- The Titan series: Titan,
- Wizard,
- Demon - a group of stories that put John Varley on the map for me. The setting is epic, the characterization about as intimate as any I've read. A manned exploratory probe discovers a gigantic sentient space station orbiting Saturn. Most of the action takes place on this space station, and revolves around the interactions of humans with the machine mind of the station, which is slowly going insane. This is not your typical Frankenstein story, as it tries to explore the question of sentience in its most human meaning: forget Deep Blue, just another clockwork. What are the implications of a machine that is complex enough to be "human"?
- The Steel Beach series: Steel Beach - another story that explores the nature of human being. Take human beings, give them the power to change bodies almost as casually as we now change underwear, and examine the results. I read the story a while ago, and remember that "aliens" formed part of the backdrop, but I think Varley uses them only to circumscribe options. In essence he seems to be saying that without such a devastating presence in human affairs the fantastic world he envisions would not come about.
- The Golden Globe - I wrote a review of this sequel to Steel Beach.