Most Rigorous
1.St. John's College (NM)
2.Furman University
3.Middlebury College
4.Franklin and Marshall College
5.Columbia University
6.Dartmouth College
7.University of Chicago
8.St. John's College (MD)
9.Harvey Mudd College
10.Grinnell College
11.Wellesley College
12.Mount Holyoke College
13.Wake Forest University
14.Oberlin College
15.Swarthmore College
16.Bard College
17.Harvard University
18.Lawrence University
19.Bowdoin College
20.Princeton University
21.Reed College
22.College of the Holy Cross
23.Yale University
24.Bryn Mawr College
25.Stanford University
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Friday, August 19, 2011
Contemporary Classical: a Primer - Anne Midgette, WaPo
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Contemporary classical: a primer
By Anne Midgette,
“I’m writing to ask for advice,” the e-mail began. “I want to know more about contemporary music. Where should I start?”I get letters like this every few months, and I am often puzzled about how to answer. Gone are the days when there was a fixed canon of “good” composers (or, worse, “approved” ones), and a critic told you what you were supposed to like. Today, musical taste has blown wide open. If you love music, chances are that you like lots of different things: Ornette Coleman and Bruce Springsteen and Dmitri Shostakovich and Sufjan Stevens. If you’re a longtime orchestra subscriber, you may be passionate about Brahms but leery of the unfamiliar names and sounds that occasionally emerge onto concert programs. And chances are, whatever you like, you are equally passionate about what you don’t like — even more passionate, in fact, to judge from some of the rest of my mail.
So here, O fictive reader, are answers to some of the questions that, over the years, I’ve heard you ask. These answers are the equivalent of a one-day tour of a major metropolis, pointing out a few highlights to give you a general sense of the landscape of living composers, hoping that you’ll return to visit, in depth, whatever grabs your interest. This is not a “best of” guide, but rather an aide to orientation: Whatever your individual taste, these are pieces worth exploring.
1.Why should I care about minimalism?
Minimalism is a frustratingly incorrect term for a compositional approach that developed in the second half of the 20th century and that, in hindsight, turns out to be the most important contribution the United States has made to the field of composition.
“Minimalism” is a flawed term because most of the composers associated with it — notably Steve Reich and Philip Glass — reject it. It’s also a term that inspires fear and loathing in the hearts of some listeners who think it describes works that simply do the same thing over and over and over and over again — like passages of Glass's seminal and divisive 1976 opera “Einstein on the Beach.” “It’s not music,” say detractors.
Ah, but it is. Even the earliest seminal works of so-called minimalism share a lyric freshness. They do indeed take a step away from the conventional narrative of traditional classical music forms. Rather than taking a theme and develop it, they put musical elements together and let them shift into different, ever-changing combinations, like images in a kaleidoscope. The classic example is Terry Riley’s “In C” from 1964, consisting of 53 numbered phrases that are played by any number of musicians, lasting anywhere from 10 minutes to a couple of hours, creating a dreamy, beguiling, mutable colorscape in the process. Equally iconic is Reich’s “Music for 18 Musicians,” which references influences all the way back to medieval chant in the way it revolves around the same 11 chords, played at different speeds, within the compass of individual human breaths.
And the real hallmark of so-called minimalist music is not its repetition but this way of approaching musical form. (Anton Bruckner, the 19th-century symphonic composer, has been called a proto-minimalist for the way he juxtaposes great blocks of sound.) As minimalist ideas have evolved, the genre’s sounds have become ever richer. Louis Andriessen, the maverick Dutch composer, has jokingly called himself a “maximalist” (check out his huge, powerful opera-oratorio “De Materie” to hear the way he creates powerful music out of layers of sound). John Adams, who used to be seen as a young minimalist, now writes scores with veritably Wagnerian overtones for full orchestra and/or opera. (My favorite introduction to Adams is “Harmonium,” a big, shining, early piece for chorus and orchestra that radiantly sets texts by John Donne and Emily Dickinson, ending in a whirl of taut, bright sound.)
Bottom line: “Minimalism” isn’t the threat to classical music’s bastion that some people have perceived it to be. Instead, it has provided a new strain of energy and ideas that have helped revivify the field and continues to influence new works, even by composers who aren’t labeled “minimalist” at all.
2. I like traditional orchestral music. Why can’t they just go on writing that?
They can, and they do. The conventional wisdom is that contemporary music in the 20th century was taken over by serialism, a compositional technique that involves creating music according to series of values other than melody and harmony. (The most notorious serialist technique is 12-tone music, which creates a musical phrase by combining all 12 notes of the chromatic scale in a fixed order, and then uses that phrase as the basis of a musical work.) The resulting works are sometimes fascinating, but seem difficult and unappealing to some lay audiences; and (still following the conventional wisdom) a generation of composers shied away from serialist strictures. Minimalism was one reaction; neo-romanticism — a return to the melodic, tonal, timbral values of romantic music — was another. This story is a little too pat — for one thing, neo-romanticism has been a force in American music throughout the 20th century (see Samuel Barber) — but it’s certainly true that David Del Tredici, for one, got a lot of attention back in the 1980s when he turned from serialist orthodoxy and began writing big, lush scores for full orchestra (including “Final Alice”).
Like minimalism, neo-romanticism is a facile and not entirely accurate label. It’s often applied, for instance, to John Corigliano, who writes well for orchestra and with an acute sense of the past — his 1991 opera “The Ghosts of Versailles” is one of the best syntheses of the grand opera tradition and contemporary music that anyone’s managed to come up with — but whose sensibility, sound, and sophistication are firmly rooted in the present. The neo-romantic sensibility, however, is kept most vividly alive in contemporary American opera, which tends to pursue a kind of Broadway-like accessibility in a tonal musical language, from William Bolcom’s “A View from the Bridge” to Jake Heggie’s recent “Moby-Dick.”
But neo-romanticism isn’t the only path composers use to access traditional forms with a fresh eye. Some of today’s most successful orchestral composers are writing symphonies and concertos — like Jennifer Higdon, whose Percussion Concerto won a Grammy in 2010, and whose Violin Concerto was recently recorded to great acclaim by Hilary Hahn (though not everyone shared my affection for her Piano Concerto at its NSO premiere). Higdon writes athletic, energetic music that’s smart and solid and wins over audiences, bright and forward-propelled as a Tour de France rider.
Another acclaimed recent concerto was written by the Finnish composer-conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen, best known in this country for the years he spent as music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic (1992-2009). His Piano Concerto sounds as if it had been written to reassure those who were worried that, when he stepped down from the post to devote himself entirely to composing, he was going to float off into the world of the avant-garde. Without losing the quirky touch of his earlier compositions, this concerto is rife with references to its virtuosic predecessors in the canon: You can hear hints of Prokofiev, Rachmaninov, Ravel in what amounts to one long finger-busting, hyperactive, crowd-pleasing outburst. When a composer spends years conducting week in and week out, he sure ends up knowing how to write for an orchestra.
3.What about the younger generation? And what is this “alt-classical” stuff you keep praising?
“Younger generations” are notoriously slippery things in this field: Anybody under 50 still counts as “young.” “Young,” indeed, becomes more about an attitude than chronological age: Writing music that incorporates electric guitar and acoustic violin is now a hallmark of the 50-something set, from Steven Mackey, the guitarist turned Princeton teacher, to the Bang on a Can All-Stars, the performing arm of the eponymous composers’ collaborative formed by David Lang, Michael Gordon and Julia Wolf. The idea that good music can bring together a range of traditions, from rock to West African drumming to Javanese gamelan, is today a given for most younger composers, and emerges in surprising ways (like Lang’s “Little Match Girl Passion,” a translucent piece for small chorus that won him the Pulitzer Prize).
Another current trend that’s been on the rise over the last five decades is the return to the age of the composer-performer. Those who write music and want it performed go out and play it themselves — like Derek Bermel, a clarinet player whose Clarinet Concerto “Voices”mingles elements of a wide range of musics in ways both thoughtful and fun — or form their own bands, like Missy Mazzoli, whose group Victoire played the Library of Congress earlier this summer with music from their debut album.
“Alt-classical” is a term coined to describe the indie-rock sensibility of a lot of these genre-defying efforts, which are becoming ever more prevalent on every level of the musical establishment. Riccardo Muti and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra took the notable step last year of naming, as co-composers in residence, Mason Bates, who has an active career as a DJ as well as writing works for places like the San Francisco Symphony, and Anna Clyne, another 30-something who incorporates sampling and amplification in her music.
That’s not to say that all young composers are wedded exclusively to rock-inspired sounds: simply that genre boundaries no longer function as limits. Nico Muhly, who turns 30 this summer, is one of the most successful composers around, with two operas opening this calendar year (one, “Two Boys,” will appear at the Metropolitan Opera in 2013-14); a musical omnivore, he is inspired by everything from the English choral tradition to Icelandic pop to Philip Glass. And Jefferson Friedman, who has played with several rock groups, has written some of the best contemporary string quartets I know.
4. Tell me the names of some significant contemporary composers or pieces you think everyone should know.
Here are a few iconic works by a few major living composers whom I haven’t yet mentioned:
George Crumb, “Black Angels,” a searing expressionistic string quartet written during the Vietnam War by a distinctive musical maverick.
Meredith Monk, “Songs of Ascension,” the latest recording by one of our greatest innovators, rich treasure from the seam of expanded vocal techniques and artless sound juxtapositions that she’s been mining tirelessly for decades.
Frederic Rzewski, “The People United Will Never Be Defeated,” an hour-long, impassioned, political, eclectic set of variations (including shouting at the piano) on a Chilean protest song.
Elliott Carter, First String Quartet, a breakout work from 1951 that still sounds as radical and new as it did when it was written, by the grand old man of the 20th-century American establishment, who’s still going strong at 102.
Pierre Boulez, “Pli selon pli,” one of the longest and in many ways most beautiful pieces, a lyrical exegesis on poems by the French symbolist poet Stephane Mallarme in which a high soprano soars over and around the instruments of the orchestra, written by a former lion of European serialism who has mellowed considerably in his later years.
Via Spotify, listen to the music from this story on our contemporary classical playlist. Read more about classical music on Anne Midgette’s blog, The Classical Beat.
Thursday, August 11, 2011
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Your Picks: Top 100 Science-Fiction, Fantasy Books
August 11, 2011
More than 5,000 of you nominated. More than 60,000 of you voted. And now the results are in. The
winners of NPR's Top 100 Science-Fiction and Fantasy survey are an intriguing mix of classic and
contemporary titles. Over on NPR's pop culture blog, Monkey See, you can find one fan's thoughts on
how the list shaped up, get our experts' take, and have the chance to share your own.
A quick word about what's here, and what's not: Our panel of experts reviewed hundreds of the most
popular nominations and tossed out those that didn't fit the survey's criteria (after — we assure you —
much passionate, thoughtful, gleefully nerdy discussion). You'll notice there are no young adult or
horror books on this list, but sit tight, dear reader, we're saving those genres for summers yet to come.
So, at last, here are your favorite science-fiction and fantasy novels. (And a printable version, to take
with you to the bookstore.)
1
The Lord Of The Rings
Tolkien's seminal three-volume epic chronicles the War of the
Ring, in which Frodo the hobbit and his companions set out to
destroy the evil Ring of Power and restore peace to Middle-earth.
The beloved trilogy still casts a long shadow, having established
Chris Silas Neal
by J.R.R. Tolkien
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some of the most familiar and enduring tropes in fantasy
literature. Literary Award Winner
2
The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy
In the first, hilarious volume of Adams' Hitchhiker's series,
reluctant galactic traveler Arthur Dent gets swept up in some
literally Earth-shattering events involving aliens, sperm whales, a
depressed robot, mice who are more than they seem, and some
really, really bad poetry.
3
Ender's Game
Young Andrew "Ender" Wiggin, bred to be a genius, is drafted
to Battle School where he trains to lead the century-long fight against the alien
Buggers.
4
The Dune Chronicles
Follows the adventures of Paul Atreides, the son of a betrayed
duke given up for dead on a treacherous desert planet and adopted by its fierce,
nomadic people, who help him unravel his most unexpected destiny.
by Douglas Adams
by Orson Scott Card
by Frank Herbert
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5
A Song Of Ice And Fire Series
As the Seven Kingdoms face a generation-long winter, the
royal Stark family confronts the poisonous plots of the rival
Lannisters, the emergence of the Neverborn demons, the
arrival of barbarian hordes, and other threats.
6
1984
A Novel
Portrays life in a future time when a totalitarian government
watches over all citizens and directs all activities.
7
Fahrenheit 451
A totalitarian regime has ordered all books to be destroyed, but
one of the book burners suddenly realizes their merit, in a chilling
novel of a frightening near-future world.
by George R.R. Martin
by George Orwell
by Ray Bradbury
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8
The Foundation Trilogy
A band of psychologists, under the leadership of psychohistorian
Hari Seldon, plant a colony to encourage art, science, and technology in the
declining Galactic Empire and to preserve the accumulated knowledge of
humankind.
9
Brave New World
Huxley's classic prophetic novel describes the socialized horrors
of a futuristic utopia devoid of individual freedom.
10
by Isaac Asimov
by Aldous Huxley
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American Gods
On the plane home to attend the funerals of his wife and best
friend, Shadow, an ex-con, encounters an enigmatic stranger who seems to
know a lot about him. When Shadow accepts the stranger's job offer, he finds
himself plunged into a perilous game with the highest of stakes: the soul of
America itself.
11
The Princess Bride
S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale Of True Love And High Adventure
This tale of a handsome farm boy who, aided by a drunken
swordsman and a gentle giant, rescues a beautiful princess
named Buttercup comes with a slyly humorous, metafictional
edge: Goldman claims to have merely abridged an earlier text
by one "S. Morgenstern" (actually a pseudonym) and peppers
his text with clever commentary.
12
The Wheel Of Time Series
At 13 volumes and counting, this sweeping — some would say
sprawling – richly imagined epic chronicles the struggle between servants of the
Dark One and those of the champion of light known as the Dragon Reborn.
13
Animal Farm
by Neil Gaiman
by William Goldman
by Robert Jordan
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Farm animals overthrow their human owners and set up their own
deeply (and familiarly) flawed government. Orwell's mordant satire
of totalitarianism is still a mainstay of ninth-grade reading lists.
14
Neuromancer
Gibson's groundbreaking debut novel follows Case, a burned-out
computer whiz, who is asked to steal a security code that is locked in the most
heavily guarded databank in the solar system. A seminal work in the genre that
would come to be known as cyberpunk.
15
Watchmen
As former members of a disbanded group of
superheroes called the Crimebusters start turning
up dead, the remaining members of the group try to
discover the identity of the murderer before they,
too, are killed. A graphic novel.
16
I, Robot
by George Orwell
by William Gibson
by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons
by Isaac Asimov
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Isaac Asimov changed our perception of robots forever when he formulated the
laws governing their behavior. In I, Robot, Asimov chronicles the development of
the robot through a series of interlinked stories: from its primitive origins in the
present to its ultimate perfection in the not-so-distant future — a future in which
humanity itself may be rendered obsolete.
17
Stranger In A Strange Land
Valentine Michael Smith, born and raised on Mars, arrives on
Earth stunning Western culture with his superhuman abilities.
18
The Kingkiller Chronicles
This suspenseful coming-of-age story folllows Kvothe as he
recounts his transformation from a magically gifted young man into the most
notorious wizard, musician, thief and assassin in his world.
19
Slaughterhouse-Five
by Robert A. Heinlein
by Patrick Rothfuss
by Kurt Vonnegut
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Billy Pilgrim returns home from World War II only to be kidnapped by aliens from
the planet Tralfamadore, who teach him that time is an eternal present.
20
Frankenstein
Mary Shelley's chilling portrait of a scientist obsessed
with creating life (whose eventual success comes at
too great a cost) was among the first works of science
fiction ever produced. Its potent allegorical power,
compelling ethical and philosophical themes, and its
sheer creepiness have ensured it remains one of the
most enduring and influential as well.
21
Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?
Dick's trippy novel tells of sophisticated off-world androids who turn
against their creators, slip back to a post-apocalyptic Earth, and
must be hunted down by bounty hunter Rick Deckard. The book
inspired — albeit very loosely — the 1982 Ridley Scott film Blade
Runner.
22
The Handmaid's Tale
by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
by Philip K. Dick
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A chilling look at the near future presents the story of Offred, a
Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead, once the United States, an
oppressive world where women are no longer allowed to read
and are valued only as long as they are viable for reproduction.
23
The Dark Tower Series
Roland, the world's last gunslinger, tracks an enigmatic Man in
Black toward a forbidding dark tower, fighting forces both mortal and other
worldly on his quest.
24
2001: A Space Odyssey
Two astronauts find their journey into space and their very lives
jeopardized by the jealousy of an extraordinary computer named
HAL.
25
The Stand
by Margaret Atwood
by Stephen King
by Arthur C. Clarke
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A monumentally devastating plague leaves only a few survivors
who, while experiencing dreams of a battle between good and evil,
move toward an actual confrontation as they migrate to Boulder,
Colo.
26
Snow Crash
Weaving contemporary imagery with Sumerian myths,
Stephenson's third novel revolves around a mysterious "pseudo
-narcotic" Snow Crash that is capable of affecting people both
within — and without — the alternate-reality Internet called the
"Metaverse."
27
The Martian Chronicles
The tranquillity of Mars is disrupted by the earthmen who have
come to conquer space, colonize the planet, and escape a
doomed Earth.
28
Cat's Cradle
by Stephen King
by Neal Stephenson
by Ray Bradbury
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A young writer decides to interview the children of a scientist
primarily responsible for the creation of the atomic bomb.
29
The Sandman Series
Gaiman originally told his tale of Morpheus, the Dream King, whose
interactions with mortals rarely end well, and whose fractious extended family
includes the personifications of Death, Despair, Desire and Destiny, in a 75-
issue comic book series over several years; the hugely influential series is now
collected in ten trade volumes.
30
A Clockwork Orange
Burgess created his own youth slang for this acid satire of
contemporary culture which follows young Alex as he makes
his merry way through a dystopia of drugs, sex and ruthless
violence, only to be chosen for a psychological experiment
meant to mend his ways.
31
Starship Troopers
by Kurt Vonnegut
by Neil Gaiman
by Anthony Burgess
by Robert A. Heinlein
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In one of Robert A. Heinlein's most controversial novels, a recruit of the future
goes through the toughest boot camp in the universe and into battle with the
Terran Mobile Infantry against humankind's most frightening enemy.
32
Watership Down
An allegorical tale of survival about a band of wild rabbits who
leave their ancestral home to build a more humane society
chronicles their adventures as they search for a safe place to
establish a new warren where they can live in peace.
33
Dragonflight
At a time when the number of Dragonriders has fallen too low for
safety and only one Weyr trains the creatures and their riders, the Red Star
approaches Pern, threatening the planet with disaster.
34
The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress
by Richard Adams
by Anne McCaffrey
by Robert A. Heinlein
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A one-armed computer technician, a radical blond bombshell, an aging
academic and a sentient all-knowing computer lead the lunar population in a
revolution against Earth's colonial rule.
35
A Canticle For Leibowitz
Miller's 1959 novel follows the Monks of the Order of St.
Leibowitz as they attempt to preserve the remnants of
civilization after a nuclear war.
36
The Time Machine
Wells' classic 1895 story of an unassuming British inventor who
creates a device that sends him hurtling into the far future – A.D.
802,701, to be precise – where subterranean Morlocks prey upon the
childlike Eloi.
37
20,000 Leagues Under The Sea
by Walter M. Miller Jr.
by H.G. Wells
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Professor Arronax and his two companions, trapped aboard a
fantastic submarine as prisoners of the deranged Captain Nemo,
come face to face with exotic ocean creatures and strange sights
hidden from the world above.
38
Flowers For Algernon
When brain surgery makes a mouse into a genius, dull-witted
Charlie Gordon wonders if it might also work for him.
39
The War Of The Worlds
With advanced machines of destruction, aliens from another planet
swoop down on planet Earth and begin their conquest, in the classic
sci-fi work by the author of The Time Machine.
40
The Amber Chronicles
by Jules Verne
by Daniel Keyes
by H.G. Wells
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Zelazny's tales of Corwin, prince of the "true world" of Amber (of
which our Earth is merely a shadow) and his son Merlin, a magic-user/computer
hacker, have spanned several decades. Amid the eternal struggle between
Order and Chaos, Zelazny delights in tossing in allusions to Shakespeare, the
Tarot and quantum mechanics.
41
The Belgariad
Edding's five-volume epic fantasy follows young farmboy Garion
as he is drawn into a quest for a stolen mystical orb, and the rich world of
prophecy and power that surrounds it.
42
The Mists Of Avalon
Retells the legend of King Arthur as perceived by the
women central to the tale, from the zealous Morgaine,
sworn to uphold her goddess at any cost, to the devout
Gwenhwyfar, pledged to the king but drawn to another.
43
Mistborn Trilogy
by Roger Zelazny
by David Eddings
by Marion Zimmer Bradley
by Brandon Sanderson
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In a world where special magic users called Allomancers can employ metals to
enhance their physical and mental abilities, a young thief discovers her destiny
and sets out to overthrow the Lord Ruler.
44
Ringworld
Niven's hugely influential 1970 novel of an outer space expedition to
a mysterious object – a vast artificial world in the shape of a ring –
that goes horribly wrong.
45
The Left Hand Of Darkness
While on a mission to the planet Gethen — a world whose
inhabitants can change their gender — earthling Genly Ai is sent by leaders of
the nation of Orgoreyn to a concentration camp. The exiled prime minister of the
nation of Karhide tries to rescue him.
46
The Silmarillion
by Larry Niven
by Ursula K. Le Guin
by J.R.R. Tolkien
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These creation myths of Tolkien's Middle-earth, for those who found The Lord of
the Rings too breezy and slight: In the author's characteristic Beowulfian prose,
he recounts the legends of the world's beginnings, the downfall of its gods and
men, and the events that changed the face of Middle-earth forever.
47
The Once And Future King
Describes King Arthur's life from his childhood to the coronation,
creation of the Round Table, and search for the Holy Grail.
48
Neverwhere
Gaiman's wry, darkly whimsical tale of an average young
businessman who stops to help a girl bleeding on a London
sidewalk and finds himself pulled into a bizarre subterranean world.
49
Childhood's End
by T.H. White
by Neil Gaiman
by Arthur C. Clarke
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The author questions the survival of mankind in this science-fiction tale about
Overlords from outer space who dominate the world.
50
Contact
In 1999, a multinational team of astronauts ventures deep into outer
space, where they come face to face with an advanced alien
civilization.
51
The Hyperion Cantos
Seven pilgrims undertake a voyage to the world of Hyperion —
dominated by a fearsome and mysterious creature called the Shrike — where
they hope to learn the secret that will save humanity.
52
by Carl Sagan
by Dan Simmons
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Stardust
In the quiet English hamlet of Wall, Tristran Thorn embarks on a
remarkable journey through the world of Faerie to recover a fallen
star for his lover, the hauntingly beautiful Victoria Forester.
53
Cryptonomicon
More than 50 years after Lawrence Pritchard Waterhouse and
Sergeant Bobby Shaftoe are assigned to Detachment 2702, a
secret cryptographic mission, their grandchildren — Randy and
Amy — join forces to create a "data haven" in the South Pacific,
only to uncover a massive conspiracy with roots in Detachment
2702.
54
World War Z
An Oral History Of The Zombie War
An account of the decade-long conflict between humankind and
hordes of the predatory undead is told from the perspective of
dozens of survivors — soldiers, politicians, civilians and others —
who describe in their own words the epic human battle for survival.
55
The Last Unicorn
by Neil Gaiman
by Neal Stephenson
by Max Brooks
by Peter S. Beagle
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Recounts the quest of the last unicorn, who leaves the protection of the
enchanted forest to search for her own kind, and who is joined by Schmedrick
the Magician and Molly Grue in her search.
56
The Forever War
Drafted into the ranks of Earth's interstellar warriors, private
William Mandella finds his fight against the Taurans secondary to the sideeffects
of faster-than-light space travel, which affects the rate at which he ages.
57
Small Gods
A Novel Of Discworld
Brutha, a simple man leading a quiet life tending his garden, finds
his life irrevocably changed when his god, speaking to him
through a tortoise, sends him on a mission of peace.
58
The Chronicles Of Thomas Covenant The Unbeliever
by Joe Haldeman
by Terry Pratchett
by Stephen R. Donaldson
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In this first trilogy, reclusive, guilt-ridden writer Thomas Covenant finds himself
transported to a magical realm where he is hailed as a hero who wields powerful
magic — and where he finds his leprosy miraculously cured. Ultimately, he must
defeat the malevolent Lord Foul to save the Land — and his own sanity.
59
The Vorkosigan Saga
In a human colony on one of a series of planets connected
by wormholes, a young man who suffers from a series of physical disabilities (the
result of an assassination attempt on his royal parents) grows up to become a
powerful military leader.
60
Going Postal
A Novel Of Discworld
Sentenced to death for forgery and swindling, Moist von Lipwig
accepts an offer of a pardon in exchange for revamping an
ancient post office, but his efforts are thwarted by tons of
undelivered mail, an 18,000-year-old ghost postman, his shoewielding
new girlfriend, and murderous characters who want the
post office shut down.
61
The Mote In God's Eye
by Lois McMaster Bujold
by Terry Pratchett
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The accidental killing of a group of emissaries to
Earth threatens man's survival.
62
The Sword Of Truth Series
Young Richard Cypher gradually embraces his destiny as the
Seeker of Truth, and sets out to stop the evil that others would unleash.
63
The Road
In a novel set in an indefinite, futuristic, post-apocalyptic world,
a father and his young son make their way through the ruins of a devastated
American landscape, struggling to survive and preserve the last remnants of
their own humanity.
64
Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell
by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
by Terry Goodkind
by Cormac McCarthy
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In nineteenth century England, all is going well for rich, reclusive
Mr Norrell, who has regained some of the power of England's
magicians from the past, until a rival magician, Jonathan
Strange, appears and becomes Mr Norrell's pupil.
65
I Am Legend
A lone human survivor in a world that is overrun by vampires,
Robert Neville leads a desperate life in which he must
barricade himself in his home every night and hunt down the
starving undead by day.
66
The Riftwar Saga
Evil entities have opened a rift in the fabric of space-time,
plunging the world of Medkemia into peril. As the battle between Order and
Chaos threatens to engulf everything, reluctant wizard Pug is the only hope of a
thousand worlds.
67
The Sword Of Shannara Trilogy
by Susanna Clarke
by Richard Matheson
by Raymond E. Feist
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Over the course of three novels, several generations of the
Ohmsford family find themselves retrieving magical artifacts in the desperate
hope to fight evil.
68
The Conan The Barbarian Series
Howard's original set of interlinked stories
featuring his muscle-bound warrior represents a classic kind of sword-andsorcery
fantasy adventure in all its pulpy, richly imaginative glory.
69
The Farseer Trilogy
An wily assassin plies his trade while his uncle the Prince confronts
attackers who are turning people into emotionless, zombie-like "Forged ones."
70
The Time Traveler's Wife
by Terry Brooks
by Robert E. Howard and Mark Schultz
by Robin Hobb
by Audrey Niffenegger
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Passionately in love, Clare and Henry vow to hold onto each other and their
marriage as they struggle with the effects of Chrono-Displacement Disorder, a
condition that casts Henry involuntarily into the world of time travel.
71
The Way Of Kings
Introduces the world of Roshar through the experiences of a
war-weary royal compelled by visions, a high-born youth
condemned to military slavery, and a woman who is
desperate to save her impoverished house.
72
Journey To The Center Of The Earth
Follows Professor Lidenbrock, his nephew Axel and their guide
Hans as they venture deep into a volcanic crater in Iceland on a
journey that leads them to the center of the earth and to incredible
and horrifying discoveries.
73
The Legend Of Drizzt Series
by Brandon Sanderson
by Jules Verne
by R. A. Salvatore
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Drizzt Do'Urden, a Dark Elf, finds adventure, peril and awesome magical power
as he confronts the underground civilization of the evil and treacherous
matriarchal race of Drow elves.
74
Old Man's War
Enlisting in the Army on his 75th birthday, John Perry joins an
interstellar war between Earth and alien enemies who would stake
claims on the few existing inhabitable planets, unaware that the
conflict involves much more than he understands.
75
The Diamond Age
The story of an engineer who creates a device to raise a girl
capable of thinking for herself reveals what happens when a
young girl of the poor underclass obtains the device. Literary
Award Winner
76
by John Scalzi
by Neal Stephenson
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Rendezvous With Rama
During the 22nd century, a space probe's investigation of a
mysterious, cylindrical asteroid brings man into contact with an
extra-galactic civilization.
77
The Kushiel's Legacy Series
Sold into indentured servitude at the exotic Night Court as a
child, Phedre faces a difficult choice between honor and duty as she deals with a
world of glittering luxury, conspiracy, sacrifice, and betrayal. Two subsequent
trilogies chronicle the adventures of her adopted son and her distant
descendant.
78
The Dispossessed
An Ambiguous Utopia
Unwilling to accept that his anarchist world must be separated
from the rest of the civilized universe, Shevek, a brilliant
physicist, risks his life by traveling to the utopian mother planet
of Urras.
79
by Arthur C. Clarke
by Jacqueline Carey
by Ursula K. Le Guin
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Something Wicked This Way Comes
When the carnival comes to town, two boys unearth the terrifying
and horrible secrets that lurk within Cooger & Dark's Pandemonium Shadow
Show and learn the consequences of wishes, as a sinister and evil force is at
work in Green Town, Ill.
80
Wicked
The Life And Times Of The Wicked Witch Of The West
Set in an Oz where a morose Wizard battles suicidal thoughts,
the story of the green-skinned Elphaba, otherwise known as the
Wicked Witch of the West, profiles her as an animal-rights
activist striving to avenge her dear sister's death.
81
The Malazan Book Of The Fallen Series
Erickson's densely plotted series jumps around in time to
chronicle the vicissitudes of the sprawling Malazan Empire, a place of shifting
alliances, mysterious mage guilds, assassin gods and military uprisings.
82
The Eyre Affair
by Ray Bradbury
by Gregory Maguire
by Steven Erikson
by Jasper Fforde
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In a world where you can actually get lost (literally) in literature, Thursday Next, a
notorious Special Operative in literary detection, races against time to stop the
world's Third Most Wanted criminal from kidnapping characters, including Jane
Eyre, from works of literature, forcing her to dive into the pages of a novel to stop
literary homicide, in a wildly imaginative, mesmerizing thriller.
83
The Culture Series
A science-fiction series by the author of the Wasp Factory features a
symbiotic human and machine society that is engaged in a galaxy-wide battle to
the death between the Idrians, who fight for their faith, and the Culture, which
defends its right to exist.
84
The Crystal Cave
Stewart's first chapter in her five-volume take on the Arthurian
legend is told from the point of view of young Merlin, who
reluctantly engineers the birth of Arthur.
85
Anathem
by Iain Banks
by Mary Stewart
by Neal Stephenson
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Raz, who has lived in a monastery since childhood, away from the violent
upheavals of the outside world, becomes one of a group of formerly cloistered
scholars who are appointed by a higher power to avert an impending disaster.
86
The Codex Alera Series
In the land of Alera, where people bond with the furies —
elementals of earth, air, fire, water, and metal — young Tavi struggles to cope
with his lack of magical talent, until his homeland erupts into conflict between
rebels and loyalists and Tavi discovers that he holds the key to his realm's
survival.
87
The Book Of The New Sun
In the distant future, after the sun has cooled and dimmed, the
disgraced torturer Sevarian recounts his hard-fought rise to absolute power.
88
The Thrawn Trilogy
by Jim Butcher
by Gene Wolfe
by Timothy Zahn
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Five years after the fall of the Empire, a dying part of the Empire all the more
dangerous near death has just discovered something that could bring it back, the
last of the Emperor's warlords, Admiral Thrawn.
89
The Outlander Series
Hurtled back through time more than 200 hundred years to
Scotland in 1743, Claire Randall finds herself in the midst of a world torn apart
by violence, pestilence and revolution, and haunted by her feelings for a young
soldier.
90
The Elric Saga
Elric of Melnibone, an albino prince, travels in the Ship Which
Sails Over Land and Sea to the city of Dhoz-Kam, through the Shade Gate to the
Pulsing Cavern where the magic swords Stormbringer and Mournblade await
him.
91
by Diana Gabaldon
by Michael Moorcock
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The Illustrated Man
Eighteen science fiction stories deal with love, madness and death
on Mars, Venus and in space.
92
Sunshine
All hope for stopping the vampiric elite from controlling Earth
depends on human SOFs (Special Other Forces) and the
success of their attempt to recruit Sunshine, the daughter of
legendary sorcerer Onyx Blaise.
93
A Fire Upon The Deep
Set in a far-future where space has been portioned into "regions of
thought," a human expedition to an ancient data archive unleashes
the Blight, a superintelligent entity capable of destroying thousands
of worlds.
94
The Caves Of Steel
by Ray Bradbury
by Robin McKinley
by Vernor Vinge
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Fearing a violent confrontation between Earthmen and Spacers,
Detective Baley and his new partner, a robot, investigate the
murder of a Spacetown scientist
95
The Mars Trilogy
On a mission to provide Mars with an Earth-like
atmosphere, John Boone, Maya Toitovna, Frank Chalmers and Arkady
Bogdanov meet stiff resistance from those who will fight to the death to prevent
Mars from being changed.
96
Lucifer's Hammer
As the great Hamner-Brown comet, dubbed
Lucifer's Hammer by the press, approaches Earth,
various business executives, politicians, criminals,
journalists and scientists await the impending
cataclysm and its general and personal effects with
decidedly differing feelings
97
by Isaac Asimov
by Kim Stanley Robinson
by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
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Doomsday Book
Stranded in the 14th century — a time of superstition and fear —
time traveler Kivrin becomes an unlikely angel of hope during
history's darkest hour and awaits rescue by her comrades. Literary
Award Winner
98
Perdido Street Station
In the squalid, Gothic city of New Crobuzon, a mysterious halfhuman,
half-bird stranger comes to Isaac, a gifted but eccentric
scientist, with a request to help him fly, but Isaac's obsessive
experiments and attempts to grant the request unleash a terrifying
dark force on the entire city.
99
The Xanth Series
In Anthony's pun-besotted magical realm (which is shaped a lot
like Florida), every human is born with a unique magical ability, which they use
navigate a landscape full of dragons, goblins, harpies, centaurs and all manner
of eldritch creatures.
by Connie Willis
by China Mieville
by Piers Anthony
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100
The Space Trilogy
Philologist Edwin Ransom travels to Mars and Venus, and makes a
series of dramatic discoveries about Earth's place in the solar system – and the
nature of a threat it unwittingly faces.
Edited by Glen Weldon
by C.S. Lewis
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Your Picks: Top 100 Science-Fiction, Fantasy Books
August 11, 2011
More than 5,000 of you nominated. More than 60,000 of you voted. And now the results are in. The
winners of NPR's Top 100 Science-Fiction and Fantasy survey are an intriguing mix of classic and
contemporary titles. Over on NPR's pop culture blog, Monkey See, you can find one fan's thoughts on
how the list shaped up, get our experts' take, and have the chance to share your own.
A quick word about what's here, and what's not: Our panel of experts reviewed hundreds of the most
popular nominations and tossed out those that didn't fit the survey's criteria (after — we assure you —
much passionate, thoughtful, gleefully nerdy discussion). You'll notice there are no young adult or
horror books on this list, but sit tight, dear reader, we're saving those genres for summers yet to come.
So, at last, here are your favorite science-fiction and fantasy novels. (And a printable version, to take
with you to the bookstore.)
1
The Lord Of The Rings
Tolkien's seminal three-volume epic chronicles the War of the
Ring, in which Frodo the hobbit and his companions set out to
destroy the evil Ring of Power and restore peace to Middle-earth.
The beloved trilogy still casts a long shadow, having established
Chris Silas Neal
by J.R.R. Tolkien
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some of the most familiar and enduring tropes in fantasy
literature. Literary Award Winner
2
The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy
In the first, hilarious volume of Adams' Hitchhiker's series,
reluctant galactic traveler Arthur Dent gets swept up in some
literally Earth-shattering events involving aliens, sperm whales, a
depressed robot, mice who are more than they seem, and some
really, really bad poetry.
3
Ender's Game
Young Andrew "Ender" Wiggin, bred to be a genius, is drafted
to Battle School where he trains to lead the century-long fight against the alien
Buggers.
4
The Dune Chronicles
Follows the adventures of Paul Atreides, the son of a betrayed
duke given up for dead on a treacherous desert planet and adopted by its fierce,
nomadic people, who help him unravel his most unexpected destiny.
by Douglas Adams
by Orson Scott Card
by Frank Herbert
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5
A Song Of Ice And Fire Series
As the Seven Kingdoms face a generation-long winter, the
royal Stark family confronts the poisonous plots of the rival
Lannisters, the emergence of the Neverborn demons, the
arrival of barbarian hordes, and other threats.
6
1984
A Novel
Portrays life in a future time when a totalitarian government
watches over all citizens and directs all activities.
7
Fahrenheit 451
A totalitarian regime has ordered all books to be destroyed, but
one of the book burners suddenly realizes their merit, in a chilling
novel of a frightening near-future world.
by George R.R. Martin
by George Orwell
by Ray Bradbury
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8
The Foundation Trilogy
A band of psychologists, under the leadership of psychohistorian
Hari Seldon, plant a colony to encourage art, science, and technology in the
declining Galactic Empire and to preserve the accumulated knowledge of
humankind.
9
Brave New World
Huxley's classic prophetic novel describes the socialized horrors
of a futuristic utopia devoid of individual freedom.
10
by Isaac Asimov
by Aldous Huxley
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American Gods
On the plane home to attend the funerals of his wife and best
friend, Shadow, an ex-con, encounters an enigmatic stranger who seems to
know a lot about him. When Shadow accepts the stranger's job offer, he finds
himself plunged into a perilous game with the highest of stakes: the soul of
America itself.
11
The Princess Bride
S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale Of True Love And High Adventure
This tale of a handsome farm boy who, aided by a drunken
swordsman and a gentle giant, rescues a beautiful princess
named Buttercup comes with a slyly humorous, metafictional
edge: Goldman claims to have merely abridged an earlier text
by one "S. Morgenstern" (actually a pseudonym) and peppers
his text with clever commentary.
12
The Wheel Of Time Series
At 13 volumes and counting, this sweeping — some would say
sprawling – richly imagined epic chronicles the struggle between servants of the
Dark One and those of the champion of light known as the Dragon Reborn.
13
Animal Farm
by Neil Gaiman
by William Goldman
by Robert Jordan
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Farm animals overthrow their human owners and set up their own
deeply (and familiarly) flawed government. Orwell's mordant satire
of totalitarianism is still a mainstay of ninth-grade reading lists.
14
Neuromancer
Gibson's groundbreaking debut novel follows Case, a burned-out
computer whiz, who is asked to steal a security code that is locked in the most
heavily guarded databank in the solar system. A seminal work in the genre that
would come to be known as cyberpunk.
15
Watchmen
As former members of a disbanded group of
superheroes called the Crimebusters start turning
up dead, the remaining members of the group try to
discover the identity of the murderer before they,
too, are killed. A graphic novel.
16
I, Robot
by George Orwell
by William Gibson
by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons
by Isaac Asimov
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Isaac Asimov changed our perception of robots forever when he formulated the
laws governing their behavior. In I, Robot, Asimov chronicles the development of
the robot through a series of interlinked stories: from its primitive origins in the
present to its ultimate perfection in the not-so-distant future — a future in which
humanity itself may be rendered obsolete.
17
Stranger In A Strange Land
Valentine Michael Smith, born and raised on Mars, arrives on
Earth stunning Western culture with his superhuman abilities.
18
The Kingkiller Chronicles
This suspenseful coming-of-age story folllows Kvothe as he
recounts his transformation from a magically gifted young man into the most
notorious wizard, musician, thief and assassin in his world.
19
Slaughterhouse-Five
by Robert A. Heinlein
by Patrick Rothfuss
by Kurt Vonnegut
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Billy Pilgrim returns home from World War II only to be kidnapped by aliens from
the planet Tralfamadore, who teach him that time is an eternal present.
20
Frankenstein
Mary Shelley's chilling portrait of a scientist obsessed
with creating life (whose eventual success comes at
too great a cost) was among the first works of science
fiction ever produced. Its potent allegorical power,
compelling ethical and philosophical themes, and its
sheer creepiness have ensured it remains one of the
most enduring and influential as well.
21
Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?
Dick's trippy novel tells of sophisticated off-world androids who turn
against their creators, slip back to a post-apocalyptic Earth, and
must be hunted down by bounty hunter Rick Deckard. The book
inspired — albeit very loosely — the 1982 Ridley Scott film Blade
Runner.
22
The Handmaid's Tale
by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
by Philip K. Dick
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A chilling look at the near future presents the story of Offred, a
Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead, once the United States, an
oppressive world where women are no longer allowed to read
and are valued only as long as they are viable for reproduction.
23
The Dark Tower Series
Roland, the world's last gunslinger, tracks an enigmatic Man in
Black toward a forbidding dark tower, fighting forces both mortal and other
worldly on his quest.
24
2001: A Space Odyssey
Two astronauts find their journey into space and their very lives
jeopardized by the jealousy of an extraordinary computer named
HAL.
25
The Stand
by Margaret Atwood
by Stephen King
by Arthur C. Clarke
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A monumentally devastating plague leaves only a few survivors
who, while experiencing dreams of a battle between good and evil,
move toward an actual confrontation as they migrate to Boulder,
Colo.
26
Snow Crash
Weaving contemporary imagery with Sumerian myths,
Stephenson's third novel revolves around a mysterious "pseudo
-narcotic" Snow Crash that is capable of affecting people both
within — and without — the alternate-reality Internet called the
"Metaverse."
27
The Martian Chronicles
The tranquillity of Mars is disrupted by the earthmen who have
come to conquer space, colonize the planet, and escape a
doomed Earth.
28
Cat's Cradle
by Stephen King
by Neal Stephenson
by Ray Bradbury
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A young writer decides to interview the children of a scientist
primarily responsible for the creation of the atomic bomb.
29
The Sandman Series
Gaiman originally told his tale of Morpheus, the Dream King, whose
interactions with mortals rarely end well, and whose fractious extended family
includes the personifications of Death, Despair, Desire and Destiny, in a 75-
issue comic book series over several years; the hugely influential series is now
collected in ten trade volumes.
30
A Clockwork Orange
Burgess created his own youth slang for this acid satire of
contemporary culture which follows young Alex as he makes
his merry way through a dystopia of drugs, sex and ruthless
violence, only to be chosen for a psychological experiment
meant to mend his ways.
31
Starship Troopers
by Kurt Vonnegut
by Neil Gaiman
by Anthony Burgess
by Robert A. Heinlein
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In one of Robert A. Heinlein's most controversial novels, a recruit of the future
goes through the toughest boot camp in the universe and into battle with the
Terran Mobile Infantry against humankind's most frightening enemy.
32
Watership Down
An allegorical tale of survival about a band of wild rabbits who
leave their ancestral home to build a more humane society
chronicles their adventures as they search for a safe place to
establish a new warren where they can live in peace.
33
Dragonflight
At a time when the number of Dragonriders has fallen too low for
safety and only one Weyr trains the creatures and their riders, the Red Star
approaches Pern, threatening the planet with disaster.
34
The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress
by Richard Adams
by Anne McCaffrey
by Robert A. Heinlein
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A one-armed computer technician, a radical blond bombshell, an aging
academic and a sentient all-knowing computer lead the lunar population in a
revolution against Earth's colonial rule.
35
A Canticle For Leibowitz
Miller's 1959 novel follows the Monks of the Order of St.
Leibowitz as they attempt to preserve the remnants of
civilization after a nuclear war.
36
The Time Machine
Wells' classic 1895 story of an unassuming British inventor who
creates a device that sends him hurtling into the far future – A.D.
802,701, to be precise – where subterranean Morlocks prey upon the
childlike Eloi.
37
20,000 Leagues Under The Sea
by Walter M. Miller Jr.
by H.G. Wells
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Professor Arronax and his two companions, trapped aboard a
fantastic submarine as prisoners of the deranged Captain Nemo,
come face to face with exotic ocean creatures and strange sights
hidden from the world above.
38
Flowers For Algernon
When brain surgery makes a mouse into a genius, dull-witted
Charlie Gordon wonders if it might also work for him.
39
The War Of The Worlds
With advanced machines of destruction, aliens from another planet
swoop down on planet Earth and begin their conquest, in the classic
sci-fi work by the author of The Time Machine.
40
The Amber Chronicles
by Jules Verne
by Daniel Keyes
by H.G. Wells
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Zelazny's tales of Corwin, prince of the "true world" of Amber (of
which our Earth is merely a shadow) and his son Merlin, a magic-user/computer
hacker, have spanned several decades. Amid the eternal struggle between
Order and Chaos, Zelazny delights in tossing in allusions to Shakespeare, the
Tarot and quantum mechanics.
41
The Belgariad
Edding's five-volume epic fantasy follows young farmboy Garion
as he is drawn into a quest for a stolen mystical orb, and the rich world of
prophecy and power that surrounds it.
42
The Mists Of Avalon
Retells the legend of King Arthur as perceived by the
women central to the tale, from the zealous Morgaine,
sworn to uphold her goddess at any cost, to the devout
Gwenhwyfar, pledged to the king but drawn to another.
43
Mistborn Trilogy
by Roger Zelazny
by David Eddings
by Marion Zimmer Bradley
by Brandon Sanderson
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In a world where special magic users called Allomancers can employ metals to
enhance their physical and mental abilities, a young thief discovers her destiny
and sets out to overthrow the Lord Ruler.
44
Ringworld
Niven's hugely influential 1970 novel of an outer space expedition to
a mysterious object – a vast artificial world in the shape of a ring –
that goes horribly wrong.
45
The Left Hand Of Darkness
While on a mission to the planet Gethen — a world whose
inhabitants can change their gender — earthling Genly Ai is sent by leaders of
the nation of Orgoreyn to a concentration camp. The exiled prime minister of the
nation of Karhide tries to rescue him.
46
The Silmarillion
by Larry Niven
by Ursula K. Le Guin
by J.R.R. Tolkien
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These creation myths of Tolkien's Middle-earth, for those who found The Lord of
the Rings too breezy and slight: In the author's characteristic Beowulfian prose,
he recounts the legends of the world's beginnings, the downfall of its gods and
men, and the events that changed the face of Middle-earth forever.
47
The Once And Future King
Describes King Arthur's life from his childhood to the coronation,
creation of the Round Table, and search for the Holy Grail.
48
Neverwhere
Gaiman's wry, darkly whimsical tale of an average young
businessman who stops to help a girl bleeding on a London
sidewalk and finds himself pulled into a bizarre subterranean world.
49
Childhood's End
by T.H. White
by Neil Gaiman
by Arthur C. Clarke
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The author questions the survival of mankind in this science-fiction tale about
Overlords from outer space who dominate the world.
50
Contact
In 1999, a multinational team of astronauts ventures deep into outer
space, where they come face to face with an advanced alien
civilization.
51
The Hyperion Cantos
Seven pilgrims undertake a voyage to the world of Hyperion —
dominated by a fearsome and mysterious creature called the Shrike — where
they hope to learn the secret that will save humanity.
52
by Carl Sagan
by Dan Simmons
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Stardust
In the quiet English hamlet of Wall, Tristran Thorn embarks on a
remarkable journey through the world of Faerie to recover a fallen
star for his lover, the hauntingly beautiful Victoria Forester.
53
Cryptonomicon
More than 50 years after Lawrence Pritchard Waterhouse and
Sergeant Bobby Shaftoe are assigned to Detachment 2702, a
secret cryptographic mission, their grandchildren — Randy and
Amy — join forces to create a "data haven" in the South Pacific,
only to uncover a massive conspiracy with roots in Detachment
2702.
54
World War Z
An Oral History Of The Zombie War
An account of the decade-long conflict between humankind and
hordes of the predatory undead is told from the perspective of
dozens of survivors — soldiers, politicians, civilians and others —
who describe in their own words the epic human battle for survival.
55
The Last Unicorn
by Neil Gaiman
by Neal Stephenson
by Max Brooks
by Peter S. Beagle
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Recounts the quest of the last unicorn, who leaves the protection of the
enchanted forest to search for her own kind, and who is joined by Schmedrick
the Magician and Molly Grue in her search.
56
The Forever War
Drafted into the ranks of Earth's interstellar warriors, private
William Mandella finds his fight against the Taurans secondary to the sideeffects
of faster-than-light space travel, which affects the rate at which he ages.
57
Small Gods
A Novel Of Discworld
Brutha, a simple man leading a quiet life tending his garden, finds
his life irrevocably changed when his god, speaking to him
through a tortoise, sends him on a mission of peace.
58
The Chronicles Of Thomas Covenant The Unbeliever
by Joe Haldeman
by Terry Pratchett
by Stephen R. Donaldson
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In this first trilogy, reclusive, guilt-ridden writer Thomas Covenant finds himself
transported to a magical realm where he is hailed as a hero who wields powerful
magic — and where he finds his leprosy miraculously cured. Ultimately, he must
defeat the malevolent Lord Foul to save the Land — and his own sanity.
59
The Vorkosigan Saga
In a human colony on one of a series of planets connected
by wormholes, a young man who suffers from a series of physical disabilities (the
result of an assassination attempt on his royal parents) grows up to become a
powerful military leader.
60
Going Postal
A Novel Of Discworld
Sentenced to death for forgery and swindling, Moist von Lipwig
accepts an offer of a pardon in exchange for revamping an
ancient post office, but his efforts are thwarted by tons of
undelivered mail, an 18,000-year-old ghost postman, his shoewielding
new girlfriend, and murderous characters who want the
post office shut down.
61
The Mote In God's Eye
by Lois McMaster Bujold
by Terry Pratchett
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The accidental killing of a group of emissaries to
Earth threatens man's survival.
62
The Sword Of Truth Series
Young Richard Cypher gradually embraces his destiny as the
Seeker of Truth, and sets out to stop the evil that others would unleash.
63
The Road
In a novel set in an indefinite, futuristic, post-apocalyptic world,
a father and his young son make their way through the ruins of a devastated
American landscape, struggling to survive and preserve the last remnants of
their own humanity.
64
Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell
by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
by Terry Goodkind
by Cormac McCarthy
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In nineteenth century England, all is going well for rich, reclusive
Mr Norrell, who has regained some of the power of England's
magicians from the past, until a rival magician, Jonathan
Strange, appears and becomes Mr Norrell's pupil.
65
I Am Legend
A lone human survivor in a world that is overrun by vampires,
Robert Neville leads a desperate life in which he must
barricade himself in his home every night and hunt down the
starving undead by day.
66
The Riftwar Saga
Evil entities have opened a rift in the fabric of space-time,
plunging the world of Medkemia into peril. As the battle between Order and
Chaos threatens to engulf everything, reluctant wizard Pug is the only hope of a
thousand worlds.
67
The Sword Of Shannara Trilogy
by Susanna Clarke
by Richard Matheson
by Raymond E. Feist
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Over the course of three novels, several generations of the
Ohmsford family find themselves retrieving magical artifacts in the desperate
hope to fight evil.
68
The Conan The Barbarian Series
Howard's original set of interlinked stories
featuring his muscle-bound warrior represents a classic kind of sword-andsorcery
fantasy adventure in all its pulpy, richly imaginative glory.
69
The Farseer Trilogy
An wily assassin plies his trade while his uncle the Prince confronts
attackers who are turning people into emotionless, zombie-like "Forged ones."
70
The Time Traveler's Wife
by Terry Brooks
by Robert E. Howard and Mark Schultz
by Robin Hobb
by Audrey Niffenegger
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Passionately in love, Clare and Henry vow to hold onto each other and their
marriage as they struggle with the effects of Chrono-Displacement Disorder, a
condition that casts Henry involuntarily into the world of time travel.
71
The Way Of Kings
Introduces the world of Roshar through the experiences of a
war-weary royal compelled by visions, a high-born youth
condemned to military slavery, and a woman who is
desperate to save her impoverished house.
72
Journey To The Center Of The Earth
Follows Professor Lidenbrock, his nephew Axel and their guide
Hans as they venture deep into a volcanic crater in Iceland on a
journey that leads them to the center of the earth and to incredible
and horrifying discoveries.
73
The Legend Of Drizzt Series
by Brandon Sanderson
by Jules Verne
by R. A. Salvatore
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Drizzt Do'Urden, a Dark Elf, finds adventure, peril and awesome magical power
as he confronts the underground civilization of the evil and treacherous
matriarchal race of Drow elves.
74
Old Man's War
Enlisting in the Army on his 75th birthday, John Perry joins an
interstellar war between Earth and alien enemies who would stake
claims on the few existing inhabitable planets, unaware that the
conflict involves much more than he understands.
75
The Diamond Age
The story of an engineer who creates a device to raise a girl
capable of thinking for herself reveals what happens when a
young girl of the poor underclass obtains the device. Literary
Award Winner
76
by John Scalzi
by Neal Stephenson
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Rendezvous With Rama
During the 22nd century, a space probe's investigation of a
mysterious, cylindrical asteroid brings man into contact with an
extra-galactic civilization.
77
The Kushiel's Legacy Series
Sold into indentured servitude at the exotic Night Court as a
child, Phedre faces a difficult choice between honor and duty as she deals with a
world of glittering luxury, conspiracy, sacrifice, and betrayal. Two subsequent
trilogies chronicle the adventures of her adopted son and her distant
descendant.
78
The Dispossessed
An Ambiguous Utopia
Unwilling to accept that his anarchist world must be separated
from the rest of the civilized universe, Shevek, a brilliant
physicist, risks his life by traveling to the utopian mother planet
of Urras.
79
by Arthur C. Clarke
by Jacqueline Carey
by Ursula K. Le Guin
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Something Wicked This Way Comes
When the carnival comes to town, two boys unearth the terrifying
and horrible secrets that lurk within Cooger & Dark's Pandemonium Shadow
Show and learn the consequences of wishes, as a sinister and evil force is at
work in Green Town, Ill.
80
Wicked
The Life And Times Of The Wicked Witch Of The West
Set in an Oz where a morose Wizard battles suicidal thoughts,
the story of the green-skinned Elphaba, otherwise known as the
Wicked Witch of the West, profiles her as an animal-rights
activist striving to avenge her dear sister's death.
81
The Malazan Book Of The Fallen Series
Erickson's densely plotted series jumps around in time to
chronicle the vicissitudes of the sprawling Malazan Empire, a place of shifting
alliances, mysterious mage guilds, assassin gods and military uprisings.
82
The Eyre Affair
by Ray Bradbury
by Gregory Maguire
by Steven Erikson
by Jasper Fforde
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In a world where you can actually get lost (literally) in literature, Thursday Next, a
notorious Special Operative in literary detection, races against time to stop the
world's Third Most Wanted criminal from kidnapping characters, including Jane
Eyre, from works of literature, forcing her to dive into the pages of a novel to stop
literary homicide, in a wildly imaginative, mesmerizing thriller.
83
The Culture Series
A science-fiction series by the author of the Wasp Factory features a
symbiotic human and machine society that is engaged in a galaxy-wide battle to
the death between the Idrians, who fight for their faith, and the Culture, which
defends its right to exist.
84
The Crystal Cave
Stewart's first chapter in her five-volume take on the Arthurian
legend is told from the point of view of young Merlin, who
reluctantly engineers the birth of Arthur.
85
Anathem
by Iain Banks
by Mary Stewart
by Neal Stephenson
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Raz, who has lived in a monastery since childhood, away from the violent
upheavals of the outside world, becomes one of a group of formerly cloistered
scholars who are appointed by a higher power to avert an impending disaster.
86
The Codex Alera Series
In the land of Alera, where people bond with the furies —
elementals of earth, air, fire, water, and metal — young Tavi struggles to cope
with his lack of magical talent, until his homeland erupts into conflict between
rebels and loyalists and Tavi discovers that he holds the key to his realm's
survival.
87
The Book Of The New Sun
In the distant future, after the sun has cooled and dimmed, the
disgraced torturer Sevarian recounts his hard-fought rise to absolute power.
88
The Thrawn Trilogy
by Jim Butcher
by Gene Wolfe
by Timothy Zahn
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Five years after the fall of the Empire, a dying part of the Empire all the more
dangerous near death has just discovered something that could bring it back, the
last of the Emperor's warlords, Admiral Thrawn.
89
The Outlander Series
Hurtled back through time more than 200 hundred years to
Scotland in 1743, Claire Randall finds herself in the midst of a world torn apart
by violence, pestilence and revolution, and haunted by her feelings for a young
soldier.
90
The Elric Saga
Elric of Melnibone, an albino prince, travels in the Ship Which
Sails Over Land and Sea to the city of Dhoz-Kam, through the Shade Gate to the
Pulsing Cavern where the magic swords Stormbringer and Mournblade await
him.
91
by Diana Gabaldon
by Michael Moorcock
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The Illustrated Man
Eighteen science fiction stories deal with love, madness and death
on Mars, Venus and in space.
92
Sunshine
All hope for stopping the vampiric elite from controlling Earth
depends on human SOFs (Special Other Forces) and the
success of their attempt to recruit Sunshine, the daughter of
legendary sorcerer Onyx Blaise.
93
A Fire Upon The Deep
Set in a far-future where space has been portioned into "regions of
thought," a human expedition to an ancient data archive unleashes
the Blight, a superintelligent entity capable of destroying thousands
of worlds.
94
The Caves Of Steel
by Ray Bradbury
by Robin McKinley
by Vernor Vinge
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Fearing a violent confrontation between Earthmen and Spacers,
Detective Baley and his new partner, a robot, investigate the
murder of a Spacetown scientist
95
The Mars Trilogy
On a mission to provide Mars with an Earth-like
atmosphere, John Boone, Maya Toitovna, Frank Chalmers and Arkady
Bogdanov meet stiff resistance from those who will fight to the death to prevent
Mars from being changed.
96
Lucifer's Hammer
As the great Hamner-Brown comet, dubbed
Lucifer's Hammer by the press, approaches Earth,
various business executives, politicians, criminals,
journalists and scientists await the impending
cataclysm and its general and personal effects with
decidedly differing feelings
97
by Isaac Asimov
by Kim Stanley Robinson
by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
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Doomsday Book
Stranded in the 14th century — a time of superstition and fear —
time traveler Kivrin becomes an unlikely angel of hope during
history's darkest hour and awaits rescue by her comrades. Literary
Award Winner
98
Perdido Street Station
In the squalid, Gothic city of New Crobuzon, a mysterious halfhuman,
half-bird stranger comes to Isaac, a gifted but eccentric
scientist, with a request to help him fly, but Isaac's obsessive
experiments and attempts to grant the request unleash a terrifying
dark force on the entire city.
99
The Xanth Series
In Anthony's pun-besotted magical realm (which is shaped a lot
like Florida), every human is born with a unique magical ability, which they use
navigate a landscape full of dragons, goblins, harpies, centaurs and all manner
of eldritch creatures.
by Connie Willis
by China Mieville
by Piers Anthony
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100
The Space Trilogy
Philologist Edwin Ransom travels to Mars and Venus, and makes a
series of dramatic discoveries about Earth's place in the solar system – and the
nature of a threat it unwittingly faces.
Edited by Glen Weldon
by C.S. Lewis
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