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NPR: Top 100 Science-Fiction, Fantasy Books

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elrechazao said:
Agreed, totally rots your brain with its inanity.

well fuck, I enjoyed the book very much so. But I tend to get invested in characters which lets me overlook things somewhat. I still enjoy Feist books despite them being considerably more vapid than anything after Riftwar.
 
The_Technomancer said:
It had its moments. But the last third was just....christ, I don't even know.

I'm tempted to ask what everybody seems to think is so bad about it, but I see no reason to ruin something I legitimately enjoyed.
 
Mindlog said:
Not a bad list. Plenty of safe picks.

my but...
74. Old Man's War, by John Scalzi

I am going to have to re-read this book. I don't understand why it's so popular. It's a neat poorly executed concept. The writing is on par with video game adaptations.

I agree fully. I have a lot of issues with that book. I can't believe how well received it generally is for how poorly written and trite it is.
 

Mindlog

Member
Ratrat said:
Should I read Forever Peace?

Forever Free might just be the most disappointing book I've ever read.
I enjoyed Forever Peace a little more than Forever War.

I read Forever Free.
Forever Peace was the last book in the series.
 

Nerevar

they call me "Man Gravy".
Tapiozona said:
Just finished a Dance with Dragons (disappointed with the ending) so moving on to Ender's Game (book 1) because of recommendations in this thread and others. It's either this or Dune.

You'd be better served reading Dune first (IMO).
 

SickBoy

Member
I abide it in standard internet usage and the fact that it's becoming a more common usage, but in a list about books, it annoys my inner geek a little to see "1984" instead of the proper title, "Nineteen Eighty-Four"
 

marrec

Banned
Nerevar said:
You'd be better served reading Dune first (IMO).
Having read both, ya start with Dune.

What's Sci-Fi/Fantasy GAFs opinion of David Eddings, Specifically the Belgariad? I read it as a kid and remember it quite fondly, but the Wifey just read it for the first time and said it was crap... Do I need to find a new Wife?
 
icarus-daedelus said:
I tried to read a Wheel of Time book once, and it didn't end well.

I got to book 5 (Fires of Heaven), and at that point it was all nonsense. 1-3 were ok, but nothing happens in books 4 and 5. Hundreds and hundreds of pages are written with absolutely no meaning.
 

Aselith

Member
It's too bad that the His Dark Materials books didn't make the list. Those are certainly better than a fair amount of the books on the list.
 
Mindlog said:
I enjoyed Forever Peace a little more than Forever War.

I read Forever Free.
Forever Peace was the last book in the series.
Hmm high praise for Forever Peace. I may have to give that one a go.
 

Dresden

Member
River of Gods is fucking amazing. It's been a while since I've read SF that excited me so much. There's still plenty of room for it to shit the bed, but for now, yt's glorious.
Aselith said:
It's too bad that the His Dark Materials books didn't make the list. Those are certainly better than a fair amount of the books on the list.
I'm still fond of The Golden Compass, but I remember the books turning into a JRPG later on... it's been a long time though.

Neuromancer said:
Hmm high praise for Forever Peace. I may have to give that one a go.
Nifty ideas but the execution (especially the ending) left me cold.
 

Pollux

Member
A sci-fi list that doesn't include "Pandora's Star" is silly.

EDIT: At least a top 100 list, top 50 then it can be excluded.
 

Ptaaty

Member
Childhood End and Hyperion Cantos are WAY too low.

Dune should be standalone, the first book is considerably better than the end of the series.

All in all not the worst list, but it is obvious it is a readers pick with newer fiction and the biggest names getting the most traction. Can't claim I'd be able to do any better, but I would rate a number of books on there that I have read in a different order.
 
Ptaaty said:
Childhood End and Hyperion Cantos are WAY too low.

Dune should be standalone, the first book is considerably better than the end of the series.

All in all not the worst list, but it is obvious it is a readers pick with newer fiction and the biggest names getting the most traction. Can't claim I'd be able to do any better, but I would rate a number of books on there that I have read in a different order.
I agreed with you up to the point on Dune. The following books are several times better than the original Dune.
 

Ratrat

Member
Aselith said:
It's too bad that the His Dark Materials books didn't make the list. Those are certainly better than a fair amount of the books on the list.
Childrens books are excluded and the Amber Spyglass was just...


Anyway, I guess I'll read Forever Peace as its pretty short.
 

Puddles

Banned
Got a lot further into The Eye of the World, and it finally gets good. Man, that first 30% of the book was a brutal slog. Once they get to that dead city though, it actually becomes interesting.

Still, if this is considered one of the books where a lot of stuff happens, I shudder to imagine what fans consider the boring books in the series.
 

Salazar

Member
Puddles said:
Still, if this is considered one of the books where a lot of stuff happens, I shudder to imagine what fans consider the boring books in the series.

Seanchan = snooze.

This won't make sense now, but it will become apparent if you read on through the series.
 

marrec

Banned
dude said:
Too bad the Disposessed is one of Le Guin's worst books :\

It's definitley no compensation for no Earthsea.

You are wrong and I'm too busy and important to tell you why! How about this, The Dispossessed was Le Guin's most influential novel.

zmoney said:
A sci-fi list that doesn't include "Pandora's Star" is silly.

EDIT: At least a top 100 list, top 50 then it can be excluded.

I think Pandora's Star is great, but maybe not top 100. Hard Sci-Fi in a pulpy style never appealed to me.
 

V_Arnold

Member
ShadyMilkman said:
I got to book 5 (Fires of Heaven), and at that point it was all nonsense. 1-3 were ok, but nothing happens in books 4 and 5. Hundreds and hundreds of pages are written with absolutely no meaning.

You have no freaking idea, man. No idea.

I mean..okay, people might have bad reading comprehension, I guess.
But shit like "Hundreds and hundreds of pages are written with absolutely no meaning."
It just screams "I DID NOT CARE!"

It is okay if you want instant action and gratification. WoT wont give you that.
 

rpg_poser

Member
I suppose what someone said earlier is more or less correct: It's a safe list.

No Sturgeon, Ellison, Delaney in that list and I see a lot of "series" type novels.
 

Mindlog

Member
Dresden said:
Nifty ideas but the execution (especially the ending) left me cold.
That's not an unfair critique. In some small way Forever Peace foreshadows the atrocity that was the second half of Forever Free. My tiny preference for FP is somewhere within the theme and setting. I found both Forever W/P very enjoyable.

unlike Forever Free
 
rpg_poser said:
I suppose what someone said earlier is more or less correct: It's a safe list.

No Sturgeon, Ellison, Delaney in that list and I see a lot of "series" type novels.
It's missing too much to even be safe. No Lem, Ballard, Bester, or Cordwainer Smith. Missing pulps like Leiber or Manly Wade Wellman (although I guess that could be considered horror). The Stand (which I like, don't get me wrong) yet no Earth Abides. Meanwhile there's 4 Gaiman entries which is just... it's just terrible.
 

Puddles

Banned
This list reminds me that I've got The Mists of Avalon chilling on my bookshelf, and I've never read it, despite loving the King Arthur myth. I'll have to crack it open one of these days.
 

Amir0x

Banned
m0dus said:
*Command + F*

"Search for: TWILIGHT"

"Not Found"


Thank. God.

too bad

"Search for: Sword of Truth"

Yields:

62. The Sword Of Truth, by Terry Goodkind

List instantly invalidated.
 
Rothfuss's Kingkiller Chronicles, despite the hype...does not deserve to be so high on that list. It's by no means bad, but it's hardly a masterpiece of the genre.
 

Tapiozona

Banned
Just finished Ender's game...

Amazing. First off, it was a nice change to read a book with almost zero fluff in it. And I can't even remember the last time I read a fantasy/sci-fi book under 600 pages. I always though I'd feel like I was missing something reading something so short but not in this case. The book just just the right length without the needless circles most books run around in at one point or another.

Could be the best book I've ever read. I hope that doesn't sound sad. Hopefully the rest of the series holds up to the level of the first.

Reading Ender's Game makes me upset with myself for sticking through all 12 books of A Wheel of Time. So many pages and pages and pages and pages and pages of useless words.

I was never much of a reader when I was young so I've been play catchup on all the top rated fantasy and sci-fi series out there during the last couple years. Been a fun ride and I keep finding better and better reads when I didn't think it was possible.
 

The Technomancer

card-carrying scientician
Tapiozona said:
Just finished Ender's game...

Amazing. First off, it was a nice change to read a book with almost zero fluff in it. And I can't even remember the last time I read a fantasy/sci-fi book under 600 pages. I always though I'd feel like I was missing something reading something so short but not in this case. The book just just the right length without the needless circles most books run around in at one point or another.

Could be the best book I've ever read. I hope that doesn't sound sad. Hopefully the rest of the series holds up to the level of the first.

Reading Ender's Game makes me upset with myself for sticking through all 12 books of A Wheel of Time. So many pages and pages and pages and pages and pages of useless words.

I was never much of a reader when I was young so I've been play catchup on all the top rated fantasy and sci-fi series out there during the last couple years. Been a fun ride and I keep finding better and better reads when I didn't think it was possible.
The second book is very different in tone and IMO utterly fantastic. One of my favorite books of all time. The third book is pretty good, and worth a read. The fourth book is...interesting. A lot of people hate it, and its definitely not as good as the first three, but I found it somewhat enjoyable. Skip the "fifth book" Ender in Exile, as its a bunch of short stories meant to flesh out the timeline and it shows.
 

Tapiozona

Banned
The_Technomancer said:
The second book is very different in tone and IMO utterly fantastic. One of my favorite books of all time. The third book is pretty good, and worth a read. The fourth book is...interesting. A lot of people hate it, and its definitely not as good as the first three, but I found it somewhat enjoyable. Skip the "fifth book" Ender in Exile, as its a bunch of short stories meant to flesh out the timeline and it shows.

Thanks for the info. Excited to start the second book tonight.
 

gdt

Member
I actually enjoyed Ender in Exile. Quite a bit, really.

And the cliffhanger to CotM (4th/last book in Ender Quartet) is aweeeeeesome. Very uneven book, but still good.
 

The Technomancer

card-carrying scientician
gdt5016 said:
I actually enjoyed Ender in Exile. Quite a bit, really.

And the cliffhanger to CotM (4th/last book in Ender Quartet) is aweeeeeesome. Very uneven book, but still good.
EiE had some great moments and some great sequences but man, the pacing in that book was terrible. The build up to the climactic scene (
the confrontation with the guy who think's he's Achille's son or whatever
) felt completely off and the actual resolution felt like it was written by another writer who thought he understood the character of Ender rather then Card himself.
 
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