Sci-Fi
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Huysman’s Pets by Kate Wilhelm Published by Gollancz in 1986 Drew Lancaster is asked to write the biography of the recently deceased Huysman. He’s not convinced he wants to do it but agrees to talk to Huysman’s widow. As he reads the Professor’s papers and talks to his colleagues, Lancaster gradually uncovers government sponsored experiments…
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SF Mistressworks has accepted my reviews! The project celebrates 20th Century sci-fi written by women and aims to make women writers more visible among what is perceived to be a male dominated genre. The first of my reviews was published on 17th February. I’m delighted. And now I have to go read more so I can…
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Starfarers, by Vonda N. McIntyre Published 1989 by Ace Books Starfarers is the story of a group of people who find themselves on a journey across the stars. For some that was their intention and for others it was the path circumstance led them down. They are scientists and artists for the most part. As…
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Damnation Alley by Roger Zelazny Published 1971, Faber and Faber This was so much fun. In a post-nuclear holocaust America only the coastal cities have survived. Boston has a plague that threatens its survival and Los Angeles has the cure. A messenger made the crossing to ask for the cure but didn’t survive the effects…
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Deathworld, by Harry Harrison Published 1960, by Bantam Books Humans have colonized many planets in the galaxy and in most places they live in sealed bubbles that provide a breathable atmosphere. But on one planet, life has become nothing more than a daily fight for survival. Every living thing on Pyrrus seems intent on destroying…
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Blue Remembered Earth, by Alastair Reynolds, is the first in the Poseidon’s Children sequence. Set one hundred and fifty years in the future, in a utopian society in which African is the dominant geographical power on earth, the moon and Mars are colonised, and asteroids are mined for water and minerals, the story centres around…
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How have I waited so long to read The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood? It’s a classic, and has been televised, and is the kind of thing that sometimes you don’t read because you think you know all you need to about it. The Handmaid’s Tale was published in 1985 and I really should have…
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I’ve read some of Neal Asher’s Polity novels and enjoyed them, so I thought I’d try the first in another of Asher’s series, The Departure. In a near-future dystopian version of earth, a totalitarian world government is hoarding resources and allowing the vast population to starve. Dissidents are dealt with by torture and scientists are…
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I’m supposed to like this, right? It’s a classic. And I remember I liked the film a lot when I was younger. Maybe that was just because Sting was in it. Dune by Frank Herbert has been sitting on my shelf for a good five years since it was bought for me by a friend…
Boudica Marginalia 