Some of the books on the list are boring and predictable. I'm not sure I would have included Jordan's The Wheel of Time series (I'll come to your house and cook you dinner if you made it through all of them without your brain turning to mush), nor would I have including anything by King, because his stuff is horror, not fantasy or sci-fi.
My unsolicited opinion? The Mists of Avalon by Bradley slides in at #42, but it's an excellent read. McCaffrey's dragon books are also very, very good. The Outlander series by Gabaldon starts off great, but fizzles in later installments. The Sword of Shannara by Brooks is a first-rate series that I thoroughly enjoyed; it's light, fun reading.
Anything by Heinlein is food for the brain. Dune? Yes. 'Nuff said. And just because the NPR folks forgot who pioneered the genre, here's a raised glass to a sci-fi master:
H/T: Vox Popoli
I have never been a big Science Fiction fan (Heinlein, et al), although I do enjoy some science fiction movies (Saturday evening monster movies) from time to time.
ReplyDeleteMy reading tastes tend to be more literal. Come out and tell me what you are saying, don't use some wierded-out analogies. But there are thing I enjoy that others don't so what the hey.
I guess I feel that science fiction writers are trying to make social statements but they are so afraid of making social statements that the obscure them in science fiction. What a better way of being considered relevant than to write something that the reader could take almost anything he wanted from it.
I've read most, though far from all, of these. I disagree with much of the placement, though not so much with the authors and books, themselves.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I am rather tired of fantasy series taking over the science fiction sections of libraries and bookstores, as the two are NOT interchangable.
That said, after separating the two genres as they should be, I would agree that LOTR is number one in fantasy, but that the science fiction crown belongs to Robert A. Heinlein, but not for the Sex And Jesus book, as he called 'Stranger In A strange Land' but jointly for 'Starship Troopers' and 'The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress' both of which are incredible adventure stories with a large dash of 'the role of government and how that should be determined, AND who gets to say so' included.
Of Course, NPR felt Troopers was controversial, as it actually postulated that a society where the franchise had to be earned (gasp) did better than what Heinlein called a 'warm-body democracy' which is pretty much what we have now.
Matt, anyone who reads Heinlein has no trouble understanding his social statements
ReplyDeleteI was not very clear there. Heinlein is certainly one of the grandfathers of using science fiction as a metaphor for social commentary. Later on much of the genre became mere hyperbole. Or that is my impression from my limited reading of it. The reason I haven't read much of it is because of my impression as to what it was. I could be mistaken, judging the genre from poor examples.
ReplyDeleteI must say, though, that I relate to realism. I used to ask myself, "I wonder what Joe Friday watched on NBC Thursday nights at 9:30." Kinda makes it hard to like any fiction with that attitude.