Who says this is the top 100 science fiction book list? National Public Radio (USA) does. NPR recently conducted a poll where readers got to pick their favorite science fiction books. Though the list is available at their web site, it is in a straight-line format that is a bit hard to navigate if you are looking for a good read.
On this page I’ll take the Top 100 list and organize it by sub-genre. Each book listing will feature a link to the Amazon page where you can purchase the book, and every book will have its list rank listed.
Note: This is a long post — 100 books is a lot. I’m publishing before the post is complete, to get the info out. I’ll be updating until it’s complete.
This post originally appeared on Squidoo. Squidoo rejected it 18 months after publication, and parts of the original were lost. I’ve fixed them as best as I could.
Click on the book totle to go to the Amazon.com page for that book. [It's an affiliate link, I make a few cents if yu buy through the link.]
Happy Reading!
The Entire List
| 1. The Lord of the Rings | 35. A Canticle for Leibowitz | 69. The Farseer trilogy |
| 2. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy | 36. The Time Machine | 70. The Time Traveler’s Wife |
| 3. Ender’s Game | 37. Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea | 71. The Way of Kings |
| 4. Dune | 38. Flowers for Algernon | 72. A Journey To The Center Of The Earth |
| 5. A Game of Thrones | 39. The War of the Worlds | 73. The Legend of Drizzt series |
| 6. 1984 | 40. Amber Chronicles | 74. Old Man’s War series |
| 7. Fahrenheit 451 | 41. The Belgariad | 75. The Diamond Age |
| 8. Foundation trilogy | 42. The Mists of Avalon | 76. Rendezvous With Rama |
| 9. Brave New World | 43. Mistborn trilogy | 77. Kushiel’s Dart trilogy |
| 10. American Gods | 44. Ringworld | 78. The Dispossessed |
| 11. The Princess Bride | 45. The Left Hand of Darkness | 79. Something Wicked This Way Comes |
| 12. The Wheel of Time | 46. The Silmarillion | 80. Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West |
| 13. Animal Farm | 47. The Once and Future King | 81. The Malazan Book Of The Fallen series |
| 14. Neuromancer | 48. Neverwhere | 82. The Eyre Affair |
| 15. Watchmen | 49. Childhood’s End | 83. The Culture series |
| 16. I, Robot | 50. Contact | 84. The Crystal Cave |
| 17. Stranger in a Strange Land | 51. Hyperion | 85. Anathem |
| 18. The Name of the Wind (Kingkiller Chronicles) | 52. Stardust | 86. The Codex Alera |
| 19. Slaughterhouse-Five | 53. Cryptonomicon | 87. The Book of the New Sun |
| 20. Frankenstein | 54. World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War | 88. The Thrawn trilogy |
| 21. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? | 55. The Last Unicorn | 89. Outlander series |
| 22. The Handmaid’s Tale | 56. The Forever War | 90. The Elric saga |
| 23. The Dark Tower | 57. Small Gods | 91. The Illustrated Man |
| 24. 2001: A Space Odyssey | 58. The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever | 92. Sunshine |
| 25. The Stand | 59. The Vorkosigan Saga | 93. A Fire Upon the Deep |
| 26. Snow Crash | 60. Going Postal | 94. The Caves of Steel |
| 27. The Martian Chronicles | 61. The Mote in God’s Eye | 95. The Mars trilogy |
| 28. Cat’s Cradle | 62. The Sword of Truth | 96. Lucifer’s Hammer |
| 29. The Sandman series | 63. The Road | 97. Doomsday Book |
| 30. A Clockwork Orange | 64. Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell | 98. Perdido Street Station |
| 31. Starship Troopers | 65. I Am Legend | 99. The Xanth series |
| 32. Watership Down | 66. The Riftwar Saga | 100. The Space trilogy |
| 33. Dragonflight (Pern) | 67. The Sword of Shannara Trilogy | |
| 34. The Moon is a Harsh Mistress | 68. Conan the Barbarian |
And the #1 SF Book is … Fantasy?
Top 10 Books
When NPR decided which books to include on their Top 100 science fiction book list, they chose to include fantasy books. While I’m not sure I agree with this, fantasy is definitely popular: 5 of the top 15 books are pure fantasy.
The #1 Book: The Lord of the Rings
J.R.R. Tolkien
Though there are many fantasy sagas, this is one of the first, and still the best. If it didn’t create the genre, it established the current format, which many authors have copied, but few improved upon.
This boxed set also includes The Hobbit the lighter prequel.
#2: Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
Douglas Adams
This series blows a big raspberry at anyone who says humor and science fiction don’t mix. Classic British satire (think Monty Python). This volume includes all 5 novels.
#3 Ender’s Game
Orson Scott Card
I have to admit, I haven’t read this book, or the series, though I did read the short story it is based on. Card is an intense writer, focusing on uncomfortable subjects with expert writing.
#4. Dune
Frank Herbert
Dune … any SF reader in the 1970s knows Dune. But was it a tale of an unusual ecology and scarce resources, or a baroque novel of twisted intrigue?
#5. A Game of Thrones
George R. R. Martin
A big sweeping fantasy series, known to many by the TV series.
#6. 1984
George Orwell
Totalitarianism at it’s worst. 1984 is often seen as political commentary rather than science fiction.
#7. Fahrenheit 451
Ray Bradbury
In a world where reading is illegal, how do the book destroyers feel?
# 8. Foundation trilogy
Isaac Asimov
Isaac Asimov’s trilogy may not be the best literature, but this was the first “future history” trilogy.
#9. Brave New World
Aldous Huxley
Written in the 1930s, on the Eve of World War 2, this book shows the dark side of a utopia where everyone must be happy. Aldous Huxley’s book used to be required reading in high schools, and is worth reading even if it was never an assignment.
#10: American Gods
Neil Gaiman
Neil Gaiman is one of the modern authors who writes fantasy that is not based on the tropes in Lord of the Rings. To summarize: what if the unworshiped ancient gods are all alive and well and trying to survive in modern day America?
Top Fifty Fantasy
#11: The Princess Bride: S. Morgenstern’s Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure
by William Goldman
The best fantasy book ever, in my opinion. If you don’t recognize the line “Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die,” you need to read this book.
# 12: The Eye of the World (The Wheel of Time, Book 1)
Another series I haven’t read … yet.
18. The Name of the Wind (Kingkiller Chronicles)
Patrick Rothfuss
32. Watership Down
Richard Adams
A fairy tale story that follows a family of English rabbits.
33. Dragonflight (Pern)
Anne McCaffrey
I read my first Pern as a short story published in Analog in the late 1960s. Though it was a good story, I felt that expanding it into a novel, and then a series, weakened the plot. I must have the minority opinion though, as the entire Pern series is very popular.
40. Amber Chronicles
Roger Zelazny
Amber … I was at a friend’s house when the mail brought a 2 volume set (Science Fiction Book Club) of the first 5 books in this series. He let me read it while he was at school … I opened the first book at noon, next thing I knew, it was full dark and I was in the 3rd book. I still find this series compelling.
41. The Belgariad
David Eddings
42. The Mists of Avalon
Marion Zimmer Bradley
I have mixed feelings about Marion Zimmer Bradley … some of her early science fiction was very anti-women, some was thinly disguised fantasy … this is one of her best works.
43. Mistborn trilogy
Brandon Sanderson
An original magic system … what’s not to like?
46. The Silmarillion
J.R.R. Tolkein
The myths and legends surrounding the beginning of Middle Earth
47. The Once and Future King
T. H. White
King Arthur’s legend
48. Neverwhere
Neil Gaiman
Dark urban fantasy
Early Classic SF
Science fiction and fantasy existed before the mid-20th century. Here are some of the best early works.
20. Frankenstein
Mary Shelly
Perhaps the first true science fiction novel, Mary Shelly’s book looks at the consequences of creating human-like life. Though written in early 19th century language, Frankenstein is true hard SF.
36. The Time Machine
H.G. Wells
Almost everyone has heard of H.G. Well’s classic. Have you read it?
37. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Jules Verne
A Victorian-era work, when the idea of a submarine was pure science fiction. Jules Verne could be called the father of steampunk, only it wasn’t steampunk when he wrote.
39. The War of the Worlds
H.G. Wells
Another H.G. Wells classic, one of the earliest “alien invasion” novels. The 1939 radio play based on this book is another classic.
68. Conan the Barbarian
Robert Howard
Conan the Barbarian was the first of the “blood and thunder” fantasy sub-genre. Strong, lusty (but not particularly intelligent) Conan battles with evil wizards, scheming priestesses, and foul monsters. These stories were ground-breaking in the 1930s when they were written.
72. A Journey To The Center Of The Earth
Jules Verne
Though the science is completely flawed, Jules Verne’s classic is still a great story.
Classic Golden Age SF
The years between about 1940 and 1970 saw an explosion of science fiction writing, mostly in magazines. Here are some science fiction novels that have stood the test of time.
35. A Canticle for Leibowitz
Walter Miller
I’m glad to see this book on the list. It’s one of the best “after the apocalypse” novels ever written, about a religious order based around 20th century science.
38. Flowers for Algernon
Daniel Keys
The diary of a man who undergoes an experiment in raising intelligence
100. The Space Trilogy
C.S. Lewis
Part science fiction, part fantasy, this is a classic.
Golden Age Masters
Heinlein, Asimov, Clarke, Bradbury
These four men defined the science fiction genre from the 1930s to the 1970s and beyond.
Robert Heinlein wrote from the late 1930s until his death in the late 1980s, and is considered of of the masters of science fiction. Isaac Asimov is best known today for his robot stories and the Foundation trilogy, but he was one of SF’s most prolific authors.Arthur Clarke is less known today, but was also one of the best known authors of hard science fiction: sf with no fantasy elements, where science drives the plot. And Ray Bradbury did write literary, often poetic science fiction, in an era where most SF was of the “ray guns and robots” variety.
16. I, Robot
Isaac Asimov
Asimov also wrote the first serious series of intelligent robot stories. The three laws of robotics came from here, and the book’s title has been used as the name of a company manufacturing … robots, of course.
17. Stranger in a Strange Land
Robert Heinlein
Perhaps Heinlein’s best known work, the premise of this novel is that a human reared by Martians comes back to Earth and exposes our hidden side. Note: I believe the unedited version is substantially better than the original edition; there is much more back story and the motivations of the characters are much clearer.
24. 2001: A Space Odyssey
Arthur Clarke
This is the book the movie was based on. “Dave? Dave?”
27. The Martian Chronicles
Ray Bradbury
These short stories are about the first humans to settle on Mars.
31. Starship Troopers
Robert Heinlein
Another Heinlein, written at about the same time as Stranger. This focuses on a young man who enters the infantry just before Earth is attacked by aliens. Many critics dismiss this book as American hyper-patriotism, but they miss one major point — our hero is not American!
34. The Moon is a Harsh Mistress
Robert Heinlein
My favorite Heinlein. Political theory, revolution, polyamory, and intelligent computers — and lots of action.
49. Childhood’s End
Arthur Clarke
Arthur Clarke considers the future evolution of the human species. What will we become?
76. Rendezvous With Rama
Arthur Clarke
More Arthur Clarke (see Part 1). Humans explore a deserted alien spacecraft.
79. Something Wicked This Way Comes
Ray Bradbury
a tale of horror, by the Golden Age of Science Fiction’s resident poet/novelist.
91. The Illustrated Man
Ray Bradbury
Assorted short stories.
94. The Caves of Steel
Isaac Asomov
Asimov’s i, Robot was in the top 50. This novel is about one of the most advanced robots.
Hard SF
Science, science, everywhere
“Hard” science fiction is usually defined as books where science plays a major part in the plot. Without the science, the book would fall apart.
Whether everyone would agree that these books are “hard” SF, they are closer to that than any other sub-genre.
44. Ringworld
Larry Niven
Hard science fiction at it’s very best … how many different types of human civilizations can exist on a ring around a star? And how was that ring built, anyway?
56. The Forever War
Joe Haldeman
A classic about the several thousand year long war with the aliens, and the changes in human society during that time. Some of those changes are happening now.
61. The Mote in God’s Eye
Larry Niven & Jerry Puornelle
An excellent First Contact novel.
93. A Fire Upon the Deep
Vernor Vinge
Hard SF from a modern master of the sub-genre
95. The Mars trilogy
Kim Stanley Robinson
The colonization of Mars isn’t easy.
96. Lucifer’s Hammer
Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle
The end of the world, California-style.
Mainstream SF
Some authors are better known for their non-sf work, or use science fiction elements in books that otherwise follow mainstream writing patterns.
These are either mainstream novels with some science fiction elements, SF by mainstream authors, or science fiction that has drawn much acclaim from the mainstream book world.
13. Animal Farm
George Orwell
Four legs good, two legs bad …? A book about when the servants become the masters.
19. Slaughterhouse-Five
A look at World War 2 through the eyes of a time traveling soldier.
22. The Handmaid’s Tale
Margret Atwood
A “literary” book about a fundamentalist future.
23. The Dark Tower
Stephen King
I haven’t read any of Stephen King’s SF … someone tell me if I should.
25. The Stand
Stephen King
More by Stephen King
63. The Road
Cormac McCarthy
I haven’t read this Pulitzer Prize-winning best seller, about a journey in a post-apocalyptic world.
64. Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell
Susanna Clarke
Victorian-era England, fantasy style.
65. I Am Legend
Richard Matheson
A man on the run from undead.
70. The Time Traveler’s Wife
Audrey Niffenegger
I haven’t read this best seller about a woman married to a reluctant time traveler.
80. Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West
Gregory Maguire
Dorothy’s adventures in Oz, told from the viewpoint of the Wicked Witch of the West. Nobody is completely evil … this book was the original basis of the hit musical play.
89. Outlander series
Diana Gabaldon
I have not heard of this series … it sounds like a romance novel crossed with time travel.
