Collider ranks science-fiction novels published during the 2000s, arguing that the decade produced several modern classics despite not being a peak era for the genre.

– ‘Hominids’ (2002): Robert J. Sawyer explores a parallel Earth where Neanderthals became dominant, using the premise to examine society, religion, technology and gender.
– ‘Oryx and Crake’ (2003): Margaret Atwood depicts a genetically engineered, corporate-dominated future devastated by scientific ambition.
– ‘Blindsight’ (2006): Peter Watts’s first-contact story questions whether intelligence and consciousness necessarily depend on one another.