Science Fiction/Fantasy Books...

[shadowkat]

Looked at the discussions in livejournal on the SF/Fantasy debate, and all the memes, and thought, wouldn't it be fun to attempt my own list of SF/Fantasy I've read?

SF/Fantasy debate

Fantasy gets a harsh rap. Not sure why exactly, I personally prefer it or fantasy/sf hybrids to most science-fiction, because the focus seems to be more on character and less on setting, scientific predictions, gadgets, or moral themes.
There's a lot of horrible fantasy out there, sure, but there is equally quite a bit of horrible science fiction, I know I've read some of it. And yes, when we come right down to it, this is all highly subjective. But that's half the fun.

Fantasy - if you are one of those people who thinks Fantasy is all dwarves, elves, goblins, and socerers - you haven't read
much fantasy in your lifetime.

Buffy The Vampire Slayer is considered fantasy by the way.
So is Paradise Lost by Milton. And Dante's Inferno (although this could depend on your beliefs). And A Midsummer Night's Dream by Shakespeare. As are most fairy tales and the stories of Hans Christian Anderson. Not all fantasy is nostalgic or light. Not all fantasy is dark. Like science fiction, it has its variations.

Fantasy can fall into the horror category at times. Or cross over. BTVS melded fantasy and horror, rarely sci-fi.

Some interesting Fantasy Books I can think of off the top of my head :

In bold if read, otherwise just in library.

Jonathan Carroll's Marriage of Sticks
Robin McKinely's Beauty (re-telling of Beauty and The Beast)
Deerskin by Mckinely
Rose's Daughter by Mckinely
Stephen R. Donaldson's White Gold Weilder series
Tolkien's Lord of The Rings
The Chronicles of Narnia
His Dark Materials by Pullman
Elizabeth Hand's Waking The Moon (some say occult horror, but that can also be fantasy)
A couple of the Piers Anthony Greek Gods Series: Being A Green Mother
Neil Gaiman's American Gods, Sandman Comics
Gregory MacGuire's Wicked
Harry Potter Novels
Ronald Dahl's Charlie and The Chocolat Factory
W.B Yeats Collection of Irish Fairy Stories
Ann Aresberg's Sister Wolf (blending of horror and fantasy)
Mark Helprin's A Winter's Tale
The Witches of Eastwick by John Updike
Jim Butcher's Dresden novels
Laurell K. Hamiliton's Fairy novels
Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
Bridge of Birds by Barry Hughart
Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynn Jones




Science Fiction Books in my library

One's I've read in bold.

Kindred by Octavia Butler
The Left Hand of God by Ursulla Le Guinn
Dune by Frank Herbert
The Ticket that Exploded by William S. Burroughs
The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood
The Man in The High Castle by Philip K. Dick
Minority Report and Other Stories by Philip K. Dick
A Maze of Death by Philip K. Dick
Do Andriods Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick
The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch
Jesus's Only Begotten Sister - can't remember the author
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess (read sections of it)
Invasion of The Body Snatchers by Jack Finney
Time and Again by Jack Finney
The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester
Grass by Sherri Tepper
Canupos in Argus Archives by Doris Lessing
Doomsday Book by Connie Willis
Say Nothing of The Dog by Connie Willis (attempted, couldn't make it through it)
Bellweather by Connie Willis

Comments

[dodyskin.livejournal.com]

Oooh ohho oooh

Sf/Fantasy books that you must read.

The Book of the Long Sun by Gene Wolfe. Go, go now. There's even online geekery goodness here http://www.ultan.co.uk/