* derived from Francesco Verso’s intro to Freetaly: Italian Science Fiction
Lungo i vicoli del tempo (2002) by Lanfranco Fabriani
Features the UCCI agency, an Italian version of the Government Time Bureau in charge of monitoring the correct flow of history and protecting Italy’s past from attacks by hostile foreign powers, already common in works by Poul Anderson and Robert Heinlein, but here adapted to the Italian cultural context.
Sezione π2 (2007) by Giovanni De Matteo
Techno-thriller set in a futuristic Naples and featuring special police officers known as “necromancers,” due to the cyber-implant they are equipped with that allows them to conduct investigations starting from the victims’ memories. The novel takes place after the eruption of Vesuvius and the catastrophic consequences of a Third World War, where Naples is flooded by refugees, has reached six million inhabitants, and is besieged by an ecological threat of uncertain origins–an entropic mass able to regenerate itself by assimilating waste and invading areas abandoned by human activity.
Rupes Recta (2010) by Clelia Farris
An investigation into a lunar colony in which rationality has given way to superstition.
Nessun uomo è mio fratello (2009) by Clelia Farris
A soft dystopia that anticipates many current issues such as body control and gender-based violence.
La pesatura dell’anima [The Weight of the Soul] (2010) by Clelia Farris
Set in an alternative Egypt, where the use of metals is prohibited, houses and furniture are biotech modified trees, and modified animals serve as a means of transport and communication.
2038: la rivolta (2000) by Francesco Grasso
A story about the decline of society, the manipulation of information, and the power of banks.
Dimenticami, Trovami, Sognami [Forget Me, Find Me, Dream of Me] (2015) by Andrea Viscusi
A love story set on different narrative levels–a sort of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind–where three protagonists must face a mystery that threatens to overwhelm their own existence: Dorian must confront forces greater than himself, Dr. Novembre is tormented by incomprehensible visions, and Simona, who waited for Dorian for twelve years, will have to put together the pieces of a story that perhaps never happened in this Universe.
Real Mars (2016) by Alessandro Vietti
An ironic story that, with a skillful metanarrative game, transforms a space reality show from science fiction into social satire, making the reader the real protagonist. Four astronauts are traveling into space while billions of people are watching and commenting on them, marveling and despising, and modifying their schedules in accordance with the tv program.
Avrai i miei occhi [You’ll Have My Eyes] (2020) by Nicoletta Vallorani
About the violence perpetrated against women’s bodies, be they human, guinea pig, clone, replicant, or cyborg.
Il caso Korolev [The Korolev Case] (2011) by Paolo Aresi
An interstellar journey with a cosmic mystery to be solved, the presence of a mineral with a particular property, and an encounter with an alien civilization. Above all, the story is a tribute to the figure of the father of Russian cosmonautics, Sergej Pavlovic Korolev; the second part of the book is a historical novel centered on Korolev.
L’anno dei dodici inverni [The Twelve-Year Winter] (2009) by Tullio Avoledo
Deals with time travel, love, and redemption, in a mix of SF and realism.
Il quinto principio [The Fifth Principle] (2015) by Vittorio Catani
In the year 2043, the Earth is devastated by so-called Exceptional Events- catastrophes that violate the laws of physics but seem to agree with a hypothesized Fifth Principle of Thermodynamics: the sinking of vast areas, the sudden decrease or absence of gravity in certain territories, the appearance of objects that create an absolute void, and more.
Mondo9 (2012) by Dario Tonani
A dieselpunk saga born from a series of short stories, set on a desert planet crossed by enormous semi-sentient ships.
