Lists of Bests: Classics of Science Fiction

Send to Printer Classics of Science Fiction The Classics of Science Fiction by James Wallace Harris What are the classic books of science fiction? Who decides which book is a classic? Do the critics and scholars know best or in the end, are the readers the real judges? What qualities define a classic book? I got the idea to look up a number of "recommended" or "best of" lists to see what other people had to say, and then compile a database that would represent a consensus of opinion. Using the lists I "assembled" the Classics of Science Fiction list by selecting books that were on a minimum number of refering lists. (For full essay see http://classics.jameswallaceharris.com) (found at: http://classics.jameswallaceharris.com)
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	1.		The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester
	2.		More Than Human by Theodore Sturgeon
	3.		Dune, 40th Anniversary Edition (Dune Chronicles, Book 1) by Frank Herbert
	4.		The Foundation Trilogy by ISAAC ASIMOV
	5.		A Canticle for Liebowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr.
	6.	?	Stand on Zanzibar by John Brunner
	7.		The Left Hand Of Darkness by Ursula L. Le Guin
	8.		The Time Machine by H.G. Wells
	9.		The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells
	10.		Childhood's End (Del Rey Impact) by Arthur C. Clarke
	11.		The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury
	12.		The Space Merchants by Frederik Pohl
	13.		The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester
	14.		Ringworld by Larry Niven
	15.		The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin
	16.		1984: Centennial Edition by George Orwell
	17.	?	City by Clifford D. Simak
	18.		Mission of Gravity by Hal Clement
	19.		The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick
	20.		Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
	21.	?	The City & the Stars by Arthur C. Clarke
	22.		Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein
	23.		To Your Scattered Bodies Go (Riverworld Saga, Book 1) by Philip Jose Farmer
	24.	?	Rendezvous With Rama by Arthur C Clarke
	25.		The Forever War by Joe Haldeman
	26.		Gateway (Heechee Saga) by Frederik Pohl
	27.		Last and First Men by Olaf Stapledon
	28.		The World of Null-A by A. E. van Vogt
	29.		Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
	30.		A Case of Conscience by James Blish
	31.		Hothouse by Brian W. Aldiss
	32.		The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein
	33.		Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
	34.		Dying Inside by Robert Silverberg
	35.		Star Maker (SF Masterworks) (Millennium SF Masterworks S) by Olaf Stapledon
	36.		Slan : A Novel by A. E. Van Vogt
	37.	?	The Humanoids by Jack Williamson
	38.		A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
	39.		Way Station by Clifford D. Simak
	40.		Camp Concentration: A Novel by Thomas M. Disch
	41.		Timescape by Gregory Benford
	42.		Frankenstein (Enriched Classics) by Mary Shelley
	43.		Earth Abides by George R. Stewart
	44.		Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny
	45.		The Book of the New Sun (Millennium Fantasy Masterworks) by Gene Wolfe
	46.		A Princess of Mars (Penguin Classics) by Edgar Rice Burroughs
	47.	?	We by Yevgeny Zamiatin
	48.		Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick
	49.		Solaris by Stanislaw Lem
	50.		Downbelow Station by C. J. Cherryh
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