Saturday, December 18, 2010

Somebody's top 100 SF list

From here; I made some effort to clean up the html. Somebody explain what Ayn Rand is doing here.

  • 100. The Word For World Is Forest by Ursula K. LeGuin

  • 99. Sorcerer's Son by Phyllis Eisenstein

  • 98. Beggars in Spain by Nancy Kress

  • 97. The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch

  • 96. Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson

  • 95. Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke

  • 94. The Company by K.J. Parker

  • 93. An Evil Guest by Gene Wolfe

  • 92. Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton

  • 91. Dhalgren by Samuel Delany

  • 90. Camp Concentration by Thomas Disch

  • 89. Swordspoint by Ellen Kushner

  • 88. Song of Kali by Dan Simmons

  • 87. Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card

  • 86. A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter Miller

  • 85. Sphere by Michael Crichton

  • 84. Fevre Dream by George R.R. Martin

  • 83. The Alteration by Kingsley Amis

  • 82. The Dragonriders of Pern by Anne McCaffrey

  • 81. The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers

  • 80. Watership Down by Richard Adams

  • 79. Griffin's Egg by Michael Swanwick

  • 78. Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan

  • 77. Free Live Free by Gene Wolfe

  • 76. Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke

  • 75. Ringworld by Larry Niven

  • 74. Schismatrix by Bruce Sterling

  • 73. Old Man's War by John Scalzi

  • 72. Maske: Thaery by Jack Vance

  • 71. The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley

  • 70. The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury

  • 69. Flow My Tears The Policeman Said by Philip K. Dick

  • 68. The Gods Themselves by Isaac Asimov

  • 67. The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson

  • 66. The High Crusade by Poul Anderson

  • 65. A Song for Lya by George R.R. Martin

  • 64. At the Mountains of Madness by H.P. Lovecraft

  • 63. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes

  • 62. Wildlife by James Patrick Kelly

  • 61. The Book of Knights by Yves Maynard

  • 60. The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan

  • 59. Forever Peace by Joe Haldeman

  • 58. Nightwings by Robert Silverberg

  • 57. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

  • 56. Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut

  • 55. Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon

  • 54. The Book of the Short Sun by Gene Wolfe

  • 53. The Forever War by Joe Haldeman

  • 52. Foundation by Isaac Asimov

  • 51. The Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. LeGuin

  • 50. The Wizard Knight by Gene Wolfe

  • 49. The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand

  • 48. The Demon Princes by Jack Vance

  • 47. Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

  • 46. The Baroque Cycle by Neal Stephenson

  • 45. Alastor by Jack Vance

  • 44. The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells

  • 43. Flatland by Edwin Abbott

  • 42. Farmer in the Sky by Robert Heinlein

  • 41. A Scanner Darkly by Philip K. Dick

  • 40. Animal Farm by George Orwell

  • 39. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

  • 38. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

  • 37. Lyonesse by Jack Vance

  • 36. Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein

  • 35. True Names by Vernor Vinge

  • 34. Ubik by Philip K. Dick

  • 33. The Hyperion Cantos by Dan Simmons

  • 32. Citizen of the Galaxy by Robert Heinlein

  • 31. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle

  • 30. A Fire Upon The Deep by Vernor Vinge

  • 29. Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov

  • 28. More Than Human by Theodore Sturgeon

  • 27. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

  • 26. 1984 by George Orwell

  • 25. I Am Legend by Richard Matheson

  • 24. The Cadwal Chronicles by Jack Vance

  • 23. Lost Horizon by James Hilton

  • 22. Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

  • 21. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

  • 20. The Fifth Head of Cerebus by Gene Wolfe

  • 19. A Song of Ice And Fire by George R.R. Martin

  • 18. Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein

  • 17. The Fionavar Tapestry by Guy Gavriel Kay

  • 16. The Master and the Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov

  • 15. The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick

  • 14. All My Sins Remembered by Joe Haldeman

  • 13. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

  • 12. Planet of Adventure by Jack Vance

  • 11. Dune by Frank Herbert

  • 10. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

  • 9. The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. LeGuin

  • 8. The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe

  • 7. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

  • 6. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

  • 5. Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay

  • 4. The Dispossessed by Ursula K. LeGuin

  • 3. The Dying Earth by Jack Vance

  • 2. The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinlein

  • 1. The Book of the Long Sun by Gene Wolfe



Thursday, December 16, 2010

Bad guys

When did "bad guys" become a term of art in the US military? Apparently it means somebody you are allowed to kill.

It's infantilizing and dehumanizing and grotesquely avoidant. The decline of the language isn't usually an ethical issue but this time it is.