Iain M Bank's top ten SF novels - how many have YOU read?

[Little Rascal]

Neuromancer is a Classic of Sci-fi. He predicted/dated the inter-net.
Hyperion is a good read but Hienlien????? With IMB's know Socialist leanings I am surprised he reads this right-wing Wit!

 

[J-Sun]

Here is Banks' Top Ten SF books that he specified in an interview in Arena magazine.

1. The Moon is a Harsh Mistress - Robert Heinlen
2. Tiger! Tiger! - Alfred Bester
3. Hyperion - Dan Simmons
4. Fire Upon The Deep - Vernor Vinge
5. Neuromancer - William Gibson
6. The Dispossessed - Ursula K Le Guin
7. The Muller-Fokker Efect - John Sladek
8. The Pastel City - M John Harrison
9. Stand on Zanzibar - John Brummer
10. Babel-17 - Samuel R Delany

I followed gully_foyle's link from the May's Meanderings thread. I am surprised by that very interesting list. I thought it would be a lot more like 7-10. I've read all but 7 and 8 and currently own 1, 2 and 4-6. As is, while I don't care for several of the volumes, I find it a well-rounded list with a respect for a variety of types of classics and perhaps a pleasing dash of idiosyncrasy.

I've kind of been meaning to get around to reading Banks. While what you like to read may not have much to do with what you actually write, it's still an encouraging list.

 

[The DeadMan]

I have read -

The Moon is a Harsh Mistress - Robert Heinlein
Tiger! Tiger! - Alfred Bester
Neuromancer - William Gibson

Tiger! Tiger! was by far the best of the three I have read. I am a Heinlein fan but I didn't really like The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress.

 

[Rackon]

Interesting list.

I've read all but The Pastel City and The Muller-Fokker Effect - athough I *have* read Sladek's Roderick and Tik Tok - definitely agree Sladek's work influenced Banksian Minds. Nice to see some love for Brunner and Delany, authors who had a significant impact on me when I originally read them...erm...awhile ago. Besters novel is still a must read IMO.

I prefer The Left Hand Of Darkness to The Dispossesed but that's such a personal choice - how to choose between two such riches? I'm just happy to see Le Guin in Banks' top ten.

I feel most of the older titles hold up right well, as the classics they are, and there's the a couple of stellar more recent works too. I read a ton of Heinlein as a very young teen - it doesn't hold up so well for me nowdays.

Somewhere in an old interviewI thought I saw Banks mention The Female Man as an influence...but I could've imagined it.