Looking for something other than Orwell, Huxley, Atwood, Lessing etc. Anything set in the present day but with a quantum physics or biotechnology theme would also be of interest. I'm particularly interested in charismatic narrative voice, unusual narrative structure and general high quality writing. Thanks!
2007-03-12 03:02:08 · 13 answers · asked by stuffnstuff 3 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Books & Authors
Try Ian Banks, he has written some really good stuff. The Business is quite a good book, The Bridge (I think it is called the Bridge) again is another good one. Well to be fair I have read all of his books and they are great! He has a fantastic way with words and the plots are great, also some of the hidden meanings of his writing are mind blowing!
Alex Garland as well the Teseract (Not sure if I spelt that right) is excellent, although strictly not the theme you mentioned above. An interesting narrative book is Essays in Love, dont be put of by title... it is a fantastic novel, with a very witty outlook on every day life, but what holds you is the clever narrative. Unfortunatly I lent my copy to someone, and can not remeber the authors name, but great book!
Hope some of the above help.
2007-03-12 03:08:37 · answer #1 · answered by djp6314 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Philip K Dick has been mentioned - this is an excellent choice.
However, if you've read (and enjoyed) Orwell, Huxley and their comrades - you might want to consider "the original". I speak of Yevgeny Zamyatin's satirical masterpiece, 'We'.
This was written in post-revolutionary Russia (early 1920s), but before the censors got a chance to prohibit the publication of the book. Zamyatin describes what he sees as the logical conclusion of Soviet social experiments and utopian illusions.
It really is a fantastic book!
______
"We is a futuristic dystopian satire, generally considered to be the grandfather of the genre. It takes the totalitarian and conformative aspects of modern industrial society to an extreme conclusion, depicting a state that believes that free will is the cause of unhappiness, and that citizens' lives should be controlled with mathematical precision..."
2007-03-12 11:08:19 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hi there. JG Ballard is your man, it fits the profile very well. To this I would add Joe Haldeman, especially The Forever War and All My Sins Remembered. Possibly a bit soft for what you want technically, you could try Gibson but a better bet would be Roger Zelazny's The dream Master or Tad Williams' Otherland series.
Completely off the wall try I Am Legend by Richard Matheson (I defy anybody not to enjoy this book!) or, really odd, Jack Vance's Tales of the Dying Earth.
Sorry I can't recommend hard science fiction too, but I don't rate any of it as literature.
Cheers, Steve.
2007-03-12 08:44:18 · answer #3 · answered by Steve J 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I would recommend 'Atomised' by Michel Houellebecq.
The book outlines the exploits of an isolated biomolecular scientist and his lothario brother. Both are products of the 60s and Houellebecq details the modern maladies that afflict them. The 'science' strand of the narrative deals with the relationship between genetic advancement and mortality.
There is a very interesting discussion of Huxley's 'Brave New World' which questions the accepted 'dystopian' reading of that novel.
2007-03-12 06:54:21 · answer #4 · answered by idler22 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I guess it is a matter of opinion, but I like Nevil Shute's "On the Beach." I am not sure if it quite falls under what you are looking for, but it's in the ballpark. I would say that nuclear warfare goes hand-in-hand with biotechnology and quantum physics, and that is the basic theme of the book. It is also very well written.
2007-03-12 03:11:51 · answer #5 · answered by Mr. Taco 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
As far as I know there is no quantum physics involved, but try 'The Man in High Castle' by Philip K. Dick. It is certainly dystopian because it's set in a world where the Nazis have won the Second World War.
2007-03-12 03:39:10 · answer #6 · answered by shy_voo 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
As well as the other books cited, you could try any of the Jerry Cornelius series by Michael Moorcock, anything by JG Ballard and Bryan Aldiss would also be well worth trying. For more modern SF wirters as well as Iain M Banks, try Ken Macleod, Charles Stross and Maragret Attwood.
2007-03-12 07:29:27 · answer #7 · answered by Stephen Allcroft 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A couple YA books I could recommend with this theme are Uglies by Scott Westerfeld and The Giver by Lois Lowry. Don't let the fact that they are YA stop you. They're both good books.
2007-03-12 03:11:39 · answer #8 · answered by DemonBookLover 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Anything by Iain M Banks will give you high quality sci-fi, for the dystopian vision Philip K Dick is your man.
2007-03-12 03:39:28 · answer #9 · answered by Chrispy 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Try The Watchmen. It hits on all of those requirements.
Someone mentioned Philip K. Dick. Try Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep.
By the way, excellent question.
2007-03-12 06:11:38 · answer #10 · answered by The Misanthrope 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋