What do you think Are the Best Classic Fantasy And Science Fiction Books and Stories of All Time?

[Tom Hering]

You might find Limbo by Bernard Wolfe to be worth checking out and The Reefs of Earth by R A Lafferty .

I appreciate recommendations of personal favorites, and Lafferty is certainly a favorite author of mine. But at this time, I'm interested in reading the novels that can be objectively called "the classics." Specifically, those from the period I like best, the 1940s-1970s. This is why I find a list like Harris' so helpful, because it's aggregated from a lot of different, respected sources.

 

[BAYLOR]

I appreciate recommendations of personal favorites, and Lafferty is certainly a favorite author of mine. But at this time, I'm interested in reading the novels that can be objectively called "the classics." Specifically, those from the period I like best, the 1940s-1970s. This is why I find a list like Harris' so helpful, because it's aggregated from a lot of different, respected sources.

Fair enough . I do have one more to mention and Ill leave it at that Stanton Coblentz The Caverns Bellow a k a The Hidden World . Written in the 1930's . Nobody reads or remembers Coblentz anymore.

 

[Tom Hering]

Fair enough . I do one more to mention and Ill leave it at that Stanton Coblentz The Caverns Bellow a k a The Hidden World . Written in the 1930's . Nobody reads or remembers Coblentz anymore.

I read Hidden World in 1968, when I was 14. I have a copy in my collection - the same Airmont edition I read 47 years ago.

 

[BAYLOR]

I read Hidden World in 1968, when I was 14. I have a copy in my collection - the same Airmont edition I read 47 years ago.

I had that edition It was one of the first science fiction books I read .

Also under the Airmont Brand I had Lester Del Rey's Day of the Giants and Fletcher Pratts Invaders from Rigel and others . What's amusing is the covers art doesn't have anything to do with what's inside the books.

 

[BAYLOR]

Alas Babylon Pat Frank

 

[BAYLOR]

Mythago Woods Robert Holdstock

 

[BAYLOR]

Bug Jack Baron by Norman Spinrad

 

[psikeyhackr]

Bug Jack Baron by Norman Spinrad

LOL I read that so long ago I hardly remember what it was about, but I remember thinking it was really good at the time.

psik

 

[BAYLOR]

Doomstar by Edmond Hamilton

 

[BAYLOR]

The Black Cloud by Fred Hoyle .

 

[BAYLOR]

Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury

 

[BAYLOR]

The Soul Eater Mike Resnick

 

[Tony Iommi]

I like the fantastic voyage both versions. The film adaptation and the original

 

[Tony Iommi]

Or the sound of thunder the short Ray Bradbury story ....They made that into a film too but the concept of the book was great

 

[BAYLOR]

Or the sound of thunder the short Ray Bradbury story ....They made that into a film too but the concept of the book was great

The Short story is a classic and terrific . The the film botched it. A better script and the film could have been great.

 

[BAYLOR]

LOL I read that so long ago I hardly remember what it was about, but I remember thinking it was really good at the time.

psik

I recommend his novel The Iron Dream

 

[BAYLOR]

Rogue Moon Algis Budry

 

[Davidjb]

Simarillian. I know it's not easy to get on with, but for me I absolutely loved the breadth of the tale and the heroics around trying to recover the silmarils. It also gives a magnificent background to Lord of the Rings. It explains the Elf/Dwarf wars and the hatred between the races. Any book that has a chapter "Battle of Unnumbered Tears" has to be moving. Other than that Tarzan...oops slipped that in.

 

[C.E. Gee]

And what is it about them that makes them great or memorable? What new ground if any did they break ?

I'm old. So old I was in my early teens when HEINLEIN was in his prime. His classic novel STARSHIP TROOPERS rocked my world. Unlike the movie, the novel featured "powered suits" for combat. I'm an unapologetic hardware freak, spent most of my adult life working with all sorts of high tech gear.

So one might imagine how I was entertained as a teen by Heinlein's concepts of futuristic gadgets such as the above mentioned suit.

NAMASTE

C.E. Gee aka Chuck

 

[pklentz]

I recommend his novel The Iron Dream

I tried to read this one because it's such a clever idea, but I couldn't finish because it does too good a job at imitating a second-rate pulp SF adventure built on a racist, fascist worldview. It eventually wore on me... For those who don't know, it's meant to be the book that Hitler would have written in his youth if he wrote SF instead of painting!

For me, hands down it's Moorcock's Elric saga. Writing fantasy epics that are hugely epic in scope as well as page count is one thing; doing it with the economy of word that MM used (in the 60's & 70's) is way more impressive. Many or most others will differ, but what I tend to dislike about epic novels is an excessive amount of detail given to the kingdoms, the settings, the backstories, etc. Just give me original, flesh & blood characters fighting in an epic struggle. In a few strokes, MM will give you all you need to know to enjoy the action.

A second pick and big influence on my ideas as a writer was Fritz Leiber's The Big Time for an intimate plot set against a huge cosmic backdrop.