I’ve not bought many new SF or fantasy books in the last three or so years and I’m sure there’s a lot of good material I’ve missed. Now, obviously I will be rushing to the bookshops to buy the complete Stephanie Meyer, but what else have I missed that is held in high regard?
Here’s a list of books that have been recommended to me that I can remember…
Older
- Joe Hill – 20th Century Ghosts
- Kelly Link – Magic For Beginners (how have I not read this yet?!)
- David Marusek – Counting Heads
- Ian McDonald – River of Gods
- Geoff Ryman – Air
- Charles Stross – Accelerando
- Peter Watts – Blindsight
2007
- William Gibson – Spook Country
- M. John Harrison – Nova Swing
- Cormac McCarthy – The Road
- China Miéville – Un Lun Dun
- Richard Morgan – Black Man
- Sarah Hall – The Carhullan Army
2008
- Stephen Baxter – Flood
- Nick Harkaway – The Gone-Away World
- Ian R. MacLeod – Song of Time
- Ken MacLeod – The Execution Channel
- Ian McDonald – Brasyl
- Richard Morgan – The Steel Remains
- Alastair Reynolds – House of Suns
- Neal Stephenson – Anathem
2009
- Paolo Bacigalupi – The Wind-Up Girl
- Stephen Baxter – Ark
- Anne Berry – The Hungry Ghosts
- Ursula le Guin – Lavinia
- Jonathan Littell – The Kindly Ones
- China Miéville – The City & the City
- Patrick Ness – The Knife of Never Letting Go
- Adam Roberts – Yellow Blue Tibia
- Kim Stanley Robinson – Galileo’s Dream
- Ellis Sharp – Dead Iraqis: Selected Short Stories
- Bruce Sterling – The Caryatids
- Conrad Williams – One
More recommendations would be greatly appreciated!
(Though given that I can’t read everything I’d prefer to hear about the novels you thought were great or particularly important rather than merely good. I’d like to try reading some books published in 2010 as well, yes?)
On no account read Un Lun Dun, just skip straight to The City & The City.
There are a few others on there that I would quibble with but I will try to come up with some recommendations instead.
I’m determined to read everything of Mieville’s as I love his writing – I’ve even held onto King Rat despite the fact I’ll never read it again – but I’ll knock it down to the bottom of the list.
Quibble away, if you so desire. It’ll help me focus on the stronger books!
Well, I think House of Suns is pretty minor. Even for fans of Reynolds I don’t think there is much to it.
I know I’m always banging on about them but the Patrick Ness novels really are excellent.
Excellent, I shall add the Chaos Walking trilogy to the list and disregard the Reynolds (of whom I am a fan, but after reading Pushing Ice I feel no need to play completist). Cheers!
On the comics front, I highly recommend Brian Wood’s DMZ. Also, add Douglas Coupland’s Generation A (flawed, but awesome).
I read the first volume of DMZ a few years ago and thought it was conceptually cool but politically kinda squiffy.
I really should read Coupland as, to my shame, I never have.
I agree with everything Martin said. House of Suns is better than Pushing Ice, but read other things first.
Comics-wise, try Scott Pilgrim (twentysomething slacker attempts to win a girl by defeating her seven evil exes), All-Star Superman (all the Superman you need in 12 lovely issues), and Fun Home (Alison Bechdel’s memoir of her youth). And Nextwave, if you want something absolutely nuts.
The Scott Pilgrim series is brilliant and I love it. I’ve not read the latest, though, so thanks for the reminder!
I was given Fun Home for my birthday not long ago and thought it was superb. I’m hoping to write a little about it on here, actually. :)
I will also check out All-Star Superman and Nextwave (I’ve wanted to read the latter since I saw a picture of the Elvis M.O.D.O.K.s).
Now, obviously I will be rushing to the bookshops to buy the complete Stephanie Meyer
Sarcasm? :p
Oh no, I absolutely adore creepy, poorly-written Mormon novels about female submission to violent borderline rapists.