Top 20 geek novels — the results!

From [blogs.guardian.co.uk] via [www.neilgaiman.com]

  1. The HitchHiker’s Guide to the Galaxy — Douglas Adams 85% (102)
  2. Nineteen Eighty-Four — George Orwell 79% (92)
  3. Brave New World — Aldous Huxley 69% (77)
  4. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? — Philip Dick 64% (67)
  5. Neuromancer — William Gibson 59% (66)
  6. Dune — Frank Herbert 53% (54)
  7. I, Robot — Isaac Asimov 52% (54)
  8. Foundation — Isaac Asimov 47% (47)
  9. The Colour of Magic — Terry Pratchett 46% (46)
  10. Microserfs — Douglas Coupland 43% (44)
  11. Snow Crash — Neal Stephenson 37% (37)
  12. Watchmen — Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons 38% (37)
  13. Cryptonomicon — Neal Stephenson 36% (36)
  14. Consider Phlebas — Iain M Banks 34% (35)
  15. Stranger in a Strange Land — Robert Heinlein 33% (33)
  16. The Man in the High Castle — Philip K Dick 34% (32)
  17. American Gods — Neil Gaiman 31% (29)
  18. The Diamond Age — Neal Stephenson 27% (27)
  19. The Illuminatus! Trilogy — Robert Shea & Robert Anton Wilson 23% (21)
  20. Trouble with Lichen — John Wyndham 21% (19)

bold = read, plain = unread; of the latter I only regret not reading Lichen which has been described to me before as a must-read, and having read two or three of Wyndhams work when I was younger, I trust it to be interesting. The PKD I’ve read merely doesn’t intersect with High Castle.

And “Microserfs”? I have no interest in reading about nerds who lack the wit to use a multiuser operating system when such are available.

Anyway – I’m off for a lush breakfast of sausage, bacon, devilled kidneys and scrambled egg on coabatta toast… More later.

Comments

2 responses to “Top 20 geek novels — the results!”

  1. bartb
    re: Top 20 geek novels — the results!

    “Microserfs” doesn’t focus about the technology they use (though it is mentioned in passing); it really deals with the evolving of a couple of nerds into nerds-with-a-life. It’s a pretty good read, all in all.

    (The protagonists start out developing for mac, later on they move on and even start using Linux… so it’s not as though they stick with a single user OS)

    Anyway, for those keeping score: the books I’ve /not/ read on the list:

    – Foundation — Isaac Asimov 47% (47) – Watchmen — Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons 38% (37) – Consider Phlebas — Iain M Banks 34% (35) – The Man in the High Castle — Philip K Dick 34% (32) – American Gods — Neil Gaiman 31% (29) – Trouble with Lichen — John Wyndham 21% (19)

    Bart

  2. Dave Walker
    re: Top 20 geek novels — the results!

    Curious. I’ve always considered “The Player of Games” decidedly superior to “Consider Phlebas” – not only in terms of plot, but also in terms of the examination of the [Empire|game] of Azad and all the ideas dropped around other games which almost-but-not-quite enables their creation. *Way* more geek interest there :-).

    SImilarly for the record, ones I’ve not read: “The Colour of Magic” (never got around to going back before “Mort”), “Microserfs”, “Watchmen”, “Stranger in a Strange Land”, “American Gods”, “The Trouble with Lichen”.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *