William Gibson (his new novel, Zero History, is expected this September) has chosen his top ten science fiction novels:
- Tiger! Tiger! (The Stars My Destination) (1956) by Alfred Bester
- The Crystal World (1966) by J.G. Ballard
- Pavane (1968) by Keith Roberts
- 334 (1972) by Thomas M. Disch
- The Forever War (1974) by Joe Haldeman
- Dhalgren (1975) by Samuel R. Delany
- Arslan (1976) by M.J. Engh
- Great Work of Time (1991) by John Crowley
- Random Acts of Senseless Violence (1993) by Jack Womack
- Holy Fire (1996) by Bruce Sterling
This is an exceptional list. If you google "top ten science fiction novels" you'll get some pretty low-grade results. Gibson's list looks even better by comparison. Note Gibson's parameters: novels only and the time frame is 1956 to 1996. I've read eight of the ten (not the Ballard or Womack), but I know enough about those two novels to respect their inclusion. I could argue with some of the choices. The list is short on women (Mary Jane Engh is on her own). I would add Ursula K. Le Guin's The Dispossessed (1974). If there's only one novel from the 1950s I might favor Theodore Sturgeon's More Than Human (1953), but I will concede that the Bester novel is just as important. For Crowley, I might have gone with Engine Summer (1979); or for Sterling, I might have chosen Schismatrix (1985). These are minor quibbles. I might have to go back and re-read Great Work of Time. Holy Fire is a favorite of mine and it is probably Sterling's most accomplished novel, but Schismatrix was the first Sterling novel I read and sometimes it is hard to separate my person experience of a novel from my critical view of a novel.
Be sure to read Gibson's brief commentary on each title on his list.
Be sure to read Gibson's brief commentary on each title on his list.
where are your top 10?
ReplyDeleteStrangelyAbsent?
What about a reader's Pohl?
The more I consider top 10 science fiction lists, the more problematic they become. Is the list novels only, or does it include single-author collections? Or anthologies? Or multi-volume novels?
ReplyDeleteDoes the list try to embrace a historical view? Say, one book from each of the last 10 decades? Or does the list try to give an overview of the key themes of science fiction: One after the holocaust/end of the world book, one first contact with aliens/alien invasion book, one time travel book, one post-human book, etc.?
Women are usually ill served by these lists. A top 10 sf list composed only of women authors, would stand as well or better than a list of men only. And consider science fiction from non-English speaking countries. I am probably not the one to compile it, still such a list would be quite strong.
Consider yourself invited to give it a try, along with any other anonymice that would like to contribute.