Classic SF with Andy Johnson
@andyjohnson.xyz
Exploring classic science fiction, with a focus on the 1950s to the 1990s. Weekly articles and podcast at andyjohnson.xyz
Pinned
Classic SF with Andy Johnson: the 2025 roundup
Every classic SF essay I published over the year, in once place.
www.andyjohnson.xyz
Twelve months, 42 essays on classic #sciencefiction, covering books published from 1937 to 2024. To close out last year, here is everything I wrote in 2025.
This week's essay and podcast ep on Last Letters From Hav (1985) by Jan Morris are in the can. Morris' first novel, much praised by Ursula K. Le Guin, is presented as travel writing. Sign up for the newsletter to get the essay in your inbox this Thursday.
Classic SF with Andy Johnson
Exploring classic SF, from the 1950s to the 1990s
classicsfwithandyjohnson.eo.page
January 13, 2026 at 10:25 PM
This week's essay and podcast ep on Last Letters From Hav (1985) by Jan Morris are in the can. Morris' first novel, much praised by Ursula K. Le Guin, is presented as travel writing. Sign up for the newsletter to get the essay in your inbox this Thursday.
A thoroughly strange and beguiling novel of disaster and psychological unraveling, which I covered in December 2024.
January 13, 2026 at 11:28 AM
A thoroughly strange and beguiling novel of disaster and psychological unraveling, which I covered in December 2024.
Reposted by Classic SF with Andy Johnson
"Intelligence is suddenly on the up - way up." Episode 181 of the podcast, covering Poul Anderson's Brain Wave (1954) is now live. Here's the opening, introducing the novel's mind-expanding premise.
January 12, 2026 at 7:54 PM
"Intelligence is suddenly on the up - way up." Episode 181 of the podcast, covering Poul Anderson's Brain Wave (1954) is now live. Here's the opening, introducing the novel's mind-expanding premise.
This Is How You Lose the Time War (2019) by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone ✅ - a romance I couldn't believe, inside a changewar that didn't make sense to me, played out in a chain of desperately sophomoric love letters. Very much not for me.
January 12, 2026 at 1:00 PM
This Is How You Lose the Time War (2019) by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone ✅ - a romance I couldn't believe, inside a changewar that didn't make sense to me, played out in a chain of desperately sophomoric love letters. Very much not for me.
Limbo (1952) by Bernard Wolfe ✅ - a neurosurgeon returns to what remains of post-World War III America, to find a bizarre civilisation inspired by jokes he wrote in a notebook. Wolfe's only SF novel, as fascinating as it is frustrating.
January 12, 2026 at 12:55 PM
Limbo (1952) by Bernard Wolfe ✅ - a neurosurgeon returns to what remains of post-World War III America, to find a bizarre civilisation inspired by jokes he wrote in a notebook. Wolfe's only SF novel, as fascinating as it is frustrating.
Hilary Bailey (1936 - 2017) died on this day. She was an active figure in New Wave SF in the UK, and with Michael Moorcock was the (uncredited) co-author of The Black Corridor (1969). I covered this gloomy deep space odyssey in 2024.
Space and the mind: The Black Corridor (1969) by Michael Moorcock and Hilary Bailey [Review]
A classic, foreboding example of British New Wave science fiction that uses outer space to explore inner space.
www.andyjohnson.xyz
January 11, 2026 at 5:06 PM
Hilary Bailey (1936 - 2017) died on this day. She was an active figure in New Wave SF in the UK, and with Michael Moorcock was the (uncredited) co-author of The Black Corridor (1969). I covered this gloomy deep space odyssey in 2024.
Love these novellas. They were my first exposure to Reynolds and I still have huge fondness for them, especially the ominous, grisly Diamond Dogs.
My (audiobook) re-read of the Revelation Space universe continues with this double-bill of novellas. I say re-read, not 100% sure I've actually read these. 🤷♂️
🚀🪐📚💙 #scifibooks #sciencefiction #nowreading #revelationspace
🚀🪐📚💙 #scifibooks #sciencefiction #nowreading #revelationspace
January 11, 2026 at 9:01 AM
Love these novellas. They were my first exposure to Reynolds and I still have huge fondness for them, especially the ominous, grisly Diamond Dogs.
Reposted by Classic SF with Andy Johnson
Picked up a first edition of Millennium People (2003) by J. G. Ballard for £1 today, which turns out to be signed by the man himself.
January 9, 2026 at 8:40 PM
Picked up a first edition of Millennium People (2003) by J. G. Ballard for £1 today, which turns out to be signed by the man himself.
Reposted by Classic SF with Andy Johnson
I literally just gone done emailing Sean to say how heartened I’ve been by his recent historical focus in the texts he’s been reading. His posts have been productive without being nostalgic - *so* helpful.
But here he is skeeting about it and forcing me to make my admiration public. What a flex.
But here he is skeeting about it and forcing me to make my admiration public. What a flex.
I continue my Ballantine Adult Fantasy reading series with the first official novel in the series: Fletcher Pratt's THE BLUE STAR. Originally published in 1952, this is an impressive novel about power and gender (though it's not without its problems), and a great start to the BAF series proper.
Ballantine Adult Fantasy: Reading “The Blue Star” by Fletcher Pratt
The twelfth essay in my Ballantine Adult Fantasy reading series, which looks at Fletcher Pratt’s The Blue Star (1952), an impressive, short novel of “rational” fantasy about power…
seanguynes.com
January 9, 2026 at 9:20 PM
I literally just gone done emailing Sean to say how heartened I’ve been by his recent historical focus in the texts he’s been reading. His posts have been productive without being nostalgic - *so* helpful.
But here he is skeeting about it and forcing me to make my admiration public. What a flex.
But here he is skeeting about it and forcing me to make my admiration public. What a flex.
Picked up a first edition of Millennium People (2003) by J. G. Ballard for £1 today, which turns out to be signed by the man himself.
January 9, 2026 at 8:40 PM
Picked up a first edition of Millennium People (2003) by J. G. Ballard for £1 today, which turns out to be signed by the man himself.
Reposted by Classic SF with Andy Johnson
In Poul Anderson's slim, early novel Brain Wave (1954), every animal and human brain on Earth is supercharged overnight. Can society withstand the shock of sudden super-intelligence? My first essay of 2026 is now live.
Think fast: Brain Wave (1954) by Poul Anderson
The influential classic of enhanced intelligence with a breakneck pace
www.andyjohnson.xyz
January 8, 2026 at 5:45 PM
In Poul Anderson's slim, early novel Brain Wave (1954), every animal and human brain on Earth is supercharged overnight. Can society withstand the shock of sudden super-intelligence? My first essay of 2026 is now live.
"Budrys was that rarity, an intellectual genre writer" (SFE). SF writer and critic Algis Budrys (1931 - 2008) was born on this day. In 2024, I wrote about probably his best-known novel, the meditation on death Rogue Moon (1960).
In love with death: Rogue Moon (1960) by Algis Budrys
A haunting lunar mystery with deep psychological and philosophical implications.
www.andyjohnson.xyz
January 9, 2026 at 5:17 PM
"Budrys was that rarity, an intellectual genre writer" (SFE). SF writer and critic Algis Budrys (1931 - 2008) was born on this day. In 2024, I wrote about probably his best-known novel, the meditation on death Rogue Moon (1960).
Reposted by Classic SF with Andy Johnson
Algis Budrys (1931-2008) was born on this day. Bibliography: www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.c...
L, Robert Engle, 1958; R, Maelo Cintron, 1979
#scifi #sciencefiction #books
L, Robert Engle, 1958; R, Maelo Cintron, 1979
#scifi #sciencefiction #books
January 9, 2026 at 11:34 AM
Algis Budrys (1931-2008) was born on this day. Bibliography: www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.c...
L, Robert Engle, 1958; R, Maelo Cintron, 1979
#scifi #sciencefiction #books
L, Robert Engle, 1958; R, Maelo Cintron, 1979
#scifi #sciencefiction #books
In Poul Anderson's slim, early novel Brain Wave (1954), every animal and human brain on Earth is supercharged overnight. Can society withstand the shock of sudden super-intelligence? My first essay of 2026 is now live.
Think fast: Brain Wave (1954) by Poul Anderson
The influential classic of enhanced intelligence with a breakneck pace
www.andyjohnson.xyz
January 8, 2026 at 5:45 PM
In Poul Anderson's slim, early novel Brain Wave (1954), every animal and human brain on Earth is supercharged overnight. Can society withstand the shock of sudden super-intelligence? My first essay of 2026 is now live.
This week's essay - the first of 2026 - covers Brain Wave (1954) by Poul Anderson and will be up later today. Note that the podcast version will be a bit delayed. To keep up to date with new essays and episodes, sign up to the newsletter.
Classic SF with Andy Johnson
Exploring classic SF, from the 1950s to the 1990s
classicsfwithandyjohnson.eo.page
January 8, 2026 at 1:10 PM
This week's essay - the first of 2026 - covers Brain Wave (1954) by Poul Anderson and will be up later today. Note that the podcast version will be a bit delayed. To keep up to date with new essays and episodes, sign up to the newsletter.
Psi-Judge Anderson: Shamballa (2015) by Alan Grant and Arthur Ransom ✅ - Anderson is used to explore themes of faith, mysticism, and unease about Justice Department in these stories from 1990 - 2001.
January 7, 2026 at 7:11 PM
Psi-Judge Anderson: Shamballa (2015) by Alan Grant and Arthur Ransom ✅ - Anderson is used to explore themes of faith, mysticism, and unease about Justice Department in these stories from 1990 - 2001.
One thing I'd encourage you to do in 2026 (and something I aim to do more) is to comment on blogs. A comment costs nothing but is so valuable and motivating to a writer.
January 7, 2026 at 5:47 PM
One thing I'd encourage you to do in 2026 (and something I aim to do more) is to comment on blogs. A comment costs nothing but is so valuable and motivating to a writer.
Reposted by Classic SF with Andy Johnson
Twelve months, 42 essays on classic #sciencefiction, covering books published from 1937 to 2024. To close out last year, here is everything I wrote in 2025.
Classic SF with Andy Johnson: the 2025 roundup
Every classic SF essay I published over the year, in once place.
www.andyjohnson.xyz
January 2, 2026 at 6:33 PM
Twelve months, 42 essays on classic #sciencefiction, covering books published from 1937 to 2024. To close out last year, here is everything I wrote in 2025.
Reposted by Classic SF with Andy Johnson
JG Ballard kinda called it already, in 1973. This is the first *paragraph* of the introduction to CRASH.
December 22, 2025 at 1:48 AM
JG Ballard kinda called it already, in 1973. This is the first *paragraph* of the introduction to CRASH.
Happy and grateful to be included here, in very good company.
Sharing this early (full resources pages are in the works for @ancillaryreviewofbooks.org): a list of ~70 podcasts of SF-related discussion.
Resources: Podcasts
An incomplete list of podcasts that may be of interests to ARB readers. These are primarily discussion or analysis-based, with some connection to speculative fiction and/or criticism. TitleDescript…
ancillaryreviewofbooks.org
January 5, 2026 at 2:36 PM
Happy and grateful to be included here, in very good company.
Bernard Wolfe accidentally describes AI garbage 70 years early: "Notoa the Spokesman turns out only vast sunny mediocrities, all symmetry and slop." - in Limbo (1952).
January 5, 2026 at 9:56 AM
Bernard Wolfe accidentally describes AI garbage 70 years early: "Notoa the Spokesman turns out only vast sunny mediocrities, all symmetry and slop." - in Limbo (1952).
Reposted by Classic SF with Andy Johnson
The Cold Cash War (1977) by Robert Asprin ✅ - in this slick artefact of late '70s libertarian SF, simulated corporate wars turn hot, and threaten to upend the world order.
January 4, 2026 at 7:39 PM
The Cold Cash War (1977) by Robert Asprin ✅ - in this slick artefact of late '70s libertarian SF, simulated corporate wars turn hot, and threaten to upend the world order.
The Cold Cash War (1977) by Robert Asprin ✅ - in this slick artefact of late '70s libertarian SF, simulated corporate wars turn hot, and threaten to upend the world order.
January 4, 2026 at 7:39 PM
The Cold Cash War (1977) by Robert Asprin ✅ - in this slick artefact of late '70s libertarian SF, simulated corporate wars turn hot, and threaten to upend the world order.
Hard Reboot (2021) by Django Wexler ✅ - a wayward scholar and a mech pilot become entangled, in more ways than one, on backwards Old Earth. A solidly entertaining novella.
January 3, 2026 at 11:26 AM
Hard Reboot (2021) by Django Wexler ✅ - a wayward scholar and a mech pilot become entangled, in more ways than one, on backwards Old Earth. A solidly entertaining novella.
The Altar on Asconel (1965) by John Brunner ✅ - pure space opera, serialised in two parts in If (then edited by Frederik Pohl) and then swiftly republished as half of an Ace Double. Three brothers aim to re-take their world from a mysterious cult.
January 2, 2026 at 7:32 PM
The Altar on Asconel (1965) by John Brunner ✅ - pure space opera, serialised in two parts in If (then edited by Frederik Pohl) and then swiftly republished as half of an Ace Double. Three brothers aim to re-take their world from a mysterious cult.