BOOKS
CREATION NODE
Planet 9 From Outer Space
In recent years, it has sometimes seemed as if Stephen Baxter would happily lose his reputation as the British Hard Science Fiction Guy. You can understand why. Being so often compared to Arthur C Clarke might become a little wearing, for all that Baxter often collaborated with the co-creator of 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Whatever the artistic reasons behind his choices, Baxter has turned his hand to alternate history, steampunk and, via his collaboration with the late Terry Pratchett, humour, in the Long Earth sequence. Indeed, you could argue he’s our most versatile SF novelist. And if he’s not the most distinctive stylist, that’s no bad thing. Read a Baxter novel and the prose always serves the story – and Baxter is phenomenal at creating memorable plots.