This page is my look at the science fiction I have read over the years , not necessarily the best, just a fairly detailed look at the landscape.

I will be rating the works I have read and viewed , but these ratings will be mine and therefore subjective. I intend to place links to extensive resources and perhaps one of those links will contain links to my own writings someday.

Having reviewed my own systems and works, I've decided to do a series of Hubs about the works of different Science fiction authors. Consequently, this Hubpage will be an index of the other hubpages as I create them. On this Hub, I will have both an index of the other hubpages and general stuff on science fiction.

Pease note that I have not arranged the science fiction reviews in order of preference. I have merely written them as they popped up in my head. I will reorder them in alphabetical order.

The books written by kevin J Anderson have eased away many hours for me. They are very light and fluffy Science Fiction. For me anyway. By light and fluffy, i mean that he completely dispenses with developing the "Science " element of his writing. This is not to state that all Science fiction writing is based on real science, but some writers project future developments, encased in current established and experimental knowledge. Anderson appears to simply commoditise the science into neat boxes, then use it to develop his plots.

His plots make up for this though. He create fictional worlds governed by firm rules and he sticks to these rules. Hence his characters do run up against limitations to their ability. Light and fluffy the science may be, but it is disciplined and fairly consistent.

To view my reviews of the science fiction works of Kevin J Anderson , follow the link below

Kevin J Anderson novels reviewed

Frank Herbert, in my humble opinion, was the best wordsmith the Science fiction world has known till now. I first read "Dune", his most famous work many years ago. It was a gigantic book, yet i was so captivated by the work that in my memory, it is a short work. Having read a lot of the "Dune" franchise works by Brian Herbert and K J Anderson, I decided to re read the original work by Frank Herbert. I tell you that there was so much i had missed the firs time round, I was practically reading it for the first time. Frank Herberts original  work is impossibly better than  that off his successors. 

"Dune" is very much soft science fiction, it could easily be trashed for the science bits, but the essense of this book is in its character development  and the fantastic use of the English language.

Frank Herbert works are well worth reading, and keeping , some are enduring classics.

I've recently started reading Walter Jon Williams. His "Dread empires fall" series is simply awesome. This chap combine a decent turn of phrase with a highly analytical mind. Together with a number of other authors, its clear that in plotting these stories, a lot of time has been spent on measuring distances, considering the physics, devising geniunely possible space combat techniques.

This is not Star wars with Jet fighter and Aircraft carrier analogues slogging it out with lazer blasters. Nope, This chap has asked the question, how does a warship moving at sub relativistic speeds fire upon another vessel moving  at similar speeds. The answer is, with great difficulty.

If you've always considered space combat films, simulators and books to be silly, these books are a must read, the science might not be totally accurate, however it is best attempt I've ever read. 

Best known for the Culture novels. Iain Banks is much admired for his works in Science fiction and his thrillers which have received wide acclaim and much commercial success.

Consider Plebas was the first novel i bought by Iain Banks. I must confess that I was not ready for him at the time. I did not finish the book at the time. Iain Banks has the Habit of putting some truely challenging scenes in his works. One off these episodes ended my first try at his works.

Latter on I read "Excession" , a brilliant novel set in his "Culture" universe. This book persuaded me to go back to his earlier works and re read them. good choice for me cause many are really good. However, I must say that a few remain un appertising to me.

Iain Banks generally deal with the science bits very lightly. Like the better soft sci fi writes, he imposes strict rules on what can and cannot happen, but its clear that this is soft science fiction.

However, he then wrote "The Algebraist". This book is outstanding, and its hard sci fi. Its in the same vein as the books of Alastair Reynolds.

Stephen Baxter Has written a huge number of books , but i've only recently gotten into his works. I have the Books are the Destiny's Children series. Coalescent, Exultant, Transcendant, Resplendent.

Stephen Baxter writes with very Broad strokes. His writings are considered Hard sci fi, but I think his strokes are so broad that the detailed use of science becomes, a bit loose. He deals with very high concept matters. Galactic in scope actually. Very good indeed, but remembering its science fiction and not true science is essential to enjoying his books .

I'll start by stating that I do not share all Greg Bears views. He is a writer who explores profound issues and He was of the first to introduce me to the issues facing man in Interstellar flight. I have only read a few books by him and the ones i'll mention here are "The forge of God" and "Anvil of Stars" .

These two books are tales of sorrow, they involve two titanic cataclysms, an interstellar space flight , resulting in Justice being dispensed on a perpetrator condemned by Galactic powers. The plots and the concept are magnificently achieved, the writer , in my opinion truely conveys to the reader the flavour of what participation in a Galactic concord of sentient species might entail.

Gregory Benford could be considered one of the best writers of Hard science fiction that there is. However, I am not going to say that as I have difficulty with his attitudes. He books can only be considered bleak. I read his series of Books about humanity being Pursued by mechanical intelligences waiting for him to introduce some thing positive to his work. A vain hope. the Last one of the series that i read, "furious gulf" was a unrelentingly bleak as the first ones.

Basically, his premise is that a technologically superior power will always remain so and in the process , hunt down and completely destroy the weaker powers in its path. Thus the Mechanicals Hunt down mankind over all of these books, men become less and less like men and more and more Cyborg, till by the end of "Furious Gulf" There hardly any difference between the two.

The man has talent, but I believe his works should only be read to view his ideas of technological possibilities, or to terrify yourself. For uplifting or stimulating reading, try something else.

Larry Niven's books have entertained me for a long time. Curiously enough, one of his main writing partners, Jerry Pournelle is certainly not a writer I am fond off. However, when they write together, the results are amazing. Hence, For reviewing purposes, I shall treat all Larry Nivens collaborations with any one else as Larry Niven work .

My first Larry Niven novel was "The Mote in Gods Eye" , this is a novel I really have to re read. I was a blast, very good tale about first contact with an Alien species who turn out to be fairly hostile. Because of this novel , I sought out more books by messers Niven and Pournelle. This lead to me reading the Ringworld Universe books by Larry Niven. The thing about Larry Niven thats different from all other science fiction writers is that he can be effortlessly funny.

His books are plot driven witha high concept at the centre of the plot. He then develops the Characters who reappear in other books of his.

Isaac Asimov was best known for his novels which encoded his laws off robotics and his Foundation series of novels. I read novels from both series. Asimov was a scientist, a Professor of biochemistry. He was also one of the finest wordsmiths whose works i've ever had the pleasure to read.

One of his most famous works is "Nightfall" , initally a short story telling of a Planet orbiting a twin Sun system with a complex arrangement of moon and massive planets. The planet was permanently in daylight thoughout most of the history of the Inhabitants, however, once in 1000 years or so, the complex arrangement of their solar system would result in nightfall. The consquences where dramatic.

Asimovs robotics novels are very nicely represented in the Will Smith movie "I Robot". Its loosely based on Asimovs work of the same name. I think it captures the essense of Asimovs novels on robots. I can say Asimov fired me with an interest in robots which has persisted to date.

Neal Asher is quite a different type of writer from just about all the other writers on this page. He is not a trained scientist nor is he a literary academic. Rather, he is a self taught writer with a technical background. By technical, I mean that he has been a machine operator, a programmer of pragrammable factory machines. These tend to be regarded as blue collar positions.

His works actually reflect his experience in a way. He has created a rigorously well defined universe within which well defined rules appear to operate. He writes about a Galaxy in which Wormhole generators make it possible for Mankind to expand its presence through the galaxy one planet at a time. he call this the "Polity".

What he does is to develop in minute detail the technologies operating in day to day matters to an extent that would challenge any writer today. So he might not have the science to work out what makes the Wormhole generator work, but given that it works, he goes into detail about how you'd use it, what you'd use it for, what protocols to prevent maintenance failures. How would law enforcement agencies cope with a multi planet civilisation.

However, he does all this things within the frame work of fast moving , very exhilirating novels. I do like his works.

George Lucas Changed the fortunes of Science fiction world wide. Before Lucas came along, there had been many minor successes. However, general acceptance of the genre as a big money maker , something with wide appeal, was absent. Then George Lucas made Star wars the Movie. I have the honour of having read Starwars the novel before seeing the movies.

I tell you, the exitement was physical when i finally approached the cinema Seats to watch the movie. And it never let me down. I came out buzzing and have been interested in high technology and sci fi ever since.

The first 3 movies made follow the Adventures of a young Man trained to be the Newest and only member of an exitinct warrior sect.

Hi There thanks for reading through these science fiction reviews. Do return from time to time and consider bookmarkin this page as I intend to be adding more reviews with time. My science fiction reviews will always be of material i have sampled myself.