#13. MARTIAN TIME-SLIP By Philip K Dick

Published : 1975
Pages : 226
Overall Mark : 7/10

Mars. A desolate place, forgotten by Earth. Isolated homesteaders huddle along the lines of the great canals, in thrall to Arnie Kott and his plumbing union, which controls the vital water supply. Kott's manipulations poison the lives of those he draws to him: his mistress Doreen; Jack Bohlen, the schizoid repairman she comes to love; Manfred, an autistic child plagued with memories of a terrifying future; even the poor native Bleekmen of Mars.

PHILIP K. DICK (1928-1982)
'One of the two or three most important figures in 20th century US SF' (The Encyclopedia Of Science Fiction). Born one of twins - his sister died in infancy - he lived most of his life in California, and wrote more than fifty books in a career of prodigious productivity and achievement. The films Blade Runner and Total Recall are both based on his stories.

VERDICT
This is a very intricate and intriguing story. The characters become intertwined in the most unlikely ways, and the notion of time travel is approached in an original and wholly unusual way. The ending is a little to quickly wrapped up for my liking, but overall this is a fine example of Dick's expertise as one of the most accessible sci-fi writers of the recent past.

#12. EARTH ABIDES By George R Stewart

Published : 1949
Pages : 312
Overall Mark : 8/10

A mysterious plague has destroyed the vast majority of the human race. Isherwood Williams returns from a wilderness field trip to discover that civilization has vanished during his absence. Eventually, in San Francisco, he encounters a female survivor who becomes his wife. Around them and their children a small community develops, but rebuilding civilization is beyond their resources, and gradually they return to a simpler way of life.

GEORGE R. STEWART (1895-1980)
Stewart was s Professor of English at the University of California. He published a number of novels, including two studies of natural catastrophe, Storm and Fire. Earth Abides is his only work of science fiction.

VERDICT
Clearly the influence for Stephen King's The Stand, this post apocalyptic novel doesn't go down the road of giving us an unbelievable view of the future but instead gives a view that seems frightening belieavable and very probable. None of the characters have ridiculous abilities that make their lives easier, and they don't have a moral code that precludes them from exacting punishment against those they distrust. This novel is simply put a wonderful example of survivalism set against a nautral or unnatural disaster of epic proportions.

#11. LAST AND FIRST MEN By Olaf Stapledon

Published : 1930
Pages : 307
Overall Mark : 6/10

Last and First Men is not so much a novel as a history of the future, written with breathtaking imagination. Over the course of 2,000 million years it describes the evolutionary rise and fall of eighteen distinct races of men, of which Homo sapiens is the first and most primitive. Apart from Stapledon himself, in the equally ambitious Star Maker, no other science fiction writer has attempted, let alon achieved, a work on this scale.

W. OLAF STAPLEDON (1886-1950)
Stapledon was educated at Oxford and Liverpool University, where he later lectured in psychology and philosophy. His wartime experiences made him a committed lifetime pacifist. According to The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, his influence on the development of SF ideas is 'probably second only to that of H. G. Wells'.

VERDICT
This book reads more as a history of the future than an actual novel. Fans of science fiction may not enjoy it, but those who enjoy the works of AJP Taylor will find it insightful and filled with interesting theories on the future. Although the writing is imaginative, it can get repetitive and become boring at points, but toward the end things speed up and it becomes a far more enjoyable read.

#10. THE REDISCOVERY OF MAN By Cordwainer Smith

Published : 1975
Pages : 377
Overall Mark : 8/10

The strangest future imagined by any SF writer... An interstellar empire ruled by the Lords of the Instrumentality, whose access to the drug stroon from the planet Norstrilia confers on them virtual immortality. A futre in which wealthy humanity is served by the underpeople, genetically engineered animals turned into the semblance of people. A future of woder and myth, and extraordinary imagination.

CORDWAINER SMITH (1913-67)
The pseudonym of Paul M A. Linebarger (1913-67), who spent his formative years in China; his father was legal advisor to the Prime Minister, Sun Yat-sen (Linebarger's godfather). He became a political scientist and expert on psyxhological warfare. The first 'Cordwainer Smith' story appeared in 1950.

VERDICT
In this series of short stories, loosely held together through a future where humans have been split into subgroups, partly made up from genetically engineered animals, an incredibly descriptive future landscape has been designed which is rich in character and design. Every story herein can be read on its own, but it makes for a great read to go through each one and experience the vast parabola of characters and situations that unfold.

#9. GATEWAY By Frederik Pohl

Published : 1976
Pages : 313
Overall Mark : 9/10

Gateway : an artificial spaceport, full of working interstellar ships left behind by the mysterious, vanished Heechee. They are easy to operate, but impossible to control. SOme come back with discoveries which make their intrepid pilots rich; others return with their remains barely identifiable. It is the ultimate game of Russian roulette, but in this resource-starved future there is no shortage of desperate volunteers.

FREDERIK POHL (1919-)
A professional SF writer and editor for nearly 50 years. He first achieved fame for the series of novels he wrote in the 1950s in collaboration with C. M. Kornbluth, notably The Space Merchants and Wolfbane. He grew up in New York, but now lives near Chicago.

VERDICT
This is one of the better science fiction novels I’ve read of late, with Robinette "Bob" Broadhead portrayed as possibly one of the most complex characters I’ve ever seen in fiction. He is neither heroic in his actions, nor actually evil in any way, but his endeavours and his attitude towards them make for a great read.

#8. THE FIFTH HEAD OF CERBERUS By Gene Wolfe

Published : 1972
Pages : 252
Overall Mark : 8/10

On the twin colony planets Sainte Anne and Sante Croix, civilization is a colourful mix of the archaic and the futuristic, with slavery and advanced science coexisting. The shapeshifting alien inhabitants of Sainte Anne were exterminated by the colonists - but some believe that instead they killed the humans and adopted their identity. In three interlocking tales, the secrets of thisstrange society are gradually unravelled.

GENE WOLFE (1931-)
Born in New York but raised in Texas, Gene Wolfe trained as an engineer. Apart from The Fith Head of Cerberus his major work is the four-volume Book of the New Sun, forthcoming in the SF Masterworks series. The Encyclopedia of Sceince Fiction describes him as 'quite possibly the most important author in the SF field today'.

VERDICT
This is a fascinating story, which takes the idea that humans are an alien race that have invaded another species world and makes it into something truly remarkable. The other stories in the book, telling a tale of the original planets inhabitants and what happened to them, as well as a story of the consequences met by the anthropolgist from the first story, John Marsch, are not quite as good but are still well worth reading and lend a lot of substance to the original tale.

#7. LORD OF LIGHT By Roger Zelazny

Published : 1967
Pages : 317
Overall Mark : 6/10

A distant world where gods walk as men, but wield vast and hidden powers. Are they truly immortal? Who are these gods who rule the destiny of a teeming world? Their names include Brahma, Kali, Krishna and also he who was called Buddha, the Lord of Light, but who now prefers to be known simply as Sam. How has the colonization of another planet become a re-enactment of Eastern religion and mythology?

ROGER ZELAZNY (1937-1995)
Few writers have made a more immediate impact on SF than Zelazny, each of whose first three novels won a major sf award. Altogether, in the course of his career, he won six Hugo awards and three Nebula awards. Born in Ohio, he lived for most of his writing life in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

VERDICT
This is a very strange novel and is sometimes difficult to read. It takes most of its ideas from Buddhism as well as the Hindu religion, and each chapter feels more like a parable or morality tale than part of a cohesive whole. The basic ideas of the story have been copied on occasion in such movies as Stargate, but the idea of a renegade God who wants to destroy his fellow beings has a feel to it that is both timeless and powerful as it gives us a lead character who must be either very brave or very stupid, but in any case has a firm grip on what he believes is right and wrong.