Red Mars - Kim Stanley Robinson (1993)

Mars - the red planet - is a barren landscape of mankind's dreams of space. This book follows the colonisation of the planet, as a cratered wasteland is turned into a human habitation.

In spite of Robinson's turgid, heavy prose, 'Red Mars' is an absolutely fascinating book, due to the meticulous research that the author has obviously done into the science of colonising Mars. The characters are uniformly weak, but the story is fascinating.

Green Mars - Kim Stanley Robinson (1994)

Mars: the Green Planet. Man's dream of a new world is under way, but corrupted. Red Mars is gone, ripped apart by the violent and failed revolution of 2062. The First Hundred have scattered or died, and for the moment their dreams with them. The rebels are underground, dreaming of their utopia.

'Green Mars' continues the story of 'Red Mars'. The characters are, if anything, weaker, and the story begins to focus more on politics and society than on the science of terraforming. Interesting stuff, but not great.

Blue Mars - Kim Stanley Robinson (1995)

Mars has grown up It is fully terraformed - genetically engineered plants and animals live by newly built canals and young but stormy seas. It is politically independent. A brave and buzzing new world. Most of the First Hundred have died. Those that remain are like walking myths to Martian youth. Earth has grown too much Chronic overpopulation, bitter nationalism, scarce resourses. For too many Terrans, Mars is a mocking utopia. A dream to live for, fight for ... perhaps even die for.

Vurt - Jeff Noon (1994)

Winner of the 1994 Arthur C. Clarke award, "Vurt" is a dark tale of England a few years from now. Scribble and his fellow stash riders are hooked on Vurt Feathers, the most powerful drug available. It lets them escape but it has its dangers.

A fascinating, and surreal view of the near future with a fast-paced, well-written and compelling story.

Pollen - Jeff Noon (1996)

In a future Manchester, a cloud of pollen descends, each grain a killer. People sneeze themselves to death in the hay-fever epidemic that follows. Now a woman hunts the killer of her lover through the badlands populated by citizens that are formed from a mix of human, animal and computer software.

Probably a stronger story than 'Vurt', if anything, this is another story by Noon set in his bizarre and surreal vision of the Manchester of the future.

Nymphomation - Jeff Noon (1998)

Manchester is gripped by a new lottery game - "Domino Bones". Every Friday night, Manchester stills as the bones tumble into the winning combination. But there is only one real winner - the company that is taking over the city's dreams. Only a band of students can save the city from takeover.

Set before 'Vurt', 'Nymphomation' is as frenetically-paced and absorbing as Noon's other novels, and an excellent read.

Pixel Juice - Jeff Noon (2000)

"Pixel Juice" is a selection of fifty stories from Jeff Noon's fertile imagination, each one strange, telling, disturbing or sometimes just plain weird. Most of the tales are surprising such as finding an "off" switch for the human body.

An excellent selection of short stories by Noon.

Automated Alice - Jeff Noon (2000)

This is a reworking of Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland" which sees Alice transported in time from the Victorian ages to 1998 - automated age inhabited by weird and wonderful characters including "civil serpents" and "policedogmen".

A peculiar mix of 'Alice in Wonderland' and Noon's near-future vision of Manchester, written in Lewis Carroll's style. An interesting idea, but probably not my favourite of Noon's books.

Needle In The Groove - Jeff Noon (2001)

After years of playing in two-bit bands, Elliot gets his big chance - he meets a singer, a DJ and a drummer who seem to have everything. But just as their first dance record is climbing the charts, one of the band disappears.

Another experiment by Noon, this time discarding conventional grammar for rhythmic punctuation, driving the story.

Zodiac - Neal Stephenson (1988)

Troubleshooter and environmentalist Sangamon Taylor has his work cut out exposing contaminators and embarrassing powerful corporations. Chased by the FBI, the Mafia and a group of Satanists, he does a good job with the help of his Zodiac raft.

Probably not Stephenson's best work, but it is his earliest, and is still an interesting read. Set in the real world, with some good characters and a strong story.

Snow Crash - Neal Stephenson (1994)

In the future the only relief from the sea of logos is the computer-generated universe of virtual reality? But now a strange computer virus, called Snow Crash, is striking down hackers, leaving an unlikely young man as humankind's last hope.

Probably one of my favourite science-fiction stories of all time, Stephenson creates a future world of cyberpunk more believable and more readable than Gibson's 'Neuromancer'.

The Diamond Age - Neal Stephenson (reprinted 1998)

A nanotechnologist, John Hackworth, breaks the moral code of his tribe, the neo-Victorians. He has made an illict copy of a device called "A Young Lady's Primer". Its purpose is to raise and educate a girl capable of thinking for herself, but Hackworth's copy has fallen into the wrong hands.

Another superb view of the future by Neal Stephenson - easy-to-read, with good characters and story.

Cryptonomicon - Neal Stephenson (2000)

A panoramic novel of the latter half of the 20th century, ranging from World War II and the breaking of the Enigma code to more recent struggles for control of the Internet.

Interface - Neal Stephenson (reprinted 2002)

A combination of satire and thriller, this story occurs around the eve of the third millennium. Cozzano, a mid-Western governer has a biochip in his head, wired to a computerized polling system, tracking the mood of the electorate. The prospect of a radio-controlled President is not a good one.

An excellent satire by Neal Stephenson, and well worth reading, even if you're not a fan of science fiction.

Foundation - Isaac Asimov (reprinted 1971)

The first volume of Asimov's saga, which won the Hugo Award for Best All-Time Novel Series. The ostensible task of Foundation, a group of savants established by Seldon on the remote planet Terminus, is to compile the "Encyclopedia Galactica", a complete account of human knowledge.

Not just this book, but the whole Foundation series, constitute a superb vision of the far future by Asimov. The characters may be weak, but the story is incredibly strong.

Rendezvous With Rama - Arthur C. Clarke (reprinted 1991)

In the year 2130, a mysterious and apparently untenanted spaceship, Rama, enters the solar system. What is its purpose? Who is inside it? And why?

A supremely well written work of science fiction. The characters aren't very strong, but the book buzzes with ideas, posing hundreds of questions, and answering few. Unfortunately, the sequels to this book, written by Clarke with Gentry Lee don't do the continuing story justice.