Echopraxia

The sequel to his acclaimed Blindsight begins in the wilderness, where biologist Daniel Bruks has turned his back on humanity. Intruders force him to retreat to a strange monastery, but when that comes under attack he finds himself on a ship heading towards the centre of the solar system. The pilot is out for revenge on someone who may be Bruks himself, his companion is a soldier obsessed with messages from his dead son, and also aboard the ship is a vampire with a troop of zombies who seem to be out to kill everyone. And yet, when they reach their destination, Bruks finds that the ship may still be the safest place there is.Peter Watts's science fiction is always filled with big ideas, and this is no exception. Because the journey, and the aliens that await at the end of it, bring Bruks face to face with the consequences of an evolutionary change he may have unleashed. Why it's on the list: Watts writes the sort of science fiction designed to make us rethink the future. The range of ideas that come at you through the course of this novel is enough to set your brain spinning. It is the sort of dazzling tour de force that we find too rarely in science fiction these days.