I’m off away for the week up to bonnie Scotland 🙂
I’m going to try and complete the seven staines all on my own.
Obviously I’m going to need some form of entertainment on the evening and one can’t think of anything nicer than to read a nice book, perhaps a science fiction! All suggestions most welcomed. 🙂

How about a bike book? The Hour by Michael Hutchinson was a good read. No space ships in it though!

Robert Rankin – The Japanese Devil Fish Girl and Other Unnatural Attractions

Science fiction, anything (that you haven’t read) by:

Ian M. Banks
Asimov
Niven (early Ringworld)

Or if you like hard SF:

Stephen Baxter
Perhaps Greg Egan?

China Meville is one of the better SF writers around – in his prime and producing good stuff. A lot of fantasy / Lovecraft influences in his writing – not hard SF if that’s what you like. His latest one (embassytown) was just nominated for an award, but not read it myself.

Neal Stephenson is the guvnor of SF with a computation / software influence, what used to be called cyberpunk in the 80s. Outstanding writer – his book snow crash from the 90s is canonical work (maybe you’ve read it), but all of his stuff is interesting. Reamde is his latest.

Anything by Irvine Welsh
He wrote train spotting,porno,the acid house,ectasy,filth, the maraboo stork nightmares.hes really dark and piss youself funny, if your a dark sort of fella you will love it.
He writes in a real distinctive style, not sure what ya call it but when you read it you sound scottish in your head and he’s a scotish writer so that fits well with your trip.

Happy reading dude:)

Ooo this is a subject i shall watch with great interest,nothing better than a good book,exhilarating entertainment while doing the mighty 7Stannes!
enjoy!

The last 3 William Gibson books were really good: Pattern Recognition, Spook country and Zero history

Also Sean Cregan: The Levels, Devils Gate (sort of cyber punk without the technology)

Well, depends what you like really 😉

Recent SF

Iain m banks is always a good read, and Surface Detail is his latest culture novel.
Anything else by him is good too, though Feersum Endjin can be hard work, but totally worth it.

Charlie Stross, Rule 34 is up for the Clarke, and is a fun witty near future thriller, his other stuff is also good, Halting State is the preceding book in that universe, but they don’t need to be read in order. He also has the Laundry series (The Atrocity Archive, The Jennifer Morgue and The Fuller Memorandum, plus various short stories) funny Cthulhu Mythos/British spy novel mashups* read an example here

China Mieville is very good, and embassytown, while not his best if still very good, and it is nominated for the Clarke award, like Rule 34. You are better off with The City & The City, Kraken is enormous fun too

Hull Three Zero is Greg Bear’s newest, and it’s clever and well done, and up for the Clarke as well.

Alastair Reynolds is also very much worth a look, and he has a new book out, Blue Remembered Earth, which again, is clever, interesting and well written.

I read a lot of SF (well I read a lot fullstop), if you couldn’t tell 😉

Hilariously Chris Priest, who wrote The Prestige, hilariously threw his toys out the pram fairly spectacularly about this years Clarke shortlist, much to the amusement of the rest of the world

have you ever read hitchhikers guide to the galaxy? Bloody brilliant.

The ghost runner…..

True story of John tarrent …… Sadly forgotten by many but truly heroic….

Highly recommended

Another vote for the Culture novels by Iain M. Banks – I’ve also just started reading the Dune books by Frank Herbert which I’m really enjoying. Most of the stuff by Haruki Murakami is great, pretty off the wall fiction, but entertaining.

Red/Green/Blue Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson. That’ll keep you busy.

Neal Stevenson’s Cryptonomicon is a good ‘un, a wee bit wordy but still ace.

And standard recommendation, Flowers For Algernon by Daniel Keyes. Amazing book…

Altered Carbon by Richard Morgan.

The Elric of Melnibone books by Michael Moorcock.

ANYTHING by H.P. Lovecraft.

A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter Millar is an epic and brilliant sci-fi book.

Edit: I can also recommend Swan Song by Robert McCammon. Now that is also one epic story.

The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi is a damn fine SF novel. IMO.

Neal Stevenson’s Cryptonomicon is a good ‘un

+1

You should try Snow Crash too, that’s brilliant. Best intro of any book ever.

Start Steven Kings Dark Tower series, brilliant IMO. A bit of science fiction with some horror with some fantasy fiction adventure in a perfect blend.

Not SF but utterly brilliant in every way.’The feast of the goat’ by Mario Vargas Llosa.I couldn,t put it down.