Speculative fiction that inspired me
Explore a curated list of speculative fiction books that inspired me, featuring visionary tales and thought-provoking stories that spark imagination and creativity.
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American Gods
by Neil Gaiman
Released from prison, Shadow finds his world turned upside down. His wife has been killed; a mysterious stranger offers him a job. But Mr. Wednesday, who knows more about Shadow than is possible, warns that a storm is coming -- a battle for the very soul of America . . . and they are in its direct path. One of the most talked-about books of the new millennium, American Gods is a kaleidoscopic journey deep into myth and across an American landscape at once eerily familiar and utterly alien. It is, quite simply, a contemporary masterpiece.
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The Taking
by Dean Ray Koontz
Molly and Neil Sloan and their neighbors in a small California mountain town encounter a threat that transforms their peaceful streets into a ghostly labyrinth as they discover the horrifying reality of what is happening around them.
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The Player of Games
by Iain M. Banks
The Culture - a human/machine symbiotic society - has thrown up many great Game Players, and one of the greatest is Gurgeh. Jernau Morat Gurgeh. The Player of Games. Master of every board, computer and strategy. Bored with success, Gurgeh travels to the Empire of Azad, cruel and incredibly wealthy, to try their fabulous game...a game so complex, so like life itself, that the winner becomes emperor. Mocked, blackmailed, almost murdered, Gurgeh accepts the game, and with it the challenge of his life - and very possibly his death. Praise for Iain M. Banks: "Poetic, humorous, baffling, terrifying, sexy -- the books of Iain M. Banks are all these things and more" -- NME "An exquisitely riotous tour de force of the imagination which writes its own rules simply for the pleasure of breaking them." -- Time Out
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Pawn of Prophecy
by David Eddings
Garion the farm boy did not believe in magic dooms, but then he did not know that soon he would be on a quest of unparalleled magic and danger when the dread evil God Torak was reawakened.
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The Lucifer Code
by Michael Cordy
What happens to us when we die? Oblivion.Or so believes Dr Miles Fleming, a brilliant, young neuroscientist who has developed a device capable of reading human brainwaves. But when his own brother contacts him after being certified dead for six whole minutes, Fleming wonders if he's got it all wrong. His search for the truth uncovers a terrifying religious conspiracy to stage the most ambitious experiment the world has ever seen - to prove beyond doubt the existence of a heaven or a hell. As the world awaits the final judgement, Fleming must confront his own demons to save not only his own soul but that of all humanity. THE LUCIFER CODE pits the faith of religion against the certainty of science in a heartstopping thriller which explores our deepest fears.
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Neuromancer
by William Gibson
Case, a burned-out computer whiz, is asked to steal a security code that is locked in the most heavily guarded databank in the solar system, in a special twentieth anniversary edition of the influential Hugo, Nebula, and Philip K. Dick Award-winning novel.
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It
by Stephen King
A group of teenagers stumbles upon an evil force that will eventually draw them all back to Derry, Maine, for a final showdown. Reissue.
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The Gunslinger
by Stephen King
The first in the Dark Tower series, the Gunslinger pursues the evil "Man in Black" across a desolate wasteland.
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The Way of Shadows
by Brent Weeks
Determined to escape the Warrens, Azoth seeks out Durzo Blint, the city's most ruthless assassin, to persuade him to take him on as an apprentice and to teach him the deadly Way of Shadows, in the first volume in a new fantasy trilogy. Original.
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The Call of Cthulhu and Other Weird Stories
by H. P. Lovecraft
A definitive collection of stories from the unrivaled master of twentieth-century horror "I think it is beyond doubt that H. P. Lovecraft has yet to be surpassed as the twentieth century's greatest practitioner of the classic horror tale." -Stephen King Frequently imitated and widely influential, Howard Philips Lovecraft reinvented the horror genre in the 1920s, discarding ghosts and witches and instead envisioning mankind as a tiny outpost of dwindling sanity in a chaotic and malevolent universe. S. T. Joshi, Lovecraft's preeminent interpreter, presents a selection of the master's fiction, from the early tales of nightmares and madness such as "The Outsider" to the overpowering cosmic terror of "The Call of Cthulhu." More than just a collection of terrifying tales, this volume reveals the development of Lovecraft's mesmerizing narrative style and establishes him as a canonical- and visionary-American writer. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
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Elric of Melnibone
by Michael Moorcock
Melniboné: No longer the mighty empire that once dominated the world but a waning kingdom, dependent on trade from the human nations which have begun the challenge her power. On his ruby Throne sits the albino Elric - sorcerer and warrior. A melancholy philosopher at odds with his destiny. As fleets of marauders probe the defences of the Dragon Isle, Elric faces treachery within his own court - from Yyrkoon, the cruel and ambitious cousin who dreams of usurping him.
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The Sandman
by Neil Gaiman
A collection of eight comics that introduce the series' lead character, the Sandman, Lord of Dreams.
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RealmShift
by Alan Baxter
Isiah is having a tough time. The Devil is making his job very difficult. Samuel Harrigan is a murdering low-life who used ancient black magic to escape a deal with the Devil. Now he's on the trail of a crystal skull that he believes will complete his effots to evade Lucifer. But Lucifer wants Samuel's soul for eternity and refuses to wait a second longer for it. Now Isiah must protect Samuel and keep the Devil at bay, because Isiah needs Samuel's search for the skull to continue... ...not for Samuel's sake, but for the sake of all humankind. RealmShift is an engrossing dark fantasy thriller; a fascinating exploration of the nature of belief and its effect on the world. Magic, action, and intrigue, from dank city streets to the depths of hell and beyond.
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MageSign
by Alan Baxter
Three years have passed since Isiah's run-in with Samuel Harrigan and the Devil. He has some time on his hands- a perfect opportunity to track down the Sorcerer, Harrigan's mentor. It should have been a simple enough task, but the Sorcerer has more followers than Isiah ever imagined, and a plan bigger than anyone could have dreamed. With the help of some powerful new friends, Isiah must track down the Sorcerer and his cult of blood before they change the world forever. In this long-awaited sequel to the highly acclaimed RealmShift, Baxter once again maintains a breathless pace and blistering intensity, with gods, demons, and humans in the grip of magical conflict. This is dark urban fantasy at its best.