it just didn't impress me.
I'd have most likely placed 1984 at number one. - balerhgae, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5No Michael Moorcock. That's depressing. (Von Bek, anyone?)
Otherwise, awesome list. - greenriver572, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5funny thing is, i've read most of these books. good to see a few PKD books as well as multiple vonnegut titles.
- shanealeslie, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4I've read the "Mission Earth" decology 2 or three times - and if you keep in mind that its sci-fi satire its pretty damn good - better then Battlefield Earth in my opinion (well funnier anyway). I'll admit the whole scientology scam is a crock of ***** - but Hubbard knew that when he wrote the book (never really had to work much after it took off). Anyone that has a problem with what Hubbard did should also have a problem with any other old man that makes up a religion in order to live off the donations of the stupid and gullible. _cough any religions bible cough_
- saifatlast, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4BOUND you say?
(See, 'cause books are bound. Get it?) - BevansDesign, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4Don't forget to click the titles to see the original covers. There's just something awesome about 60's/70's-era science fiction book covers.
- Ascendant, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4Actually, he's ranked quite highly on the "Top 100 Short Stories" on that same site:
http://home.austarnet.com.au/petersykes/topscifi/lists_short_stories.html
He's got 6 stories on there, including 3 of the top 11. - sensoukami, on 10/10/2007, -1/+5Dune rocked...the series went downhill after the first one
Mote in God's Eye is an AMAZING book...easily one of my all time favorites. Highly recommend it to anyone, it's a great story... - miriclaire, on 10/10/2007, -3/+7And actually, Hubbard's scientology books on Dianetics are much better sci-fi.
- Sithseth, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4Glad to see my two favorite Arthur C Clarke books on there; Fountains of Paradise, and 2001. Wonder why 2010, 2061, and 3001 aren't on there... those were good...
- TheRingo, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4As well he should be. I would have liked to see I WIll Fear No Evil or Glory Road on the list, but I understand their exclusion. They're just personal favorites of mine.
- Clowd, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4I think they get progressively better. I liked Xenocide over Speaker for the Dead, and I'm in the middle of reading Children of the Mind right now. while I enjoyed the way everything in Speaker for the Dead played out, I enjoyed the more philosophical nature of Xenocide, and I found Ender's Children to be very interesting characters. Other concepts and events in Xenocide I also found interesting. Xenocide was more of "How will they pull it off?", while Speaker had the whole "Novinha's Secret" going on.
- Vazel, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4How can they list Hyperion but not Fall of Hyperion those two books are like one book chopped in half.
- netant, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3No, 1984 is not "genuine" sci-fi. A large chunk of sci-fi is the effect of technology upon the story line. 1984 just doesn't have those elements. TVs that monitored your speech & actions is not a novel idea, even in 1948, as was torture/brainwashing. It was a political novel; meant to speculatively demonstrate the dangers of fascism/communism. Its more like non-scientific, SPECULATIVE fiction. (Which some writers/editors of the time tried making it a genre term at the time.)
Contrast it to Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, BNW is definitely sci-fi. It involves a future society that literally breed people into a class structure, uses drugs to manage the population, and the problems/crisis posed in the book was based on mindsets which didn't exist in the present culture. - ronin688, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3It's not perfect, but there is enough good content on the list to get my digg. I don't think anyone could ever mke a definitive TOP 100. It's just too subjective a thing to judge.
- MisterSquishy, on 10/10/2007, -7/+10#53 Battlefield Earth
List discredited. - heffae, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3A very good list. I'm a bit surprised that Timothy Zahn doesn't show up anywhere The Cobra series is one of my favorite trilogies. And his star wars trilogy is still far and above the best stories ever told in that universe. I do kind of wish that their had been something of Orson Scott Cards listed out side of the the Enderverse. Even though Enders Game is by far my favorite book of all time. The Homecoming series or Alvin Maker (which may be more fantasy that sci-fi). I think deserve mention as well.
- hotsake, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3A book can span several genres at the same time. Why would you even believe otherwise?
- shanealeslie, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3If you forget about Scientology Battlefield Earth and Mission Earth are great reads.
- ElwoodHerring, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4Excellent list. I've read nearly all of the top 20, and most of the others. Now I know which books to get hold of next. My personal favourites are Clarke's City & the Stars, Childhood's End, and practically anything by Asimov. Surprised to find no Silverberg in the list though, some of his books are very good.
- DeadRooster, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3The plot is just too ridiculous--even for science fiction.
- greenriver572, on 10/10/2007, -2/+5Actually, it was a very good sci book. Hubbard was a pretty good writer until I decided to found a religion. His SF work after that went down hill. I tried to read his "Decology" (10 book cycle) but I couldn't do it. I guess once you're a profit its pretty hard to edit you. A shame, could a good editor may have made that a decent trilogy.
i had no idea you were hubbard - GBladeCL, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4Speaker for the Dead (book 2) is pretty damn good. Though, it's been a while since I read Ender's Game so I can't make the comparison
- inactive, on 10/10/2007, -2/+5 You have plenty of chances to catch up with the rest of us..Dust off that library card.
- Mitchbones, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3Dune is great. Read the masterpiece and nothing else.
Sorry the sci-fi book is "action packed" enough for you guys. -
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