Science Fiction: The 100 Best Novels

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David Pringle, 100 Books

Science Fiction: The 100 Best Novels, An English-Language Selection, 1949-1984 is a nonfiction book by David Pringle, published by Xanadu in 1985 with a foreword by Michael Moorcock. Primarily, the book comprises 100 short essays on the selected works, covered in order of publication, without any ranking. It is considered an important critical summary of the science fiction field.

This list was originally published in 1985 and was added to this site over 2 years ago.

View: List Grid Table
Rank Book Authors Year Country Language Actions
6 Nineteen Eighty Four George Orwell 1949 British English
6285 Earth Abides George Rippey Stewart 1949 American English
1453 The Martian Chronicles Ray Bradbury 1950 American English
7568 The Puppet Masters Robert A. Heinlein 1951 American English
917 The Day of the Triffids John Wyndham 1951 British English
17173 Limbo Bernard Wolfe 1952 American English
11137 The Demolished Man Alfred Bester 1953 American English
150 Fahrenheit 451 Ray Bradbury 1953 American English
1776 Childhood's End Arthur C. Clarke 1953 British English
17173 The Paradox Men Charles L. Harness 1953 American English
17173 Bring The Jubilee Ward Moore 1953 American English
2446 The Space Merchants Frederik Pohl, C. M. Kornbluth 1952 American English
17173 Ring Around The Sun Clifford D. Simak 1952 American English
12924 More Than Human Theodore Sturgeon 1953 American English
2713 Mission Of Gravity Hal Clement 1954 American English
17173 A Mirror For Observers Edgar Pangborn 1954 American English
14926 The End Of Eternity Isaac Asimov 1955 American English
17173 The Long Tomorrow Leigh Brackett 1955 American English
2351 The Inheritors William Golding 1955 British English
2415 The Stars My Destination Alfred Bester 1956 American English
17173 The Death Of Grass John Christopher 1956 British English
14939 The City And The Stars Arthur C. Clarke 1956 British English
7953 The Door Into Summer Robert A. Heinlein 1957 American English
1071 The Midwich Cuckoos John Wyndham 1957 British English
2466 Non Stop Brian Aldiss 1958 British English
11797 A Case of Conscience James Blish 1958 American English
14208 Have Space Suit—Will Travel Robert A. Heinlein 1958 American English
14980 Time Out Of Joint Philip K. Dick 1959 American English
14190 Alas, Babylon Pat Frank 1959 American English
1323 A Canticle for Leibowitz Walter M. Miller 1960 American English
793 The Sirens of Titan Kurt Vonnegut 1959 American English
2496 Rogue Moon Algis Budrys 1960 American English
17173 Venus Plus X Theodore Sturgeon 1960 American English
14986 Hothouse Brian Aldiss 1962 British English
1609 The Drowned World J. G. Ballard 1962 British English
153 A Clockwork Orange Anthony Burgess 1962 British English
2133 The Man in the High Castle Philip K. Dick 1962 American English
17173 Journey Beyond Tomorrow Robert Sheckley 1962 American English
11408 Here Gather the Stars Clifford D. Simak 1963 American English
681 Cat's Cradle Kurt Vonnegut 1963 American English
14967 Greybeard Brian Aldiss 1964 British English
14986 Nova Express William S. Burroughs 1964 American English
2931 Martian Time Slip Philip K. Dick 1964 American English
1625 The Three Stigmata Of Palmer Eldritch Philip K. Dick 1965 American English
13321 The Wanderer Fritz Leiber 1964 American English
17173 Norstrilia Cordwainer Smith 1975 American English
17173 Dr. Bloodmoney Philip K. Dick 1965 American English
100 Dune Frank Herbert 1965 American English
2263 The Crystal World J. G. Ballard 1966 British English
17173 Make Room! Make Room! Harry Harrison 1966 American English
711 Flowers for Algernon Daniel Keyes 1959 American English
17173 The Dream Master Roger Zelazny 1966 American English
10751 Stand on Zanzibar John Brunner 1968 British English
14198 Nova Samuel R. Delany 1968 American English
528 Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Philip K. Dick 1968 American English
3307 Camp Concentration Thomas M. Disch 1968 American English
17173 The Final Programme Michael Moorcock 1968 British English
12310 Pavane Keith Roberts 1968 British English
17173 Heroes And Villains Angela Carter 1969 British English
363 The Left Hand Of Darkness Ursula K. Le Guin 1969 American English
17173 The Palace Of Eternity Bob Shaw 1969 British English
17173 Bug Jack Barron Norman Spinrad 1969 American English
14202 Tau Zero Poul Anderson 1970 American English
17173 Downward To The Earth Robert Silverberg 1970 American English
17173 The Year Of The Quiet Sun Wilson Tucker 1970 American English
14954 334 Thomas M. Disch 1972 American English
17173 The Fifth Head Of Cerberus Gene Wolfe 1972 American English
17173 The Dancers At The End Of Time Michael Moorcock 1972 British English
841 Crash J. G. Ballard 1973 British English
17173 Looking Backward, From The Year 2000 Mack Reynolds 1987 American English
17173 The Embedding Ian Watson 1973 British English
17173 Walk To The End Of The World Suzy McKee Charnas 1974 American English
17173 The Centauri Device M. John Harrison 1974 British English
553 The Dispossessed Ursula K. Le Guin 1974 American English
13559 The Inverted World Christopher Priest 1974 British English
14204 High-Rise J. G. Ballard 1975 British English
17173 Galaxies Barry N. Malzberg 1975 American English
2974 The Female Man Joanna Russ 1975 American English
14986 Orbitsville Bob Shaw 1975 British English
5638 The Alteration Kingsley Amis 1976 British English
7950 Woman On The Edge Of Time Marge Piercy 1976 American English
8537 Man Plus Frederik Pohl 1976 American English
17173 Michaelmas Algis Budrys 1977 American English
17173 The Ophiuchi Hotline John Varley 1977 American English
17173 Miracle Visitors Ian Watson 1978 British English
14986 Engine Summer John Crowley 1979 American English
3436 On Wings Of Song Thomas M. Disch 1979 American English
17173 The Walking Shadow Brian Stableford 1979 British English
17173 Juniper Time Kate Wilhelm 1979 American English
8182 Timescape Gregory Benford 1980 American English
17173 The Dreaming Dragons Damien Broderick 1980 Australian English
13531 Wild Seed Octavia E. Butler 1980 American English
2018 Riddley Walker Russell Hoban 1980 British English
17173 The Complete Roderick John Sladek 1982 American English
4222 The Shadow of the Torturer Gene Wolfe 1980 American English
17173 The Unreasoning Mask Philip José Farmer 1981 American English
17173 Oath Of Fealty Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle 1981 American English
9724 No Enemy But Time Michael Bishop 1982 American English
17173 The Birth Of The People's Republic Of Antarctica John Calvin Batchelor 1983 American English
893 Neuromancer William Gibson 1984 American, Canadian English