# Fantasy and SF novels since 2000 that Might Be Essentials One Day **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 3, 2014, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-and-sf-novels-since-2000-that-might-be-essentials-one-day/687569 "2014-05-03T07:10:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![lisiate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f05b48/32.png) [@lisiate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisiate)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2014, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-and-sf-novels-since-2000-that-might-be-essentials-one-day/687569/21 "2014-05-04T21:36:49Z")
I’ll second _Anathem, Perdido Street Station_ and _Malazan Book of the Fallen_. And add _American Gods_ for consideration as well. ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2014, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-and-sf-novels-since-2000-that-might-be-essentials-one-day/687569/22 "2014-05-04T21:48:16Z")
The Twilight series should be mandatory in all 3rd grade classes now. Lots of good low-level editing practice. ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2014, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-and-sf-novels-since-2000-that-might-be-essentials-one-day/687569/23 "2014-05-04T21:55:52Z")
Terry Pratchett’s _The Wee Free Men_: to my mind, together with _A Hat Full Of Sky_ and _Wintersmith_, his finest achievements yet. They ought to be read and remembered like Alice. ---
**Author:** ![Ambrosio\_Spinola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de0a6/32.png) [@Ambrosio\_Spinola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambrosio_Spinola)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2014, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-and-sf-novels-since-2000-that-might-be-essentials-one-day/687569/24 "2014-05-04T23:25:52Z")
I would nominate _Altered Carbon_ by Richard K. Morgan and _The Windup Girl_ by Paulo Bacigalupi. Bacigalupi’s likely to write something better in the future through; I’m not sure Morgan is. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2014, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-and-sf-novels-since-2000-that-might-be-essentials-one-day/687569/25 "2014-05-05T01:03:28Z")
> [@Evil\_Captor](#): > > You and a lot of other people think very highly of this book. I just don’t get it. I consider it an epic failure. It creates a brilliant setup and then totally fails to follow up on it. The way in which the older people just easily and seamlessly become generic space marines just hit all kinds of wrong notes for me. I so wish a writer with a better understanding of human psychology had written that book. Agreed, although it’s less egregious if you think of it as YA fiction. Most of the fans of his who I know are ~12 y/o boys. ---
**Author:** ![Donegal\_Dragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Donegal\_Dragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donegal_Dragon)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2014, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-and-sf-novels-since-2000-that-might-be-essentials-one-day/687569/26 "2014-05-05T02:37:13Z")
I feel like something from William Gibson should be included but the latest books may not be classified as SF or Fantasy. The earliest fit the classification but are too old. Also like Anathem and Perdido Street Station I like The Gone Away World by Nick Harkaway also ---
**Author:** ![picker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/picker/32/13969_2.png) [@picker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picker)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2014, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-and-sf-novels-since-2000-that-might-be-essentials-one-day/687569/27 "2014-05-05T05:45:03Z")
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. So far at least, it’s some of the most compelling fantasy I’ve read in years. Just waiting on the publication of book 3…but at least it’s written, supposedly. ---
**Author:** ![magnusblitz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@magnusblitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magnusblitz)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2014, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-and-sf-novels-since-2000-that-might-be-essentials-one-day/687569/28 "2014-05-05T05:48:47Z")
Name of the Wind, definitely. Joe Abercrombie’s series, probably. Mistborn, perhaps. Maybe his Stormlight Archive instead, but Mistborn felt much more accessible to me. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2014, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-and-sf-novels-since-2000-that-might-be-essentials-one-day/687569/29 "2014-05-05T10:36:26Z")
It’s only partially sci-fi, but I definitely think _Cloud Atlas_ is going to be required reading for high school (or at least college) English students at some point in the future. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2014, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-and-sf-novels-since-2000-that-might-be-essentials-one-day/687569/30 "2014-05-05T11:05:33Z")
> [@Tom\_Scud](#): > > [Perdido Street Station](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perdido_Street_Station) is from 2000, so it just comes in under the bar; not sure it’s the best of Mieville’s books (I like The Scar better, though Iron Council isn’t as good; The City and The City was very good but possibly not science fiction/fantasy depending on your definitions) but it’s the first of his most famous series. I’d say \*The City and The City \*is magic realism and definitely belongs on this list (as MR is a subset of Fantasy IMO). But more importantly, _Embassytown_ definitely should be on such a list. I see _American Gods_ was nominated, I’d think _Anansi Boys_ is also worthy. Also, while I think generally Iain Bank’s last few Culture books weren’t as great as, say, _Player of Games_ or _Excession_, _Surface Detail_ certainly was very good, better than most anything else I read in 2010. And the non-Culture _The Algebraist_ was better still. A little shout-out to my compatriot Lauren Beukes, especially her latest work, [The Shining Girls](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Shining_Girls) ---
**Author:** ![bldysabba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@bldysabba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bldysabba)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2014, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-and-sf-novels-since-2000-that-might-be-essentials-one-day/687569/31 "2014-05-05T11:13:06Z")
I second Wee Free Men. The book is absolutely brilliant. I also love Rothfuss and Name of the Wind, but I was very disillusioned by the second book - Wise Man’s Fear. Over time, I’ve become more forgiving. I think WMF is a lot better if you don’t think of it as a book by itself and just think of it as NotW having become a longer book. It’s still a let down, but not as much of one. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2014, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-and-sf-novels-since-2000-that-might-be-essentials-one-day/687569/32 "2014-05-05T11:34:58Z")
If you had asked a similar question back in 1983, I might have answered “The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant”. My, how silly I was! ---
**Author:** ![Donegal\_Dragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Donegal\_Dragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donegal_Dragon)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2014, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-and-sf-novels-since-2000-that-might-be-essentials-one-day/687569/33 "2014-05-05T12:30:30Z")
Lauren Beukes is a great new talent. I’ll have to check out the new one. Definitely enjoyed **Zoo City** ---
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2014, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-and-sf-novels-since-2000-that-might-be-essentials-one-day/687569/34 "2014-05-05T13:01:24Z")
For fantasy: Charles Stross’s Laundry series. I like The Jennifer Morgue best, but all of them are good. Jasper Fforde’s Thursday Next series. Hard to pick which one though. For Sci-fi: I’ve heard great things about [Ready Player One](http://www.amazon.com/Ready-Player-One-A-Novel/dp/0307887448) and [The Quantum Thief](http://www.amazon.com/Quantum-Thief-Jean-Flambeur/dp/0765367661), but haven’t picked them up yet. ---
**Author:** ![2sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/e47774/32.png) [@2sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2sense)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2014, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-and-sf-novels-since-2000-that-might-be-essentials-one-day/687569/35 "2014-05-05T13:08:07Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Malazan Book of the Fallen, which is an epic to make A Song of Ice and Fire look like a YA short story. I disagree. Martin gets to the heart of politics: habit and self interest. Erickson’s work isn’t as black and white as Tolkien but still inhabits a middle ground that is naive enough to believe that by great deeds a hero can inspire even his enemies. And making George RR Martin seem concise isn’t a positive in my book. I really like the world of the Malazan Empire\* but Erickson makes you wade through a ton of crap to see it. I actually prefer the books by Ian Esslemont. Each one can stand (or fall) on it’s own. - - I do like some fantasy in my fantasy. The problem I have with Joe Abercrombie is that the good guys always lose or become so twisted by fate that the “win” is meaningless. No good deed goes unpunished doesn’t make for a good fantasy. Real life is grim enough. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2014, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-and-sf-novels-since-2000-that-might-be-essentials-one-day/687569/36 "2014-05-05T13:54:04Z")
> [@Evil\_Captor](#): > > You and a lot of other people think very highly of this book. I just don’t get it. I consider it an epic failure. It creates a brilliant setup and then totally fails to follow up on it. The way in which the older people just easily and seamlessly become generic space marines just hit all kinds of wrong notes for me. I so wish a writer with a better understanding of human psychology had written that book. > > As you can guess, it’s not on my list of essentials. And you’re basically the only one. When something like that happens, do you ever step back and think, “it’s probably me”? ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2014, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-and-sf-novels-since-2000-that-might-be-essentials-one-day/687569/37 "2014-05-05T14:13:26Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > And you’re basically the only one. When something like that happens, do you ever step back and think, “it’s probably me”? Of course I do, but I don’t change my opinion JUST because others disagree with me, I have to figure out what is going on for myself. Sometimes it means I’m missing something. Sometimes it means my tastes are different from others,’ and sometimes it means I’ve figured something out that others haven’t. And apparently I’m NOT the only one that feels that way about “Old Man’s War” – read back a few posts. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2014, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-and-sf-novels-since-2000-that-might-be-essentials-one-day/687569/38 "2014-05-05T14:22:17Z")
> [@Evil\_Captor](#): > > Of course I do, but I don’t change my opinion JUST because others disagree with me, I have to figure out what is going on for myself. Sometimes it means I’m missing something. Sometimes it means my tastes are different from others,’ and sometimes it means I’ve figured something out that others haven’t. And apparently I’m NOT the only one that feels that way about “Old Man’s War” – read back a few posts. You at least have reasons for why you dislike it, that post pulled out the “I’m too sophisticated for this childish tripe” card. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2014, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-and-sf-novels-since-2000-that-might-be-essentials-one-day/687569/39 "2014-05-05T14:29:12Z")
> [@Green\_Bean](#): > > Great idea for a thread, EC. > > I haven’t read Anathem, so I can’t opine on that, but I think Cryptonomicon may fare very well over time. > > Speaking of Stephenson, I wonder how cyberpunk as a subgenre will be regarded. It already seems kind of 1990s to me. It’s like we thought we were moving toward a virtual reality world and now that idea is passe. Maybe we aren’t so interested in going into the computer’s world because the computer is suddenly so ubiquitous in our world what with the advent of smartphones and tablets. I’d say that cyberpunk is being replaced by science fiction about the Singularity. Used to be, Vinge was the only one writing about it, now he’s been joined by others in writing about the effects of computer augmented consciousness, uploaded minds, artificial intelligence and so forth and how that changes individuals and society, with vary degrees of success. > [@](#): > > Why do you think my list of 50 was “easy to construct” or was assembled by “grab[bing] a few essentials from every decade?” Your statement is absurd. The list took an astonishing amount of work. No need to insult things because you personally don’t like them and/or don’t understand the methodology behind them. No insult was intended. But I said what I said, because it IS easy to constrict a halfway decent list of the fifty best SF novels when you have almost a century of material to look back on. Some of the picks, like Clarke, Asimov and Heinlein, are literally no-brainers. Many others are not much more difficult. You found it incredibly difficult because you wanted to get EXACTLY the right fifty books, the ones that would be the best of SF perfectly expressed. Hell, if you had been satisfied with being 95 percent right you could probably have done a fine job of it in an hour or two. Naming the books that are likely to be essentials that are written in the last 15 years is more difficult because you have less context. You are much less likely to be right. And that’s also the fun of it … taking on some long odds and seeing if you can win. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2014, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-and-sf-novels-since-2000-that-might-be-essentials-one-day/687569/40 "2014-05-05T15:06:50Z")
I think we might be blinded by the notion that literature must be books, when we’re standing at the dawn of new media. Many of the “essential works” of the 2000s might turn out to be webcomics. I can very easily see, say, _Girl Genius_ or _Shlock Mercenary_ being looked back on, someday, as “Golden Age classics”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-and-sf-novels-since-2000-that-might-be-essentials-one-day/687569.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-and-sf-novels-since-2000-that-might-be-essentials-one-day/687569.md?page=3)