Comments on Locus All-Centuries Poll: Novels
Here are my comments on the novel component of the results of the Locus All-Centuries Poll.
20th Century SF Novel:
Their ranking | Author : Title (Year) | My rating | My comments |
1 | Herbert, Frank : Dune (1965) | I read it too long ago to rate but I will read it again. | |
2 | Card, Orson Scott : Ender’s Game (1985) | 5 | One of my favourites. |
3 | Asimov, Isaac : The Foundation Trilogy (1953) | 5 | One of my favourites — the entire series is worth reading. |
4 | Simmons, Dan : Hyperion (1989) | 5 | One of my favourites — the entire series is worth reading. |
5 | Le Guin, Ursula K. : The Left Hand of Darkness (1969) | 5 | A brilliant novel. |
6 | Adams, Douglas : The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (1979) | 5 | The funniest book you will ever read. |
7 | Orwell, George : Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949) | 4.5 | A book that everyone should read — where the term “big brother” comes from. |
8 | Gibson, William : Neuromancer (1984) | 4 | A hacker tries to pull off the ultimate hack. |
9 | Bester, Alfred : The Stars My Destination (1957) | 5 | A man marooned in space is bent on revenge. |
10 | Bradbury, Ray : Fahrenheit 451 (1953) | 4.5 | A book that everyone should read. |
11 | Heinlein, Robert A. : Stranger in a Strange Land (1961) | 4 | A human born on Mars returns to Earth and becomes a celebrity. |
12 | Heinlein, Robert A. : The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress (1966) | 4 | The colony on the Moon decides it doesn’t want to be ruled by Earth any more. |
13 | Haldeman, Joe : The Forever War (1974) | 4 | The effects on humans of a war with aliens and the time dilation of space travel. |
14 | Clarke, Arthur C. : Childhood’s End (1953) | 5 | The Overlords arrive at Earth to help humans but they don’t show themselves. |
15 | Niven, Larry : Ringworld (1970) | 4 | The exploration of an artificial world that’s a ring around a star. |
16 | Le Guin, Ursula K. : The Dispossessed (1974) | 5 | A physicist from a society without government visits his neighbour planet. |
17 | Bradbury, Ray : The Martian Chronicles (1950) | 5 | Humans colonize Mars, but there are beings already there. |
18 | Stephenson, Neal : Snow Crash (1992) | 5 | Reality and virtual reality are very different in the future. |
19 | Miller, Walter M. , Jr. : A Canticle for Leibowitz (1959) | 5 | History tends to repeat itself. |
20 | Pohl, Frederik : Gateway (1977) | 4.5 | People don’t understand how the Heechee spaceships work, but they set off on them anyway — of course, some people don’t come back. |
21 | Heinlein, Robert A. : Starship Troopers (1959) | I’ve been assured that I wouldn’t like it. | |
22 | Dick, Philip K. : The Man in the High Castle (1962) | 4.5 | The Axis powers won World War II and the US now lives under fascism. |
23 | Zelazny, Roger : Lord of Light (1967) | 3.5 | A book that I didn’t get to some extent. |
24 | Wolfe, Gene : The Book of the New Sun (1983) | 4 | I read the first book — it’s good, but I didn’t understand why people think it’s so brilliant. |
25 | Lem, Stanislaw : Solaris (1970) | 4.5 | Humans visit a world where strange things happen. |
26 | Dick, Philip K. : Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (1968) | 4.5 | A bounty hunter retires androids who have escaped — the basis of the movie Blade Runner. |
27 | Vinge, Vernor : A Fire Upon The Deep (1992) | 5 | One of my favourite books I’ve read in the last few years. |
28 | Clarke, Arthur C. : Rendezvous with Rama (1973) | 4.5 | A huge alien ship arrives and people from Earth go to check it out. |
29 | Huxley, Aldous : Brave New World (1932) | 4.5 | Everyone is happy, but at what cost? |
30 | Clarke, Arthur C. : 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) | 4.5 | Worth reading even if you’ve seen the movie. |
31 | Vonnegut, Kurt : Slaughterhouse-Five (1969) | 4 | A soldier inadvertently travels through time. |
32 | Strugatsky, Arkady & Boris : Roadside Picnic (1972) | 3.5 | A bit too much mystery left at the end for my taste. |
33 | Card, Orson Scott : Speaker for the Dead (1986) | 5 | Ender visits a world where sentient beings have been found and are exhibiting some unexplained behaviour. |
34 | Brunner, John : Stand on Zanzibar (1968) | On my shelf. | |
35 | Robinson, Kim Stanley : Red Mars (1992) | 4 | The colonization of Mars by people from Earth. |
36 | Niven, Larry (& Pournelle, Jerry) : The Mote in God’s Eye (1974) | 4 | First contact between humans and a fascinating alien species. |
37 | Willis, Connie : Doomsday Book (1992) | 4.5 | A historian travels back to a time when the plague was ravishing England. |
38 | Atwood, Margaret : The Handmaid’s Tale (1985) | I saw the movie. | |
39 | Sturgeon, Theodore : More Than Human (1953) | On my shelf. | |
40 | Simak, Clifford D. : City (1952) | 5 | In the far future intelligent dogs populate the Earth and humans are a myth. |
41 | Brin, David : Startide Rising (1983) | On my shelf. | |
42 | Asimov, Isaac : Foundation (1950) | 5 | Not sure why it’s on the list twice but it’s still brilliant. |
43 | Farmer, Philip Jose : To Your Scattered Bodies Go (1971) | 3.5 | It’s readable but doesn’t deserve this spot on the list. |
44 | Dick, Philip K. : Ubik (1969) | 4.5 | Some people can read minds, and some other people can prevent someone from reading your mind. |
45 | Vonnegut, Kurt : Cat’s Cradle (1963) | 4.5 | A new structure of water is discovered — ice-nine — which is solid at room temperature. |
46 | Vinge, Vernor : A Deepness in the Sky (1999) | 5 | A sentient species is forced to hibernate for 215 out of every 250 years because of their planet’s star. |
47 | Simak, Clifford D. : Way Station (1963) | 4.5 | Simak is one of my favourite authors I’ve discovered recently. |
48 | Wyndham, John : The Day of the Triffids (1951) | 4 | Walking plants terrorize people. |
49* | Keyes, Daniel : Flowers for Algernon (1966) | I read the short story version, which is brilliant. | |
49* | Delany, Samuel R. : Dhalgren (1975) | On my shelf. |
20th Century Fantasy Novel:
Their ranking | Author : Title (Year) | My rating | My comments |
1 | Tolkien, J. R. R. : The Lord of the Rings (1955) | I read it too long ago to rate but I will read it again. | |
2 | Martin, George R. R. : A Game of Thrones (1996) | 5 | A brilliant novel — I will read the rest of the series when he finishes it. |
3 | Tolkien, J. R. R. : The Hobbit (1937) | 5 | A great novel. |
4 | Le Guin, Ursula K. : A Wizard of Earthsea (1968) | 5 | A fabulous novel — the entire series is well worth reading. |
5 | Zelazny, Roger : Nine Princes in Amber (1970) | 3.5 | It didn’t grab me as much as I expected it to — I don’t feel it deserves this spot on the list. |
6 | Lewis, C. S. : The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (1950) | I’m familiar with the story and I don’t think I need to read the book. | |
7 | Mieville, China : Perdido Street Station (2000) | On my shelf. | |
8 | Gaiman/Pratchett : Good Omens (1990) | 5 | Very funny, better than the other Gaiman or Pratchett books I’ve read. |
9 | Rowling, J. K. : Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (1997) | I’m skeptical of this one. | |
10 | Crowley, John : Little, Big (1981) | 3.5 | I liked the atmosphere but the story didn’t quite do it for me. |
11 | Adams, Richard : Watership Down (1972) | 5 | A brilliant novel, one of my favourites. |
12 | Goldman, William : The Princess Bride (1973) | I love the movie, and haven’t quite gotten around to reading the novel. | |
13 | Martin, George R. R. : A Storm of Swords (2000) | On my shelf. | |
14 | Beagle, Peter S. : The Last Unicorn (1968) | 5 | A unicorn heads off on a quest to discover what happened to the other unicorns. |
15 | White, T. H. : The Once and Future King (1958) | I started reading it but it wasn’t doing it for me. | |
16 | Kay, Guy Gavriel : Tigana (1990) | 5 | A brilliant novel by one of my favourite authors. |
17 | Gaiman, Neil : Neverwhere (1996) | 4.5 | There’s another world beneath our own. |
18 | Wolfe, Gene : The Book of the New Sun (1983) | 4 | I read the first book — it’s good, but I didn’t understand why people think it’s so brilliant. |
19 | Vance, Jack : The Dying Earth (1950) | 4.5 | A great book that I read fairly recently. |
20 | Bulgakov, Mikhail : The Master and Margarita (1967) | ||
21 | Rowling, J. K. : Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2000) | I’m skeptical of this one. | |
22 | Tolkien, J. R. R. : The Silmarillion (1977) | ||
23 | Leiber, Fritz : The Swords of Lankhmar (1968) | ||
24 | Jordan, Robert : The Eye of the World (1990) | 4 | It’s a good novel but there’s no way I was going to read the entire hugely long series. |
25 | Donaldson, Stephen R. : Lord Foul’s Bane (1977) | This is one of the first fantasy books I read many years ago — I hope that I would still like it if I read it again. | |
26 | Bradbury, Ray : Something Wicked This Way Comes (1962) | On my shelf. | |
27 | Peake, Mervyn : Gormenghast (1950) | ||
28 | Rowling, J. K. : Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (1999) | 3.5 | It’s certainly readable, and if kids like it that’s fine, but for adults there are better books to be found. |
29 | Powers, Tim : The Anubis Gates (1983) | 5 | A professor gets trapped in the 19th century. |
30 | Martin, George R. R. : A Clash of Kings (1998) | On my shelf. | |
31 | Bradley, Marion Zimmer : The Mists of Avalon (1983) | 4.5 | A gripping retelling of the King Arthur story from the point of view of the women. |
32 | Hobb, Robin : Assassin’s Apprentice (1995) | 5 | The latest addition to my own list of best fantasy novels. |
33 | Pratchett, Terry : The Colour of Magic (1983) | 3.5 | I read this a while ago but didn’t find it that funny — Mort was funnier. |
34 | Holdstock, Robert : Mythago Wood (1984) | 3.5 | This novel didn’t grab me as much as I expected. |
35 | King, Stephen : The Stand (1978) | On my shelf. | |
36* | L’Engle, Madeleine : A Wrinkle in Time (1962) | 4 | It’s good, but more for kids. |
36* | Pratchett, Terry : Small Gods (1992) | ||
38 | Howard, Robert E. : Conan the Barbarian (1950) | ||
39 | Ende, Michael : The Neverending Story (1983) | 4 | A boy reads about a fantastic world and then enters it. |
40 | Peake, Mervyn : Titus Groan (1946) | 4 | A unique world. |
41 | McCaffrey, Anne : Dragonflight (1968) | 4 | It’s good but I expected it to be better given that it’s the start of a hugely long series. |
42 | Orwell : George : Animal Farm (1945) | 4 | It’s good but a bit obvious. |
43 | Feist, Raymond E. : Magician (1982) | 4 | I read the first book. |
44 | Silverberg, Robert : Lord Valentine’s Castle (1980) | On my shelf. | |
45 | Lovecraft, H. P. : At the Mountains of Madness (1936) | ||
46 | Swanwick, Michael : The Iron Dragon’s Daughter (1993) | On my shelf. | |
47 | King, Stephen : The Shining (1977) | ||
48 | Garcia Marquez, Gabriel : One Hundred Years of Solitude (1970) | ||
49 | Saint-Exupery, Antoine de : The Little Prince (1943) | ||
50 | Hughart, Barry : Bridge of Birds (1984) | On my shelf. |
21st Century SF Novel:
Their ranking | Author : Title (Year) | My rating | My comments |
1 | Scalzi, John : Old Man’s War (2005) | On my shelf. | |
2 | Stephenson, Neal : Anathem (2008) | On my shelf. | |
3 | Bacigalupi, Paolo : The Windup Girl (2009) | On my shelf. | |
4 | Wilson, Robert Charles : Spin (2005) | 5 | A brilliant novel by one of my favourite authors. |
5 | Watts, Peter : Blindsight (2006) | 4.5 | A bit difficult to read, but fascinating ideas. |
6 | Morgan, Richard : Altered Carbon (2002) | On my shelf. | |
7 | Collins, Suzanne : The Hunger Games (2008) | I’m skeptical of this one but I might give it a try at some point. | |
8 | Gibson, William : Pattern Recognition (2003) | 4.5 | A great novel. |
9 | Mieville, China : The City & the City (2009) | ||
10 | Stross, Charles : Accelerando (2005) | On my shelf. | |
11 | Mitchell, David : Cloud Atlas (2004) | ||
12 | McDonald, Ian : River of Gods (2004) | ||
13 | McCarthy, Cormac The Road (2006) | On my shelf. | |
14 | Harrison, M. John : Light (2002) | On my shelf. | |
15* | Willis, Connie : Black Out/All Clear (2010) | On my shelf. | |
15* | Chabon, Michael : The Yiddish Policemen’s Union (2007) | ||
17* | Simmons, Dan : Ilium (2003) | On my shelf. | |
17* | Niffenegger, Audrey : The Time Traveler’s Wife (2003) | 5 | I highly recommend it to all. |
19* | Doctorow, Cory : Little Brother (2008 | ||
19* | Ishiguro, Kazuo : Never Let Me Go (2005) | Just saw the great movie version recently. |
21st Century Fantasy Novel:
Their ranking | Author : Title (Year) | My rating | My comments |
1 | Gaiman, Neil : American Gods (2001) | I started reading it but it didn’t grab me. | |
2 | Clarke, Susanna : Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell (2004) | On my shelf. | |
3 | Rothfuss, Patrick : The Name of the Wind (2007) | On my shelf. | |
4 | Mieville, China : The Scar (2002) | ||
5 | Martin, George R. R. : A Feast for Crows (2005) | I’ll read it when the series is finished. | |
6 | Rowling, J. K. : Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (2007) | I’m skeptical of this one. | |
7 | Bujold, Lois McMaster : The Curse of Chalion (2001) | ||
8 | Mieville, China : The City & the City (2009) | ||
9 | Fforde, Jasper : The Eyre Affair (2001) | 4.5 | A great book — different and clever. |
10* | Bujold, Lois McMaster : Paladin of Souls (2003) | ||
10* | Pratchett, Terry : Night Watch (2002) | ||
12 | Gaiman, Neil : Coraline (2002) | I saw the movie, which was OK. | |
13* | Wolfe, Gene : The Wizard Knight (2004) | On my shelf. | |
13* | Abercrombie, Joe : The Blade Itself (2006) | ||
15 | Pratchett, Terry : Going Postal (2004) | ||
16* | Gaiman, Neil : The Graveyard Book (2008) | ||
16* | Lynch, Scott : The Lies of Locke Lamora (2006) | ||
18 | Jemisin, N. K. : The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms (2010) | ||
19 | Le Guin, Ursula K. : Lavinia (2008) | On my shelf. | |
20 | Sanderson, Brandon : Mistborn (2006) |