#26. UBIK By Philip K Dick

Published : 1969
Pages : 224
Overall Mark : 8/10

Glen Runciter is dead. Or is he? Someone died in the explosion orchestrated by his business rivals, but even as his funeral is scheduled, his mourning employess are receiving bewildering messages from their boss. And the world around them is warping and regressing in ways which suggest that their own time is running out. If it hasn't already.

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 completely confusing book, but once you get to the part where things start to get explained it becomes very enjoyable. There are a few set ups at the beginning which don't immediately make sense but, as with most Dick novels, things eventually come together for a very rewarding conclusion.

#25. FLOWERS FOR ALGERNON By Daniel Keyes

Published : 1966
Pages : 216
Overall Mark : 9/10

Charlie Gordon, IQ 68, is a floor sweeper, and the gentle butt of everyone's jokes, until an experiment in the enhancement of human intelligence turns him into a genius. But then Algernon, the mouse whose triumphal experimental transformation preceded his, fades and dies, and Charlie has to face the possibility that his salvation was only temporary.

DANIEL KEYES (1927-)
Bron in Brooklyn in 1927, ha has worked as a merchant seaman, editior and university lecturer. He has published two other novels, but Flowers For Algernon, originally a long short story which won a hugo Award, later expanded into a Nebula Award-winning novel, and adaptedas an Oscar-winning filme (Charly), is his best knwon work.

VERDICT
The idea of this book being written as a journal - gradually making the voice of Charlie Gordon increase in intelligence - is a fantastic idea and, as you reach the conclusion it becomes a very touching and upsetting tale of a man who couldn't fit in no matter if he were intelligent or simple because people couldn't accept him when he tried to improve himself.

#24. THE TIME MACHINE & THE WAR OF THE WORLDS By H G Wells

Published : 1895 & 1898
Pages : 274
Overall Mark : 7/10

Well's two masterpieces are still the definitive treatments of the themese of time travel and alien invasion. In The Time Machine, Well's Time Traveller journeys to the world of 802,701 AD, where humanity has divided into the effete, beautiful Eloi and the brutal subterranean Morlocks. In The War Of The Worlds, the Martians - intellects 'vast and cool and unsympathetic' - send their war machines to wreak havoc across the world.

H. G. WELLS (1866-1946)
The son of a shopkeeper, Wells began to publish fiction in the 1890s. The Time Machine, published in 1895, heralded an extraordinary period of 6 years in which he published almost all the 'scientific romances' which made his fame. An early member of the Fabian Society (from which developed the Labour Party), he was for the last four decades of his life a world-famous writer and thinker.

VERDICT
In spite of being well ahead of their time, and paving the way for all science fiction literature in the years following, these stories aren'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.

#23. THE BOOK OF SKULLS By Robert Silverberg

Published : 1972
Pages : 222
Overall Mark : 7/10

Four students discover a manuscript, The Book of Skulls, which reveals the existence of a sect, now living in the Arizona desert, whose members can offer immortality to those who can complete its initiation rite. To their surprise, they discover that the sect survives, and is willing to accept them as acolytes. But for each group of four who enter the rite, two must die in order for the others to succeed.

ROBERT SILVERBERG (1935-)
He has for more than forty years been one of the most prolific, popular and critically acclaimed SF writers, nominated for more awards in the field than any other writer. His many novels include the Nebula Award-winning A Time Of Changes, Dying Inside and Thorns. He lives in California.

VERDICT
Although this is an intersting book, I didn't like any of the characters and didn't think any of them deserved to live forever. However, this said, their avaricious tendencies and need for immortality to achieve all of their greedy goals soon proves to be something they may never achieve, even if they do become immortal. This is well worth reading, but be warned, there isn't anything redeaming about the characters therein.

#22. BEHOLD THE MAN By Michael Moorcock

Published : 1969
Pages : 124
Overall Mark : 8/10

Meet Karl Glogauer, time traveller and unlikely Messiah. When he finds himself in Palestine in the year 29AD he is shocked to meet the man known as Jesus Christ - a drooling idiot, hiding in the shadows of the carpenter's shop in Nazareth. But if he is not capable of fulfilling his historical role, then who will take his place?

MICHAEL MOORCOCK (1939-)
Born in London in 1939, he published his first novel in 1961. As editor of the magazine New Worlds he has been a hugely influential figure in British SF. He has published more than 80 books, including The Condition Of Muzak, which won the Guardian Fiction Prize, and Mother London, which was shortlisted for the Whitbread Prize. He lives in Texas.

VERDICT
This is such a tongue in cheek idea, yet Moorcock approaches it in a deadly serious manner. I'm surprised the Church didn't get ahold of this and ban it, but I guess the innocuous title kept it below the radar, unlike the Satanic Verses. The very idea that Jesus was a jibbering idiot might offend some, but this novella, which can easily be read in one sitting, is a must read that proves that even a nobody can do something wonderful with their lives.

#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.