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THE CRAWFORD LIST OF 97 ALL-TIME BEST SF & FANTASY WORKS |  |
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| TITLE |
AUTHOR |
YEAR |
PREFERRED
EDITION* |
COMMENTS |
Simmons, Dan |
2007 |
Little, Brown (0316017442) |
Although some might object
to its date raping of History, it's more about what we should've learned
from this most disastrous of human expeditions. |
|
McCarthy, Cormac |
2006 |
Knopf (03072655439) |
Death
is the major issue in the world. For you, for me, for all of us. It
just is. ****** —Cormac
McCarthy, 2005 |
|
Stewart, Sean |
2004 |
Small Beer Press (1931520070) |
The essence of living
is the target here, fired at with dead people as bullets. |
|
Hand, Elizabeth |
2004 |
Morrow (0061051705) |
Exploring the brumous terrian
of Mythology in a HumVee called Art. Follow with Generation Loss |
|
The Scar |
Mieville, China |
2002 |
MacMillan (0333781740); |
Start w Perdido Street Station & read everything. See City & the City. |
Palahniuk, Chuck |
2002 |
Doubleday (0385504470);
Jonathan Cape, (0224063014) |
Until I read Fight
Club
as Tim suggests, this is it.
There is also a review of Invisible
Monsters on the Non-List
Review page. |
|
Piccirilli, Tom |
2001 |
Shadowlands (1930595026); Leisure
(0843951257), 2002 |
Few writers understand
Noir like this. Here's a dark session
in Despair 101. Also, look to November
Mourns. |
|
| Gentle, Mary | 2000 | Gollancz (0575069007); Gollancz
(0575069015 ) |
An anti-romantic Medieval
page-turner that re-directs demarcations between History and Myth. NO
REVIEW |
|
A Friend of the Earth |
Boyle, TC |
2000 |
Viking (0670891770) |
A EOTW (end of the world) SciFi entry from the Robbins-Irving school of writing |
Thomas, Jeffrey |
2000 |
Ministry of Whimsy Press, Florida |
The lawless melting pot of an alien colony city is of less interest in these festering short stories that scrape at the innards of humanity. |
|
A Game of Thrones |
Martin, George R.R. |
1996 |
Voyager (0002245841) |
In a Heroic Fantasy series, the intro novel. Read his SF, especially the novella A Song for Lya |
Deus-X |
Citro, Joseph |
1994 |
Twilight (0963858513) |
A quirky, kitchen-sink kinda Horror read w literary thematic content. |
Skin |
Koja, Kathe |
1993 |
Delacorte (038530899X); Dell (0440211158) |
|
Snow Crash |
Stephenson, Neal |
1992 |
Bantam (344223686X); Bantam (0553351923) |
A good example of post-Neuromancer, with less churning angst & more quirky cultivation, although Anathem could be the crown jewel. |
Swanwick, Michael |
1991 |
Morrow (0688104517); Avon
(0380715244), 1992 |
A scrutiny of information
and its effects, really, whether it be legend, science, fact, or magic.
For Fantasy, look up Iron Dragon's Daughter. |
|
Boy's Life |
McCammon, Robert R. |
1991 |
Pocket Books (0671742264) |
The early
works are feverblisters
of audacious explosions. This later novel subs more magic for
malice, achieving that Bradburyian heartbeat. |
Dream Baby |
McAllister, Bruce |
1989 |
Tor (0312931972);
Tor (0812510984) |
Paranormalacy & Vietnam, an idiosyncratic gem. |
The Two Deaths of Senora Puccini |
Dobyns, Stephen |
1988 |
Viking (0670819808); Penguin (0140105670), 1989 |
Stretching the guidelines, I admit, but has aspects of Magic Realism
|
Watchers |
Koontz, Dean R. |
1987 |
Putnam (0399132635) |
Yeah, this is the one with
the dog. It is also Koontz's fav &
rightly so, but don't miss his other quirky, cross-threaded
hallucinations
from Horror's Golden Age of the 80s, like The Bad Place,
my fav. Go here for a very limited Koontz retrospective 1980-1991 here. |
Ash Wednesday |
Williamson, Chet |
1987 |
Tor (031293002X); Tor (0812527208) 1989 |
What if dead people showed up where they died? What does it take to get rid of your ghosts? |
Replay |
Grimwood, Ken |
1986 |
Arbor (0877957819); Berkley (0425106403) 1988 |
Much better than Groundhog Day. |
Perfume |
Suskind, Patrick |
1986 |
Knopf (0394550846); Pocket (0671643703) 1987 |
More akin to Vampire rather than Serial Killer novels. A Historical Novel as a contemporary fairy tale. |
The Vampire Lestat |
Rice, Ann |
1985 |
Knopf (0394534433); Ballantine (0345313860) 1986 |
Probably read Interview as a warm-up, then quit after Queen |
White Noise |
Delillo, Don |
1985 |
Viking (0670803731); Penguin (0140077022) 1991 |
|
Blood Music |
Bear, Greg |
1985 |
Arbor (0877957207 ); Ace (0441067964) 1986 |
A good example of the Viral Horror Novel. |
Ketchum, Jack |
1984 |
Berkley (0425114538) PBO; Cemetery Dance (1587670658), 2003 |
Originally titled The
Huntress,
it took 8 months to write & 4 years to sell this Gods-walk-among-us tale.
Don't be fooled—it's Horror. |
|
Harrison, M. John |
1984 |
Gollancz' Millennium imprint
(1857989953) 2000 |
This Fantasy series of
3 novels & a short story collection was started in 1971. No way back
to the Shire here, Frodo. |
|
The Glamour |
Priest, Christopher |
1984 |
Cape, UK (0224022741); Sphere, UK (0349128103) 1985 |
If everybody's invisible, how do you know who's talking? UK ending superior to US version. Try The Extremes for a different take. |
Mythago Wood |
Holdstock, Robert |
1984 |
Gollancz, UK (0877957614); Grafton, UK (0586065857) 1986 |
|
Books of Blood |
Barker, Clive |
1984 |
Sphere, UK, PBO; Weidenfeld & Nicolson, UK |
6 volumes of short stories. Not to be missed as opposed to anything he wrote afterwards. |
Pet Sematary |
King, Stephen |
1983 |
Doubleday (0385182449); Signet (0451150244) 1984 |
The scariest of his supernatural horror phase. Recent work reviewed: Cell, Lisey's Story & 'Salem's Lot. |
Startide Rising |
Brin, David |
1983 |
Bantam (1857233727) PBO; Phantasia Press (0932096387) 1985 |
Dolphins running starships. Grand Space Opera. Also look at The Uplift War, Earth and Kiln People. |
Powers, Time |
1983 |
Ace (0441023800)
PBO ;
Chatto & Windus:
London , 1985 |
Time traveling & character
shifting so plot-thick and imaginative that you need to read it in
as few sittings as possible. The Non-List Review page crits Dinner
at Deviant's Palace & On
Stranger Tides also. |
|
The Snow Queen |
Vinge, Joan |
1981 |
Dial Press; Dell (0440177499), 1984 |
Grand alien world building |
Valis |
Dick, PK |
1981 |
Bantam, PBO; Kerosina, UK (0948893168) 1987 |
The profundities of a racing mind going into the final turn. Besides, Ben's reading it on Lost, Season 4. |
The Unreasoning Mask |
Farmer, Philip Jose |
1981 |
GP Putnam (0399126732) Berkley , 1983 (0425055515) |
Grand-scale antics, like saving the Pluriverse, and, in the process, discovering God's hidden metaphysics. |
Island of Dr Death |
Wolfe, Gene |
1980 |
Pocket Books (067182824x) PBO |
All of the early novellas are great, especially 5 th Head of Cerberus + the New Sun tetralogy is a classic of Fantasy |
Land of Laughs |
Carroll, Jonathan |
1980 |
Viking (0670417556); Ace(0441469876) 1983 |
Thoughts can determine reality, literally. |
The Nightwalker |
Tessier, Thomas |
1979 |
Atheneum (0689110588); Signet (0451097203), 1981 |
1st person narrative of discovering lycanthropy. Some prefer his other werewolf novel, Phantom. |
Ghost Story |
Straub, Peter |
1979 |
Coward, McCann & Geoghegan (0698109597); Pocket, 1980 |
“I won't tell you that, but I'll tell you the worst thing that ever happened to me…” |
The Persistence of Vision |
Varley, John |
1978 |
Dial Press (0803768664) Dell, 1979 (F316) |
The 1st short story
collection. Continue with more short stories in The Barbie Murders.
Novels? Try Titan, 1st of a trilogy inhabiting an alien artifact, which
seems to be a genre in itself. |
Our Lady of Darkness |
Lieber, Fritz |
1977 |
Berkley (399118721); Berkley (042503660X), 1978 |
Does San Francisco have a face? A name? A will? |
The Stand |
King, Stephen |
1977 |
Doubleday (0385121687); Signet (0451150678), 1980 |
It's as if Dickens discovered his hidden graveyard humor and wrote an EOTW novel. Recent work reviewed: Cell & Lisey's Story & 'Salem's Lot. |
The Game Players of Zan |
Foster, M.A. |
1977 |
DAW #236 (0879972874), PBO |
A fantastic social/culture alien presence with one of the best plot puzzlers in all of SF. |
Triton |
Delaney, Sam |
1976 |
Bantam (Y2567), PBO; Gregg Press (0839823711), 1977 |
Follow with Nova, Dhalgren & take the time to find his short story collection, Driftglass |
Her Smoke Rose Up Forever |
Tiptree, James Jr. |
1974 |
Arkham (0870541609) 1990 |
This is the best collection of her short stories (don't bother with the novels). Make sure to read A Momentary Taste of Being for its deathlink to sex musings. |
The Mote in God's Eye |
Niven & Pournelle |
1974 |
Simon & Schuster (0671218336) |
The tag team for hard science pageturners. Lucifer's Hammer is their EOTW magnum opus, but forget the abominable Oath of Fealty. Try Ringworld, Niven's homage to the ultimate alien artifact. |
Walk to the End of the World |
Charnas, Suzy McKee |
1974 |
Ballantine (23788) PBO |
The re-invention of the bio/social order/world modeled on 70s feminist doctrine. While its' ideas seem silly at 1st, the characters refuse any mockery. Through 4 novels, Motherlines, The Furies, & The Conqueror's Child. Also, The Vampire Tapestry is masterful. |
Adams, Richard |
1972 |
Rex Collins Ltd UK |
Outside of Fairy or Children's tales, there's
not many brainy bunny stories out there. This is the best. |
|
Simak, Clifford D. |
1972 |
GP Putnam; Berkley (02412),
1973 |
This wonderful pastoral
vision is about living on the Earth without owning it, with some interesting
ponderings about robots & Gods. Non-List Page has The
Werewolf Principle & Our Children's Children |
|
100 Years of Solitude |
Marquez, Gabriel Garcia |
1970 |
|
Fills you with a sense of magic that cannot be described or condensed. |
The Year of the Quiet Sun |
Tucker, Wilson |
1970 |
Ace (94200) PBO |
The inherent oddities of time travel wrapped in a EOTW novel. Big on characterization and a chilling similarity to present-day politics. And they only go forward to 2000! |
Slaughterhouse 5 |
Vonnegut, Kurt |
1969 |
|
Don't miss his early short stories, Welcome to the Monkey House |
Bug Jack Barron |
Spinrad, Jack |
1969 |
|
Probably weak today, but it im-pressed me 30 years ago. Some people point to The Void Captain's Tale . |
Left Hand of Darkness |
LeGuinn, Ursula |
1969 |
|
You can't go wrong with The Dispossessed, The Lathe of Heaven, The Earthsea Trilogy, or The Word for World is Forest either |
Fourth Mansions |
Lafferty, RA |
1969 |
|
His sense of humor, satire, improbable juxtapositions, and quirky outrageousness is not to be missed. To make sure you won't meld too permanently into his insanity, try a small shock of the early short story collections, 900 Grandmothers & Strange Doings. |
A Boy & His Dog |
Ellison, Harlan |
1969 |
Avon; New American Library, 1974 |
Ellison will punch you in the gut. And he hits hard. Novella from The Beast that Shouted Love at the Heart of the World. Any of the short story collections of the ‘60s & ‘70s. As editor, Dangerous Visions. |
Leiber, Fritz |
1938-1988 |
all Ace PBOs, except last grouping The Knight & Knave
of Swords (068808530x) |
The lusty, swashbuckling, and magical antics of 2 distinctly American heroes by the man who defined the Sword and Socery genre |
|
The Teachings of Don Juan |
Castaneda, Carlos |
1968 |
|
Read w second in series, A Separate Reality. It's still debatable whether this is fact or fantasy. You decide. |
Rosemary's Baby |
Levin, Ira |
1967 |
Random House; Dell
(7509), 1968 |
A rare instance where the
film version stands as tall as its source material. Besides the urban
paranoia of bad neighbors, this one shows Humor (satire, wit, irony)
can inhabit Horror's dark corner, too. More of the same in The
Stepford Wives. |
Stand on Zanzibar |
Brunner, John |
1966 |
|
Master of the dystopia, Zanzi's overpopulation, The Sheep Look Up is pollution, The Jagged Orbit is racism, Shockwave Rider, the coming computer age. Pick your poison. |
Dune |
Herbert, Frank |
1965 |
|
It's on every SF list ever created and unequivocally deserving of being there. But don't bother with the sequels. |
The Magus |
Fowles, John |
1965 |
|
Does it really belong on this list? Who cares? Imagination and curiosity of this caliber cannot be bound. |
Tales of Terror and the Unknown |
Blackwood, Algernon |
1964 |
|
Great campfire stories, especially The Willows & The Wendigo |
Man in the High Castle |
Dick, PK |
1962 |
|
Possibly the most visionary if not paranoid SF writer of all time. If you read only one Alt History novel, this is it. |
Ballard, J.G. |
1962 |
Berkley (F655) PBO; Gollancz, UK |
A saturnine vision of the
world gone wet, & man's place in it usurped. |
|
Stranger in a Strange Land |
Heinlein. Robert |
1961 |
|
Okay, okay, I need to read more Heinlein. After Starship Troopers, no, I don't. |
Solaris |
Lem, Stanislaw |
1961 |
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So wonderful, different, scary, and profound, there's nothing to say about it but read it. |
A Fine & Private Place |
Beagle, Peter |
1960 |
|
Some people like The Last Unicorn better |
Haunting of Hill House, The |
Jackson, Shirley |
1959 |
Viking Press |
The consummate possession-by-a-ghost-house
story, many times borrowed, most notably The
Shining. The horror
is off the page and in your imagination, so don't answer when called "Eleanor". |
Canticle for Liebowitz, A |
Miller, Walter |
1959 |
|
A rote choice I haven't read in a long time. Is it really that good? |
Leiber, Fritz |
1958 |
Ace (D-491) PBO 1961 ; Gregg Press,
1976 |
||
Pincher Martin |
Golding, William |
1956 |
Faber & Faber, UK; |
Lord of the Flies, The Inheritors, read them all |
Ficciones |
Borges, Jorge Luis |
1956 |
|
Short stories also included in Labyrinths collection, except for the South which is a must-read. |
Christopher, John |
1956 |
“The Death of Grass”, Michael Joseph:UK Avon (S-288), 1967 |
How can you justify murder & looting, even in times of extreme chaos? A rather grim & cynical look at what happens to humanity when it gets hungry. Quite contemporary, even though it doesn't have any zombies in it. |
|
The Stars My Destination |
Bester, Alfred |
1956 |
Signet (S-1389) PBO, 1957 after Galaxy Mag serial | It's a travesty that
Gully Foyle is not as recognizable as Hans Solo. Get smug. Say it. Gul—ly!
Gul—ly! |
Matheson, Richard |
1954 |
Fawcett
Gold Medal (417) PBO; Walker & Co (0802755240), 1970 |
I conjure that Romero
couldn't get the film rights, so he created Night
of the Living Dead instead. One of the darkest takes on societal
mores you'll ever read. |
|
The Lord of the Rings |
Tolkien, JRR |
1954 |
|
Don't you DARE settle for the movie. |
Childhood's End |
Clark, Sir Arthur |
1953 |
|
|
The Day of the Triffids |
Wyndham, John |
1951 |
Michael Joseph; London; Popular Library (411), 1952 |
EOTW where most everybody goes blind then get menaced by saguaros that think they're Zombies. It's a little Tech-Goes-Bad with Nature-on-the-Revenge fun. Try The Midwich Cuckoos and The Kraken Wakes, too. |
Earth Abides |
Stewart, George |
1949 |
Random House; |
I'm sorry, but most of the Bay Area could stand a makeover. |
1984 |
Orwell, George |
1949 |
|
Regarding modern politics & media, this one set the bar until globalization took over. |
Clark, Walter Van Tilburg |
1949 |
Random House |
A unique & riveting
insertion of the Supernatural into a classic Western theme. |
|
The Dark Carnival |
Bradbury, Ray |
1947 |
Arkham House |
|
The Gormenghast Trilogy |
Peake, Mervin |
1946 |
Eyre & Spottiswoode, UK |
Admittedly running out of juice by the 3rd volume, this is a tangled snake pit of a tale with lots of bite to it. |
Moore, C. L. |
1946 |
Nelson Doubleday, SFBC,
c.1975 |
In pulp mags, she
created the first female action hero in Fantasy, and that's the least
of her accomplishments. |
|
Smith, Clark Ashton |
1942 |
Arkham House |
A visceral horror/fantasy
imagination & stunning use of language keep him still unmatched today. |
|
The Outsider & Others |
Lovecraft, HP |
1939 |
Arkham House |
Again, read the short stories, not the novels, adding the earlier collections The Dunwich Horror & The Colour Out of Space |
Voyage to Arcturus |
Lindsay, David |
1920 |
Methuen & Co, UK |
A rare SF Allegorical Fable. Or is it? |
Hodgson, William Hope |
1908 |
Chapman & Hall |
The bridge between Lucifer
and Cthulhu. |
|
Dracula |
Stoker, Bram |
1897 |
Archibald Constable
& Co, UK |
Its concern with tradition
and folklore swallowed by emerging innovation and technology remains
surprisingly tempered and pragmatic, as the modern sensibility seeks
solace in the myths of media. Reading Dracula today
is an act of condescension, if not humility. |
Wells, H. G. |
1896 |
Heinemann, UK |
Probably not as popular
as War
of the Worlds or The Time Machine,
but it's revealed horror seems more poignant as man strides forward, thinking
he's more sophisticated merely because he's continuing on. NO
REVIEW |
|
Machen, Arthur |
1895 |
John Lane, UK; Ballantine
(026438125), 1972 |
Its idiosyncratic madness
is as frustrating as it is brilliant. Also, The Great God Pan |
|
Tales of Mystery and Imagination |
Poe, Edgar Allen |
1839 |
|
All of the short stories, and don't forget Rue Morgue & Gold Bug, or the poetry, The Raven & Annabel Lee |
Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus |
Shelley, Mary |
1818 |
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Read it because what you think it is, it is not. You may be bored, but you'll also be surprised. |
Macbeth |
Shakespeare, William |
1606 |
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Because he's the greatest writer in English, period. There's witches in this one, right? |
The Odyssey |
Homer |
8th Century BC |
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Proof that the Fantasy genre rose thru the hero's tales from Antiquity. |
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*Entry order is 1st Edition Hardback publisher with ISBN or catalogue number in parenthesis. Italicized entry is 1st Paperback and noted if publishing year is different. All PBOs (paperback originals) are assigned and listed before the Hardback. Denoting 1sts is an inexact science at best, so please email me with mistakes seen or any suggestions. Book cover images are not meant to identify any particular edition, but used strickly for graphic appeal. crawfoto@silverlynx.net |
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