Top SciFi and Fantasy Books - Auhors to Watch

An incredible array of science fiction material is free to the general public as a set of downloads at the website of SciFi & Fantasy Books, who post a list annually of best novels and authors to follow. Reading through the titles in the free downloads, we find classics and newer works from well known and lesser known science fiction authors.

Some of the titles include one of my favorites: Flatland by Edwin Abbott. In a 2D world - boring and narrow-minded - a humble square makes 3D discoveries as he guides readers through many of the idioms of 2D life. Written in 1884, it was followed up by other in the 20th Century with Sphereland (1983) by Dionys Burger, Cornelie J. Rheinboldt, and Isaac Asimov. I've also just discovered Flatterland: Like Flatland, Only More So by Ian Stewart in 2002.

Another free download is the classic pulp magazine Planet Stories with the short story by Phillip K. Dick, Beyond Lies the Wub (1952). In the story, a man buys what he thinks is a pig from a Martian on the red planet, but finds it's something else... You must read the to find out what it is and you will enjoy the reveal.

Several of Phillip K. Dick's books are offered free of charge at this web page as well. They are classic sci-fi stories.

Other titles offered at no charge include From the Earth to the Moon (Jules Verne), some H.G. Wells works - many you may not have read or known previously - and books by the famed Poul Anderson, Marion ZImmer Bradley, David Lindsay, Ray Cummings (Brigand of the Moon), and Mary Shelley, Robert Silverberg, and Edgar Rice Burroughs.

Watch the web page for additions, because such a resource page may be better than Half Price Books or eBay to a collector.

"The most succinct description of the differences between science fiction and fantasy:

• Fantasy is the impossible made probable. Science fiction is the improbable made possible." -- Antony Jones (Ant), Founder of Science Fiction and Fantasy website, on SciFi & Fantasy Books (SFBooks).

SFBook (SciFi & Fantasy Books) held a Book of the Year reader vote for 2010 and the results published at the website show the following top picks. Votes from #4 below decline to under 7% of total votes and fewer, so the top four are really readers undeniable favorites.

1. The Road to Bedlam by Mike Shevdon. 24.4% of the vote.
2. Pink Noise by Leonid Korogodsk. 21.8%
3. Amortals by Matt Forbeck 18.2% "Man wakes up in new clone body and must solve his own murder." Set in the future in Washington DC.
4. The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. 15.1%
5. Renewal by Hylton H Smith.
6. The World House by Guy Adams.
7. Second Sight by Greg Hamerton.
8. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. -- Classic.
9. Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A Heinlein. - Another Classic.

10. The Seige of Scarn by Robert C Auty. -- Immensely popular and copies are rising in value.

11. While the gods sleep by Johnny Fincham. -- This writer says he was the oldest of 5 dyslexic, deranged, and dysfunctional siblings. He has studied English Literature and writes also about palmistry. Odd and interesting.

12. The Gathering Storm by Robert Jordan (1948 - 2007). Decorated Viet Nam Conflict veteran and writer.

Mr. Matt Forbeck not only provided the #3 best out of 10 Top Sci Fi books for 2010, but is offering us beginning in 2011 Star Wars vs. Star Trek - Could the Empire Kick the Federation's Ass?, with a forward by Tim Russ (Tuvok of ST:Voyager). Mr. Forbeck is additionally the father of quadruplets, also very interesting.

Ms. Lauren Beukes of South Africa is on fire as a sci-fi thriller author in 2010 and early 2011. Her ZOO CITY made the British Science Fiction Association (BSFA) awards shortlist twice and her Moxyland is a fan favorite.

Her work has been nominated for the Sunday Times book list and the Alan Paton Award as well. Her books are available in UK, South Africa, and America and sure to go global soon. She is recommended to us all by first rate author and game designer Matt Forbeck (on Twitter at @mforbeck).

With her acclaimed Zoo City novel, Ms. Beaukes added her aid to The Suitcase Project, which helps children arriving as refugees in her country without family or connections. A series of Zoo City Bares for sale and auction are wonderful pieces of art/toys that provide additional funding for the project.

Read about it all at her web link and folow her at Twitter:

Lauren Beukes on Twitter @laurenbeukes.