Top 5 future classics

Happy Hump Day! Today’s topic is future classics!

If you’d like to participate in T5W, you can do so here!

Also, apparently this is a repeat topic. I’ve already made a Top 5 Wednesday post about future classics, so if you’d like to read my original, you can do so here. I didn’t repeat any books from that list for this time. 😀

 

Dealing with the obvious:

When I went to go make this list, there were a few books that came to mind immediately, which means they’re going to come to everyone’s minds immediately. So I’m just going to mention them now and get them out of the way becuase I’m sure you’ll get tired of reading the same blurb about them over and over:

• Harry Potter by J. K. Rowling
• The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
• The Giver by Lois Lowry

Otherwise:

5. Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb

In addition to being a spectacular book on its own, this book begins a journey that lasts for sixteen books and takes place in a world that grows to feel so real that you’d swear there’s a dragon behind you, breathing down your neck.

I know there are a lot of fantasy series that could claim the same and indeed a lot of them will likely become future classic as well. For instance: Malazan, The Wheel of Time, The Kingkiller Chronicles, all good candidates. But this series to me stands out the most – one because I’ve actually read most of it so I can actually back up what I’m talking about, (I’ve read Kingkiller too but you know my feelings on Kvothe, so we’re not going to talk about it) but also because of its ease. Both Malazan and The Wheel of Time have a bit of a reputation for being difficult. Hobb’s writing, while wordy, is really easy to get into. There’s no gigantic character list to keep track of, no depth of plot to the point where you have to take notes… it’s just… easy.

4. Leviathan Wakes by James S. A. Corey

Keep in mind I’ve selected this one having read only a limited amount of sci-fi, but from what I have, this one has the makings of the ones that are already considered modern classics. The popularity of the series, the depth of plot, and again – the ease to get into it – all of it make it stick out to me as something that will be seen twenty years from now as ‘oh did you read this one? It’s a classic!’

3. House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski

While I didn’t love this one myself, I can definitely see its potential as classic material. It has the typical ‘difficult to read’ aspect nailed, for one. Otherwise, it’s an interesting character study, it’s an interesting representation of modern writing, and it has a lot of metaophor going on. I could easily see it being assigned reading in about twenty years.

2. Hyperion by Dan Simmons

I mean, it’s practically already a modern telling of The Canterbury Tales, so… if you’ve read it, you know it definitely has all the elements needed to become a classic. A mysterious entity, multiple stories of characters that are all fascinating in their own way, a slow moving plot to allow for a lot of depth and development of those characters, metaphor everywhere… just writing about it makes me want to reread it.

1. A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness and Siobhan Dowd

This one, this one will definitely become a future’s children’s classic. The art, the plot, the tone the book sets, all of it is amazing. I think if any on the list deserve the title, this one does the most. It’s just spectacular (and the movie turned out to be pretty solid, too). It has already won awards and is well on its way to becoming one of those books that everybody has heard of.

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And that’s it! Have you read any of these? Happy reading!