The Color Of Distance

The Color of Distance makes the top five of our top 25 hard science fiction novels thanks to it's innovative use of biology and anthropology instead of the usual physics and engineering. Now, we love some good future tech as much as the rest of you, but sometimes you just want to branch out and find something a bit different, and that's exactly what The Color of Distance does. Don't let any of this 'soft sciences' nonsense filter into whether you read it or not - this is most definitely hard science fiction. Starting with the idea that Juna, it's lead character, must adapt to the native alien species - through changing both her body, and the way she interacts with the society - it builds into a tale of what it means to be human. This is a world that feels alien - none of this earth-but-in-different-colours crap, but distinctly and terrifyingly alien. Thomson is a relatively unknown name compared to some of the contenders on this list, but trust us when we say that's a oversight on science fiction's part, and not a comment on her talent.