top one hundred speculative fiction works: short list for editing

[eruthros]

Using the general principle I mentioned in the long list poll, I've combined some works into single line items on this list - wherever a book and the series containing it both made the cut, I picked the version that included more works (e.g. The Hainish Cycle rather than Four Ways to Forgiveness and The Dispossessed as two separate items), and whenever there were two works where one was based on the other and they contained the same characters I combined those (e.g. Firefly and Serenity, The Never-Ending Story book and film). If you see instances where I combined things and shouldn't have, or didn't combine things and should have, please let me know in comments. Ditto if you see any typoes, misattributed works, etc. They'll be turned into a ranked-choice poll in a bit.

There are more than 250 works here, because so many things tied. In alphabetical order, without any of the links or anything:

1. 1984 - George Orwell (book)


2. 2001: A Space Odyssey (live-action movie)


3. Akira | アキラ - Otomo Katsuhiro (anime movie)


4. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll (book)


5. Alien (live-action movie)


6. Always Coming Home - Ursula K. Le Guin (book)


7. American Gods - Neil Gaiman (book)


8. Angel: The Series (live-action tv)


9. Angels in America (live-action tv miniseries)


10. Animal Farm - George Orwell (book)


11. Animorphs - K.A. Applegate (book series)


12. Arcadia - Tom Stoppard (play)


13. The Archandroid / Metropolis - Janelle Monáe (album)


14. Archer's Goon - Diana Wynne Jones (book)


15. Avatar: The Last Airbender (tv cartoon)


16. Babel-17 - Samuel R. Delany (book)


17. Babylon 5 (live-action tv)


18. Bad Romance - sisabet (fanvid)


19. The Bas-Lag trilogy - China Mieville (book series - includes: Perdido Street Station, The Scar, Iron Council)


20. Batman Beyond | Batman of the Future (tv cartoon)


21. Batman: The Animated Series | The New Batman Adventures (tv cartoon)


22. Battlestar Galactica (2003) (live-action tv)


23. Beggars in Spain - Nancy Kress (short story)


24. A Beginner's Guide to Vulcan Sexual Practice, by Captain James T. Kirk - thingswithwings (fanfiction)


25. Being Human (UK) (live-action tv)


26. The Birthday of the World - Ursula K. Le Guin (short story collection)


27. Bishōjo Senshi Sailor Moon | Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon | Sailor Moon | 美少女戦士セーラームーン - Takeuchi Naoko (manga) / Sato Junichi (dir.) (anime tv/ova)


28. Blade Runner (live-action movie)


29. Blake's 7 (live-action tv)


30. Bloodchild and Other Stories - Octavia Butler (short story collection)


31. The Bloody Chamber - Angela Carter (book)


32. Brave New World - Aldous Huxley (book)


33. Buffy the Vampire Slayer (live-action tv)


34. Calvin and Hobbes series - Bill Watterson (comic)


35. The Chalion series - Lois McMaster Bujold (book series)


36. Children of Men (live-action movie)


37. The Chrestomanci series - Diana Wynne Jones (book series - includes: Charmed Life, Witch Week, others)


38. The Chronicles of Amber - Roger Zelazny (book series - includes: The Corwin Cycle, Nine Princes in Amber, others)


39. The Chronicles of Narnia - C.S. Lewis (book series)


40. Chronicles of Pern series - Anne McCaffrey (book series - includes: Dragonriders of Pern, Harper Hall trilogy, others)


41. The Chronicles of Prydain - Lloyd Alexander (book series - includes: The Book of Three, The Black Cauldron, others)


42. The Circle universe - Tamora Pierce (book series - includes: Circle of Magic, The Circle Opens, The Will of the Empress)


43. Climbing Up the Walls - obsessive24 (fanvid)


44. A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess (book)


45. The Complete Hans Christian Andersen - Hans Christian Andersen (short story collection)


46. Coraline - Neil Gaiman (comic)


47. Cowboy Bebop | Kaubōi Bibappu | カウボーイビバップ - Watanabe Shinichirō (dir.), Nobumoto Keiko (writer) (anime tv/ova)


48. The Crystal Cave - Mary Stewart (book)


49. Cyteen - C.J. Cherryh (book)


50. DADT, Damyata, Dayadhvam - trinityofone (fanfiction)


51. Damar series - Robin McKinley (book series - includes: The Hero and the Crown, The Blue Sword)


52. The Dark Crystal (live-action movie)


53. The Dark is Rising series - Susan Cooper (book series - includes: Over Sea, Under Stone, Greenwitch, others)


54. The Dark Lord of Derkholm - Diana Wynne Jones (book)


55. The Dark Tower series - Stephen King (book series - includes: The Gunslinger, The Drawing of the Three, others)


56. The Darkover series - Marion Zimmer Bradley (book series)


57. Dead Like Me (live-action tv)


58. Deep Secret - Diana Wynne Jones (book)


59. Deerskin - Robin McKinley (book)


60. Dhalgren - Samuel R. Delany (book)


61. Dirk Gently series - Douglas Adams (book series - includes: Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul)


62. Discworld - Terry Pratchett (book series)


63. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? - Philip K. Dick (book)


64. Doctor Who (live-action tv)


65. Dogsbody - Diana Wynne Jones (book)


66. Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog (live-action tv miniseries)


67. Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1966) (movie cartoon)


68. Dragaera series | The Khaavren Romances | The Vlad Taltos novels - Steven Brust (book series - includes: Jhereg, The Phoenix Guards, others)


69. The Dresden Files - Jim Butcher (book series)


70. Dune - Frank Herbert (book)


71. The Earthsea series - Ursula K. Le Guin (book series)


72. El laberinto del fauno | Pan's Labyrinth - Guillermo del Toro (dir.) (live-action movie)


73. Ella Enchanted - Gail Carson Levine (book)


74. The Enchanted Forest Chronicles series - Patricia C. Wrede (book series)


75. Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card (book)


76. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (live-action movie)


77. Eureka | A Town Called Eureka (live-action tv)


78. Farscape (live-action tv)


79. The Female Man - Joanna Russ (book)


80. The Fifth Element (live-action movie)


81. Final Fantasy series | ファイナルファンタジー | Fainaru Fantajī - Sakaguchi Hironobu | Square Enix (video game series)


82. The Fionavar Tapestry - Guy Gavriel Kay (book series - includes: The Summer Tree, The Wandering Fire, The Darkest Road)


83. Fire and Hemlock - Diana Wynne Jones (book)


84. Firefly (live-action tv) / Serenity (live-action movie)


85. The Five Children and It - E. Nesbit (book)


86. Fledging - Octavia Butler (book)


87. Foreigner series - C.J. Cherryh (book series)


88. The Foundation series - Isaac Asimov (book series)


89. Frankenstein - Mary Shelley (book)


90. Freedom's Just Another Word for Nothing Left to Lose - synecdochic (fanfiction)


91. Fringe (live-action tv)


92. Futurama (tv cartoon)


93. Galaxy Quest (live-action movie)


94. Gargoyles (Disney) (tv cartoon)


95. The Gate to Women's Country - Sheri Tepper (book)


96. Ghost in the Shell／攻殻機動隊 | Gōsuto In Za Sheru/Kōkaku Kidōtai - Oshii Mamoru (dir.) (anime movie)


97. Girl Genius - Phil and Kaja Foglio (webcomic)


98. The Giver - Lois Lowry (book)


99. Good Omens - Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman (book)


100. The Graveyard Book - Neil Gaiman (book)


101. Grimms' Fairy Tales | Children's and Household Tales - Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm (short story collection)


102. Hagane no Renkinjutsushi | Fullmetal Alchemist | 鋼の錬金術師 - Arakawa Hiromu (manga)


103. The Hainish Cycle - Ursula K. Le Guin (book series - includes: The Left Hand of Darkness, The Dispossessed, Four Ways to Forgiveness, others)


104. Handlebars - flummery (fanvid)


105. The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood (book)


106. Harry Potter series - J.K. Rowling (book series)


107. Her Smoke Rose Up Forever - James Tiptree, Jr./Alice Sheldon (short story collection)


108. Highlander (live-action movie)


109. Highlander: The Series (live-action tv)


110. Hikaru no Go | ヒカルの碁 - Hotta Yumi and Obata Takeshi (manga)


111. His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman (book series - includes: The Golden Compass/Northern Lights, The Subtle Knife, The Amber Spyglass)


112. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams (book)


113. The Hobbit - J.R.R. Tolkien (book)


114. The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins (book series)


115. Hurricane - Laura Shapiro (fanvid)


116. I Am Your Image Dressed As The World - mirabile_dictu (fanfiction)


117. I, Robot - Isaac Asimov (book)


118. If you want to kiss the sky - siegeofangels (fanfiction)


119. The Inheritence Trilogy - N.K. Jemisin (book series - includes: The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, The Broken Kingdoms, The Kingdom of Gods (forthcoming))


120. Invisible Cities - Italo Calvino (book)


121. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte (book)


122. Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell - Susanna Clarke (book)


123. Katamari Damacy | 塊魂 | Katamari Damashii - Takahashi Keita | Namco (video game)


124. Kindred - Octavia Butler (book)


125. Kitāb 'alf layla wa-layla | The Arabian Nights | Book of a Thousand and One Nights | كتاب ألف ليلة وليلة‎ - [unknown] (book)


126. Kushiel's Legacy series - Jacqueline Carey (book series)


127. La Belle et la Bete | Beauty and the Beast - Jean Cocteau (dir.) (live-action movie)


128. Labyrinth (live-action movie)


129. Ladyhawke (live-action movie)


130. The Last Unicorn - Peter S. Beagle (book)


131. Le Petit Prince | The Little Prince - Antoine de Saint Exupéry (book)


132. Let the Right One In (live-action movie)


133. Life on Mars (UK) (live-action tv)


134. Lilo & Stitch (movie cartoon)


135. The Lions of Al-Rassan - Guy Gavriel Kay (book)


136. Little, Big - John Crowley (book)


137. Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (live-action tv)


138. The Lord of the Rings - J.R.R. Tolkien (book, movie series)


139. Love and Rockets - Los Bros Hernandez (comic)


140. Lucifer - Mike Carey (comic)


141. Lunch and Other Obscenities - rheanna (fanfiction)


142. Many Moons - Janelle Monáe (music video)


143. The Martian Chronicles - Ray Bradbury (book)


144. Mary Poppins (live-action movie)


145. The Matrix (live-action movie)


146. Metropolis (live-action movie)


147. The Middleman (live-action tv)


148. Misfits (live-action tv)


149. Mononoke-hime | Princess Mononoke | もののけ姫 - Miyazaki Hayao (dir.) (anime movie)


150. Monsters, Inc. (movie cartoon)


151. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (live-action movie)


152. The Moon is a Harsh Mistress - Robert Heinlein (book)


153. Moving Castle series - Diana Wynne Jones (book series - includes: Howl's Moving Castle, Castle in the Air, others)


154. Mulan (Disney) (movie cartoon)


155. Mumintroll | The Moomin series - Tove Jannson (book series)


156. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (tv cartoon)


157. My Teacher Is an Alien series - Bruce Coville (book series)


158. Myst series - Rand and Robyn Miller | Cyan, Inc. (video game series)


159. Mystery Science Theater 3000 (live-action tv)


160. Nation - Terry Pratchett (book)


161. The Native Tongue Trilogy - Suzette Haden Elgin (book series)


162. Neuromancer - William Gibson (book)


163. Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro (book)


164. The New Atlantean Dictionary of Literary Terms: A Complete Reference in Four Volumes - thingswithwings (fanfiction)


165. Newsflesh - Mira Grant / Seanan McGuire (book series - includes: Feed, Deadline, Blackout)


166. Nightfall - Isaac Asimov (short story)


167. Nightmare Before Christmas (movie cartoon)


168. The Odyssey - Homer (epic poem)


169. The Old Kingdom Series | Abhorsen Trilogy - Garth Nix (book series - includes: Sabriel, Lirael, Abhorsen)


170. The Once and Future King - T.H. White (book)


171. The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas - Ursula K. Le Guin (short story)


172. Ōoku | Ōoku: The Inner Chambers | 大奥 - Yoshinaga Fumi (manga)


173. Oresteia - Aeschylus (play)


174. The Orphan's Tales - Catherynne M. Valente (book series)


175. Oxford Time Traveler universe - Connie Willis (book series - includes Doomsday Book, To Say Nothing of the Dog, Blackout/All Clear, others)


176. Oz series - L. Frank Baum (book series)


177. The Parable series - Octavia Butler (book series)


178. Paradise Lost - John Milton (book)


179. Peter and Wendy | Peter Pan - J.M. Barrie (book)


180. The Phantom Tollbooth - Norton Juster (book)


181. Pitch Black (live-action movie)


182. Pleasantville (live-action movie)


183. Portal - Erik Wolfpaw and Chet Faliszek | Valve Corporation (video game)


184. The Princess Bride - William Goldman (book, live-action movie)


185. Princess Tutu | Purinsesu Chuchu | プリンセスチュチュ - Sato Junichi, Koumoto Shogo (dir.) (anime tv/ova)


186. The Prisoner (live-action tv)


187. Pushing Daisies (live-action tv)


188. Quantum Leap (live-action tv)


189. The Queen's Thief | Attolia series - Megan Whalen Turner (book series - includes: The Thief, The Queen of Attolia, The King of Attolia, The Conspiracy of Kings)


190. Re: Your Brains - Jonathan Coulton (song)


191. ReBoot (tv cartoon)


192. Red Dwarf (live-action tv)


193. The Riddle Master trilogy - Patricia McKillip (book series)


194. The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars - David Bowie) (album)


195. Robots Need Love Too 'verse - toft (fanfiction)


196. The Rocky Horror Picture Show (live-action movie)


197. Ronja Rövardotter | Ronia the Robber's Daughter - Astrid Lindgren (book)


198. Sandman (series) - Neil Gaiman (comic)


199. Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi | Spirited Away | 千と千尋の神隠し - Miyazaki Hayao (dir.) (anime movie)


200. Sesame Street (live-action tv)


201. Seven Nation Army - charmax (fanvid)


202. Shin Seiki Evangerion (franchise) | Neon Genesis Evangelion | 新世紀エヴァンゲリオン (anime tv/ova)


203. The Shoebox Project - ladyjaida and dorkorific (fanfiction)


204. Shōjo Kakumei Utena | Revolutionary Girl Utena | 少女革命ウテナ - Ikuhara Kunihiko (dir.) (anime tv/ova)


205. The Silmarillion - J.R.R. Tolkien (book)


206. The Sixth Sense (live-action movie)


207. Slaughterhouse-Five - Kurt Vonnegut (book)


208. Small Change Trilogy - Jo Walton (book series - includes: Farthing, Ha'penny, Half a Crown)


209. Snow Crash - Neal Stephenson (book)


210. Something Wicked This Way Comes - Ray Bradbury (book)


211. A Song of Ice and Fire - George R.R. Martin (book series)


212. Space Girl - charmax (fanvid)


213. Spaceballs (live-action movie)


214. The Sparrow - Mary Doria Russell (book)


215. Spindle's End - Robin McKinley (book)


216. Spock's World - Diane Duane (book)


217. The Stand - Stephen King (book)


218. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (live-action movie)


219. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (live-action tv)


220. Star Trek: The Next Generation (live-action tv)


221. Star Trek: The Original Series (live-action tv)


222. Star Trek: Voyager (live-action tv)


223. Star Wars Original Trilogy (movie series)


224. Stargate: Atlantis (live-action tv)


225. Stargate: SG-1 (live-action tv)


226. Stars in My Pocket Like Grains of Sand - Samuel R. Delany (book)


227. The Steerswoman series - Rosemary Kirstein (book series)


228. Stranger in a Strange Land - Robert Heinlein (book)


229. Sunshine - Robin McKinley (book)


230. Superman (franchise) - Jerry Siegel, Joe Shuster, et al (comic)


231. Supernatural (live-action tv)


232. Swordspoint - Ellen Kushner (book)


233. Take Clothes Off As Directed - helen (fanfiction)


234. A Tale of Time City - Diana Wynne Jones (book)


235. Tam Lin - Pamela Dean (book)


236. The Tell-Tale Heart - Edgar Allen Poe (short story)


237. Temeraire series - Naomi Novik (book series)


238. The Tempest - William Shakespeare (play)


239. Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (live-action tv) / Terminator 2: Judgement Day (live-action movie)


240. This Is How It Works - lim (fanvid)


241. Thriller - Michael Jackson (music video)


242. Tonari no Totoro | My Neighbor Totoro | となりのトトロ - Miyazaki Hayao (dir.) (anime movie)


243. Torchwood (live-action tv)


244. Tortall series - Tamora Pierce (book series - includes: Song of the Lioness, The Immortals, Protector of the Small, others)


245. The Tough Guide to Fantasyland - Diana Wynne Jones (book)


246. Toy Story series (movie series)


247. Transmetropolitan - Warren Ellis (comic)


248. The Tripods trilogy - John Christopher (book series - includes: The White Mountains, The City of Gold and Lead, others)


249. Tron/Tron: Legacy (movie series)


250. The Twilight Zone (original) (live-action tv)


251. Ultraviolet (live-action tv)


252. Die unendliche Geschichte | The Never-Ending Story - Michael Ende (book) / The Neverending Story (live-action movie)


253. Us - lim (fanvid)


254. V for Vendetta - Alan Moore (comic)


255. The Valdemar series - Mercedes Lackey (book series)


256. The Vampire Chronicles - Anne Rice (book series - includes: Interview with the Vampire, The Vampire Lestat, others)


257. Velvet Goldmine (live-action movie)


258. The Vorkosigan Saga - Lois McMaster Bujold (book series - includes: Barrayar, Memory, others)


259. Walked Right Out of the Machinery - Rydra Wong (fanfiction)


260. Wall-E (movie cartoon)


261. War for the Oaks - Emma Bull (book)


262. Warehouse 13 (live-action tv)


263. Watchmen - Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons, and John Higgins (comic)


264. Watership Down - Richard Adams (book)


265. Who Fears Death - Nnedi Okorafor (book)


266. Wicked - Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman (musical)


267. The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame (book)


268. Woman on the Edge of Time - Marge Piercy (book)


269. The Women Men Don't See - James Tiptree, Jr./Alice Sheldon (short story)


270. World War Z - Max Brooks (book)


271. Wrinkle in Time series | Kairos series - Madeleine L'Engle (book series)


272. Written by the Victors - speranza (fanfiction) / lim et al (podfic)


273. Xena: Warrior Princess (live-action tv)


274. Xenogenesis series | Lilith's Brood - Octavia Butler (book series - includes: Dawn, Adulthood Rites, Imago)


275. The X-Files (live-action tv)


276. Xī Yóu Jì | 西遊記 | Journey to the West | Monkey - Wu Cheng'en (book)


277. xkcd - Randall Munroe (webcomic)


278. The X-Men (franchise) - Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, et al (comic)


279. Y: The Last Man - Brian K. Vaughn and Pia Guerra (comic)


280. Yellow Submarine (movie cartoon)


281. The Young Wizards series - Diane Duane (book series - includes: So You Want to be a Wizard, Deep Wizardry, others)


282. Your Cowboy Days Are Over (Mammas, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys) - M./Samdonne (fanfiction)

I don't know everything on this list, obviously, but just glancing at it here are some impressions I got:

1) There seem to be a lot more things created by women on this short list than the NPR one, probably partly because of the inclusion of YA and children's lit and partly because of the segment of fandom nominating/taking the poll.

2) There are some more creators of color than on the NPR short list, partly due to the fact that there's some anime and manga on the list, and partly due to the fact that hello, Samuel Delany totally belongs here.

3) There's a lot of what's often dismissed as "low culture" - like, looking at the movies, there are a lot of "classics" (Blade Runner, Alien, etc) but there are also things like The Rocky Horror Picture Show and Labyrinth and Spaceballs.

Comments

[theodosia21]

46. Coraline - Neil Gaiman (comic)

The original work is a book, not a comic, though the story's been adapted into a graphic novel, I think. There's also a movie.

Thank you for doing this- it must be a lot of work! ^_^

[eruthros]

Check - I think the original person who nominated it nominated the graphic novel, specifically, but I'll have to go and make sure.

[anatsuno]

This list makes me happyyyyy. :D :D


okay so, I'm a little confused by the process. what do you mean by 'for editing'? And is this the last stage, with so many things because lots of them tied, or is it a list, which, once edited (how, why?) becomes a poll so thing get narrowed down to a hundred? *so confused, and also possibly slightly dumb*

[eruthros]

Oh, whoops! I did not explain myself very well here. There's going to be another poll to turn it into a shorter list - what I meant by "for editing" is "tell me if I got the name of anything wrong or combined things that shouldn't have been combined."

[schneefink]

Even though this would probably mean that they aren't on the list anymore, I don't think film and novel of "The Neverending Story" should be combined. The film covers only the first half of the novel, leaving out a huge part of what the original novel is about. According to Wikipedia, "The novel's author, Michael Ende, felt that this adaptation's content deviated so far from his book that he requested they either halt production or change the name."
Thoughts by others who know both?

[eruthros]

Hmmm, interesting! The trouble is, it's hard to make the call on combining/not combining on a case by case basis - basically, if one thing was adapted based on another, I combined them, regardless of how I felt about it (I combined the Lord of the Rings book and movie, for example, even though I personally hate the movie and love the book) - I could possibly disentangle them all, though, as an alternative? I mean, it's easy to do "combine things that are individual books or movies and the series they come from" but not combine two works where one is based on the other, if that makes sense.

[schneefink]

Adaptions can be quite different from the original and you're right that doing it on a case by case basis would be difficult, so I think that separating them all would be fine. (ymmv, of course.)

[fallingtowers]

Die Unendliche Geschichte is one of my favourite children's books ever, and while I did like (though not adore) the first movie as a kid, I rewatched it as an adult, and it really deviates drastically from the entire theme and message of the book by dropping the novel's second half. (And let's not even mention the sequels.)