Bête

Adam Roberts is another author who produced more than one book in the year. In fact, five books came out: a glorious pastiche of Jules Verne, Twenty Trillion Leagues Under the Sea; a book on how to write science fiction; a collection of his reviews, Sibilant Fricative; a scholarly edition of Coleridge's Biographia Literaria; and this exceptional novel. In Bête, animal rights activists insert chips into the brains of animals which gives them the power of speech. This raises uncomfortable questions about the nature of animal (and, by extension, human) intelligence. Laws are passed, and our narrator, who opposes animal rights, is reduced to tramping the countryside doing a little illicit butchering when he has the chance. Because he is so isolated from civilisation, he barely notices that humans are retreating from the country into the towns, that the economy is collapsing, that a war has begun between animals and humans, until he is unexpectedly called upon to represent the animals in peace negotiations.Why it's on the list: Roberts's previous novel, Jack Glass, won both the BSFA Award and the John W. Campbell Memorial Award, and it wouldn't be a surprise to see this novel cropping up on a few award shortlists as well. It is a powerful story that expertly raises some very difficult questions.