Search Results for: masterworks

In the year 2038, the earth has been ravaged by earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Retroviruses run rampant through humanity. Economic disaster has destabilised the world, the US has undergone a socialist revolution, and the balance of power has changed.

Then the aliens arrive.

With no clear understanding of the visitors’ intent, factions form, including the anti-alien group White Queen, working to turn humans against these extra-terrestrial tourists. Caught in the middle is Johnny Guglio, an American exile whose only fault was living near the landing site, and Braemar Wilson, a cutthroat reporter who will do whatever she needs to get ahead of the story. And for better or for worse, it seems being caught in the middle is the best place for them to uncover the truth.

Winner of the 1991 James Tiptree Jr. Award, WHITE QUEEN is the first in Gwyneth Jones’ critically acclaimed Aleutian Trilogy.

Listed by the Guardian as one of the top 100 science fiction books of the 21st century.

On the barren surface of an asteroid, located deep in the galaxy beneath the unbearable light of the Kefahuchi Tract, lie three objects: an abandoned spacecraft, a pair of bone dice covered with strange symbols, and a human skeleton.

What they are and what they mean are the mysteries explored and unwrapped in LIGHT, M. John Harrison’s triumphant novel.

Ian Watson¿s brilliant debut novel was one of the most significant publications in British sf in the 1970s. Intellectually bracing and grippingly written, it is the story of three experiments in linguistics, and is driven by a searching analysis of the nature of communication. Fiercely intelligent, energetic and challenging, it immediately established Watson as a writer of rare power and vision, and is now recognized as a modern classic.

It was beginning to look as though no one could prevent the annihilation of the civilized Universe. For a weird intelligence was directing the destruction of all civilization from the icy depths of outer space.

Kim Kinnison of the Galactic Patrol was one of the few men who knew how near the end was. And in the last desperate stratagem to save the Universe from total destruction, he knew he had to use his children as bait for the evil powers of the hell-planet Ploor . . .

Children of the Lens is the sixth self-contained novel in E. E. ‘Doc’ Smith’s epic Lensman series, one of the all-time classics of adventurous, galaxy-spanning science fiction.

The BOLD AS LOVE series is a world of daring, dread and enchantment, a world that could almost be ours: a brilliant combination of myth, magic and pop culture.

Ax Preston, Sage Pender and Fiorinda, charismatic leaders of the Rock-n-Roll Reich, have beaten the cascade of disasters that followed the collapse of the former United Kingdom. Now they have to find some resolution to the impossible dynamics of their own relationship, while the world keeps falling apart. There are fearsome things going on in England’s rural hinterland, and in Continental Europe the green nazis are planning a final solution to desperate environmental damage. But there’s nothing the Triumvirate can’t handle – until Fiorinda’s father, a monster of the kind the world has never before known, reaches out to reclaim his magical child, the flower-bride.

And that’s when darkness falls over Ax’s England . . .

Harrowing . . . enchanting – a dark fairy tale with an epic sweep, set in a world very like our own.

The Road can go Anywhere.

The Road can go Anywhen.

Almost.

Red Dorakeen has been on the Road for a very long time. For all of time, in fact. It stretches infinitely into the future and past, with exits that take him wherever, or whenever, he wants to go.

But he can’t find the place he wants to be.

He’s not the only one who can travel the Road, and as people join and leave, they can alter the past, or the future, to suit their whims. Exits close off, become overgrown, and working out what to change back to return to old timelines could take, well . . . forever.


Fortunately, Red has all the time he could ever need.


Roadmarks is a fantastically mind-bending novel from one of SFF’s most influential authors. It weaves together linear and non-linear narratives in a compelling tale full of mystery and magic.

H.G. Wells’ great novel of the dangers of science describes a man cast out from society by his own terrifying discovery.

THE INVISIBLE MAN tells the story of Griffin, a brilliant and obsessed scientist dedicated to achieving invisibility. Taking whatever action is necessary to keep his incredible discovery safe, he terrorises the local village where he has sought refuge. Wells skilfully weaves the themes of science, terror and pride as the invisible Griffin gradually loses his sanity and, ultimately, his humanity.

It is the twenty-first century. On Mars a dedicated group of pioneers – among them some of Earth’s finest brains – struggle to change the face of the planet . . .

Science fiction writer Martin Gibson finally gets a chance to visit the research colony on the Red Planet. It’s a dream come true – until he discovers the difficulties and perils of survival on another world . . . and the very real terror it holds.

The Earth is long dead, blasted apart, and the human survivors who settled on Venus live in huge citadels beneath the Venusian seas in an atrophying, class-ridden society ruled by the Immortals – genetic mutations who live a thousand years or more. Sam Reed was born an immortal, born to rule those with a normal life-span, but his deranged father had him mutilated as a baby so that he wouldn’t know of his heritage. And Sam grew up on the wrong side of the tracks and the law, thinking of the Immortals as his enemies. Then he reached the age of eighty, understood what had happened to him and went looking for revenge – and changed his decaying world forever.

Fury is a powerful, dark and compelling novel that explores the sensual, bloody and urgent nature of humankind’s striving.

A moving, compulsive science fiction novel from one of the best writers in the field

When the human settlers arrived on Hobbs Land, the native intelligent species, the Owlbrit, were already almost extinct. Before the last one died, a few years later, the humans had learned a little of their language, their ideas and their religion. It seemed the natural thing for the settlers to maintain the last Owlbrit temple, with the strange statue that was its God. When that God died – disintegrating overnight – it seemed equally natural to start preparing its replacement.

Maire Manone came to Hobbs Land to escape the harsh patriarchal religion of Voorstod, but Voorstod hasn’t forgotten her – or forgiven her. But the men who arrive on Hobbs Land to find and return Maire to her homeland haven’t taken Hobbs Land’s God into account …

Kalypso Deed is a shotgun, riding the interface between the AI Ganesh and human scientists who solve problems through cyberassisted Dreams. But she’s young and a little careless; she’d rather mix drinks and play jazz. Azamat Marcsson is a colorless statistician: middle-aged, boring, and obsessed with microorganisms. A first-class nonentity – until one of his Dreams implodes, taking Kalypso with it.

Now Ganesh is crashing, and nothing could be worse. For on the planet T’nane, it is the AI alone that keeps the colonists alive, eking out a grim existence in an environment inimical to human life. To save the colony, Kalypso must persuade Marcsson to finish the Dream that is destroying Ganesh. But Marcsson has gone mad, and T’nane itself has plans for them both that will alter their minds-and their world – forever.

Two scientists develop a foodstuff that causes unparalleled growth in animals and humans. The results of their experimentation lead to chaos and unforseen consequences throughout the land.

THE FOOD OF THE GODS deals with many issues which are still present in science today and is a both witty and disturbing tale.

Francis Conway is Swill – one of the 90% in the year 2041 who must subsist on the inadequate charities of the state. A young boy growing. Life, already difficult, is rapidly becoming impossible for Francis and others like him, as government corruption, official blindness and nature have conspired to turn Swill homes into watery tombs. And now the young boy must find a way to escape the approaching tide of disaster.

THE SEA AND SUMMER, published in the US as THE DROWNING TOWERS, is George Turner’s masterful exploration of the effects of climate change in the not-too-distant future. Comparable to J.G. Ballard’s THE DROWNED WORLD, it was shortlisted for the NEBULA AWARD and won the ARTHUR C. CLARKE AWARD.

It’s just a little later than now and Lola Hart is writing her life in a diary. She’s a nice middle-class girl on the verge of her teens who schools at the calm end of town.

A normal, happy, girl.

But in a disintegrating New York she is a dying breed. War is breaking out on Long Island, the army boys are flamethrowing the streets, five Presidents have been assassinated in a year. No one notices any more. Soon Lola and her family must move over to the Lower East side – Loisaida – to the Pit and the new language of violence of the streets.

The metamorphosis of the nice Lola Hart into the new model Lola has begun …

ENTER THE ADMINISTRATION

Peretz spends his days navigating the bureaucracy of the Administration, the institute tasked with governing the Forest below. Except no one ever seems to go there, and his attempts only trap him further within the workings of this strange organisation.

ENTER THE FOREST

Candide cannot remember how he got to the Forest, and he is certain he belongs somewhere else. Determined to escape, he finds that all paths lead him round strange bends and into encounters with bizarre creatures.

NOTHING IS AS IT SEEMS

This classic SF novel sees Boris and Arkady Strugatsky meditate on how little man can understand of the wider world, and in doing so produce one of the great literary works to come out of Soviet Russia.

The book that reinvented Space Opera – from the Hugo and World Fantasy Award-winning author of The Terror, which is now a chilling TV show.

It is the 29th century and the universe of the Human Hegemony is under threat. Invasion by the warlike Ousters looms, and the mysterious schemes of the secessionist AI TechnoCore bring chaos ever closer.

On the eve of disaster, with the entire galaxy at war, seven pilgrims set fourth on a final voyage to the legendary Time Tombs on Hyperion, home to the Shrike, a lethal creature, part god and part killing machine, whose powers transcend the limits of time and space. The pilgrims have resolved to die before discovering anything less than the secrets of the universe itself.

Readers are hooked on Hyperion:

‘One of the best epic, old mythology, and literature inspired, mindblowing, amazingly ingeniously written space operas‘ Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

‘The scope of imagination, wordplay, and critical analysis of humankind is astounding . . . this is a story-driven narrative, and the stories that we’re given are well worth the entry into a brave, new, unfamiliar world‘ Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

‘Hyperion has that indescribable, almost lovecraftian terror, dread and brooding present throughout’ Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

‘Combine the artful poetry of John Keats with a science fiction retelling of the Canterbury Tales . . . what you have is Hyperion. A masterpiece of literature‘ Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

‘A science fiction classic . . . If you count yourself an sf fan you need to read this. If you just want to read a damn good book this is also for you‘ Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

The Styths, a powerful and aggressive mutant race from the Gas Planets, Uranus and Saturn, have been launching pirate raids on ships from Mars. Earth’s Committee for the Revolution has been asked to mediate, to negotiate a truce between the Middle Planets and the Styth Empire. The task of conducting the talks falls to an intelligent, resourceful and unpredictable young woman, Paula Mendoza. Her initial meetings with the Styth warlord and his unruly band of bodyguards and advisers are not promising.

But then Paula adopts a less conventional approach. The consequences for her are considerable and she finds herself on the Gas Planets, the only tenuous link between Earth and the Styth Empire …

In the aftermath of an atomic war, a new international movement of pacifism has arisen. Multitudes of young men have chosen to curb their aggressive instincts through voluntary amputation – disarmament in its most literal sense.

Those who have undergone this procedure are highly esteemed in the new society. But they have a problem – their prosthetics require a rare metal to function, and international tensions are rising over which countries get the right to mine it . . .

Frank Herbert’s classic SF tale of an insect menace threatening the USA

First published in 1973, Frank Herbert’s vivid imagination and brilliant view of nature and ecology have never been more evident than in this classic of science fiction.

America is a police state, and it is about to be threatened by the most hellish enemy in the world: insects.

When the Agency discovered that Dr Hellstrom’s Project 40 was a cover for a secret laboratory, a special team of agents was immediately dispatched to discover its true purpose and its weaknesses – it could not be allowed to continue. What they discovered was a nightmare more horrific and hideous than even their paranoid government minds could devise.

A stunning work from the acclaimed author of Dune, the series which inspired the 2021 Denis Villeneuve epic film adaptation, Dune, starring Oscar Isaac, Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya and Josh Brolin.

A classic of political science fiction

Arslan is a young Asian general who has conquered the USA and then the world, with a small town in Illinois as the capital of his new empire.

Praised by the likes of Orson Scott Card and Samuel R. Delany, ARSLAN is a thoughtful but uncompromising work, one which still retains the power to shock.

The space-pirates of Boskone raided at will, menacing the whole structure of interstellar civilization. Master-minded by a super-scientist, their conquering fleets outgunned even the mighty space cruisers of the Galactic Patrol.

When Lensman Kim Kinnison of the Patrol discovered the secret Boskonian base, it was invulnerable to outside attack. But where a battle-fleet would meet insuperable resistance, a single infiltrator might penetrate the Boskonian defenses – if he had the guts to take on million-to-one odds. Kinnison had guts enough to take on the odds – even with the future of the civilized Universe riding on his shoulders . . .

Galactic Patrol is the first self-contained novel in E. E. ‘Doc’ Smith’s epic Lensman series, one of the all-time classics of adventurous, galaxy-spanning science fiction.

In an America where the miraculous is par for the course, where magic and myths are as real as shopping malls and television game shows, Jennifer Mazdan listens to the modern storytellers recite the tales of the Founders.

But when strange things start to happen and Jennie becomes pregnant – from a dream – she enters a struggle which threatens her own life and causes her to question everything she has ever learned.

Unquenchable Fire won the Arthur C. Clarke Award in 1989.

For many generations the Just have been at war with the Protectors. In their strange world, supported by a huge pillar poised in the vast and mysterious Deep, ritual bloodshed and sorcery have obsessed the inhabitants since the beginning of time.

Half human, half machine, sexless and hairless, the Visitor from the skies enters the world on a mission unknown even to himself. Is he a peacemaker between the warrior clans, an observer, or, with his phenomenal qualities, a warrior himself, the likes of which this planet has never seen before?

Only time can tell, and time is something that his makers have not allowed for …

The multi-award-winning SF masterpiece from one of the greatest SF writers of all time

Rama is a vast alien spacecraft that enters the Solar System. A perfect cylinder some fifty kilometres long, spinning rapidly, racing through space, Rama is a technological marvel, a mysterious and deeply enigmatic alien artefact.

It is Mankind’s first visitor from the stars and must be investigated …

Winner of the HUGO AWARD for best novel, 1974
Winner of the NEBULA AWARD for best novel, 1973
Winner of the JOHN W. CAMPBELL AWARD for best novel, 1974
Winner of the BSFA AWARD for best novel, 1973