Funny Science Fiction With Ideas Behind the Jokes

The best comic futures have rules, even when those rules are appalling. These books make joke and invention work together: copyright can bankrupt a universe in Year Zero, obsolete heroes need new employment in Will Save the Galaxy for Food, and a robot's instructions can survive the society that issued them in Service Model. Start with The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy for digressive absurdity, The Municipalists for an unlikely working partnership, or The Cyberiad for ingenious machines with consequences. The range includes exuberant farce, corrosive satire and warmer, quieter humour. Charles Yu and Gary Shteyngart bring considerable sadness, while older books carry period references and assumptions. Each note identifies both the comic approach and the idea that keeps the story interesting.