I’ve just finished the panel on “20 Essential Books of the Last Twenty Years”, with Charles Brown, Gary K Wolfe, Graham Sleight and Karen Burnham. The panel went very well and I will be posting everyone’s lists on this site soon (probably next week). However, I did want to note the fact that only one book appeared on the lists of all five panelists. That book was River of Gods by Ian McDonald. It is a fabulous book, and I heartily recommend it.
6 thoughts on “An Essential Book”
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The panel didn’t seem to be considering collections, but Kelly Link’s Magic For Beginners and Ted Chiang’s Stories Of Your Life And Others would definitely make my top twenty.
Actually both of those books were mentioned (I think by Karen).
I got there a little late, and must have missed that. I’ll wait for the full report before quibbling further.
Didn’t all panelists also list Fairyland? I’ve transcribed my (long) notes on the panel. It was one of the most fun — and expensive — ones I went to.
My memory is that I mentioned the Chiang and Karen the Link. For myself, I have to say that I didn’t put Link on my list because it didn’t meet my definition of science fiction – though I am of course aware of how good she is. I didn’t list Fairyland myself, though it came very close to making my list.
Graham did mention the Chiang. It was on Karen’s list as well, I think, as she mentioned it in the overlap.