Top Three SF/F Books

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bloggeratf

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Apr 22, 2009
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UPDATED 09/05/2009

I have been compiling people's votes on their top three science fiction and fantasy books or series over Twitter, my blog, and the SFF Chronicles Forum.

In the hope of expanding the sample size and getting some very informed votes, I submit the question to you.

What are your top three SF/F books or series?

This is not an easy question to answer, and I expect it to be painful when you are made to choose only three, so think on it a little before posting.

I have shared a google doc with the full list of submissions here. If you notice any inconsistencies in the list, please let me know and I will edit accordingly. I will be posting an updated list every Sunday. Happy picking!

156 voters have submitted their top three SF/F reads:

Lord of the Rings 1954 J. R. Tolkien 42
A Song of Ice and Fire 1996 George R. R. Martin 30
Dune 1965 Frank Herbert 16
Ender's Game 1985 Orson Scott Card 15
Malazan Book of the Fallen 1999 Steven Erikson 15
Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy 1979 Douglas Adams 9
The Hyperion Cantos 1989 Dan Simmons 8
Farseer Trilogy 1995 Robin Hobb 8
The Left Hand of Darkness 1969 Ursula K. Leguin 6
The Name of the Wind 2007 Patrick Rothfuss 6


Weighted Publication Date (whole list): 1980.1

To save e-ink, I will only post the top ten. Remember you can check the full list here.

Format for posting:

Name of Book or Series, Date of Publication (use first book if series), Author.
 
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For me it's very simple:

1. Use of Weapons, IM Banks 1990
2. Honor Harrington, David Weber, ongoing series, book 1 1993
3. Night's Dawn, Peter Hamilton, finished series, book 1 1996
 
Hyperion Cantos, 1990, Dan Simmons
Dune, 1965, Frank Herbert
Lord of the Rings, 1950, Tolkien
 
1. Lord of the Rings 1950 J.R.R. Tolkien
2. The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever 1977 Stephen Donaldson
3. The Book of the New Sun 1980 Gene Wolfe

Tolkien. Tolkien. Tolkien. Get it? I mean, really...
 
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Only Forward, 1994, Michael Marshall Smith
Starship Troopers, 1959, Robert A. Heinlein
Malazan Book of the Fallen, 1999, Steven Erikson

Last one was a pain in the ass, I don't have any specific favorite in fantasy.
 
1) LOTR
2) The Land of Laughs by Jonathan Carroll
3) At the Mountains of Madness and Other Stories by H. P. Lovecraft

These are the books that had enough impact on me that I after rereading them I consider rereading them again.


Randy M.
 
1. A Song of Ice and Fire - GRRM
2. Liveship Trilogy - Robin Hobb
3. Difficult choice...
...Gonna roll with The Silmarillion by Tolkz.
 
1. Lord of the Rings 1950 J.R.R. Tolkien
2. Malazan Book of the Fallen 1999 Erikson
3. Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell 2004 Susanna Clarke

I would have put GRRM, but he's got plenty of votes.
 
bloggeratf said:
You don't have to post a fantasy book. It can be only SF if you want.
Click to expand...

The two that I listed stand out amongst the small amount of SF that I have read and I would be hard-pressed to choose anything else to list as a favorite. I have read a lot of fantasy, which makes it harder to narrow down a favorite, especially given the many subgenres. I could have populated the list with only fantasy, but that would have left out the two SF books that I love.
 
TheEvilKing said:
3. Difficult choice...
...Gonna roll with The Silmarillion by Tolkz.
Click to expand...

I am inclined to include that in the LOTR trilogy--same goes for the Hobbit. Would anyone object to that? This was suggested by someone over at the SFFChronicles Forums and I think they had a point. They are all essentially the same story.
 
1. The Tawny Man trilogy - 2002 - Robin Hobb
2. A Song Of Ice And Fire - 1996 - George R.R. Martin
3. The Liveship Traders trilogy - 1998 - Robin Hobb
 
1. The Hobbit - 1937 - J.R.R. Tolkien
2. We - 1924 (English Translation) - Yevgeny Zamyatin
3. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - 1979 - Douglas Adams.
 
1. The Last Unicorn - 1968 - Peter S. Beagle
2. Through Wolf's Eyes - 2001 - Jane Lindskold
3. Island in the Sea of Time - 1998 - S. M. Stirling
 
bloggeratf said:
I am inclined to include that in the LOTR trilogy--same goes for the Hobbit. Would anyone object to that?
Click to expand...

No, not at all. But it does seem a bit more difficult to poll. After all, what if someone enters the Silmarillion, stating that he didn't actually like LOTR all that much? Would that be a vote for LOTR?

Anyways, it's your call.

Let us know how you get on, will you? I'd be interested...
 
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Julian said:
No, not at all. But it does seem a bit more difficult to poll. After all, what if someone enters the Silmarillion, stating that he didn't actually like LOTR all that much? Would that be a vote for LOTR?

Anyways, it's your call.

Let us know how you get on, will you? I'd be interested...
Click to expand...

Its not an easy decision, but I feel that, for example, A Debt of Bones, is part of the Sword of Truth Series. In the same context, I feel The Hobbit, or the Silmarillion belongs to the world of the LotR. At least that is the way I feel at present--this might change when the time comes to edit the list over the weekend. We shall see. Does anyone else have an opinion on the matter, because if the consensus is no, then I probably wouldn't do it.
 
Would that mean that Riftwar/Serpentwar/Darkwar are all considered together as well, since they are in the same world(s). There's three separate chronicles of Thomas Covenant, all the Fitz series' by Hobb, the Black Company books, etc.

Not that it matters to me.

A Song of Ice and Fire
Dune
Mistborn
 
1: Enders Game + Speaker for the Dead -1985+1986 - Orson Scott Card
2: Malazan - 1999 - Steven Erikson
3: Farseer Trilogy - 1995 - Robin Hobb
 
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