Ex Libris

A coworker challenged me to compile my top 100 sci-fi and fantasy books list after looking at another list online and this was what I painfully managed to come up with over four days. As you can probably tell from the list, I read a lot more fantasy than science fiction. I’ve also included some graphic novels/comic series. I tried to put together the list using a combination of how I judged the books in terms of a combination of: literary value/fun/impact. So book series I didn’t really care for but I know have had a huge impact have made it on, or moved up on the list, because of their impact. The top 10 was the most difficult, and the top 10 should probably most generally be seen as ‘the top 10′ and not as their individual places in that top 10, though I won’t quite say they are in ‘any order’. I did try to order them but didn’t feel great about said order. These are confined to books I have read, and I am sure there would be other books that would have made it on if I had read them.

Top 100 Fantasy & Science Fiction Books/Series

1. Perdido Street Station – China Mieville
2. The Song of Ice and Fire – George RR Martin
3. Hyperion – Dan Simmons
4. Dune – Frank Herbert
5. The Dark Tower – Stephen King
6. The Once and Future King – T.H. White
7. The Book of the New Sun – Gene Wolfe
8. The Left Hand of Darkness – Ursula K Le Guin
9. His Dark Materials – Phillip Pullman
10. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – Douglas Adams
11. The Forgotten Beasts of Eld – Patricia McKillip
12. Good Omens – Gaiman & Prachett
13. American Gods – Neil Gaiman
14. Redwall – Brian Jacques
15. Brave New World – Aldous Huxley
16. Fareinheit 451 – Ray Bradbury
17. The Black Company – Glen Cook
18. Neuromancer – William Gibson
19. Watchmen – Alan Moore
20. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? – Phillip K Dick
21. Kushiel’s Dart – Jacqueline Carey
22. Wizard’s First Rule – Terry Goodkind
23. A Clockwork Orange – Anthony Burgess
24. Slaughterhouse 5 – Kurt Vonnegut
25. Y: The Last Man (comic series) – Brian K Vaughan
26. Hellboy (comic series) – Mike Mignola
27. Tales of Nevèrÿon – Samuel Delaney
28. The Lord of the Rings – JRR Tolkien
29. 1984 – George Orwell
30. At the Mountains of Madness – HP Lovecraft
31. The Giver – Lois Lowry
32. The Sandman – Neil Gaiman
33. Deerskin – Robin McKinley
34. The Handmaiden’s Tale – Margarett Atwood
35. The Colour of Magic – Terry Prachett
36. Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas – Tom Robbins
37. Parable of the Sower – Octavia Butler
38. Rhapsody – Elizabeth Haydon
39. Alice in Wonderland – Lewis Carroll
40. The Martian Chronicles – Ray Bradbury
41. The Dark Knight Returns – Frank Miller
42. V for Vendetta – Alan Moore
43. The Fall of Hyperion – Dan Simmons
44. Beauty – Robin McKinley
45. Ombria in Shadow – Patricia McKillip
46. The Enchanted Forest Chronicles – Patricia C Wrede
47. Fables (comic series) – Bill Willingham
48. Stardust – Neil Gaiman
49. The Princess Bride – William Goldman
50. The Scar – China Mieville
51. Sabriel – Garth Nix
52. Wicked – Gregory Maguire
53. Swords and Deviltry (Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser) – Fritz Lieber
54. The Thief of Always – Clive Barker
55. Neverwhere – Neil Gaiman
56. The Wyrd Sisters – Terry Prachett
57. The Alphabet of Thorn – Patricia McKillip
58. The Last Unicorn – Peter S Beagle
59. Runaways (comic series) – Brian K Vaughan
60. The Black God – J. Gregory Keyes
61. Elantris – Brandon Sandersen
62. Coyote Blue – Christopher Moore
63. The Earthsea Saga – Ursula K Le Guin
64. The Mists of Avalon – Marion Zimmer Bradley
65. Harry Potter – JK Rowling
66. Mistborn – Brandon Sanderson
67. Oryx and Crake – Margaret Atwood
68. Preacher (comic series) – Garth Ennis
69. Mattimeo – Brian Jacques
70. The Book of Atrix Wolfe – Patricia McKillip
71. The Hobbit – JRR Tolkien
72. Magician – Raymond E Feist
73. The War of the Worlds – HG Wells
74. Dracula – Bram Stoker
75. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – Roald Dahl
76. Titus Groan – Mervyn Peake
77. A Scanner Darkly – Philip K Dick
78. The Odyssey – Homer
79. The Chronicles of Narnia – CS Lewis
80. Atop a Pale Horse – Piers Anthony
81. A Wrinkle in Time – Madeleine L’Engle
82. The Snow Queen – Joan D. Vinge
83. A Spell for Chameleon – Piers Anthony
84. The Farseer Apprentice – Robin Hobb
85. Elric of Melnibone – Michael Moorecock
86. A Midsummer Night’s Dream – William Shakespeare
87. The Puppet Masters – Robert Heinlein
88. The Black Unicorn – Tanith Lee
89. The Chronicles of Pyrdain – Lloyd Alexander
90. The Dark is Rising – Susan Cooper
91. Dr. Strange – The Oath – Brian K Vaughan
92. Meridian (comic series) – Barbara Kesel
93. Dragonflight – Anne McCaffery
94. Interview With the Vampire – Anne Rice
95. The Eye of the World – Robert Jordan
96. Ella Enchanted – Gail Carson Levine
97. Briar Rose – Jane Yolen
98. Sister Light, Sister Dark – Jane Yolen
99. Magic Kingdom, For Sale, Sold! – Terry Brooks
100. The Hero and the Crown – Robin McKinley