Author: Alexandra

SF Sub-genres

AlexandraLeave a comment

Following on from an earlier post, Celebrating Military SF, and for those of you who are looking for something different, why not try one or two of the novels mentioned below. Each offers an alternate perspective and narrative to the category it is listed under. 

Of course, this is by no means a definite list but rather a cross section of books I’ve read over the years. 

ALIEN & FUTURE CULTURES

  • CODE OF CONDUCT by Kristine Smith

  • DUNE by Frank Herbert

  • FOREIGNER by C. J. Cherryh

  • GOLDEN WITCHBREED by Mary Gentle

  • THE SNOW QUEEN by Joan D. Vinge

ALIEN GATEWAYS

  • GATEWAY by Frederik Pohl

  • MIDNIGHT AT THE WELL OF SOULS by Jack L. Chalker

ALIEN INVASION 

  • THE VISITORS by Clifford D. Simak

  • THE PUPPET MASTERS by Robert A. Heinlein

  • CHAGA by Ian McDonald

  • CHILDHOOD’S END by Arthur C. Clarke

  • DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS by John Wyndham

ALT TIMELINE & ERAS

  • ACK-ACK MACAQUE by Gareth L. Powell

  • EUROPE, IN AUTUMN by Dave Hutchinson

  • THE LEGION PROPHECY by Mark A. Latham

COLONISATION

  • DESTINATION: VOID by Frank Herbert

  • DRAGONFLIGHT by Anne McCaffrey

  • EARTHSEED by Pamela Sargent

DYSTOPIAN

  • DARWIN’S RADIO by Greg Bear

  • DAUGHTER’S OF MOAB, THE by Kim Westwood

  • YEAR ZERO by Jeff Long

FIRST CONTACT 

  • ANCIENT SHORES by Jack McDevitt

  • CONTACT by Carl Sagan

FUTURISTIC DISASTERS

  • THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN by Michael Crichton

  • BEYOND THE BARRIER by Damon Knight

  • BLOOD MUSIC by Greg Bear

MILITARY SF

  • EMBERS OF WAR by Gareth L. Powell

  • GLORY MAIN by Henry V. O’Neil

  • HUNTING PARTY by Elizabeth Moon

  • ON BASILISK STATION by David Weber

  • VALOR’S CHOICE by Tanya Huff

  • VIRTUES OF WAR by Bennett R. Coles

HUMANITY TRANSFORMED

  • BABEL-17 by Samuel R. Delany

  • FLOWERS FOR ALGERNON by Daniel Keyes

  • SOLDIER, ASK NOT by Gordon R. Dickson

  • THE SEEDLING STARS by James Blish

  • THE SPEED OF DARK by Elizabeth Moon

Hopefully, this will give you some ideas of what book to chose next.

Little Things #1

AlexandraLeave a comment

Inspired by  Sam, Pedro and Iván, who started this wonderful quirky series, Little Things (which is a bit like Three Good Things, but weekly) I thought to set aside Sunday as a good day to reflect about what’s happened this last week. 

  • First up I took my TwelveSouth iPhone stand back to the Apple store and got a refund (all without a single quibble of protest on the part of the staff; a full refund was given) because I realised while it’s a great product, it’s just not for me, a single user charging their phone once a week. 

  • Second happy thing happened yesterday, the family met up to enjoy a hearty brunch together to celebrate a number of milestones; firstly, Mother’s Day, secondly, my nephew’s birthday at the end of April, thirdly the OH’s upcoming birthday in June and, lastly, a belated birthday celebration for my birthday way back at the beginning of March. So, with all that celebrating, as you can imagine, it was quite a noisy party. One that carried on afterwards at my nephew’s house for cake (only an hour after we’d all finished eating) but we did top it off with a long walk by the river, later in the afternoon.

  • Third positive thing that happened this week was our appointment on Tuesday with the Notary, to finalise our Last Will & Testaments before their registered with the Bureau of Notaries an the Government. Yay. Nothing like preparing for what happens after you pop this mortal coil.