Top 100 Science-Fiction, Fantasy Books

This is one of the 759 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
2605 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
361 Foundation Isaac Asimov 1951 American English
50 Brave New World Aldous Huxley 1932 British English
2192 American Gods Neil Gaiman 2001 British English
676 The Princess Bride William Goldman 1973 American English
2389 The Wheel of Time Series Robert Jordan 1990 American English
55 Animal Farm George Orwell 1945 British English
893 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
3399 The Name Of The Wind Patrick Rothfuss 2007 American English
84 Slaughterhouse-Five Kurt Vonnegut 1969 American English
39 Frankenstein Mary Shelley 1818 British English
528 Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Philip K. Dick 1968 American English
132 The Handmaid's Tale Margaret Atwood 1985 Canadian English
7782 The Gunslinger Stephen King 1982 American English
1004 2001 Arthur C. Clarke 1968 British English
274 The Stand Stephen King 1978 American English
1597 Snow Crash Neal Stephenson 1992 American English
1453 The Martian Chronicles Ray Bradbury 1950 American English
681 Cat's Cradle Kurt Vonnegut 1963 American English
1348 Sandman Neil Gaiman 1989 British English
153 A Clockwork Orange Anthony Burgess 1962 British English
5333 Starship Troopers Robert A. Heinlein 1959 American English
224 Watership Down Richard Adams 1972 British English
3085 Dragonflight Anne McCaffrey 1968 American English
3888 The Moon is a Harsh Mistress Robert A. Heinlein 1966 American English
1323 A Canticle for Leibowitz Walter M. Miller 1960 American English
294 The Time Machine H. G. Wells 1895 British English
673 Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea Jules Verne 1870 French French
711 Flowers for Algernon Daniel Keyes 1959 American English
372 War of the Worlds H. G. Wells 1898 British English
13757 The Chronicles Of Amber Roger Zelazny 1970 American English
13215 The Belgariad David Eddings 1982 American English
1395 The Mists of Avalon Marion Zimmer Bradley 1983 American English
3451 Mistborn Brandon Sanderson 2006 American English
2237 Ringworld Larry Niven 1970 American English
363 The Left Hand Of Darkness Ursula K. Le Guin 1969 American English
3306 The Silmarillion J. R. R. Tolkien 1977 British English
286 The Once and Future King T. H. White 1958 British English
3213 Neverwhere Neil Gaiman 1996 British English
1776 Childhood's End Arthur C. Clarke 1953 British English
2352 Contact Carl Sagan 1985 American English
2469 Hyperion Dan Simmons 1989 American English
8956 Stardust Neil Gaiman 1999 British English
2145 Cryptonomicon Neal Stephenson 1999 American English
5593 World War Z Max Brooks 2006 American English
1793 The Last Unicorn Peter S. Beagle 1968 American English
2432 The Forever War Joe Haldeman 1974 American English
7093 Small Gods Terry Pratchett 1992 British English
7942 The Chronicles Of Thomas Covenant The Unbeliever Stephen R. Donaldson 1977 American English
8987 Falling Free Lois McMaster Bujold 1988 American English
14166 Going Postal Terry Pratchett 2004 British English
11231 The Mote In God's Eye Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle 1974 American English
14477 The Sword Of Truth Terry Goodkind 1994 American English
290 The Road Cormac McCarthy 2006 American English
1585 Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell Susanna Clarke 2004 British English
777 I Am Legend Richard Matheson 1954 American English
3558 Magician Raymond E. Feist 1982 American English
9239 The Sword Of Shannara Terry Brooks 1977 American English
13548 Conan The Barbarian Robert E. Howard 1932 American English
10085 Assassin's Apprentice Robin Hobb 1995 American English
1675 The Time Traveler's Wife Audrey Niffenegger 2003 American English
5446 The Way of Kings Brandon Sanderson 2010 American English
926 Journey to the Center of the Earth Jules Verne 1864 French French
14358 The Crystal Shard R. A. Salvatore 1988 American English
13565 Old Man's War John Scalzi 2005 American English
10278 The Diamond Age Neal Stephenson 1995 American English
5936 Rendezvous with Rama Arthur C. Clarke 1973 British English
13302 Kushiel's Dart Jacqueline Carey 2001 American English
553 The Dispossessed Ursula K. Le Guin 1974 American English
1338 Something Wicked This Way Comes Ray Bradbury 1962 American English
8688 Wicked Gregory Maguire 1995 American English
13226 Gardens Of The Moon Steven Erikson 1999 Canadian English
14075 The Eyre Affair Jasper Fforde 2001 British English
3484 Consider Phlebas Iain Banks 1987 Scottish English
2122 The Crystal Cave Mary Stewart 1970 British English
13764 Anathem Neal Stephenson 2008 American English
14859 Furies Of Calderon Jim Butcher 2004 American English
1079 The Book of the New Sun Gene Wolfe 1980 American English
13736 Heir To The Empire Timothy Zahn 1991 American English
842 Outlander Diana Gabaldon 1991 American English
10025 The Dreaming City Michael Moorcock 1961 British English
5680 The Illustrated Man Ray Bradbury 1951 American English
14129 Sunshine Robin McKinley 2003 American English
10430 A Fire Upon the Deep Vernor Vinge 1992 American English
2566 The Caves Of Steel Isaac Asimov 1954 American English
4666 Red Mars Kim Stanley Robinson 1992 American English
11362 Lucifer's Hammer Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle 1977 American English
6896 Doomsday Book Connie Willis 1992 American English
11538 Perdido Street Station China Miéville 2000 British English
9690 A Spell For Chameleon Piers Anthony 1977 American English
2600 Out Of The Silent Planet C. S. Lewis 1938 British English