NPR (National Public Radio in the United States) has published a list of the "Top 100 Science Fiction and Fantasy Books OF ALL TIME!!!ZOMG." They collected nominations from over 5000 people, had an in-house panel of "experts" pare that list down to 237(?), then collected over 6000 online votes to create a top 100 list.
Like any of these lists, the results cannot be said to be definitive, merely a starting point for discussion. So, let's discuss. What doesn't belong on that list? What doesn't appear, that should? My thoughts below in the comment thread.
August 11, 2011
It's another list...
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2 comments:
Some quick thoughts:
1) I agree with the NPR blog, which states that there should have been separate Sci-Fi and Fantasy lists. From the point of view of non-fans, the two might seem the same, but from the point of view of fans, while there is a significantly sized common readership, the two genres are really quite different.
2) Like any Internet poll, this list is nothing but a popularity contest; hence the appearance of several contemporary writers with a sizeable blog audience.
2a) Two members of the above group - Patrick Rothfuss, and George R.R. Martin, appear on this list for book series that aren't even finished yet. Really?
3) Robert Jordan and David Eddings appear on this list, yet Guy Gavriel Kay and Tad Williams do not. Apparently, challenging your readers to think is a bad thing.
4) Terry Goodkind? Really?
5) Terry Brooks? Really?
6)There is no sixth thing.
7) I read a Jasper Fforde novel (not the one from this list) and found it to be sort of clever, but that's all.
8)Diana Gabaldon, the Harlequin Romance of Fantasy? Really?
That is all.
Cool, I have read many on the list, especially when I was younger, I would read several books a week.
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