The Book Nook:

Science Fiction Recommendations:

These books are listed in no particular order, although now most-recently reviewed books will be placed at the top.

• B.A. Chepaitis: The Fear Principle. A very strong showing from this new author. In a near future, after a majority of humanity has been killed off, most violent crime is seen as a response of the perpetrator to their own fears, and prisoners are thus treated in such a way that they can confront their personal fears so that they can move beyond these and be cured. The main character, Jaguar Addams, works in such an establishment, using her empathic capabilities to effect such changes. In this novel, she finds that she will need to confront her own inner memories and demons as well. I look forward to future novels by Chepaitis.
• Joan D. Vinge: Psion. Cat is a complex character, a blocked psion street kid who finds himself in the midst of multiple and far-reaching plots. While not all the storyline is 100% believable, the characters and their developments are.
• L.E. Modesitt, Jr.: Of Tangible Ghosts. A well-written and provocative alternate-history novel which also happens to be a murder mystery and a political thriller as well. The alternate history is fully formed and believable, set in a country called Columbia (the United States) where the original Dutch settlers have had a lot more influence than in our own world. The existence of ghosts which linger especially after unexpected deaths has influenced the course of world history. Highly recommended.
• Maureen McHugh: China Mountain Zhang. Near-future SF set not in the typical white Western world, but involving a Chinese protagonist. Interesting character study and believable societal projections.
• George R.R. Martin: The Armageddon Rag. Reporter finds the Apocalypse coming in the form of a hard rock band -- or is it??
• Robert A. Heinlein: The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress. In my opinion, his best novel. Set on a moon whose inhabitants seek independence from an Earth whose ways are not their own. I named my first computer "Mycroft" in honor of the protagonist computer here.
• Neal Stephenson: Snow Crash. Cyberpunk with a sense of humor, likeable protagonists, and non-stop inventiveness. (Very rare for the sub-genre.)
• Sheri S. Tepper: Grass. Set in the far future, this book depicts a realistic alien world, plus humans we can care about, and their interactions. In this novel, a plague must be stopped.
• Vernor Vinge: A Fire Upon the Deep. Again, a well done depiction of aliens, and their interactions with the human survivors of a crashlanded spaceship who race against time.
• Walter Jon Williams: Aristoi. Set in the far far future, among decadent lords and ladies of technology, one of this upper class discovers a plot that will destroy humanity.
• William Gibson and Bruce Sterling: The Difference Engine. Alternate history set in Victorian England -- speculating as to what if Babbage had been able to start up the computer revolution at that time. A cross-genre book, this is also a thriller.
• Victor Koman: The Jehovah Contract. A hardbitten private eye gets a contract to kill God in a very dysfunctional near-future earth.
• Samuel R. Delaney: Babel 17. In a far future, this book explores the concept of how language may affect perception, and how perception may affect language. In order to break an enemy code, a linguist must first understand the meaning behind their language.
• eluki bes shahar: Hellflower Trilogy. Non-stop action in a richly different distant future. The various human cultures which have evolved, and the politics which seem to chase the viewpoint protagonist, Butterfly St. Cyr, from system to system make for fascinating reading.
• Frederick Pohl: The Space Merchants. In the near future, advertizing agencies will run the world. In part a spoof and satire.
• Octavia Butler: The Parable of the Sower. In a severely dysfunctional and splintered future "America", where people hide behind walls for an elusive safety, and survival is measured by tooth and claw, a young girl makes her way into a new ethos, bringing together a band of survivors who create/rediscover/sow a new/old ethos of caring, despite their very real differences.
• John Sladek: Roderick, Roderick at Random. In these humorous and satirical looks at a future world gone awry, Roderick is a young, artificial intelligence robot, looking at the society around him with naive eyes.

Last Updated: August, 1998