61. THE MOTE IN GOD’S EYE by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
First Published: 1974
Genre: Science Fiction
Subgenre: First Contact

In Short:	Humans meet the Moties.
Recommended:	Yep.

"How many men would turn down a whole planet for a bribe?"

Summary: A thousand years in the future, in the wake of a war that left human civilization reeling, Commander Lord Roderick Blaine is on a routine transport mission about his ship the MacArthur when they encounter the first alien spacecraft humans have ever found. This eventually leads to humanity’s First Contact with the very different, very alien indeed species nicknamed the Moties, and everyone learns a little something from each other. It’s all rather sweet, in a vaguely dystopian way.

On Screen: No.

In Other Media: A sequel, The Gripping Hand, AKA The Moat around Murcheson's Eye, came out in 1993, and in 2010 Pournelle's daughter, J. R. Pournelle, released a second sequel, entitled Outies.

In Popular Culture: Nothing.

Awards and Nominations: Nominated for the Hugo, Nebula and Locus Awards in 1975.

Deserving of Top 100 Status: Absolutely!

-- Rachel Hyland

62. THE SWORD OF TRUTH by Terry Goodkind
First Published: Wizards First Rule was released in 1994, and there have since been eleven other novels and one novella, with the last book in the series, The Omen Machine, released in 2010.
Genre: Fantasy
Subgenre: Epic

In Short:	An elaborate and painstaking series that undulates gently though various Fantasy tropes, but also manages to feel fresh and unique.
Recommended:	For the most part. The series does get wearisome towards the end, though.

"People are stupid."

-- Zedd, Wizard’s First Rule

Summary: In a land divided, the humble Richard Cypher becomes the Seeker of Truth, a justiciar of all that is right and noble. He and his cohorts wander about the place for a while; meanwhile, Richard gets to wield a magic sword! (Every Fantasy hero’s dream.) Magic – and, particularly – dark magic abounds, along with romance, mystery, suspense, and the occasional flash of humor all the more precious for being so vanishingly rare.

On Screen: Cult favorite TV series Legend of the Seeker was based on the novels -- loosely based, some might say.

In Other Media: Just the audiobook, oddly.

In Popular Culture: Not memorably.

Awards and Nominations: A few nominations here and there.

Deserving of Top 100 Status: It is certainly one of the more notable Fantasy series of the last several decades, so… I’m gonna go with yes.

-- Rachel Hyland

55. THE ROAD by Cormac McCarthy
First Published: 2006
Genre: Science Fiction
Subgenre: Post-Apocalyptic

In Short:	A slice of reality is somehow presented in post-apocalyptic desolation.
Recommended:	Hell, Yes!

“You forget what you want to remember, and you remember what you want to forget.”

-- Dad

Summary: A father and son traverse a post-apocalyptic landscape, just trying to survive. The father struggles over the suicide of his wife, and the boy knows to fear the marauding bands of survivors who have turned to cannibalism. The father starts coughing up blood and knows he is beginning to die, but he has to provide for and protect his son.

On Screen: Viggo Mortensen portrayed the father in a 2009 film adaptation, which also featured Robert Duvall in a cameo as a blind old man.

In Other Media: There has no been no cross-media influence for the book yet, but to be fair, the stark emptiness of its world is pretty overwhelming for someone to adapt.

In Popular Culture: Due to its recent release, it hasn’t received a high level of cultural awareness at this point.

Awards and Nominations: Pulitzer Prize for Fiction (2007), James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Fiction (2006), Believer Book Award (2006), Finalist- National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction (2006)

Deserving of Top 100 Status: Should be number one. In other words, yes.

-- Jason Luna

64. Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke
First Published: 2004
Genre: Fantasy
Subgenre: Alternative History

In Short:	Magic exists in Britain and while two magicians vie for favor and importance, a butler saves the day.
Recommended:	Um, yes?

"Two magicians shall appear in England The first shall fear me; the second shall long to behold me; The first shall be governed by thieves and murderers; the second shall conspire at his own destruction; The first shall bury his heart in a dark wood beneath the snow, yet still feel its wake; The second shall see his dearest possession in his enemy’s hand"

READ REVIEW

Summary: It boils down to both Strange and Norrell being magicians who lose a woman to enchantment -- one unintentionally (Strange), one intentionally (Norrell). This is married alongside a prophecy of magic returning to England, which includes the two magicians, and the mysterious Raven King. When people finally become aware that Lady Pole and Arabella Strange have been enchanted, the fight begins for their restoration, and the enchanted butler Stephen Black defeats the enemy and assumes his place as the King of the Faeries.

On Screen: The film rights were sold in 2004 but the film production company that bought the three-year option collapsed, and there’s been nothing rumored since.

In Other Media: A 32-hour audio book was also published in 2004 by Audio Renaissance.

In Popular Culture: No references come to mind.

Awards and Nominations: Nominated for Man Booker Prize (2004), Whitbread First Novel Award (2004), Guardian First Book Award (2004), British Book Awards Literary Fiction Award (2005). Won Time's Best Novel of the Year (2004), Hugo Award for Best Novel (2005), World Fantasy Award for Best Novel (2005), Locus Award for Best First Novel (2005), Mythopoeic Award for Adult Literature (2005), British Book Awards Newcomer of the Year Award (2005)

Deserving of Top 100 Status: From an awards perspective, certainly.

-- Rachel Day

65. I AM LEGEND by Richard Matheson
First Published: 1954
Genre: Horror
Subgenre: Vampire/Post-Apocalyptic

In Short:	It’s not just about the vampires but about a man’s survival.
Recommended:	Hell, yes!

Something black and of the night had come crawling out of the Middle Ages. Something with no framework or credulity, something that had been consigned, fact and figure, to the pages of imaginative literature. Vampires were passé; Summers’ idylls or Stoker’s melodramatics or a brief inclusion in the Britannica or grist for the pulp writer’s mill or raw material for the B-film factories. A tenuous legend passed from century to century.    Well, it was true.

Summary: Living with the fact that he may be the only human left is something that Robert Neville faces every day. With everyone else he has ever known, including his wife, having being turned into a vampire, his one question is why he has not turned as well. He spends his days hunting vampires -- which sounds quite fun to me due to the fact they are all asleep and easy prey. (All these end of the world books do not concentrate of the fun side to being alone: you would get really good at hide and seek which if there was anyone else around could mean you’re the world champion; shopping would be pretty easy as there’d be no lines and you could take whatever you want; he could drive a tank instead of the family car or maybe ride a motorbike while looking for groceries; why not set fire to buildings just to roast marshmallows?) His nights, on the other hand, are spent shutting up his house to stop the neighbors getting in: especially his arch nemesis Ben Cortman, quite literally the neighbor from hell. Normal people living next door may bother you for cups of sugar or possibly borrow the lawn mower every now and then but old Ben wants to drink Robert’s blood -- some people! It’s a running battle between the two of them, with Ben calling for Robert’s blood by night and Robert searching to kill Ben by day.

On Screen: Four times, none of them definitive: The Last Man on Earth (1964), The Omega Man (1971), Will Smith’s I Am Legend (2007) and the direct-to-DVD I Am Omega (2007).

In Other Media: A 1991 comic mini-series, published by IDW, and a radio play broadcast on BBC radio in 1997.

In Popular Culture: George A. Romero has cited I Am Legend as one of his inspirations for Night of the Living Dead and Stephen King has also said he’s a fan. There was also a Senator Richard Matheson on an episode of The X-Files, in tribute to the author.

Awards and Nominations: None.

Deserving of Top 100 Status: Yes!

-- Brendan McDonald

66. THE RIFTWAR SAGA by Raymond E. Feist
First Published: Magician, in 1982.
Genre: Fantasy
Subgenre: High

In Short:	The first trilogy in a much longer super-series (The Riftwar Cycle), this focuses on the initial war between other (more evil) dimensions and the home dimension of Midkemia.
Recommended:	Yes.

“A hero is someone who simply got too frightened to use his good sense and run away, then somehow lived through it all.”

- Silverthorn

Summary: Pug, an orphan, becomes the apprentice to the Master Magician Kulgan. His magic, however, is different than most, a fact that becomes quite integral when rifts between dimensions are opened and demons enter in the world of Midkemia. Soon Pug becomes a Master Magician himself, and is integral in keeping Midkemia safe, with the help of several others, and only they can end the Riftwar.

On Screen: No.

In Other Media: There is a comic book adaptation, as well as an RPG based in Midkemia. Though not based on this trilogy specifically, there is a computer game Betrayal at Krondor (and a sequel), based in the world and later integrated into the Riftwar Cycle as a whole.

In Popular Culture: Nothing.

Awards and Nominations: None.

Deserving of Top 100 Status: Sure, though it wouldn't have been on my list of obvious choices.

-- K. Burtt

67. THE SHANARRA TRILOGY by Terry Brooks
First Published: The first book in 1977.
Genre: Fantasy
Subgenre: High

In Short:	It started out as a fantastic series of books, a trilogy of stand alone novels.. Unfortunately, like sooo many Fantasy series (Robert Jordan, I'm looking at you) It keeps going, and going and going, and that dead horse gets flogged endlessly.
Recommended:	Read the first three... that'll do, though.

"No matter how high, or lofty the throne, what sits on it is the same as your own."

Summary: The Shanarra series takes place on Earth... waay into the future, after a nuclear holocaust. It's a place of magic, which has evolved to replace science as society begins again. The Elves, that lived well before Men come out of hiding, and new races begin to emerge, mutated by the radiation: Gnomes, Trolls, Dwarves. The series goes forever, lots of stuff happens… then it goes on a bit longer… maybe more stuff happens, I lost interest.

On Screen: There's a fight about it. Disney own the rights, and apparently were planning/promised to do it… but it still hasn't happened.

In Other Media: A 1995 videogame and an RPG.

In Popular Culture: Nothing.

Awards and Nominations: None.

Deserving of Top 100 Status: The first three books, maybe... after that, even Tolkien had another idea.

-- Jason Murdoch

68. THE CONAN THE BARBARIAN SERIES by R. E. Howard
First Published: 1932, the first short stories appearing in Weird Tales.
Genre: Fantasy
Subgenre: Sword and Sorcery

In Short:	You know this drill.
Recommended:	If you like this sort of thing.

Arus saw a tall powerfully built youth, naked but for a loin-cloth, and sandals strapped high about his ankles. His skin was burned brown as by the suns of the wastelands and Arus glanced nervously at his broad shoulders, massive chest and heavy arms, A single look at the moody, broad-browed features told the watchman the man was no Nemedian. From under a mop of unruly black hair smoldered a pair of dangerous blue eyes. A long sword hung in a leather scabbard at his girdle.

-- The God in the Bowl

Summary: Conan of Cimmeria becomes the fiercest warrior in all the land. Agan, you know this drill.

On Screen: The 1980’s Arnold Schwarzenegger movies are legend, of course, and there was a 2011 attempt, starring Jason Momoa, of dubious quality.

In Other Media: Conan is a popular figure in the Marvel Comics universe, and Dark Horse released their own comic adaptation from 2003. There are seven videogames, a collectible card game, a bunch of role-playing games and a board game.

In Popular Culture: Aside from various musical tributes, Conan is of course a byword for muscle-bound warrior-types, and he eve has a bacterium named after him: Deinococcus radiodurans is also known as Conan the Bacterium.

Awards and Nominations: Nothing really.

Deserving of Top 100 Status: On influence alone, absolutely.

-- Rachel Hyland

69. THE FARSEER TRILOGY by Robin Hobb
First Published: Assassin's Apprentice (1995), Royal Assassin (1996) and Assassin's Quest (1997)
Genre: Fantasy
Subgenre: Epic

In Short:	An unlikely hero. A Kingdom in peril. A huge disappointment.
Recommended:	The first book, certainly. After that, it all goes kind of downhill…

We left. Walking uphill and into the wind. That suddenly seemed a metaphor for my whole life.

-- Fitz, Assassin's Apprentice

Summary: FitzChivalry Farseer, the illegitimate son of a king -- lonely, starved for affection, and possessor of forbidden talents -- becomes an assassin and helps repel the invasion of his land, the Six Duchies, by dark sorcerers who want to turn the citizenry into zombies. Also, there’s a whole bunch of political infighting and a slew of depressing developments that are both bleak and, later, boring, since one by this point knows that nothing is ever going to turn out well for our pseudo-hero. In the end, I was just glad when it was all over.

On Screen: No.

In Other Media: Nope.

In Popular Culture: It has a musical tribute from an obscure Dutch band.

Awards and Nominations: Again, no.

Deserving of Top 100 Status: I really don’t think so.

-- Rachel Hyland

70. THE TIME TRAVELLER’S WIFE by Audrey Niffenegger
First Published: 2003
Genre: Science Fiction
Subgenre: Time Travel Romance

In Short:	A boring and yet confusing “romance”.
Recommended:	Die first!

“I won't ever leave you, even though you're always leaving me.”

-- Clare

Summary: A guy travels through time for no real reason and falls in love with a child -- it’s pretty creepy. I couldn't connect to the characters, there was NO PLOT and I felt that I needed to write a chronology to understand when things were going on.

On Screen: The 2009 adaptation, starring Rachel McAdams and Eric Bana, was slightly better than the book. But only slightly.

In Other Media: An audiobook, of course.

In Popular Culture: Oh, probably. It is way too well-known for such a horrible book.

Awards and Nominations: A few nominations and wins, who cares?

Deserving of Top 100 Status: It doesn't deserve to be on the Top 100 at all.

-- Amy Gordon