The Classics of Science Fiction 1818 - 2004

Thanks for posting the link to this list. You put a lot of work into that and I will bookmark it to pull from. Now I'm up to 14. I probably will read 25 more of those over the years.

1818 FRANKENSTEIN MARY SHELLY
1864 JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH 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
1917 A PRINCESS OF MARS EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS
1932 BRAVE NEW WORLD ALDOUS HUXLEY
1949 NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR GEORGE ORWELL
1950 I, ROBOT ISAAC ASIMOV
1951 FOUNDATION ISAAC ASIMOV
1953 FARENHEIT 451 RAY BRADBURY
1965 DUNE FRANK HERBERT
1968 DRAGONFLIGHT ANNEMcCAFFREY
1985 ENDER’S GAME ORSON SCOTT CARD
 
J-Sun said:
Okay, good to know - and the idea of representing the overlooked phase makes sense. But if I end up with fifty van Vogt books instead of just the twenty-some it'll be your fault. :)

(As far as what earlier stuff, you can definitely say, "How could you leave off The Weapon Shops of Isher?!?" but then you could also say "How could you leave off The Weapon Makers and Voyage of the Space Beagle and The War Against the Rull?" and then someone else says, "How can you have so many van Vogts?!?")
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J-Sun, exactly! I actually think that both Space Beagle and Weapon Shops would have been very valid inclusions (and, as mentioned, I did originally include Weapon Shops) but I didn't want to overdo it...

Sourdust said:
Without wishing to pre-empt Ian's response, I think the 20s is seen as a bit of a lull in the history of sf, since the American magazine era hadn't really taken off yet (Hugo Gernsback founded Amazing Stories in 1926), and the Victorian pioneers of scientific romance were either dead (Verne) or past their prime (Wells).

On the other hand, there was plenty of good fantasy in that decade, including strange borderline things with sf elements, such as David Lindsay's Voyage to Arcturus (1920). Lovecraft was also producing some of his greatest hits, although, as with almost all contributors to the pulps, in short story rather than novel form.

There was really no market for science fiction novels in America until the 1940s at the earliest, and the first ones tended to be 'fix-ups' (previously published stories thinly stitched together). If you look at Ian's 30s choices, they're stray Brits (Huxley and Stapledon) who were not consciously writing in a genre at all (unless it be the utopian or philosophical romance).
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Precisely, Sourdust, and thank you for the thorough explanation. If I'd been looking to include fantasy works the 20s would definitely have been represented, but, as it is...

I must just say that I'm very gratified by people's reaction to this. If the blog encourages just one or two to read novels they would otherwise have overlooked, then the effort invested has been worthwhile. :)
 
Ian Whates said:
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.
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This is the most interesting classic list i have seen because it shows you know your history of the genre. Dont favour only popular stuff. The popular list version of this never have Jack Vance, Bester books for example.

I have read many of those books and i have no trouble agreeing with the books i have read. Even the last ones River of Gods and Altered Carbon is books i saw instantly having future classic reputation when i read them. The books i have not read are acclaimed books i must read.

Only Revelation Space is the book i would disagree being good enough for this list. Thats not bad and i will save this list as a reminder since its very similar to my SF classics to read list.
 
If I bolded the ones I've read...there would be embarrassingly few. Instead, I wondered how many of these are on the wonderful top 200 from Sci-Fi Lists, which is my go to site when I want to read a new sci-fi or fantasy book. It has the added advantage of ranking books from best to not-as-best, instead of chronologically.

So, in bold are the books that appear on the Sci-Fi Lists list, which is:

"A statistical survey of sci-fi literary awards, noted critics and popular polls. To qualify a book has to be generally regarded as science fiction by credible sources and/or recognised as having historical significance to the development of the genre."

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 RICEBURROUGHS
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
1968 DRAGONFLIGHT ANNEMcCAFFREY
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
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 POULANDERSON
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
1977 A SCANNER DARKLY PHILIP K. DICK
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

Out of the 144, the overlap is 80, just 56%.

Notable omissions include:

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C Clarke
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A Heinlein
The Man in the High Castle by Philip K Dick
The Caves of Steel by Isaac Asimov
The Andromeda Strain by Michael Chrichton
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
Contact by Carl Sagan
The Gods Themselves by Isaac Asimov
Ubik by Philip K Dick
Time Enough for Love by Robert A Heinlein
Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson
The End of Eternity by Isaac Asimov
Battlefield Earth by L Ron Hubbard
The Reality Dysfunction by Peter F Hamilton
Ender's Shadow by Orson Scott Card
Eon by Greg Bear
To Your Scattered Bodies Go by Philip Jose Farmer
Lucifer's Hammer by Niven & Pournelle
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
The City and the Stars by Arthur C Clarke
Sphere by Michael Crichton
The Stainless Steel Rat by Harry Harrison
The Invisible Man by H G Wells
Citizen of the Galaxy by Robert A Heinlein
The Puppet Masters by Robert A Heinlein
Ilium by Dan Simmons
Have Space-Suit - Will Travel by Robert A Heinlein
Flatland by Edwin A Abbott
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
Old Man's War by John Scalzi
The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch by Philip K Dick
Use of Weapons by Iain M Banks
The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K Le Guin
The Cyberiad by Stanislaw Lem
VALIS by Philip K Dick
The Postman by David Brin
Strange Case of Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
The Many Colored-Land by Julian May
The Forge of God by Greg Bear
I Am Legend by Richard Matheson
Cities in Flight by James Blish

That's 43 from the top 100. They have online polls for sci-fi novels, short stories, TV shows and movies (and a fantasy site that does the same).
 
Battlefield Earth is a "notable omission"? I think not. It's a terrible book and an even worse film. Without the backing of the Scientologists, it would have languished in obscurity where it rightfully belongs.
 
One book that I would like to have seen on there is "Grass" by John Christopher.
 
can't believe I've missed twenty three off the list...pure sloth...( I'll have to sharpen up in my reading)
the list is great, thank-you :)
 
Ian Whates said:
Hey, no problem. I have broad shoulders (and stomach, come to that. :rolleyes:)
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Specifically you get blame for anything you posted before 1920 or so (exception being A Princess of Mars). I've been exploring '30s sf but haven't bothered with Verne, Wells, etc. I decided to change that. (It helps that much of that stuff is available for free on Kindle.;))

At this point, at least, I'm glad I did; I've started on Frankenstein and it doesn't have the over-burdened, turgid prose that can be bothersome in certain novels from that time period. The writing actually flows quite well.
 
iansales said:
Battlefield Earth is a "notable omission"? I think not. It's a terrible book and an even worse film. Without the backing of the Scientologists, it would have languished in obscurity where it rightfully belongs.
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I suspect you are correct. I'll contact the owner of the site and see how much of the results come from the online polls vs. the awards and critics lists.

Battlefield Earth is currently #54.

If you think that's disgraceful (and I have a feeling you're not alone), you can help improve the list by voting in this poll

What do you think about the rest of the "omissions"? Is Battlefield Earth the only wacky one?

Glisterspeck said:
And I Am Legend is on his original list...
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Thank you for pointing that out, but unfortunately I don't see how I can edit my post...
 
iansales said:
Battlefield Earth is a "notable omission"? I think not. It's a terrible book and an even worse film. Without the backing of the Scientologists, it would have languished in obscurity where it rightfully belongs.
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I must say Ian, you're an interesting fellow but you do have one significant flaw in your unwillingness to give straight forward and honest opinions about authors and/or books you dislike.;)
 
Southern Geologist said:
I must say Ian, you're an interesting fellow but you do have one significant flaw in your unwillingness to give straight forward and honest opinions about authors and/or books you dislike.;)
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Yes, well, it's not like I'm the only person on the planet who thinks Battlefield Earth is dreck - book or film.
 
Battlefield Earth is awful. And this from someone who majors in military SF. It seemed to me that a reasonably bright 16 year old could have written the story. I mean, it was poorly researched, woodenly written, and wordy in the extreme.



(Come to think of it, no 16 year old would have written it, because it would have been far to time consuming when there are so much better things to do with your time. Like make paper arrows in study hall.)
 
iansales said:
Yes, well, it's not like I'm the only person on the planet who thinks Battlefield Earth is dreck - book or film.
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That wasn't a criticism; I haven't read Battlefield Earth and even if I had and happened to disagree with you have a right to your opinion(s). I wasn't referring to the commentary on that book, specifically, though; I've also noticed you're quite frank about a distaste for Heinlein and Asimov, for example. I'm both impressed and occasionally fearful for you and your tendency to so willingly skewer sacred cows.:p
 
Southern Geologist said:
That wasn't a criticism; I haven't read Battlefield Earth and even if I had and happened to disagree with you have a right to your opinion(s). I wasn't referring to the commentary on that book, specifically, though; I've also noticed you're quite frank about a distaste for Heinlein and Asimov, for example. I'm both impressed and occasionally fearful for you and your tendency to so willingly skewer sacred cows.:p
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I have a low opinion of commercial fiction, irrespective of genre. While it has its place, and is enjoyed by many (including myself on occasion), it does not belong on lists purporting to show the best that fiction is capable of achieving. Asimov, for example, was popular and prolific - neither means he was a good writer. Though there have been popular and prolific writers who were good, such as... er... well, there are plenty who are much better than Asimov, like Vance or Cherryh or Moorcock...

We should all be critical in our reading. Otherwise, nothing will ever improve.
 
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