I've read a bunch of the books on your list David, but I don't necessarily agree they're the best ones. For instance, I think that Angela Carter's The Bloody Chamber collection is more important (and interesting!) than The Magic Toyshop.

More influential, certainly. I'm not even there there is a supernatural element in The Magic Toyshop, though it's certainly gothic.

And while Gormenghast is hugely important, I don't know many people who've made it through the entire trilogy.

I don't think anybody really needs to read Titus Alone.

Plus, no Tanith Lee?

Well, we were riffing off the top of our heads. We would've gotten to her eventually. What would you suggest for a Tanith Lee in the fantasy category? (distinct from horror)

No Ray Bradbury?

Ditto, though I think we were trying to diverge from the NPR list. I would definitely have plumped for Something Wicked This Way Comes though I think Bradbury's greater influence is from his short stories.

Don't know what, if anything, that says about my reading habits ... persistent if nothing else.

Todd, you've read vintage gothic doorstops like The Monk and Mysteries of Udolpho. You're extremely persistent.

The entire oeuvre of Mrs. Radcliffe ....

From the Glen Weldon article:

Gary K. Wolfe, again: "It surprises me a bit that you have to get down to #20 (Frankenstein) before you come to the first work by a woman, or that there are only 5 women authors in the top 50."

I am the opposite of surprised.

Me too, Dana.

James Nicoll has a list of the women: [link]

Shocking and disappointing that LeGuin doesn't show up until #45, in fact after McCaffrey and MZB. Seriously? ::sigh::

I'm about to be blasphemous, I think, but I don't care much for LeGuin. Unless her stuff for adults is better? I read all the Earthsea books for a class in college and was bored to tears. I found that she wrote really fantastic dialogue, but people hardly ever spoke, and that all the narration was presented in an almost condescending tone, as if I were supposed to know the story already.

Unless her stuff for adults is better? I read all the Earthsea books for a class in college and was bored to tears.

LeGuin's YA is not the same as her adult fiction. However if you found the Earthsea novels boring then I don't think you would like her adult work, either.

all the narration was presented in an almost condescending tone, as if I were supposed to know the story already

Yes, because it's a legend. I wouldn't say it's condescending, but the narrative convention, especially for the first one, is that this is basically "The Legend of Sparrowhawk: The Early Years". The imaginary audience already knows who Ged grows up to be.

So we traded picks and made our own top ten of just Fantasy and I like our list better.

I like yours better, too. I don't know all of those, but the ones I know, I like. And I'm not even that big on fantasy -- you two should do a separate SF list too.

The NPR list is exactly what people should expect from an internet poll. Well, I'm slightly surprised that Neil Gaiman is only listed 4 times, but other than that.

The NPR list is exactly what people should expect from a internet poll

Really? I think it's very good for an internet poll. May not be *my* picks, but I would probably enjoy reading many of those books, and I've known about but not been tempted by Hec's list for a while now.

Yes, because it's a legend. I wouldn't say it's condescending, but the narrative convention, especially for the first one, is that this is basically "The Legend of Sparrowhawk: The Early Years". The imaginary audience already knows who Ged grows up to be.

I understood that, but it still just bothered me. I don't know. I think perhaps I would have liked them better in that class had they not immediately followed The Once ad Future King, which is basically my favorite book of all time. We had also just read The Golden Compass and Wicked, which I adored.

I'm sorry! I might give LeGuin another chance, because everyone who is not me seems to love her.