#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.

#14. THE DEMOLISHED MAN By Alfred Bester

Published : 1953
Pages : 250
Overall Mark : 9/10

In a world in which the police have telepathic powers, how do you get away with murder? Ben Reich heads a huge 24th century business empire, spanning the solar system. He is also an obsessed, driven man determined to murder a rival. To avoid capture, in a society where murderers can be detected even before they commit their crime, is the greatest challenge of his life.

ALFRED BESTER (1913-1987)
A scriptwriter and journalist by profession, Bester set the science fiction field alight in the 1950s with two novels, The Demolished Man and The Stars My Destination, and a succession of extraordinary stories. His work was an inpiration both to the SF New Wave of the 1960s and the cyberpunk movement of the 1980s.

VERDICT
There's something sneakingly clever about this novel, with the introduction of a code and the answers to all our questions almost from the get go. The character of Ben Reich is one of the saddest and most self defeating characters I think I've ever seen outside of a Shakespeare play, and the final twist almost trumps the main twist of the entire novel.

#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.