Ten essential offbeat science fiction novels

Catherynne M. Valente is a New York Times bestselling author of fantasy and science fiction novels, short stories, and poetry. Her latest novel is Space Opera.

One of the author's ten favorite offbeat science fiction novels, as shared at Publishers Weekly:

Human Croquet by Kate Atkinson

Time travel forms the core of the science fiction in this beautiful book, but it is so much more. A combination of The Ice Storm and Back to the Future in which the protagonist can move in time, but only in the confines of her small English village, the book is so captivating and perfectly turned that I read the entire thing on my mobile phone, unable to look away for a second. It immediately vaulted into the ranks of my all-time favorites.

Read about the other entries on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue