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Fiction

Little Brother

Little Brother

September 2009

He may be one of the most successful science fiction writers of our time, but Cory Doctorow is perhaps better known as an activist for digital rights.


House of Suns

April 2009

Six million years have passed since Abigail Gentian split herself into 1,000 clones and launched them across the galaxy.


Matter

Matter

February 2009

Matter is the latest in Banks’ Culture series, a loosely connected string of self contained novels set in a universe crowded with sentient species at every possible level of development.


Final Theory

Final Theory

February 2009

An editor at Scientific American, this is Mark Alpert’s first science fiction novel, in which Einstein has actually found a way to reconcile gravity with the sub-atomic forces.


The Philosopher's Apprentice

The Philosopher's Apprentice

November 2008

James Morrow's previous novel, The Last Witchfinder, was a massively ambitious, and widely praised, picaresque dramatisation of the struggle between science and superstition in the late 17th and early 18th centuries.


Weaver

Weaver

November 2008

Alternative history in the guise of a view (through palls of smoke) of Britain under partial Nazi control might be a sound basis for a thriller; but add a little tinkering with time's arrow through the medium of dreams and you've leapt to the loopier end of the science fiction spectrum.


Halting State

Halting State

November 2008

Charlie Stross' latest novel Halting State is an off-beat high-tech thriller built around computer games of many kinds.


Brasyl

Brasyl

November 2008

Following the success of his award-winning novel River of Gods, British science fiction writer Ian McDonald has once again produced an ultra-rich mix of complex concepts, wild action and dazzling prose, underpinned by an impressive depth of knowledge of the culture in which the story is set.


The Prefect

July 2008

Alastair Reynolds' The Prefect is a complex space opera about the inhabitants of the Glitter Band. Set about 500 years in the future, it follows the story of the Prefects of the Panoply, a law enforcement agency set up to protect democracy in the region.


Saturn Returns

July 2008

When Imre Bergamasc wakes up on a Jinc ship on the outer edges of the galaxy, he has lost his memory, but remembers enough to realise that he should not be in a female body. It is the 879th millennium AD, and human life has changed almost unrecognisably.


Old Man’s War

Old Man’s War

January 2008

Old Man’s War closely follows the structure set up by Starship Troopers and the other military sci-fi classic, The Forever War, by Joe Haldeman: recruit, training, fighting, promotion and more fighting. However, Scalzi fills in the gaps with his own creations to make his book something more than a replica.


Glasshouse

Glasshouse

January 2008

Glasshouse is a fast-paced, zippy thriller of a science fiction novel. It is no accident that it has been shortlisted for the Hugo Award in the best novel category this year.


Black Man

Black Man

January 2008

Richard Morgan’s new novel is set a couple of hundred years into the future. Earth is divided into new power blocs, the United States is united no more and the world is as riven with factional discord as it is today.


Peace and War

Peace and War

July 2007

There are few science fiction novels that can comfortably carry the label of 'classic' for long. The Forever War is one such novel, remaining as relevant now as it was when first published back in 1974.


The Year’s Best Science Fiction: Twenty Third Annual Collection

The Year’s Best Science Fiction: Twenty Third Annual Collection

July 2007

Every year for over two decades, Gardner Dozois has selected the best science fiction stories published in the previous year for his legendary Year’s Best SF collections. They are always huge (this one is over 600 pages and 300,000 words), and provide a hearty serving of reliably high quality reading.