I think the efforts you think are overrated, but I also like your suggestions.
I greatly enjoyed REPLAY myself, and certainly I would think THE HYPERION CANTOS
by Dan Simmons should be somewhere near the top of the list. What I noticed
about it in general, apart from skewing in favor of fantasy, was that many past
SF classics were overlooked (it was based on a survey), and that most such lists
tend to favor new works over older ones, those being the books these readers
were more likely to be exposed to.
________________________________
From: Doug Baker <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Fri, September 2, 2011 7:32:05 PM
Subject: Re: [SF-LIT] NPR's Top 100 SF/Fantasy Novels
Interesting list.
I agree, it would be better if they didn't include fantasy simply because it
generally doesn't suit my taste.
I was glad to see Heinlein made it on the list three times and HG Wells, Isaac
Asimov, and Arthur C. Clarke were not forgotten.
The one book that absolutely should have made it not only on the list and near
the top is Vernor Vinge's A Deepness in the Sky. It is easily in the top 5 if
not the best science fiction book I have ever read. A Fire Upon the Deep Made
it, and deservedly so, but A Deepness in the Sky is his best work.
And that Octavia E. Butler's Kindred isn't on this list is frankly simply
appalling and shameful.
A Brave New World, Vonnegut in general, and William Gibson in my ever so humble
opinion are entirely overrated, as is Neal Stephenson.
And not one Robert Silverberg??? Okay, he's uneven by if Dying Inside doesn't
make the list it should be burned.
Too bad he died young but Replay by Ken Grimwood belongs here as well, and
easily in the top 25.
Okay, I'm starting to think I'm not liking the list too much now that I think
about it.
Maybe I will have ponder my own list....
-----Original Message-----
From: Dennis Fischer <[log in to unmask]>
To: SF-LIT <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Mon, Aug 29, 2011 8:00 am
Subject: [SF-LIT] NPR's Top 100 SF/Fantasy Novels
Though I wish they wouldn't combine fantasy and science fiction, I have read
most of these and those that I read were either excellent or very entertaining.
http://www.npr.org/2011/08/11/139085843/your-picks-top-100-science-fiction-fantasy-books
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