Recommended Reading

*note: This section hasn't taken definite form yet. Please bear with me. All is flux.
It could become a monster... an idiosyncratic selection of perspectively/perceptively essential mind food.
In the meantime... it's a good way to clear out the best new book entries from Mark/Space magazine and still keep them close at hand.

I've also included a few books that are guaranteed to rearrange your mind. And some that could very well prepare you for tomorrow, or the day after.

Entries are alphabetical by author.
More coming.

Warning: Content subject to mutation without warning.

• Cold Allies by Patricia Anthony
  (1993, novel, science fiction... alien contact...
  highly recommended)

• God's Fires by Patricia Anthony
  (April 1997, novel, science fiction, slipstream... 17th century, inquisition, alien contact...
  highly recommended)

• I, Robot by Isaac Asimov
  (19??, novel, science fiction... artificial intelligence, the three laws of robotics...
  classic)

• Crashcourse by Wilhelmina Baird
  (1993, novel, science fiction, cyberpunk... book 1 'Cass' trilogy...
  hip 1st person account, near future, terminal media... recommended)

• Clipjoint by Wilhelmina Baird
  (1994, novel, science fiction, cyberpunk... book 2 'Cass' trilogy
  recommended)

• Psykosis by Wilhelmina Baird
  (1995, novel, science fiction, cyberpunk... book 3 'Cass' trilogy
  recommended)

• Blood Music by Greg Bear
  (1985, novel, science fiction... cellular intelligence, nanotechnology...
  wild cells!... highly recommended)

• The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester
  (1953, novel, science fiction... also known as Tyger! Tyger! [in England]..
  an absolute classic... highly recommended)

• The Cobweb by Stephen Bury
  (September 1996, novel, thriller... conspiracy, 'Desert Storm'...
  recommended)

• Dawn by Octavia Butler
  (1987, novel, science fiction... alien contact, genetic engineering, transgenic species, posthuman... book 1 'Xenogenesis' trilogy...
  available online... uncertain of current status...
  highly recommended)

• Adulthood Rites by Octavia Butler
  (1988, novel, science fiction... transgenic species, posthuman... book 2 'Xenogenesis' trilogy...
  available online)

• Imago by Octavia Butler
  (1989, novel, science fiction... transgenic species, posthuman... book 3 'Xenogenesis' trilogy...
  available online)

• Mindplayers by Pat Cadigan
  (1987, novel, science fiction, cyberpunk... her 1st book...
  highly recommended)

• Patterns by Pat Cadigan
  (1989, short stories, science fiction, horror, cyberpunk...
  highly recommended)

• Synners by Pat Cadigan
  (1991, novel, science fiction, cyberpunk...
  highly recommended)

• Fools by Pat Cadigan
  (1992, novel, science fiction, cyberpunk... multi-layered reality, identity...
  highly recommended)

• Dirty Work by Pat Cadigan
  (1993, short stories... limited edition)

• Childhood's End by Arthur C.Clarke
  (19??, novel, science fiction... posthuman...
  classic)

• The City and the Stars by Arthur C.Clarke
  (19??, novel, science fiction...
  mediated reality...
  classic)

• Nova by Samuel R.Delany
  (1968, novel, science fiction... genetically engineered humans...
  'proto-cyberpunk' classic)

• Night of Light by Philip José Farmer
  (1966, novel, science fiction... 'Father John Carmody' novel... a shorter version of this novel appeared in the magazine Fantasy and Science Fiction , June 1957...
  criminal turned priest becomes surrogate mother to an alien...
  highly recommended)

• Neuromancer by William Gibson
  (1984, novel, science fiction, cyberpunk...
  introduced the word 'cyberspace'... available online...
  highly recommended)

• Count Zero by William Gibson
  (1986, novel, science fiction, cyberpunk... possibly his best book...
  highly recommended)

• Mona Lisa Overdrive by William Gibson
  (1988, novel, science fiction, cyberpunk...
  highly recommended)

• Burning Chrome by William Gibson
  (1986, short stories, science fiction, cyberpunk...
  highly recommended)

• Queen City Jazz by Kathleen Ann Goonan
  (1995, debut novel, science fiction... nanotechnology...
  recommended)

• Hotwire by Simon Ings
  (1995, novel, science fiction, cyberpunk...
  highly recommended)

• Metrophage by Richard Kadrey
  (1988, novel, science fiction... hardcore cyberpunk, art...
  violence and art in the near future... recommended)

• Think Like a Dinosaur and Other Stories by James Patrick Kelly
  (August 1997, short stories, science fiction...Golden Gryphon Press, Chicago, Illinois, US, hbk... nanotechnology and other issues... Foreword by John Kessel... highly recommended)

• Beggars in Spain by Nancy Kress
  (1991, novella / 1993, novel, science fiction... genetic engineering, social engineering, intelligence increase... book 1 'Beggars' trilogy...
  highly recommended)

• Beggars and Choosers by Nancy Kress
  (1995, novel, science fiction... genetic engineering, social engineering, intelligence increase, nanotechnology... book 2 'Beggars' trilogy...
  highly recommended)

• Beggars Ride by Nancy Kress
  (November 1996, novel, science fiction... genetic engineering, social engineering, nanotechnology... book 3 'Beggars' trilogy...
  highly recommended)

• Summer of Love by Lisa Mason
  (July 1994, novel, science fiction... time travel, counterculture, San Francisco, 1967)

• The Golden Nineties by Lisa Mason
  (November 1995, novel, science fiction... time travel, San Francisco... self-contained sequel to The Summer of Love )

• Fairyland by Paul J.McAuley
  (1995, novel, science fiction... near future, genetic engineering...
  recommended)

• Hearts, Hands and Voices by Ian McDonald
  (1992, novel, science fiction... biotechnology...
  highly recommended)

• Canticle for Leibovitz by Walter Miller
  (19??, novel, science fiction... classic)

• The Final Programme by Michael Moorcock
  (196?, novel, science fiction... new wave... book 1 featuring 'Jerry Cornelius' character)

• An Alien Heat by Michael Moorcock
  (19??, novel, science fiction... far future... book 1 'Dancers at the End of Time' trilogy...
  complete control over nature, entropy, time travel... a wonderful read)

• The Hollow Lands by Michael Moorcock
  (19??, novel, science fiction... far future... book 2 'Dancers at the End of Time' trilogy...
  complete control over nature, entropy, time travel...
  a wonderful read)

• The End of All Songs by Michael Moorcock
  (19??, novel, science fiction... far future... book 3 'Dancers at the End of Time' trilogy...
  complete control over nature, entropy, time travel...
  a wonderful read)

• Vurt by Jeff Noon
  (1993, novel, science fiction, cyberpunk... Noon's 1st book...
  highly recommended)
  *note: The final two pages, not in the hardcover edition, are reproduced here
  thanks to permission from Jeff Noon and Ringpull Press.

• Pollen by Jeff Noon
  (1995, novel, science fiction, cyberpunk... sequel to Vurt ...
  highly recommended)

• Door Number Three by Patrick O'Leary
  (December 1995, novel, science fiction... aliens, UFOs...
  highly recommended)

• Chimera by Mary Rosenblum
  (1993, novel, science fiction... virtual reality, art...
  recommended)

• Wasp by Erik Frank Russell
  (1958, novel, science fiction... social engineering, covert activities, politics...
  classic)

• Life During Wartime by Lucius Shepard
  (1987, novel, science fiction, cyberpunk... hyperreality, war...
  highly recommended)

• Heatseeker by John Shirley
  (1988, short stories, science fiction, cyberpunk...
  highly recommended)

• Wetbones by John Shirley
  (1991, novel, horror...
  extremely weird... highly recommended)

• Silicon Embrace by John Shirley
  (1996, novel, science fiction, cyberpunk... aliens, conspiracy...
  mindfucking... recommended)

• Hyperion by Dan Simmons
  (1989, novel, science fiction... book 1 'Hyperion' series...
  recommended)

• The Fall of Hyperion by Dan Simmons
  (1990, novel, science fiction... book 2 'Hyperion' series...
  recommended)

• Endymion by Dan Simmons
  (1995, novel, science fiction... book 3 'Hyperion' series)

• Norstrilia by Cordwainer Smith
  (19??, novel, science fiction... genetic engineering...
  classic)

• Star Maker by Olaf Stapledon
  (1937, novel, science fiction... metaphysics, evolution, posthuman, aliens, god...
  absolute classic, most highly recommended)

• Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson
  (1991, novel, science fiction, cyberpunk... virtual reality...
  highly recommended)

• The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson
  (1995, novel, science fiction... nanotechnology...
  highly recommended)

• Schismatrix Plus by Bruce Sterling
  (1995, novel, short stories, science fiction... posthuman... novel originally published in June 1985...
  highly recommended)

• Vacuum Flowers by Michael Swanwick
  (1988, novel, science fiction... space migration, genetic engineering, nanotechnology...
  highly recommended)

• Me by Thomas T.Thomas
  (1991, novel, science fiction... artificial intelligence, software evolution, identity...
  recommended)

• The Silent City by Elisabeth Vonarburg
  (1981, novel, science fiction... post-apocalyptic, genetic engineering...
  recommended)

• Aristoi by Walter Jon Williams
  (1992, novel, science fiction... far-future, virtual reality...
  highly recommended)

• Arcology: The City in the Image of Man by Paolo Soleri
  (1969, non-fiction... architecture, 3D cities, bridges, space colonies)

• Journey Through Utopia by Marie Louise Berneri
  (1950, non-fiction...
  an excellent anarchist critique of utopian thinking...
  highly recommended)

• "Electronic Revolution" by William S.Burroughs
  (1970, non-fiction... Expanded Media Editions, Germany... communication, media, control)

• War in the Age of Intelligent Machines by Manuel De Landa
  (1991)

• Flame Wars -- The Discourse on Cyberculture edited by Mark Dery
  (1993, anthology, essays... social history)

• Escape Velocity: Cyberculture at the End of the Century by Mark Dery
  (1996... social history)

• Unbounding the Future: The Nanotechnology Revolution by K.Eric Drexler, Chris Peterson, Gayle Pergamit
  (1991...
  crucial reading)

• Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth by R.Buckminster Fuller
  (196?... practical approach to running a planet...
  highly recommended)

• The Politics of the Solar Age by Hazel Henderson
  (1981... economics, practical solutions...
  highly recommended)

• Out of Control: The New Biology of Machines by Kevin Kelly
  (1994... hive consciousness, science)

• Food First: Beyond the Myth of Scarcity by Frances Moore Lappé, Joseph Collins, with Cary Fowler
  (1977 / revised 1979... hunger, food policy, analysis, practical solutions...
  essential reading)

• Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man by Marshall McLuhan
  (1964, non-fiction... essential primer...
  classic)

• Design for the Real World: Human Ecology and Social Change by Victor Papanek
  (1971, sourcebook... design science, working with indiginous materials...
  highly recommended)

• Nano! by Ed Regis
  (1995... describes the development of nanotechnology...
  highly recommended)

• Cosmic Trigger: Final Secret of the Illuminati by Robert Anton Wilson
  (1977, essays... neurologic, conspiracy...
  highly recommended)

• Expanded Cinema by Gene Youngblood
  (1970, non-fiction, film... contains a great introduction by R.Buckminster Fuller...
  highly recommended)

*note: Help with missing dates appreciated (1st publication).

• Mount Analogue by René Daumal
  (19??, fiction, esoteric... metaphysics, pataphysics, surrealism...
  highly recommended)

• A Night of Serious Drinking by René Daumal
  (19??, fiction, esoteric... metaphysics, pataphysics, surrealism...
  recommended)

• Who Pushed Paula? by Akbar Del Piombo
  (195?, novel, erotica... Olympia Press, Paris, France)

• This Kind of Bird Flies Backwards by Dianne Di Prima
  (196?, poetry... Poet's Press, New York, US pbk... beat scene, counterculture)

• The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
  (1980, novel, detective... conspiracy, semiotics, metaphysics...
  highly recommended)

• Ringolevio by Emmett Grogan
  (1972, non-fiction, autobiography... diggers, counterculture, 1960s...
  highly recommended)

• Beelzebub's Tales to his Grandson by Georges I.Gurdjieff
  (194?, fiction, esoteric... metaphysics, science fiction, neurologic...
  this book will completely rewire your synapses... highly recommended)

• Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
  (196?, novel, slipstream, postmodern... essential data)

• Ubu Roi by Alfred Jarry
  (1896, avant-garde play, surreal... Paris, France, ... humor, pataphysics, scandal... by the founder of Pataphysics)

• Desolation Angels by Jack Kerouac
  (1965, novel, autobiographical... beat scene)

• One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
  (196?, novel... neurologic...
  brilliant)

• Mr Nice by Howard Marks
  (September 1996, non-fiction, autobiography... smuggling, cannabis, hashish, black market, social history... psychedelics...
  quite a tale... highly recommended)

• Ghost Tantras by Michael McClure
  (196?, poetry... City Lights Books, San Francisco, California, US pbk...
  bestial illuminations)

• In Search of the Miraculous by P.D.Ousensky
  (194?, non-fiction... metaphysics, psychology, neurologic...
  highly recommended)

• The Journal of Albion Moonlight by Kenneth Patchen
  (1941, fiction, postmodern...poetic fantasy...
  highly recommended)

• Song From the Forest by Louis Sarno
  (1993, non-fiction, autobiographical... traditional music, bayaka pygmies...
  "a fascinating personal account of life in the Central African rainforest... with music." --Henry W.Targowski.)

• Deserted Cities of the Heart by Lewis Shiner
  (1988, novel, slipstream... magic realism, hyperreality, cyberpunk...
  highly recommended)

• Glimpses by Lewis Shiner
  (1993, novel, slipstream... music, fugue states...
  highly recommended)

• Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut Jr
  (1963, novel, slipstream... essential data)

• Masks of the Illuminati by Robert Anton Wilson
  (19??, novel, fiction... conspiracy...
  highly recommended)

• Let's Put the Future Behind Us by Jack Womack
  (1996, novel, fiction... black humor, russia)

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