The Machine

This is far and away the book I'd like to win the Clarke award. It took 2 days to read in a relatively frenzied burst of enthusiasm. Recommended VERY highly if you are looking for a quieter form of science fiction which concentrates on a small number of characters and the effects on them of the use of an illicit memory machine on an ex-war vet by his wife in a psychologically based updating of Frankenstein. The back story unfolds gradually throughout the book and your loyalties switch- Is Beth's use of the Machine a good thing or a bad thing? Whatever your initial take is on that expect things to change.

Smythe is one of , if not the best of the new breed of English Science fiction writers. Read this, then go and check out the totally contrasting The Explore, or The Testimony and you will not be disappointed.