As an author who is also a patent attorney and an engineer, I often deal with projects that are the closest thing to science fiction. That is one of the driving forces behind my urge to write science fiction. However, I very much prefer realistic stories that may potentially come true to hard science fiction with intergalactic travel, robots all over, and time machines (although I have written space opera and a few other hardcore SF tales, and must admit having had fun with them). Still, I like realistic science fiction much more. It leaves more room for character development, and I find myself engrossed in it more easily.
This book shows the reader a world that may be in our future, one that in many ways is not so different from what happens right now in some parts of the world. John Wyndham is a fantastic writer, and his writing takes you in and gets you invested in the story from the first pages. I couldn’t stop thinking about my takeaway from this story for a long time; actually, I still go back to it now, after many years, and have reread it three times, always finding something more in it.
In the community of Waknut it is believed mutants are the products of the Devil and must be stamped out. When David befriends a girl with a slight abnormality, he begins to understand the nature of fear and oppression. When he develops his own deviation, he must learn to conceal his secret.
This story of alien invasion is hauntingly realistic and frighteningly fun. It has one of the most original plots I have ever seen and, despite the absurdity of the events recounted in it, this book has a ring of truth to it. You read something utterly preposterous and murmur to yourself, “this might happen!” After reading it, you will start looking at events around you differently.
The aliens wouldn't kill ... They'd take over earth and let man survive -- if he could. A few people tried to tell that Earth was being taken over by alien beings in the shape of bowling balls, talking dogs, dolls that walked like men. The trouble was, no one believed them.
This alternative history novel is a vision of what could well have been if things had gone slightly differently. The vision presented by the author is haunting because, throughout the book, you cannot free yourself of the thought that this could really have happened. It leaves you thinking about how easily your life could turn into a nightmare and how impotent you are to change the course of history. You finish the book feeling that you just dodged a bullet.
'Dick's best work, and the most memorable alternative world tale...ever written' SCIENCE FICTION: THE 100 BEST NOVELS
It is 1962 and the Second World War has been over for seventeen years: people have now had a chance to adjust to the new order. But it's not been easy. The Mediterranean has been drained to make farmland, the population of Africa has virtually been wiped out and America has been divided between the Nazis and the Japanese. In the neutral buffer zone that divides the two superpowers lives the man in the high castle, the author of an underground bestseller, a…
Robert Heinlein excels himself in this story narrated in the first person by a young woman, who is not really a human but rather a synthetic person but one you can relate to. Published in 1982, when much of the technology it describes was not yet in the realm of possibility, this book shows us an image of a chaotic world that may well be in our future. Serious issues sprinkled through this book’s pages are hidden between fun, fast action, a bit of licentious behavior, and some absurdity. Fun is guaranteed.
A CAEZIK Notable book. CAEZIK Notables is a series of speculative-fiction books marking important milestones in science fiction or fantasy. Each book published in the series has a new introduction highlighting the book’s significance within the genre.
“A charming protagonist in a story as sleekly engineered as a starship. This one should fly.”―Publishers Weekly
Friday is a secret courier and ardent lover. Employed by a man she only knows of as “Boss”, she is given the most awkward and dangerous cases, which take her from New Zealand to Canada, and through the new States of America’s disunion, all the way…
Every now and then, we need a reality check; we need to remind ourselves that we are very much dependent on events over which we have no control and that a small event may end up causing our view of our self-important world to crumble. The Chung-Li virus that starts everything in this hauntingly realistic novel teaches us how insignificant we are compared to the forces that govern events on this planet. I felt much humbler after reading this book, and in a good way.
A thought experiment in future-shock survivalism' Robert MacFarlane
'Gripping ... of all science fiction's apocalypses, this is one of the most haunting' Financial Times
WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY ROBERT MACFARLANE
A post-apocalyptic vision of the world pushed to the brink by famine, John Christopher's science fiction masterpiece The Death of Grass includes an introduction by Robert MacFarlane in Penguin Modern Classics.
At first the virus wiping out grass and crops is of little concern to John Custance. It has decimated Asia, causing mass starvation and riots, but Europe is safe and a counter-virus is expected any day. Except, it turns…
The chip in your brain is the source of your happiness and the key to your health. It guides you, it looks after you...and it turns you into a complacent slave.
When Kal, a young scientist, accidentally discovers how the chip is playing with his mind, his life is in danger. Amber is a chipless girl from afar with a problem of her own. They flee the city together. Amber is more important to the city rulers than Kal imagines. They must reach a safe destination, but time is running out for Kal. If they fail to get there in time, both his life and the hope of fighting the city tyrants will be lost.
I’ve always been fascinated by science fiction and by Biblical Scripture. That may seem dichotomous to some, but not to me. I have a passion for science and for Scripture because both bring understanding about our world from the microcosm to the macrocosm. My writings are a mixture of science and mystery with a science fiction feel and a Christian perspective. I like stories that show how truth arises even from the dark, confusing, and ambiguity of life to help one discover something about God they may not have considered before, and at the same time enjoy a fun, fast-paced, and exciting journey as they read.
Killion is born several generations after the establishment of the Cities of Light which now sprinkle each continent of the world, places where God’s spirit produces a tangible presence felt by all who enter. Yet he is raised outside these cities, under the direction of Adar, who teaches his followers that such cities are dangerous, run by cult leaders, kill any who disagree with their teachings, and should be avoided at all costs.
But circumstances cause Killion to enter a City of Light, and this begins his journey of discovery. What he experiences here doesn’t match what he thought he…
What if the knowledge of God's glory covered the earth like the waters cover the sea?
Killion is born several generations after the establishment of the Cities of Light which now sprinkle each continent of the world, places where God’s spirit produces a tangible presence felt by all who enter. Yet he is raised outside these cities, under the direction of Adar, who teaches his followers that such cities are dangerous, run by cult leaders, kill any who disagree with their teachings, and should be avoided at all costs.
But circumstances cause Killion to enter a City of Light, and…
