You might find something interesting below. I've read them all in a three weeks period. These are only novels, I also studied a few books that you really don't care about (like this one).

I'll write about the first 6 books in this post, and I'll add the other 6 a bit later.

Minor spoilers below, nothing to worry about.

1. Childhood's End, by Arthur C. Clarke

This is one of his first novels. At the height of the space race, massive alien ships appear over every important city. The aliens, which are nicknamed Overlords, announce they have peaceful intentions and desire to help humanity – but will also use a certain amount of control to fulfill this goal.

The alien influence brings an era of prosperity and peace. Of course, there are some rebels... But essentially, there are two main problems – humanity isn't allowed to pursue certain scientific goals, like space exploration, and the aliens don't reveal themselves physically.

They promise they'll do it in 50 years, when humanity will be more accustomed to their presence. And when they do, you'll **** bricks, it's not what you expect at all.

The Overlords begin to pay attention to psychic and occult research, an act interpreted by humans as mere antropological interest. This is where the book starts to get really weird. It continues on two parallel planes: one of them continues the saga of the alien domination, and the other is the story of a man that devises an almost idiotically brave plan to find out the truth behind the Overlords.

It's a wonderfully written book. It's not long - you'll finish it in just a few hours – but it's one hell of a ride. It always keeps you guessing and it always misleads you, so there are some big surprises along the way. You'll be especially thrilled by the alien related things, which are certainly one of the best alien depictions in sci-fi literature. The human aspect of the story is also very good, with strong and interesting characters.

It had a huge influence on science fiction. Visually it's obvious:

V, Stargate and others also borrow imagery from it. The main revelation is a plot device used numerous times in Star Trek, Babylon 5 and other such works. Even Starcraft is heavily influenced by Childhood's End.

It's a complicated, yet entertaining and easy to read novel. Highly recommended.

2. Neuromancer, by William Gibson

I don't like cyberpunk. I watched Johnny Mnemonic because I had nothing better to do; it was a very mediocre movie, and the short story it's based on is a piece of crap (also by Gibson). I tried to read Norman Spinrad's Little Heroes – it was a painfull experience. I like The Matrix, but that's because it's badass (which is something typical cyberpunk isn't) and because it only references the cyberpunk subculture.

I bought Neuromancer because Childhood's End came free with it.

In a quite distant future, Case is a talented hacker that was caught stealing from his former employers. They damage his nervous system, so he can't connect to the cyberspace anymore. A mysterious ex-military figure, Armitage, offers him a cure in exchange for his services – but his goals remain a mistery. They travel around the world to assemble a mercenary team, and then set out to complete the operation Armitage requires on an city-sized orbital space station.

Also, both Johnny Mnemonic and his girlfriend are featured.

The story is good. Really good. Reminds me of a Philip K. Dick novel. But I absolutely hate the writing sty1e. It's a bloated, complicated and difficult to read mess.

I also hate all that Japanese stuff. Yakuza is really not awesome at all. Dirty, rainy and neon-filled Japanese suburbs suck. I can't understand this cyberpunk Japanese fetish, but whatever.

The other thing I hate is that the techno stuff is really outdated. Now, I'm aware this was written around that time Bill Gates said 640kb of memory is enough for anyone. So I can excuse the somewhat primitive depiction of the cyberspace. I can also excuse the fact that a computer virus was packaged in a physical case. But you're over 100 years in the future, you have laser guns, orbital cities, cyberspace and artificial intelligence yet 3MB of RAM is contraband merchandise? What kind of crap is that? Moore's Law was described 20 years before this book was written. If I'd write a novel about hackers in 2050, I'd damn well make sure their computers have like 50Tb RAM at least. Overshooting is way better than undershooting anyway. Who complains there's a base on the moon in 2001?

If you're interested in cyberpunk, you've already read this. If, like me, you don't give a **** on it, don't read this book. If you don't know what cyberpunk is – try it.

3. The Lovely Bones, by Alice Sebold

My name was Salmon, like the fish; first name, Susie. I was fourteen when I was murdered on December 6, 1973.

That's how the book starts. Susie goes to heaven – a pretty original depiction of it – and watches over her family, friends and murderer.

From her place in heaven, the girl witnesses her happy family being devastated by her death and slowly falling apart. She watches her friends and siblings growing up and falling in love. She still loves Ray... and she only had the chance to kiss him once. Her murderer is free. Everything she wants appears as she thinks of it – except what she wants most: to live a normal life on Earth. To see her family happy and together again.

So yeah, the book pretty much breaks your heart. It's also very brutal at times: „I was the mortar, he was the pestle". That's when describing her rape. But don't worry – most of it is delicate and quite serene.

And as it says on the back of the book, Life is not quite finished with Susie yet...

This is an exclusive MTV picture of Heaven.

I first heard of this book when Peter Jackson decided to make a movie out of it (trailer here). Save your bad „PJ makes 3.5 hours long movies, 3 of it being CGI" jokes – this is perfect Peter Jackson material, as you know if you've seen Heavenly Creatures.

Read this book. It's unlike anything else you've ever read.

4. Ivanhoe, by Walter Scott

Well, there ain't much to say about this one. It's a solid, entertaining and amusing adventure book set in 12th century England, starring crusaders, Templar knights, angry saxons, Robin Hood, a bunch of Jews and evil French vikings (aka Normans). With a lot of funny dialogue.

There's nothing bad I can write about Ivanhoe. It's just as you'd expect – romantic, elaborated historical fiction, pretty much responsible for the image of the crusades and medieval England that the general public has now. You can say this is the quintessential pop history book.

Also, despite the given description, I've pictured Robin Hood across the entire book looking like this:

Unlike some other Robin Hoods, he can speak with an English accent.

If you like this book (and there's no reason not to), read Henry Gilbert's Robin Hood.

5. The Prestige, by Christopher Priest

I'm sure you've heard of The Prestige – Christopher Nolan adapted it in 2006 for the big screen. The main story of the book is almost identical; there a few differences here and there, most of them minor. The ending is entirely different though.

The book is best described as an epistolar story within a story. It's about the conflict between the two greatest magicians in the late Victorian London – the working c1ass Alfred Borden (played in the movie by Christian Bale) and the aristocratic Rupert Angier (Hugh Jackman). Their great-grandchildern, a journalist and a Lady, investigate their journals to find out more about the influence of this feud over their own lives.

The magicians start competing early in their career, and over the years the conflict deepens. Eventually, Borden creates a fantastic illusion, The Transported Man, which makes him the best magician of Europe. The trick consists of Borden moving from one closed cabinet to the next in an instant. Angier can't discern how Borden achieves this; in a desperate attempt to equal him, he seeks out the help of Nikola Tesla. Together they develop an act called In A Flash, that leads to the same result – but through a very different method.

You all thought this scene was bull****. It wasn't.

The biggest difference between the book and the movie is in how Tesla's device works, and this leads to the different ending. I like this ending better: there's no twist of shyamalanian proportions, and it's actually quite scary.

I also like the frame story a lot. It adds a better context and allows some interesting narrative techniques. The two journals are very different in sty1e, and seeing the same events from two different perspectives adds a lot of depth. The Lady also recalls certain events she witnessed in her childhood concerning the journalist (only 3 years old by that time) and their parents, which seemed to continue their grandfathers' conflict. The movie's non-linear narrative doesn't match the qualities of this approach.

Even if you didn't watch the movie, you should read this book. If you like it, try Bram Stoker's Dracula – another epistolary Victorian fantasy novel.

6. Clans of the Alphane moon, by Philip K. Dick

It's an amusing sci-fi novel by one of the masters of the genre. 90% of his books are movie material – and this one's no exception.

The humans are colonising the stars; in the Alpha Centauri system, a minor satellite of Alpha III is used as psychiatric institution for colonists that can't adapt. A war starts between Earth and the insectoid inhabitants of Alpha III, and this colony is abandoned by the authorities. The thousands of patients organise themselves in a cast-like system, based around their mental diseases. They live peacefully and undisturbed for about 25 years, enough to garner independence from Earth. Their only contacts are with the insectoids from the nearby planet, which provide them with supplies. Under the pretext of a medical mission, Earth wants to take the colony back.

This colonisation attempt has two central figures: Chuck and his wife Mary, recently separated. Mary is chosen as psychologist in the first mission to the Alphane moon. Chuck, a CIA employee, wants to kill her – so he designs a plan involving an android which he remote controls from Earth. Mary is manipulated by one of the most famous media figures, which has certain business plans involving the aliens, and Chuck seeks the advice and guidance of his neighbour, a creature from Ganymede.

The book nails all the major c1assic Philip K. Dick themes: paranoia, myterious women... with big breasts, a main character that's a complete loser, androids, psychic powers, conspiracies, religion and a dystopic Earth. And twists of shyamalanian proportions!

It's also a lot of fun, unlike his mostly depressing other works. The clans are especially hilarious, their symptoms being treated in a very lighthearted view. But if you look deeper, you'll notice a lot of similarities between their society and ours – although the author just applies their condition at a large scale, making very logical assumptions about such a mad environment.

All of Dick's works take place in very similar universes. Knowledge about its background certainly helps in discerning the book's subtilities... but I guess watching Blade Runner and Minority Report is enough to get used to it.

If you're in the mood for some good science-fiction, try this book.

If you like it, read Ubik. It'll blow your mind.