Here's a list of books in the video: S Tier - Palace of Eternity by Bob Shaw - Roadside Picnic by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky - Downward to the Earth by Robert Silverberg - King of Elfland's Daughter by Lord Dunsany - Black Easter by James Blish - Burning Chrome by William Gibson - Electric Forest by Tanith Lee - Beyond Apollo by Barry N. Malzberg - Overlay by Barry N. Malzberg - We Who Are About To... by Joanna Russ - Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick - Instrumentality of Mankind by Cordwainer Smith - Doomed City by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky - Bad Brains by Kathy Koja A Tier - A Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne - High-Rise by J.G. Ballard - Nine Princes in Amber by Roger Zelazny - Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick - The Invincible by Stanisław Lem - The Last Castle by Jack Vance - Disaster Area by J.G. Ballard - Heliconia Spring by Brian W. Aldiss - The Doomsters by Ross Macdonald - Haunting on Hill House by Shirley Jackson - The Night Land by William Hope Hodgson - Kindred by Octavia Butler - Book of Skulls by Robert Silverberg - Village of the Damned (The Midwich Cuckoos) by John Wyndham - God's Demon by Wayne Barlowe B Tier - Peace War by Vernor Vinge - Marooned in Real Time by Vernor Vinge - Eon by Greg Bear - Isle of the Dead by Roger Zelazny - Ancient, My Enemy by Gordon R. Dickson - Highway of Eternity by Clifford D. Simak - Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer - Rialto the Marvelous by Jack Vance - Pandora's Star by Peter F. Hamilton - Capricorn Games by Robert Silverberg - 2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke - Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien - God's Themselves by Isaac Asimov - Other Days, Other Eyes by Bob Shaw - Dawn by Octavia Butler - Einstein Intersection by Samuel R. Delany - Final Circle of Paradise by the Strugatsky Brothers - Other Eyes by D.G. Compton - The Chrysalids by John Wyndham - Virtual Unrealities by Alfred Bester - Universe 5 (Anthology) - Dune Messiah by Frank Herbert - Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe - The Gamesman by Barry N. Malzberg - Vore by James Blish - Overlords of War by Gerard Klein C Tier - Galactic Patrol by E.E. "Doc" Smith - Weeping May Terry - Highway of Eternity by Clifford D. Simak - Voyager in Night by C.J. Cherryh - Swords and Deviltry by Fritz Leiber - Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke - I, Robot by Isaac Asimov - Babel-17 by Samuel R. Delany - Voyage of the Space Beagle by A.E. van Vogt - On the Beach by Nevil Shute - The Drowned World by J.G. Ballard - Roor by A.A.M. Davidson - Titans Daughter by James Blish D Tier - Best of Robert Bloch - Can You Feel Anything When I Do This? by Robert Sheckley - Goat Without Horns by Thomas Burnett Swann - Gray Prince by Jack Vance F Tier - The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell - Nightflyers by George R.R. Martin
Subscribed. Thanks for not being a book tuber who just discusses the same dozen modern series over and over as if they are clothes the emperor is wearing.
Love to see all 100 in one video, been seeing you talk about 3 books at a time of these hundred for ages and its really interesting to see the big picture of where they all fit in comparison to eachother. Love your channel!
I usually find tier lists droll, but this is a bang up job. Plus its a succinct way for me to build a reading list off of all the great books that we've heard you talk about. Cheers for trimming the fat/separating the wheat from the chaff for us
Many moons ago, Matt, I thought A Canticle For Leibowitz was a superlative must-read but have subsequently discovered so many more great books I now relegate it to exactly where you put it. When it was being widely touted in the 60's & 70's it had few peers. Not so in this day and age. Great post, really enjoyed this top-100, I hope it gets a zillion views.
My friend just as I was thinking about how great this ranking is, you got to God’s Demon which I am reading right now (on your recommendation) and you absolutely put into a succinct 15 seconds of words EXACTLY how I feel about it but would have struggled to describe. Thank you so much for all the books you’ve led me to read. Love your channel. All the best.
Just happened upon this channel and it's inspired me to read a few of these novels you've brought up. So I hopped on the interwebs and grabbed a copy of Hothouse, A fire Upon The Deep and Neuromancer not to mention just finishing up the audio book of Solaris. Thanks for the inspiration, enjoying these videos.
@@tokenblack7983 Wait 'til you get to Burning Chrome... that prose is SUPER DENSE. I ran into that first and when I could see Neuromancer was the novel to read, I was hesitant and thought, "I don't think I can handle a whole novel with writing THAT dense!" Thankfully, it wasn't, and was much more readable. Just can't imagine the tangle the neurons in Gibson's head have gotten themselves into. I can just see the day of Gibson autopsy... doc removes the skull cap and gasps, "WTF happened here?"... inside... just graphene and nanotubes.
@@cydonical Haha that’s great that’s probably what is in Gibsons head But seriously you think Nueromancer is a breeze compared to Burning Chrome? Dang I might have to so training just to read it Gibson’s prose is like finding a puzzle and unlocking it feels like you won something…like your are part of a rare society
Hahaha I don't know how your channel is my favorite book channel. I feel like you being super honest and very much a fan of reading obscure books makes it all the better. Glad you exist, dude.
@@ultra-lib it’s a line delivered by Steve Carrell in his movie The 40-Year-Old Virgin. The guys were playing cards (if I remember correctly) and reminiscing about how good it felt to be with a woman, and “like bags of sand” was Steve’s character’s innocent giveaway that he had zero practical experience feeling one (or a pair, in this case.)
I've just discovered your channel and am really impressed by the way you evaluate your reads. I'm just coming back to sci-fi after having read lots of classics then largely staying away for 2-3 decades. You've given me a lot to look forward to reading. I hope to return the favor. You speak of how you are drawn to fine writing, which leads me to wonder if you've read Doris Lessing or John Crowley. Lessing isn't thought of primarily as a sci-fi writer, and I think that has caused her contributions to the field to be largely ignored. What I'm referring to is her Shikasta series. My favorites among the five books are the first - Shikasta, and the third - The Sirian Experiments. Crowley is most known for his fantasy output: Little, Big and the Aegypt series, which I recommend highly. I'd also like to call your attention to what I consider the best time travel work I've ever read, "Great Work of Time". I don't think either of these authors is capable of writing a bad sentence, and each has several other great titles. I hope you'll explore. They deserve your readership. Thrive!
i agree its the best scifi novela, but it didnt leave me shook, nor did the tarkovsky stalker movie. its that it is beautifully written (and filmed), interesting plot and it leaves you different and with a few things to think about. nothing overly frightening in it though or anything like that. maybe a little unsettling at most? i dont need to be shook because i can give no greater praise than that.
An impressive feat! Its been great watching you work through this over the last few months and I've definitely read some books I never would have picked up otherwise. Cheers!
Watching this series has inspired me to pick up unheard of titles from the bargin bin over the last year, and its really expanded my view of what science fiction can offer, and there are so much really phenomial strangeness out there This was a great wrap up, thanks for the attention you put into it
Such an amazing accomplishment! Thank you for sharing the journey. I've definitely picked up some previously unknown (to me) authors from your reviews. I really appreciate that your reviews give us a clear idea of whether it will speak to us or not, regardless of your opinions. That said... "two bags of sand"... gold!!!!
Lol, this is true - yesterday I a notebook and started writing a list of the books I've bought and started going through your old videos from the very start to rate which ones you liked and then for me to compare them - thanks, you've saved me hours of work with this one video! Timing is everything.
Thanks for doing the work to crank out these 98 nano-reviews, it gave me a few ideas. Since I loved 3-Body and hated High Rise there is an unslim chance I will be disappointed, but I'm still glad to have a peak into so many books.
You dropped 'Roadside Picnic', 'The King of Elfland's Daughter', and 'Nine Princes in Amber' right where I would place them - this gives me motivation to read some of your other 'S' and 'A' tier selections. Thanks!
These tier videos on this channel have made me want to read more. I subscribed and liked many videos recently on this channel and will continue to look forward to seeing more (and reading more).
Never miss an upload Bookpilled. I'm about to start After Such Knowledge because of you. Just finished Book of the New Sun and dont know where id be without your reccos. Cheers
On Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings … it took 4 or 5 attempts for me to get out of the shire. The rest of The Fellowship of Ring was a slog. But once I read through those early chapters the other volumes clicked with my adolescent mind. I think it helped that I read an edition that included all three volumes so I was able to read it as one epic narrative.
Thank you for your great content and in-depth analyses. You really are an excellent and funny communicator. I have watched a lot of your videos and am happy I can now go directly to the great stuff in sci-fi without getting lost in the mediocre. I have made a personal top10 to-read list that I’m really looking forward to - thanks to your work.
Your reviews are straight to the point and have some interesting takes. I have read a bunch of sci-fi based on your recommendation and really liked them a lot. I'd really appreciate it if you could dive into the fantasy books much deeper and make a complete tier list of fantasy books only. Thank you.
Thanks man! Just helped me to identify some blank spots in my SiFi reading... Happy to see that Roadside Picnic had such a great personal influence on yourself, that's indeed a trully outstanding piece of not just SiFi literature but literature in general... Snail on the Slope is also amaizing. Cheers
love chiang and he has top shelf ideas, but like a lot of scifi writers he is very poor at interpersonal interactions. they are usually rather geekily stilted and just to front his big ideas. still would highly rec him.
I picked up Brian Aldiss' *Hothouse* on your recommendation and I agree with your critique (though I can't, for the life of me, find the video where you discuss it). Excellent world-building. Sufficiently alien yet understandable because it's all vegetables. Nature's brutal, interesting ideas, somewhat flat characters. The plague of SciFi writers. If our book preferences align, probably B-tier in your list here. Moving onto *A Fire upon the Deep* to see if our S-tier aligns (I agree with *Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?*). Thank you kindly for reading the obscurities of the past to dig up those that shouldn't be forgotten! Jacques Barzun perhaps single-handedly saved the music of Berlioz from falling into the fog of time; you're fighting the good fight for SciFi literature and for that, 🖖
This is a very good list. I like how I do not agree 100% with your placements (we're all different), but I particularly like your S-Tier recommendations. They have all been good reads for me, not necessarily all S-Tier for me but certainly very good and some of them I concur with.
Really appreciate your reviews. Thoughtful and honest. We have pretty different tastes (I find Malzberg unreadable and insipid, which probably says more about me than him or you) but I still love hearing your thoughts.
I went to a newly discovered used book store in my area for the first time 4 days ago, where I picked up Star of the Unborn for $1, based on your repeated recommendations. They had a second copy in slightly better condition for $2, but I couldn't bring myself to spend twice as much for the same thing. I'll definitely be going back to look for more of these suggestions.
"Steps on rake heads"? I like it... good phrase. I really enjoy your commentary, even when I wholly disagree about the merit of individual books or authors. Your take on them is always interesting and I like how refreshingly personalised your views on the books and the writing are.
That looks like a handy bit of software, i did this manually last month and it was a pain in the arse. Great summary Matt, love your work. 👍 *Edit post watching the whole thing: i think you just have to kiss a bunch of frogs to find your prince(s), the books the float your boat. Great video Matt, I envy your ability to give such pithy summaries, seemingly on the fly.
Have you read any China Miéville? For example, 'Perdido Street Station' (which leans more towards steampunk fantasy) is very unique in its writing and in the teeming aspect of world-building. I'm curious what a native English speaker thinks of the writing; the French translation was wonderful and distinct from anything else.
@@Bookpilled When you feel the need for deep world-building, like you did with HotHouse, but more coherent and detailed, with a flavor from alchemy to steampunk, and baroque prose, then it will be the right time. :)
Great ranking and enjoyed the reviews along the way! S tier; - Palace of Eternity - Bob Shaw - Roadside Picnic - Strugatsky bros - Downward to the Earth - Robert Silverberg - The King of Elflands Daughter - Lord Dunsany - Black Easter - James Blish - Star of the unborn - Franz Werfel - Burning Chrome - William Gibson - Farewell Earths Bliss - Compton - Ice - Anna Kavan - Beyond Apollo - Barry Malzberg - Bad brains - Kathe Koja - We who are about to - Joanna Russ - Doomed city - Strugatsky bros - Do androids dream of electric sheep - Philip k Dick - Electric forest - Tanith lee - The sluts - cooper - Night’s master - Tanith lee - Overlay - Barry Malzberg - Instrumentality of mankind - Corwinder smith
Dune is my favorite sci fi novel. My problem with "Messiah" was that nothing really happens in it. I actually kept wishing the Baron would make a surprise appearance from the grave. Great video. Wish I could read as fast as you.
Dune Messiah is basically an overgrown short story but its essential reading to understand Children of Dune which is a fitting sequel to the original that I am guessing you have not read but definitely should based on your comment.
woof. The Sparrow is one of my all-time favorites and I love how it explores language and ethics of meeting a new alien race. Was pretty much with you until then.
Man, I added like 20 books to my TBR from this video - I think I'll add several of them to the top of my list as I've been in the mood for these kinds of books lately.
@Bookpilled - could you please share more detailed reasoning regarding your ranking of 3 Body Problem in F Tier? Also - while I definitely feel that Pandora's Star could've been 1/4th of its length, don't you find the basic premise and some of the technologies described to be fascinating enough to merit a higher tier? Look forward to hearing from you. Love your videos
Bit late to the comments here -- on your next top fifteen, you might consider including other books by an author in their slot. I know you like to keep it to exactly fifteen--and if you want to keep absolutely to that, I don't blame you; that's your prerogative--but speaking as a viewer, I'm never upset at more great recommendations. If you had a 'further reading' section on, say, the Strugatsky brothers, that's where you could put (presumably) Final Circle of Paradise, Doomed City, etcetera, etcetera. Just an idea! Thanks for all the recommendations! I'm more of a modern fantasy guy myself, but since finding your channel I've found myself more and more excited to reach into vintage Sci-Fi & Fantasy. Tanith Lee is one author I'm especially excited at picking up.
I probably watched this video in early August 2024. I picked 3 of the S Tier rated books, that were all somewhat to entirely new on my radar, and read and sincerely enjoyed all three books. So much so, that I wrote goodreads reviews on all three: The Palace of Eternity, Burning Chrome and The Instrumentality of Mankind. It is likely that I will try more books that you gave S and A Tier ratings to, in the near future. Thanks Bookpilled.
Also Sheckley is my favorite science fiction short story writer and I love his novels, too. He deserves more exposure. I completely disagree that his stories are bad weird. I find him similar to O. Henry and very humanistic and funny. Of his short story collections "Is That W What People Do" is one of the best.
It would be interesting for you to have/maintain this rating system essentially for all the books you have reviewed; in say an ongoing spreadsheet/database. That way we could see if/how your views have changed over time and also where a book you read (in this case) more than 1.5 years ago would fall into the chart amongst your more recent reads.
Thank you Mr book pilled for an Interesting visual approach to ranking. I recently read The Sparrow and was so disappointed, it was not a good book. Also it took me so long to get through 3BP and wonder what all the hype was about I read it a second time and still failed to see its appeal! We all have our favourite's though, I do have the nostalgic warmness for the Clarke and Asimov classics as I read them when I was a teen back in the 70's so they are much higher for me. Reading them now they cant possible have the same impact, I get that. I must dig out my unread Malzberg's you do highly rate him.
I, Robot is S tier to me. Putting aside how influential the robot series is, there are incredible stories in there that that I found both compelling and stimulating. Robot Dreams is another fantastic book.
There must be something that can be done to convince you to read The Dark Forest and Death's End. There has to be. You can't just leave this story hanging!
Nice. I'm actually in the middle of a "Canticle" reread and having the same response. But definitely well written. A little harsh on Pandora's Star, I thought, but I would say no writer in the genre needs a better, more assertive editor than Peter Hamilton. All of his books would benefit from one more draft and excision of at least 50% of unnecessary text. I always feel like I'm on a cruise that's two days too long with his stuff.
Thank you for plowing through a sizeable chunk of SF, really excited to check out the books i haven't read yet, that made it tto your s-tier. Speaking of Lit-Fic, have you read any Martin Amis? I remember really enjoying The Information, and to a lesser degree, Money. Time's Arrow, London Fields and The Rachel Papers not as much. I share your lack of enthusiasm for crime fiction, but had no problems ripping through nearly every book by Jim Thompson. Also, have you read any K.W. Jeter (Farwell Horizontal, Dr. Adder, Noir), or Rudy Rucker (possibly too zany, although I found Wetware enjoyably creepy).
@Bookpilled, Loved the vid. When you're in the mood to come back to fantasy, maybe skip the high fantasy stuff at first and try something a little darker. You might enjoy some of what the young people today call "Grimdark" fantasy. I'll recommend just one to start you off: Anthony Ryan's "The Wolf’s Call."
Hey guys my name is Matt and you're watching Bookpilled. Welcome to another edition of the 100 book challenge. Today I'll be ranking every book I read during the last 1.5 years, the good, the bad, and somewhere in between. As always please remember to like the video and subscribe to the channel. As of today only 30% of those watching today's video are subscribed. So please go ahead and hit that subscribe button, it goes a long way to helping us bring you more content like this. Now without further ado, a word from our sponsor Star of the Unborn
I read about half of those, and I agree with your placements for about 60% of them, further 30% would by +/- 1, and the remaining 10% (that is, perhaps 5 books) would be +/- 2 (one maybe even 3). So, it seems I would be well advised to read those in your levels C-S I haven't yet.
I wonder if you would be willing to read any Steven Erikson. It’s fantasy and not in your usual wheel house but when it comes to prose he just has my number in a way other fantasy writers don’t.
5:17 - "Sorry, sorry" 😀 It _is_ allowed to say that not everything that Aunty Ursula wrote is S tier. It didn't quite work for me, either, (And I agree with 24:25, too; too simple, almost formulaic, in the vein of "revisionist Westerns" - noble, mysterious "savages", cavalry fort, eveil (and/or stupid) colonel, good lieutenant. Lightyears from _Left Hand of Darkness,_ _The Dispossessed_ or _Four Ways to Forgiveness_ ) 10:49 - Yes, _Nightfall_ (story, not novel" is great.
This is a great channel. I like how you get straight into it and have a great bullshit detector. Your ratings are straight on. Would be good if you reviewed some Charles Sheffield, would be interested in your views of him.
Awesome. Now, I just have to track down a couple of the A and S tier books. I hate paying Abebooks ludicrous shipping fees. Ebay upsets me. Private trackers for ebooks and audiobooks might be the best option. Thanks for doing a super-marathon of legwork.
Totally agree with your F list picks!! Makes me really want to pick up your S and A list picks that I've not come across, because...perhaps we're in synch in some manner :-)
Your targeting seems pretty good given 68 of the books were "B," "A" or "S" tier. I'd move some books higher on my list, but you've given me some more books to think about. Thanks!
since you are into memoirs lately, my spouse has been reading the journals of ulysses grant during the civil war commuting on the staten island ferry and swears its fascinating and that she cannot put it down. i just read ‘goth’ by lol tolhurst of the cure, who should know about that, right? but you can for sure skip that. back to scifi now with mk jemison ‘how long until black future month?’ short story collection. the first story is a sharp reply to leguin’s famous short story ‘the ones who walk away from omelas,’ so its off to a great start. 🎉
Awesome, gives me a list to peruse, many of which I have never heard of! Great! I am glad you liked The Two Towers. I too, found The Fellowship to be hard going and not to my taste. A bit "twee" and weird, for me. But, The Two Towers carried me away, as does The Return of The King. I always tell people, who like LotR but struggle with Fellowship, to "push on through", as the tale does indeed accelerate and carries one away into the imagination and contemplation of modernity. I agree with your evaluation of Asimov's stuff, too. I found the content of his works to be more fun to think about and consider afterwards, than when I was reading them!
This is different and good! Where is stormlight archieve or any books of Brandon? I’m not the biggest fan but I like SA and always see RUclipsrs have one of us book. Did you not read them or then just didn’t make it?
Thanks for mildly skewering Sparrow, Rama and 3BP. All unjustly praised imo. Surprised you read no Niven (suggest Mote in God's Eye), would also rec Bear's Blood Music and Forge of God (great dark piece). Lastly the cult favorite Blindsight by Watts- smug but worthwhile reading.
I think Mote In God's Eye, Blood Music and Blindsight were all in his earlier top 15 sci-fi books, Blindsight being #1. This is just a 100 sci-fi books project and ranking, not an all-time list.
Can someone list down the S Tier and A tier, they all seem to be interesting reads. Would love to read them. edit: I have hearing problems and his words are a bit muffled to hear.
S: Palace of Eternity - Bob Shaw Roadside Picnic - Strugatsky Brothers Downward to the Earth - Robert Silverberg The King of Elfland's Daughter - Lord Dunsany Black Easter - James Blish Star of the Unborn - Franz Werfel Burning Chrome - William Gibson Farewell, Earth's Bliss - DG Compton Ice - Anna Kavan Beyond Apollo - Barry Malzberg Bad Brains - Kathe Koja We Who Are About To... - Joanna Russ The Doomed City - Strugatsky Brothers Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep - Philip K Dick Electric Forest - Tanith Lee The Sluts - Dennis Cooper Night's Master - Tanith Lee Overlay - Barry Malzberg The Instrumentality of Mankind - Cordwainer Smith A: Journey to the Centre of the Earth - Jules Verne High-Rise - JG Ballard The Martian Chronicles - Ray Bradbury Past Master - RA Lafferty Nine Princes in Amber - Roger Zelazny The Man in the High Castle - Philip K Dick The Two Towers - JRR Tolkien The Invincible - Stanislaw Lem Other Days, Other Eyes - Bob Shaw Dawn - Octavia E Butler The Final Circle of Paradise - Strugatsky Brothers The Last Castle - Jack Vance The Disaster Area - JG Ballard Ubik - Philip K Dick Village of the Damned (The Midwich Cuckoos) - John Wyndham The Doomsters - Ross Macdonald Kindred - Octavia E Butler The Book of Skulls - Robert Silverberg The Haunting of Hill House - Shirley Jackson The Night Land - William Hope Hodgson The Gamesman - Barry Malzberg
The first three books in the Flat Earth Series by Tanith Lee are worth reading; +Nights Master +Death's Master +Delusions Master Delusions Master is my favourite
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Here's a list of books in the video:
S Tier
- Palace of Eternity by Bob Shaw
- Roadside Picnic by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky
- Downward to the Earth by Robert Silverberg
- King of Elfland's Daughter by Lord Dunsany
- Black Easter by James Blish
- Burning Chrome by William Gibson
- Electric Forest by Tanith Lee
- Beyond Apollo by Barry N. Malzberg
- Overlay by Barry N. Malzberg
- We Who Are About To... by Joanna Russ
- Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick
- Instrumentality of Mankind by Cordwainer Smith
- Doomed City by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky
- Bad Brains by Kathy Koja
A Tier
- A Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne
- High-Rise by J.G. Ballard
- Nine Princes in Amber by Roger Zelazny
- Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick
- The Invincible by Stanisław Lem
- The Last Castle by Jack Vance
- Disaster Area by J.G. Ballard
- Heliconia Spring by Brian W. Aldiss
- The Doomsters by Ross Macdonald
- Haunting on Hill House by Shirley Jackson
- The Night Land by William Hope Hodgson
- Kindred by Octavia Butler
- Book of Skulls by Robert Silverberg
- Village of the Damned (The Midwich Cuckoos) by John Wyndham
- God's Demon by Wayne Barlowe
B Tier
- Peace War by Vernor Vinge
- Marooned in Real Time by Vernor Vinge
- Eon by Greg Bear
- Isle of the Dead by Roger Zelazny
- Ancient, My Enemy by Gordon R. Dickson
- Highway of Eternity by Clifford D. Simak
- Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer
- Rialto the Marvelous by Jack Vance
- Pandora's Star by Peter F. Hamilton
- Capricorn Games by Robert Silverberg
- 2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke
- Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien
- God's Themselves by Isaac Asimov
- Other Days, Other Eyes by Bob Shaw
- Dawn by Octavia Butler
- Einstein Intersection by Samuel R. Delany
- Final Circle of Paradise by the Strugatsky Brothers
- Other Eyes by D.G. Compton
- The Chrysalids by John Wyndham
- Virtual Unrealities by Alfred Bester
- Universe 5 (Anthology)
- Dune Messiah by Frank Herbert
- Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe
- The Gamesman by Barry N. Malzberg
- Vore by James Blish
- Overlords of War by Gerard Klein
C Tier
- Galactic Patrol by E.E. "Doc" Smith
- Weeping May Terry
- Highway of Eternity by Clifford D. Simak
- Voyager in Night by C.J. Cherryh
- Swords and Deviltry by Fritz Leiber
- Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke
- I, Robot by Isaac Asimov
- Babel-17 by Samuel R. Delany
- Voyage of the Space Beagle by A.E. van Vogt
- On the Beach by Nevil Shute
- The Drowned World by J.G. Ballard
- Roor by A.A.M. Davidson
- Titans Daughter by James Blish
D Tier
- Best of Robert Bloch
- Can You Feel Anything When I Do This? by Robert Sheckley
- Goat Without Horns by Thomas Burnett Swann
- Gray Prince by Jack Vance
F Tier
- The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell
- Nightflyers by George R.R. Martin
Bad Brains was in the “S” tier. Thanks though! Really appreciate the hard work!
2001 was in B tier
@@benmorgan9748 Yes. Corrected. Thank you so much 🥰
@@dogcreekproject6872 Thank you. Corrected now.
Martian Chronicles was in A Tier, I believe
Subscribed. Thanks for not being a book tuber who just discusses the same dozen modern series over and over as if they are clothes the emperor is wearing.
Love to see all 100 in one video, been seeing you talk about 3 books at a time of these hundred for ages and its really interesting to see the big picture of where they all fit in comparison to eachother. Love your channel!
I usually find tier lists droll, but this is a bang up job. Plus its a succinct way for me to build a reading list off of all the great books that we've heard you talk about. Cheers for trimming the fat/separating the wheat from the chaff for us
Many moons ago, Matt, I thought A Canticle For Leibowitz was a superlative must-read but have subsequently discovered so many more great books I now relegate it to exactly where you put it. When it was being widely touted in the 60's & 70's it had few peers. Not so in this day and age. Great post, really enjoyed this top-100, I hope it gets a zillion views.
My friend just as I was thinking about how great this ranking is, you got to God’s Demon which I am reading right now (on your recommendation) and you absolutely put into a succinct 15 seconds of words EXACTLY how I feel about it but would have struggled to describe. Thank you so much for all the books you’ve led me to read. Love your channel. All the best.
I love these videos. Of all the ranking tier videos that I have watched, this is the one that I have the least disagreement with. Thanks for posting.
Just happened upon this channel and it's inspired me to read a few of these novels you've brought up. So I hopped on the interwebs and grabbed a copy of Hothouse, A fire Upon The Deep and Neuromancer not to mention just finishing up the audio book of Solaris. Thanks for the inspiration, enjoying these videos.
We have the same first name
Neuromancer’s prose a like nothing else. IT’s demanding. Can’t read it when you’re sleepy but it so worth it
@@tokenblack7983 Wait 'til you get to Burning Chrome... that prose is SUPER DENSE. I ran into that first and when I could see Neuromancer was the novel to read, I was hesitant and thought, "I don't think I can handle a whole novel with writing THAT dense!" Thankfully, it wasn't, and was much more readable. Just can't imagine the tangle the neurons in Gibson's head have gotten themselves into. I can just see the day of Gibson autopsy... doc removes the skull cap and gasps, "WTF happened here?"... inside... just graphene and nanotubes.
@@cydonical Haha that’s great that’s probably what is in Gibsons head
But seriously you think Nueromancer is a breeze compared to Burning Chrome? Dang I might have to so training just to read it
Gibson’s prose is like finding a puzzle and unlocking it feels like you won something…like your are part of a rare society
Hahaha I don't know how your channel is my favorite book channel. I feel like you being super honest and very much a fan of reading obscure books makes it all the better. Glad you exist, dude.
Your throw-away reference to “bags of sand” is why I respect your channel so much - because you respect the intelligence and hipness of your audience.
@@ultra-lib it’s a line delivered by Steve Carrell in his movie The 40-Year-Old Virgin. The guys were playing cards (if I remember correctly) and reminiscing about how good it felt to be with a woman, and “like bags of sand” was Steve’s character’s innocent giveaway that he had zero practical experience feeling one (or a pair, in this case.)
Thanks for filming this - am loving diving into many of these books!
I've just discovered your channel and am really impressed by the way you evaluate your reads. I'm just coming back to sci-fi after having read lots of classics then largely staying away for 2-3 decades. You've given me a lot to look forward to reading.
I hope to return the favor.
You speak of how you are drawn to fine writing, which leads me to wonder if you've read Doris Lessing or John Crowley.
Lessing isn't thought of primarily as a sci-fi writer, and I think that has caused her contributions to the field to be largely ignored. What I'm referring to is her Shikasta series. My favorites among the five books are the first - Shikasta, and the third - The Sirian Experiments.
Crowley is most known for his fantasy output: Little, Big and the Aegypt series, which I recommend highly. I'd also like to call your attention to what I consider the best time travel work I've ever read, "Great Work of Time".
I don't think either of these authors is capable of writing a bad sentence, and each has several other great titles. I hope you'll explore. They deserve your readership.
Thrive!
I love these. I have started down the rabbit hole because of you. Roadside left me shook.
i agree its the best scifi novela, but it didnt leave me shook, nor did the tarkovsky stalker movie. its that it is beautifully written (and filmed), interesting plot and it leaves you different and with a few things to think about. nothing overly frightening in it though or anything like that. maybe a little unsettling at most? i dont need to be shook because i can give no greater praise than that.
An impressive feat! Its been great watching you work through this over the last few months and I've definitely read some books I never would have picked up otherwise. Cheers!
another great one, i appreciates ya for slogging through some of these on our behalf
I loved following your 100-Book Challenge! You got me back into reading sci-fi after a long hiatus. Thanks for the recs!
Watching this series has inspired me to pick up unheard of titles from the bargin bin over the last year, and its really expanded my view of what science fiction can offer, and there are so much really phenomial strangeness out there
This was a great wrap up, thanks for the attention you put into it
Such an amazing accomplishment! Thank you for sharing the journey. I've definitely picked up some previously unknown (to me) authors from your reviews. I really appreciate that your reviews give us a clear idea of whether it will speak to us or not, regardless of your opinions. That said... "two bags of sand"... gold!!!!
Lol, this is true - yesterday I a notebook and started writing a list of the books I've bought and started going through your old videos from the very start to rate which ones you liked and then for me to compare them - thanks, you've saved me hours of work with this one video! Timing is everything.
This channel is amazing! So much literature that was unknown to me. Thanks
Thanks for doing the work to crank out these 98 nano-reviews, it gave me a few ideas. Since I loved 3-Body and hated High Rise there is an unslim chance I will be disappointed, but I'm still glad to have a peak into so many books.
I've really enjoyed following you on your 100 book challenge journey. Thank you.
You dropped 'Roadside Picnic', 'The King of Elfland's Daughter', and 'Nine Princes in Amber' right where I would place them - this gives me motivation to read some of your other 'S' and 'A' tier selections. Thanks!
These tier videos on this channel have made me want to read more. I subscribed and liked many videos recently on this channel and will continue to look forward to seeing more (and reading more).
Never miss an upload Bookpilled. I'm about to start After Such Knowledge because of you. Just finished Book of the New Sun and dont know where id be without your reccos. Cheers
Great video BP! Love this format for rating books. Fantastic!
Concise and straight to the point, as always. Thanks Matt!
On Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings … it took 4 or 5 attempts for me to get out of the shire. The rest of The Fellowship of Ring was a slog. But once I read through those early chapters the other volumes clicked with my adolescent mind. I think it helped that I read an edition that included all three volumes so I was able to read it as one epic narrative.
Thank you for your great content and in-depth analyses. You really are an excellent and funny communicator. I have watched a lot of your videos and am happy I can now go directly to the great stuff in sci-fi without getting lost in the mediocre. I have made a personal top10 to-read list that I’m really looking forward to - thanks to your work.
Just finished "Roadside Picnic" and really enjoyed it. Thanks for the solid recommendation.
Your reviews are straight to the point and have some interesting takes. I have read a bunch of sci-fi based on your recommendation and really liked them a lot. I'd really appreciate it if you could dive into the fantasy books much deeper and make a complete tier list of fantasy books only. Thank you.
Thanks man! Just helped me to identify some blank spots in my SiFi reading... Happy to see that Roadside Picnic had such a great personal influence on yourself, that's indeed a trully outstanding piece of not just SiFi literature but literature in general... Snail on the Slope is also amaizing. Cheers
I’d love to see your reviews of Ted Chiang’s collections. Not to get overly writerly and technical in my praise, but he FUCKS
love chiang and he has top shelf ideas, but like a lot of scifi writers he is very poor at interpersonal interactions. they are usually rather geekily stilted and just to front his big ideas. still would highly rec him.
Great vid! Added a bunch to my TBR
I picked up Brian Aldiss' *Hothouse* on your recommendation and I agree with your critique (though I can't, for the life of me, find the video where you discuss it).
Excellent world-building. Sufficiently alien yet understandable because it's all vegetables. Nature's brutal, interesting ideas, somewhat flat characters. The plague of SciFi writers.
If our book preferences align, probably B-tier in your list here.
Moving onto *A Fire upon the Deep* to see if our S-tier aligns (I agree with *Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?*).
Thank you kindly for reading the obscurities of the past to dig up those that shouldn't be forgotten!
Jacques Barzun perhaps single-handedly saved the music of Berlioz from falling into the fog of time; you're fighting the good fight for SciFi literature and for that, 🖖
I didn’t realize the last tier was “pass” until late in the video, so it makes Hamilton and Heinlein even more hilarious being in the Fail tier.
Thank you for your great, spoiler free, close to essence, reviews 🔥🔥🔥
Love this approach and the graphics.
This is a very good list. I like how I do not agree 100% with your placements (we're all different), but I particularly like your S-Tier recommendations. They have all been good reads for me, not necessarily all S-Tier for me but certainly very good and some of them I concur with.
Really appreciate your reviews. Thoughtful and honest. We have pretty different tastes (I find Malzberg unreadable and insipid, which probably says more about me than him or you) but I still love hearing your thoughts.
I went to a newly discovered used book store in my area for the first time 4 days ago, where I picked up Star of the Unborn for $1, based on your repeated recommendations. They had a second copy in slightly better condition for $2, but I couldn't bring myself to spend twice as much for the same thing. I'll definitely be going back to look for more of these suggestions.
"Steps on rake heads"? I like it... good phrase.
I really enjoy your commentary, even when I wholly disagree about the merit of individual books or authors. Your take on them is always interesting and I like how refreshingly personalised your views on the books and the writing are.
This is a great way to discover stories I haven’t read yet. No doubt I’ll revisit this before I go on another book hunt 😊
That looks like a handy bit of software, i did this manually last month and it was a pain in the arse. Great summary Matt, love your work. 👍
*Edit post watching the whole thing: i think you just have to kiss a bunch of frogs to find your prince(s), the books the float your boat. Great video Matt, I envy your ability to give such pithy summaries, seemingly on the fly.
Have you read any China Miéville? For example, 'Perdido Street Station' (which leans more towards steampunk fantasy) is very unique in its writing and in the teeming aspect of world-building. I'm curious what a native English speaker thinks of the writing; the French translation was wonderful and distinct from anything else.
Will read Perdido at some point.
@@Bookpilled When you feel the need for deep world-building, like you did with HotHouse, but more coherent and detailed, with a flavor from alchemy to steampunk, and baroque prose, then it will be the right time. :)
Great ranking and enjoyed the reviews along the way!
S tier;
- Palace of Eternity - Bob Shaw
- Roadside Picnic - Strugatsky bros
- Downward to the Earth - Robert Silverberg
- The King of Elflands Daughter - Lord Dunsany
- Black Easter - James Blish
- Star of the unborn - Franz Werfel
- Burning Chrome - William Gibson
- Farewell Earths Bliss - Compton
- Ice - Anna Kavan
- Beyond Apollo - Barry Malzberg
- Bad brains - Kathe Koja
- We who are about to - Joanna Russ
- Doomed city - Strugatsky bros
- Do androids dream of electric sheep - Philip k Dick
- Electric forest - Tanith lee
- The sluts - cooper
- Night’s master - Tanith lee
- Overlay - Barry Malzberg
- Instrumentality of mankind - Corwinder smith
Great video Matt! No surprises, except for 3 books in your S section that I would throw into my C or D groups. Lol.
Dune is my favorite sci fi novel. My problem with "Messiah" was that nothing really happens in it. I actually kept wishing the Baron would make a surprise appearance from the grave. Great video. Wish I could read as fast as you.
Dune Messiah is basically an overgrown short story but its essential reading to understand Children of Dune which is a fitting sequel to the original that I am guessing you have not read but definitely should based on your comment.
The circular face window is perfect. What a great choice
woof. The Sparrow is one of my all-time favorites and I love how it explores language and ethics of meeting a new alien race. Was pretty much with you until then.
I like how it made a Gaussian distribution
Man, I added like 20 books to my TBR from this video - I think I'll add several of them to the top of my list as I've been in the mood for these kinds of books lately.
This was thoroughly enjoyable, thanks a lot!
Had to watch to the end. You are on fire!
@Bookpilled - could you please share more detailed reasoning regarding your ranking of 3 Body Problem in F Tier? Also - while I definitely feel that Pandora's Star could've been 1/4th of its length, don't you find the basic premise and some of the technologies described to be fascinating enough to merit a higher tier? Look forward to hearing from you. Love your videos
Bit late to the comments here -- on your next top fifteen, you might consider including other books by an author in their slot. I know you like to keep it to exactly fifteen--and if you want to keep absolutely to that, I don't blame you; that's your prerogative--but speaking as a viewer, I'm never upset at more great recommendations. If you had a 'further reading' section on, say, the Strugatsky brothers, that's where you could put (presumably) Final Circle of Paradise, Doomed City, etcetera, etcetera. Just an idea!
Thanks for all the recommendations! I'm more of a modern fantasy guy myself, but since finding your channel I've found myself more and more excited to reach into vintage Sci-Fi & Fantasy. Tanith Lee is one author I'm especially excited at picking up.
Gonna watch after work 🖖
I LOVE these list like these. Please make more
I probably watched this video in early August 2024. I picked 3 of the S Tier rated books, that were all somewhat to entirely new on my radar, and read and sincerely enjoyed all three books. So much so, that I wrote goodreads reviews on all three: The Palace of Eternity, Burning Chrome and The Instrumentality of Mankind. It is likely that I will try more books that you gave S and A Tier ratings to, in the near future. Thanks Bookpilled.
You love to hear it
Also Sheckley is my favorite science fiction short story writer and I love his novels, too. He deserves more exposure. I completely disagree that his stories are bad weird. I find him similar to O. Henry and very humanistic and funny. Of his short story collections "Is That W What People Do" is one of the best.
It would be interesting for you to have/maintain this rating system essentially for all the books you have reviewed; in say an ongoing spreadsheet/database. That way we could see if/how your views have changed over time and also where a book you read (in this case) more than 1.5 years ago would fall into the chart amongst your more recent reads.
Thank you Mr book pilled for an Interesting visual approach to ranking. I recently read The Sparrow and was so disappointed, it was not a good book. Also it took me so long to get through 3BP and wonder what all the hype was about I read it a second time and still failed to see its appeal! We all have our favourite's though, I do have the nostalgic warmness for the Clarke and Asimov classics as I read them when I was a teen back in the 70's so they are much higher for me. Reading them now they cant possible have the same impact, I get that. I must dig out my unread Malzberg's you do highly rate him.
I desagree with some but I like to be able to find someone with his own opinion. I like your channel.
I, Robot is S tier to me. Putting aside how influential the robot series is, there are incredible stories in there that that I found both compelling and stimulating. Robot Dreams is another fantastic book.
There must be something that can be done to convince you to read The Dark Forest and Death's End. There has to be. You can't just leave this story hanging!
The author does
@@waltera13 No?
Or just read wikipedia's recap. Then aat least you'll see how extreme the ending is.
Would love a list of the S and maybe A tier books and their authors
Perfect format for this- out of curiosity, what program are you using to do this in real time? Worked great.
Nice. I'm actually in the middle of a "Canticle" reread and having the same response. But definitely well written. A little harsh on Pandora's Star, I thought, but I would say no writer in the genre needs a better, more assertive editor than Peter Hamilton. All of his books would benefit from one more draft and excision of at least 50% of unnecessary text. I always feel like I'm on a cruise that's two days too long with his stuff.
Your 3BP opinion resonates with mine
Thank you for plowing through a sizeable chunk of SF, really excited to check out the books i haven't read yet, that made it tto your s-tier. Speaking of Lit-Fic, have you read any Martin Amis? I remember really enjoying The Information, and to a lesser degree, Money. Time's Arrow, London Fields and The Rachel Papers not as much. I share your lack of enthusiasm for crime fiction, but had no problems ripping through nearly every book by Jim Thompson. Also, have you read any K.W. Jeter (Farwell Horizontal, Dr. Adder, Noir), or Rudy Rucker (possibly too zany, although I found Wetware enjoyably creepy).
Haven’t read them but thanks for the recs
@@Bookpilled yw!
@Bookpilled, Loved the vid. When you're in the mood to come back to fantasy, maybe skip the high fantasy stuff at first and try something a little darker. You might enjoy some of what the young people today call "Grimdark" fantasy. I'll recommend just one to start you off: Anthony Ryan's "The Wolf’s Call."
Hey guys my name is Matt and you're watching Bookpilled. Welcome to another edition of the 100 book challenge. Today I'll be ranking every book I read during the last 1.5 years, the good, the bad, and somewhere in between. As always please remember to like the video and subscribe to the channel. As of today only 30% of those watching today's video are subscribed. So please go ahead and hit that subscribe button, it goes a long way to helping us bring you more content like this. Now without further ado, a word from our sponsor Star of the Unborn
lol
I'm curious to see where Paxwax will end up in the next 100 ranking.
A bravura capstone for your wonderful survey! FYI, another "Heart of Darkness" in space you might consider is Paul Park's Celestis
I read about half of those, and I agree with your placements for about 60% of them, further 30% would by +/- 1, and the remaining 10% (that is, perhaps 5 books) would be +/- 2 (one maybe even 3). So, it seems I would be well advised to read those in your levels C-S I haven't yet.
Have you read Octavia Butler's "Earthseed" books? Anything by Norman Spinrad or Spider Robinson?
He read Spinrad for sure, you can find the review in the channel . The iron dream
I wonder if you would be willing to read any Steven Erikson. It’s fantasy and not in your usual wheel house but when it comes to prose he just has my number in a way other fantasy writers don’t.
I read Journey to the Center of the Earth recently, too, and was surprised how fun it was. Totally A tier.
From Stanislaw Lem i would recommend: "Fiasco"
From Stanislaw Lem I would recommend almost anything he wrote ;)
But I do agree Fiasco is amazing, that ending has stayed with me for decades.
We have similar tastes in SF. I'm curious if you have read John Crowley's Engine Summer or any of James Tiptree's short fiction?
No but intend to get to both
5:17 - "Sorry, sorry" 😀 It _is_ allowed to say that not everything that Aunty Ursula wrote is S tier. It didn't quite work for me, either, (And I agree with 24:25, too; too simple, almost formulaic, in the vein of "revisionist Westerns" - noble, mysterious "savages", cavalry fort, eveil (and/or stupid) colonel, good lieutenant. Lightyears from _Left Hand of Darkness,_ _The Dispossessed_ or _Four Ways to Forgiveness_ )
10:49 - Yes, _Nightfall_ (story, not novel" is great.
What did you not like about Pandora’s star?
This is a great channel. I like how you get straight into it and have a great bullshit detector. Your ratings are straight on. Would be good if you reviewed some Charles Sheffield, would be interested in your views of him.
Awesome. Now, I just have to track down a couple of the A and S tier books. I hate paying Abebooks ludicrous shipping fees. Ebay upsets me. Private trackers for ebooks and audiobooks might be the best option. Thanks for doing a super-marathon of legwork.
Also, any interest in rating/reviewing Ruocchio books?
three little words: lie, brer, ee.
Just read Farewell, Earth's Bliss on your recommendation and loved it. Now I'm just sad I can't get a paperback copy under $50 AUD.
Totally agree with your F list picks!! Makes me really want to pick up your S and A list picks that I've not come across, because...perhaps we're in synch in some manner :-)
Your targeting seems pretty good given 68 of the books were "B," "A" or "S" tier. I'd move some books higher on my list, but you've given me some more books to think about. Thanks!
since you are into memoirs lately, my spouse has been reading the journals of ulysses grant during the civil war commuting on the staten island ferry and swears its fascinating and that she cannot put it down. i just read ‘goth’ by lol tolhurst of the cure, who should know about that, right? but you can for sure skip that. back to scifi now with mk jemison ‘how long until black future month?’ short story collection. the first story is a sharp reply to leguin’s famous short story ‘the ones who walk away from omelas,’ so its off to a great start. 🎉
Awesome, gives me a list to peruse, many of which I have never heard of! Great!
I am glad you liked The Two Towers. I too, found The Fellowship to be hard going and not to my taste. A bit "twee" and weird, for me.
But, The Two Towers carried me away, as does The Return of The King. I always tell people, who like LotR but struggle with Fellowship, to "push on through", as the tale does indeed accelerate and carries one away into the imagination and contemplation of modernity.
I agree with your evaluation of Asimov's stuff, too. I found the content of his works to be more fun to think about and consider afterwards, than when I was reading them!
Best booktuber in the game by far.
This was awesome!
That’s epic. I bet this will be the most popular video on the channel.
Great video, is there a link to the tier lis?
This is different and good! Where is stormlight archieve or any books of Brandon? I’m not the biggest fan but I like SA and always see RUclipsrs have one of us book. Did you not read them or then just didn’t make it?
Thanks for mildly skewering Sparrow, Rama and 3BP. All unjustly praised imo.
Surprised you read no Niven (suggest Mote in God's Eye), would also rec Bear's Blood Music and Forge of God (great dark piece). Lastly the cult favorite Blindsight by Watts- smug but worthwhile reading.
I think Mote In God's Eye, Blood Music and Blindsight were all in his earlier top 15 sci-fi books, Blindsight being #1. This is just a 100 sci-fi books project and ranking, not an all-time list.
Mildly skewering? He straight up savaged Sparrow 😂
It has this very "Bags of Sand feel to it."
Your description there is brilliant.
Favorite notif of the day
Can someone list down the S Tier and A tier, they all seem to be interesting reads. Would love to read them.
edit: I have hearing problems and his words are a bit muffled to hear.
S:
Palace of Eternity - Bob Shaw
Roadside Picnic - Strugatsky Brothers
Downward to the Earth - Robert Silverberg
The King of Elfland's Daughter - Lord Dunsany
Black Easter - James Blish
Star of the Unborn - Franz Werfel
Burning Chrome - William Gibson
Farewell, Earth's Bliss - DG Compton
Ice - Anna Kavan
Beyond Apollo - Barry Malzberg
Bad Brains - Kathe Koja
We Who Are About To... - Joanna Russ
The Doomed City - Strugatsky Brothers
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep - Philip K Dick
Electric Forest - Tanith Lee
The Sluts - Dennis Cooper
Night's Master - Tanith Lee
Overlay - Barry Malzberg
The Instrumentality of Mankind - Cordwainer Smith
A:
Journey to the Centre of the Earth - Jules Verne
High-Rise - JG Ballard
The Martian Chronicles - Ray Bradbury
Past Master - RA Lafferty
Nine Princes in Amber - Roger Zelazny
The Man in the High Castle - Philip K Dick
The Two Towers - JRR Tolkien
The Invincible - Stanislaw Lem
Other Days, Other Eyes - Bob Shaw
Dawn - Octavia E Butler
The Final Circle of Paradise - Strugatsky Brothers
The Last Castle - Jack Vance
The Disaster Area - JG Ballard
Ubik - Philip K Dick
Village of the Damned (The Midwich Cuckoos) - John Wyndham
The Doomsters - Ross Macdonald
Kindred - Octavia E Butler
The Book of Skulls - Robert Silverberg
The Haunting of Hill House - Shirley Jackson
The Night Land - William Hope Hodgson
The Gamesman - Barry Malzberg
You are a godsend. Hope you have a wonderful day! @@alexp3462
Read Embassytown by China Mieville, you won't regret it
The first three books in the Flat Earth Series by Tanith Lee are worth reading;
+Nights Master
+Death's Master
+Delusions Master
Delusions Master is my favourite