Best Sci-Fi eBooks of this century 2000 to 2012

[Quelch]

My first recommendation is: 'Ashes' by Ilsa J. Bick

Publication Date: September 6, 2011

Post-apocalyptic books are not my usual sci-fi reading but I found this intriguing, I cared about the characters
Ends abruptly, the sequel has not been published yet !

From Amazon:

An electromagnetic pulse flashes across the sky, destroying every electronic device, wiping out every computerized system, and killing billions.
Alex hiked into the woods to say good-bye to her dead parents and her personal demons. Now desperate to find out what happened after the pulse crushes her to the ground, Alex meets up with Tom—a young soldier—and Ellie, a girl whose grandfather was killed by the EMP.

[Penforhire]

I'd probably vote for Charlie Stross. Much of his best work is after 2000 -- Singularity Sky in 2003 (and Iron Sunrise in 2004), Glasshouse (and also Accelerando) in 2006, The Atrocity Archives in 2004. Even the orginal dates on his short stories from Wireless in 2009 are after 2000.

[Ninjalawyer]

My vote would go for "Spin" and "Vortex" by Robert Charles Wilson. Conspicuously absent is the 2nd book in the series, "Axis" (Spin and Vortex are the first and third, respectively), which wasn't that great. Spin took the Hugo award in 2006.

For space opera, I'd go with Peter F. Hamilton's Void trilogy (Dreaming Void, Temporal Void and Evolutionary Void). The books are incredibly fast paced, follow a multitude of well-developed characters and have very good world building.

And maybe not strictly sci-fi, but I would also give a nod to Neil Gaiman's American God's. Just a great book.

[jgaiser]

Originally Posted by Ninjalawyer

And maybe not strictly sci-fi, but I would also give a nod to Neil Gaiman's American God's. Just a great book.

Love American Gods, but I'd probably put in the Fantasy genre.

[Ninjalawyer]

Originally Posted by jgaiser

Love American Gods, but I'd probably put in the Fantasy genre.

Fair enough. In that case, I'll substitute Richard Morgan's book Altered Carbon for American Gods. Altered Carbon took the idea of ubiquitous backups of human beings (via a "stack" in each person's skull), and created a very good, very dark detective story with it.

[flipreads]

Zoo City by Lauren Beukes

The City & The City by China Mieville

[cjr72]

Ian McDonald's River of Gods.

[DiapDealer]

Anathem - Neal Stephenson
City at the End of Time - Greg Bear
Air - Geoff Ryman

[AndrewH]

Originally Posted by flipreads

The City & The City by China Mieville

The City & The City isn't science fiction, it's simpy a mystery set in a fictional divided city. Granted, the division is odd. Mieville's repeated explanations throughout the book about residents "unseeing" and avoiding interaction with the other city should have made this quite clear. The point is further emphasized when foreigners are introduced to the cities.

[flipreads]

Originally Posted by AndrewH

The City & The City isn't science fiction, it's simpy a mystery set in a fictional divided city. Granted, the division is odd. Mieville's repeated explanations throughout the book about residents "unseeing" and avoiding interaction with the other city should have made this quite clear. The point is further emphasized when foreigners are introduced to the cities.

Is The City & The City HARD science fiction? (And this argument can be extended to Zoo City.) No. Is it science fiction? You're free to disagree, but I think it was Science Fiction, especially the social aspects of it.

There are some people who've made the same arguments you've made (and you're free to make them). But the Arthur C. Clarke Award thought the novel was science fiction enough to declare it a winner.

I'll let the OP decide whether it's really science fiction or not. Just throwing in my recommendation.

[Ninjalawyer]

Scifi or not, I just couldn't get into The City and the City; the concept was interesting, but wasn't enough to carry the book for me. I just didn't think the author explored the concept enough, found the constant "unseeing" to be tiresome and never found any of the characters particularly interesting.

I also really enjoyed Iain M Banks' recent Culture novel, Surface Detail. I'm not particularly a fan of the Culture novels, but I did enjoy the description of the virtual Hells.

[Quelch]

Originally Posted by flipreads

I'll let the OP decide whether it's really science fiction or not.

I'm not qualified to decide what is real science fiction, I usually prefer hard science fiction but my first recommendation would probably not be called hard science fiction nor my next choice:

Justin Cronin's The Passage published in 2010
An epic post-apocalyptic vampire trilogy
From: couriermail.com.au
‘Justin Cronin's blockbuster novel The Passage has been hailed by literary greats’

“Read this book and the ordinary world disappears.”
—Stephen King

“A wild, headlong, sweeping extravaganza of a novel….A bona fide thriller that is sharply written, deeply humane, ablaze with big ideas, and absolutely impossible to put down.”
—Jennifer Egan, winner of the Pulitzer Prize

“Magnificently unnerving . . . A The Stand-meets-The Road journey.”
—Entertainment Weekly

“Great entertainment . . . [a] big, engrossing read.”
—The Dallas Morning News

“Mythic storytelling.”
—San Francisco Chronicle

[dengar]

B.V. Larson's Star Force series. I dont think I have ever read books so fast. I cant put it down.

[Keloff]

Can anyone suggest a book from this period that resembles David Brin in terms of the narrative universe?

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by keloff

Can anyone suggest a book from this period that resembles David Brin in terms of the narrative universe?

I don't have any suggestions offhand. But if you wait until June you will be able to read Brin's first new novel in a decade.