| Follow us using: 
Top 10 Science fantasy books
A definition, offered by Rod Serling, is that science fiction makes the implausible possible, while science fantasy makes the impossible plausible. The meaning is that science fiction describes unlikely things that could possibly take place in the real world under certain conditions, while science fantasy gives a veneer of realism to things that simply could not happen in the real world under any circumstances. Another interpretation is that science fiction does not permit the existence of supernatural elements; science fantasy does. Even the usage of this definition is difficult, however, as some science fiction makes use of apparently supernatural elements such as telepathy. For many users of the term, however, science fantasy is either a science fiction story that has drifted far enough from reality to feel like a fantasy, or a fantasy story that is attempting to be science fiction. While these are in theory classifiable as different approaches, and thus different genres (fantastic science fiction vs. scientific fantasy), the end products are sometimes indistinguishable.
- The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers
Brendan Doyle is a twentieth-century English professor who travels back to 1810 London to attend a lecture given by English romantic poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge. This is a London filled with deformed clowns, organised beggar societies, insane homunculi and magic. When he is kidnapped by gypsies and consequently misses his return trip to 1983, the mild-mannered Doyle is forced to become a street-smart con man, escape artist, and swordsman in order to survive in the dark and treacherous London underworld. He defies bullets, black magic, murderous beggars, freezing waters, imprisonment in mutant-infested dungeons, poisoning, and even a plunge back to 1684. Coleridge himself and poet Lord Byron make appearances in the novel, which also features a poor tinkerer who creates genetic monsters and a werewolf that inhabits others' bodies when his latest becomes too hairy.
"After I was introduced to Tim Powers through his Cold War fantasy, Declare, I attempted to track down his earlier works at libraries and used bookstores. Several proved impossible to find. Among these was the novel that first made him famous: The Anubis Gates, so eventually I gave in and bought a new copy. Now, having read it, I understand the reason for its rarity: no one in their right mind would relinquish a copy of such a marvelous book!" Fantasy Book Review
- The Sixth World of Men by Walter E Mark
On the surface, the sixth world of men is a glorious world. It is a world of great technological advancement. It is a world that has been at peace for a hundred years. While the world known as Kosundo by its inhabitants goes about its usual business, an ancient prophesy ominously predicts that the time of the soulless has come. Then, a mysterious man lurks about a secret city. A forgotten miscreation is plotting revenge. An emperor is going mad. A terrible weapon threatens to wreak destruction. And finally, a being of absolute evil is planning to make the world his own. But a prophet reveals a beacon of hope and tells of choices that need to be made. Each choice will determine whether another beacon of hope shines forth or if the darkness of evil prevails.
"It's style is simple and you are able to fully immerse yourself and visualise this world." Fantasy Book Review
- This Dark Endeavour by Kenneth Oppel
My assessment of this book is that it is excellent, well written and true to the original. Oppel has captured Victors voice in such a way that his journey into the darkness of the original book is both believable and inevitable because of his character and the choices that he makes. I would thoroughly recommend this book to anyone who has read and enjoyed the original.
- A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine LEngle
When Charles Wallace Murry goes searching through a 'wrinkle in time' for his lost father, he finds himself on an evil planet where all life is enslaved by a huge pulsating brain known as 'It'. How Charles, his sister Meg and friend Calvin find and free his father makes this a very special and exciting mixture of fantasy and science fiction, which all the way through is dominated by the funny and mysterious trio of guardian angels known as Mrs Whatsit, Mrs Who and Mrs Which.
- The Human Race by OC Heaton
Ever had a secret so big that the very knowledge of it consumed you? Uma Jakobsdóttir has one. A huge one. And if it falls into the wrong hands it could obliterate mankind.
Unfortunately two men have discovered it.
Ethan Rae, Britains richest man, is counting on Umas secret to finally seal his position as the greatest deal maker of all time.
Across the Atlantic, Samuel Reynolds III, playboy CEO of Reynolds Air, is battling to keep the airline his granddaddy built alive. Once the largest company in America, its now facing bankruptcy as the fallout of 911 cripples the airline industry. He desperately needs Umas secret to ensure its survival.
From the leafy suburbs of London to the frozen wastelands of Iceland, in the shadow of Ground Zero and under the barren dryness of the Mojave Desert, both men will stop at nothing to get what they want.
There can only be one winner and the fate of the human race hangs in the balance as they battle it out.
The race is on
"Now here is an unusual book. The author, Mr Heaton, has clearly spent many a long day researching all things Icelandic, American airline history and a great deal of quantum physics relating to the plausibility of teleportation. Then he has taken said research and built a novel around it without killing the story at all. Congratulations are in order (raises hat in salute)." Fantasy Book Review
- Babylon Steel by Gaie Sebold
All in all I was more than pleased with Babylon Steel, and it is these types of book that give me a great pleasure in reading. Authors that dare to go outside the box and combine - in a great way - existing fantasy genres to create something new. And in this Gaie Sebold has more than succeeded. Using a great narrative behind the strong character of Babylon, interweaving the past and present , which in the end came neatly together, and all this in a carefully constructed world, which will allow in the books to come more exploration of this great universe. I can only say that this is worth a hearty recommendation.
- Hidden Empire by Jaine Fenn
Khesh City floats above the surface of the uninhabitable planet of Vellern. Topside, it's extravagant, opulent, luxurious; the Undertow is dark, twisted and dangerous. Khesh City is a place where nothing is forbidden - but it's also a democracy, of sorts, a democracy by assassination, policed by the Angels, the elite, state-sponsored killers who answer only to the Minister, their enigmatic master. Taro lived with Malia, his Angel aunt, one of the privileged few, until a strange man bought his body for the night, then followed him home and murdered Malia in cold blood. Taro wants to find the killer who ruined his future, but he's struggling just to survive in the brutal world of the Undertow. Then an encounter with the Minister sets him on a new course, spying for the City; his target is a reclusive Angel called Nual. Elarn Reen is a famous musician, sent to Khesh City as the unwilling agent of mankind's oldest enemy, the Sidhe. To save her own life, she must find and kill her ex-lover, a renegade Sidhe. Though they come from different worlds, Taro and Elarn's fates are linked, their lives apparently forfeit to other people's schemes. As their paths converge, it becomes clear that the lives of everyone in Khesh City, from the majestic, deadly Angels to the barely-human denizens of the Undertow, are at risk. And Taro and Elarn, a common prostitute and an uncommon singer, are Khesh City's only chance...
- The Galaxy Boys and The Sphere by Andrew Steele
The Galaxy Boys had no idea they were boys of the galaxy, living in an orphanage in Brooklyn as they were. They also had no perception of events outside planet Earth - now racing towards them across the heavens - events that would change their understanding of reality, then their lives respectively.
- Golgotha Falls by George Udenkwo
Golgotha Falls: A city of carnal nightmare and monstrous appetite, nowhere in all the worlds of empire will you find its equal. Forged from dark science and steeped in ancient myth, it is a city ruled by ancient gods and policed by angels, where your every desire can be satiated and your every terror made flesh. Here in this sweating, convulsive metropolis of ninety million souls, the spider-god Desdemona, is the most feared of all the city's deities. Sixteen spell-binding tales unfold the chronicles of this new age medusa, a hero unlike any you have ever encountered before.
"There is obviously a lot of George Udenkwo in Golgotha Falls, all of his inspirations, loves, favourite books and films. There are lashings of Norse, Greek and Roman mythology. Udenkwos intelligence and passion come through clearly in his work he is also an author of frightening imagination. The book made me use my brain and gave me the inclination to further research the figures of mythology mentioned in the tales. I would happily recommend George Udenkwo and Golgotha Falls to readers who enjoy a fine mixture of science and fantasy in their books. Golgotha Falls is a stunning debut from an author of exceptional imagination." Fantasy Book Review
- Orbus by Neal Asher
This is the third book in the Spatterjay series and I strongly recommend reading the previous two, or at least some of the other books from the Polity Universe. Being a Spatterjay novel, the book is laced with Ashers usual gruesomely detailed explanations of how the virus is transmitted and the terrible effects bestowed upon any creature unfortunate enough to be cursed by it. Immortality may be desirable, but the risks of becoming something not human are even more far-reaching and potentially destructive than the early sections of the book might lead you to believe, as the virus gradually reveals its true secret.
- The Sixth World of Men by Walter E Mark
- The Chronicles of Fate and Choice by KS Turner
- Hidden Empire by Jaine Fenn
Click on the links below to access reviews, interviews, latest news and the greatest books of all time in your chosen sub-genre.
