Friday, July 10, 2009

Personal top 10

Larry, the editor of the excellent OF Blog of the Fallen, came once again with a very interesting challenge: What are 10 speculative fiction (the definition of which is left up to you, of course) would you say are among the best ever?

Well, I would not attempt to find a proper definition for the speculative fiction. During my readings I found myself attracted more or less by different types of fiction. And although I settled for fantasy and horror as genres that provide most of my readings I like stepping beyond these boundaries. Speaking of boundaries, I believe that it is difficult to find a definition for speculative fiction since many new works I’ve read tend to step the borders set by a genre or other and tend to mix elements of fiction. And that is something I really like. Maybe when it comes to these boundaries a non-conformist approach can produce a better work of fiction.

Anyway, I would not attempt to make a top, since I found myself in difficulty when it comes to such tops, but I’ll list (in author alphabetic order) 10 readings that made the greatest impact on me, as a reader and why not, as a person. I stepped over boundaries myself and you’ll see a few different genres in my list. I tried to bring as many authors I love as I could in the top therefore I’ve limited myself to one title from their works, the one I loved the most. So, without further ado here are my 10 best readings:

- Philip K. Dick“Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?”

- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle“The Lost World”

- Alexandre Dumas“The Count of Monte Cristo”

- Stephen King & Peter Straub“The Talisman”

- Ursula K. Le Guin“The Left Hand of Darkness”

- George R.R. Martin“A Game of Thrones”

- Henryk Sienkiewicz“With Fire and Sword”

- J.R.R. Tolkien“The Lord of the Rings”

- Jules Verne“A Journey to the Center of the Earth”

- Carlos Ruiz Zafón“The Shadow of the Wind”

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