Top 10 Sci-Fi And Fantasy Books (*)

30 Jan 2010 16:42 by Mark

(*) That I've read and own.

It's an old internet law that lists of favourite things are a requirement of all websites annually. Well, this year I'm getting mine in early.

I used to read a lot of fantasy but the genre holds less interest now that I'm older; science fiction has far more depth to it. Nevertheless, fantasy is represented here as there is a particularly cracking novel by C. J. Cherryh that I couldn't omit. To prevent the rest of the list from weighing too heavily in one author or another's favour I decided to limit my choices to only one book from any given author.

Enough waffle... to the list!


10. The Forge Of God by Greg Bear

The Earth's about to be demolished to make way for a hyperspatial express route... no, wait, that's something else entirely. But the Earth is about to be demolished and for the vast majority of the people on it that means a quite awe-inspiring description of death.


9. Against A Dark Background by Iain M. Banks

How do you like your dark novels? Dark? Well, has Iain M. Banks got a treat for you! Not only is there the word 'dark' in the title, but the story is a masterpiece of dark and depressing science fiction at its finest.


8. Engines Of God by Jack McDevitt

McDevitt's books are, essentially, archaeological sci-fi. Yes, you're right; that's a pretty specific genre that might not appeal to those who like their science fiction devoid of exploration and digging. Me? I like it. Engines Of God is in this list, though, not because of its archaeology and interplanetary historical detective work but because it contains a sequence of chapters that I can only describe as unputdownablehighoctanepageturners. One word: tsunami. Ooh! Lovely bit of writing.


7. The Chronicles Of Morgaine by C.J. Cherryh

The only fantasy representative on this list is actually three books in one! You're being spoiled! And there's more than a hint of sci-fi to satisfy the science fiction fan too. Gates to worlds separated by space and time, a sword called Changeling which has terrifying powers, and the best description of climate change gone awry you'll ever find.


6. The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester

Essentially a tale of revenge... and teleportation! What more could you possibly want to know?


5. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

Another internet law you may already be aware of is that all science fiction lists must contain Brave New World or 1984 or both whether you like them or not. I do like them both but of the two Brave New World pips George Orwell's classic to a place in my list due to its more prescient nature in depicting the world we live in today; one of luxuries and pleasure and inconsequential oddities to turn the population into sheep rather than pain and oppression.


4. The Stainless Steel Rat by Harry Harrison

One of the first books I read that introduced me to the concept of the anti-hero. James Bolivar DiGriz is a master criminal turned to the good side by former criminals to fight crime. Honest. His wife is a former homicidal maniac now reconditioned to be good. Honest.


3. I Am Legend by Richard Matheson

Forget the films. Really, really forget the films. They do not do justice to this stunning novel. The lone man fighting the world-turned-vampire you know about. The ending - the awesome twist ending - you need to read.


2. Revelation Space by Alastair Reynolds

In a very short time Alastair Reynolds has established himself as one of the finest science fiction authors of our time with his incredibly realistic vision of man's future; humanity split into different species by their lifestyles mix or fight in a galaxy without faster-than-light travel or wormholes. The sense of plausibility to Reynolds' universe lends a depth to the many stories.


1. Chung Kuo by David Wingrove

To finish with there's not one, not two, not three, not... I'll cut to the chase... there's eight novels at no extra cost to you. Chung Kuo is a richly detailed picture of a near-future Earth ruled by Chinese emperors in continent-spanning cities. Everyone has their place and, as is the case with these things, some people aren't happy with their place. The result is rebellion, intrigue, political plotting, and the most sadistic character/architect of destruction you'll likely ever read.

A FriendFeed Convergence

14 Jan 2010 19:28 by Mark

It can't have escaped your attention unless you're medically mental, run the world's narrowest browser, or are reading this through an RSS reader that I like FriendFeed.

I like it enough to embed my stream in this site. I like it enough that I spend far more time there than I do here. I like it enough that I'm using it to update this site right now by embedding a video made by FriendFeeders of FriendFeeders discussing things that include FriendFeed in this, a post littered with the word FriendFeed and even titled (borrowed directly from the video) with the very same name too.

Now, some people like farming and talking about their bras; for these people there is Facebook.

Some people like typing:


only in 140 characters or fewer. For these people there is Twitter.

I like social networking. There's only FriendFeed.



Video by Christopher Harley and starring the recently-married and most popular Scoble on FriendFeed Alex Scoble, the librarian who hates pants (and you thought such a thing didn't exist!) Holly, the farmer but not a Facebook FarmVille farmer Scott Mueller, and the words simply can't describe how awesome he is Derrick.

Lazy Science Fiction TV And Film

03 Jan 2010 15:20 by Mark

Science fiction - sci-fi, if you prefer your genres shortened and hyphenated - is the choice I pick more often than not when it comes to watching a television programme or movie. There are reasons for this: science fiction babes are hot, of course; fashion in science fiction is without equal; science fiction can make you think in a way that insipid romances in teen action comedies don't (positively, that is).

The brain's a wonderful thing. I like to think. I'm quite good at it even if I say so myself. So this is why it pains me when I see something I like - science fiction - lobotomised in the name of entertainment. In the last six months I've noticed I've become far more critical of the films and shows that I would ordinarily love; perhaps this ties in with the completion of the Battlestar Galactica series and the termination (pun alert) of The Sarah Connor Chronicles, both of which were great examples of science fiction done well with attention to detail and engrossing storylines.

Characters are important; when a character does something in a book, TV show, or movie I like to know why they've acted the way they did. When it doesn't make sense - when it's out of character - the role is spoiled. In a similar manner, where science fiction is involved, events and actions are important not just as to why they've occurred, but also how they've taken place. This is not to say there can't be suspension of disbelief; a little suspension is great as it tickles the wonderment ganglion in the cerebral cortex. I don't worry, for instance, about high energy radiation problems of warp generation or the puzzling inconsistencies in artificial gravity. I do, however, get irked when aliens try to take over a planet which is toxic to them: Martians and Signs Things, I'm looking at you here.

Star Trek
J. J. Abrams brought a fresh, new look to the cinema screens with Star Trek and overall I really liked it. Visually: lovely. Some nice touches and nods to the series. But...

• Romulans threatened by a supernova in another solar system? Possibly a little dangerous depending on proximity. However, not world-exploding dangerous. Also: not very fast, relatively-speaking; certainly not for a warp-capable race with incredibly well-armed mining vessels. No evacuations? Just blame the people trying to help? Weak plot and bad science all over this.
• One drop of red matter can destroy a planet; all the rest of the red matter together takes about as long to grudgingly eat up a mining vessel. Was it past its use-by date?
• Explosions in space do not push things away; they'd need an atmosphere to do that. As a means to escape the gravitational pull of a black hole... it's crap.
• Future Spock gets to watch Vulcan being destroyed in the sky from another planet? Not Vulcan's moon, no; this was definitely a planet somewhere after some warp travel from the recently-destroyed Vulcan to the Federation fleet. So we're talking a long way from Vulcan. Yet still able to see it in the sky. That's some nice and glossed-over (okay, yes, totally omitted) gravitational lensing going on there.
• Future Spock and Kirk are on an ice world. With dangerous carnivores. Large ones. Really, really large ones. Let's ignore that Spock marooned Kirk on this incredibly dangerous place and consider how these carnivores survive. What the hell is the food chain like there? Implausible, at best.

The Day Of The Triffids
The BBC recently remade this story and annoyed the living crap out of me. The novel isn't perfect (consider its age) but here's a hint: fix the flaws when remaking; don't pile more on top to hide them!

• There is no right to bear arms in the United Kingdom. We do not have gun stores. You cannot simply buy a gun without a legitimate reason very easily. Farmers do have shotguns. Some of the upper classes do enjoy to hunt. Criminals do have some weapons. Most of our police do not have guns. Most of our population has probably never seen a loaded weapon in real life. So... when happening upon a small village in the middle of the countryside there is a possibility that the two girls may have a shotgun or two between them. A rifle I might buy too. But machine guns? How? Where? Why? And how again? And they left with our hero still clutching their guns... and how much ammo again? Where? How? What?
• Disregarding everything that had happened previously and, in the last ten minutes, explaining a flashback and using a tribal mask to persuade the triffids to allow humans to pass through their hungry midst? What. The. Hell? I know it can be annoying to suddenly realise "I've no idea how to finish this story" but implementing a nonsensical mystical element that had no relevance to anything suffered through prior is insulting. Shower scene and dream seemed a little old hat perhaps?
• Triffids are hungry, hungry plants. Just like hippos. And the world is full of warm, tasty, blind food. And they're still plants, of course. Not sentient. So, why would a group of hungry plants lay an ambush inside a dark warehouse when all their blind, warm, tasty food in the plant-friendly sunshine is anywhere but there? Is there anybody who thinks that makes any sense?

Doctor Who: The End Of Time
I like Doctor Who. I've had a long chat with End Of Time writer Russell T. Davies before. It's a science fiction show with occasional flashes of brilliance and inventive writing. And then a complete car crash of a story comes along.

• Earth's got beefed-up defences these days, hasn't it? Aliens had better watch out! A Timelord in charge of a craft he's never been in before (I guess) made a bit of a mockery of them in that utterly pointless chase/fight sequence. What the hell was that about? There's no Disney tie-in to a game is there? There's no ride at a theme park is there? Who was that for? What did it solve?
• I don't care who you are: if you fall a long way from a fast-moving craft and smash through a roof to land on a stone floor... you... will... die. If that sort of thing doesn't worry you then little things like radiation certainly won't unless you're past caring anymore. Russell.
• We see The Doctor get angry at Wilf. We see The Doctor get upset at his pending regeneration (just like all his previous incarnations... oh no, I'm thinking of Buddhists). We see The Doctor do all the things he said could never be done by going back in time and saving former partners or making their lives better. In short: we see someone completely different. All in the name of making hormonal men and women sob a little and forget about all the shite that had happened before. Thanks.
• It turns out that Martha married Mickey. How do I know this? Because they took time out to tell one another what you imagine they probably already knew while in the middle of a battle. Like you would.
• If I had a Gauntlet Of Making Things Disappear Or Turn Back To What They Were Before In Case Someone Had Just Turned Them Into Something Else Or Something (available in all good Gallifrey stockists) then I'd use it when threatened. Maybe that's just me.
• Building up a big Return Of The Time Lords with talk of an idea through time multipled by billions of cloned Time Lord personalities and a showdown in London and history unravelling and so much more! ... that is foiled by shooting a diamond? Couldn't a cleaner have come in and unplugged it instead for comedic effect?
• Keeping quiet on a spaceship so you can't be detected from Earth? Really? Surely, even the Torchwood Giant Ear Trumpet can't hear people speaking through a vacuum. Surely.

Lazy writing, all of it. I could go on but I can't be bothered.

So, finally, movie producers, television show developers, writers of science fiction: can I ask a favour? Can you run your stories past me first so I can explain what's wrong with them and fix them before public consumption? Don't make 2010 a record year for head-shaking and tutting. Thanks.