Necromancer Nine is the second book in the True Game trilogy by Sheri S. Tepper, following on from King’s Blood Four. It continues with the adventures of Peter, son of Mavin Manyshaped and the custodian of the Gamesmen of Barish. The Gamesmen are more than playpieces, they hold the pattern …

Inversions is another of Iain M. Banks’ Culture novels, involving two members of Culture who have slightly different views on how to go about influencing a more primitive civilisation toward a better way of life. Vosill is a doctor, and DeWar is a warrior, both ensconced in the society they …

The Left Hand of Darkness won both the Hugo and Nebula Awards, and after reading it, it is clear why. This is a work of social and political speculative fiction, combining the best of science fiction ideals with the most thorough and subtle of techniques to draw you into experiencing …

William Gibson’s cyberpunk novel Neuromancer sparked a new scifi genre when it was released in 1984. His ideas for the structure of information in cyberspace were weirdly predictive, and provided a novel approach to the future that dealt intimately with the technology of that era.

Combining high technology with urban violence, …

A Wizard of Earthsea is the classic fantasy novel by Ursula K. Le Guin. It has delighted readers since it’s publication in 1968 with it’s story of magic and personal growth, and remains a favourite of mine since I first read it as a child.

A Wizard of Earthsea describes the …

Days of Grass is a novel set several generations after the invasion of earth. Esther is a girl living in an underground shelter, with the descendants of people who fled there during the take over.

Tanith Lee manages to create a twilight world underground, redolent with dark tunnels and the inevitability …

Quarantine is a book set in the near future, much of the culture is the same, but there have been improvements in some technology that make life a bit different. Neural mods can be used to carry software in the brain, instead of on computer, from simple calculators to complex …

Sometimes you come across a novel that is just right. It has all the bits you’re looking for and it’s interesting and funny and creative, and you read it over and over. King’s Blood Four is like this. The first published novel of Sheri S. Tepper, and the first in …

George Orr has dreams. Sometimes he has bad dreams, but no more than anyone else. He takes drugs to keep from dreaming. Because sometimes his dreams come true.

Sometimes when he wakes up, his dream is true, and it always has been, everyone believes the ‘new’ reality, everyone but him. When …

Tales of the Bard in many ways epitomises what I expect from a good fantasy series. It is a series I’ve read several times now, it’s fun and interesting and has a dark side, central characters really die, and the ones that don’t develop as they go along. I find …