#162. THE DOOMED CITY By Arkady & Boris Strugatsky

Published : 1989
Pages :
Overall Mark : 8/10

It is a mysterious city with an artificial sun, bordered by an abyss on one side and an impossibly high wall on the other. Its inhabitants have been plucked from different time periods of twentieth-century history and left to govern themselves, advised by the inscrutable Mentors. This is the Experiment, seen through the eyes of Andrei Voronin, a young astronomer from 1950s Leningrad, whose rise through the political hierarchy has a devastating effect.

ARKADY STRUGATSKY (1925-1991)
BORIS STRUGATSKY (1931-2012)
The Strugatsky brothers began to collaborate in the early 1950s. Arkady worked as a technical translator and editor, and Boris was a computer mathematician at Puklova astronomical observatory. Their work includes Hard To Be A God, Definitely Maybe, The Snail On The Slope and Monday Starts On Saturday. Andrei Tarkovsky's much admired film, Stalker, was based on their most famous work, Roadside Picnic.

VERDICT
I do secretly like the Strugatsky’s, though Roadside Picnic was never a favourite. This is up there with likes of Monday Starts On Saturday, though not as obviously funny. Instead this takes the political satire end of the comedy spectrum – something that was definitely risky in the time it was written – and goes with that by parodying the ideas that were so prevalently observed in the former Soviet Union.

#161. THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME By H G Wells

Published : 1933
Pages : 424
Overall Mark : 4/10

When Dr Philip Raven, a diplomat working for the League of Nations, dies in the 1930s, he leaves behind a book of dreams outlining the visions he has been experiencing for many years, detailing events that will occur on Earth for the next two centuries. This fictional ‘history of the future’ proved prescient in many ways, as Wells predicted events such as the Second World War, the rise of chemical warfare, climate change and the growing instability of the Middle East.

H. G. WELLS (1866-1946)
Born in Bromley, Kent, the third son of a shopkeeper, 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
To be perfectly honest this was not only a struggle to read but also something of a let-down. I was expecting to read a brief history of the world spanning from 1933 to 2106, but instead I got around 300 pages focussing almost entirely on the twenty years following the publication of the book and then some random excuses for why the history was so incomplete. I thought, with Wells at the helm, that this would be a clever look at our future, but its focus is so tight compared to what it claimed it would show that it couldn’t be anything but a disappointment.

#159. THE LEFT HAND OF DARKNESS By Ursula K Le Guin

Published : 1969
Pages : 304
Overall Mark : 8/10

Genly Ai is an ethnologist observing the people of the winter-world Gethen. The people there are androgynous, normally neuter, but they become male or female at the peak of their sexual cycle. He becomes drawn into the complex politics of the planet and, during a long tortuous journey across the ice with a disgraced, outcast politician, loses his professional detachment and reaches a painful understanding of the true nature of Gethenians and, in moving and memorable sequence, even finds love…

URSULA K. LE GUIN (1929-)
Ursula K. Le Guin is one of the finest writers of our time. Her books have attracted millions of devoted readers and won many awards, including the National Book Award, the Hugo and Nebula Awards and a Newbery Honour. Among her novels, The Left Hand of Darkness, The Dispossessed and the six books of Earthsea have already attained undisputed classic status. She lives in Portland, Oregon.

VERDICT
In comparison to the rest of her Hainish stories, this one in my opinion gives the best background to the race of androgynous aliens. There is much more in-depth descriptions and explanations of exactly what their society is like, whereas the other books seemed to assume you already know. Of the series that I have read, this is probably the best one so far.

#158. LIMBO By Bernard Wolfe

Published : 1952
Pages : 413
Overall Mark : 7/10

In the aftermath of an atomic war, a new international movement of pacifism has arisen. Multitudes of young men have chosen to curb their aggressive instincts through voluntary amputation – disarmament in its most literal sense. Those who have undergone this procedure are highly esteemed in the new society. But they have a problem – their prosthetics require a rare metal to function, and international tensions are rising over which countries get the right to mine it…

BERNARD WOLFE (1915-85)
Bernard Wolfe was born in New Haven, Connecticut. He worked as a military correspondent for a number of science magazines during the Second World War, and began to write fiction in 1946. He became best known for his 1952 SF novel Limbo.

VERDICT
This is an interesting satirical novel focussing on what life would be like if we were to chop off our limbs to prevent us from going to war. Clearly Wolfe thinks it wouldn’t work, but what he presents is an interesting concept. The idea that the actions of one man, albeit misinterpreted actions, could lead to such a movement is both funny and worrying, with a conclusion that really proves that mankind will go to war no matter how much they try not to.

#157. THE BOOK OF THE NEW SUN VOL 2 : SWORD & CITADEL By Gene Wolfe

Published : 1982, 1983
Pages : 615
Overall Mark : 8/10

Exiled from his guild, the former torturer’s apprentice, Severian, is now the Lictor of Thrax, a city far distant from his home. But it is not long before he must flee this city, too, and journey again into the world. Embattled by friend and enemies alike, pursued by monstrous creatures, Severian must overcome hitherto unimagined perils, as he moves closer to fulfilling his ultimate destiny. This edition contains The Sword of the Lictor and The Citadel of the Autarch.

GENE WOLFE (1931-)

Gene Wolfe is one of modern fantasy’s most important writers. His best-known work, the four volume far-future Book of the New Sun, won the World Fantasy, BSFA, Nebula, British Fantasy and John W. Campbell Memorial Awards. He has won the World Fantasy Award four times for his novels and collections and the World Fantasy Life Achievement Award for his extraordinary body of work.

VERDICT

THE SWORD OF THE LICTOR - This had a lot more of a sci-fi feel to it than the first two books, with him fighting various monsters such as the Alzabo, and although that did in part take us away from the idea of this being a perfectly relatable story told in a different time, it did add to the story and make it all the more intriguing.

THE CITADEL OF THE AUTARCH - This had much more of a fable feel to it than the previous book, with its focus at times on storytelling as well as introducing the ideas of time travel and aliens, and it is this volume that finally reveals the big secret readers waited four years to find out.

#156. THE BOOK OF THE NEW SUN VOL 1 : SHADOW & CLAW By Gene Wolfe

Published : 1980, 1981
Pages : 603
Overall Mark : 8/10

Severian, a torturer’s apprentice, is exiled from his guild after falling in love with one of his prisoners. Armed with his ancient executioner’s sword, Terminus Est, Severian must make his way across the perilous, ruined landscape of this far-future Urth. But is his finding of the mystical gem, the Claw of the Conciliator, merely an accident, or does Fate have grander plans for Severian the torturer…? This edition contains The Shadow of the Torturer and The Claw of the Conciliator.

GENE WOLFE (1931-)
Gene Wolfe is one of modern fantasy’s most important writers. His best-known work, the four volume far-future Book of the New Sun, won the World Fantasy, BSFA, Nebula, British Fantasy and John W. Campbell Memorial Awards. He has won the World Fantasy Award four times for his novels and collections and the World Fantasy Life Achievement Award for his extraordinary body of work.
VERDICT
SHADOW OF THE TORTURER - The characterizations in this novel are probably the best I’ve read in a long time in regards to SF and fantasy. The interactions work well and we aren’t faced with ridiculously hard to pronounce people and place names which I found refreshing. Severian, the lead character, is a little hard to get a grip on, but that makes him all the more intriguing.

THE CLAW OF THE CONCILIATOR - This second volume didn’t feel as strong, although the interplay between characters was still well observed. Also it felt a little more fantasy oriented than the first volume, especially as it grew closer to its conclusion.

#155. CHINA MOUNTAIN ZHANG By Maureen F McHugh

Published : 1992
Pages : 313
Overall Mark : 9/10

After the Second Great Depression and the American Liberation War, the US has been left as a satellite state of China. In this strict world of Communist orthodoxy, young New York construction engineer Zhang Zhongshan must find his way in a worl that disapproves of both his cultural heritage and his sexual identity.

Not everyone can change the world; sometimes, the ultimate challenge is to find a way to live in it...

MAUREEN F. MCHUGH (1959-)
Maureen McHugh’s first story was published in Rod Serling’s Twilight Zone magazine in 1988, and just a handful of stories followed before her first novel, the critically acclaimed China Mountain Zhang, in 1992. She has won the Hugo and Shirley Jackson Award for her short fiction, and the James Tiptree Jr Memorial Award for China Mountain Zhang, her best-known novel, which was also shortlisted for the Hugo and Nebula Award. She lives in Los Angeles.

VERDICT
This was such an interesting character driven piece. The stories are a little disjointed, going back and forth between Zhang and a number of supporting characters who don’t necessarily prove themselves to be of immediate relevance but even from the opening chapter there are some great set pieces and awkward social interactions that only help in expanding on the lead character and showing how he manages to grow as the story progresses towards its conclusion.

#154. STARSHIP TROOPERS By Robert A Heinlein

Published : 1959
Pages : 275
Overall Mark : 6/10

5,000 years in the future, humanity faces total extermination. Our one defence: highly-trained soldiers who scour the metal-strewn blackness of space to hunt down the terrifying enemy: an insect life-form known only as ‘Bugs’.

This is the story of trooper Johnny Rico, from his idealistic enlistment in the infantry of the future through his rigorous training to the command of his own platoon. And his destiny is a war that will span the galaxy.

ROBERT A. HEINLEIN (1907-1988)
Robert A. Heinlein was educated at the University of Missouri and the US Naval Academy, Annapolis. He served as a naval officer for five years but retired in 1934 due to ill health. He then studied physics at UCLA before beginning to publish SF with ‘Lifeline’ for Astounding Science Fiction in 1939. Among his many novels are The Door Into Summer, Double Star, Starship Troopers, Stranger In A Strange Land and The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress.

VERDICT
Definitely not what I was expecting, and far from being Heinlein at his best this is still an interesting book that acts in some ways as sci-fi propaganda while managing to remain a mostly enjoyable read. Fans of the movie will be surprised by how different this is, and those who loathed the much-maligned movie might be pleasantly surprised.

#153. THE MIDWICH CUCKOOS By John Wyndham

Published : 1957
Pages : 220
Overall Mark : 8/10

In the sleepy English village of Midwich, a mysterious silver object appears and renders all the villagers unconscious. The next day they awaken – to find that all of the women are pregnant. But the blonde, golden-eyed children of Midwich cannot be human: they grow too fast and their minds exhibit frightening abilities that give them control over others. Inevitably, their nature brings them into conflict with the villagers, just as a chilling realisation dawns on the world outside...

JOHN WYNDHAM (1903-69)
John Wyndham Parkes Lucas Beynon Harris started writing short stories in 1925. He wrote under many pen names, eventually settling on John Wyndham for his modified form of science fiction, which he called ‘logical fantasy’. He is best-known as the author of The Day of the Triffids, but he wrote many other successful novels including The Kraken Wakes, The Chrysalids and The Midwich Cuckoos (filmed as Village of the Damned).

VERDICT
Fans of alien invasion stories might find this a little tame due to the subtle nature of the invasion, but I thoroughly enjoyed it, especially the methods that mankind chose to use in battling the menace. In spite of the twee surroundings and old fashioned nature of the book, there is still an element of defeatism present in this that is just as relevant to the world we now live in.

#152. MONDAY STARTS ON SATURDAY By Arkady & Boris Strugatsky

Published : 1964
Pages : 243
Overall Mark : 9/10

When young programmer Aleksandr Ivanovich Privalov picks up two hitchhikers while driving in Karella, he is drawn into the mysterious world of the Scientific Research Institute of Sorcery and Wizardry, where research into magic is serious business.

And where science, sorcery and socialism meet, can chaos be far behind?

ARKADY STRUGATSKY (1925-1991)
BORIS STRUGATSKY (1931-2012)
The Strugatsky brothers began to collaborate in the early 1950s. Arkady worked as a technical translator and editor, and Boris was a computer mathematician at Puklova astronomical observatory. Their work includes Hard To Be A God, Definitely Maybe, The Snail On The Slope and Monday Starts On Saturday. Andrei Tarkovsky's much admired film, Stalker, was based on their most famous work, Roadside Picnic.

VERDICT
If Terry Pratchett never read this book, I would be amazed. There is so much in here that fans of the Discworld series would enjoy and recognise, and more besides. The humour is dry yet sometimes absurd, and the plot is clever enough to have been one of Douglas Adams’ Dirk Gently storylines. Well worth the read, and the best of the Strugatsky brothers efforts I’ve read so far.