One Man's Top 100 SF Books

#21 stone monkey

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Posted 21 February 2010 - 07:32 PM

I couldn't find one non English language book in there... Surely Solaris or Roadside Picnic deserved a mention (certainly above anything by Chrichton - I mean Sphere ffs!) Even if he's trying to show off his hipster credentials, he fails miserably...

If I were feeling uncharitable, I would hazard a guess that those are actually the only sf/fantasy novels he's ever read... And I expect that someone suggested them all to him.

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#22 amphibian

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Posted 21 February 2010 - 07:33 PM

eng lng rip, on 21 February 2010 - 06:21 PM, said:

cant really say much more than this dude's taste in spec fic is much, much different than mine. also 2nd lol @ tyrna front like pseud trash like wolfe rates higher than nabokov. also lol @ liking bestselling 70s sci-fi and mike chrichton making sum1 a "hipster"?????? there isnt a single obscure book on this list unless u r like 14

First off, Wolfe is not pseudo-trash. I am probably one of his bigger fans among the people here on this site, but I doubt anyone here - other than you - would call him a bad writer.

At the same time, including books like Free Live Free, Farmer in the Sky, True Names, All My Sins Remembered, Camp Concentration and Beggars in Spain is really digging into the obscure for some undefined reasons - which is a call sign of the hipster. Perhaps you're old enough to remember these books coming out in the '70s, but you certainly don't type like it.

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#23 stone monkey

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Posted 21 February 2010 - 07:49 PM

I wouldn't call any of those obscure myself. But I have read a lot of sf.

I'm not sure myself why anyone would rate All My Sins Remembered above The Forever War or even what Forever Peace is doing on the list at all. You might as well put Mindbridge or The Long Habit of Living or even There Is No Darkness on there if you've got a jones for Haldeman.

I couldn't see any Banks on the list either. Surely Use of Weapons or Excession would deserve a place...

I'm fairly sure that Farmer in the Sky predates the 70s; as it's not completely batshit insane, like most of Heinleins post-60s output. And Beggars In Spain is from the early 90s, whilst True Names is from the 80s iirc...

#24 globish rip

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Posted 22 February 2010 - 05:54 AM

I couldn't find one non English language book in there

too lazy to reread the list but im p sure bulgakov got a mention. which as a token non-english pick is def wtf

At the same time, including books like Free Live Free, Farmer in the Sky, True Names, All My Sins Remembered, Camp Concentration and Beggars in Spain is really digging into the obscure for some undefined reasons - which is a call sign of the hipster.

all of these books are by well-known, well-selling, prize-nominated authors. how many of these are even oop? i mean most of those dudes have outsold erickson bro. also no hipster has ever been into grandpa sci-fi. hell even like zamyatin is probably more obscure/less read than any of the books u mention and p much any self-respecting sci fi nerd will have read we ime.

First off, Wolfe is not pseudo-trash

no hes trash for pseuds. lol arguing abt wolfe w/true believers is p pointless - its cool u like what u like - but fronting like dude is a better writer than nabokov is just... shaken my head.

#25 stone monkey

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Posted 23 February 2010 - 11:28 PM

Yeah, my mistake, The Master and Marguarita is on there. It's a fantastic book, but there are a hell of a lot more great non-English language sf books out there. I can think of a couple, just by Stanislaw Lem, off the top of my head.

As for Wolfe, well it's very obviously a matter of personal opinion. I do like him but there's no way on earth The Wizard Knight deserves to be in anyone's Top 100 list of sf & fantasy novels. I wouldn't put it in my Top 100 list of sf & fantasy novels that I own and that are in this particular room with me at the moment. It makes me rather think he had a target poor environment and threw in a few names he'd heard of just to fill up the spaces.