Good Sci-Fi/Unexplained Events Books

[gallapunk]

My partner is a sci-fi freak and is always reading something intriguing or unusual in that general area, so books are perfect gifts for him, but I never know what to buy. He reads both fiction and non-fiction (and unlike me, he doesn't mind reading a book again if he's read it before because he says you can miss bits the first time round). Does anyone have a general list of 'good books' that fall into that area? I realise that everyone's tastes are different, but it would give me a starting point at least. I could search on Amazon, etc, but I'm interested in real people's opinions about which books are good reads. Thanks very much.

[eah]

I like the following authors:

anything by

John Wyndham
Michael Crichton

The novel "Stardust"

HTH

[pingping]

dean koontz writes some weird stuff! they are like a crossover between sci-fi and gothic horror.

a traditional sci-fi author would be Isaac Asimov (the author of the book Robots of Dawn that 'I,Robot' was based on)

[spangle111]

If you want to get something a little different why not try something like a subscription to fortean times - not my cup of tea but I'm assured that its a riveting read if the weird and wonderful is your thing.

[gallapunk]

Thanks everyone, that's really useful; I'll keep a list in my bag for when I'm shopping.

eah: I think he's mentioned Michael Crichton before, the name rings a bell and I haven't read anything by him, so I'll keep my eyes open for his books.

pingping: I love Dean Koontz myself, so we have a lot of his books, but I'll look out for the others.

spangle111: He does like Fortean Times so a subscription would be great.

Thanks again everyone.

[spudqueen]

The World of Tiers by Philip Jose Farmer is an excellent book.

[Azalian]

Try Jack Chalker, Larry Niven, John Varley, Kim Stanley Robinson, Spider Robinson, Jerry Pournelle, Greg Bear,
Charles stross, Iain M Banks, Ken McLeod, Aliastair Reynolds, jack Mc Devitt, That should give you a decent start.

[buncrana]

A fantastic sci-fi that I can recommend is Under the Skin by Michel Faber. It is a deeply unsettling book that has lingered long in my mind and one that I still regularly re-read. It made me think and presented a new perspective on many things I take for granted.