Natural History

In the far future, humanity has split into the Unevolved and the Augmented. The latter have been forged by biotechnology into forms that allow them to live anywhere, including acting as their own spaceship. It seems there is nothing they cannot do, no environment they cannot conquer, and when they encounter a solar system with seemingly abandoned alien technology, the Augmented plan to claim it as their own. Only then do they discover that the technology is far from abandoned; they have encountered an even more advanced form of life, one that is intent on subsuming them into its own Unity. Why it’s on the list: Natural History, along with its sequel, Living Next Door to the God of Love, offer an idiosyncratic and pyrotechnic account of humanity coming to terms with ever greater powers (including a pocket universe where New York contains genuine superheroes – what’s not to like!).