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Avatar of war: The Book of Elsewhere (2024) by Keanu Reeves and China Miéville

Classic SF with Andy Johnson @andyjohnson.xyz · 3d

Secondly and for episode 171, a rare foray into recent SF (among other genres) with thoroughly odd The Book of Elsewhere (2024), by Keanu Reeves and China Miéville.

"Only he, among all who walk the Earth, has a story worth writing down."

Solar Enemy Number One: The Stars My Destination (1956) by Alfred Bester

Classic SF with Andy Johnson @andyjohnson.xyz · 3d

So far I've neglected to do a roundup of what I produced in September: three articles, beginning with one on The Stars My Destination (1956), the second of two novels on which Alfred Bester's reputation rests. Also available as podcast episode 170.

A frenzied tale of revenge in a baroque 25th century

Paul Di Filippo Reviews The Society of Time by John Brunner

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Classic SF with Andy Johnson @andyjohnson.xyz · 3d

"Getting any portion of Brunner’s fascinating oeuvre back into print and in front of a new audience is a cause for celebration." Strongly agree with this fine @locusmag.bsky.social review by Paul di Filippo.

The Society of Time, John Brunner (edited by Mike Ashley) (The British Library 978-0712353823, 288pp, hardcover) November 2020 Was John Brunner’s life a tragedy? In some undeniable senses, yes. Pos…

locusmag.com

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Reposted by Classic SF with Andy Johnson

Classic SF with Andy Johnson @andyjohnson.xyz · 6d

It is 1988 and Don Miguel Navarro is an agent of the Spanish Empire, trusted to travel in time. He is about to learn how fragile his timeline really is... this week's article is up, covering the Society of Time stories (1962) by John Brunner.

Hanging by a thread: the Society of Time trilogy (1962) by John Brunner

One man struggles to protect the Spanish Empire in a fragile timeline

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Classic SF with Andy Johnson @andyjohnson.xyz · 4d

Foster is at his best when exploring strange ecologies, I think. He has a great time with the silicon-based life here.

Classic SF with Andy Johnson @andyjohnson.xyz · 4d

Thoroughly enjoyed this one. Some very interesting speculations about increased human longevity, among other things.

Classic SF with Andy Johnson @andyjohnson.xyz · 5d

I think you can safely forget about this one. I'd had no prior experience with Russell except having heard about (but not read) Sinister Barrier (1939).

Classic SF with Andy Johnson @andyjohnson.xyz · 5d

Ostensibly about Mars and Venus making war on Earth to secure independence, and populated by super-powered mutants, this promises pulp adventure. But 90% of it is stilted dialogue about nothing much - probably the worst book I've finished this year so far.

Classic SF with Andy Johnson @andyjohnson.xyz · 5d

Sentinels From Space (1953) by Eric Frank Russell ✅ - I paid 20p for this and still feel I was robbed. A fun cover conceals a desperately talky, uneventful slog that nearly became a DNF.

Classic SF with Andy Johnson @andyjohnson.xyz · Aug 10

Laid out a princely 20p for this, Eric Frank Russell's Sentinels From Space (1953), in the 1987 Methuen edition.

1987 Methuen paperback edition of Sentinels From Space (1953) by Eric Frank Russell. A hero clad in golden armour poses while a (presumably) evil alien looms behind him.

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Classic SF with Andy Johnson @andyjohnson.xyz · 6d

Thank you! ADF's books are relatively uncommon in the UK, so I've mostly read his novels as ebooks.

Crystal methods: Sentenced to Prism (1985) by Alan Dean Foster [Review]

Classic SF with Andy Johnson @andyjohnson.xyz · 6d

The piece is here. I've so far covered six standalone novels in Foster's Humanx Commonwealth setting, and plan to cover the remaining two in due course. This is one of the better ones, I think.

This is a weekly blog exploring classic science fiction , with a focus on the 1950s to the 1990s.

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Classic SF with Andy Johnson @andyjohnson.xyz · 6d

Comments on the site make my day! Received a nice one on a piece I wrote a couple of years ago on Alan Dean Foster's novel Sentenced to Prism (1985), a very entertaining adventure set on a planet that teems with silicon-based life.

Comment from Bob: "I read all the standalone commonwealth novels over 2023 and 2024, as well as about 1/3 of the Pip and Flix and all the Founding of the Commonweatlh novels. I agree, Sentenced to Prism is a great novel and maybe the best of the standalone novels."

Reply from Andy: "Thanks for commenting, Bob. That's quite a tear you went on with ADF in 2023 and 2024! It's been a while since I read and covered The Howling Stones, but I will be sure to get around to continuing with Drowning World sometime soon."

Reply from Bob: "Yes, I kinda rediscovered ADF. I feel like he is quite overlooked in the area of classic SF, maybe due to his sheer volume of writing. The more I read and the more I think about it the better I think he is. I have been running a Traveller science fiction roleplaying campaign for about 8 years, and was looking for books that might serve as inspiration.

I just added your blog to my RSS reader. Great stuff. Always wonderful to find an active blogger."

Classic SF with Andy Johnson @andyjohnson.xyz · 6d

"...a set of exciting SF adventures which [...] become surprisingly moving." Here's your clip of podcast episode 173 (the audio version of this week's article), introducing what I think makes Brunner's combination of alternate history and time travel special.

Classic SF with Andy Johnson @andyjohnson.xyz · 6d

The three Society of Time novelettes - "Spoil of Yesterday", "The Word Not Written", and "The Fullness of Time" - were first published in three consecutive issues of Science Fiction Adventures in the summer of 1962. Cover art for all three issues by Brian Lewis.

The cover of Science Fiction Adventures issue 25, with the Aztec mask from John Brunner's story "Spoil of Yesterday" in the artwork. Art by Brian Lewis.

Cover art for issue 26 of Science Fiction Adventures. Art by Brian Lewis.

Cover art for the Canadian edition of Science Fiction Adventures issue 27, featuring a Native American mask and hourglass to illustrate John Brunner's story "The Fullness of Time". Also interior (?) advertisement for the magazine's sister publication New Worlds, also edited by John Carnell. Art by Brian Lewis.

Hanging by a thread: the Society of Time trilogy (1962) by John Brunner

Classic SF with Andy Johnson @andyjohnson.xyz · 6d

It is 1988 and Don Miguel Navarro is an agent of the Spanish Empire, trusted to travel in time. He is about to learn how fragile his timeline really is... this week's article is up, covering the Society of Time stories (1962) by John Brunner.

One man struggles to protect the Spanish Empire in a fragile timeline

How Sci-Fi Visions of the Future Became Dystopian and Paranoid | Novara Media

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Classic SF with Andy Johnson @andyjohnson.xyz · 6d

They state that Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 (1953) was inspired by his time as a POW during the firebombing of Dresden; but of course it was Vonnegut who experienced that, which actually inspired his Slaughterhouse Five (1969).

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Classic SF with Andy Johnson @andyjohnson.xyz · 6d

Novara Media's occasional show ACFM puts together a decent introduction to science fiction history in this episode. There is one howler, though, when the hosts confuse Ray Bradbury with Kurt Vonnegut...

And other big questions about science fiction, from Mary Shelley to Kim Stanley Robinson.

novaramedia.com

Classic SF with Andy Johnson @andyjohnson.xyz · 6d

Article and podcast ep 173 coming later today, an effort to do justice to three excellent time travel / alternate history stories by John Brunner.

Classic SF with Andy Johnson @andyjohnson.xyz · 8d

This week's article will cover the superb Society of Time trilogy of stories (1962) by John Brunner, brought back into print by the British Library in 2020. Sign up here to get a weekly classic SF update: classicsfwithandyjohnson.eo.page/psj1x

The 2020 British Library book The Society of Time, primarily containing the Society of Time stories by John Brunner, originally published in 1962.

Classic SF with Andy Johnson @andyjohnson.xyz · 6d

I'm glad you've got editions you're happy with! Last year World of Books made an absolute hash of my order for Shaw's later "Land and Overland" trilogy, but I was able to source them elsewhere.