Maybe the “meh” reaction is due to the lack of unexpected results? Dune and Lord of the Rings always come out on top in these things, and it could be that people were looking for a reappraisal when looking over an entire century of SF/F. I thought the results were pretty decent, except maybe for Old Man’s War winning the best novel of the 2000s. Apparently there was a last-minute invasion of Scalzi fans after he mentioned the poll on his blog. The short fiction categories were especially interesting, in terms of what has stood the test of time. Many of my picks ended up making the list, and I’d had no idea whether or not that would happen! The novel results get more interesting further down the list, and I enjoyed perusing the complete results to see which books got just a few votes… Here’s my short fiction ballot: Novella: Ursula K. Le Guin: The Word for World Is Forest Isaac Asimov: The Martian Way John Varley: The Persistence of Vision James Tiptree, Jr.: Houston, Houston, Do You Read? Gene Wolfe: The Death of Dr. Island Charles L. Harness: The Rose Barry B. Longyear: Enemy Mine Robert Silverberg: Hawksbill Station Robert E. Howard: Red Nails Philip Jose Farmer: Riders of the Purple Wage Novelette: Cordwainer Smith: Scanners Live in Vain Samuel R. Delany: Time Considered as a Helix of Semi-Precious Stones Ursula K. Le Guin: Buffalo Gals, Won't You Come Out Tonight Theodore Sturgeon: Microcosmic God Ian Watson: Slow Birds Roger Zelazny: A Rose for Ecclesiastes Walter M. Miller, Jr.: The Darfsteller Greg Bear: Blood Music Lewis Padgett: Mimsy Were the Borogroves Jack Vance: The World-Thinker Short Story: J. G. Ballard: The Terminal Beach Ray Bradbury: The Million Year Picnic Harlan Ellison: Repent, Harlequin, Said the Ticktockman William Gibson: Johnny Mnemonic Ursula K. Le Guin: The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas Arthur C. Clarke: The Star Shirley Jackson: The Lottery Joanna Russ: When It Changed Cordwainer Smith: The Game of Rat and Dragon James Tiptree, Jr.: The Screwfly Solution I didn’t vote in the 21st century poll, but I wouldn’t argue with Ted Chiang’s dominance. |