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Science fiction and fantasy
A List Of Highly Acclaimed SFF Books
I don't always have time to review every book I come across, but I like making lists.This page is dedicated to those
works that I haven't had time for, for whatever reason. Sometimes that's because I didn't have anything to say that
hadn't been said by a million other people first, although there are a lot of reasons I don't get round to sharing my
opinions. And, for want of a better system, I'm presenting them in rough order of acclaim, as judged by how many
shiny awards their creators collected for them.
 Works with an awards icon have won at least one major
award (for example a Hugo, Nebula, Carnegie, Tiptree, Gemmell, Clarke, BFS, Whitbread, Orange,
Smarties, Booker or something similar). "Major" meaning, in this case, "something I have heard of". I know that's
fairly arbitrary, but so are awards, which often boil down to the personal taste of whoever is doing the judging.
 Works with this icon have been shortlisted for at
least one major award (and may also have won minor ones).
 This icon means the work has won at least one minor
award.
- Paper Girls Volume 1 by Brian K. Vaughan and Cliff Chiang (2016)
For a group of young paper girls, delivering the news without getting picked on by local teenagers is challenging enough. But alien-like invaders, disappearances and other creepy occurences come to their small town in this graphic novel.
Genre: science fiction YA
- Lumberjanes Volume 1: Beware The Kitten Holy by Noelle Stevenson, Grace Ellis and Brooke Allen (2015)
A group of girls discover their summer camp is a hotbed of mystery, supernatural monsters, and dodgy puns. A graphic novel.
Genre: fantasy
- The Drowning Girl by Caitlin R. Kiernan (2012)
A woman with madness in her family is haunted by a painting, and by a woman who may not exist.
Genre: horror
- The Walking Dead: The Heart's Desire by Robert Kirkman, Charlie Adlard and Cliff Rathburn (2005)
The fourth volume in the Walking Dead series sees the survivors fight heartbreak and fears that they are becoming increasingly savage.
Genre: horror
- Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke (2004)
Most of the magic has left England, until two magicians appear in the nineteenth century. But they become rivals.
Genre: fantasy
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling (2000)
As Harry experiences his fourth year at Hogwarts a prestigious international wizarding tournament comes to the school. The fourth novel in the Harry Potter series.
Genre: fantasy YA
- The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman (1999)
The third novel in the His Dark Materials trilogy.
Genre: fantasy YA
- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J. K. Rowling (1999)
A convicted murderer has broken out of the prison of Azkaban and the wizarding school of Hogwarts is being patrolled by dementors. The third novel in the Harry Potter series.
Genre: fantasy YA
- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J. K. Rowling (1998)
A young wizard returns to Hogwarts, only to find other pupils are being turned to stone. The second novel in the Harry Potter series.
Genre: fantasy
- Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J. K. Rowling (1997)
A young orphan boy discovers he is actually a wizard. The first novel in the Harry Potter series.
Genre: fantasy
- Blue Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson (1996)
Mars is fully terraformed, whilst Earth is threatened with overpopulation and ecological catastrophe. The third novel in the Mars trilogy.
Genre: science fiction
- Green Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson (1993)
The colonisation of Mars continues. The second novel in the Mars trilogy.
Genre: science fiction
- Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson (1992)
Mankind begins to colonise Mars. But can a new frontier escape old tensions? The first novel in the Mars trilogy.
Genre: science fiction
- Born With The Dead/The Saliva Tree by Robert Silverberg and Brian W. Aldiss (1988)
Two novellas. After a meteor shower, a farm becomes unnaturally fertile. And the dead walk in the world, but one widower is unable to contact his late wife.
Genre: science fiction
- The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood (1985)
In the repressive state of Gilead, Offred is a Handmaid. She has few rights and many restrictions, and society values her only for her ability to breed.
Genre: science fiction
- Neuromancer by William Gibson (1984)
Case is a hacker who has been crippled and shut out of virtual reality in this cyberpunk novel.
Genre: science fiction
- The Left Hand Of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin (1969)
An envoy comes to the planet Winter, where people are able to change from male to female and back, to persuade the locals to join an interstellar alliance.
Genre: science fiction
- Bitch Planet Volume One: Extraordinary Machine by Kelly Sue DeConnick and Valentine De Landro (2015)
In a harsh future difficult women are consigned to a prison planet and forced to fight in a brutal game. A graphic novel.
Genre: science fiction
- Eyepennies by Mike O'Driscoll (2012)
A musician experiences haunted dreams in this novella.
Genre: horror
- The Respectable Face Of Tyranny by Gary Fry (2012)
An indebted man living in a caravan starts to glimpse monsters in this novella.
Genre: horror
- The Kind Folk by Ramsey Campbell (2012)
An impressionist begins to suspect that he is only playing at being human, and that he is being followed by malevolent fairies who want him back.
Genre: fantasy
- Where Furnaces Burn by Joel Lane (2012)
A West Midlands police officer deals with a series of increasingly weird cases in this collection of linked stories.
Genre: horror
- From Hell To Eternity by Thana Niveau (2012)
A collection of short tales of supernatural horror.
Genre: horror
- The Woman Who Married A Cloud by Jonathan Carroll (2012)
A collection of short stories. It features stories about God and linked souls, the magic of money, and houses that remember.
Genre: fantasy
- Throne Of The Crescent Moon by Saladin Ahmed (2012)
An elderly ghoul-hunter who would like nothing better than to retire is forced to confront an ancient sorcerer threatening to seize the Throne of the Crescent Moon.
Genre: fantasy
- Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins (2010)
As the rebellion against the Capitol gains momentum, Katniss is asked to become the face of the Resistance. But what will such open defiance cost her and those she cares about? The third book in The Hunger Games trilogy.
Genre: science fiction YA
- Vellum by Hal Duncan (2005)
A young man steals an ancient book that transports him to a different version of reality. But a supernatural war is brewing, and nothing is as it seems in this complex narrative. The first volume in The Book Of All Hours series.
Genre: fantasy
- Temeraire by Naomi Novik (2005)
At the time of the Napleonic wars, British sailors capture a French ship carrying a dragon egg. When it hatches the dragon must choose a rider, a close bond that will utterly change the rider's life. The first book in the Temeraire series.
Genre: steampunk
- Coalescent by Stephen Baxter (2003)
A man searches for a sister he never knew. In the distant past, a woman tries to survive as the Roman Empire crumbles. The first novel in the Destiny's Children series.
Genre: science fiction
- The Years Of Rice And Salt by Kim Stanley Robinson (2002)
In the middle ages plague wiped out most of the people in western Europe. This is the story of history as it might have been if oriental civilisations had shaped it.
Genre: steampunk
- Gardens Of The Moon by Steven Erikson (1999)
The Malazan Empire is locked in perpetual warfare as mages, soldiers, and the Empress engage in a battle for supremacy. The first book in the Malazan Book Of The Fallen series.
Genre: fantasy
- Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson (1992)
In a world where armed corporations have taken over from governments and pizza delivery is life or death, a new drug comes on the market.
Genre: science fiction
- Queen Of Angels by Greg Bear (1990)
A public defender is tasked with bringing in a poet and mass murderer. Meanwhile, computers at Alpha Centauri and on Earth look for life and contemplate self-awareness and the soul. The first novel in the Queen Of Angels series.
Genre: science fiction
- Weaveworld by Clive Barker (1987)
When an odd old lady is taken ill, workmen enter her house and clear a carpet that seems to contain a world.
Genre: fantasy
- The Memory Of Whiteness by Kim Stanley Robinson (1985)
A junkie musician tours the solar system, performing on a one-man instrument known as The Orchestra.
Genre: science fiction
- The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice (1985)
The story of a French aristocrat who becomes undead. The second novel in The Vampire Chronicles.
Genre: horror
- Firestarter by Stephen King (1980)
A child is born with extraordinary psychic powers.
Genre: horror
- 1984 by George Orwell (1949)
Winston Smith lives in a society dominated by the Party, where his every move and thought is monitored by Big Brother, and dissent is not tolerated.
Genre: science fiction
- Rat Queens Volume Three: Demons by Kurtis J. Wiebe and Tess Fowler (2016)
In the third episode of the Rat Queens series the Queens travel to a mage university in search of answers. A graphic novel.
Genre: fantasy
- Elysian Fields by Suzanne Johnson (2013)
Wizard Drusilla Jaco faces an undead serial killer mimicking the Axeman of New Orleans turns up in the city. The third in the Sentinels of New Orleans series.
Genre: fantasy
- Salt Sugar Fat: How The Food Giants Hooked Us by Michael Moss (2013)
An examination of the methods processed food manufacturers use to sell more food, and the effect on public health.
Genre: science
- The Finder Library: Volume One by Carla Speed McNeil (2011)
A troubled young man with special powers tries to protect his adoptive family in a far future world where our civilisation is merely an echo.
Genre: science fiction
- Dead In The Family by Charlaine Harris (2010)
Sookie faces intense family problems when her awkward supernatural relatives turn up. The tenth Sookie Stackhouse novel.
Genre: fantasy
- Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins (2009)
The Capitol did not expect Katniss Everdeen to survive the Hunger Games the way she did. So, whilst there are rumblings of rebellion in the districts, the 75th Games will be more brutal than ever. The second book in The Hunger Games.
Genre: science fiction YA
- Dead And Gone by Charlaine Harris (2009)
Werewolves and shifters announce their presence to the world, whilst Sookie learns more about her distant relatives. The ninth Sookie Stackhouse novel.
Genre: fantasy
- A Darkling Plain by Philip Reeve (2006)
The fourth book in the Hungry City Chronicles.
Genre: steampunk YA
- Stolen by Kelley Armstrong (2003)
A shady group kidnaps supernatural beings. The second book in the Women Of The Otherworld series.
Genre: horror
- The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman (1997)
Will steps through a portal into another world in the second novel in the His Dark Materials trilogy.
Genre: fantasy YA
- Darkman by Sam Raimi (1990)
A scientist is attacked and left for dead, but his discovery of short-lived synthetic skin allows him to take on disguises as he searches for revenge.
Genre: science fiction
- The Wandering Fire by Guy Gavriel Kay (1986)
Five companions must band together and summon a cursed warrior from his resting placein order to protect the land of Fionavar from evil. Book two of The Fionavar Tapestry.
Genre: fantasy
- The Crystal Cave by Mary Stewart (1970)
An illegitimate prince discovers he has the Sight. The first novel in the Merlin series.
Genre: fantasy YA
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