The Invention of Morel

Bioy Casares wrote a novel in a hundred pages that justifies its existence several times over. The metaphysical premise — projections that repeat eternally and appear as real people — is so elegant that Borges, not given to praise, used it as a model of the adventure novel. It is philosophical science fiction that reads like a thriller, with an underlying melancholy that stays long after the book ends. For those who want science fiction that does not surrender to brevity.