#21. STAR MAKER By Olaf Stapledon

Published : 1937
Pages : 254
Overall Mark : 7/10

One moment a man sits on a suburban hill, gazing curiously at the stars. The next, he is whirling through the firmament, and perhaps the most remarkable of all science fiction journeys has begun. Even Stapledon's other great work, Last And First Men, pales in ambition next to Star Maker, which is nothing less than a history of life in the universe, encompassing billions of years.

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 is an imaginative novel, something of an expansion of Last And First Men that moves on from the planet Earth and ventures into the realms of space. Stapledon manages to use his mind to envisage whole new species of beings, yet only looks at them for a couple of pages before moving into to more of the same. This has plenty of wonderful imagination and enough thought provoking ideas to keep even the most doubtful SF fan intrigued.

#20. A SCANNER DARKLY By Philip K Dick

Published : 1977
Pages : 217
Overall Mark : 8/10

Substance D - otherwise knownas Death - is the most dangerous drug ever to find its way on to the black market. It destroys the links between the brain's two hemispheres, leading first to disorientation and then to complete and irreversible brain damage. Bob Arctor, undercover narcotics agent, is trying to find a lead to the source of supply, but to pass as an addict he must become a user...

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 great novel, and the movie didn't really do it justice. There are some great ideas embedded in the plot, and the characters are lively and full of humour and imagination. Clearly this is something of an important story for Dick to tell, and this was written shortly after he discovered that he himself had done his body serious damage through drug abuse and he dedicates it to the memory of many of his dead friends. This book is a must, which although it doesn't really have an actual ending, it does end on a note that indicates that the makers of Substance D will soon meet with their comeuppance.

#19. EMPHYRIO By Jack Vance

Published : 1969
Pages : 208
Overall Mark : 6/10

Far in the future, the craftsmen of the planet Halma create goods which, unknown to them, are the wonder of the galaxy. Their society is harshly regimented - any use of machinery is punishable by death - and its religion is unforgiving. When Amiante Tarvoke os executed for processing old documents with a camera, his son Ghyl rebels, and decides to bring down the system. But first he must interpret the ancient story of the legendary hero Emphyrio.

JACK VANCE (1916-)
A long-time resident of California, Vance served in the Merchant Navy during World War II and published his first story in 1945. His first major work was The Dying Earth (1950), a fantasy sequence set in the distant future. He has won Hugo Awards for The Dragon Masters (a short novel) and The Last Castle (a novella, which also won a Nebula).

VERDICT
This is a nice idea, but the execution is a little sketchy. The first half of the book seems quite confused, but thankfully everything seems to come together at the end with some much needed explanation. Once you can see passed the confusing start, and the habit of leaping about in the anrrative, this is an enjoyable novel which could easily be used as Communist propoganda.

#18. THE SIRENS OF TITAN By Kurt Vonnegut

Published : 1959
Pages : 224
Overall Mark : 9/10

When Winston Niles Rumfoord flies his spacecraft into a chrono-synclastic infundibulum he is converted into pure energy, and only materializes when his waveforms intercept Earth or some other planet. As a result, he only gets home to Newport, Rhode Island, once every 59 days, and then only for an hour. But at least, as a consolation, he now knows everything that has ever happened or that will ever hppen.

KURT VONNEGUT (1922-2007)
Born in 1922, Vonnegut was a prisoner of war in Dresden, Germany, during the saturation bombing which devastated the city near the end of the Second World War, an experience whichformed the basis for the novel which made him a world-wide bestseller, Slaughterhouse-Five. The Sirens Of Titan, first published in 1959, was his second novel.

VERDICT
This is a great sci-fi novel by a writer who seems to have greatly inspired the writings of Douglas Adams. His characters have the strange quirk of being both sympathetic and hateful, and Vonnegut's ability to manipulate his characters in such a way that, in spite of any initial feelings of dislike you may have for any of them, we can instantly take a liking to them simply based on the terrible situations they find themselves in. This is a must for any fan of The Hitchhiker's Guide who may actually find themselves preferring this tale of Godless religion pointless destiny.

#17. THE DROWNED WORLD By J G Ballard

Published : 1962
Pages : 175
Overall Mark : 7/10

In the 21st century, fluctuations in solar radiation have caused the ice-caps to melt and the seas to rise. Global temperatures have climbed, and civilization has retreated to the Arctic and Antarctic circles. London is a city now inundated by a primeval swamp, to which an expedition travels to record the flora and fauna of this new Triassic Age.

J. G. BALLARD (1930-)
Ballard was born in 1930 in Shanghai, China. After Pearl Harbor, his family were interned i na Japanese priosn camp, an experience which inspired his most famous novel Empire Of The Sun. After coming to Britain for the first time in 1946 he studied medicine at Cambridge. The Drowned World was his first major novel.

VERDICT
This is a fascinating novel, on a par with Lord Of The Flies in it's ability to give us a terrible scenario that somehow feels right for the people involved. Although many of the characters are flat and lifeless, the character of Strangman has enough character to make up for this, and his manic egomaniacal ways soon have us thinking whether or not he is in fact in the right in his assertions.

#16. THE DISPOSSESSED By Ursula Le Guin

Published : 1974
Pages : 319
Overall Mark : 5/10

The Principle of Simultaneity will revolutionize interstella civilization by making possible instantaneous communication. It is the life work of Shevek, a brilliant physicist from the arid anarchist worl of Anarres. Shevek's work is being stifled by jealous colleagues, so he travels to Anarres's sister-planet Urras, hoping to find more tolerance there. But he soon finds himself being used as a pawn in a deadly political game.

URSULA LE GUIN (1929-)
Born in 1929, daughter of a famous anthropologist, Le Guin published her first novel in 1966. Her reputation as one of the world's leading SF and fantasy writers was established by A Wizard Of Earthsea (1968) and The Left Hand Of Darkness (1969) - a novel which, like The Dispossessed, won both the Hugo and Nebula awards.

VERDICT
This is a very confusing novel, which goes back and forth through time without really explaining what's happening and leaving it to the reader to figure out for themselves. Once this is figured out, the book does improve, andhas some interesting theories about communism and dictatorism, but the overall confusing tone does tend to get in the way of any potential enjoyment.

#15. STAND ON ZANZIBAR By John Brunner

Published : 1968
Pages : 648
Overall Mark : 7/10

There are seven billion-plus humans crowding the surface of 21stcentury Earth. It is an age of intelligent computers, mass-market psychedelic drugs, politics conducted by assassination, scientists who burn incense to appease volcanoes... all the hysteria of a dangerously overcrowded world, portrayed in a dazzlingly inventive style.

JOHN BRUNNER (1934-1995)
Brunner published his first novel pseudonymously at the age of 17, and through the 1950s and early 1960s wrote many SF adventure novels, mainly for US publishers although he was British. His work grew more ambitious in the late 1960s; Stand On Zanzibar, which won a Hugo award, is generally regarded as his greatest achivement.

VERDICT
This is a very confusing book, which has various sections which intersperse with each other and provide both background information for the reader as well as a continuing narrative. This is a lengthy novel which could have been far shorter if much of the descriptive chapters had been removed, but this would have lost the novel it's distinctive feel. This novel is not for those who want a quick fix when reading, but the whole idea of the book ios fascinating and leaves a lot to be thought about, especially as the future in this novel is less than two years away.