Time to spare — try these five great new reads

The Hydrogen Sonata

Iain. M Banks

The much anticipated latest novel in Iain M. Banks epic space opera series. As with all of Banks’ work, you can expect this to be an intelligent and highly engaging read. All the Culture novels are standalone so this is a great oppertunity to get into the series.

N-W

Zadie Smith

Orange prize winner Zadie Smith returns to writing with another highly acclaimed novel. NW tells the powerful story of four people from an impoverished North West London housing block development. A must read that deserves all of its accolades.

Great North Road

Peter. F. Hamilton

Despite Hamilton being best known for his trilogies and long series, his latest offering is a standalone novel. This is the perfect opportunity get acquainted with this brilliant author before he visits the College for the Picocon SF convention in February.

Redshirts

John Scalzi

Scalzi’s latest novel parodies the tendency in Star Trek of redshirted security officers dying with alarming regularity while main characters remain unscathed. While not yet published in the UK, you can get a US import from Forbidden Planet.

The Casual Vacancy

J.K Rowling

While Rowling’s first novel for adults has received mixed reviews, it’s still worth a look. While certainly not a highbrow masterpiece, much of the flair that made Harry Potter such a phenomenon is still on show. A good if unchallenging novel.