The Most Significant SF & Fantasy Books of the Last 50 Years From 1953-2002

This is one of the 759 lists we use to generate our main The Greatest Books list.

About this list

Science Fiction Book Club, 50 Books

List of the best Science Fiction and Fantasy produced between 1953 and 2002 as composed by the Science Fiction Book Club.

Compiled in late 2002 by SFBC Editor-in-Chief Ellen Asher and Senior Editor Andrew Wheeler to mark the club’s fiftieth anniversary, this list names fifty novels and story collections (top ten ranked; the rest alphabetical) that the editors judged most significant to SF/F published between 1953 and 2002. No external ballot was taken—just two long-time genre editors debating until consensus. The selection later drove the club’s 50th-Anniversary hard-cover reprint series (40 volumes, 2003-2007).

Voter Count: 2

This list was originally published in 2003 and was added to this site almost 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
361 Foundation Isaac Asimov 1951 American English
100 Dune Frank Herbert 1965 American English
368 Stranger in a Strange Land Robert A. Heinlein 1961 American English
278 A Wizard Of Earthsea Ursula K. Le Guin 1968 American English
893 Neuromancer William Gibson 1984 American, Canadian English
1776 Childhood's End Arthur C. Clarke 1953 British English
528 Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Philip K. Dick 1968 American English
1395 The Mists of Avalon Marion Zimmer Bradley 1983 American English
150 Fahrenheit 451 Ray Bradbury 1953 American English
1079 The Book of the New Sun Gene Wolfe 1980 American English
1323 A Canticle for Leibowitz Walter M. Miller 1960 American English
2567 The Caves Of Steel Isaac Asimov 1954 American English
15830 Children Of The Atom Wilmar H. Shiras 1953 American English
15845 Cities In Flight James Blish 1950 American English
1626 The Colour of Magic Terry Pratchett 1983 British English
13923 Dangerous Visions Harlan Ellison 1967 American English
2514 Deathbird Stories Harlan Ellison 1975 American English
11134 The Demolished Man Alfred Bester 1953 American English
3145 Dhalgren Samuel R. Delany 1975 American English
3086 Dragonflight Anne McCaffrey 1968 American English
2606 Ender's Game Orson Scott Card 1985 American English
3830 Lord Foul's Bane Stephen R. Donaldson 1977 American English
2433 The Forever War Joe Haldeman 1974 American English
7152 Gateway Frederik Pohl 1977 American English
236 Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone J. K. Rowling 1997 British English
190 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Douglas Adams 1979 British English
777 I Am Legend Richard Matheson 1954 American English
661 Interview with the Vampire Anne Rice 1976 American English
363 The Left Hand Of Darkness Ursula K. Le Guin 1969 American English
1173 Little, Big John Crowley 1981 American English
9585 Lord of Light Roger Zelazny 1967 American English
2132 The Man in the High Castle Philip K. Dick 1962 American English
2713 Mission Of Gravity Hal Clement 1954 American English
12924 More Than Human Theodore Sturgeon 1953 American English
14985 The Rediscovery Of Man Cordwainer Smith 1975 American English
7707 On The Beach Nevil Shute 1957 Australian English
5937 Rendezvous with Rama Arthur C. Clarke 1973 British English
2237 Ringworld Larry Niven 1970 American English
2495 Rogue Moon Algis Budrys 1960 American English
3305 The Silmarillion J. R. R. Tolkien 1977 British English
84 Slaughterhouse-Five Kurt Vonnegut 1969 American English
1597 Snow Crash Neal Stephenson 1992 American English
10748 Stand on Zanzibar John Brunner 1968 British English
2414 The Stars My Destination Alfred Bester 1956 American English
5333 Starship Troopers Robert A. Heinlein 1959 American English
2803 Stormbringer Michael Moorcock 1965 British English
9239 The Sword Of Shannara Terry Brooks 1977 American English
8182 Timescape Gregory Benford 1980 American English
9254 To Your Scattered Bodies Go Philip José Farmer 1971 American English