Iain M Bank's top ten SF novels - how many have YOU read?

[Tabitha]

According to http://members.tripod.com/a.b.i-b/html/faq_text.htm

Here is Banks' Top Ten SF books that he specified in an interview in Arena magazine.

1. The Moon is a Harsh Mistress - Robert Heinlen
2. Tiger! Tiger! - Alfred Bester
3. Hyperion - Dan Simmons
4. Fire Upon The Deep - Vernor Vinge
5. Neuromancer - William Gibson
6. The Dispossessed - Ursula K Le Guin
7. The Muller-Fokker Efect - John Sladek
8. The Pastel City - M John Harrison
9. Stand on Zanzibar - John Brummer
10. Babel-17 - Samuel R Delany

I haven't read ANY of these. In fact several of them I have never even heard of! I think I will probably read the Heinlein one in the near future, but as for the others I don't know.

I sort of expected Larry Niven's Ringworld to show up, though...

[Dave]

I've only read 'Neuromancer' of those. 'Feersum Endjinn' is definately influenced by 'Neuromancer', but then who hasn't been?

I expect that he must have read 'Ringworld' but doesn't rate it that much. Bank's characters are not drawn very emotionally, the way that Niven's characters are: They have emotinal histories, but they act just like you or I would. Whereas, I would expect someone like Sharrow in 'Against a Dark Background' to be a complete emotional wreck after what has happened to her in her life.

[Dave]

5 years on, and I still haven't read any more of that list. Is it a good list? What am I missing?

[carrie221]

I haven't even heard of most of the books and I admit I have not read any of them.

[mightymem]

I have only read The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinlen, which was enjoyable even though I had trouble understanding parts of the book.

[BradtheImpaler]

Cool...I have "Hyperion" and "Fire Upon the Deep" on order.

[Prefx]

I've read Neuromancer and Hyperion. Both great books; Hyperion remains my favorite book since I originally read it in (2002?). Nueromancer introduced me to cyber-punk literature, which I had only exerperienced in anime. I thank Gibson for that.

[Jack]

The Pastel City - M John Harrison - Would not call it a SF book more a mix between the two e.g. SF/Fantasy, and it's easier to include the whole story, which would be Viriconium.

The Dispossessed - Ursula K Le Guin - read it, did not like it. Which is strange as I usually like Le Guin, too much Utopian ideals within it, and utopia is so boring to read about.

Fire Upon The Deep - Vernor Vinge - Truly loved this book, a classic in the making and if you love good SF, try it. Its very fate and mythical but within the SF essence we all love, a bit like Baxter.

Neuromancer - William Gibson - Very Cyberpunk, with great language use and prose, a good read

I sort of expected Larry Niven's Ringworld to show up, though

Strange it's not there indeed

[Taltos]

I've read 6 out of 10, from this list, and amost of them I liked.

[iansales]

The only one on the list I haven't read is Stand on Zanzibar, although I do have the book (the SF Masterworks edition) on my bookshelves.

[Who's Wee Dug]

HEILEN,BESTER,GIBSON,LeGIUN,HARRISON,can't quite remember if I did read BRUNNER or not.

[jackokent]

Have read the Heinlen one, own Dispossessed but haven't got round to reading it yet. Never heard of the others.

[GOLLUM]

I've read definitely 4, maybe 5 in that list but I'm not much of an SF fan vs. Fantasy.

[j. d. worthington]

1. The Moon is a Harsh Mistress - Robert Heinlen
2. Tiger! Tiger! - Alfred Bester
3. Hyperion - Dan Simmons
4. Fire Upon The Deep - Vernor Vinge
5. Neuromancer - William Gibson
6. The Dispossessed - Ursula K Le Guin
7. The Muller-Fokker Efect - John Sladek
8. The Pastel City - M John Harrison
9. Stand on Zanzibar - John Brummer
10. Babel-17 - Samuel R Delany

Have read: 1-3, 5-10. Tiger! Tiger! is also known as The Stars My Destination; The Muller-Fokker Effect is one of the more sterling books to come out of the New Wave movement; and Stand on Zanzibar is a brilliant, if difficult book (in some ways) -- it is also a part of an "ecological dystopia" series, followed by The Jagged Orbit and The Sheep Look Up. The only one I've read out of these that I feel was a bit too much was LeGuin's The Dispossessed ... while I still very much like it, I think there were times it got a tad too didactic. But overall a very good list indeed.

[Cricket - Best Sport]

I have read four of them. Loved Hyperion, liked Moon... and couldn't finish either Neuromancer or The Stars My Destination.

Bank's own work is superior to any of them. (though Hyperion is better than any single novel Bank's has written)

The only author I haven't read there is John Saldek.