NPR - Vote for Top 100 SF/Fantasy Books

[jgaiser]

Not sure if *I* would put some of these titles in my top 1000 (Xanth series?), here's the list that NPR (National Public Radio) has put together so far. Vote for your top 10.

http://www.npr.org/2011/08/02/138894...fantasy-titles

[Greg Anos]

Originally Posted by jgaiser

Not sure if *I* would put some of these titles in my top 1000 (Xanth series?), here's the list that NPR (National Public Radio) has put together so far. Vote for your top 10.

http://www.npr.org/2011/08/02/138894...fantasy-titles

Annoying - the scroll bar doesn't work. You can only see maybe 25 books of the list.

[Phogg]

Scroll worked for me.
It had a lot of UKL, but no Earthsea.
Also no Andre Norton anywhere.

[jgaiser]

Originally Posted by Ralph Sir Edward

Annoying - the scroll bar doesn't work. You can only see maybe 25 books of the list.

Hmm..?? They're using something called 'snapapp' for the listing. It works for me (Ubuntu 10.04 - Firefox 3.6.18). I did see that it's actually a 'Frame'. A right-click, Open in New Tab (or Window) brings the whole list up, but you can't submit. Sorry...

[rkomar]

Originally Posted by Phogg

...Also no Andre Norton anywhere.

Boo! We need an emoticon of Triumph the Insult Comic Dog saying "I Poop on this List!".

Oh well. She was pretty even in her writing, and no single book really stands out, although maybe "Witch World" or "Time Traders" could have made the list based on one-time popularity.

I was in a SFF bookshop a few months ago and mentioned to the knowledgeable woman working there that although most of the books I read as a youth were no longer there, at least there were still some Andre Norton books on the shelves. She pointed out that they were mostly recent books co-written with younger, more popular authors. The older authors have largely gone out of style, and us old farts pushing them onto a younger audience are flogging dead horses. We had our lists, and those starting fresh have theirs.

[GreenMonkey]

Originally Posted by jgaiser

Not sure if *I* would put some of these titles in my top 1000 (Xanth series?)...

Robin Hobb is my favorite author, but I wouldn't put the Liveship Traders trilogy on there...Farseer...sure...Liveships...no.

List isn't bad, but it's weird at times for choosing a trilogy or 1 book. They put up both "The Caves of Steel" and "The Naked Sun" by Asimov when they probably just should have said "Robot series". Not sure why Asimov's "I, Robot" is on there, except for they made some terrible movie sort of based of Asimov robots (except not). It's a collection of short robot stories - he had several of these.

My favorite Heinlein wasn't on there - "The Door Into Summer" - but I understand why they picked the ones they did.

I too cannot see something like Xanth being on there. I even like the first few books, but they go downhill pretty fast.

Nice to see a few non-super-huge authors up there (C.S. Friedman, Mercedes Lackey).

[jgaiser]

Well, the list was put together from suggestions from NPR readers/listeners. They just took the top 100 and posted the results. Still a strange list at times.

[TheLongshot]

Originally Posted by GreenMonkey

My favorite Heinlein wasn't on there - "The Door Into Summer" - but I understand why they picked the ones they did.

I don't understand why "The Cat Who Walks Through Walls" is on there. If I was going to pick a late-era Heinlein, I'd pick "Friday".

I too cannot see something like Xanth being on there. I even like the first few books, but they go downhill pretty fast.

I tend to agree, but I did like that the Incarnations Of Immortality was on there. Personally, the best stuff he's written.

Nice to see a few non-super-huge authors up there (C.S. Friedman, Mercedes Lackey).

Lackey isn't super huge?

[carld]

It's odd that they have Jim Butcher's Codex Alera on the list rather than the Dresden Files.

[GreenMonkey]

Originally Posted by TheLongshot

Lackey isn't super huge?

Not compared to Asimov, Heinlein, Clarke, GRR Martin, Tolkien, Rowling, etc.

[Xanthe]

I was happy to see the Liaden Universe books there, also C.S Friedman's Coldfire Trilogy, and Anne Bishop's Black Jewels series.

It'll be interesting to see how the voting goes, how many of the "classics" will get automatic votes just because they are well-known, not because they're read and re-read.

[Phogg]

I reread Heinlein, and Tolkein a lot. And Steakley

[Ravensknight]

Originally Posted by carld

It's odd that they have Jim Butcher's Codex Alera on the list rather than the Dresden Files.

That's because Codex Alera is the MUCH superior series. You can tell because Dresden keeps on selling and selling. Only the unwashed masses keep on buying. The truly elite take a meal, then are done

But I am not surprised really. Codex Alera was a fantastic series.

[xg4bx]

I'm sure it's not on there but I'd say The Iron Dream by Norman Spinrad. It's pretty edgy satire and unfortunately pretty unknown. It's written by Norman to be a science fiction novel written by Hitler called "Lord of the Swastika",had Hitler come to America to be a sf author instead of staying in Germany.

It might be hard to wrap one's mind around but it makes sense.

[Xanthe]

Originally Posted by Phogg

I reread Heinlein, and Tolkein a lot. And Steakley

Well, then you will probably vote for them.

My point was, for those who aren't avid SF/Fantasy readers and who might not have ten favorite authors in the genre, voting for the "classic" authors is a safe bet.