By popular request... Best SF novels of the C21 so far
OK, so, not very popular request... Count 'em on the fingers of one foot, probably. But wotthehell, archie, wotthehell. I have been asked what was worth reading recently, so here are my favourites of the new SF I've read in the two-thousand-and-noughties.
This is just the top 10, and it's from my ever-more-fallible memory. I fear there may well be some stellar stuff I've completely overlooked, and if so, I humbly apologise.
1. The Algebraist - Iain M Banks
What can you say about Banksie? The man actually genuinely is a genius - one of the greatest men of English letters in many decades, I feel. As well as mind-stretching settings and burning originality, beautiful prose and memorable characters, both sympathetic and not, he also has the trick of making it all look effortless. Stunning stuff. I love the earlier Culture books, but feel he has gone somewhat off the boil in more recent years, as if getting bored with the world he build. Thus a departure into a completely fresh, new one is very welcome. It's not a return to form - he's never lost his form - but it's fresher than anything since, or including, Excession.
2. 40 Signs of Rain, 50 Degrees Below, 60 Days and Counting (The Science in the Capital trilogy) - Kim Stanley Robinson
Robinson is one of the greatest we have, but hard to categorise. He flits gaily between near-fantasy, alternate history, harder-than-hard predictive SF and whatever else takes his fancy. The slightly hesitant, somehow distinctively Californian, under-punctuated voice almost always carries through, though. Even after many fine novels, my first love of his was what tamaranth dubbed the "Technicolour Mars" trilogy - Red/Green/Blue Mars. This is a return to that form and in some ways that style. The whole trilogy is a very loose sequel to his earlier Antarctica, so I'd recommend reading that first - or even all four as one.
3. Cosmonaut Keep, Dark Light and Engine City (the Engines of Light trilogy) - Ken McCleod
I can hardly recommend the Scots master of politically-aware SF highly enough, but oddly this is some of his less-politically-charged stuff. No matter, it's all brilliant, and I am a complete sucker for big spaceships, interstellar colonies and that sort of thing - and these novels have some of the biggest concepts in that sort of thing, without really turning into space opera. One chapter inspires genuine awe, the next, riotous laughter, without ever completely losing its gravitas. The best plot-setup gimmick in all SF for many many years comes as a free extra in what's still wonderful SF. Great stuff.
4. River of Gods - Ian McDonald
It's quite hard to pick out any one McDonald to recommend - they're all terrific and I snatch up anything new from him. River of Gods is McDonald does near-future India, and the lushness of the setting and its depiction almost drowns out the plot, but it's all good. The follow-up collection Cyberabad Days is also excellent, as is the more recent Brasyl. Few writers in SF can give you such a vivid sense of place.
5. Halting State - Charlie Stross
Charlie is a friend, so I can't say anything rude - but I wouldn't want to, as this is a flawless pièce de resistance. Great characterisation, blinding and possibly prescient concept, wit and action and excitement and a welcome change from London-centric British near-future SF with its affectionate portrait of near-future Scotland. Cutting-edge stuff.
6. Old Man's War - John Scalzi
A stunning debut from a renowned blogger and fan (apparently; I must confess I'd not heard of him before this novel started winning awards). It's classic-styled big-screen space-war in the grand tradition of Heinlein or Pournelle - so it is possible that if you don't like that kind of thing, you won't like this. The follow-on novels (The Ghost Brigades, The Last Colony) are also good; I struggled somewhat with the last one in the series, Zoë's Tale, but it was worth it. The continuation of the stories weakened the tale a little for me, to be honest, and lost the slap-in-the-face impact of the first book, but it has re-invigorated a style I thought was passé.
7. Pandora's Star and Judas Unchained (the Commonwealth Saga) - Peter F Hamilton
Once again, I find it a tough call to pick out one of Hamilton's works - I've yet to read one I didn't think was great stuff. However, this, although as epic as ever, is at least just two books, albeit whopping big fat ones, and contains a rather nicely original take on inscrutable hostile aliens and a beautifully-assembled interstellar empire without starships. Some nicely engaging characters and believable place-setting, too, as opposed to the “it was summer on the planet Zog” that is still all too common.
8. Brass Man - Neal Asher
I'm very fond of Asher's work. It's not the most demanding of reading but the pacing, drama and originality are all striking. Many of his books fit into a loose series, either around the planet Spatterjay or involving his “Agent of the Polity” Ian Cormac. I rather enjoyed Brass Man because of the interesting pivotal character, Mr Crane, a wordless, homicidal, brain-damaged android - which Asher managed to make into an interesting character in his own right. Any of them are good, though. I started with The Skinner and it's as good as anywhere.
9. Pushing Ice - Alastair Reynolds
Tried to pick a stand-alone from Reynolds, who has set many of his books in a single universe - which, although it's a brilliant one, does make it harder to get into, since it's definitely worth starting at the beginning and working through. Pushing Ice is perhaps not his most memorable but it's a fine fine novel and doesn't have the time-switching that rather irritated me in Century Rain. You can't go wrong with any of his, though.
10. Blindsight - Peter Watts
This earns its place partly for the sheer hubris of its concept, partly for its startling and memorable bleakness in a genre that tends to err towards the overly-fluffy leavened with occasional extreme violence. Real life is seldom like that in its blend of the banal and the horrible, and this is what Watts captures so well in this book: a genuine, completely new and original take on alien intelligence and first contact. Colossal stuff, carried off with a modest touch. Searing. A final flourish is that Watts makes it available for free download from his homepage, so it won't even cost you a penny - although after reading the eBook you may well want to buy it and his others too.
This is just the top 10, and it's from my ever-more-fallible memory. I fear there may well be some stellar stuff I've completely overlooked, and if so, I humbly apologise.
1. The Algebraist - Iain M Banks
What can you say about Banksie? The man actually genuinely is a genius - one of the greatest men of English letters in many decades, I feel. As well as mind-stretching settings and burning originality, beautiful prose and memorable characters, both sympathetic and not, he also has the trick of making it all look effortless. Stunning stuff. I love the earlier Culture books, but feel he has gone somewhat off the boil in more recent years, as if getting bored with the world he build. Thus a departure into a completely fresh, new one is very welcome. It's not a return to form - he's never lost his form - but it's fresher than anything since, or including, Excession.
2. 40 Signs of Rain, 50 Degrees Below, 60 Days and Counting (The Science in the Capital trilogy) - Kim Stanley Robinson
Robinson is one of the greatest we have, but hard to categorise. He flits gaily between near-fantasy, alternate history, harder-than-hard predictive SF and whatever else takes his fancy. The slightly hesitant, somehow distinctively Californian, under-punctuated voice almost always carries through, though. Even after many fine novels, my first love of his was what tamaranth dubbed the "Technicolour Mars" trilogy - Red/Green/Blue Mars. This is a return to that form and in some ways that style. The whole trilogy is a very loose sequel to his earlier Antarctica, so I'd recommend reading that first - or even all four as one.
3. Cosmonaut Keep, Dark Light and Engine City (the Engines of Light trilogy) - Ken McCleod
I can hardly recommend the Scots master of politically-aware SF highly enough, but oddly this is some of his less-politically-charged stuff. No matter, it's all brilliant, and I am a complete sucker for big spaceships, interstellar colonies and that sort of thing - and these novels have some of the biggest concepts in that sort of thing, without really turning into space opera. One chapter inspires genuine awe, the next, riotous laughter, without ever completely losing its gravitas. The best plot-setup gimmick in all SF for many many years comes as a free extra in what's still wonderful SF. Great stuff.
4. River of Gods - Ian McDonald
It's quite hard to pick out any one McDonald to recommend - they're all terrific and I snatch up anything new from him. River of Gods is McDonald does near-future India, and the lushness of the setting and its depiction almost drowns out the plot, but it's all good. The follow-up collection Cyberabad Days is also excellent, as is the more recent Brasyl. Few writers in SF can give you such a vivid sense of place.
5. Halting State - Charlie Stross
Charlie is a friend, so I can't say anything rude - but I wouldn't want to, as this is a flawless pièce de resistance. Great characterisation, blinding and possibly prescient concept, wit and action and excitement and a welcome change from London-centric British near-future SF with its affectionate portrait of near-future Scotland. Cutting-edge stuff.
6. Old Man's War - John Scalzi
A stunning debut from a renowned blogger and fan (apparently; I must confess I'd not heard of him before this novel started winning awards). It's classic-styled big-screen space-war in the grand tradition of Heinlein or Pournelle - so it is possible that if you don't like that kind of thing, you won't like this. The follow-on novels (The Ghost Brigades, The Last Colony) are also good; I struggled somewhat with the last one in the series, Zoë's Tale, but it was worth it. The continuation of the stories weakened the tale a little for me, to be honest, and lost the slap-in-the-face impact of the first book, but it has re-invigorated a style I thought was passé.
7. Pandora's Star and Judas Unchained (the Commonwealth Saga) - Peter F Hamilton
Once again, I find it a tough call to pick out one of Hamilton's works - I've yet to read one I didn't think was great stuff. However, this, although as epic as ever, is at least just two books, albeit whopping big fat ones, and contains a rather nicely original take on inscrutable hostile aliens and a beautifully-assembled interstellar empire without starships. Some nicely engaging characters and believable place-setting, too, as opposed to the “it was summer on the planet Zog” that is still all too common.
8. Brass Man - Neal Asher
I'm very fond of Asher's work. It's not the most demanding of reading but the pacing, drama and originality are all striking. Many of his books fit into a loose series, either around the planet Spatterjay or involving his “Agent of the Polity” Ian Cormac. I rather enjoyed Brass Man because of the interesting pivotal character, Mr Crane, a wordless, homicidal, brain-damaged android - which Asher managed to make into an interesting character in his own right. Any of them are good, though. I started with The Skinner and it's as good as anywhere.
9. Pushing Ice - Alastair Reynolds
Tried to pick a stand-alone from Reynolds, who has set many of his books in a single universe - which, although it's a brilliant one, does make it harder to get into, since it's definitely worth starting at the beginning and working through. Pushing Ice is perhaps not his most memorable but it's a fine fine novel and doesn't have the time-switching that rather irritated me in Century Rain. You can't go wrong with any of his, though.
10. Blindsight - Peter Watts
This earns its place partly for the sheer hubris of its concept, partly for its startling and memorable bleakness in a genre that tends to err towards the overly-fluffy leavened with occasional extreme violence. Real life is seldom like that in its blend of the banal and the horrible, and this is what Watts captures so well in this book: a genuine, completely new and original take on alien intelligence and first contact. Colossal stuff, carried off with a modest touch. Searing. A final flourish is that Watts makes it available for free download from his homepage, so it won't even cost you a penny - although after reading the eBook you may well want to buy it and his others too.