1942-51 (collected 1951) / Audiobook / 255 pages / USA
****
All of this has happened before, and all of this will happen again. A classic of space politics, though admittedly I prefer my feuding space empires to be differentiated by rubber forehead prosthetics and borderline racist parodies of historical cultures.
1979 / Audiobook / 256 pages / UK
****
Earlier in his career, Clarke would have presented his space lift proposition via a concise short story, subsequently padded out to a less engaging cash-in novel. Later on, he would have got someone else to write it for him. This is the sweet spot where the elder sci-fi statesman was taking the time to explore the technicalities of his idea in detail, blended with literary pomp to scoop all the awards.
Iain M. Banks, Feersum Endjinn
1994 / Audiobook / 279 pages / UK****
Anyone like me who lamented the lack of off-putting experimental wank in Banks' mainstream novels after the '80s will find it alive and well in his sci-fi line. This was the first all-new one after he ran out of juvenile first drafts to rewrite, and after edging for so long, he earned the indulgent release. The Gothic megastructures and cheekily frustrating phonetic narration of the '80s are back, pushed to new extremes, updated with nostalgically '90s cyberpunk. Easily my favourite of his sci-fi books (so far) and encouragement to keep going.
2003 / Ebook / 127 pages / USA
***
The music barely gets a look-in in this paean to paranoid psychedelic prophet Arthur Lee. Probably best digested on the same aperitif you're pairing the album with, but be prepared for things to get heavy.
Nikki Stafford, Finding Lost: Season Six – The Unofficial Guide
2010 / Ebook / 319 pages / USA****
Reliably in-depth recaps, observations and faux real-time postulations for any newcomers reading along as they watch, until everyone's up to speed and the rest of the book can be a compulsory defence of the polarising finale, which apparently disappointed some people who required hard science fiction explanations for everything that happened in their supernatural show. I was never so engaged with the final year generally, so this wasn't the nostalgic trip the other guides were.
