Which science fiction books are considered the best in the utopia genre?
For me, 'Hyperion' by Dan Simmons is among the best. The different tales within the book touch on various concepts related to utopia, like the idea of the Time Tombs and the future of humanity. 'The Windup Girl' by Paolo Bacigalupi has elements of a utopian struggle within a complex future world filled with bio - engineered beings. And 'Ancillary Justice' by Ann Leckie explores a vast galactic society where ideas of power, identity, and utopia are intertwined in an interesting way.
Definitely 'Rendezvous with Rama' by Arthur C. Clarke. The Rama spacecraft represents a kind of technological utopia, with its perfect engineering and the mystery it holds. 'Gateway' by Frederik Pohl is also a great one. The idea of the Gateway asteroid and the opportunities it offers to humans for a better life in the future has utopian undertones. And 'Childhood's End' by Arthur C. Clarke as well, with its vision of a future guided by an alien race towards a new level of existence that could be seen as utopian in nature.
I think 'The Time Machine' by H.G. Wells is quite good. It shows different future societies, one of which could be considered a utopia in some ways, with the Eloi living in a seemingly idyllic but ultimately flawed world. Another is 'The Left Hand of Darkness' by Ursula K. Le Guin. It explores genderless society concepts which are related to creating a more inclusive and perhaps utopian social structure. 'Solaris' by Stanislaw Lem also has elements that make you think about utopian ideals in relation to an alien planet and the human attempts to understand it.