1. The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien — read, loved
2. The Foundation Trilogy, Isaac Asimov — read, loved when I was 10 now embarrassed that I ever liked.
3. Dune, Frank Herbert — read, loved
4. Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert A. Heinlein — read, loved when I was 12 now embarrassed that I ever liked.
5. A Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula K. Le Guin — read, loved
6. Neuromancer, William Gibson — read, loved
7. Childhood’s End, Arthur C. Clarke — read, loved
8. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Philip K. Dick — read, loved
9. The Mists of Avalon, Marion Zimmer Bradley — tried to read, fell asleep
10. Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury — read a lot else, but never got to this one. Martian Chronicles, Dandelion Wine and Something Wicked This Way Comes are touchstones to me
11. The Book of the New Sun, Gene Wolfe — read, loved
12. A Canticle for Leibowitz, Walter M. Miller, Jr. — read, loved, beyond brilliant
13. The Caves of Steel, Isaac Asimov
14. Children of the Atom, Wilmar Shiras
15. Cities in Flight, James Blish — read, unimpressed
16. The Colour of Magic, Terry Pratchett — read, loved
17. Dangerous Visions, edited by Harlan Ellison — read, loved, got me writing
18. Deathbird Stories, Harlan Ellison — read, but don’t remember better than other collections by him.
19. The Demolished Man, Alfred Bester
20. Dhalgren, Samuel R. Delany — tried to read
21. Dragonflight, Anne McCaffrey –see nos. 2 & 4
22. Ender’s Game, Orson Scott Card — liked the first one but then it died of sequelitis
23. The First Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, Stephen R. Donaldson — read, liked, went on waaay too long.
24. The Forever War, Joe Haldeman — excellent, has aged very well
25. Gateway, Frederik Pohl
26. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, J.K. Rowling — I’ve certainly read better but I still like it.
27. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams — love
28. I Am Legend, Richard Matheson — read but don’t remember very well
29. Interview with the Vampire, Anne Rice — one of the funniest books I’ve ever read but too long
30. The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K. Le Guin — tried to read
31. Little, Big, John Crowley — read
32. Lord of Light, Roger Zelazny — prefer the early Amber books
33. The Man in the High Castle, Philip K. Dick
34. Mission of Gravity, Hal Clement — loved
35. More Than Human, Theodore Sturgeon
36. The Rediscovery of Man, Cordwainer Smith — one of my all time heroes, see also Norstrillia
37. On the Beach, Nevil Shute
38. Rendezvous with Rama, Arthur C. Clarke — really liked
39. Ringworld, Larry Niven — fun commercial SF
40. Rogue Moon, Algis Budrys
41. The Silmarillion, J.R.R. Tolkien
42. Slaughterhouse-5, Kurt Vonnegut — actually prefer Godbless you Mr. Rosewater and some others but this doesn’t suck
43. Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson — really funny the first time through but don’t think it holds up to repeated readings
44. Stand on Zanzibar, John Brunner — still one of the best things I’ve ever read
45. The Stars My Destination, Alfred Bester
46. Starship Troopers, Robert A. Heinlein — see # 2 & 4 but at age 8. Then saw the movie and understood it was meant ironically.
47. Stormbringer, Michael Moorcock
48. The Sword of Shannara, Terry Brooks godawful Tolkien rip off. I lapped it up when I was 12.
49. Timescape, Gregory Benford
50. To Your Scattered Bodies Go, Philip Jose Farmer — read, liked a lot