James Lovegrove selects his best mid-year reads
Haunted landscapes figure prominently in recent releases, while a key voice on American dystopia receives welcome reissues
Elliot Ackerman and James Stavridis have followed their cyber page-turner 2034 with an equally propulsive biotech thriller
Sky’s the limit for blank verse in Calypso while Dark Shepherd throws the book at religion
A staple of the genre is given a new twist in Vangie’s Ghosts, while High Vaultage takes readers on a journey into an alternative Victorian-era capital
China’s rise will alter the worldview of at least some consumers who live in democracies
How the cult classics became more collectable than ever
Imaginations run riot, with forays into the Arctic, distant dystopias, killer clones and Regency London
James Lovegrove selects his must-read titles
Widow Twankey explores gender issues, some overlooked English absurdism from the master fantasist and retro superheroes live to fight another day
The FT examines the causes and effects of an increasing global resistance to antibiotics: from the pressures doctors are under to prescribe them, to what new treatments are currently in the pipeline, as well as what role can the consumer play in reducing antibiotic use in the food chain
Satire, if not quite gay abandon, abounds — and Shakespeare’s legacy lives on
Plus a military take on ‘The Martian’ and wonderful weirdness in Lapland
The visionary author on the limits of AI, the uses of science fiction — and why there’s a ‘market opportunity for volleyballs’
Space operas, Tarantino-style sorcerers — and the return of cult classic ‘Blake’s 7’
A blend of deep scientific knowledge and nuanced narrative takes us from the sea to space to highlight Earth’s riches
Policymakers and strategists look to novelists to help envisage the tech accelerating towards us
A gender-flipped Handmaid’s Tale, murderous moths and driverless cars with a mind of their own
A chronicle of the life of the four-times London mayor who inspired an archetype
Robert E Howard’s Conan comes back in rousing fashion, courtesy of SM Stirling, while Aliette de Bodard summons the spirit of HG Wells
James Lovegrove picks the year’s stand-out titles
From tongue-in-cheek terror to supernatural stalkers and mythical monsters, there are plenty of scares this Halloween
From an ode to scholarship to time-travelling twins, plus parasites and a whodunnit set in the future
From a Gothic, Dickensian fantasy to a comedic Scottish dystopia, plus Marvel Comics and a reimagining of an HG Wells classic
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