I think they listed every fantasy series they liked (still missed a crucial one), and then filled enough "classic" stuff in around it that they wouldn't be caught. Maybe that's the problem. It over-emphasizes fantasy, and devalues the hard-core midcentury science fiction, but includes enough "names" (Clarke, Bradbury, Asimov) that they think they've armored themselves against that criticism.
This is emblammatic right here. Amber is about the 6th- or 7th-best thing Zelazny wrote. But it's a fantasy series, so here it is. Four better choices would have been: This Immortal, Lord of Light, Doorways in the Sand, and the Doors/Lamps story collection.40. The Chronicles Of Amber, by Roger Zelazny
More random thoughts:
- Too much Neil Gaiman (whom I love) and Neal Stephenson (whom I like). American Gods is fun, sure. Tenth best sf/fantasy of all time? NFW.
- Nice to see Leguin represented. But Leguin gets two books and Stephenson gets four? Several fantasy series are on here but Earthsee is not? WTF? If we wrote a history of sf, Stephenson would merit a paragraph and Leguin a chapter.
- Nice to see the comics represented (Sandman & Watchmen). Frankly, Sandman should be on a list like this, and should be Gaiman's only representation on an all-time list like this.
- Hitchhikers? Princess Bride?
- I am not well prepped to judge the last ~10 years worth of serious sf, I can't say much about authors like Connie Willis. She's supposed to be awesome; and among a class of awesome post-90s sf writers. I assume she and that whole class are not as well represented here as they should be.
- Time Traveler's Wife?
- Um, hello, Alfred Bester? Theodore Sturgeon?
- Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, c'mon. I enjoyed that book, but it's not in the top thousand best sf/fantasy books.
- James Tiptree Jr???
- Heinlein is both over- and under-represented here. I think finally the move that would have best represented Heinlein would have been to trade out Starship Troopers for the Past Through Tomorrow "future history" collection.