“Never know when a gal might need a laser.”
Thomas Pynchon
- Becky Chambers. Admittedly this is on the strength of one book (The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet), but what a lovely book it is.
- Isaac Asimov. An oldie but a goodie; occasionally I just feel in the mood for a high-concept, low-character story, and his robot stories are perfect for that.
- Greg Egan. Again, on the strength of one series, which is probably cheating but whatevs. His Orthogonal series works with some really interesting ideas about science and culture without being preachy or shallow.
- Kameron Hurley. Her fantasy? Not so much. But her SF, if God’s War is anything to go by, is awesome. Don’t worry, I won’t quote that first line yet again (even though I want to).
- David Mitchell. Metafiction! Postmodernism! Hugo Lamb!
- Adam Roberts. I mostly prefer Roberts’ non-fiction to his science fiction, but his novels are interesting to think about, self-critical and subversive if not always the most interesting plot-wise.
- Thomas Pynchon. Another cheat, perhaps? Pynchon’s novels aren’t really genre, but the three I’ve read do all contain genre elements, and I think some of his concerns, certainly, are very science-fictional.
- Douglas Adams. What? Of course Adams counts: SF can be funny too.
- Charles Yu. How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe was clever and vital and brilliant and I’d love to read another novel by him.
- Ann Leckie. I just enjoy the complex politicking of her Ancillary series, and the effort it goes to to make that world alien.
(The theme for this post was suggested by the Broke and the Bookish’s weekly meme Top Ten Tuesday.)
The English Student 