1995 · Philip Pullman · 399 pages · Fantasy
Philip Pullman's dazzling alternate-world fantasy about a girl and her shapeshifting daemon is one of the most ambitious and intellectually rich children's novels ever written, delivering a thrilling adventure that doubles as a fierce argument for curiosity over obedience.
2008 · Neal Stephenson · 937 pages · Science Fiction
Stephenson's most ambitious novel builds an entire civilization of mathematician-monks on an alien world and uses it to explore questions about the nature of consciousness, reality, and the Platonic realm of ideas.
2009 · Haruki Murakami · 1157 pages · Literary Fiction
Murakami's most ambitious novel is a sprawling love story set in a world with two moons, delivering mesmerizing passages alongside frustrating stretches of self-indulgence.