#108. DOOMSDAY BOOK By Connie Willis

Published : 1992
Pages : 587
Overall Mark : 9/10

When Kivrin Engle travels back through time to complete her doctoral thesis, due to an accident, she lands in the middle of the Black Plague of 1348.

Meanwhile the Oxford she left behind is laid low by a mysterious strain of influenza and, with no-one willing to risk arranging her rescue, time is running out…

CONNIE WILLIS (1945-)
Connie Willis has won, among other prizes, ten HUGO Awards and six NEBULA Awards for her writing. She lives in Greeley, Colorado with her husband Courtney Willis, a professor of physics at the University of Northern Colorado.

VERDICT
This is a well written and well rounded tale that creates two worlds and a collection of characters who are both likeable and believable. Willis manages to bring us a story of medieval England that gives us characters who, rather than being the stereotypically evil people we would normally associate with the period, are so real that it becomes quite depressing when the plague inevitably ctaches up with them. This is one of the best SF Masterworks I've read in a good while.

#107. RIDDLEY WALKER By Russell Hoban

Published : 1974
Pages : 215
Overall Mark : 7/10

“Walker is my name and I am the same. Riddley Walker. Walking my riddels where ever they’ve took me and walking them now on this paper the same. There aint that many sir prizes in life if you take noatis of every thing. Every time will have its happenings out and every place the same.”

Riddley Walker – orphaned, outcast and alone – journeys through a post-apocalyptic England, telling his tale in language which reflects the decayed world around him.

RUSSELL HOBAN (1925-2011)
Russell Hoban was born in America but found his true home in London, where he lived for 42 years of his life. Author of highly acclaimed literary fiction, children’s books, genre fiction and non-fiction, he defied all categorisation.

VERDICT
This book is incredibly hard to get a grasp on, especially for anyone whose first language isn't English. The various nuances that pepper this tale make it difficult to follow and even more difficult to enjoy, but if you are able to see passed the initial difficulty of this book it is actually a pretty interesting tale.

#106. THE CONTINUOUS KATHERINE MORTENHOE By D G Compton

Published : 1974
Pages : 239
Overall Mark : 7/10

A few years in the future, medical science has advanced to the point where it is practically unheard of for people to die of any cause except old age. The few exceptions provide the fodder for a new kind of television show for avid audiences who lap up the experience of watching someone else’s dying weeks. So when Katherine Mortenhoe is told she has about four weeks to live she knows it’s not just her life she’s about to lose, but her privacy as well.

D G COMPTON (1930-)
David Guy Compton was born in London in 1930. He is a British science fiction author who publishes SF under the name D G Compton. His earlier crime novels were published under ‘Guy Compton’, and his Gothic novels under ‘Frances Lynch’. He is best known for The Continuous Katherine Mortenhoe, a classic of British SF that exposed the pitfalls of voyeuristic entertainment decades before the likes of ‘The Truman Show’.

VERDICT
This is an interesting look at how society has sadly become over the years, with a true fascination with celebrity and the unusual, a concept which has been used in such movies as The Truman Show and edTV. With this novels focus on a world where death is not common place, the illness of a seemingly ordinary member of society can quickly turn their lives into a living hell. The fact that the woman in this book may not in fact have the illness she has been told she has just adds to the overall pathos of the piece.

#105. FRANKENSTEIN By Mary Shelley

Published : 1818
Pages : 196
Overall Mark : 8/10

Brilliant, driven Victor Frankenstein has at last realised his greatest ambition. The scientist has succeeded in creating intelligent life. But when his creature first stirs, Frankenstein realises he has made a monster. And, abandoned by its maker and shunned by everyone who sees it, the Doctor’s creation sets out to destroy him and all that he holds dear.

MARY SHELLEY (1797-1851)
Daughter of radical writers William Godwin and Mary Wollstonecraft. A novelist, short story writer, dramatist, essayist, biographer, and travel writer, she also edited and promoted the works of her husband, the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, She was just nineteen years old when she wrote what many critics argue is the first true science fiction novel, Frankenstein.

VERDICT
This classic gothic horror is a classic for a reason. It has a timeless appeal and an unusually modern feel to its writing that is sadly absent in many of its contemporaries. Though nothing like the movie adaptations from over the years, with the book having an intelligent monster that is simply feared by society for his looks and not his actions, this is an enjoyable look at how people judge by looks alone and don't think about the good or bad nature of the person inside, with the doctor being the true monster of this book.

#104. AMMONITE By Nicola Griffith

Published : 1992
Pages : 400
Overall Mark : 7/10

Change or die. These are the only options on the planet Jeep. Centuries ago, a deadly virus shattered the colony, killing the men and forever altering the surviving women. Now anthropologist Marghe Taishan arrives to test a new vaccine. As she risks death to uncover the women’s biological secret, she finds that she, too, is changing – and that not only has she found a home on Jeep, but that she alone carries the seeds of its destruction…

NICOLA GRIFFITH (1960-)
Nicola Griffith was born in Yorkshire and currently lives in Seattle. An alumnus of the Michigan State University Clarion science fiction writing workshop, she has won the Nebula, James Tiptree, Jr and World Fantasy Awards.

VERDICT
This is an interesting look at what a world without men might be like, and how those that survive cope with the drastic changes to their lifestyles. The characters aren't the most gripping I've ever read about, but the idea is an intriguing one that is explored to full affect by Griffith.

#103. SARAH CANARY By Karen Joy Fowler

Published : 1991
Pages : 300
Overall Mark : 8/10

When mysterious black-cloaked Sarah Canary wanders into a Chinese labour camp in the Washington territories in 1873, Chin Ah Kin is ordered to escort her far away. But Chin soon becomes her follower and what began as a straightforward mission to remove a frightening figure from a superstitious community becomes something very different. The two are separated, incarcerated and reunited, in an epic journey spanning a fantastical Pacific Northwest landscape that could have been.

KAREN JOY FOWLER (1950-)
Karen Joy Fowler was born in Indiana, An author of science fiction, fantasy and literary fiction, she is best known for her bestseller The Jane Austen Book Club.

VERDICT
Although not strictly speaking a science fiction novel, this is strange yet fascinating tale that uses a past version of the United States that may or may not have existed. The mysterious title character does little throughout the book, but her very presence drives the lead characters, Chin and BJ, on a journey that ultimately leads to situations that otherwise would not have occurred for them. The characters are quirky and fun, which makes them feel real, and BJ specifically stands out as an everyman character for the ages.

#102. SYNNERS By Pat Cadigan

Published : 1991
Pages : 375
Overall Mark : 8/10

In Synners, the line between humanity and technology is hopelessly slim. The human mind and the external landscape have fused to the point where nay encounter with 'reality' is incidental. Now you can change yourself to suit the machines - and all it will cost you is your freedom. And your humanity.

PAT CADIGAN (1953-)
Pat Cadigan was born on Schenectady, New York and grew up in Massachusetts. Her short fiction has been nominated for the Hugo and Nebula Awards and she has twice won the Arthur C. Clarke Award. She has lived in London since 1996.

VERDICT
This is one of the most forward thinking cyberpunk novels you can get. Many of the predictions regarding technology have actually come to pass in one form or another, though it is obvious that the idea of implanting advertising into our dreams is a few years away yet. The clever writing combined with the thriller like elements make this a novel or many facets, ranging from outright sci-fi to plain old detective literature. Even people who think they don't like sci-fi will find something to enjoy in this clever piece of work.

#101. THE WAR OF THE WORLDS By H G Wells

Published : 1898
Pages : 175
Overall Mark : 7/10

"No one would have believed in the lastyears of the nineteenth century that this world was being watched keenly and closely by intelligence greater than man's... intellects vast and cool and unsympathetic, regarded this earth with envious eyes, and slowly and surely drew their plans against it."

H. G. Wells' masterpiece, The War of the Worlds, is an essential work of SF : the first and gretest alien invasion novel.

H. G. WELLS (1866-1946)
Born in Bromley, Kent, Herbert George Wells was apprenticed to a draper before becoming a teacher-pupil at Midhurst Grammar School and winning a scholarship to study under T.H. Huxley. Through his trail-blazing works of science fiction, his prophetic imagination and his championing of socialism, science and women's rights he became a hugely influential figure of international renown.

VERDICT
In spite of being well ahead of its time, and paving the way for all science fiction literature in the years following, this story isn't that impressively written and can at times get a little repetitive and boring. Despite this weakness Wells does still manage to drag out what could otherwise be a few pages of scenery into an entire novella and comes up with some ingenious visuals.

#100. THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY By Douglas Adams

Published : 1979
Pages : 178
Overall Mark : 9/10

When the Earth is demolished to make way for a new hyperspace bypass, Arthur Dent finds himself hitching a ride on a spaceship full of grumpy bureaucrats, accompanied by his now-revealed-as-an-alien best friend, while still in his pyjamas and dressing gown. Frankly, it's all a bit much before lunchtime. Thank goodness for the most remarkable book ever to come out of the great publishing corporations of Ursa Minor : The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which carries a very helpful message on its cover : Don't Panic.

DOUGLAS ADAMS (1952-2001)
Born in Cambridge, Douglas Adams is best known for the 1970s BBC Radio series (and later novel, TV series and feature film) The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. He also wrote three Doctor Who serials.

VERDICT
This is such a great little book, the first of five penned by the late Douglas Adams, which has such unique and interesting ideas that it can't help but feel original. Granted, its never translated well to the screen, but by using your imagination whilst reading the book you can easily be whisked away to a world that is only as wild as your imagination.

#99. THE FALL OF HYPERION By Dan Simmons

Published : 1990
Pages : 535
Overall Mark : 8/10

The universe is reaching a crisis point. The mysterious Time Tombs are opening and the Shrike that has risen from them may well control the fate of all humanity. The Als we created have turned against us to build the Ultimate Intelligence - God. The God of Machines.

His genesis could mean the annihilation of the entire human race.

DAN SIMMONS (1948-)
Born in Illinois, Dan Simmons won the World Fantasy Award for his first novel, Song Of Kali. In 1990 Hyperion, the first book in the famous Hyperion Cantos series, won the Hugo Award for Best Novel.

VERDICT
Unlike the first book in this series, The Fall Of Hyperion doesn't feature individual tales from the pilgrims but instead progresses their tales and shows the events that follow their arrival at Hyperion. The realisation that what awaits them may not necessarily be death is broached and Simmons manages to turn this into an allegory about religion and how it can be used to improve life, destroy life and subsequently control our lives. An interesting tale that continues to impress.

#98. ODD JOHN By Olaf Stapledon

Published : 1935
Pages : 208
Overall Mark : 8/10

John Wainwright is a freak, a human mutation with an extraordinary intelligence which is both awesome and frightening to behold. Ordinary humans are mere playthings to him. Their feelings, and sometimes even their lives, are expendable. And Odd John has a plan - to create a new order on Earth, a new supernormal species. But the world is not ready for such a change...

OLAF STAPLEDON (1886-1950)
Educated at Balliol College, Oxford, and Liverpool University, Olaf Stapledon worked for a shipping office in Liverpool and Port Said before returning to lecture at Liverpool University. His books included the SF classics Last and First Men and Star Maker.

VERDICT
Although this is probably Stapledon's least adventurous novel, I think it is the most interesting. John is an interesting character that goes from being a relative nobody who is looked down on by society as he is so freakish to a megalomaniacal, power-hungry leader of men who manages to create his own powerful society that the rest of the world feels threatened by. A great little read, and a great moral tale.

#97. DANGEROUS VISIONS Edited By Harlan Ellison

Published : 1967
Pages : 598
Overall Mark : 8/10

Dangerous Visions helped define the New Wave movement and almost single-handedly changed the way readers thought about science fiction.

Included in this collection of 33 stories are 7 winners and 13 nominees for the prestigious Hugo and Nebula Awards, including Robert Silverberg, Frederik Pohl, Brian W, Aldiss, Philip K. Dick, Larry Niven, Fritz Leiber, Poul Anderson, Theodore Sturgeon, J. G. Ballard, Samuel R. Delany and Ellison himself.

HARLAN ELLISON (1934-)
Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Harlan Ellison has written and edited more than 75 books in a career spanning over forty years. He is seen as one of the defining authors of the New Wave SF writing movement in the 1960s and wrote scripts for TV shows such as The Outer Limits and Star Trek, including the renowned episode ‘The City on the Edge of Forever’.

VERDICT
There are some great short stories in this enlightening collection, but the first few are pretty week. My advice would be to skip through the first few stories and start with the Robert Bloch story which was pretty good. Sci-fi fans will love some of the gems, written by some of the greats of the 60s, and it's also nice to see what kind of stories were frowned upon by society back then - they'd probably be perfectly acceptable in this day and age.