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Rating: 
Summary: Read yourself out of here...
Review: I first bought this book as a student in 1987. At the time a friend had recommended three or four books of Science Fiction (by authors like Arthur C Clarke and Brian W Aldiss). When I bought David Pringle's guide to the 100 best SF novels from a small shop in London, it introduced me to a much broader scope of fiction. A fiction based on science (to varying degrees), that always had something important to say about us. David Pringle's guide takes us through the "golden age" of SF, the sixties and seventies "experimental" stage of SF and the best of the early eighties SF. Thanks to Mr Pringle, I have travelled back in time, viewed our planet from the future, witnessed history unravel itself from a different prospective, I have flown into space and witness the development and regression of the human race. Finally, I would like to mention one book recommended in this guide that almost changed my life (dramatic words yes, but I still think about this book 12 years later). That book is: Theodore Sturgeon's "More than Human". I would never have read that book if it were not for Mr Pringle's fine commentry.
Rating: 
Summary: Great essays, questionable choices
Review: I liked the essays he writes, and the book is certainly to be valued. But... I have some serious disagreements with his choices (admittedly to be expected to some degree). To sum it up, too British and too depressing. I am not a fan of post-Holocaust novels, and he dishes them out in droves.I will agree with other reviewers that there are some gems in here that I would have not read otherwise (Alfred Bester, Cordwainer Smith, Ian Watson, Russel Hoban), but there are some nasty ones as well. For a bit more mainstream choices, I recommend finding those novels which won both the Hugo and the Nebula. You'll even find 5 of the 17 on Pringle's list.
Rating:
Summary: Not many like this
Review: I suppose if you want to argue with the books that Pringle selects, you might give this 4 stars, but as far as what Pringle is trying to accomplish, I really haven't seen this book's equal. One of the biggest problems in reading s-f (or any genre fiction, I suppose) is that you have to wade through a lot of dreck in order to get to the good stuff.
Well, Pringle has selected a good beginning list of "the good stuff." He devote the same two pages to each book, and doesn't seem to favor one school of s-f over another, giving the volume as a whole a very balanced feel.
Lastly, a couple of caveats: first, the book does limit itself to the time frame listed in the title, beginning with Orwell's 1984 and ending with Gibson's Neuromancer; it would be interesting to read Pringle's thoughts on the last twenty years. Lastly, Pringle's reviews contain "spoilers;" as he's trying to write thoughtful mini-essays on the books in his list, he occasionally refers to specific plot twists while discussing them.
All in all, a very nice job.
Rating:
Summary: Truly the 100 best
Review: If you ever wondered how to find a good sci-fi book among the piles of crap that get published, this book is for you. David Pringle has done an outstanding job in digging out the true 100 best novels of science fiction published between 1949-1985. In addition, his reviews are very thoughtful and well written. This is an invaluable book for the sci-fi novel reader.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Resource!
Review: Pringle's list of the 100 best science fiction novels starts with Orwell's 1984, giving brief descriptions of each novel. Also helpful is a summary of each novel's first and most recent editions, American and British. Thanks to Mr. Pringle, I have been introduced to many great science fiction classics, most recently "The Year of the Quiet Sun" by Wilson Tucker. The only complaint I have is that Pringle sometimes gives away too much of the plot.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Resource!
Review: Pringle's list of the 100 best science fiction novels starts with Orwell's 1984, giving brief descriptions of each novel. Also helpful is a summary of each novel's first and most recent editions, American and British. Thanks to Mr. Pringle, I have been introduced to many great science fiction classics, most recently "The Year of the Quiet Sun" by Wilson Tucker. The only complaint I have is that Pringle sometimes gives away too much of the plot.
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