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Science Fiction - authors and favourites

Fiction books by science authors, and their recommendations for reading in the SF field. Click on the book's name or the summary to find out more (where there are 'buy at Amazon' buttons we don't have a detailed review yet.

Blood Music	Greg Bear	A biological experiment escapes and changes the world, as intelligent blood cells sweep through humanity.	Author's favourite - Marcus Chown
The City and the Stars	Arthur C. Clarke	Incredible sweep in a book that covers millions of years in the history of the amazing city of Diaspar.	Author's favourite - Marcus Chown
Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency	Douglas Adams	The humour is not as strong as in the Hitchhiker books, but the SF is probably better. Adams' enthusiasm for Apple Macs comes through strongly. Dirk is a very strange PI - but you'd have to be to cope with a sofa that's stuck on your stairs and a wild horse in the bathroom. Although I loved the radio series of Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy, this works better as a book.	Author's favourite - Brian Clegg
Fairyland	Paul McAuley	Amazing ideas and disturbing possibilities of a near future of mental and physical modification that despite being dark still manages to be an engaging story.	Author's favourite - Brian Clegg
Felicity Frobisher and the Three Headed Aldebaran Dust Devil	Marcus Chown	Engaging and fun story of the difficulties of having a troublesome secret friend who just happens to be an alien.	Science author's fiction (children's - junior)
Flowers for Algernon	Daniel Keyes	The deeply moving story of Charlie Gordon, a man whose extremely low IQ is boosted by experimental drugs until he becomes a genius - only to regress again. Written in the first person in the form of a diary, the story of Charlie's rise and knowing fall, with the precursor of test mouse Algernon is unmatched in SF literature (and rarely rivalled anywhere else).	Author's favourite - Brian Clegg
George's Secret Key to the Universe	Lucy and Stephen Hawking	George has a revelation when he meets Annie, her dad and the world's most powerful computer. A little heavy on the science, but mostly pulls it off.	Science author's fiction (children's - junior)
Psychoshop	Alfred Bester and Roger Zelazny	At its most basic, a psychic pawnbroker's shop based around a black hole that has been trading in physical and mental capabilities for over 2000 years.	Author's favourite - Brian Clegg
The Space Merchants	Frederik Pohl and Cyril Kornbluth	Simply one of the best ever, the Space Merchants shows us a world where advertising has taken over and a few unscrupulous corporates rule. It's a hilarious black comedy with action adventure thrown in.	Author's favourite - Brian Clegg
The Sun and the Moon Corrupted	Philip Ball	As a young journalist gets deeper into the world of fringe physics, we discover a dark history. Lots of real world insights, and a gripping story, though ending is weak.	Science author's fiction (adult)

This is inevitably a very small selection of what's out there in the science fiction world. For a broad science fiction book review site, see SF Site, or for a more random but interesting collection of reviews and features, Infinity Plus. For a wide selection of writing by active scientists, or that feature 'real world' science see Lab Lit - a fair amount of the writing is amateur, but there's some good stuff on there.

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