November 21, 2013

My Own Definitive Science Fiction List With Blackjack And Hookers

In preparation for Carl's Sci-Fi Experience and The Vintage Sci-Fi Month, I'm joining Rinn's Sci-Fi Challenge, because I rather like her definitive list. I've learned about this challenge from Riv, who has posted her own list here, with some awesome additions.

So for my own version I'm keeping the books from both Rinn's and Riv's lists, with the addition of some of my own favourites. I've made this list even more representative of Soviet/Russian Sci-Fi, because heck, I know a thing or two about it! I was trying to behave and not to put all Lukyanenko, Strugatsky brothers and Belayev there, although it was really hard to choose just one or two of their books. I hope you find something new here, and as for me, I'm on my way to fill the gaps and read the books that are not crossed out yet :)

'Classic' science fiction
1. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
2. I, Robot by Isaac Asimov

3. Foundation by Isaac Asimov
4. The Drowned World by J.G. Ballard
5. Amphibian Man by Alexander Belayev
6. Heart of a Dog by Mikhail Bulgakov
7. Abduction of a Sorcerer by Kir Bulychov
8. The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury
9. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
10. Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke
11. 2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke

12. R.U.R. by Karel Čapek
13. The Lost World by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
14. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick
15. The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick
16. Dune by Frank Herbert
17. Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein
18. Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein
19. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
20. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes

21. Solaris by Stanislaw Lem
22. I Am Legend by Richard Matheson
23. A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr.
24. Ringworld by Larry Niven
25. The Mote in God's Eye by Larry Niven
26. Sannikov Land by Vladimir Obruchev
27. 1984 by George Orwell

28. Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
29. A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs
30. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

31. Star Maker by Olaf Stapledon
32. Hard to Be a God by Arkady & Boris Strugatsky
33. Roadside Picnic by Arkady & Boris Strugatsky
34. The Garin Death Ray by Alexei Nikolayevich Tolstoy
35. Journey to the Centre of the Earth by Jules Verne
36. Twenty-thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne
37. Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut
38. The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells

39. The Time Machine by H.G. Wells
40. The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham
41. The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham
42. We by Yevgeni Zamyatin

Newer science fiction
43. Oryx and Crake by Margaret Attwood
44. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
45. The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi
46. Consider Phlebas by Iain M. Banks
47. The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester
48. Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
49. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
50. Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton
51. Guardians of Paradise by Jaine Fenn
52. Neuromancer by William Gibson
53. The Forever War by Joe Haldeman
54. Labyrinth of Reflections by Sergei Lukyanenko
55. The Road by Cormac McCarthy
56. Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
57. Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan
58. The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin
59. The Quantum Thief by Hannu Rajaniemi
60. House of Suns by Alastair Reynolds
61. Revelation Space by Alastair Reynolds
62. Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson
63. The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell
64. Old Man's War by John Scalzi
65. Hyperion by Dan Simmons
66. Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson
67. Mockingbird by Walter Tevis

Young Adult science fiction
68. Ultraviolet by R.J. Anderson
69. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
70. Breathe by Sarah Crossan
71. The Maze Runner by James Dashner
72. Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
73. Earth Girl by Janet Edwards
74. Legend by Marie Lu
75. Cinder by Melissa Meyer
76. The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness
77. Across the Universe by Beth Revis
78. Divergent by Veronica Roth
79. All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill
80. What's Left Of Me by Kat Zhang

Sooo, what do you think about this list? Sounds great, right? :)

R2D2 is approving:
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11 comments:

  1. Yay, I'm glad you're joining in! =D You've already made pretty good progress too.

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    1. Thanks! I intend to make even bigger progress, and soooooon! :)

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  2. Hmmmm I'm thinking maybe I will push the number of books to 80 too and add a few more "read" ones and a few from your list...You have some really interesting ones in the classic sci-fi section (why didn't I think of Amphibian Man?). Also look at the amount of books you have already read. The most impressive!

    Maybe it's a stupid question, but do you read Russian sci-fi in Russian? I'm guessing yes, but asking just in case. I've actually read it so far only in Estonian, so I'm a bit curious how Russian stories will translate into English.

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    1. Well, as I'm from Russia, of course I read them in Russian :) We have a huge library at home, and a few shelves of it is Sci-Fi. So if I were at home, I'd probably have remembered much more great books :) I haven't tried any English translations, although it might be interesting to compare :) I think there are actually more Estonian translations than English, because we were one country :)

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    2. I thought so, but didn't want to step into the trap of assumptions :) You are right - it's actually not that easy to find English translations at all. There is a lot in Estonian, but this applies mostly for older sci-fi that was translated during the Soviet time, but yes - there is a LOT of it. I think when I go home during holidays I'll do a little haul of the bookshelves and bring some here to Helsinki :)

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  3. Out of the books you haven't read, I enjoyed The Time Machine but it fell a little flat for me. I read The Sparrow for a class and thank goodness I had a lot of people to discuss it with because it's interesting but also quite complex. Enjoy your reading!

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    1. Thanks! I'm actually suspecting that I have read The Time Machine, but I can't remember anything about it... So, I guess it's time for a re-read!

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  4. Great to have you taking part in all these sci-fi inspired events...I do so love the sci-fi! I've read 12 books on your list, 11 being in the classic category. In regards to your list, Alfred Bester's "The Stars My Destination" is actually a classic and not one of the newer works. And its a good one too!

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    1. Oh, sorry, I don't know anything about Bester, I've just copied the list :) It would be too tiring to check all the works, so I guess I'll move them between categories as I read if there are more mistakes like this :)

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  5. Great list! I've read 18, mostly in the classics section... I hope you have fun making some progress on it!

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    1. 18 is a good number :) I hope to sometime have read all of them!

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