lord of Light is one of my all time favorites. I first read it when taking a Hinduism class as an undergrad, {mumbles} decades ago. I reread it recently, and it holds up.
As far as SFF works I love, Tolkien is always first, but selectied Zelazny and Heinlein fight it out with Prachett for the number two spot.
Science fiction is fantasy because it tells stories involving things that don’t exist in the world as we know it. Whether those things are spaceships or dragons is a minor detail.
That it’s a voted-on list probanbly explains the presence of Clarke’s 2001 (and A Clockwork Orange and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, I suspect). As others have noted, it’s odd that other “classic” science fiction writers didn’t make the cut (to which I’d add Henry Kuttner, Catherine L. Moore, Cordwainer Smith, and L. Sprague de Camp)
And, since this is a fantasy list, too, isn’t it scandalous that H.P. Lovecraft isn’t on it? Not to mention a host of lesser-known but talented fantasy authors.
They go down monotonically in quality as the series goes on, though I’m most fond of the second (Bearing an Hourglass) for personal reasons (yes, that is the direct origin of my username; my tastes weren’t as discerning back then). I’d recommend just starting with On a Pale Horse, and keep on reading until you’ve read the fifth one, or until you decide the books just aren’t good enough any more, whichever comes first. Either way, don’t bother with the sixth or seventh.
I found that to be true of all his series. In this case I really enjoyed On A Pale Horse, but stopped reading after the second one. From what I heard about the sixth and seventh I’m glad I stopped too.
I haven’t read a book by him in ages.
I like all the Frank Herbert Dune novels, even God: Emperor.
The list was OK. Definitely weighted towards books that were made into movies and/or TV shows - 16 of the top 25 (at least) had adaptations. Compare that to the bottom 25 where only 3 (again, by my count) have been adapted into movies/TV. This is the only explanation that allows for a poll whereupon The Princess Bride gets rated a better book than Perdido Street Station or Hyperion or Childhood’s End, a selection that makes no sense in an actual weighing of the books relative merits.
Gibson’s on there, I’m satisfied.
A Clockwork Orange is widely considered a critical masterpiece. You might have a point about the other two.
http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1951793_1951939_1952248,00.html
http://www.city-journal.org/html/16_1_oh_to_be.html
Of course, you might feel differently about the novel depending on whether you read the version with or without the 21st chapter.
I’m aware of that. So is The Demolished Man, but it’s not on the list. I’m saying that I suspect the movie association helped it get on the list.
Maybe. Clockwork Orange is also a pretty widely assigned reading book in US HighSchools , so I’d guess even ignoring the movie, its been much more widely read then The Demolished Man.
I’m surprised The Fafhrd & The Gray Mouser Series, The Stars My Destination, and Lord of Light didn’t even make the top 100. Those are all easy top 20, maybe all top 10.
It’s not bad for a survey, but I cannot take seriousily a list that omits Theodore Sturgeon, Robert Silverberg, Harlan Ellison, Poul Anderson, Bester, H.P. Lovecraft, and Cordwainer Smith. I also don’t recall seeing any works by Kim Stanley Robinson and Stephen Baxter. David Brin’s *The Postman *and Pohl and Kornbluth’s *The Space Merchants *should be on this list.
Re Zelazny: They vote for the Amber shite and omit Lord of Light, Damnation Alley, Jack of Shadows, and Creatures of Light and Darkness!? Good night, these people need to read more widely in SF.
Re C.S. Lewis: I would have chosen *The Screwtape Letters *over the space trilogy.
OTOH, I’ve got to give this survey credit for including Conan. It’s about time people started recognizing that Howard is one of the greatest fantasy authors of the 20th Century.
Well, there’s also Going Postal, but I agree with your larger point that the entire Discworld series should be considered as a set.
Too bad about Thomas Covenant being there, though. I’d have preferred to see Jim Theis. At least I had a good time reading his work. Donaldson was just a chore.
Any such list that can include three Neal Stephenson entries but none by Jack Vance is worthless.
Thank you; I really dislike Donaldson. I cannot figure out why I read him.
I can’t take any list that includes R.A. Salvatore seriously either. (Unless it’s a list of the worst fiction writers across any genre, har har har.)
The fact that the list is vox populi explains some of the more eyebrow-raising choices, but yeah, where’s H.P. Lovecraft?! He’s immensely popular.
I don’t think H.P Lovecraft is really all that popular. I like his work, I know a lot of people who “get” Cthulhu jokes, but I’ve known less people who have actually read Lovecraft’s work.
I guess I can see how his mythos (and the character of Cthulhu) might be more well-known than his actual fiction (especially considering his prose), but still, I’m surprised that he didn’t make a top-100 list of popular SF writers.
Kim Stanley Robinson was included - the Mars trilogy is #95.
It probably wasn’t the same people. Each respondent could vote for only ten titles.