The Book Sense Category Bestseller List: SF/Fantasy

Based on the last eight weeks of sales from over 350 independent bookstores across America.

Here is a fantastic cross-section of SF and fantasy fiction, new and classic, for teen readers up to us oldsters. (Dune is still my favorite book of all time.) Look for The Two Towers to make a run at #1 soon. A few nice surprises on this list.

Next week: A younger readers' fantasy list. (No, that can't include a wish that summer would never end…)

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Carl Lennertz
[email protected]

SF/Fantasy Bestsellers

The Top 50 for the Last Eight Weeks

1. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, J.K. Rowling, Scholastic, $6.99, 0439064872

2. The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien, Ballantine, $6.99, 0345339681

3. Artemis Fowl, Eoin Colfer, Talk Miramax/Hyperion, $6.99, 0786817070

4. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, J.K. Rowling, Scholastic, $6.99, 059035342X

5. The Two Towers, J.R.R. Tolkien, Ballantine, $6.99, 0345339711

6. Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident, Eoin Colfer, Talk Miramax/Hyperion, $16.95, 0786808551

7. The Fellowship of the Ring, J.R.R. Tolkien, Ballantine, $6.99, 0345339703

8. The Return of the King, J.R.R. Tolkien, Ballantine, $6.99, 0345339738

9. The Golden Compass, Philip Pullman, Del Rey, $6.99, 0345413350

10. Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card, Tor, $6.99, 0812550706

11. The Salmon of Doubt, Douglas Adams, Harmony, $24, 1400045088

12. Priestess of Avalon, Marion Zimmer Bradley, Diana L. Paxson, Roc, $15.95, 0451458621

13. Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones -- The Visual Dictionary, David West Reynolds, DK Publishing, $19.99, 0789485885

14. The Subtle Knife, Philip Pullman, Del Rey, $6.99, 0345413369

15. Princess Bride, William Goldman, Ballantine, $6.99, 0345348036

16. Speaker for the Dead, Orson Scott Card, Tor, $7.99, 0812550757

17. Star Wars the New Jedi Order: Enemy Lines II, Rebel Stand, Aaron Allston, Del Rey, $6.99, 0345428684

18. Shadow of the Hegemon, Orson Scott Card, Tor, $6.99, 0812565959

19. The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien, Mariner, $20, 0618129022

20. Dragons of a Vanished Moon, Margaret Weis, Tracy Hickman, Wizards of the Coast, $27.95, 0786927402

21. Star Wars the New Jedi Order: Traitor, Matthew Woodring Stover, Del Rey, $6.99, 034542865X

22. The Silmarillion, J.R.R. Tolkien, Ballantine, $6.99, 0345325818

23. The Two Towers, J.R.R. Tolkien, Mariner, $12, 0618129081

24. The Minority Report and Other Classic Stories, Philip K. Dick, Citadel Press, $14.95, 0806523794, and Pantheon, $12.95, 0375421874

25. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, J.K. Rowling, Scholastic, $19.95, 0590353403

26. The Fellowship of the Ring, J.R.R. Tolkien, Mariner, $12, 0618129030

27. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, J.K. Rowling, Scholastic, $19.95, 0439064864

28. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams, Ballantine, $6.99, 0345391802

29. Winter's Heart, Robert Jordan, Forge, $7.99, 081257558X

30. Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, Gregory Maguire, Regan Books, $15, 0060987529

31. Ender's Game, Orson Card, Tor Books, $5.99, 0765342294

32. Desecration, Jerry B. Jenkins, Tim Lahaye, Tyndale House Pub, $14.99, 0842332294

33. The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien, Peter Sis (Illustrator), Houghton Mifflin, $10, 061815082X

34. The Sparrow, Mary Doria Russell, Fawcett Books, $12.95, 0449912558

35. The Skies of Pern, Anne McCaffrey, Del Rey, $7.99, 0345434692

36. Star Wars Attack of the Clones, R.A. Salvatore, Del Rey, $26, 0345428811

37. Lirael: Daughter of the Clayr, Garth Nix, Trophy Press, $6.95, 0060005424

38. Timeline, Michael Crichton, Ballantine Books, $7.99, 0345417623

39. The Mists of Avalon, Marion Zimmer Bradley, Ballantine, $16, 0345350499

40. Dune, Frank Herbert, Ace Books, $7.99, 0441172717

41. Slaughterhouse Five, Kurt Vonnegut Jr., Dell, $6.99, 0440180295

42. The Golden Compass, Philip Pullman, Knopf, $10, 0679893105

43. Star Wars Jedi Quest: The Way of the Apprentice, Jude Watson, Scholastic, $4.99, 0439339170

44. Xenocide, Orson Scott Card, Tor Books, $7.99, 0812509250

45. Eye of the World, Robert Jordan, Tor Books, $6.99, 0812511816

46. The Fall of Neskaya: Book One of the Clingfire Trilogy, Marion Zimmer Bradley, Deborah J. Ross, Daw Books, $6.99, 0756400538

47. A Clockwork Orange, Anthony Burgess, W.W. Norton & Co., $11, 0393312836

48. J.R.R. Tolkien: The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings Boxed Set, J.R.R. Tolkien, Ballantine, $27.96, 0345340426

49. The Scar, China Mieville, Del Rey, $18.95, 0345444388

50. Kushiel's Dart, Jaqueline Carey, Tor Books, $7.99, 0765342987