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[Trojita]

http://www.npr.org/2011/08/11/139085843/your-picks-top-100-science-fiction-fantasy-books

More than 60,000 ballots were cast in our annual summer reader's survey — click here to see the full list of 100 books, complete with links and descriptions. Below is a printable list of the top 100 winners. And for even more great reads, check out the complete list of 237 finalists.

1. The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy, by J.R.R. Tolkien

2. The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, by Douglas Adams

3. Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card

4. The Dune Chronicles, by Frank Herbert

5. A Song Of Ice And Fire Series, by George R. R. Martin

6. 1984, by George Orwell

7. Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury

8. The Foundation Trilogy, by Isaac Asimov

9. Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley

10. American Gods, by Neil Gaiman

11. The Princess Bride, by William Goldman

12. The Wheel Of Time Series, by Robert Jordan

13. Animal Farm, by George Orwell

14. Neuromancer, by William Gibson

15. Watchmen, by Alan Moore

16. I, Robot, by Isaac Asimov

17. Stranger In A Strange Land, by Robert Heinlein

18. The Kingkiller Chronicles, by Patrick Rothfuss

19. Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut

20. Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley

21. Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?, by Philip K. Dick

22. The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood

23. The Dark Tower Series, by Stephen King

24. 2001: A Space Odyssey, by Arthur C. Clarke

25. The Stand, by Stephen King

26. Snow Crash, by Neal Stephenson

27. The Martian Chronicles, by Ray Bradbury

28. Cat's Cradle, by Kurt Vonnegut

29. The Sandman Series, by Neil Gaiman

30. A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess

31. Starship Troopers, by Robert Heinlein

32. Watership Down, by Richard Adams

33. Dragonflight, by Anne McCaffrey

34. The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress, by Robert Heinlein

35. A Canticle For Leibowitz, by Walter M. Miller

36. The Time Machine, by H.G. Wells

37. 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, by Jules Verne

38. Flowers For Algernon, by Daniel Keys

39. The War Of The Worlds, by H.G. Wells

40. The Chronicles Of Amber, by Roger Zelazny

41. The Belgariad, by David Eddings

42. The Mists Of Avalon, by Marion Zimmer Bradley

43. The Mistborn Series, by Brandon Sanderson

44. Ringworld, by Larry Niven

45. The Left Hand Of Darkness, by Ursula K. LeGuin

46. The Silmarillion, by J.R.R. Tolkien

47. The Once And Future King, by T.H. White

48. Neverwhere, by Neil Gaiman

49. Childhood's End, by Arthur C. Clarke

50. Contact, by Carl Sagan

51. The Hyperion Cantos, by Dan Simmons

52. Stardust, by Neil Gaiman

53. Cryptonomicon, by Neal Stephenson

54. World War Z, by Max Brooks

55. The Last Unicorn, by Peter S. Beagle

56. The Forever War, by Joe Haldeman

57. Small Gods, by Terry Pratchett

58. The Chronicles Of Thomas Covenant, The Unbeliever, by Stephen R. Donaldson

59. The Vorkosigan Saga, by Lois McMaster Bujold

60. Going Postal, by Terry Pratchett

61. The Mote In God's Eye, by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle

62. The Sword Of Truth, by Terry Goodkind

63. The Road, by Cormac McCarthy

64. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, by Susanna Clarke

65. I Am Legend, by Richard Matheson

66. The Riftwar Saga, by Raymond E. Feist

67. The Shannara Trilogy, by Terry Brooks

68. The Conan The Barbarian Series, by R.E. Howard

69. The Farseer Trilogy, by Robin Hobb

70. The Time Traveler's Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger

71. The Way Of Kings, by Brandon Sanderson

72. A Journey To The Center Of The Earth, by Jules Verne

73. The Legend Of Drizzt Series, by R.A. Salvatore

74. Old Man's War, by John Scalzi

75. The Diamond Age, by Neil Stephenson

76. Rendezvous With Rama, by Arthur C. Clarke

77. The Kushiel's Legacy Series, by Jacqueline Carey

78. The Dispossessed, by Ursula K. LeGuin

79. Something Wicked This Way Comes, by Ray Bradbury

80. Wicked, by Gregory Maguire

81. The Malazan Book Of The Fallen Series, by Steven Erikson

82. The Eyre Affair, by Jasper Fforde

83. The Culture Series, by Iain M. Banks

84. The Crystal Cave, by Mary Stewart

85. Anathem, by Neal Stephenson

86. The Codex Alera Series, by Jim Butcher

87. The Book Of The New Sun, by Gene Wolfe

88. The Thrawn Trilogy, by Timothy Zahn

89. The Outlander Series, by Diana Gabaldan

90. The Elric Saga, by Michael Moorcock

91. The Illustrated Man, by Ray Bradbury

92. Sunshine, by Robin McKinley

93. A Fire Upon The Deep, by Vernor Vinge

94. The Caves Of Steel, by Isaac Asimov

95. The Mars Trilogy, by Kim Stanley Robinson

96. Lucifer's Hammer, by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle

97. Doomsday Book, by Connie Willis

98. Perdido Street Station, by China Mieville

99. The Xanth Series, by Piers Anthony

100. The Space Trilogy, by C.S. Lewis

 

[Discotheque]

I haven't read Asimov yet :/

 

[SolKane]

I'm surprised LOTR beat the Bible, for once.

 

[Salazar]

rofl Goodkind.

 

[freenudemacusers]

No Wizard of Earthsea?

 

[Divvy]

I've never understood logic of combining the sci fi and fantasy genres.

 

[JDAWGZZZ]

Ender's game at 3 and ASOIAF at 5. I like it. I'm working on reading Dune for the first time right now, I'll have to do Hitchhiker's Guide after that.

 

[Hasphat'sAnts]

LOL Rothfuss in there. That's some sad shit after The Wise Man's Fear.

 

[Femmeworth]

Animal Farm? Really?

 

[The Technomancer]

Fantastic top ten. All the major ones I wanted were there.

Rest of the list falls down though.

 

[sk3]

I wonder why US/UK dominate these genres so much. There is a lot of good fiction in other languages but not much in the way of sci-fi.

 

[HammerOfThor]

I'm surprised LOTR beat the Bible, for once.

HAHAHAH!!!

 

[Vox-Pop]

Why is science fiction and fantasy not listed separately?

 

[Ninja Beagle]

A Song Of Ice And Fire Series, by George R. R. Martin > Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card any day of the damn week.

 

[ronito]

The only complaint I have is Enders game is WAY too high.

 

[SCULLIBUNDO]

Good to see Ender's Game get the credit it deserves.

 

[The Technomancer]

Wait...how the hell is Kingkiller at #18? Its not even finished yet! And the books are nowhere near the caliber of the best of the titles on the list.

Also IMO Perdido shouldn't be on there. And from what I've heard, Sword of Truth shouldn't be either.

 

[Hasphat'sAnts]

Slaughterhouse Five too low.

Frankenstein too low.

 

[The Technomancer]

This is a weird list. They hit most of the must-have titles but then there are a handful that are decidedly mediocre and who's placement I just don't understand.

 

[Admiral Bone to Pick]

Ender's Game is a fantastic book, but I wouldn't put it above, say...1984. And A Clockwork Orange got shafted. Even then, I still love this list.

 

[ThoseDeafMutes]

rofl Goodkind.

.

 

[Rabbit Lord]

Wheel of time, lol.

 

[The Technomancer]

Ender's Game is a fantastic book, but I wouldn't put it above, say...1984. And A Clockwork Orange got shafted. Even then, I still love this list.

I'm also really surprised not to see Speaker for the Dead on here. A much better book then Ender's Game, IMO. EG would have made my top twenty or so, Speaker the top five.

 

[Discotheque]

Wheel of time, lol.

is far too high on the list but it's still enjoyable (well 1/3 of the books are at least, holy shit so many books)

 

[gdt]

Foundation and The Robot series wayyyy too low. Fantastic top 10 though, even if I could pick on the order (I found the LOTR books to be almost boring).

 

[ezrarh]

I wonder why US/UK dominate these genres so much. There is a lot of good fiction in other languages but not much in the way of sci-fi.

Well, this is a compilation of the reader's picks. I figure most of the people who voted/nominated the books speak English as their primary language so that could be why UK/US authors dominate the list. Although I'm not a big enough reader to know the state of scifi and fantasy books in other languages.

 

[RyanDG]

As much of a Neil Gaiman fan as I am, Neverwhere doesn't really belong on that list.

 

[SCULLIBUNDO]

I'm also really surprised not to see Speaker for the Dead on here. A much better book then Ender's Game, IMO. EG would have made my top twenty or so, Speaker the top five.

The science fiction in Speaker is much better than Ender's Game. But as books free of the sci-fi label, I hold them on equal ground. What's funny is that they're almost incomparable due to how different they are.

But yes, a fucking tragedy that Speaker isn't on there at all, let alone not in the top 5.

 

[RustyNails]

Dune will forever be my #1

 

[The Technomancer]

Well, this is a compilation of the reader's picks. I figure most of the people who voted/nominated the books speak English as their primary language so that could be why UK/US authors dominate the list. Although I'm not a big enough reader to know the state of scifi and fantasy books in other languages.

I should have paid more attention >_<
Thaaaaaat explains everything.

 

[Admiral Bone to Pick]

I'm also really surprised not to see Speaker for the Dead on here. A much better book then Ender's Game, IMO. EG would have made my top twenty or so, Speaker the top five.

Wait, I just realized something too.

Where's Harry Potter on this list?

 

[Ashes]

Always meant to read 'The Silmarillion.'

 

[gdt]

I'm also really surprised not to see Speaker for the Dead on here. A much better book then Ender's Game, IMO. EG would have made my top twenty or so, Speaker the top five.

I think in some ways Speaker is better (it certainly has more of an emotional punch), but I'll always put Ender's Game above. Lean and mean.

 

[Count Dookkake]

No Philip Jose Farmer?

Bullshit.

 

[i_am_ben]

A Song Of Ice And Fire Series, by George R. R. Martin > Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card any day of the damn week.

even after a jump with sharks?

 

[Dresden]

Don't agree with a lot of choices, but whatever, there's some damn good reads on there.

 

[MrDaravon]

The last 3 Wheel of Time books completely redeem the slow as hell middle books IMO.

Haven't read a lot of books/series on this list, should check some of these out.

 

[HammerOfThor]

I'm also really surprised not to see Speaker for the Dead on here. A much better book then Ender's Game, IMO. EG would have made my top twenty or so, Speaker the top five.

I took it as they meant Enders Games as a series

 

[ZephyrFate]

A Song Of Ice And Fire Series, by George R. R. Martin > Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card any day of the damn week.

OH my god this. Who the hell thought Orson Scott Card could write something even half as compelling as ASOS/AFFC/ADWD? And I LIKE the Ender's Game series.

 

[gdt]

Just noticed I own everything in the top 10, minus Dune. Good on me.

I still haven't read Hitchhiker though lol. I own a huge hardcover with the first...5 or 6 books.

 

[Ninja Beagle]

even after a jump with sharks?

Without a doubt.

 

[gdt]

I took it as they meant Enders Games as a series

Some are listed as series, some aren't. See I, Robot/Caves of Steel.

 

[brianjones]

even after a jump with sharks?

is this feast for crows?

god reading it now so fucking boring

 

[RyanDG]

Just noticed I own everything in the top 10, minus Dune. Good on me.

I still haven't read Hitchhiker though lol. I own a huge hardcover with the first...5 or 6 books.

I'm curious... Any reason why no Dune? If you like the genres enough to have the rest of the books on the top 10 that seems to be a very odd omission.

 

[Yobalt]

Where the fuck is the Hobbit.

 

[ZephyrFate]

is this feast for crows?

god reading it now so fucking boring

To some. But if you pay attention to what it's saying it's far from boring.

 

[SCULLIBUNDO]

Wait, I just realized something too.

Where's Harry Potter on this list?

Exactly where it should be.

 

[Discotheque]

is this feast for crows?

god reading it now so fucking boring

yeah it stays that way. Series only picks up the pace for half of book 5 (maybe all of it even, did not like book 4 though..bleh. It's Wheel of Time tier).

 

[The Technomancer]

OH my god this. Who the hell thought Orson Scott Card could write something even half as compelling as ASOS/AFFC/ADWD? And I LIKE the Ender's Game series.

Eh, I dunno. I'm two books into ASOIF and its great so far, but Martin has some serious pacing issues. I still rank Card in his heyday as one of the best sci-fi authors the century has seen.

 

[MrBig]

I've read the top 9 and many of the others. I do not agree with the positioning of this list at all.