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Best SFF Novels of the Decade Poll Update 01/13

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Published on January 13, 2011

Best Science Fiction & Fantasy Novels of the Decade Reader's Poll
Best Science Fiction & Fantasy Novels of the Decade Reader's Poll

We’ve tallied your votes from 1132 comments so far in the Best Science Fiction/Fantasy Novels of the Decade Poll and one particular book has made a big big jump! Today we’re also including a tally on books that are hovering below the Top 20 line. Check the list out below the cut.

We present the Top 20 voted novels as of 2:53 PM EST on Thursday, January 13th.

  1. Old Man’s War by John Scalzi – 250 votes
  2. American Gods by Neil Gaiman – 215 votes
  3. The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss – 180 votes
  4. Blindsight by Peter Watts – 168 votes
  5. Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke – 139 votes
  6. Anathem by Neal Stephenson -124 votes
  7. A Storm of Swords by George R. R. Martin – 118 votes
  8. The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson – 112 votes
  9. Perdido Street Station by China Miéville – 110 votes
  10. The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch – 88 votes

Following them…

  1. Spin by Robert Charles Wilson – 77 votes
  2. Night Watch by Terry Pratchett – 73 votes
  3. Altered Carbon by Richard Morgan – 69 votes
  4. Mistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson – 68 votes
  5. Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling – 65 votes
  6. The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold – 64 votes
  7. Towers of Midnight by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson – 62 votes
  8. Knife of Dreams by Robert Jordan – 58 votes / The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins – 58 votes [TIE]
  9. The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi – 55 votes

Below the Top 20 is a pretty interesting list all by itself, with a nice variation between titles, genre, and author. Some very high quality titles are in this range:

  1. The Gathering Storm by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson – 54 votes
  2. Deadhouse Gates by Steven Erikson – 54 votes
  3. Revelation Space by Alastair Reynolds – 47 votes
  4. The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger – 45 votes
  5. The Scar by China Mieville – 38
  6. Little Brother by Cory Doctorow – 36
  7. Paladin of Souls by Lois McMaster Bujold – 35 votes
  8. His Majesty’s Dragon, Naomi Novik – 33 votes
  9. The City & the City by China Miéville – 33 votes
  10. Elantris by Brandon Sanderson – 31 votes
  11. The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie – 29 votes
  12. The Yiddish Policemen’s Union by Michael Chabon – 29 votes
  13. The Magicians, Lev Grossman – 29 votes
  14. The Android’s Dream by John Scalzi – 26 votes
  15. River of Gods, Ian McDonald – 25 votes
  16. Pandora’s Star, by Peter F. Hamilton – 25 votes
  17. The Long Price Quartet by Daniel Abraham – 24 votes
  18. Going Postal by Terry Pratchett – 24 votes
  19. Memories of Ice by Steven Erikson – 24 votes
  20. Sunshine by Robin McKinley – 23 votes
  21. Kushiel’s Dart by Jacqueline Carey – 22 votes
  22. Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson – 22 votes
  23. The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, N. K. Jemisin – 22 votes
  24. Chasm City by Alastair Reynolds – 22 votes
  25. A Feast For Crows by George R. R. Martin – 21 votes
  26. Rainbow’s End by Vernor Vinge – 21 votes
  27. Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay – 20 votes

These represent popular votes, so we wonder…would the results of this poll would correspond with total overall sales of these books from the previous decade? Probably not, as the Tor.com audience is too small in comparison to be reflective of book-buying audiences as a whole. But a correlation would still be pretty telling.

Please do not vote in this post. The voting thread is here. Votes in this post’s thread will not be counted. Thanks!

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