First published 1955. Panther paperback, 1966, pp 186, c.63,000 words. Darkness is an appropriate title for this collection of stories. Most have dark themes, if not true horror. Surprisingly for a collection of SF stories of this date, there is no acknowledgement that these stories had been previously published in magazines, although according to the […]
Handful of Darkness, A — Philip K Dick Read More »
First published 1958. Arrow paperback, 1979, pp 208, c.73,000 words. This is surely unique amongst golden-age science fiction in being concerned with Roman Catholic doctrine. There was considerable interest in literary fiction in the subject at that time, in the novels of Graham Greene and Evelyn Waugh for example. Blish opens his foreword with: ‘This
Case of Conscience, A — James Blish Read More »
First published 1974. Futura paperback, 1979, pp 212, c.65,000 words. Niven is best known these days for his Ringworld books, but he was also a prolific short-story writer in Science Fiction’s golden age. This is a collection of seven stories first published in magazines from 1969 to 1972. All the first five feature Svetz as
Flight of the Horse, The — Larry Niven Read More »
First published 2014. Penguin paperback, 2015, pp 421, c.160,000 words. Tegmark is a very articulate physics communicator. On television he is excellent in explaining complex phenomena in an accessible fashion, and he always seems to have a twinkle in his eye. The same personality shines through this book. The opening five chapters are a master-class
Our Mathematical Universe — Max Tegmark Read More »
First published 1932. Pan paperback, 1962, pp 221, c.92,000 words. This was Shute’s third published novel, and it marks something of a transition in adventure and thriller writing between the world of John Buchan’s Thirty-Nine Steps and the more realistic post-WW2 everyman heroes of writers like Hammond Innes. It is also has something of an
Lonely Road — Nevil Shute Read More »
First published 1970. Panther paperback, 1973, pp 187, c.65,000 words. This is a collection of fourteen short stories which were first published in magazines between 1965 and 1970. It includes Super-Toys Last All Summer Long which was the inspiration for the Spielberg film AI Artificial Intelligence – originally a Stanley Kubrick film project. Presumably these
Moment of Eclipse, The — Brian W Aldiss Read More »
First published 1910. Everyman paperback, 2001, pp 235, c.75,000 words. Aside from Well’s future fiction, this is one of his best-known works. How well does it stand up today? Wells was rather inclined to inject his own views and prejudices into his fiction, although this is perhaps the last of his primarily fiction works according
History of Mr Polly — H G Wells Read More »
First published 1968. Corgi paperback, 1982, pp 157, c.50,000 words. The set up here is a familiar one: A man who is part of an immensely wealthy family is bored with his life and suddenly finds an opportunity for adventure, and eventually redemption. It’s a good setup, open to many retellings. Earth’s inhabitants are mostly
Into the Slave Nebula — John Brunner Read More »
First published 1951. New English Library paperback, 1973, pp 127, c.52,000 words. The title of this book immediately labels it as quintessentially American. No other culture holds weapons in such totemistic regard. And so it is, at least to a degree, that the titular weapon shops are a lonely bastion fighting back against an oppressive
Weapon SHops of Isher, The — A E van Vogt Read More »
First published 1957-8. Dell paperback, 1973, pp 223, c.55,000 words. This is a collection of four quite long short stories that were put together as a book some twelve years after being first published elsewhere. Silverberg provides an introduction to the compilation, which is interesting in itself. In it he explains that these stories were
Valley Beyond Time — Robert Silverberg Read More »