The Classics of Science Fiction 1818 - 2004

[Ian Whates]

A dozen or so years ago, I decided to list, with summary, every science fiction book I considered worthy of the label 'classic' (note: this is strictly SF, so no fantasy). Although I've updated that list a few times since, it has remained unaltered (and pretty much forgotten about) for the past several years.

With this being World Book Day, it seemed a suitable time to take another look at that list... So I've done so, in a blog post. 140-odd titles spanning some 186 years:

http://www.ianwhates.co.uk/uncatego...sics-those-that-are-and-those-that-should-be/

 

[Fried Egg]

I can't wait to see it but...your link doesn't seem to be working right now?

Ah, I've found the right URL:

http://www.ianwhates.co.uk/uncatego...sics-those-that-are-and-those-that-should-be/

 

[Parson]

Very interesting list. Must have been lots of work! Thanks, I was somewhat surprised that I had read about 15% of them, but wasn't sure in what way I was surprised. On one hand seemed a fair sample, on the other if these were the "classics" why hadn't a life long SF reader like me read more?

 

[Southern Geologist]

Thanks. I bookmarked that for future reference.

 

[Fried Egg]

For easy viewing, I've consolidated the list and emboldened the ones I've read, which is 55 of them, about 40%:

1818 FRANKENSTEIN MARY SHELLY
1864 JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH JULES VERNE
1870 TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA JULES VERNE
1895 THE TIME MACHINE H.G. WELLS
1896 THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU H.G. WELLS
1898 WAR OF THE WORLDS H.G. WELLS
1912 THE LOST WORLD SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE
1917 A PRINCESS OF MARS EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS
1930 LAST AND FIRST MEN OLAF STAPLEDON
1932 BRAVE NEW WORLD ALDOUS HUXLEY
1933 THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME H.G. WELLS
1937 STAR MAKER OLAF STAPLEDON
1938 OUT OF THE SILENT PLANET C.S. LEWIS
1940 SLAN A.E. VAN VOGT
1945 THE WORLD OF NULL-A A.E. VAN VOGT
1947 GREENER THAN YOU THINK WARD MOORE
1948 TRIPLANETARY E.E. ‘DOC’ SMITH
1949 NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR GEORGE ORWELL
1949 EARTH ABIDES GEORGE R. STEWART
1950 I, ROBOT ISAAC ASIMOV
1950 GATHER DARKNESS FRITZ LEIBER
1951 THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES RAY BRADBURY
1951 THE DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS JOHN WYNDHAM
1951 FOUNDATION ISAAC ASIMOV
1952 CITY CLIFFORD D. SIMAK
1952 THE ILLUSTRATED MAN RAY BRADBURY
1953 CHILDHOOD’S END ARTHUR C. CLARKE
1953 THE DEMOLISHED MAN ALFRED BESTER
1953 MORE THAN HUMAN THEODORE STURGEON
1953 THE KRAKEN WAKES JOHN WYNDHAM
1953 THE SPACE MERCHANTS CM KORNBLUTH & FREDERICK POHL
1953 FARENHEIT 451 RAY BRADBURY
1954 BRAIN WAVE POUL ANDERSON
1954 A MISSION OF GRAVITY HAL CLEMENT
1954 WILD TALENT WILSON TUCKER
1954 I AM LEGEND RICHARD MATHESON
1955 THE CHRYSALIDS JOHN WYNDHAM
1956 TIGER! TIGER! ALFRED BESTER (a.k.a. The Stars My Destination)
1956 THE DOOR INTO SUMMER ROBERT A. HEINLEIN
1957 BIG PLANET JACK VANCE
1957 EARTH IS ROOM ENOUGH ISAAC ASIMOV (short stories)
1957 THEY SHALL HAVE STARS JAMES BLISH
1957 WASP ERIC FRANK RUSSELL
1957 THE MIDWICH CUCKOOS JOHN WYNDHAM
1958 THE BIG TIME FRITZ LEIBER
1958 STARBURST ALFRED BESTER (short stories)
1959 STARSHIP TROOPERS ROBERT A. HEINLEIN
1959 A CANTICLE FOR LIEBOWITZ WALTER M. MILLER Jnr.
1959 THE SIRENS OF TITAN KURT VONNEGUT
1960 DORSAI! GORDON R. DICKSON
1960 ROGUE MOON ALGYS BUDRYS
1961 STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND ROBERT A. HEINLEIN
1961 SOLARIS STANISLAW LEM
1962 A CLOCKWORK ORANGE ANTHONY BURGESS
1962 THE DROWNED WORLD J.G. BALLARD
1962 THE SWORD OF ALDONES MARION ZIMMER BRADLEY
1963 WAY STATION CLIFFORD D. SIMAK
1964 GREYBEARD BRIAN ALDISS
1966 THIS IMMORTAL ROGER ZELAZNY
1966 FLOWERS FOR ALGERNON DANIEL KEYES
1966 MAKE ROOM! MAKE ROOM! HARRY HARRISON
1967 THE EINSTEIN INTERSECTION SAMUEL R. DELANEY
1967 LORD OF LIGHT ROGER ZELAZNY
1968 DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP?
1968 PAVANE KEITH ROBERTS
1968 RITE OF PASSAGE ALEXEI PANSHIN
1968 THE SANTAROGA BARRIER FRANK HERBERT
1968 STAND ON ZANZIBAR JOHN BRUNNER
1969 THE LEFTHAND OF DARKNESS URSULA K. LE GUIN
1969 BUG JACK BARRON NORMAN SPINRAD
1969 SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE KURT VONNEGUT
1969 NIGHTWINGS ROBERT SILVERBERG
1969 THE SILKIE A.E. VAN VOGT
1970 RINGWORLD LARRY NIVEN
1970 TAU ZERO POUL ANDERSON
1972 THE FIFTH HEAD OF CERBERUS GENE WOLFE
1973 RENDEZVOUS WITH RAMA ARTHUR C. CLARKE
1974 THE MOTE IN GOD’S EYE LARRY NIVEN & JERRY POURNELLE
1974 THE DISPOSSESSED URSULA K. LE GUINN
1974 A KNIGHT OF GHOSTS AND SHADOWS POUL ANDERSON
1975 THE FOREVER WAR JOE HALDEMAN
1975 ORBITSVILLE BOB SHAW
1975 MIDWORLD ALAN DEAN FOSTER
1976 MAN PLUS FREDERICK POHL
1976 DOORWAYS IN THE SAND ROGER ZELAZNY
1977 MICHAELMAS ALGIS BUDRYS
1977 ROADSIDE PICNIC ARKADY AND BORIS STRUGATSKY
1977 THE OPHIUCHI HOTLINE JOHN VARLEY
1977 GATEWAY FREDERICK POHL
1979 THE FOUNTAINS OF PARADISE ARTHUR C. CLARKE
1980 TIMESCAPE GREGORY BENFORD
1980 WILD SEED OCTAVIA BUTLER
1981 DOWNBELOW STATION C.J. CHERRYH
1982 HELLICONIA SPRING BRIAN ALDISS
1982 THE PRIDE OF CHANUR C.J. CHERRYH
1983 THE VOID CAPTAIN’S TALE NORMAN SPINRAD
1983 STARTIDE RISING DAVID BRIN
1984 NEUROMANCER WILLIAM GIBSON
1985 ENDER’S GAME ORSON SCOTT CARD
1986 SHARDS OF HONOUR LOIS McMASTER BUJOLD
1986 SPEAKER FOR THE DEAD ORSON SCOTT CARD
1988 THE EMPIRE OF FEAR BRIAN STABLEFORD
1988 WHORES OF BABYLON IAN WATSON
1988 GREAT SKY RIVER GREGORY BENFORD
1988 IVORY MIKE RESNICK
1988 ARAMINTA STATION JACK VANCE
1988 CYTEEN C.J. CHERRYH
1988 PLAYER OF GAMES IAIN M. BANKS
1989 HYPERION DAN SIMMONS
1989 PARADISE MIKE RESNICK
1990 THE FALL OF HYPERION DAN SIMMONS
1990 EARTH DAVID BRIN
1991 JURASSIC PARK MICHAEL CRICHTON
1992 DOOMSDAY BOOK CONNIE WILLIS
1992 A FIRE UPON THE DEEP VERNOR VINGE
1992 RED MARS KIM STANLEY ROBINSON
1992 SNOW CRASH NEAL STEPHENSON
1992 QUARANTINE GREG EGAN
1994 VURT JEFF NOON
1994 FOREIGNER C.J. CHERRYH
1994 MIRROR DANCE LOIS McMASTER BUJOLD
1995 FAIRYLAND PAUL J. McCAULEY
1995 THE TERMINAL EXPERIMENT ROBERT J. SAWYER
1996 SPARES MICHAEL MARSHALL SMITH
1996 THE DIAMOND AGE NEAL STEPHENSON
1996 HONOR AMONG ENEMIES DAVID WEBER
1997 FRAME SHIFT ROBERT J. SAWYER
1998 THE SPARROW MARY DORIA RUSSELL
1999 DREAMING IN SMOKE TRICIA SULLIVAN
1999 DARWIN’S RADIO GREG BEAR
1999 TIME STEPHEN BAXTER
1999 A DEEPNESS IN THE SKY VERNOR VINGE
2000 PEGASUS IN SPACE ANNE McCAFFREY
2000 REVELATION SPACE ALASTAIR REYNOLDS
2002 ALTERED CARBON RICHARD MORGAN
2002 SPEED OF DARK ELIZABETH MOON
2003 MAUL TRICIA SULLIVAN
2004 CLOUD ATLAS DAVID MITCHELL
2004 RIVER OF GODS IAN McDONALD

 

[mosaix]

Interesting blog Ian and thanks F.E.

 

[alchemist]

I've read seven, a mere 5%, but those summaries make me want to read many more.

 

[Ian Whates]

Yes, thanks, FE! That must have been quite an undertaking in itself!

Parson, this is very much my take on the 'classics', and I would make no claim for this being definitive. In essence, I researched this pretty heavily at the time, analysing which titles had won which awards, which were cited by commentators as 'classics' or 'favourites', which could lay claim to being a 'first' in some way, etc...

Then I took all of that and mixed in my own opinion, drawing up the list accordingly.

 

[Extollager]

I've read about 42 of these, mostly relatively older titles, and see many favorites there. I'd certainly add Lindsay's Voyage to Arcturus and Lovecraft's At the Mountains of Madness. And Budrys's Who? And Tucker's The Year of the Quiet Sun.

 

[randomfromamber]

Ah, thanks for that - amazing undertaking. I've read about 30 of them, so I still have a way to go!

If anybody has the energy to make a similar list for the past 10 years, I'd love to see it...

 

[Sourdust]

If anybody has the energy to make a similar list for the past 10 years, I'd love to see it...

Paul Di Filippo and Damien Broderick recently compiled Science Fiction: The 101 Best Novels 1985-2010, a sequel of sorts to David Pringle's earlier book spanning the years 1949-84 (which overlaps substantially with Ian's list). It can be viewed online here (I'm finally allowed to include hyperlinks!) - the span is Atwood to Rajaniemi.

I find these lists useful both for suggesting new titles and reminding one of all the 'major' authors one doesn't care about. (I can't really be bothered with Asimov or Heinlein, for instance.) I do consider it a problem that list-makers perpetually favour the novel, when so much of the best sf has been in short story form. Cordwainer Smith's 'Scanners Live in Vain', for instance, is, to my mind, worth a whole sackful of Asimov novels.

 

[chrispenycate]

Well, I don't come off too badly, although many of them I read long enough ago that the details are blurring, ans it's obvious I've started slacking off a bit. One or two (Zimmer Bradley's "Darkover" books, and Moon's "Speed of dark", even Delaney's "Einstein intersection) I'm not quite convinced about their SF credentials (however good reads they might have been), and I wouldn't personally class Spinrad's viod captain as a classic (much as Jack Barron definitely is).
Sometimes one book is standing in for a whole series, or multi-volume work (like Triplanetary or Hellicona spring) which is fine, others, like Bujold's Vorkosigan books or tha alliance-Union set there are two. I'm surprised "Dune" didn't make it onto the list, just because of its popularity, but that would be somewhat opening the door for its horrific prequels (although "Ringworld2 had to be there, despite the same problem…


1818 FRANKENSTEIN MARY SHELLEY
1864 JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH JULES VERNE
1870 TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA JULES VERNE
1895 THE TIME MACHINE H.G. WELLS
1896 THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU H.G. WELLS
1898 WAR OF THE WORLDS H.G. WELLS
1912 THE LOST WORLD SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE
1917 A PRINCESS OF MARS EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS
1930 LAST AND FIRST MEN OLAF STAPLEDON
1932 BRAVE NEW WORLD ALDOUS HUXLEY
1933 THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME H.G. WELLS
1937 STAR MAKER OLAF STAPLEDON
1938 OUT OF THE SILENT PLANET C.S. LEWIS
1940 SLAN A.E. VAN VOGT
1945 THE WORLD OF NULL-A A.E. VAN VOGT
1947 GREENER THAN YOU THINK WARD MOORE
1948 TRIPLANETARY E.E. ‘DOC’ SMITH
1949 NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR GEORGE ORWELL
1949 EARTH ABIDES GEORGE R. STEWART
1950 I, ROBOT ISAAC ASIMOV
1950 GATHER DARKNESS FRITZ LEIBER
1951 THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES RAY BRADBURY
1951 THE DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS JOHN WYNDHAM
1951 FOUNDATION ISAAC ASIMOV
1952 CITY CLIFFORD D. SIMAK
1952 THE ILLUSTRATED MAN RAY BRADBURY
1953 CHILDHOOD’S END ARTHUR C. CLARKE
1953 THE DEMOLISHED MAN ALFRED BESTER
1953 MORE THAN HUMAN THEODORE STURGEON
1953 THE KRAKEN WAKES JOHN WYNDHAM
1953 THE SPACE MERCHANTS CM KORNBLUTH & FREDERICK POHL
1953 FARENHEIT 451 RAY BRADBURY
1954 BRAIN WAVE POUL ANDERSON
1954 A MISSION OF GRAVITY HAL CLEMENT
1954 WILD TALENT WILSON TUCKER
1954 I AM LEGEND RICHARD MATHESON
1955 THE CHRYSALIDS JOHN WYNDHAM
1956 TIGER! TIGER! ALFRED BESTER (a.k.a. The Stars My Destination)
1956 THE DOOR INTO SUMMER ROBERT A. HEINLEIN
1957 BIG PLANET JACK VANCE
1957 EARTH IS ROOM ENOUGH ISAAC ASIMOV (short stories)
1957 THEY SHALL HAVE STARS JAMES BLISH
1957 WASP ERIC FRANK RUSSELL
1957 THE MIDWICH CUCKOOS JOHN WYNDHAM
1958 THE BIG TIME FRITZ LEIBER
1958 STARBURST ALFRED BESTER (short stories)
1959 STARSHIP TROOPERS ROBERT A. HEINLEIN
1959 A CANTICLE FOR LIEBOWITZ WALTER M. MILLER Jnr.
1959 THE SIRENS OF TITAN KURT VONNEGUT
1960 DORSAI! GORDON R. DICKSON
1960 ROGUE MOON ALGYS BUDRYS
1961 STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND ROBERT A. HEINLEIN
1961 SOLARIS STANISLAW LEM
1962 A CLOCKWORK ORANGE ANTHONY BURGESS
1962 THE DROWNED WORLD J.G. BALLARD
1962 THE SWORD OF ALDONES MARION ZIMMER BRADLEY
1963 WAY STATION CLIFFORD D. SIMAK
1964 GREYBEARD BRIAN ALDISS
1965 DUNE FRANK HERBERT
1966 THIS IMMORTAL ROGER ZELAZNY
1966 FLOWERS FOR ALGERNON DANIEL KEYES
1966 MAKE ROOM! MAKE ROOM! HARRY HARRISON
1967 THE EINSTEIN INTERSECTION SAMUEL R. DELANEY
1967 LORD OF LIGHT ROGER ZELAZNY
1968 DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP?
1968 DRAGONFLIGHT ANNE McCAFFREY
1968 PAVANE KEITH ROBERTS
1968 RITE OF PASSAGE ALEXEI PANSHIN
1968 THE SANTAROGA BARRIER FRANK HERBERT
1968 STAND ON ZANZIBAR JOHN BRUNNER
1969 THE LEFT HAND OF DARKNESS URSULA K. LE GUIN
1969 BUG JACK BARRON NORMAN SPINRAD
1969 SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE KURT VONNEGUT
1969 NIGHTWINGS ROBERT SILVERBERG
1969 THE SILKIE A.E. VAN VOGT
1970 RINGWORLD LARRY NIVEN
1970 TAU ZERO POUL ANDERSON
1972 THE FIFTH HEAD OF CERBERUS GENE WOLFE
1972 DYING INSIDE ROBERT SILVERBERG
1973 RENDEZVOUS WITH RAMA ARTHUR C. CLARKE
1974 THE MOTE IN GOD’S EYE LARRY NIVEN & JERRY POURNELLE
1974 THE DISPOSSESSED URSULA K. LE GUINN
1974 A KNIGHT OF GHOSTS AND SHADOWS POUL ANDERSON
1975 THE FOREVER WAR JOE HALDEMAN
1975 ORBITSVILLE BOB SHAW
1975 MIDWORLD ALAN DEAN FOSTER
1976 MAN PLUS FREDERICK POHL
1976 DOORWAYS IN THE SAND ROGER ZELAZNY
1977 MICHAELMAS ALGIS BUDRYS
1977 ROADSIDE PICNIC ARKADY AND BORIS STRUGATSKY
1977 A SCANNER DARKLY PHILIP K. DICK
1977 THE OPHIUCHI HOTLINE JOHN VARLEY
1977 GATEWAY FREDERICK POHL
1978 DREAMSNAKE VONDA N. McINTYRE
1979 THE FOUNTAINS OF PARADISE ARTHUR C. CLARKE
1980 TIMESCAPE GREGORY BENFORD
1980 WILD SEED OCTAVIA BUTLER
1981 DOWNBELOW STATION C.J. CHERRYH
1982 HELLICONIA SPRING BRIAN ALDISS
1982 THE PRIDE OF CHANUR C.J. CHERRYH
1983 THE VOID CAPTAIN’S TALE NORMAN SPINRAD
1983 STARTIDE RISING DAVID BRIN
1984 NEUROMANCER WILLIAM GIBSON
1985 ENDER’S GAME ORSON SCOTT CARD
1986 SHARDS OF HONOUR LOIS McMASTER BUJOLD
1986 SPEAKER FOR THE DEAD ORSON SCOTT CARD
1988 THE EMPIRE OF FEAR BRIAN STABLEFORD
1988 WHORES OF BABYLON IAN WATSON
1988 GREAT SKY RIVER GREGORY BENFORD
1988 IVORY MIKE RESNICK
1988 ARAMINTA STATION JACK VANCE
1988 CYTEEN C.J. CHERRYH
1988 PLAYER OF GAMES IAIN M. BANKS
1989 HYPERION DAN SIMMONS
1989 PARADISE MIKE RESNICK
1990 THE FALL OF HYPERION DAN SIMMONS
1990 EARTH DAVID BRIN
1991 JURASSIC PARK MICHAEL CRICHTON
1992 DOOMSDAY BOOK CONNIE WILLIS
1992 A FIRE UPON THE DEEP VERNOR VINGE
1992 RED MARS KIM STANLEY ROBINSON
1992 SNOW CRASH NEAL STEPHENSON
1992 QUARANTINE GREG EGAN
1994 VURT JEFF NOON
1994 FOREIGNER C.J. CHERRYH
1994 MIRROR DANCE LOIS McMASTER BUJOLD
1995 FAIRYLAND PAUL J. McCAULEY
1995 THE TERMINAL EXPERIMENT ROBERT J. SAWYER
1996 SPARES MICHAEL MARSHALL SMITH
1996 THE DIAMOND AGE NEAL STEPHENSON
1996 HONOR AMONG ENEMIES DAVID WEBER
1997 FRAME SHIFT ROBERT J. SAWYER
1998 THE SPARROW MARY DORIA RUSSELL
1999 DREAMING IN SMOKE TRICIA SULLIVAN
1999 DARWIN’S RADIO GREG BEAR
1999 TIME STEPHEN BAXTER
1999 A DEEPNESS IN THE SKY VERNOR VINGE
2000 PEGASUS IN SPACE ANNE McCAFFREY
2000 REVELATION SPACE ALASTAIR REYNOLDS
2002 ALTERED CARBON RICHARD MORGAN
2002 SPEED OF DARK ELIZABETH MOON
2003 MAUL TRICIA SULLIVAN
2004 CLOUD ATLAS DAVID MITCHELL
2004 RIVER OF GODS IAN McDONALD

 

[Timba]

Without doing a hard count I would guess I have read somewhere between 40-50% of these. I really appreciate the list as a reference point for future reading. Given the size of my TBR pile and associated wish list which seems to grow exponentially everytime I see something like this it seems a safe bet that I will run down and stop before the pile and list are exhausted. A comforting thought.

 

[hitmouse]

I've read 63 of these.
Good call on Vurt, and Araminta Station
I have had Stand on Zanzibar on my selves, unread, for about 25 years.

 

[Ian Whates]

I'm surprised "Dune" didn't make it onto the list, just because of its popularity, but that would be somewhat opening the door for its horrific prequels (although "Ringworld2 had to be there, despite the same problem…

Hah! Spot the folk who haven't actually looked at the post but are simply going by FE's list! (And have thereby missed out on my illuminating comments about each title )

Dune very much is included, Chris; FE simply missed it out somehow when compiling the otherwise excellent summary.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

As an only occasional reader of SF, I've read 22.

A few of the others I've considered reading at one time or another. Perhaps your illuminating comments will inspire me to read some of those, Ian.


Edit -- Make that 23. I've read Dreamsnake, which is also left off FE's list.

.
.

 

[Parson]

1818 FRANKENSTEIN MARY SHELLY
1864 JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH JULES VERNE
1870 TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA JULES VERNE
1895 THE TIME MACHINE H.G. WELLS
1896 THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU H.G. WELLS
1898 WAR OF THE WORLDS H.G. WELLS
1912 THE LOST WORLD SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE
1917 A PRINCESS OF MARS EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS
1930 LAST AND FIRST MEN OLAF STAPLEDON
1932 BRAVE NEW WORLD ALDOUS HUXLEY
1933 THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME H.G. WELLS
1937 STAR MAKER OLAF STAPLEDON
1938 OUT OF THE SILENT PLANET C.S. LEWIS
1940 SLAN A.E. VAN VOGT
1945 THE WORLD OF NULL-A A.E. VAN VOGT
1947 GREENER THAN YOU THINK WARD MOORE
1948 TRIPLANETARY E.E. ‘DOC’ SMITH
1949 NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR GEORGE ORWELL
1949 EARTH ABIDES GEORGE R. STEWART
1950 I, ROBOT ISAAC ASIMOV
1950 GATHER DARKNESS FRITZ LEIBER
1951 THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES RAY BRADBURY
1951 THE DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS JOHN WYNDHAM
1951 FOUNDATION ISAAC ASIMOV
1952 CITY CLIFFORD D. SIMAK
1952 THE ILLUSTRATED MAN RAY BRADBURY
1953 CHILDHOOD’S END ARTHUR C. CLARKE
1953 THE DEMOLISHED MAN ALFRED BESTER
1953 MORE THAN HUMAN THEODORE STURGEON
1953 THE KRAKEN WAKES JOHN WYNDHAM
1953 THE SPACE MERCHANTS CM KORNBLUTH & FREDERICK POHL
1953 FARENHEIT 451 RAY BRADBURY
1954 BRAIN WAVE POUL ANDERSON
1954 A MISSION OF GRAVITY HAL CLEMENT
1954 WILD TALENT WILSON TUCKER
1954 I AM LEGEND RICHARD MATHESON
1955 THE CHRYSALIDS JOHN WYNDHAM
1956 TIGER! TIGER! ALFRED BESTER (a.k.a. The Stars My Destination)
1956 THE DOOR INTO SUMMER ROBERT A. HEINLEIN
1957 BIG PLANET JACK VANCE
1957 EARTH IS ROOM ENOUGH ISAAC ASIMOV (short stories)
1957 THEY SHALL HAVE STARS JAMES BLISH
1957 WASP ERIC FRANK RUSSELL
1957 THE MIDWICH CUCKOOS JOHN WYNDHAM
1958 THE BIG TIME FRITZ LEIBER
1958 STARBURST ALFRED BESTER (short stories)
1959 STARSHIP TROOPERS ROBERT A. HEINLEIN
1959 A CANTICLE FOR LIEBOWITZ WALTER M. MILLER Jnr.
1959 THE SIRENS OF TITAN KURT VONNEGUT
1960 DORSAI! GORDON R. DICKSON
1960 ROGUE MOON ALGYS BUDRYS
1961 STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND ROBERT A. HEINLEIN
1961 SOLARIS STANISLAW LEM
1962 A CLOCKWORK ORANGE ANTHONY BURGESS
1962 THE DROWNED WORLD J.G. BALLARD
1962 THE SWORD OF ALDONES MARION ZIMMER BRADLEY
1963 WAY STATION CLIFFORD D. SIMAK
1964 GREYBEARD BRIAN ALDISS
1965 DUNE FRANK HERBERT
1966 THIS IMMORTAL ROGER ZELAZNY
1966 FLOWERS FOR ALGERNON DANIEL KEYES
1966 MAKE ROOM! MAKE ROOM! HARRY HARRISON
1967 THE EINSTEIN INTERSECTION SAMUEL R. DELANEY
1967 LORD OF LIGHT ROGER ZELAZNY
1968 DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP?
1968 PAVANE KEITH ROBERTS
1968 RITE OF PASSAGE ALEXEI PANSHIN
1968 THE SANTAROGA BARRIER FRANK HERBERT
1968 STAND ON ZANZIBAR JOHN BRUNNER
1969 THE LEFTHAND OF DARKNESS URSULA K. LE GUIN
1969 BUG JACK BARRON NORMAN SPINRAD
1969 SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE KURT VONNEGUT
1969 NIGHTWINGS ROBERT SILVERBERG
1969 THE SILKIE A.E. VAN VOGT
1970 RINGWORLD LARRY NIVEN
1970 TAU ZERO POUL ANDERSON
1972 THE FIFTH HEAD OF CERBERUS GENE WOLFE
1973 RENDEZVOUS WITH RAMA ARTHUR C. CLARKE
1974 THE MOTE IN GOD’S EYE LARRY NIVEN & JERRY POURNELLE
1974 THE DISPOSSESSED URSULA K. LE GUINN
1974 A KNIGHT OF GHOSTS AND SHADOWS POUL ANDERSON
1975 THE FOREVER WAR JOE HALDEMAN
1975 ORBITSVILLE BOB SHAW
1975 MIDWORLD ALAN DEAN FOSTER
1976 MAN PLUS FREDERICK POHL
1976 DOORWAYS IN THE SAND ROGER ZELAZNY
1977 MICHAELMAS ALGIS BUDRYS
1977 ROADSIDE PICNIC ARKADY AND BORIS STRUGATSKY
1977 THE OPHIUCHI HOTLINE JOHN VARLEY
1977 GATEWAY FREDERICK POHL
1979 THE FOUNTAINS OF PARADISE ARTHUR C. CLARKE
1980 TIMESCAPE GREGORY BENFORD
1980 WILD SEED OCTAVIA BUTLER
1981 DOWNBELOW STATION C.J. CHERRYH
1982 HELLICONIA SPRING BRIAN ALDISS
1982 THE PRIDE OF CHANUR C.J. CHERRYH
1983 THE VOID CAPTAIN’S TALE NORMAN SPINRAD
1983 STARTIDE RISING DAVID BRIN
1984 NEUROMANCER WILLIAM GIBSON
1985 ENDER’S GAME ORSON SCOTT CARD
1986 SHARDS OF HONOUR LOIS McMASTER BUJOLD
1986 SPEAKER FOR THE DEAD ORSON SCOTT CARD
1988 THE EMPIRE OF FEAR BRIAN STABLEFORD
1988 WHORES OF BABYLON IAN WATSON
1988 GREAT SKY RIVER GREGORY BENFORD
1988 IVORY MIKE RESNICK
1988 ARAMINTA STATION JACK VANCE
1988 CYTEEN C.J. CHERRYH
1988 PLAYER OF GAMES IAIN M. BANKS
1989 HYPERION DAN SIMMONS
1989 PARADISE MIKE RESNICK
1990 THE FALL OF HYPERION DAN SIMMONS
1990 EARTH DAVID BRIN
1991 JURASSIC PARK MICHAEL CRICHTON
1992 DOOMSDAY BOOK CONNIE WILLIS
1992 A FIRE UPON THE DEEP VERNOR VINGE
1992 RED MARS KIM STANLEY ROBINSON
1992 SNOW CRASH NEAL STEPHENSON
1992 QUARANTINE GREG EGAN
1994 VURT JEFF NOON
1994 FOREIGNER C.J. CHERRYH
1994 MIRROR DANCE LOIS McMASTER BUJOLD
1995 FAIRYLAND PAUL J. McCAULEY
1995 THE TERMINAL EXPERIMENT ROBERT J. SAWYER
1996 SPARES MICHAEL MARSHALL SMITH
1996 THE DIAMOND AGE NEAL STEPHENSON
1996 HONOR AMONG ENEMIES DAVID WEBER
1997 FRAME SHIFT ROBERT J. SAWYER
1998 THE SPARROW MARY DORIA RUSSELL
1999 DREAMING IN SMOKE TRICIA SULLIVAN
1999 DARWIN’S RADIO GREG BEAR
1999 TIME STEPHEN BAXTER
1999 A DEEPNESS IN THE SKY VERNOR VINGE
2000 PEGASUS IN SPACE ANNE McCAFFREY
2000 REVELATION SPACE ALASTAIR REYNOLDS
2002 ALTERED CARBON RICHARD MORGAN
2002 SPEED OF DARK ELIZABETH MOON
2003 MAUL TRICIA SULLIVAN
2004 CLOUD ATLAS DAVID MITCHELL
2004 RIVER OF GODS IAN McDONALD

I've read more than I thought 47 is more than 15% I included Dune. I'm surprised by some of things that I haven't read. I once bought "Out of the Silent Planet." But it was stolen out of my college dorm room. --- Christian college no less. Makes you go Hm?!

 

[Lady of Winterfell]

Sooooo.....I've only read 5. However, in my defense, I have always read more fantasy and historical fiction than science fiction. Going through this list made me realize I really should read more, and I have missed some very obvious ones I should read. I can say I'm reading science fiction at the moment (Chasm City) even if its not on this list. Here are my puny 5:


1818 FRANKENSTEIN MARY SHELLY
1896 THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU H.G. WELLS
1975 THE FOREVER WAR JOE HALDEMAN
1982 THE PRIDE OF CHANUR C.J. CHERRYH
2000 REVELATION SPACE ALASTAIR REYNOLDS

 

[Extollager]

I'd also include Lewis's Perelandra, which, I would say, had probably the most splendidly-imagined alien planet of them all as of the year it was published, around 1940. It's no wonder that Brian Aldiss excerpted it here

or that Jorge Luis Borges excerpted it here

 

[GOLLUM]

Based on Fried Egg's list, I own about 110 of the 140 works listed or 80%, not too bad for someone who has SF behind Fantasy and Horror as their main Genre interests.

Of those I've read it would be more than 1/3 which is probably a good general indicator of the size of the TBR pile that forms part of my home library....

An excellent list compiled by Ian...

EDIT:Of the 5 FE didn't list as posted by J-Sun I have 4. I've never even heard of Dreamsnake by McIntrye?? Any observations on this book would be welcomed.