Gender

There is a fascinating discussion 'how do you know your gender' here The healthy disrespect of gender is one of the things that keeps me intrigued by science fiction.

My wife objects the use of the term gender in this context, so don't tell her I was here :)

20 Novels

Here are my top 20 novels. I don't claim that this is a definitive list. Nor is it 'the top 20 science fiction novels of all time' because some of these are fantasy, others are mainstream fiction with a strong speculative element. I'm not really counting either, so there may be more than 20 in the list. It might change too.

The links in the following list are to reviews. 

His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman. Awesome.

Dune, Frank Herbert. Camp luvlyness with big worms.

The House of the Spirits, Isabel Allende. Magical. Poor Barabas.

 
The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K LeGuin. Adventures at the end of the gender ice age.

The Sparrow, Mary Doria Russell. Jesuits in space. Beautifully drawn.

Look to Windward, Iain M Banks. Restored my jaded sense of wonder.

Animal Farm, George Orwell.

 
Childhood's End, Arthur C Clarke. One of the first books to stop me cold.

Neuromancer, William Gibson. Pretty good actually, for an epoch-maker.

The Bridge, Iain Banks. Proper writing, innit.

Helliconia, Brian Aldiss. Still strangely vivid in my memory after many years.

Eon, Greg Bear. Some fine set peices.

The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood. Dystopia, plainly spoken.


The Midwich Cuckoos, John Wyndham. I worked in a saltmine in Middlewich.

Slaughterhouse Five, Kurt Vonnegut. Mork in the ruins of Dresden. Heartbreaking.

American Gods, Neil Gaiman. Superbly colourful.

 
Brave New World, Aldous Huxley. Dystopia's grandaddy.

Foundation, Isaac Asimov. Deeply influential in theme and style.

Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkein. You probably haven't heard of this overlooked slim volume.


Solaris Stanislaw Lem. A head-scratching wonder.

Children of Men, P.D. James. Recently filmed.

Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury. Flaming good book.

The Days of Rice and Salt, Kim Stanley Robinson. What if?

Gormenghast, Mervyn Peake. Big in every way.

Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert Heinlein.

Shikasta, Doris Lessing. A world changing book.

Honourable Mentions

My favourite book, Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson is not in this list. Although the author is fond of magic realism, this book is probably the most vividly real book that I've ever read. I know these people. If I ever achieve anything of this standard, I will die a happy man.

The Last Legends of Earth, A.A Attanasio. Best opening.

The Worm Ourouboros. E.R.Eddison. Massive. 

Great Works of Science Fiction

Wikipedia has a list of great science fiction novels here. There are a few missing, methinks. There is no Solaris, for example. There is another list at Locus, here.

I think I'll conduct a poll of myself and publish the results. Watch this space. 

Kurt Vonnegut, RIP, 1922-2007

The death of Kurt Vonnegut was announced today.
 
Wiki. Home page. Fansite 

Picture

Miss Zifa's Private Lessons

Queenie felt her heart surge when she saw the tall silhouette of Miss Zifa against the frosted glass of her door. She arranged her books neatly on the table, laid her pens precisely next to them, folded her arms and allowed her legs a little bit of swing over the distant floor. Miss Zifa's private lessons made her feel special.

    Queenie's mum opened the door, peered through the crack and then undid the security chain, allowing it to swing open all the way. Miss Zifa stepped inside, perhaps looking a little uncomfortable, and Queenie's mum handed her a couple of notes.

    "Good evening Queenie."

    "Good evening Miss Zifa. I did my homework."

    "Good girl." Miss Zifa and Queenie's Mum exchanged an absence of looks. "I see you have your books all laid out."

    "Yes." Queenie's heart swelled with pride and imagined that heaven smiled on her. Queenie saw tall men with hats through the glass and a shorter figure, who she hoped was her friend who told her secrets.

    Queenie's Mum pushed the door too but it didn't close. The tall men pushed it back open and Queenie's Mum started to scream, over and over.

    "Queenie!"   

    "Hello Queenie." Her friend sat down by the table and looked down at her exercise books. Miss Zifa had started to cry, she noticed, not loudly like her Mum, but very gently and her hands were clenched so tightly that her palms were bleeding. Her friend opened the exercise book. "What are these, Queenie."

    "Sums." Queenie beamed, but not so brightly as before, because she was confused about her Mum and Miss Zifa.

    "And who told you about sums, Queenie."

    "Miss Zifa."

    "Why did she do that?"

    "Because Mummy wanted me to learn proper sums."

    "Proper sums. What did she mean by that." Queenie shrugged, eyes wider now. "Well then, what's this circle here for? Do you remember what I told you about this symbol, Queenie."

    "Is this part of my lesson?"

    "This is the start of some very special private lessons, just for you Queenie."

    "You said it was made up by evil people from far away to trick us away from what God wants."

    "Very good-"

    "But-"

    "Hmm?"

    Queenie hugged her shoulders up and her head down in between them, smiling her most winning smile.

    "Its only a zero, silly."

    "Take them away."