Posthuman Blues

10 more-or-less contemporary science fiction books you have to read (in no particular order):

1.) 2001: A Space Odyssey or Childhood's End

Arthur C. Clarke challenges our most treasured existential notions. (All right, so they're not that "contemporary"...)

2.) Neuromancer

William Gibson reinvents SF. Hauntingly effective.

3.) Terraplane or Elvissey

Jack Womack's bizarre retelling of the 20th century, with a cynical eye toward the future...

4.) VALIS by Philip K. Dick.

It just might blow your mind.

5.) Starfish

and

6.) Maelstrom by Peter Watts.

A gritty and terrifying look at the way the world ends.

7.) Crash

J.G. Ballard's hallucinatory psychosexual protocyberpunk masterpiece.

8.) Anything by Ken MacLeod.

I recommend Cosmonaut Keep, the first in his "Engines of Light" trilogy. It's dense, demanding and very smart.

9.) Saucer Wisdom by Rudy Rucker.

Screamingly funny and intelligent. The same goes for the "Ware" tetralogy.

10.) Something by Bruce Sterling. (Holy Fire is good.)