Charles Platt
Free Zone
Memoranda: € 18,90
Humorige SF, die alles enthält, was Science Fiction zu bieten hat: von sprechenden Hunden über mächtige Riesenechsen, fliegende Autos und Zeitreisen bis hin zu Nazis im All. Es ist einfach alles dabei. Ein verkannter Klassiker von der humorigen Sorte, den man unbedingt gelesen haben sollte. [Melanie]

Kim Stanley Robinson
The Three Californias
Tor: €31
Kim Stanley Robinson’s first trilogy imagines three different futures for California. The menace of the cold war hovers like a cloud over the first two stories. Whereas The Wild Shore displays a post-apocalytic scenario were the survivors only seemingly have found a new normal, the Gold Coast takes a step back and gives us at least part of an inside view of the weapon industry as well as sabotaging groups that attack it. The last story, Pacific Edge, is centered around the problem of housing/development vs. preservation of natural habitats. The way I’m reciting this here must sound very dry and theoretical. But it really and truly isn’t! Robinson is one of the greatest story tellers I’ve come across. His characters sparkle with life, often you identify with them when you least want to. They all try to manage day to day problems while unavoidably playing their part in the bigger picture. They all struggle so much to do what they think is the right thing. It’s not a secret that the author is somewhat biased and seems to root for those who try to give our planet and the people in it a future worth living and not with those who don’t care if all goes to shit as long as they become richer and short-term happier. [Caro]