A retired doctor and bookaholic since childhood, for me reading has always been more than just an escape into other lives. Rather, as with all art forms, I find it helps me better understand our topsy-turvy world. The Alice books were my introduction to the use of fantasy in storytelling that embraces a deeper meaning. Reading such imaginative fiction can be like stepping back from reality only to return with a better insight into what it means to be human in the real world. For me, as a doctor, this has always been so important. Each of the books I have recommended achieves this in the authorâs own, unique way.
Following the adventures of Maskull (My skull?) on Planet Tormance, the reader is pitched into an allegorical journey in search of truth where nothing is quite what it seems. Disillusionment is a matter of course. Self-enlightenment and self-destruction merge, and the Devil even masquerades as God. Surely one of the greatest philosophical novels of the last century, it made me ponder about our place in the universe. The stark ending, focusing on the importance of âselfâ in defining reality, is curiously disturbing.
A stunning achievement in speculative fiction, A Voyage to Arcturus has inspired, enchanted, and unsettled readers for decades. It is simultaneously an epic quest across one of the most unusual and brilliantly depicted alien worlds ever conceived, a profoundly moving journey of discovery into the metaphysical heart of the universe, and a shockingly intimate excursion into what makes us human and unique. After a strange interstellar journey, Maskull, a man from Earth, awakens alone in a desert on the planet Tormance, seared by the suns of the binary star Arcturus. As he journeys northward, guided by a drumbeat, he encountersâŚ
Pi, an Indian zookeeperâs son, is marooned in a lifeboat with an orang-utan, a crippled zebra, a hyena, and a tiger. The tiger eats the hyena who polished off the zebra and orang-utan, and the relationship between Pi and the tiger, representing two sides of the protagonist, becomes a tale of endurance and survival shared by man and beast, turning mystical when they disembark on a floating carnivorous island. The prosaic beginning and ending, after the tiger vanishes into the Mexican jungle, link the reader with the real world, and enhance what is a deeply spiritual story.Â
After the sinking of a cargo ship, a solitary lifeboat remains bobbing on the wild blue Pacific. The only survivors from the wreck are a sixteen-year-old boy named Pi, a hyena, a wounded zebra, an orangutanâand a 450-pound Royal Bengal tiger.
Soon the tiger has dispatched all but Pi Patel, whose fear, knowledge, and cunning allow him to coexist with the tiger, Richard Parker, for 227 days while lost at sea. When they finally reach the coast of Mexico, Richard Parker flees to the jungle, never to be seen again. The Japanese authorities who interrogate Pi refuse to believe hisâŚ
The dragons of Yuro have been hunted to extinction.
On a small, isolated island, in a reclusive forest, lives bandit leader Marani and her brother Jacks. With their outlaw band they rob from the rich to feed themselves, raiding carriages and dodging the occasional vindictiveâŚ
In a tale involving entrepreneurial ruffians who exploit native Amazonian tribes, and corrupt officials, Alex and Nadia discover the âPeople of the Mistâ and the mystical sloth-like beasts of the title who are trying to protect their forest. The first, and for me the best book of this supremely gifted writerâs explorative trilogy, it deals, compellingly, with the self-seeking greed behind White Manâs destruction of the lungs of our planet, the Amazon. If we lose the Amazon Rainforest, we lose our planet. As simple as that. Mr. Bolsonaro, please read this book!
An ecological romance with a pulsing heart, equal parts Rider Haggard and Chico Buarque - one of the world's greatest and most beloved storytellers broadens her style and reach with a Amazonian adventure story that will appeal to all ages.
Fifteen-year-old Alexander Cold has the chance to take the trip of a lifetime.
With his mother in hospital, too ill to look after him, Alex is sent out to his grandmother Kate - a fearless reporter with blue eyes 'as sharp as daggers' points'. Kate is about to embark on an expedition to the dangerous, remote world of the AmazonâŚ
The Silver Locusts (my preferred title) is a collection of linked short stories about Earthmanâs destruction of a fragilely beautiful and ancient Martian civilisation. With profoundly poetic writing, there are real gems such as Night Meeting in which an Earthman and Martian meet up on a highway, neither seeing, nor believing in, the otherâs world. The book is not pure fantasy, for it also reflects White Manâs destruction of the Native American civilisation, one that was in harmony with the natural world and which inspired my Eyes of Fire.
Twelve-year-old identical twins Ellie and Kat accidentally trigger their physicist momâs unfinished time machine, launching themselves into a high-stakes adventure in 1970 Chicago. If they learn how to join forces and keep time travel out of the wrong hands, they might be able find a way home. Ellieâs gymnastics andâŚ
The stories of ageing, academic ex-spy, Lytton, merge with those of his young neighbour, Rosie, who, when searching for his cat in a basement enters another dimension where she embarks on a life-changing journey with young Jay, whilst in a dystopian future, scientist Angela Meerson, because of her latest invention, goes on the run from the corruptly controlling authorities. The reader just has to hang on there as past, present and future collide in a symphony of imaginative writing that challenges our concept of reality. And it all comes together in a brilliant conclusion.
Three interlocking worlds. Four people looking for answers.
April, 1960: In the cellar of a professor's house in Oxford, fifteen-year-old Rosie goes in search of a missing cat -- and instead finds herself in a different world.
Anterwold is a sun-drenched land of storytellers and prophecies. But is this world real -- and what happens if Rosie decides to stay?
Meanwhile, a rebellious scientist is trying to prove that time does not even exist -- with potentially devastating consequences.
As the three worlds come together, one question arises: who controls the future -- or the past...?
Adam cannot believe his luck when gorgeous Mexican classmate MarĂa dumps her boyfriend for him, nor understand why her grandfather said she must give him an ancient Mexican bracelet. Because of who the girl really is, the future of the world is in danger when the bracelet takes them on a terrifying journey through time, across North America. Adamâs sister, Chloe, has a telepathic gift proving vital in a struggle against the Death Lords of the Mayan underworld, Xibalba, and an ancient, evil Anasazi warrior, Coyote Spirit, all of whom want MarĂa for themselves. Later, with Adam and MarĂa married, their telepathic son, Pepe, knows, through Chloe, that they must return to Xibalba to learn the truth concerning his motherâs distress, plus rescue a special child.
Haunted by her choices, including marrying an abusive con man, thirty-five-year-old Elizabeth has been unable to speak for two years. She is further devastated when she learns an old boyfriend has died. Nothing in her lifeâŚ
In an underground coal mine in Northern Germany, over forty scribes who are fluent in different languages have been spared the camps to answer letters to the deadâletters that people were forced to answer before being gassed, assuring relatives that conditions in the camps were good.Â
