Top 100 Science-Fiction, Fantasy Books

This is one of the 743 lists we use to generate our main The Greatest Books list.

About this list

NPR, 100 Books

NPR did a readers survey of the Top 100 Science Fiction and Fantasy books in 2011. More than 60,000 ballots were cast in our annual summer reader's survey — click here to see the full list of 100 books, complete with links and descriptions. Below is a list of the top 100 winners.

This list was originally published in 2011 and was added to this site over 2 years ago.

View: List Grid Table
Rank Book Authors Year Country Language Actions
17 The Lord Of The Rings J. R. R. Tolkien 1959 English English
190 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Douglas Adams 1979 British English
2603 Ender's Game Orson Scott Card 1985 American English
100 Dune Frank Herbert 1965 American English
1289 A Game of Thrones George R. R. Martin 1996 American English
6 Nineteen Eighty Four George Orwell 1949 British English
150 Fahrenheit 451 Ray Bradbury 1953 American English
360 Foundation Isaac Asimov 1951 American English
51 Brave New World Aldous Huxley 1932 British English
2181 American Gods Neil Gaiman 2001 British English
674 The Princess Bride William Goldman 1973 American English
2383 The Wheel of Time Series Robert Jordan 1990 American English
55 Animal Farm George Orwell 1945 British English
892 Neuromancer William Gibson 1984 American, Canadian English
808 Watchmen Alan Moore 1986 American, British English
822 I, Robot Isaac Asimov 1950 American English
368 Stranger in a Strange Land Robert A. Heinlein 1961 American English
3392 The Name Of The Wind Patrick Rothfuss 2007 American English
85 Slaughterhouse-Five Kurt Vonnegut 1969 American English
39 Frankenstein Mary Shelley 1818 British English
527 Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Philip K. Dick 1968 American English
132 The Handmaid's Tale Margaret Atwood 1985 Canadian English
7766 The Gunslinger Stephen King 1982 American English
1002 2001 Arthur C. Clarke 1968 British English
276 The Stand Stephen King 1978 American English
1593 Snow Crash Neal Stephenson 1992 American English
1453 The Martian Chronicles Ray Bradbury 1950 American English
683 Cat's Cradle Kurt Vonnegut 1963 American English
1345 Sandman Neil Gaiman 1989 British English
154 A Clockwork Orange Anthony Burgess 1962 British English
5324 Starship Troopers Robert A. Heinlein 1959 American English
229 Watership Down Richard Adams 1972 British English
3078 Dragonflight Anne McCaffrey 1968 American English
3881 The Moon is a Harsh Mistress Robert A. Heinlein 1966 American English
1321 A Canticle for Leibowitz Walter M. Miller 1960 American English
293 The Time Machine H. G. Wells 1895 British English
671 Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea Jules Verne 1870 French French
711 Flowers for Algernon Daniel Keyes 1959 American English
375 War of the Worlds H. G. Wells 1898 British English
13709 The Chronicles Of Amber Roger Zelazny 1970 American English
13185 The Belgariad David Eddings 1982 American English
1395 The Mists of Avalon Marion Zimmer Bradley 1983 American English
3445 Mistborn Brandon Sanderson 2006 American English
2226 Ringworld Larry Niven 1970 American English
361 The Left Hand Of Darkness Ursula K. Le Guin 1969 American English
3299 The Silmarillion J. R. R. Tolkien 1977 British English
287 The Once and Future King T. H. White 1958 British English
3207 Neverwhere Neil Gaiman 1996 British English
1772 Childhood's End Arthur C. Clarke 1953 British English
2346 Contact Carl Sagan 1985 American English
2465 Hyperion Dan Simmons 1989 American English
8941 Stardust Neil Gaiman 1999 British English
2135 Cryptonomicon Neal Stephenson 1999 American English
5585 World War Z Max Brooks 2006 American English
1792 The Last Unicorn Peter S. Beagle 1968 American English
2427 The Forever War Joe Haldeman 1974 American English
7080 Small Gods Terry Pratchett 1992 British English
7927 The Chronicles Of Thomas Covenant The Unbeliever Stephen R. Donaldson 1977 American English
8972 Falling Free Lois McMaster Bujold 1988 American English
14102 Going Postal Terry Pratchett 2004 British English
11202 The Mote In God's Eye Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle 1974 American English
14403 The Sword Of Truth Terry Goodkind 1994 American English
291 The Road Cormac McCarthy 2006 American English
1621 Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell Susanna Clarke 2004 British English
776 I Am Legend Richard Matheson 1954 American English
3553 Magician Raymond E. Feist 1982 American English
9220 The Sword Of Shannara Terry Brooks 1977 American English
13504 Conan The Barbarian Robert E. Howard 1932 American English
10068 Assassin's Apprentice Robin Hobb 1995 American English
1674 The Time Traveler's Wife Audrey Niffenegger 2003 American English
5437 The Way of Kings Brandon Sanderson 2010 American English
954 Journey to the Center of the Earth Jules Verne 1864 French French
14292 The Crystal Shard R. A. Salvatore 1988 American English
13520 Old Man's War John Scalzi 2005 American English
10256 The Diamond Age Neal Stephenson 1995 American English
5926 Rendezvous with Rama Arthur C. Clarke 1973 British English
13271 Kushiel's Dart Jacqueline Carey 2001 American English
561 The Dispossessed Ursula K. Le Guin 1974 American English
1336 Something Wicked This Way Comes Ray Bradbury 1962 American English
8672 Wicked Gregory Maguire 1995 American English
13196 Gardens Of The Moon Steven Erikson 1999 Canadian English
14017 The Eyre Affair Jasper Fforde 2001 British English
3480 Consider Phlebas Iain Banks 1987 Scottish English
2115 The Crystal Cave Mary Stewart 1970 British English
13714 Anathem Neal Stephenson 2008 American English
14772 Furies Of Calderon Jim Butcher 2004 American English
1075 The Book of the New Sun Gene Wolfe 1980 American English
13688 Heir To The Empire Timothy Zahn 1991 American English
841 Outlander Diana Gabaldon 1991 American English
10007 The Dreaming City Michael Moorcock 1961 British English
10486 The Illustrated Man Ray Bradbury 1951 American English
14065 Sunshine Robin McKinley 2003 American English
10405 A Fire Upon the Deep Vernor Vinge 1992 American English
2564 The Caves Of Steel Isaac Asimov 1954 American English
5986 Red Mars Kim Stanley Robinson 1992 American English
11333 Lucifer's Hammer Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle 1977 American English
6885 Doomsday Book Connie Willis 1992 American English
11513 Perdido Street Station China Miéville 2000 British English
9671 A Spell For Chameleon Piers Anthony 1977 American English
2598 Out Of The Silent Planet C. S. Lewis 1938 British English