Top 20 Geek novels September 15, 2006
Posted by Al in : book,SF , trackbackI rather like this article in the Guardian on the top 20 geek novels. That will be because it’s a pretty accurate reflection of my reading taste. I own all but 2 of the books listed (I’ll mark the 2 I don’t have with **) and the order is not bad either – that is if you take out 1984 and Brave New World as I think people were voting for them because they felt they ought to rather than because they are actually that good a read. I’ll put my order of preference in brackets after each title:
1. The HitchHiker’s Guide to the Galaxy — Douglas Adams 85% (5)
2. Nineteen Eighty-Four — George Orwell 79% (17)
3. Brave New World — Aldous Huxley 69% (18)
4. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? — Philip Dick 64% (13)
5. Neuromancer — William Gibson 59% (9)
6. Dune — Frank Herbert 53% (1)
7. I, Robot — Isaac Asimov 52% (11)
8. Foundation — Isaac Asimov 47% (14)
9. The Colour of Magic — Terry Pratchett 46% (8)
10. Microserfs — Douglas Coupland 43% (** 19)
11. Snow Crash — Neal Stephenson 37% (7)
12. Watchmen — Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons 38% (12)
13. Cryptonomicon — Neal Stephenson 36% (6)
14. Consider Phlebas — Iain M Banks 34% (3)
15. Stranger in a Strange Land — Robert Heinlein 33% (10)
16. The Man in the High Castle — Philip K Dick 34% (15)
17. American Gods — Neil Gaiman 31% (16)
18. The Diamond Age — Neal Stephenson 27% (4)
19. The Illuminatus! Trilogy — Robert Shea & Robert Anton Wilson 23% (2)
20. Trouble with Lichen – John Wyndham 21% (** 20)
If you are interested in SF then you should definitely read most, if not all these books. But there are some noticeable exceptions in my opinion. What about the following?
- Excession by Iain M. Banks
- the Lensman series by E. E. “Doc” Smith
- The Many Coloured Land by Julian May
- The Mote in God’s Eye by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
- Aristoi by Walter John Williams
- Neverness by David Zindell
- The Fountains of Paradise by Arthur C Clarke
- Through a Scanner Darkly by Philip K Dick
- Stand on Zanzibar by John Brunner
- The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester
You really NEED to read all the above to realise what a wonderful and varied world SF can present you with.
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