Science Fiction - The 101 Best Novels: 1985-2010 (Broderick & di Filippo, 2012)

[Coír Draoi Ceítien]

I'm not sure how receptive this site is to science fiction, given the coolness that the last list received, but I feel I should mention another list. In 2012, authors Damien Broderick and Paul di Filippo organized a companion volume to David Pringle's original book, covering more recent titles, and for the sake of completion, I wanted to share this as well. Once again, it's organized along the same line - dates of publication in chronological order.


1.   The Handmaid's Tale (1985) by Margaret Atwood
2.   Ender's Game (1985) by Orson Scott Card
3.   Radio Free Albemuth (1985) by Philip K. Dick
4.   Always Coming Home (1985) by Ursula K. Le Guin
5.   This Is the Way the World Ends (1985) by James Morrow
6.   Galápagos (1985) by Kurt Vonnegut
7.   The Falling Woman (1986) by Pat Murphy
8.   The Shore of Women (1986) by Pamela Sargent
9.   A Door into Ocean (1986) by Joan Slonczewski
10.   Soldiers of Paradise (1987) by Paul Park
11.   Life During Wartime (1987) by Lucius Shepard
12.   The Sea and Summer (1987) by George Turner
13.   Cyteen (1988) by C. J. Cherryh
14.   Neverness (1988) by David Zindell
15.   The Steerswoman (1989) by Rosemary Kirstein
16.   Grass (1989) by Sheri S. Tepper
17.   Use of Weapons (1990) by Iain M. Banks
18.   Queen of Angels (1990) by Greg Bear
19.   Barrayar (1991) by Lois McMaster Bujold
20.   Synners (1991) by Pat Cadigan
21.   Sarah Canary (1991) by Karen Joy Fowler
22.   White Queen (1991) by Gwyneth Jones
23.   Eternal Light (1991) by Paul J. McAuley
24.   Stations of the Tide (1991) by Michael Swanwick
25.   Timelike Infinity (1992) by Stephen Baxter
26.   Dead Girls (1992) by Richard Calder
27.   Jumper (1992) by Steven Gould
28.   China Mountain Zhang (1992) by Maureen F. McHugh
29.   Red Mars (1992) by Kim Stanley Robinson
30.   A Fire Upon the Deep (1992) by Vernor Vinge
31.   Aristoi (1992) by Walter Jon Williams
32.   Doomsday Book (1992) by Connie Willis
33.   Parable of the Sower (1993) by Octavia E. Butler
34.   Ammonite (1993) by Nicola Griffith
35.   Chimera (1993) by Mary Rosenblum
36.   Nightside the Long Sun (1993) by Gene Wolfe
37.   Brittle Innings (1994) by Michael Bishop
38.   Permutation City (1994) by Greg Egan
39.   Blood: A Southern Fantasy (1994) by Michael Moorcock
40.   Mother of Storms (1995) by John Barnes
41.   Sailing Bright Eternity (1995) by Gregory Benford
42.   Galatea 2.2 (1995) by Richard Powers
43.   The Diamond Age (1995) by Neal Stephenson
44.   The Transmigration of Souls (1996) by William Barton
45.   The Fortunate Fall (1996) by Raphael Carter
46.   The Sparrow (1996) and Children of God (1998) by Mary Doria Russell
47.   Holy Fire (1996) by Bruce Sterling
48.   Night Lamp (1996) by Jack Vance
49.   In the Garden of Iden (1997) by Kage Baker
50.   Forever Peace (1997) by Joe Haldeman
51.   Glimmering (1997) by Elizabeth Hand
52.   As She Climbed Across the Table (1997) by Jonathan Lethem
53.   The Cassini Division (1998) by Ken MacLeod
54.   Bloom (1998) by Will McCarthy
55.   Vast (1998) by Linda Nagata
56.   The Golden Globe (1998) by John Varley
57.   Headlong (1999) by Michael Frayn
58.   Cave of Stars (1999) by George Zebrowski
59.   Genesis (2000) by Poul Anderson
60.   Super-Cannes (2000) by J. G. Ballard
61.   Under the Skin (2000) by Michel Faber
62.   Perdido Street Station (2000) by China Miéville
63.   Distance Haze (2000) by Jamil Nasir
64.   Revelation Space (2000-07) by Alastair Reynolds
65.   Salt (2000) by Adam Roberts
66.   Ventus (2001) by Karl Schroeder
67.   The Cassandra Complex (2001) by Brian Stableford
68.   Light (2002) by M. John Harrison
69.   Altered Carbon (2002) by Richard Morgan
70.   The Separation (2002) by Christopher Priest
71.   The Golden Age (2002) by John C. Wright
72.   The Time Traveler's Wife (2003) by Audrey Niffenegger
73.   Natural History (2003) by Justina Robson
74.   The Labyrinth Key (2004) and Spears of God (2006) by Howard V. Hendrix
75.   River of Gods (2004) by Ian McDonald
76.   The Plot Against America (2004) by Philip Roth
77.   Never Let Me Go (2005) by Kazuo Ishiguro
78.   The House of Storms (2005) by Ian R. MacLeod
79.   Counting Heads (2005) by David Marusek
80.   Air: Or, Have Not Have (2005) by Geoff Ryman
81.   Accelerando (2005) by Charles Stross
82.   Spin (2005) by Robert Charles Wilson
83.   The Dirty Little Book of Stolen Time (2006) by Liz Jensen
84.   The Road (2006) by Cormac McCarthy
85.   Temeraire, a.k.a. His Majesty's Dragon (2006) by Naomi Novik
86.   Blindsight (2006) by Peter Watts
87.   HARM (2007) by Brian Aldiss
88.   The Yiddish Policeman's Union (2007) by Michael Chabon
89.   The Secret City (2007) by Carol Emshwiller
90.   In War Times (2007) by Kathleen Ann Goonan
91.   Postsingular (2007) by Rudy Rucker
92.   Shadow of the Scorpion (2008) by Neal Asher
93.   The Hunger Games Trilogy (2008-10) by Suzanne Collins
94.   Little Brother (2008) by Cory Doctorow
95.   The Alchemy of Stone (2008) by Ekaterina Sedia
96.   The Windup Girl (2009) by Paolo Bacigalupi
97.   Steal Across the Sky (2009) by Nancy Kress
98.   Boneshaker (2009) by Cherie Priest
99.   Zoo City (2010) by Lauren Beukes
100.   Zero History (2010) by William Gibson
101.   The Quantum Thief (2010) by Hannu Rajaniemi

I only wish that they gave fantasy a similar treatment. That being said, I have one more list similar to this that I'll be sharing soon. In the meantime, feel free to discuss what you feel about this one and whether it better represents how you feel about science fiction today, if at all.