The novel “The Eyes of Heisenberg” by Frank Herbert was published for the first time in 1966.

In a far future children’s birth is strictly regulated and each individual’s DNA is manipulated right after being conceived. The products of such manipulations are divided in two reproductive classes: the Optimen, naturally sterile, and the Folks, most kept sterile through a special gas while some others are allowed to reproduce.

Harvey and Lizbeth Durant received permission to conceive a child but during the manipulation that is mandatory for a fertilized egg something unexpectedly happens. The consequence is that the Durant family ends in the middle of a power struggle that also includes the Cyborgs, who’s been trying to overthrow the Optimen’s regime for a long time.

“Night Walk” is the first novel published by Bob Shaw in 1967 and as it’s tipycal for this author it’s centered around an invention. In this novel we have the special glasses, an instrument that allows a blind person to see: its importance can be seen – begging your pardon for the pun – only at the end of the novel.

The novel “Axis” by Robert Charles Wilson was published for the first time in 2007. It’s the second book of the Spin trilogy and follows “Spin”.

Humans are colonizing the New World, and many of them have no problem with the presence of the Fourths, but the “Department of Genomic Security” is still trying to track them down, particularly a group that used Martian technology to create a very special child.

Meanwhile, Lise Adams is investigating the circumstances of her father’s disappearance ten years earlier. Among the clues she has is a photo of him with some Fourths, whom she is seeking on the New World to ask for help.

In his novel “Incandescence” Greg Egan tells two stories, apparently disconnected and in totally different situations.

In “Rollback” Dr. Sarah Halifax is the scientist who in 2010 manages to decipher an alien message arrived from the Sigma Draconis system and gives her contribution to create an answer that is sent to the aliens, who unfortunately live almost nineteen light years from Earth.