04-05-2013, 03:09 PM
Nice idea!
I always find it hard to keep these lists short because I find it hard to have favourites when there are so many awesome books out there. I also never want to miss out "the usuals" and the old classics because these have stood the test of time and are always worth reading. So I started a list but it was taking forever so instead, here are some links to the winners of best Novel for the Hugo and Nebula awards. I decided to try and read my way through all the Hugo and Nebula awards winners about 5 years ago (that's a lot of books!) and from what I have got through so far, I can pretty much say if you just pick one and go for it you probably won't be dissappointed.
Hugo winners : Best Novel . There are other categories worth checking out too. These are taken from worldwide authors
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_Award_for_Best_Novel
Nebula winners: Best Novel. These are US published authors
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nebula_Awar...Best_Novel
If you go to the list that have won both, you're probably guaranteed an awesome read.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_joi...ula_awards
And interestingly: Awards for best professional art in the genre.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_Award_...nal_Artist
And you can stop reading here but if you want to see some of the ones that I read and stood out for me so far.
Vernor Vinge : Across Realtime (collection of 3 separate but linked stories set in the same world)
Larry Niven : A mote in God's eye (first contact)
Robert Hienein: The moon is a harsh mistress, a stranger in a strange land, starship troopers
William Gibson: Neuromancer
Phillip K Dick. : Anything of his really.
Greg Egan: Permutation city
Ursula K LeGuin: The Dispossessed, Left hand of darkness (definitely not your usual sci fi with pew pew lasers and aliens)
Margaret Atwood: Children of Men, Oryx and Crake, Handmaid's tale
John Wyndham: Day of the triffids
Orson Card of course: Ender's Game, less the other books in the series
Walter M Miller: A Canticle for Leibowitz (I really enjoyed this)
Kurt Vonnegut: Slaughterhouse Five. Sci fi context but not really about the sci fi. Really good though; a favourite author for sure, read anything by him.
Asimov: Foundation series.
Dan Simmons: Hyperion series
Philip Jose Farmer: The Riverworld books. (Enjoyed muchly)
Joe Haldeman: The forever war (Apparantly Ridley Scott is making this into a movie now, sigh)
Clarkesworld: Small free online 'zine of 3 short contemporary sci fi stories every month. Awarded Hugo awards. There hasn't been anything bad I've read on there yet, and some really awesome stories and cover art.
Fantasy: besides the "usual"
Marion Zimmer Bradley: Mists of Avalon (Arthurian retelling)
Ursula K LeGuin: Earthsea books
Greg Bear: Infinity Concerto (very different fantasy to the usual. he does mostly write sci fi)
Stephen King: Dark Tower series up to a point...book 4 or 5 or something?
Neil Gaiman: Ok surrealist fiction, but his shit gets close to fantasy in instances. Neverwhere, American Gods, Stardust etc
Beowulf. The actual poem was surprisingly epic.
Tolkien's Silmarillion: worth it if you can manage to drag yourself past the first 90 pages or so and you are a fan of his other stuff.
I always find it hard to keep these lists short because I find it hard to have favourites when there are so many awesome books out there. I also never want to miss out "the usuals" and the old classics because these have stood the test of time and are always worth reading. So I started a list but it was taking forever so instead, here are some links to the winners of best Novel for the Hugo and Nebula awards. I decided to try and read my way through all the Hugo and Nebula awards winners about 5 years ago (that's a lot of books!) and from what I have got through so far, I can pretty much say if you just pick one and go for it you probably won't be dissappointed.
Hugo winners : Best Novel . There are other categories worth checking out too. These are taken from worldwide authors
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_Award_for_Best_Novel
Nebula winners: Best Novel. These are US published authors
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nebula_Awar...Best_Novel
If you go to the list that have won both, you're probably guaranteed an awesome read.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_joi...ula_awards
And interestingly: Awards for best professional art in the genre.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_Award_...nal_Artist
And you can stop reading here but if you want to see some of the ones that I read and stood out for me so far.
Vernor Vinge : Across Realtime (collection of 3 separate but linked stories set in the same world)
Larry Niven : A mote in God's eye (first contact)
Robert Hienein: The moon is a harsh mistress, a stranger in a strange land, starship troopers
William Gibson: Neuromancer
Phillip K Dick. : Anything of his really.
Greg Egan: Permutation city
Ursula K LeGuin: The Dispossessed, Left hand of darkness (definitely not your usual sci fi with pew pew lasers and aliens)
Margaret Atwood: Children of Men, Oryx and Crake, Handmaid's tale
John Wyndham: Day of the triffids
Orson Card of course: Ender's Game, less the other books in the series
Walter M Miller: A Canticle for Leibowitz (I really enjoyed this)
Kurt Vonnegut: Slaughterhouse Five. Sci fi context but not really about the sci fi. Really good though; a favourite author for sure, read anything by him.
Asimov: Foundation series.
Dan Simmons: Hyperion series
Philip Jose Farmer: The Riverworld books. (Enjoyed muchly)
Joe Haldeman: The forever war (Apparantly Ridley Scott is making this into a movie now, sigh)
Clarkesworld: Small free online 'zine of 3 short contemporary sci fi stories every month. Awarded Hugo awards. There hasn't been anything bad I've read on there yet, and some really awesome stories and cover art.
Fantasy: besides the "usual"
Marion Zimmer Bradley: Mists of Avalon (Arthurian retelling)
Ursula K LeGuin: Earthsea books
Greg Bear: Infinity Concerto (very different fantasy to the usual. he does mostly write sci fi)
Stephen King: Dark Tower series up to a point...book 4 or 5 or something?
Neil Gaiman: Ok surrealist fiction, but his shit gets close to fantasy in instances. Neverwhere, American Gods, Stardust etc
Beowulf. The actual poem was surprisingly epic.
Tolkien's Silmarillion: worth it if you can manage to drag yourself past the first 90 pages or so and you are a fan of his other stuff.