We Picked Our Favorite Sci-Fi And Fantasy Books 10 Years Ago. Here Are Some We Missed

By
Petra Mayer
WNYC | Aug 19, 2021

Way back in the dawn of time — by which I mean 2011 — we ran our original science fiction and fantasy poll and came up with a list of 100 favorite science fiction and fantasy books. The process was broadly similar to the way we do it today: Readers voted, and a panel of judges argued about which books did and didn't meet the critera they'd laid out.

There are a lot of hard-to-argue-with classics on that list: Tolkien, Gaiman, Orwell, Bradbury, Adams, Atwood, LeGuin and many more. But there are just as many now-shocking omissions. No Octavia Butler? No writers of color at all? Only a handful of women?

You can see the brand-sparkly-new poll, celebrating all the supernova-amazing changes in SF/F since 2011, here — but we also thought it would be worth pulling together a few of the books that, with our 2021 hindsight, seem like they should have been on that original list.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
Profile Image
Petra Mayer

WNYC is funded by sponsors and member donations

Top Stories

Dem socialists win big in NYC, but can their message play outside the five boroughs?

The election showed the DSA is playing in parts of the city where the party has previously fallen short.
Gothamist |

Feds indict former Mayor Adams adviser Frank Carone in migrant housing bribery scheme

One of former Mayor Eric Adams' oldest and closest allies was arrested Wednesday on federal corruption charges, joining a growing roster of Adams aides facing prosecution.
Gothamist |

Taking Out NYC's Trash, One Block at a Time

All Of It with Alison Stewart |

Inside the Trump White House

Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan talk about their new book and the inner workings of the Trump White House.
The Brian Lehrer Show |
YOU ARE ONLINE