60 at 60: Hobbit’s Update

Hello everyone!

So, in 2014 I was 50.

To celebrate that, of a sort, I made up a list of 50 books/series that were important to my genre reading, whittled down from a list of about 100. (Link HERE.) (There’s also a list at the end of this article.)

In 2019 I was 55 and added 5 more to the list – 55 at 55, see? (Link HERE.)

And now we’re just into 2024, and guess what? I’m 60 today. And so, I thought that it was time for an update.

So, thanks to Tiktok for the inspiration (where was that a decade ago?) I’m going to add one for each year. I am aware that 2024 has just started, but I already have some possibilities that may make my Review of the Year lists at the end of the year.

The list of the original 50+ (yes, I cheated a bit) is at the end of this article. The five I added to the 50 in 2014 were:

• Station Eleven by Emily St. James Mandel;
• The Three Body Problem by Cixin Liu;
• Arkwright by Allen Steele;
• Strange Practice by Vivian Shaw;
• and The Toymakers by Robert Dinsdale.

(Links to the detailed reviews are here too.)

Then to now…

Things in the SF/Fantasy/Horror genres (and even SFFWorld!) have changed in the last semi-decade, although some of the signs were there in 2014. More diverse authors, and as a result, a more diverse and gender fluid readership, has emerged into the light. The types of Fantasy and SF being published and read have also changed, with more varied subgroups and old categories renamed and claimed by the latest generation of readers – for example, ‘Grimdark’ is still present, though I think less important than it was in 2019, to be added to by ‘cosy fantasy’,  ‘Romantasy’ ‘Booktok’ and ‘Paranormal Romance’ amongst others. In short, things are broader and more diverse, although many feel that there is still more progress to be made. I also think that the boundaries between genres have continued to blur, with SF becoming less hard and many books combining Fantasy, Horror & SF in one story. In the same way, what once was genre and a bit niche now seems to have become more mainstream – not always a bad thing.

I’m not sure that these changes are reflected in my choices, although I have read a fair bit. For the last few years I’ve been looking at about 50 books reviewed each year, and even more read, so narrowing them down to one book isn’t easy. But I liked making the effort!

OK: ground rules. First of all, I’m going to try not to pick books in a series, unless they are the first book. This is because I think it’s a bit unfair to pick, say Book 3 in a series, because to get to Book 3 you’ve probably got to read Books 1 & 2.

Secondly, a polite reminder that these are personal choices. They may not be ‘the best’ in terms of critical acclaim, or the number of awards won, they may not be a list designed to cover the breadth and depth of the wonderful genre we visit. But they are the ones I’ve remembered most and that I will go to and will reread when I want to.

Starting in 2020, then:

2020

There were a few I considered here. Kim Stanley Robinson’s Ministry of the Future is intense and a tough read in its depth and complexity, although it was recommended as a Summer read by Barack Obama that year. The Vanished Birds by Simon Jimenez was a great space opera that seemed to encapsulate how SF was changing –  gender fluid characters, big ideas. However in the end I’m going to go with a book that sneaked into my best-of 2020 list at the very last minute   – V.E. Schwab’s The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue. (Rob’s review is in the link.) I’ve gone for this as it has remained memorable since reading it. Yes, it’s a story of someone who basically travels through time as a near-immortal. Although Addie doesn’t use a time machine, we see in beautifully emotive prose the world change around her as she is generally ‘seen’ as invisible. A big hug of a book.

2021

I enjoyed Joe Abercrombie’s The Wisdom of Crowds, where Grimdark met the industrial Revolution, and reminded me again that no one writes this Grimdark stuff like Joe. I also liked the energy and enthusiasm of P Djeli Clark’s  A Master of Djinn, even if it didn’t quite hold it together all the way through. My choice for the year though is Artifact Space by Miles Cameron.  Although I knew of Miles Cameron for his historical books and his Traitor Son Fantasy series, beginning with The Red Knight, his foray into SF was a pleasant surprise. Artifact Space is Space Opera with a contemporary feel, combining what I liked about ‘Old-School’ Space Opera but enthusiastically giving it a fresh new lick of paint. I devoured it very quickly! The sequel is due later this year and I can’t wait.

2022

I had to think long and hard about this one. I really, really liked Ordinary Monsters by J M Miro, a violent Fantasy that reminded me of a gothic Dickens combined with eerie Weird Tales Bradbury. It’s a big book. However, in the end I’ve gone for Beyond the Burn Line by Paul McAuley, partly because it’s a standalone, but really because I found it so different from Paul’s other books I’ve enjoyed. I’ve described it elsewhere as  “Future history in a setting that reads like fantasy but with evolutionary science underpinning it, before stretching way into the future in a manner reminiscent to me of Arthur C Clarke and Olaf Stapledon. Unusual and daring, in my opinion.” Sentient bears and racoons, anyone? Chosen because it’s still memorable.

Other considerations: Ordinary Monsters by J M Miro (already mentioned), The Citadel of Forgotten Myths by Michael Moorcock brought back memories of old, The Justice of Kings by Richard Swan is a good start to a trilogy, but not the best in the three books.

2023

Another tough choice. The Tyranny of Faith by Richard Swan (second in the trilogy) was my favourite book of the year, although as Book Two of a trilogy, it’s not eligible for my recommended choice. So too Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo, as the first book, Ninth House, was published in 2019. However, Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree was a great comfort read. Sir Hereward and Mister Fitz by Garth Nix was also a lot of fun, but dark. Babel by R F Kuang has received a lot of praise (Hugo Awards excepting) and is one of the best examples of where Fantasy is currently. I nearly chose The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler. Big ideas SF on identity and intelligence, infused with a love of the octopus, of which I gained a whole new understanding of through this book.

In the end, I went for Infinity Gate by M. R. Carey – who knew that a sentient rabbit could mean so much? Big SF ideas across multiple worlds, more of which to come later this year.

2024

Although the year has barely started, there’s a couple already that I’ve really liked. The third book in Richard Swan’s trilogy already mentioned, The Trials of Empire, is even better than the previous two volumes, but I’m not including it here for the reason I mentioned at the beginning. However, the trilogy as a whole is one of the best trilogies I’ve read in the last decade.

Most recently, The Book of Doors by Gareth Brown was a great read, which has more than a touch of Addie LaRue about it – funny how these things come around in cycles! Cassie is given the gift of a book, a book that allows her to access anywhere with a door. Unsurprisingly, others have been hunting for this book for many years, and so she becomes the quarry in a hunt that covers space and time. It celebrates books, quiet spaces, libraries and friendship.

I’m sure there’ll be others to add to this list for the year by December.

So: there we go. It’s been fun, with some surprising omissions – where’s the horror books? – but I hope that this has been useful, if not just to show you the strange way my mind works. At the very least I hope that my comments will inspire you to try some of these. They will not be for everyone but I can say I’ve honestly enjoyed each one and have no doubt I will keep returning to them.

For ease of reference, here’s the full list. The first 50 are in alphabetical order:

1. ‘Salem’s Lot by Stephen King
   2. 1984 by George Orwell
   3. 2001 by Arthur C Clarke
   4. A Game of Thrones by George RR Martin
   5. Ash by Mary Gentle
   6. Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb
   7. City by Clifford D Simak
   8. Collected Short Stories by Arthur C Clarke
   9. Collected Stories by M R James
   10. Conan by Robert E Howard
   11. Dracula by Bram Stoker
   12. Dune by Frank Herbert
   13. Elric Series by Michael Moorcock
   14. Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
   15. Fevre Dream by George RR Martin
   16. Foundation Trilogy by Isaac Asimov
   17. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by JK Rowling
   18. Hyperion Cantos by Dan Simmons
   19. I, Robot Stories by Isaac Asimov
   20. Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien
   21. Lord Valentine’s Castle by Robert Silverberg
   22. Lovecraft Collected Stories by HP Lovecraft
   23. Magician by Raymond Feist
   24. Mote in God’s Eye by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
   25. Pawn of Prophecy by David Eddings
   26. Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C Clarke*
   27. Runestaff Series by Michael Moorcock
   28. Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury
   29. Starship Troopers by Robert A Heinlein
   30. Storm Front by Jim Butcher
   31. The Best of Ray Bradbury (Collected Stories) by Ray Bradbury
   32. The City and the Stars by Arthur C Clarke
   33. The Dark Descent edited by David Hartwell
   34. The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham
   35. The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester
   36. The Dragonbone Chair by Tad Williams
   37. The Forever War by Joe Haldeman
   38. The Golden Compass by Phillip Pullman
   39. The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien
   40. The Man in the High Castle by Philip K Dick
   41. The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham
   42. The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A Heinlein
   43. The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
   44. The Once and Future King by TH White
   45. The Past Through Tomorrow by Robert A Heinlein
   46. The Reality Dysfunction by Peter F Hamilton
   47. The Snow Queen by Joan Vinge
   48. The Stand by Stephen King
   49. The Time Machine by HG Wells
   50. The War of the Worlds by HG Wells

*Having reread this one in the last decade, and being much less impressed with it, I might now take this one out of the list and replace it with The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams.

The rest are not in alphabetical order, but chronological order:

51. 1. 51. Station Eleven by Emily St. James Mandel
52. The Three Body Problem by Cixin Liu
53. Arkwright by Allen Steele
54. Strange Practice by Vivian Shaw
55. The Toymakers by Robert Dinsdale.
56. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue. by V.E. Schwab (Rob’s review in the link)
57. Artifact Space by Miles Cameron
58. Beyond the Burn Line by Paul McAuley
59. Infinity Gate by M. R. Carey
60. The Book of Doors by Gareth Brown

And now, back to the cake!

Mark has been a Staff member of SFFWorld since 2005 and a Forum Member for longer. When not being a parent to some surprisingly grown-up children, his reading, reviewing and cat-wrangling takes up most of his time during his residency at Hobbit Towers. He is at his happiest with a good book/film, topped up with regular supplies of hot tea. And is now 60.

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