Without further ado... Top Ten Novels

[Violanthe]

Is has been over four months in the making, but at long last our Top Ten SF Novels list is done! I'd like, once again, to thank everyone on this page who contributed their votes, opinions, and feedback to this project. I hope you will find that the final list was worth your while. If you're willing to do it all again, then I hope you'll stop by and vote for our newest list, the Top Ten SF Characters.

Even if you didn't get a chance to vote for the Top Ten Novels, we still welcome your opinions. What do you think of the list? Do you find it an accurate representation of SF greats? What would you add? What would you take away? Who got unfairly ignored? What books were ranked too high? Do you find this list predictable? Does it contain any surprises?

Top Ten Speculative Fiction Novels (or Trilogies) of All Time

1. Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

2. Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein

3. 1984 by George Orwell

4. Dune by Frank Herbert

5. The Foundation Trilogy by Isaac Asimov

6. The Book of New Sun by Gene Wolfe

6. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

8. At the Mountains of Madness by H.P. Lovecraft

9. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

10. The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick

If you're interested to see further results (books ranked 11-80), as well as reader commentary on this Top Ten, please feel free to check out the full article.

 

[WoundedThorns]

1. Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien ?

oh man, i can't wait to see this..

9. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

i actually just returned that book today. didn't get past 4 chapters. meh, i just couldn't get into it.


just my opinions

 

[sirmyk]

I thought I would post some of the top 100, which proves this list is bogus. While I do enjoy reading Lord of the Rings, I wouldn't say it's better than Frankenstein or the I, Robot series. And what the hell is The Silmarillion doing up so high on the list at number 19? Lord of the Flies and War of the Worlds get screwed sharing the 64 spot? No books from The Dark Tower series made it? This list is embarassing.

01. Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
09. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
19. The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien
26. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? By Philip K. Dick
29. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling
29. I, Robot by Isaac Asimov
38. Moby Dick by Herman Melville
51. The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
51. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
64. Lord of the Flies by William Golding
64. War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells
80. The Life of Pi by Yann Martel

 

[steffee]

I couldn't stick with Hitch-Hikers Guide to the Galaxy either.

 

[Violanthe]

The list was determined entirely by visitor votes. Our editors didn't weigh in at all. We just added up the votes. The results are at the mercy of who decides to participate. If you disagree with the results, I hope you'll consider participating in future lists to help get a more accurate result.

Our point counting system also allows any particular book to get a jump on the basis of one single voter. We ask for ranked lists of ten from voters, and if they put a certain book at #1, then it gets 10 points. A single #1 vote this time around was enough to put a book in the top 80.