So imagine you’re approached by someone who has just started getting into science fiction and fantasy. They ask you as someone you know the genre what would you recommend as a place to start?

I looked at an online forum and it was fascinating that in 2020 the first few options suggested were

- Lord of the Rings

- Wheel of Time

- Magician

- The Dresden Files

- David Gemmel

- Dragonbone Chair

Now I’m not debating the merits of any of those books or authors. I was just intrigued that in 2020 people thought the best way to get into the genre is often to go back 20-40+ years. I was also impressed how much fantasy here was pretty much defined as epic. The most obvious response which pleasingly someone then did ask was what type of other books this person enjoyed reading - the answer romance….

Is this nostalgia that we always want people to have the same books we started on long ago; is it small c conservatism? Is it a lack of wider and more recent reading? Not sure so I thoughts lets ask Twitter what YOU would recommend on science fiction and fantasy to a new reader and I just set one rule – had to be published from 2001.

There was a huge response that I must admit reassured me that readers can broaden their reading but was impressed how a few really objected to this arbitrary rule as if I was dissing the past.

So, here are the responses and I’ve tried to group them (apologies in advance for any mistakes I’ve made in writing up comments or categorising). If you have some more recommendations add them in the comments

And * shows where multiple people recommended it.

PS as they kindly asked and I totally agree the Breaking the Glass Slipper podcast is a great places for recs too 😊

Science Fiction

Action/Thriller

Quantum Gravity series by Justina Robson

Babylon Steel by Gaie Sebold

The Light Brigade by Kameron Hurley

Autonomous by Annalee Newitz

Lock In by John Scalzi

Ack-Ack Macaque by Gareth L Powell

The Martian by Andy Weir

Pattern Recognition trilogy by William Gibson*

Murderbot by Martha Wells *****

The Lady Astronaut by Mary Robinette Kowal

Hunger Makes the Wolf by Alex Wells

Bel Dame Aporcrypha by Kameron Hurley**

Necrotech by Kace Alexander

Space opera

Red Rising by Pierce Brown

Bobiverse series by Dennis E Taylor

Ancestral Night by Elizabeth Bear

Velocity Weapon by Megan O’Keefe

The Imperial Radch Trilogy by Anne Leckie***

Terra Ignota by Ada Palmer

Old Man’s War by John Scalzi

Embers of War by Gareth L Powell

Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky

A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine**

Gideon The Ninth by Tazmin Muir*

The Expanse by James SA Corey***

The Tensorate novellas by JY Yang**

This is How You Lose the Time War by Max Gladstone and Amal El-Mohtar

First Contact/Alien Invasions

Binti by Nnedi Okorafor

SPIN by Robert Charles Wilson

The Rosewater Trilogy by Tade Thompson***

The Lesson by Cadwell Turnnbull

Horror

Under the Skin (2000 but they asked very nicely)

Other Worlds

A Long Way to A Short Angry Planet by Becky Chambers

The City in the Middle of the Night by Charlie Jane Anders

Planetfall series by Emma Newman***

Coyote series by Allen Steele

Semiosis by Liz Burke

Space Opera by Cat Valente

Future Earth

Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse***

Fractured Europe series by Dave Hutchinson

Centenal series by Malka Older

An Excess Male by Maggie Shen King

Science in the Capital by Kim Stanley Robinson

Pashazade by Jon Courtenay Grimwood

The Dervish House by Ian McDonald

Analog series by Eliot Peper

Riot Baby by Tochi Onyebuchi

The Power by Naomi Alderman

Horror

Southern Reach by Jeff Vandemeer

Time Travel

The Future of Another Timeline by Annalee Newitz

The Chronicles of St Marys by Jodi Taylor

Hard SF

Three Body Problem – Liu Cixin***

Literary

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguru

Station Eleven by Emily St Mandel*

The Book of M by Peng Shepherd

Before the Start of Time by Anne Charnock

The Book of Strange New Things by Michael Faber

Short Fiction

The New Hugo Winners Volume X

Authors

PF Hamilton; Nick Harkaway; Pablo Bacigalupi; Adrian Tchaikovsky; Adam Roberts; Greg Egan; Connie Willis; Nancy Kress; Alastair Reynolds; Aliette de Bodard; Neal Asher; Adam Christopher; Jay Posey; Lois McMaster Bujold

Fantasy

Epic Fantasy

Broken Earth Trilogy by N K Jemisin********

Winnowing Flame by Jen Williams*****

Crossroads series by Kate Elliott

Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold

Sixteen Ways to defend A City by KJ Parker

Wounded Kingdom by RJ Barker

Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames**

Rage of Dragons by Evan Winters

The Daevabad trilogy by SA Chakraborty

Master of Sorrows by Justin Call

The Craft Sequence by Max Gladstone

Empire of Sand by Tasha Suri

Dominion of the Fallen by Aliette de Bodard

The Red Gods trilogy by Anna Stephens

Black Leopard – Red Wolf by Marlon James

The Shadow of What Was Lost by James Islington

Skullsword by Brian Stavelley

The Gentleman Bastards by Scott Lynch

The Poppy War by R F Kuang

Steel Crow Saga by Paul Krueger

Seven Blades in Black by Sam Sykes

The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson**

The Court of Broken Knives by Anna Spark Smith

The Liveship Traders by Robin Hobb

Crown of Stars by Kate Elliott

The Scar by China Meiville

The Traitor Baru Comorant by Seth Dickinson*

Ship of Smoke and Steel by Django Wexler

Jade City and War by Fonda Lee**

Greatcoats series by Sebastien de Castell

First Law Trilogy by Joe Abercrombie

The Thousand Names by Django Wexler

Kingkiller series by Patrick Rothfuss

The Eternal Sky series by Elizabeth Bear

A Stranger in Olondria by Sofia Samatar

Emperor’s Soul by Brandon Sanderson

The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell

The Divine Cities by Robert Jackson Bennett

Sailing to Sarantium by Guy Gavriel Kay

The Raven Tower by Anne Leckie

Death Gate Cycle (Weis & Hickman)

Court of Fives by Kate Eliott

Vorrh trilogy by Brian Catliss

Silent Hall by Dolkart

Nevernight by Jay Kristoff

Romantic

Kingfisher by Patricia McKilip

Short Fiction

The Bone Swans by CSE Cooney

Cat Pictures Please and Other Stories by Naomi Kritzer

Comedic

Lightbringer by Brent Weeks

YA

The Colors of Madeleine by Jaclyn Moriarty

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Illumine Files by Kaufman and Kristoff

Gothic

Under the Pendulum Sun by Jeannette Ng

Mythic Folk-based

Inheritance Trilogy by NK Jemisin*

Killing Moon by N K Jemisin

Desdemona and the Deep by C S E Cooney

Uprooted by Naomi Novik*

Tiffany Aching by Terry Pratchett

Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik

The Winternight series by Katherine Arden***

Historical Fantasy

Jonathan Strange and Mr Norell by Susanna Clarke

Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho

The Golem and the Djinni by Helene Wrecker

Temeraire by Naomi Novik

Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brenan

Green Man’s Heir by Juliet Mckenna

Some Kind of Fairy Tale by Graham Joyce

Mystery Fantasy

Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stu Turton

Portal Fantasy

Wayward Children by Seanan McGuire**

A Darker Shade of Magic by VE Schwab

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix Harrow*

Invisible Library series by Genevieve Cogman

Urban Fantasy

Generation V series by M L Brennan

Iron Druid by Kevin Hearne

Matthew Swift by Kate Griffin

October Daye by Seanan McGuire

Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch**

Mercy Thompson by Patricia Briggs

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

Magic for Liars by Sarah Gailey

Declare by Tim Powers

Ocean at the End of the Lane

Kate Daniels by Illona Andrews

Vicious by VE Schwab

Horror

Nod by Adrian Barnes

The Three by Sarah Lotz

Sourdough and Other Stories by Angela Slatter

The Girl With All the Gifts by MR Carey

Locke & Key by Joe Hill and Gabrielle Rodriguez

Lovecraft Country by Matt Ruff

Short fiction

How Long Til Black Future Month? By N K Jemisin

Authors

Aliette de Bodard; Lois McMaster Bujold; Robin McKinley; Jennifer Fallon; Trudi Canavan*; Kyle Chan; Mary Robinette Kowal*; Marshall Ryan Maresca; Christina Henry; VE Schwab; Guy Gavriel Kay; Zen Cho; Claire O Dell; Una McCormack; Carmen Maria Machedo; Rachel Bach/Rachel Aaron’ G Willow Wilson; Ellen Datlow (as editors); Terri Windling (as editors); Kelly Armstrong; Kim Harrison; Jim Hines; Laurie Marks; Juliet McKenna; CE Murphy; Annette Marie; Jasper Fforde; KJ Parker