Best Science Fiction Novels

SEE ALSO IN OTHER CATEGORIES (not included in this list): - BEST SPACE-THEMED SF NOVELS - BEST TIME-THEMED SF NOVELS - BEST APOCALYPTIC NOVELS - BEST SF SERIES Again let me repeat, this list omits any SPACE-themed or TIME-themed or "END-of-the-WORLD" themed novels - they get their own "best lists"! This list only reflects how something impressed me as an individual reader, not necessarily corresponding with the impact on SF field in general, critical acceptance, etc. Plus my reading time is limited for long novels, so many of good (or new) writers would be absent. _____________________________________________________ FIRST PLACE Best SF Novel William Gibson "Neuromancer" _____________________________________________________ SECOND PLACE Best SF Novel Michael Chabon "The Yiddish Policemen's Union" Arthur Clarke "The City and the Stars" Douglas Adams "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" Poul Anderson "Brain Wave" Isaac Asimov & Jerome Bixby "Fantastic Voyage" Alfred Bester "The Demolished Man"; "The Stars My Destination" Samuel R. Delany "Triton" Philip K. Dick "Time Out of Joint"; "UBIK" Philip Jose Farmer "Dark Is the Sun" William Gibson & Bruce Sterling "The Difference Engine" William Gibson "Mona Lisa Overdrive" K. W. Jeter "Farewell, Horizontal" Murray Leinster "The Forgotten Planet" Stanislaw Lem "Return From The Stars" David Mitchell "Cloud Atlas" Christopher Priest "The Inverted World" Michael Shea "The Colour Out Of Time" Lucius Shepard "Life During Wartime" Clifford Simak "The Goblin Reservation" "Way Station"; "The Werewolf Principle" Neal Stephenson "Snow Crash" _____________________________________________________ THIRD PLACE Best SF novel Arthur Clarke "Earthlight" Douglas Adams "The Restaurant at the End of the Universe" "Life, the Universe, and Everything"; "Mostly Harmless" Kenneth Bulmer "Cycle of Nemesis" Ray Cummings "Beyond the Stars" Philip K. Dick "Martian Time-Slip" "The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch"; "The Unteleported Man" Gardner R. Dozois "Strangers" Philip Jose Farmer "The Lovers"; "The Night of Light" "Tongues of the Moon" Oscar J. Friend "The Water World" William Gibson "Count Zero"; "Idoru" "Pattern Recognition"; "Virtual Light" Edmond Hamilton "The City at World's End" M. John Harrison "The Centauri Device" Frank Herbert "Destination: Void" "The Dragon in the Sea" ("Under Pressure") Dean R. Koontz "Fear That Man" Fritz Leiber "The Silver Eggheads" H. P. Lovecraft "At The Mountains Of Madness" Ian McDonald "Desolation Road" James Morrow "The Wine Of Violence" Andre Norton "Perilous Dreams" Bob Shaw "Dagger of the Mind"; "Medusa's Children" Clifford Simak "Highway Of Eternity" "They Walked Like Men"; "Time And Again" Michael Swanwick "Vacuum Flowers" John Varley "Millenium" Jack Williamson "The Humanoid Touch"; "The Moon Children" Evgeni Zamyatin "My" Roger Zelazny "The Dream Master" ("He Who Shapes") _____________________________________________________ FOURTH PLACE Best SF Novel Isaac Asimov "The Caves of Steel" Alfred Bester "The Computer Connection" Anthony Burgess "A Clockwork Orange" John W. Campbell "The Ultimate Weapon" Arthur Clarke "Childhood's End" ; "The Deep Range" Samuel Delany "The Einstein Intersection" ; "Nova" Philip K. Dick & Roger Zelazny "Deus Irae" Philip K. Dick "The Game-Players of Titan" "The Simulacra"; "The Crack in Space" Gordon R. Dickson "Space Swimmers" William Gibson "All Tomorrow's Parties" Robert A. Heinlein "The Puppet Masters" Frank Herbert "The God Makers" Damon Knight "Mind Switch" ("The Other Foot") Henry Kuttner "The Creature from Beyond Infinity" ("A Million Years To Conquer") Sam Lundwall "No Time For Heroes" Ursula Le Guin "The Word For World Is Forest" Murray Leinster "The Brain-Stealers" ("The Man in the Iron Cap") Stanislaw Lem "The Voice Of The Sky" Milton Lesser "Jungle In The Sky" Julian May "The Many-Colored Land" Alexander Mirer "Dom Skitaltcev" Walter Miller Jr. "A Canticle for Leibowitz" Michael Moorcock "An Alien Heat"; "The Hollow Lands" "The Ice Schooner" Richard Morgan "Altered Carbon" Larry Niven & Steven Barnes "Dream Park" Andre Norton "Garan The Eternal" Christopher Priest "The Space Machine" W. T. Quick "Dreams of Gods and Men" Spider Robinson "Telempath" Rudy Rucker "Software" John E. Stith "Manhattan Transfer" Bob Shaw "The Ragged Astronauts", "The Wooden Spaceships" Robert Silverberg "Downward to the Earth"; "The Man in the Maze" "To Open the Sky"; "The World Inside" Clifford Simak "All Flesh Is Grass"; "Ring Around The Sun" Bruce Sterling "Involution Ocean" A. & B. Strugatskie "Otel "U Pogibshego Alpinista" Theodore Sturgeon "The Cosmic Rape" ("To Marry Medusa") "The Dreaming Jewels"; "More Than Human" A. E. Van Vogt "More Than Superhuman"; "Slan" "The Shadow Men" ("The Universe Maker") Jack Vance "Brains Of Earth" ("Nopalgarth") "The Five Gold Bands" ("Space Pirate"); "To Live Forever" Jack Williamson "The Humanoids" Dave Wolverton "On My Way To Paradise" John Wyndham "The Chrysalids" "The Kraken Wakes" ("Out Of The Deeps") ---------------------------------------- Also see: BEST SCIENCE FICTION NOVEL: Best SF Novel (General Themes) Best Space SF Novel Best Time SF Novel Best Apocalyptic SF Novel BEST SCIENCE FICTION COLLECTIONS BEST SCIENCE FICTION SERIES: Best SF Series (general themes) Best Space SF Series BEST SCIENCE FICTION NOVELLA: Best SF Novella 1920-1960 (general themes) Best SF Novella 1961-now (general themes) Best Space SF Novella 1920-1960 Best Space SF Novella 1961-now Best Time SF Novella Best Apocalyptic SF Novella BEST SCIENCE FICTION STORY: Best SF Story 1920-1960 (general themes) Best SF Story 1961-now (general themes) Best Space SF Story 1920-1960 Best Space SF Story 1961-now Best Time SF Story Best Apocalyptic SF Story BEST FANTASY NOVEL BEST FANTASY COLLECTION BEST FANTASY SERIES BEST FANTASY NOVELLA BEST FANTASY STORY: Best Fantasy Story 1920-1960 Best Fantasy Story 1961-now --------------------- RETURN TO MAIN PAGE

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