On the 24th, Rothfuss posted this list of SF/F books that he considers essential. The crossed-off ones are ones I have read. I envy your recommendations, as I am not as well read as I once thought in this genre:
- The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher
- The Last Unicorn By Peter S. Beagle
Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury- Stranger In a Strange Land Robert Heinlein
Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien- The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis
- Dragonriders Of Pern by Anne McCaffrey
- Dune by Frank Herbert
- Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick
- The Discworld books by Terry Pratchett
- The Chronicles of Amber–Roger Zelazny
- Brave New World–Aldous Huxley
- Wizard of Earthsea By Le Guin
- Sandman – Neil Gaiman
- The Fisher King Trilogy by Tim Powers
- Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy trilogy by Douglas Adams
- The Riddlemaster of Hed series by Patricia McKillip
- Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath by H.P Lovecraft
- Neuromancer by William Gibson
- Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
- 1984 – by George Orwell
- Callahan’s Crosstime Saloon by Spider Robinson
- Midsummer Night’s Dream by Shakespeare
- The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox, by Barry Hughart
- The Princess Bride – William Goldman
- The Bloody Chamber – Angela Carter
- Gun, with Occasional Music by Jonathan Lethem
- The Odyssey by Homer
- The Last Herald-Mage trilogy – Mercedes Lackey
Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card- River World Series – Phillip Jose Farmer
- One Thousand and One Nights
- Riftwar Saga by Feist
- The Dark Tower series – Stephen King
- Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn by Tad Williams
- Belgariad series by David Eddings
- Snow Crash by Neil Stephenson
- Michael Ende – The Neverending Story
- The Dragonlance Chronicles by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
- The Shannara Trilogy – Terry Brooks
(he then added these)
- The Farseer Trilogy – Robin Hobb
- Gargantua and Pantagruel by Francois Rabelais
- Only Forward by Michael Marshal Smith
- A Canticle for Leibowitz- Walter M Miller
- Pretty much Anything by Christopher Moore
- Time Enough for Love – Robert Heinlein
- Stardust – Neil Gaiman
- His Dark Materials – Phillip Pullman
- Black Company Series – Glen Cook
- Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde
- Lud in Mist – Hope Mirrlees
- The Red Magician – Lisa Goldstein
- Old Man’s War by John Scalzi
- A Wrinke In Time by Madeleine L’Engle
- Death is a Lonely Business by Ray Bradbury
- Declare- Tim Powers
- Legend- David Gemmel
- Icewind Dale Trilogy – R.A. Salvatore
Harry Potter by Rowling (Mostly the first four)Beowulf
What do you recommend from the list? What would you add?
I blog about my experiences as Kurt Vonnegut’s biographer, if you’re interested, at http://www.writingkurtvonnegut.com
Best,
Charles J. Shields
And so It Goes: Kurt Vonnegut, A Life (Holt, November)
that’s nice, but what does that have to do with Rothfuss’ SF/F reading list other than that Cat’s Cradle was mentioned. Are you recommending it?
check out shadowline by glen cook. if you liked ender’s game you should love it
Sweet. What’s it about?
(thanks for visiting, btw)
[...] the same vein, I came across a scifi/fantasy writer’s list of the top-40 scifi/fantasy works of all time. I was ASTONISHED at the anemia I have in regard to those works. There’s no [...]
Pat’s list seems to be his most popular post, methinks. I’ve been a huge fan since NOTW was released, and I found this list fascinating. As for recommendations, I’d really recommend the Sandman graphic novels by Neil Gaiman, but also American Gods, too. Gaiman is truly a master in the SFF world. The Dark Tower series was also quite enjoyable, though it didn’t meet my rising expectations. Shannara fantasy was what hooked me in the genre: it’s fast-paced, but (mostly) shallow. I’ve read 13 from this list, so I, too, have a ways to go.
I am baffled as to why Pat didn’t include Joe Abercrombie’s First Law trilogy or Sanderson’s Mistborn series, as both would definitely rank high up on this list. Perhaps he forgot?
Anyway, enjoy! I look forward to following your blog, too. Seems interesting.
Sandman as in DC comics? Or like the bogey man?
American Gods – I’ve heard great and terrible things about that book.
Dark Tower looks good, but like any Stephen King, I’ll read it for the characters and not for the plot. He’s not there to have an ending. He’s there for characters and situations.
Shannara? Wow. This (aside from Pat) is the first good stuff I’ve heard about it. I’ll have to keep my watch out.
Interesting stuff here with with First Law and Mistborn. I’ll add those to the docket as well.
Thanks so much for stopping by and recommending! Always great to interact with a new reader!
Sandman as in Vertigo (a DC imprint) comics, aye. If your library has them, get the Absolute Editions. They’ve been recolored and look amazing.
American Gods– Terrible things? Eh? It’s somewhat confusing and rather bleak, but Gaiman has a way with words that’s just impossible to describe.
Shannara– Yep. I was fourteen or so when I read my first Terry Brooks novel, and at that age, I didn’t understand Sword of Shannara was basically LOTR all over again. Even so, the rest of his stuff is quite developed and mostly original. I think the Shannara world has 20+ novels now, and I’ve read ‘em all… It’s fluff fantasy, in short.
Enjoy your future reading, whenever you get to them.
[...] Patrick Rothfuss’ suggestion, I started reading the The Dragonriders of Pern series. Dragonflight is the first in the [...]