Brunner, John

(British, 1934–95)

Born in Oxfordshire and educated at Cheltenham College, Brunner emerged in the 1960s as one of the most highly-regarded science fiction authors of his day. Begin with Stand on Zanzibar (1968), which, like all his most memorable work, engages with contemporary social and political issues. The book offers a dystopian treatment of global overpopulation and the dangers of eugenics. In The Shockwave Rider (1975) he projects a civilization in which computer technology allows an oppressive government to manipulate all information. The only hopes for human progress lie in the sabotage attempts of a brilliant hacker. His other books include The Sheep Look Up (1972), a prescient and well-documented treatment of an industrially polluted future in which controlling commercial interests regard the threat of ecological disaster with indifference.

John Wyndham, Iain M. Banks, Ian Watson  DH