Recently I have gotten back into reading a lot (duh Ashley! Why else would you have a book blog). I have been expanding my tastes and exploring new genres and some of what I really want to get more into is adult sci-fi and fantasy! I have heard some people talking about the NPR Top Science Fiction & Fantasy Books list and looked over it and really want to read more from this list since I have sadly only read two and am currently reading another. I don’t have any set date, number or anything for when I hope to read them by, but I just really want to dive into this genre(s) more!
NPR Top Science Fiction & Fantasy Books
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
Have you read any of these books/series from NPR Top Science Fiction & Fantasy Book list? What do you think of them?What should I read first?
22 comments
I agree a lot with this list. While I enjoyed the Hitchhiker’s Guide movie I really did NOT like the book. You should read Enders Game, that one was fantastic 🙂
So many great titles on this list! A lot of them are still on my TBR list, but of those I’ve read my favorites would be in no particular order: 1984, Animal Farm, Fahrenheit 451, Brave New World, American Gods, The Kingkiller Chronicles, The Road, The Lord Of The Rings. All are definitely recommendable! I might have missed a few because the list is quite long. 😉
Thanks! I have only read Brave New World and really enjoyed it and many are on my TBR list already, but I have found some new interesting ones I really want to check out too!
If you liked Brave New World, 1984 and Fahrenheit 451 are really good dystopian classics as well! Two of my favorite reads this year…
I’ve been planning on reading 1984 for a few months I just haven’t gotten to it yet haha. I really need to pick it up !
I know the feeling! It took me months to pick up both of these titles as well… I’ve only just read Fahrenheit 451 this November after months of posponing it for not apparent reason; I absolutely loved it!
Yay! I cant wait to read them now!
The Outlander series is sooo good! You should definitely read at least the first one. Also, Stardust is my favorite Neil Gaiman book that I have read so far.
I own the first three books in the outlander series, I just need to find time because they are huge!
The first one actually went really fast for me. The next two were just as good but a bit slower of reads. So worth the time, though!
I’ve been on such a Ray Bradbury kick this year it has been ridiculous- he is definitely one of the most notable sci fi authors!
I saw so many familiar books that I had to actually tally it up… I’ve read 19 of these, two of them were DNFs,and I’ve easily got 7 others on my current TBR list. Let me know which ones you’re thinking of picking up beyond 1984, which is a goodie!
SO MANY! Haha. I need to get around to Lord of the Rings, Song of Fire and Ice and Kingkiller Chronicles. I really want to start the Dark Tower Series and would like to read some Kurt Vonnegut! I do not know why I haven’t started the Misborn trilogy! I would love to pick up some stuff by Neil Gaiman, Robin Hobb and Terry Brooks. I have been told I should read The Road and would like to dabble in the Outlander series! So basically all the books!
I’ve been listening to SOIAF since summer, about to finish the third book. Highly highly recommend the audio! I love SK, but haven’t read the Dark Tower series yet. Mistborn is on my TBR short list!! I’ve been told by my scifi/fantasy book club that Neverwhere is Gaiman’s best work.
Ender’s Game was my first SF read so I suggest that’s a great way to get into the SF part… as for fantasy… Mistborn, everytime. But I heard Robin Hobb is a good starting point too.
I haven’t read many on this list but the few that I have are amazing — specifically The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger and 1984.
Love the idea for doing this! Have you looked at their Young Adult List? That one also has great books on it — and you’ve probably read a lot more of them already. I have a tally on my blog — I think I’m up to 40! ~Gwen