SF Novels That Were Worth Reading When I Read Them (A - K)

Or, How I Mis-spent My Youth

Titles I specially recommend are preceded by three asterisks: ***

Adams, Douglas

***THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY [1979]
***THE RESTAURANT AT THE END OF THE UNIVERSE [1980]
LIFE, THE UNIVERSE, AND EVERYTHING [1982]
[The first three novels in a very funny series that sends up almost every sf cliche there is. Owes a lot to Robert Sheckley, I think.]

Aldiss, Brian
[Aldiss is a unique voice in sf, even in British sf. He is probably my favourite writer of 'soft' sf. His plots are rarely original, but the details of his work reveal an awesome richness of 'small' ideas.]

NON-STOP [1958] [U.S. title: STARSHIP]
[On a huge generation-starship, civilisation has broken down. Our hero eventually discovers the true nature of his world.]

***HOTHOUSE [1962] [U.S. title: THE LONG AFTERNOON OF EARTH
[In Earth's far future only a few tribes of tree-dwelling humans survive in a world dominated by plant-life. Compare Alan Dean Foster's MIDWORLD.]

EARTHWORKS [1962]
[The environment is a mess. Solution: reduce human numbers by war.]

GREYBEARD [1964]
[Accident sterilises humanity. A world of oldsters.]

BAREFOOT IN THE HEAD: A EUROPEAN FANTASIA [1969]
[One man's odyssey through a Europe devastated by war in which psychotropic drugs were used as weapons. Told in an appropriately weird style.]

FRANKENSTEIN UNBOUND [1973]
[Accident allows man to visit parallel world where Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, and F.'s monster are real.]

MOREAU'S OTHER ISLAND [1980]
[An up-date, in biotechnological and psychological terms, of H.G.Wells's classic.]

Amis, Kingsley

THE ALTERATION [1976]
[Alternate history: In a world in which the Protestant Reformation didn't happen, the young protagonist faces the prospect of being made a castrato (a castrated soprano singer) by powerful Church.]

Anderson, Poul

BRAIN WAVE [1954]
[The Earth moves out of the influence of a part of space that has had the effect of inhibiting intelligence. Humans become super-smart, animals become intelligent.]

PLANET OF NO RETURN [1956]
[Habitable planets are extremely rare. We find one, but intelligent aliens are already in residence.]

***THE CORRIDORS OF TIME [1965]
[Various factions battle for control of time-travel. A generally underrated example of this sub-genre.]

SATAN'S WORLD [1968]
[An ice-planet's sun is about to melt the ice, releasing the planet's mineral riches. Human and alien entrepreneurs move in for their chop.]

***TAU: ZERO [1970]
[An out of control ramscoop spaceship accelerates to the speed of light and survives the death and rebirth of the universe, allowing the crew to find
a habitable planet.]

THE PEOPLE OF THE WIND [1973]
[On alien planet, freedom-loving humans form an alliance with bird-like aliens to ward off invasion by other humans.]

THE AVATAR [1978]
[Crew of space explorers returns to Earth to find it in the grip of insularity. The crew is imprisoned, but a man from a colony established on another planet comes to rescue them.]

Anthony, Piers

CHTHON [1967]
[Our hero escapes imprisonment on a hell-planet and finds love.]

MACROSCOPE [1969]
[A machine enables eavesdropping on all space and all time. There are several short stories using ideas similar to this. See T.L.Sherred's "E for Effort", I.Asimov's "The Dead Past", and F.Herbert's "The G.M. Effect".]

PROSTHO PLUS [1971]
[Comedy. Exploits of an inter-galactic dentist. (I think at one stage he becomes an indentured servant).]

RINGS OF ICE [1974]
[They fall from space, deluging the Earth. Two lads in an R.V., with fun and procreation in mind, pick up female hitch-hikers making for the mountains. But, the best planned lays...]

Anvil, Christopher

THE DAY THE MACHINES STOPPED [1964]
[A Russian experiment nullifies all electrical currents - or all artificial ones, anyway.]

Asimov, Isaac

[It is one of the great tragedies of sf that Asimov was not a better stylist. I find most of his fiction less than enthrallingly written: difficult to stick with, but usually worth sticking with.]

PEBBLE IN THE SKY [1950]
[Our hero finds himself time-transported to a future galactic civilisation where peace is threatened by home-world militarists.]

FOUNDATION [1951]
FOUNDATION AND EMPIRE [1952]
SECOND FOUNDATION [1953]
[In a future galactic civilisation, the secret science of 'psychohistory' allows prediction of large-scale human behaviour. But the secret Foundation has not counted on the occurence of a psychic freak who nearly wrecks civilisation. Fortunately, there is a super-secret second Foundation, which enables a speedy recovery.]

***THE CAVES OF STEEL [1954]
[In a future, completely urbanised world, a human detective solves a baffling crime with the help of a robot assistant.]

THE END OF ETERNITY [1955]
[Member of a time-travelling elite, formed to keep history safe, falls in love and betrays his organisation, realising that too much security is a bad thing.]

THE NAKED SUN [1957]
[The detective and his robot assistant reluctantly travel to a non-urbanised
planet to investigate a baffling crime.]

THE GODS THEMSELVES [1972]
[Invention of inter-universal 'positron pump' allows contact with trisexual aliens in a parallel world.]

FOUNDATION'S EDGE [1982]
[The fourth volume in the Foundation saga.]

THE ROBOTS OF DAWN [1983]
[The third novel in the detective with robot off-sider series. A very sophisticated robot is 'murdered', and the accused hires our hero to
prove him innocent.]

ROBOTS AND EMPIRE [1985]
[An attempted merging of the Foundation and Robots series.]

***FOUNDATION AND EARTH [1986]
[Fifth and best of the Foundation series.]

Ballard, J.G.

THE WIND FROM NOWHERE [1962]
[Civilisation destroyed by global super-hurricane. Air.]

THE DROWNED WORLD [1962]
[Civilisation destroyed when increase in solar radiation melts ice-caps, drowns most cities. Water.]

THE DROUGHT [1964] [U.S. title: THE BURNING WORLD]
[Civilisation detroyed by world-wide drought. Fire.]

THE CRYSTAL WORLD [1966]
[In the heart of darkest Africa, everything starts turning to crystal. Earth.]

HIGH-RISE [1975]
[Life in a future high-rise apartment block. Metaphor for social collapse.]

HELLO AMERICA [1981]
[Expatriots journey through a ruined and almost totally abandoned U.S.A.]

Barjavel, Rene

FUTURE TIMES THREE [1971 trans. of 1944]

Bass, T.J.

THE GODWHALE [1974]
[A cyborg-whale, last of harvesters in dead ocean, manages to save hive-living humankind from extinction.]

Baxter, Stephen

RAFT [1991]
[Spaceship finds itself in a universe in which gravity is about a billion times stronger. Five hundred years later, we explore the various human
societies, derived from the crew, that have adapted to this new world].

ANTI-ICE [1993]

THE TIME SHIPS [1995]
[Authorised sequel to H.G.Wells's THE TIME MACHINE. The Time Traveller visits various far future and past worlds in the company of an intelligent morlock.]

Bear, Greg

***BLOOD MUSIC [1985]
[Misfit discovers a way to breed intelligent cells, which promptly take over the world. Expansion of the novelette of the same title.]

EON [1985]
['Asteroid' mysteriously come to orbit around Earth is found to be hollow and vastly bigger inside than outside. Exploration of its segmented chambers eventually shows it to be an artifact of future humanity and a tunnel to that future.]

MOVING MARS [1994]

Bellamy, Edward

LOOKING BACKWARD [1888]
[A socialist American utopia.]

Benford, Gregory
[Benford is a consistently excellent sf writer. And he writes real sf: the hard stuff.]

IN THE OCEAN OF NIGHT [1977]
[Dilemma of a spaceship captain ordered by fearful authorities to attack alien vessel entering inner solar system.]

IF THE STARS ARE GODS [1977]
[The search by a 'scientist-monk' for signs of alien life in the solar system is more successful than anyone expects.]

THE STARS IN SHROUD [1978]
[A space-going Japanese-dominated future humanity finds itself at war with a non-negotiating suicidally aggressive alien race. (Get it?)]

***TIMESCAPE [1980]
[Scientists in a desperate 1998 find a way to send signals back through time. Scientist in 1962 receives signals, has difficulty getting message.]

AGAINST INFINITY [1983]
[Miners on Ganymede are haunted by a mysterious and elusive alien presence, perhaps alive, perhaps an artifact.]

ACROSS THE SEA OF SUNS [1985?]
[Sequel to IN THE OCEAN OF NIGHT.]

***HEART OF THE COMET [1986] (witten with David Brin)
[Team sent to explore, and exploit, Halley's Comet in 2061 undergoes strange transformations, is rejected by Earth, finds means of not returning to Earth but riding the comet out of the solar system.]

GREAT SKY RIVER [1987]
[In a future galaxy in which artificial intelligences have finally become independent of and destructive of humanity, a band of survivors roams the ruins of their colony planet dodging killer machines. Compare Fred Saberhagen's
"Berserker" series of stories.]

Bester, Alfred

THE DEMOLISHED MAN [1953]
[Guild of psychics traps clever criminal.]

***THE STARS MY DESTINATION [1956] [U.K. title: TIGER! TIGER!]
[A man driven by revenge eventually releases future from grip of mega-
corporations.]

GOLEM 100 [1980]
THE DECEIVERS [1981]

Bishop, Michael

NO ENEMY BUT TIME [1982]
[A man capable of psychic time-travel goes back into the deep prehistory of the human species and experiences the lifestyle of a group of early humans.]

Blackburn, John

A SCENT OF NEW-MOWN HAY [1958]
[Mutated fungus makes women monsters; crisis unites cold-war rivals.]

Blish, James

EARTHMAN, COME HOME [1955]
THEY SHALL HAVE STARS [1956]
A CLASH OF CYMBALS [1958] [U.S. title: THE TRIUMPH OF TIME]
A LIFE FOR THE STARS [1962]
[Series of novels which tell the stories of the cities-in-flight: established Earth cities which are enabled to leave the planet by invention of antigravity devices.]

THE SEEDLING STARS [957]
[One of the better fix-up novels may yet prove prophetic. Future in which human genome is variously engineered to fit various extra-terrestrial environments. Incorporates the classic short stories "Bridge" and "Surface
Tension".]

***A CASE OF CONSCIENCE [1958]
[By far the best novel ever written on the religious implications of alien life.]

Bloch, Robert

THIS CROWDED EARTH [1958]
LADIES' DAY [1968]

Boulle, Pierre

MONKEY PLANET [1963] [U.S. title: PLANET OF THE APES]
[Excellent satire. Novel on which excellent movie was based.]

Bova, Ben

THE STAR-CROSSED [1975]
[Satirical story based on real events (the abortive "Starlost" TV series) tells of future entertainment industry's abortive attempt to produce sf series.]

MILLENNIUM [1976]
[Combined U.S.- Soviet colony on Moon refuses to be drawn into parent nations' conflict, eventually achieves independence. Compare R.A.Heinlein's THE MOON IS A HARSH MISTRESS.]

KINSMAN [1979]
[The career and adventures of a near future space-officer.]

Bowen, John

AFTER THE RAIN [1959]
[Survivors of a global deluge bicker on a raft. Better than it sounds.]

Boyce, Chris

CATCHWORLD [1975]
[Military mission to a hostile star-system finds their greatest enemy is their
spaceship's artificial intelligence which seeks to take possession of their minds and destroy their bodies.]

Boyd, John

***THE LAST STARSHIP FROM EARTH [1968]
[In an alternate history, a caste-ridden world is governed by an elite of social psychologists. Revolt extends to the pre-emptive use of time-travel.

THE POLLINATORS OF EDEN [1969]
[A female scientist is seduced by collectively sentient alien orchids. Satire.]

Brackett, Leigh

THE LONG TOMORROW [1955]
[Raised in an anti-scientific post-WW4 society, a youth must choose between this and the scientific alternative a group of rebels is piecing together from the ruins.]

Bradbury, Ray

***THE SILVER LOCUSTS [1950] [U.S. title: THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES]
[Science fantasy of the colonisation of Mars.]

FARENHEIT 451 [1953]
[Revolt of a 'fireman' whose job is to burn books.]

Brin, David

***STARTIDE RISING [1983]
[While alien fleets battle over them, a spaceship crew of humans and 'uplifted' animals is stranded on a water-world. They are in possession of highly prized information about the 'Progenitors', an ancient race that spread the seeds of intelligent life through the galaxy.]

THE POSTMAN [1985]
[Wanderer in a U.S. not totally destroyed by WW3 wears a postman's uniform, tells all that the nation survives. His lie, being believed, becomes true.]

THE UPLIFT WAR [1989]
[Sequel to STARTIDE RISING.]

EARTH [1990]
[Optimistic portrait of the planet half a century on. Environmental crisis will be troublesome, but not fatal: Gaia is a survivor. But can she survive the artificial black-hole clumsy scientists have dropped into her?]

Brown, Frederick

WHAT MAD UNIVERSE [1949]
[Comedy. Sf editor finds himself in an alternate world full of sf cliches. Precursor of the works of Douglas Adams.]

Brunner, John

THE WHOLE MAN [1964] [a.k.a. TELEPATHIST]
[Physical cripple is eventually redeemed by his psychic abilities.]

QUICKSAND [1967]
[Mental patient convinces psychiatrist she is from a future utopia. He runs off with her. But eventually she reveals that she is from a future dystopia.]

STAND ON ZANZIBAR [1968]
[In-depth portrait of plausible future global society.]

***THE SHEEP LOOK UP [1972]
[In-depth portrait of future global society on the verge of environmental catastrophe. Compare Brin's EARTH.]

THE STONE THAT NEVER CAME DOWN [1973]
[Conspiracy of the powerful wants to let the population crash, even though a 'cure' for society's ills has been discovered.]

THE SHOCKWAVE RIDER [1975]
[World is becoming computerised, except for a free-spirited rebel.]

Budrys, Algis

WHO? [1958]
[U.S. scientist is disfigured in accident and captured by Soviets. Eventually released as cyborg, he cannot find trust, acceptance, or even recognition at home.]

***ROGUE MOON [1960]
[Alien artifact on Luna kills all who enter. Matter transmitter/duplicator is used to repeatedly send copies of suicidal volunteer explorer to it.]

SOME WILL NOT DIE [1978]
[Freedom versus tyranny in the ruins of a plague-devastated U.S.]

Burgess, Anthony

A CLOCKWORK ORANGE [1958]
[A young thug is brainwashed into docility. But eventually this is removed as cruel and unusual punishment. He returns to mayhem. Made into a very disturbing movie that was suppressed since its first release until a few years ago.]

1985 [1978]
[An updating and critique of Orwell's 1984.]

Burroughs, Edgar Rice

A PRINCESS OF MARS [1912]
[Science fantasy. Adventures of an American soldier of fortune on 'Mars'.]

Burroughs, William

NOVA EXPRESS [1964]
[Indictment of future (and present) corruption using sf tropes. Written using the 'fold-in' method.]

Butler, Samuel

EREWHON [1872]
[An anti-technological utopia.]

Caidin, Martin

THE MENDELOV CONSPIRACY [1972]
[U.F.O.s are part of military-industrial conspiracy to defeat the Soviets.]

Campbell, John W.

THE MOON IS HELL [1950]
[Expedition to Moon is stranded after relief mission fails. Battle for survival enables permanent settlement.]

Capek, Karel

WAR WITH THE NEWTS [1936]
[Attempt to exploit semi-intelligent species of amphibian gets out of hand. Can be seen as a satire.]

Card, Orson Scott

ENDER'S GAME [1985]
[A genius at computer war-games is trained to use computer to defend humanity from aggresive aliens, but something is wrong...]

Chandler, A.B.

THE HAMELIN PLAGUE [1963]
[Giant mutated rats set about destroying humanity. Compares very poorly with
the author's classic novella "Giant Killer".]

Cherryh, C.J.

GATE OF IVREL [1976]
[Adventure set in a galaxy interconnected by the space-time gates of an absent race. Action takes place on one planet. Blend of sf and sword & sorcery.]

Christopher, John

THE DEATH OF GRASS [1956] [U.S. title: NO BLADE OF GRASS]
[Title tells: blight kills grasses (including grains): civilisation falls.]

THE WORLD IN WINTER [1962] [U.S. title: THE LONG WINTER]
[Civilization struggles to survive a new ice-age.]

A WRINKLE IN THE SKIN [1965] [U.S. title: THE RAGGED EDGE]
[Civilisation topples, literally, due to very bad outbreak of earthquakes.]

Clark, Ronald

QUEEN VICTORIA'S BOMB [1967]
[Alternate history in which the A-bomb is an invention of the British Empire.]

Clarke, Arthur C.

PRELUDE TO SPACE [1954]
[Detailed account of preparations for first voyage to the moon.]

THE SANDS OF MARS [1951]
[Visit to our first colony on Mars. Partly anticipates K.S.Robinson's Mars series.]

***CHILDHOOD'S END [1953]
[Aliens arrive, save humanity from itself, elevate us to to species worthy of galactic citizenship.]

THE CITY AND THE STARS [1956]
[Strange history of far future city in which nothing much ever happens, until one man breaks out and eventually roams the galaxy.]

***THE DEEP RANGE [1957]
[Adventures of a warden of an undersea ranch/farm. A bit wet, but fun.]

A FALL OF MOONDUST [1961]
[Moon-bus-load of tourists is trapped under a 'sea' of moondust. How they are recued.]

***2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY [1968]
[Proto-humans uplifted by aliens. Alien artifact found on Moon, signals Jupiter. U.N. spaceship 'Discovery' sent to investigate Jupiter. Written in conjunction with the screenplay of the movie.]

***RENDEZVOUS WITH RAMA [1973]
[Exploration of huge alien space-ark passing through solar system. Novel made a surprisingly big splash. Is perhaps overrated, but still quite excellent.]

IMPERIAL EARTH [1975]

THE FOUNTAINS OF PARADISE [1979]
[Building of the first space-elevator.]

2010: ODYSSEY TWO [1982]
[U.S.-Soviet mission to Jupiter to find out what happened to the Discovery. Aliens turn Jupiter into the solar system's second sun.]

THE SONGS OF DISTANT EARTH [1986]
[Peaceful colony world paid disruptive visit by ship from Earth. Expansion of the short story of the same title.]

2061: ODYSSEY THREE [1987]

THE GHOST FROM THE GRAND BANKS [1990]
[Raise the Titanic. Better than it sounds.]

THE HAMMER OF GOD [1993]
[Almost an essay on why Earth should have an organisation to guard us against asteroid and comet collisions.]

[Clarke has been a much better sf writer than Asimov ever was. Of the so-called 'big three' of the old guard, I would place Clarke a close
second to Heinlein, then daylight, and then Asimov. It is some sort of irony that Asimov was probably the most knowledgeable of the three. But,
of course, they were/are three very different sorts of writers.]

Clement, Hal

NEEDLE [1950]
[Alien crimial hits town, inhabits human body; pursuing alien cop does same.]

***MISSION OF GRAVITY [1954]
[Journey, in company of aliens, across disk-shaped planet which has 700Gs at equator.]

CYCLE OF FIRE [1957]
[Human and his alien enemy must cooperate to survive on planet of climatic extremes.]

Clifton, Mark

EIGHT KEYS TO EDEN [1960]
WHEN THEY COME FROM SPACE [1962]

Compton, D.G.,

THE CONTINUOUS KATHERINE MORTENHOE [1974] [U.S. title:.THE UNSLEEPING EYE]
[Man accepts money to carry micro-TV-camera to record dying wife's last days for voyeuristic audience.]

Coney, Michael G.

SYZYGY [1973]
[Colony on a world with six moons faces unsuspected ecological and psychological difficulties when all six come into opposition.]

CHARISMA [1975]
[Researchers discover that travel between parallel worlds is possible, but only if the traveller's counterpart has recently died.]

HELLO SUMMER, GOODBYE [1975] [a.k.a.RAX]
[Established colony is faced with unexpected onset of ice-age and emergence of dangerous lifeforms that thrive in the cold.]

Cooper, Edmund

SEED OF LIGHT [1959]
[In an environmentally challenged future (to coin a phrase) a European co-op builds and launches a generation starship, but it has trouble finding a new Earth.]
ALL FOOLS DAY [1966]
[Increase in solar radiation brings disastrous drought, plus epidemic of 'radiant suicide' to which only abnormal personalities are immune.]

A FAR SUNSET [1967]
[Survivor of survey-ship crash becomes god-king of aliens.]

FIVE TO TWELVE [1968]
[In a future in which men have become women's chattels, a man rebels.]

THE OVERMAN CULTURE [1971]
THE TENTH PLANET [1973]

Coppel, Alfred

DARK DECEMBER [1960]
[Air-force officer searches for family in ruins of post-nuclear-war U.S.]

Cox, Erle

OUT OF THE SILENCE [1925]
[Australian man finds woman of ancient race in suspended animation in underground vault on his property. Revived, she plans to rule the world.]

Crichton, Michael

THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN [1969]
[Virus from space kills town. Scientists struggle to find biological fix.]

WESTWORLD [1974]
[Robotic fun-park goes haywire. Screenplay of the movie. Says some interesting things about human relations with humanoid robots.]

Crowley, John

BEASTS [1976]

De Camp, L. Sprague

LEST DARKNESS FALL [1949]
[Time-traveller to ancient Rome introduces modern ideas, changes history.]

Delany, Samuel

THE BALLAD OF BETA 2 [1965]
EMPIRE STAR [1966]
BABEL 17 [1966]
[Sf: the science is linguistics. Protagonist must translate alien language to win war for our side.]

THE EINSTEIN INTERSECTION [1967]
[Science fantasy. Apparently, at first reading I thought I understood it. Not so sure now. Barron et.al. doesn't make sense of it. Nicholls says it is about aliens inhabiting human race and world and trying to understand it. Not my cup of coffee. Retained because Nebula winner, Hugo nominee.]

Del Rey, Lester

NERVES [1956 expansion of 1942 story]
[Accident at a nuclear plant. Concentrates on immediate medical aspects.]

Dick, Philip K.
[Dick had a very distictive style completely unlike that of any other sf writer. His novels can have a mesmeric effect. Also, he had some
training in philosophy, which showed in most of his works. Several popular movies have been based on novels or short stories of his.]

EYE IN THE SKY [1957]
[An accident allows several people to realise their ideal worlds.]

TIME OUT OF JOINT [1959]
[Protagonist notices that time seems to have reversed itself.]

***THE MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE [1962]
[Alternate history: Life in an Axis-ruled U.S.: Germans east, Japanese west.]

MARTIAN TIME-SLIP [1964]

DR. BLOODMONEY (OR HOW WE GOT ALONG AFTER THE BOMB) [1965]
[A brilliant idea: we have a catastrophic nuclear war, but learn no lessons from it; behaviour of survivors shows banal human stupidities are intact.]

THE THREE STIGMATA OF PALMER ELDRITCH [1965]
[Drug reveals the reality of transubstantiation and pantheism.]

DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP? [1968] [a.k.a. BLADE RUNNER]
[Our hero hunts rogue androids in an environmentally ruined world in which real animals are rare. Comes to see that androids, and animals, are sentient.]

FLOW MY TEARS THE POLICEMAN SAID [1974]
[Science fantasy. Drug taken by a woman draws male media-star into alternate world where she is sister of head of police-state. She dies, he gets own reality back.]

***A SCANNER DARKLY [1977]

Dickson, Gordon R.

THE ALIEN WAY [1965]

Disch, Thomas M.

THE GENOCIDES [1965]
[Mega-powerful aliens turn Earth into a farm, ignoring humans.]

***CAMP CONCENTRATION [1969]
[Prisoner-intellectuals are used as test subjects for I.Q.-boosting treatment. Side-effect: brain eventually destroyed.]

THE PRISONER [1969]
[Top intelligence agent resigns, finds himself in weird prison-village. Novelisation of the unique TV series. And a pretty good one.]

334 [1974]
[A fix-up novel examining life in future New York.]

Doyle, Arthur Conan

***THE LOST WORLD [1912]
[Mad professor leads expedition to remnant of Jurassic period surviving on South American plateau. Pterodactyl egg taken back to London hatches and creates havoc.]

THE MARACOT DEEP [1929]
[Deep sea dive goes wrong; plunge to bottom reveals survivors of Atlantis living there. Much better than it sounds. (Pun unintentional).]

Edmondson, G.C.

THE SHIP THAT SAILED THE TIME STREAM [1965]
[Adventures of crew of a U.S.Navy sailing vessel who accidentally maroon themselves in several past eras.]

Elton, Ben

STARK [1989]

Emtsev, M. (and E.Parnov)

WORLD SOUL [1978]

Evans, Christopher

CAPELLA'S GOLDEN EYES [1980]

Farmer, Philip Jose
[Farmer was a daring and ambitious writer. His work is a blend of sf and fantasy, often with a strong sexual element. He also wrote a series of pornographic horror/fantasy novels well worth seeking out if that sort of things sounds good to you. From memory, the first is titled BLOWN.]

MAKER OF UNIVERSES [1965]
THE GATES OF CREATION [1966]
A PRIVATE COSMOS [1967]

FLESH [1968]

***TO YOUR SCATTERED BODIES GO [1971]
[Every human who has ever died is resurrected on a 'world' which is one long river valley. Death is possible there, but is temporary. Various historical characters try to find source of river and explanation of predicament.]

THE FABULOUS RIVERBOAT [1971]
[Second in a series that turned out to be over-long and disappointing.]

***TIME'S LAST GIFT [1972]
[For my money, Farmer's best novel.]

THE LOVERS [1979]
[Man on alien planet knowingly falls in love with alien capable of mimicking humans.]

Forward, Robert

***DRAGON'S EGG [1980]
[Scientific expedition discovers rapidly evolving lifeforms on the surface of a neutron star.]

THE FLIGHT OF THE DRAGONFLY [1984]
[In a very unusual spaceship, we visit a very unusual planet, and meet some very unusual aliens.]

Foster, Alan Dean

MIDWORLD [1975]
[People living in the middle level of a planetary forest are disturbed by the arrival of mechanistic humans. Compare Aldiss's "Hothouse".]

THE THING [1981]
[Novelization of John Carpenter's movie based on J.W.Campbell's "Who Goes There?"]

***ALIEN [1979]
ALIENS [1985]
***ALIEN 3 [1992]
[Foster is an interesting 'novelizer', and he has done some of my favourite recent sf movies. I had great fun comparing the three 'Alien' movies with his versions of them.]

Foster, Richard

THE REST MUST DIE [1960]

Frank, Pat

ALAS, BABYLON [1959]
[Perhaps the second-best American catastrophe novel, after Stewart's EARTH ABIDES. Of course, the Americans can't hold a candle to the British in this sub-genre.]

Franke, Herbert
[Not the American writer Frank Herbert, but the German writer Herbert Franke.]

THE ORCHID CAGE [1973]

Freedman, Nancy

JOSHUA, SON OF NONE [1973]
[A female M.D. present at J.F.K.'s death secretly takes a tissue sample and eventually clones the great man.]

Fretland, D. John

THE PERSIMMON SEQUENCE [1971]

George, Peter

COMMANDER 1 [1965]
[Captain of nuclear submarine emerges as military dictator after WW3. I cannot recall ever having seen George's film-script for "Dr Strangelove" on offer, and this amazes me.]

Gerrold, David

WHEN HARLIE WAS ONE [1972]
[The old story: man makes super-computer, which threatens to unmake man. But quite well done.]

***THE MAN WHO FOLDED HIMSELF [1973]
[One of the most daring and amusing time-travel novels ever written. Takes the question, 'What if you met yourself in the past/future?' to some very funny extremes.]

Gibbs, Lewis

LATE FINAL [1951]

Gibson, William

***NEUROMANCER [1984]
[The original, and probably the best, 'cyberpunk' novel. Our hero crashes into forbidden realms of cyberspace to combat the bad guys/programs.]

COUNT ZERO [1986]

Gordon, Rex

NO MAN FRIDAY [1957] [U.K. title: FIRST ON MARS]
[Probably the inspiration of the movie, Robinson Crusoe on Mars.]

Green, Joseph

GOLD THE MAN [1971]

Greg, Percy

ACROSS THE ZODIAC: THE STORY OF A WRECKED RECORD [1880]
[A very early tour of the solar system, landing with a thud on anti-communist Mars (get it?).]

Haldeman, Joe

***THE FOREVER WAR [1974]
[The best novel about future war in space ever written.]

MINDBRIDGE [1977]
ALL MY SINS REMEMBERED [1977]
WORLDS [1981]
WORLDS APART [1983]

Hale, Edward E.

THE BRICK MOON [1870]
[A novelette, really. Notable as the first story about an artificial satellite.]

Harding, L.

DISPLACED PERSON [1979]

Harness, Charles L.

THE PARADOX MEN [1953] [a.k.a. FLIGHT INTO YESTERDAY]

Harrison, Harry

THE STAINLESS STEEL RAT [1961]
[Not bad example of sf comedy/adventure.]

DEATHWORLD 1 [1960]
[Gambler finds himself on planet where human colony is under constant attack from non-intelligent life-forms.]
DEATHWORLD 2 [1964] [a.k.a. THE ETHICAL ENGINEER]
[Gambler finds himself enslaved on backward human colony world. His knowledge of engineering allows him to prevail.]
DEATHWORLD 3 [1968]
[Gambler finds himself captive of murderous barbarians on two-tiered world. His stamina, intelligence, and knowledge, allow him to suvive and to ruin the cunning barbarian warlord in a most ingenious way: by helping him to conquer
his world.]

BILL, THE GALACTIC HERO [1965]
[Satire of Heinlein's STARSHIP TROOPERS militarism.]

MAKE ROOM! MAKE ROOM! [1966]
[The future over-population problem. Made into a quite interesting but now rarely seen movie: Soylent Green - until it was recently re-released on dvd.]

***CAPTIVE UNIVERSE [1969]
[The best of the 'generation starship' sub-genre. The ship contains samples of many Earth cultures, unaware of the true nature of their world. One spirited Aztec [sic] lad makes the breakthrough.]

A TRANSATLANTIC TUNNEL, HURRAH! [1972]
[Amusing alternate history in which the British Empire rules the world, America included.]

WEST OF EDEN [1984]
[Novel which tries making a virtue of all those bad movies set in an ignoramus's prehistory in which humans co-exist with dinosaurs.]

Harrison, Michael J.

THE COMMITTED MEN [1971]
[In post-nuclear-war Britain, doctor tries to unite a mutant baby with a society of mutants.]

THE PASTEL CITY [1971]
[Science fantasy.]

Hatch, Gerald

THE DAY THE EARTH FROZE [1963]

Hawkey, Raymond

WILD CARD [1974] (written with R.Bingham)

Heinlein, Robert A.
[As far as entertaining writing goes, Heinlein was the greatest of the 'Big Three' of the post-WW2 era. His novels, with some exceptions in his declining late period, are unfailingly readable and provocative. He was also among the first to take seriously such important but outre sciences as ecology (his writings contain the earliest fictional reference to the 'spaceship Earth'
concept. See "Space Cadet", ch.XI.]

BEYOND THIS HORIZON [1948]

SPACE CADET [1948]
[Adventures of a space-cadet in the Interplanetary Patrol.]

RED PLANET [1949]
[Schoolboy in colony on Mars plays part in saving colony when hidden, peace-loving Martians decide to annihilate fractious humans.]

FARMER IN THE SKY [1950]
[Family emigrates to farming colony on Ganymede, faces various difficulties and adventures.]

THE PUPPET MASTERS [1951]
[Alien brain-parasites almost conquer humanity. The novelistic equivalent of one of those anti-communist monster movies of the 50s. Recently made into a so-so movie.]

BETWEEN PLANETS [1951]

REVOLT IN 2100 [1953]
[Revolt against theocracy in the U.S.]

***STARMAN JONES [1953]
[Country lad with phenomenal memory and math ability runs away from home to space, becomes acting captain of his ship. One of the very best 'juvenile' sf novels, Heinlein's philosophy notwithstanding.]

THE STAR BEAST [1954]

***TUNNEL IN THE SKY [1955]
[Group of teenagers taking survival test are accidentally stranded on alien world. They survive and become de facto adults, but are then rescued and expected to return to being mere teenagers. Compare A.Panshin's RITE OF PASSAGE.]

TIME FOR THE STARS [1956]
[Novel-length illustration of Einstein's theory of relativity. Story of a pair of twins with psychic ability, one earthbound, one a space/time-traveller.]

DOUBLE STAR [1956]
[Sf version of The Prisoner of Zenda: an actor doubles for an inter-planetary politician, and so on. Others seem to think more of it than I do.]

THE DOOR INTO SUMMER [1957]
[Inventor is screwed by his crooked partner and unfaithful girlfriend, who have him placed in suspended animation. Revived in the future, he invents a time-machine and uses it to execute a very imaginative revenge.]

***CITIZEN OF THE GALAXY [1957]
[Heir to riches and responsibilities in a future galactic civilisation is tested, perhaps deliberately, by having to struggle to survive in various sorts of human cultures. One of Heinlein's most underrated novels. Not that
it hasn't been well received, but it is even better than most have said.]

HAVE SPACESUIT, WILL TRAVEL [1958]
[Lad wins second-hand space-suit. He wants to visit Luna, dad wants him to get an education. Aliens intervene, taking him on galactic tour and then making him stand representive for Earth in galactic tribunal. He gets an education.]

METHUSELAH'S CHILDREN [1958]

STARSHIP TROOPERS [1959]
[A science-fictionally disguised tour of duty in 'Nam. The sf equivalent of John Wayne's movie The Green Berets.]

***STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND [1961]
[Human raised by Martians visits Earth, and, with the help of his psychic powers and a wise human mentor, becomes rich and powerful - but eventually
commits suicide for the greater good. Heinlein's contribution to the weirder side of 60s American culture. One of killer Charles Manson's favourite books, and a biG hit on college campuses.]

PODKAYNE OF MARS [1963]

***ORPHANS OF THE SKY [1963]
[One of the first and best 'generation starship' novels.]

FARNHAM'S FREEHOLD [1964]

THE MOON IS A HARSH MISTRESS [1966]
[With the help of a sentient computer, the human presence on the moon achieves independence from Earth.]

I WILL FEAR NO EVIL [1971]
[An old man's brain is transplanted into a young woman's body, but her mind is still there.]

TIME ENOUGH FOR LOVE [1973]
[Saga of an immortal, and immoral, man who wants all or nothing.]

"THE NUMBER OF THE BEAST" [1980]
[Note: the quotation marks are part of the title.]

***FRIDAY [1982]

JOB: A COMEDY OF JUSTICE [1984]

THE CAT WHO WALKS THROUGH WALLS [1985]

TO SAIL BEYOND THE SUNSET [1987]

Herbert, Frank

THE DRAGON IN THE SEA [1956] [a.k.a. (a) 21ST CENTURY SUB (b) UNDER PRESSURE]
[Psychological tensions on a nuclear submarine in WW3.]

***DUNE [1965]
[First and best in an increasingly absurd and tiresome series. Drug helps a young aristocrat to become the saviour of a desert planet.]

DUNE MESSIAH [1969]

Herbert, James

THE RATS [1974]
[Killer rats invade London.]

Hjortsberg, William

GRAY MATTERS [1971]

Hodder-Williams, Christopher

PANIC O'CLOCK [1973]
['Virulent panic' wrecks Britain.]

Hogan, James P.

VOYAGE FROM YESTERYEAR [1982]
[Colonists establish something like utopia on a new world, but are threatened by an invasion from the old world.]

Hoyle, Fred

THE BLACK CLOUD [1957]
[An intelligent interstellar gas cloud.]

A FOR ANDROMEDA [1962]
[Radio astronomers receive signals from space, which turn out to be instructionsfor building a machine, which turns out to be the vanguard of alien invasion. The downside of Carl Sagan's CONTACT.]

THE INFERNO [1973]
[Wave of explosion from galaxy's core threatens to destroy Earth. Scottish astronomer retreats to Highlands, seeks to re-establish clan system.]

Huxley, Aldous

***BRAVE NEW WORLD [1932]
[Future dystopia owes something to Plato's Republic. Stratified, drug-controlled society practices eugenics. 'Savage' dies trying to rebel.]

Jones, D.F.

COLOSSUS [1966]
[Cold War rivals each build super-computer. But instead of warring, the two machines cooperate in...]

Judd, Cyril [= C.M.Kornbluth & J.Merrill]

OUTPOST MARS [1951]

Kelley, Leo P.

THE EARTH TRIPPER [1973]
[Visiting alien is put in a lunatic asylum. Satirical.]

King, Stephen

THE STAND [1978]
[Super-flu wipes out most of humanity. Survivors divide into two camps, one dominated by evil, the other good.]

THE TOMMY-KNOCKERS
[Small-town woman finds something odd buried on her property, eventually excavates an alien spaceship. Then weird things start happening. Compare Kneale's QUATERMASS AND THE PIT.]

Kneale, Nigel

QUATERMASS AND THE PIT [1960]
[Script of the TV show which was later filmed quite well. Engineers extending London's underground system uncover an alien spaceship. Then weird things start happening. Compare King's THE TOMMYKNOCKERS.]

Kornbluth, Cyril

THE SYNDIC [1953]
[Organised crime ousts U.S. government. Eastern states run by benevolent 'syndic', western states by repressive 'mob'. Syndic hero, and heroin,
discover budding alliance between corrupt rump of U.S. government and 'mob'.]