view release on metacpan or  search on metacpan

t/data/spin/input/journal/2011-08/006.th  view on Meta::CPAN

]
\n[A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess][
    Huh.  Not really on my radar to read, although of course I've heard of
    it.
]

\ro[\link[../../reviews/books/0-441-78358-9.html][Starship Troopers], by
    Robert Heinlein][
    Also overrated, particularly since it's not much of a story.  It's an
    extended and multifaceted political essay, which isn't as simple as it
    appears to be.  The movie, quite contrary to the negative impression
    people have of it, is a delightful parody of how the book comes across
    on its surface reading.
]
\o[Watership Down, by Richard Adams][Yeah, yeah, I know I should read it.]
\ro[Dragonflight, by Anne McCaffrey][
    I loved the Pern books as a teenager up until the point when the just
    became retellings of the same book from a new perspective.  I'm afraid
    to re-read them.
]
\ro[\link[../../reviews/books/0-425-03436-4.html][The Moon Is A Harsh
    Mistress], by Robert Heinlein][
    Much, much better than \cite[Starship Troopers].  One of the better
    non-juvenile Heinleins.  Still not as good as people think it is.
]
\ro[\link[../../reviews/books/0-553-37926-7.html][A Canticle For
    Leibowitz], by Walter M. Miller][
    I was disappointed in this given how much people like it, but it
    deserves some credit for being foundational to post-apocalyptic SF.
]

\ro[\link[../../reviews/books/0-517-26188-Xa.html][The Time Machine], by
    H.G. Wells][
    More interesting than you might think it would be, given when it was
    written and the emphasis on description rather than characterization.
    But it still suffers from a lack of characters for me.  Hard to come
    to this fresh now, since the ideas have been so used elsewhere.
]
\n[20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, by Jules Verne][
    I've seen the movie take on it.  I've not felt a strong urge to read
    the book, although I probably "should."
]
\ro[\link[../../reviews/books/0-553-27450-3.html][Flowers For Algernon],
    by Daniel Keys][
    Unforgettable and very strongly affecting (and depressing).
]
\o[The War Of The Worlds, by H.G. Wells][Will read at some point.]
\o[The Chronicles Of Amber, by Roger Zelazny][Will probably read soon.]

\ro[The Belgariad, by David Eddings][
    Yeah, I read this as a teenager and quite liked it.  But I have no
    idea what it's doing on this list; it is in absolutely no way one of
    the best 100 SFF works of all time.  (Well, that's not true; I know
    what it's doing on this list.  People have heard of it and read it.
    But it shouldn't be on this list.)
]
\o[The Mists Of Avalon, by Marion Zimmer Bradley][On the list.]
\n[The Mistborn Series, by Brandon Sanderson][Want to read this.]
\ro[Ringworld, by Larry Niven][
    Interesting idea fiction with a great sense of scale.  Shame the
    characters aren't as good as the background.  But it's a good book,
    worth reading.
]
\ro[\link[../../reviews/books/0-441-47812-3.html][The Left Hand Of
    Darkness], by Ursula K. LeGuin][
    A deserved classic of anthropological SF with profound things to say
    about how culture and friendship are constructed.
]

\ro[The Silmarillion, by J.R.R. Tolkien][
    I love this book, but the first section is hard going if you don't
    like reading mythology.  Skip ahead if you're struggling; the gems are
    later.
]
\o[The Once And Future King, by T.H. White][Definitely on the list to read.]
\ro[Neverwhere, by Neil Gaiman][
    I'm not sure I'd put it on this list, as there are better Gaiman (and
    Gaiman is already overrepresented), but it's a solid "urban" fantasy
    in the old sense of that term.  Inventive, with a feel similar to some
    of the \cite[Sandman] stories.
]
\ro[Childhood's End, by Arthur C. Clarke][
    I read this eons ago and can barely remember it.  I definitely need to
    re-read it.
]
\n[Contact, by Carl Sagan][
    Liked the movie, have never had any particular urge to read the book.
]

\ro[\link[../../reviews/books/0-553-28368-5.html][The Hyperion Cantos], by
    Dan Simmons][
    Some of my favorite SF novels ever.  The third book is the weakest,
    and the fourth book has problems, but I adore it.
]
\ro[\link[../../reviews/books/1-56389-470-X.html][Stardust], by Neil
    Gaiman][
    Really far too much Gaiman on this list.  But also a good book.
]
\ro[\link[../../reviews/books/0-380-78862-4.html][Cryptonomicon], by Neal
    Stephenson][
    Fantastic stuff.  Not SF in any traditional sense.  It's a combination
    of secret history and contemporary thriller.  But it's written in the
    Stephenson massive entertaining infodumping style, so it feels like SF
    and makes it onto lists like this.  It's very long, but I've read it
    twice and don't regret it.
]
\n[World War Z, by Max Brooks][
    Have a hard time believing this really belongs here, but I haven't
    read it so I couldn't say for sure.
]
\ro[\link[../../reviews/books/0-345-27505-5.html][The Last Unicorn], by
    Peter S. Beagle][
    Eh, it's not a bad book, but I'm not sure it really belongs on this
    list.  But it does have an aesthetic that's hard to find in any other
    book.
]

\ro[\link[../../reviews/books/0-380-70821-3.html][The Forever War], by Joe
    Haldeman][
    A very important response to the whole sub-genre of military SF, and
    very influential.