Life

Author: Gwyneth Jones

We like to say that science is integral to science fiction, yet it is surprising how rarely the practice of science appears in sf novels. One of the rare and brilliant exceptions to this rule is Life by Gwyneth Jones, which won the Philip K. Dick Award. It's about how we define our sexual identity, how we create and operate within gender roles, what makes us women or men. At the core of the book is a scientific discovery which suggests that the male Y chromosome is reverting to an X, in other words that gender differences are disappearing. But the scientist who makes this discovery finds her research constantly stymied by male chauvinism and by office politics. The result is a fascinating and utterly convincing portrayal of the business of science that manages to ask, along the way, fundamental questions about who we are.Why it's on the list: This is genuine science fiction, that is, fiction about science. But like the best science fiction it also asks big questions. If you read science fiction to get your mind racing and your head spinning, then you need to read this book.