Score

I totally disagree with Ayn Rand's books and "A Clockwork Orange" being classified as science fiction. I might be persuaded that everyone should read them, but not as works of sci-fi.

Lora, this list is now 345 books, not 100. Do you want me to clean it?

Kathryn wrote: "I totally disagree with Ayn Rand's books and "A Clockwork Orange" being classified as science fiction. I might be persuaded that everyone should read them, but not as works of sci-fi."

I don't know Ayn Rand's books but 'A Clockwork Orange'is clearly - for me at least - a science fiction novel, not least for the fact that it is set in a dystopian future and has been generally accepted as an SF novel for as long as I can remember.

"Atlas Shrugged" is not science fiction.

Kathryn wrote: "I totally disagree with Ayn Rand's books and "A Clockwork Orange" being classified as science fiction. I might be persuaded that everyone should read them, but not as works of sci-fi."

I agree - they are political fiction.

Where are any of the Ketty Jay series by Chris Wooding? Excellent, entertainment. Retribution Falls to Ace of Skulls, all fantastic and not one on this list. Or how about books by Peter F Hamilton? Iain M Banks? Dan Worth? The compiler of this list aught to read more recent UK Sci-fi. This list just has the same ol' same old.

Edit: Rather than moan about it, I've added a few to the list. I suspect other will add more ;-)

Since when was it the case that political fiction could not be Science Fiction? You would have to lose '1984' from the list in that case.

I don't consider 1984 to be science fiction, even though it is usually at or near the top of lists of best science fiction. It is alternate history and/or political fiction. On the other hand, it's hard to put Atlas Shrugged in the same league with 1984.

Recently I came across a science fiction list (it may have been in Listopia, but I can't find it now) which made the statement that books in the genres of fantasy, horror, and alternate history added to the list would be deleted by the moderators. I subscribe to that more restrictive attitude towards the definition of science fiction.

I've never read Atlas Shrugged. Can't comment. I tend to side with David Pringle, editor of 'Interzone' for many years and author of 'Science Fiction - The 100 Best Novels' which includes '1984' and I think, 'A Clockwork Orange". I would exclude Fantasy and Horror simply because they are distinct genres although there are always crossover cases. However, excluding Alternate History novels would exclude classic novels such as 'Bring The Jubilee', 'Pavane' and Kingsley Amis' 'The Alteration' as well as Philip K Dick's 'The Man in The High Castle.'
SF has always been a broad church and should remain so.

Oh please not another list hijacked by this dubious character of J.K. Accinni. She and her sockpuppets are doing this across majority of sci-fi oriented lists. Please, delete the "Alien Species Intervention Books 1-3" from the list, it's currently 7th place. And it's not on the Bookstove list, I checked.

The species intervention series also occupies spots 58 through 63. I've read many, if not most, of the books on the first page of this list - never heard of this series.

All deleted.

How did Ayn Rand end up on this list? Her philosophy books have nothing to do with sci-fi.
Also, while Flowers for Algernon is an amazing book, I don't know if it really is science-fiction. While science causes the drama, it isn't really the point.

I recognize that we should be broad-minded, but why include books where scientific "What If?"s have nothing do to with the setting?

Home » Science Fiction » 100 Science Fiction Novels Everyone Should Read

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100 Science Fiction Novels Everyone Should Read
Published by jharmon, July 19, 2010
While the science fiction genre might not be for everyone, readers who pass on it are missing some excellent literature. Below are 100 science fiction novels that are important works of literature, downright excellent or both.

For purposes of classification and simplification, the term “science fiction” is sometimes used quite loosely for some of these titles. While some specific titles might not be hardcore science fiction, the titles were produced by authors traditionally known as science fiction authors. The authors’ names will follow the titles.

The Postman – David Brin
The Uplift War – David Brin
Neuromancer – William Gibson
Foundation – Isaac Asimov
Foundation and Empire – Isaac Asimov
Second Foundation – Isaac Asimov
I, Robot – Isaac Asimov
The Long Tomorrow – Leigh Brackett
Rogue Moon – Algis Budrys
The Martian Chronicles – Ray Bradbury
Fahrenheit 451 – Ray Bradbury
Something Wicked This Way Comes – Ray Bradbury
Childhood’s End – Arthur C. Clarke
The City and the Stars – Arthur C. Clarke
2001: A Space Odyssey – Arthur C. Clarke
Armor – John Steakley
Imperial Stars – E. E. Smith
Frankenstein – Mary Shelley
Ender’s Game – Orson Scott Card
Speaker for the Dead – Orson Scott Card
Dune – Frank Herbert
The Dosadi Experiment – Frank Herbert
Journey Beyond Tomorrow – Robert Sheckley
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – Douglas Adams
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? – Philip K. Dick
Valis – Philip K. Dick
A Scanner Darkly – Philip K. Dick
The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch – Philip K. Dick
1984 – George Orwell
Slaughterhouse Five – Kurt Vonnegut
Cat’s Cradle – Kurt Vonnegut
The War of the Worlds – H. G. Wells
The Time Machine – H. G. Wells
The Island of Doctor Moreau – H. G. Wells
The Invisible Man – H. G. Wells
A Canticle for Leibowitz – Walter M. Miller, Jr.
Alas, Babylon – Pat Frank
A Clockwork Orange – Anthony Burgess
A Journey to the Center of the Earth – Jules Verne
From the Earth to the Moon – Jules Verne
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea – Jules Verne
Old Man’s War – John Scalzi
Nova Express – William S. Burroughs
Ringworld – Larry Niven
The Mote in God’s Eye – Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
The Unreasoning Mask – Philip Jose Farmer
To Your Scattered Bodies Go – Philip Jose Farmer
Eon – Greg Bear
Jurassic Park – Michael Crichton
The Andromeda Strain – Michael Crichton
Lightning – Dean Koontz
The Stainless Steel Rat – Harry Harrison
The Fifth Head of Cerebus – Gene Wolfe
Nightside of the Long Sun – Gene Wolfe
A Princess of Mars – Edgar Rice Burroughs
Cryptonomicon – Neal Stephenson
Snow Crash – Neal Stephenson
The Stars My Destination – Alfred Bester
Solaris – Stanislaw Lem
Doomsday Book – Connie Wills
Beserker – Fred Saberhagen
Time Traveler’s Wife – Audrey Niffenegger
The Word for World is Forest – Ursula K. LeGuin
The Dispossessed – Ursula K. LeGuin
Babel-17 – Samuel R. Delany
Dhalgren – Samuel R. Delany
Flowers for Algernon – Daniel Keyes
The Forever War – Joe Haldeman
Star King – Jack Vance
The Killing Machine – Jack Vance
Trullion: Alastor 2262 – Jack Vance
Hyperion – Dan Simmons
Starship Troopers – Robert A. Heinlein
Stranger in a Strange Land – Robert A. Heinlein
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress – Robert A. Heinlein
A Wrinkle in Time – Madeleine L’Engle
More Than Human – Theodore Sturgeon
A Time of Changes – Robert Silverberg
Gateway – Frederick Pohl
Man Plus - Frederick Pohl
The Day of the Triffids – John Wyndham
Mission of Gravity – Hal Clement
The Execution Channel – Ken Macleod
Last and First Men – W. Olaf Stapledon
Slan – A. E. van Vogt
Out of the Silent Planet – C. S. Lewis
They Shall Have Stars – James Blish
Marooned in Realtime – Vernor Vinge
A Fire Upon the Deep – Vernor Vinge
The People Maker – Damon Knight
The Giver – Lois Lowry
The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood
Contact – Carl Sagan
Atlas Shrugged – Ayn Rand
The Fountainhead – Ayn Rand
Battlefield Earth – L. Ron Hubbard
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court – Mark Twain
Little Brother – Cory Doctorow
Invasion of the Body Snatchers – Jack Finney
Planet of the Apes – Pierre Boulle

Reading a title and description properly seems so hard for some voters.... The title clearly says 100 Science Fiction Novels and the description Do not add books to this list, yet there are 288 books on this list instead of 100...