China Mieville's The City and The City- glorious, like a slightly ambiguously sci-fi Crime and Punishment but somehow real

Neil Gaiman's The Sandman- is there any piece of literature quite like the mythology with a Shakespearean feel that Gaiman creates in this of all media. The key is how much Neil only alludes to, in my opinion, which gives us the impression of getting a brief look into a reality he has fully created and the unanswered questions add just as much as the answered ones.

Peake's Gorgemhast- the story where the setting is the main character
I'm sure I'll think of others- mostly reading "New Weird" at the moment



I disagree with a couple of yours- Atlas Shrugged was very thought-provoking if flawed but no more so than other doorstoppers, and Dune probably was special but I read it after homages like WoT which probably detracted from it a little