NPR Top 100 Science Fiction & Fantasy 

Lord of The Rings is #1.  BBC poll had same #1 about 8 years ago.

Rounding out top 5:  Hitchhiker's Guide, Ender's Game, Dune Chronicles, Song of Ice and Fire Series.  The last is now an HBO series.

Good listing!

I also have Lord of the Ring as my personal #1.

#2 is the Ender series by Orson Scott Card

#3 is Ann McCaffrey - The Freedom Series (4 books)

#5 is Philipp Pullman - His Dark Materials

My husband would put Terry Brooks - Shannara series on # 2

Angie

1. The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy, by J.R.R. Tolkien (Classic Fantasy)

2. The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, by Douglas Adams (Classic SF)

3. Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card (Classic SF - Young Adult)

4. The Dune Chronicles, by Frank Herbert (Classic SF)

5. A Song Of Ice And Fire Series, by George R. R. Martin (This is good, I think it gets a HBO bump up)

6. 1984, by George Orwell (SF with social message)

7. Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury (SF with social message)

8. The Foundation Trilogy, by Isaac Asimov (Classic SF)

9. Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley (Classic SF, I never found this interesting)

10. American Gods, by Neil Gaiman ( I would swap places with his Sandman series in here)

11. The Princess Bride, by William Goldman (Thank the movie for the good showing here)

12. The Wheel Of Time Series, by Robert Jordan (Very long fantasy, will never read it)

13. Animal Farm, by George Orwell (This is like a parable or fable, why no Brothers Grimm then)

14. Neuromancer, by William Gibson (Classic SF)

15. Watchmen, by Alan Moore (Again, thank the movie for moving this up)

16. I, Robot, by Isaac Asimov (Classic SF)

17. Stranger In A Strange Land, by Robert Heinlein (Classic SF)

18. The Kingkiller Chronicles, by Patrick Rothfuss (He is still writing this trilogy)

19. Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut

20. Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley

21. Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?, by Philip K. Dick

22. The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood

23. The Dark Tower Series, by Stephen King

24. 2001: A Space Odyssey, by Arthur C. Clarke

25. The Stand, by Stephen King

26. Snow Crash, by Neal Stephenson

27. The Martian Chronicles, by Ray Bradbury

28. Cat's Cradle, by Kurt Vonnegut

29. The Sandman Series, by Neil Gaiman

30. A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess

31. Starship Troopers, by Robert Heinlein

32. Watership Down, by Richard Adams

33. Dragonflight, by Anne McCaffrey

34. The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress, by Robert Heinlein

35. A Canticle For Leibowitz, by Walter M. Miller

36. The Time Machine, by H.G. Wells

37. 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, by Jules Verne

38. Flowers For Algernon, by Daniel Keys

39. The War Of The Worlds, by H.G. Wells

40. The Chronicles Of Amber, by Roger Zelazny

41. The Belgariad, by David Eddings

42. The Mists Of Avalon, by Marion Zimmer Bradley

43. The Mistborn Series, by Brandon Sanderson

44. Ringworld, by Larry Niven

45. The Left Hand Of Darkness, by Ursula K. LeGuin

46. The Silmarillion, by J.R.R. Tolkien

47. The Once And Future King, by T.H. White (Anybody still read this?)

48. Neverwhere, by Neil Gaiman (I would have dropped this Gaiman)

49. Childhood's End, by Arthur C. Clarke

50. Contact, by Carl Sagan

51. The Hyperion Cantos, by Dan Simmons

52. Stardust, by Neil Gaiman

53. Cryptonomicon, by Neal Stephenson

54. World War Z, by Max Brooks

55. The Last Unicorn, by Peter S. Beagle

56. The Forever War, by Joe Haldeman

57. Small Gods, by Terry Pratchett

58. The Chronicles Of Thomas Covenant, The Unbeliever, by Stephen R. Donaldson

59. The Vorkosigan Saga, by Lois McMaster Bujold

60. Going Postal, by Terry Pratchett

61. The Mote In God's Eye, by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle

62. The Sword Of Truth, by Terry Goodkind

63. The Road, by Cormac McCarthy

64. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, by Susanna Clarke

65. I Am Legend, by Richard Matheson

66. The Riftwar Saga, by Raymond E. Feist

67. The Shannara Trilogy, by Terry Brooks

68. The Conan The Barbarian Series, by R.E. Howard (Loved this in high school)

69. The Farseer Trilogy, by Robin Hobb

70. The Time Traveler's Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger

71. The Way Of Kings, by Brandon Sanderson

72. A Journey To The Center Of The Earth, by Jules Verne

73. The Legend Of Drizzt Series, by R.A. Salvatore

74. Old Man's War, by John Scalzi

75. The Diamond Age, by Neil Stephenson

76. Rendezvous With Rama, by Arthur C. Clarke

77. The Kushiel's Legacy Series, by Jacqueline Carey

78. The Dispossessed, by Ursula K. LeGuin

79. Something Wicked This Way Comes, by Ray Bradbury

80. Wicked, by Gregory Maguire

81. The Malazan Book Of The Fallen Series, by Steven Erikson

82. The Eyre Affair, by Jasper Fforde

83. The Culture Series, by Iain M. Banks

84. The Crystal Cave, by Mary Stewart

85. Anathem, by Neal Stephenson

86. The Codex Alera Series, by Jim Butcher

87. The Book Of The New Sun, by Gene Wolfe

88. The Thrawn Trilogy, by Timothy Zahn

89. The Outlander Series, by Diana Gabaldan

90. The Elric Saga, by Michael Moorcock (I loved this in high school)

91. The Illustrated Man, by Ray Bradbury

92. Sunshine, by Robin McKinley

93. A Fire Upon The Deep, by Vernor Vinge

94. The Caves Of Steel, by Isaac Asimov

95. The Mars Trilogy, by Kim Stanley Robinson

96. Lucifer's Hammer, by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle

97. Doomsday Book, by Connie Willis

98. Perdido Street Station, by China Mieville

99. The Xanth Series, by Piers Anthony

100. The Space Trilogy, by C.S. Lewis (I found this so boring, read Narnia instead)

ETA:  Added comments on bold.

Wow. I never woulda thougt.....I have read maybe most of these----but I would not have considered them as fantasy.

I've never understood why they (generic) feel the need to group science fiction and fantasy together...they're completely different genres (well unles you're George Lucas.)

What am I missing about the Pricess Bride?   Why is this even on the list, fantasy or Scifi?

The Once And Future King, by T.H. White (Anybody still read this?)-  Hells yes! I loved it.

The Princess Bride is definitely fantasy, with wizards (Miracle Max), monsters (rodents of unusual size), potions (iocane powder) etc.

Thanks for posting this.

It's a fun list.

I'm surprised how many I've read.

 7spiders,  Thanks.  I always thought of the book as a comedy!  I just couldn't change mental catagories.

I just read entry #18 "The Name of the Wind" in the The Kingkiller Chronicles, by Patrick Rothfuss.

It is an entertaining coming of age story.   But, this is not a complete work so the nomination/vote for the Chronicles is a bit premature, IMO.

The orphan hero Kvothe recounts his life to the Chronicler over 3 days.  Book 1 is Day 1.   Covers from age 11 to 16.   He is child prodigy at University.  Spends much time pursuing his first love interest.

He just came out with the second book in this series, "The Wise Man's Fear"  (Kingkiller Chronicles, Day 2) Amazon Best Book of the Year - March 2011.

I'll likely read Book 2.  

What??!!   No C. J. Cherryh????

SF Signal created flowchart to help you decide which book to read next from NPR list.  Flowchart.

Brilliant flowchart! Don't tell, but I'm going to print that out the next time at work. Oversized paper here I come.