Foundation

Perhaps one of the grandest series of science fiction novels ever written, Asimov's Foundation is a must-read for any reader, science fiction or not.

That doesn't mean that all the Foundation books are masterpieces, as I've indicated by my ratings. Click on the book titles to read their reviews, and look at the book covers.

Foundation and Empire

Second Foundation

Foundation's Edge

Foundation and Earth

Prelude to Foundation

Forward the Foundation

The Business

Although Banks is best known within the sci-fi community for his excellent Culture books, outside the Culture universe he has written a number of books that have received critical acclaim.

His latest book, The Business, is reviewed here.

Consider Phlebas

The Culture series of sci-fi novels have rapidly become known as some of the best fiction to throw at the high-minded literary types who look down at all science fiction.

The sociology of the Culture universe alone is innovative enough for a dozen novels, and Banks' deep analysis of the human character and nature provides exemplary reading in books such as The Player of Games and Use of Weapons. I cannot recommend this series more highly.

The Cassini Division

Ken Macleod has only recently started writing SF, yet already he has been praised by the likes of Kim Stanley Robinson, Peter F Hamilton and Iain Banks as being one of today's most promising new SF writers.

Considering that The Cassini Division is one of his first novels, Macleod seems well on his way to establishing himself as a major figure in modern SF.

Sundiver

A multiple Hugo and Nebula award-winner among others, David Brin ranks as one of the most acclaimed and highly regarded science fiction writers in the world. Brin has also published several essays and books on general science topics, including the often cited Transparent Society.

However, Brin is most likely to be known for his Uplift series, six books whose stunning ideas on evolution, and beautiful prose have won him countless fans. Undoubtedly the truly original nature of the books helped this no end.

Rarely has there been a series which was thought out so well to enrich the Uplift universe, and bring the series to a brilliant conclusion.

Startide Rising

The Uplift War

Brightness Reef

Infinity's Shore

Heaven's Reach

Time

Stephen Baxter is a well known name among British science fiction circles, if not across the world. His mind-blowing Xeelee Sequence of short stories were first published in science fiction magazines, and due to their popularity and exemplary quality, they have graduated into a full blown series of books with novels adding depth to the Xeelee universe.

Lately, Baxter has concentrated his time on writing original novels such as Titan, Moonseed and Time.

Baxter is probably known most for his hard-science style of writing, where he manages to introduce sophisticated physics to his readers while at the same time adding believability, and readibility, to the story.

Vacuum Diagrams

Titan

Moonseed

Ring

Timelike Infinity