the Dalaverse

From musesfool, NPR's top 100 SF/F books.

How to do:

Bold for read
Italics for intending to read
Underline for partial read series/books
Strikethrough for never ever reading



1. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, by J.R.R. Tolkien - I'm sorry, y'all, Tolkien is too heavy on worldbuilding and light on characterization for me ::hangs head:: I read Fellowship but abandoned The Two Towers

2. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams 42!

3. Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card - and all of the sequels except when a. he started writing about Bean and b. I discovered what an asshole he is. I also read and loved the Alvin Maker books without having the slightest clue they were a Joseph Smith allegory

4. The Dune Chronicles, by Frank Herbert

5. A Song of Ice and Fire Series, by George R. R. Martin - maybe, possibly, because I do want to watch the show and my aunt keeps badgering me to try it

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 - only a couple of times, as opposed to the 200 times I've seen the movie.

12. The Wheel Of Time Series, by Robert Jordan - I read the first one sometime in middle school; I vaguely remember side-eyeing some gender stuff but that's all

13. Animal Farm, by George Orwell

14. Neuromancer, by William Gibson

15. Watchmen, by Alan Moore

16. I, Robot, by Isaac Asimov - I had an Asimov bias from a young age because he was my dad's commencement speaker and was apparently really boring at it

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 - wrote a paper on birth metaphors that I wish I'd let my professor talk me into trying to publish

22. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, by Philip K. Dick

23. The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood - always mean to read more Atwood, never got around to it

24. The Dark Tower Series, by Stephen King

25. 2001: A Space Odyssey, by Arthur C. Clarke

26. The Stand, by Stephen King - I've picked this up and gotten distracted several times now

27. Snow Crash, by Neal Stephenson

28. The Martian Chronicles, by Ray Bradbury - I fucking love Bradbury

29. Cat's Cradle, by Kurt Vonnegut

30. The Sandman Series, by Neil Gaiman - you would think, but graphic novels aren't generally my style

31. A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess - made it through ten pages or so, hated it. I suppose I'll see the film one of these days, but I kind of don't want to

32. Watership Down, by Richard Adams

32. Starship Troopers, by Robert Heinlein

33. Dragonflight, by Anne McCaffrey - went through a whole McCaffrey phase in middle school, but I don't think I could reread them. The Harper Hall books had less rape.

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 - I think?

40. The Chronicles of Amber, by Roger Zelazny

41. The Belgariad, by David Eddings

42. The Mists of Avalon, by Marion Zimmer Bradley - it spoke to my thirteen-year-old soul. On a recent reread, needed much tighter editing

43. The Mistborn Series, by Brandon Sanderson

44. Ringworld, by Larry Niven

45. The Left Hand of Darkness, by Ursula K. LeGuin - I have been told I need to read LeGuin and I probably should

46. The Silmarillion, by J.R.R. Tolkien - if I couldn't get through LotR, I doubt I'd have any hope for this one

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 - delightful, probably my favorite Gaiman book

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 – ...this seems miscategorized

64. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, by Susanna Clarke - I was really excited to read it, got it for Christmas, and then misplaced it about halfway through. I should get back to it someday

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 - wasn't he the one who killed Chewie? YOU BASTARD

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 - these always looked trashy/fabulous

78. The Dispossessed, by Ursula K. LeGuin

79. Something Wicked This Way Comes, by Ray Bradbury - so much love. Bradbury 4ever

80. Wicked, by Gregory Maguire - loved the first part, thought it fell apart in the second

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 – oh, Star Wars EU. I didn't get much further than this in my epic reread quest after grad school, but these still hold up pretty well

89. The Outlander Series, by Diana Gabaldon - loved, but I don't think I could bring myself to finish the last couple because Gabaldon made such an ass of herself

90. The Elric Saga, by Michael Moorcock

91. The Illustrated Man, by Ray Bradbury

92. Sunshine, by Robin McKinley - I loved Beauty and should've read the rest of her books

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 - I love Connie Willis so much. SO. MUCH.

98. Perdido Street Station, by China Mieville - I feel like I should read some Mieville?

99. The Xanth Series, by Piers Anthony - wow, seriously? I read one or two of these and only remember the main character doing something with her menstrual blood in a school bathroom. Awful

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


Damn, I managed to miss a lot of the classics. But they skew hard sci-fi and I'm more of a fantasy fan, hence the early imprinting on Star Wars. Do I get points for reading Alanna fifteen times? Also, if Card gets to be on this list, where's Pullman and, my god, Madeleine L'Engle? Please don't tell me the Time books are waning in popularity, I will cry.