Author: Joachim Boaz

Generation Ship Short Story Review: John Brunner’s “Lungfish” (1957)

/ Joachim Boaz / 33 Comments

Preliminary note: This is the fourth post in a series of vintage generation ship short fiction reviews. All of the stories I’ll review are available online. You are welcome to read and discuss along with me as I explore humanity’s visions of generational voyage. And thanks go out to all who have joined already!

Previously: Judith Merril’s “Wish Upon a Star” (1958).

Next up: J. G. Ballard’s “Thirteen to Centaurus” (1962).

I’ve compiled a helpful list on the theme.

(Brian Lewis’ cover for the December 1957 issue of Science Fantasy, ed. John Cornell)

4.75/5 (Near Masterpiece)

Our generation ship short story series continues with a gem! John Brunner’s “Lungfish” (1957) appeared in the December 1957 issue of Science Fantasy, ed. John Cornell. You can read it online here.  It also appeared in the 1972 collection Entry to Elsewhen which I reviewed back in 2010. “Lungfish” was the only worthwhile story in the collection and I was eager to give it a reread!

John Brunner wrote thought-provoking Continue reading →

Generation Ship Short Story Review: Judith Merril’s “Wish Upon A Star” (1958)

/ Joachim Boaz / 56 Comments

Preliminary note: This is the third post in a series of vintage generation ship short fiction reviews. All of the stories I’ll review are available online. You are welcome to read and discuss along with me as I explore humanity’s visions of generational voyage. And thanks go out to all who have joined already!

Previously: Clifford D. Simak’s “Spacebred Generations” (variant title: “Target Generation”) (1953).

Next up: John Brunner’s “Lungfish” (1957)

I’ve compiled a helpful list on the theme.

(Ed Emshwiller’s cover for the December 1958 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, ed. Robert P. Mills)

4.25/5 (Good)

In Judith Merril’s “Daughters of Earth” (1952), she refashions the classic pulp SF tale of male exploration of the galaxy by tracing, in biblical fashion, one family of female explorers. In “Wish Upon A Star” (1958), Merril reworks another trope—the male hero on a generation ship who discovers the true Continue reading →

Updates: Recent Science Fiction Acquisitions No. CCXXXIII (J. G. Ballard, Fred Saberhagen, Richard A. Lupoff, Garry Kilworth)

/ Joachim Boaz / 25 Comments

1. I have yet to read any of J. G. Ballard’s late 70s and early 80s short fiction.  Myths of the Near Future (1982) seems to contain some fascinating gems. I’ve previously reviewed two collections of his 50s and 60s fiction on the site—both are highly recommended!

2. My exploration of 60s/70s SF takes me to an another author I’ve only read about– Fred Saberhagen. I enjoy post-apocalyptical landscapes and balkanized and decayed far future societies–but, is there anything original in this take on the theme?

3. I’m proud owner (*cough*) of one of the worst vintage covers ever created. The premise was the sole reason I snatched up Kilworth’s The Night of Kadar (1978)—malfunctions create unusual growth in the seeded human colonists on an alien planet.

4. A fix-up novel (with substantial rewritten and added material) from Richard A. Lupoff…. not an author I’m too familiar with, but this one is endorsed by Harlan Ellison and definitely screams 70s!

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1. Myths of the Near Future, J. G. Ballard (1982)

(James Marsh’s cover for the 1984 edition) Continue reading →

Book Review: The Texts of Festival, Mick Farren (1973)

/ Joachim Boaz / 10 Comments

(Peter Jones’ cover for the 1975 edition)

2.5/5 (Bad)

Mick Farren (1943-2013)—science fiction author, counterculture musician, underground newspaper journalist—spins a wild drug-tinged adventure, replete with innumerable musical references, across a devastated, decadent, and depopulated future United Kingdom. The Texts of Festival (1973), dolled up with half-baked attempts at philosophy (counterculture becomes mainstream and loses its radical and society-transforming meaning), careens forth  with extensive sequences of action-packed exploitative sleaze. A sword-and-fantasy plot unfolds Continue reading →

Generation Ship Short Story Review: Clifford D. Simak’s “Spacebred Generations” (variant title: “Target Generation”) (1953)

/ Joachim Boaz / 15 Comments

Preliminary note: This is the second post in a series of vintage generation ship short fiction reviews. You are welcome to read and discuss along with me–all of the stories I’ll review will be available online–as I explore humanity’s visions of generational voyage!

Previously: Chad Oliver’s fantastic “The Wind Blows Free” (1957).

Next up: Judith Merril’s “Wish Upon a Star” (1958).

I’ve compiled a helpful list on the theme.

(Tom O’Reilly’s interior art for the Science-Fiction Plus, August 1953)

3.5/5 (Good)

Clifford D. Simak’s “Spacebred Generations” (variant title: “Target Generation”) appeared in the August 1953 issue of Science-Fiction Plus, ed. Hugo Gernsback (Internet Archive link). The story is lavishly illustrated with evocative art by Tom O’Reilly. The story itself posits that religion is required to satiate the Continue reading →

Updates: Recent Science Fiction Acquisitions No. CCXXXII (George R.R. Martin + Sheri S. Tepper + Charles Logan + Anthology of European SF)

/ Joachim Boaz / 6 Comments

1. I’ve scoured my online sources and finally found an affordable copy of George R. R. Martin’s Songs of Stars and Shadows (1977). It includes the first Martin short story I’ve read—“This Tower of Ashes” (1976) (I haven’t reviewed it).

2. More SF in translation! As it’s an 80s anthology it hadn’t been on my radar until recently… Terra SF (1981), the first in the series, remains prohibitively expensive. Rarely do I encounter an anthology where ALL the authors are unknown to me.

3. Another early Sheri S. Tepper novel…

4. And finally, what appears to be a radical departure from the standard Robinson Crusoe survival on an alien world novel (I’ve read a few reviews and fans of SF where man’s ingenuity wins the day might not be pleased). I adore Bergen’s cover art.

Let me know what books/covers intrigue you. Which have you read? Disliked? Enjoyed?

~

1. Songs of Stars and Shadow, George R.R. Martin (1977)

(Uncredited cover for the 1st edition) Continue reading →

Generation Spaceship Short Story Review: Chad Oliver’s “The Wind Blows Free” (1957)

/ Joachim Boaz / 38 Comments

Initial note: This is the inaugural post in a series of vintage generation ship short fiction reviews. You are welcome to read and discuss along with me–all of the stories I’ll review will be available online–as I explore humanity’s visions of generational voyage!

Next up: Clifford D. Simak’s “Spacebred Generations” (variant title: “Target Generation”) (1953).

I’ve compiled a helpful list on the theme.

(Bob Layzell’s cover for the 1980 edition of A Sea of Space (1970), ed. William F. Nolan)

4.5/5 (Very Good)

Chad Oliver’s “The Wind Blows Free” (1957) first appeared in the July 1957 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, ed. Anthony Boucher (Internet Archive link). Despite the simple premise, Oliver’s powerful delivery and imagery reaffirmed my love for generation ship stories and their common tropes: generational change, the science of survival, the architecture of arks Continue reading →

Updates: Recent Science Fiction Acquisitions No. CCXXXI (Sheri S. Tepper + Paul H. Cook + Robert Merle + Anthology)

/ Joachim Boaz / 8 Comments

1. I bought this themeless hodgepodge anthology for two reasons–the UK 1980 edition has a cool spaceship! And second, it contains Chad Oliver’s generation ship short story “The Wind Blows Free” (1957). MPorcius calls it one of Oliver’s best. As I’ve not been enamored with his brand of SF, I’m eager to try a short story on a favorite theme far outside of his normal anthropological-focused oeuvre.

I’ve previously reviewed Oliver’s The Shores of Another Sea (1971).

2. Sheri S. Tepper is a glaring hole in my SF knowledge. I often explore the back catalog before plunging into the best known novels of an author—The Revenants, her first published novel, is “a long, complex work of SF” according to SF Encyclopedia. I wish it would be a tad more descriptive…. the novel has a fun map which I’ll feature in a Monday Maps and Diagrams post.

3. French post-apocalyptic SF in translation! With an awful cover…

4. Paul Cook is another unknown author to me. His first novel, Tintangel (1981) has a bizarre premise (see blurb below). This might be my next SF read.

Let me know what books/covers intrigue you. Which have you read? Disliked? Enjoyed?

~

1. A Sea of Space, ed. William F. Nolan (1970)

(Bob Layzell’s cover for the 1980 edition) Continue reading →

[Short] Book Reviews: Rogue Moon, Algis Budrys (1960) and Syzygy, Michael G. Coney (1973)

/ Joachim Boaz / 33 Comments

Note: My “to review” pile is growing. Short reviews are a way to get through the stack. Stay tuned for more detailed and analytical reviews.

1. Rogue Moon, Algis Budrys (1960)

(Richard Powers’ cover for the 1960 edition)

4/5 (Good)

Over the almost decade of reading for my site, I’ve enjoyed Algis Budrys’ short stories and disliked his novels. After the moody and noir(ish) Rogue Moon (1960), I’ll continue exploring his oeuvre.

Rogue Moon, one of his best-known works, is an odd and oblique read. And odd in that reviewers seem to expect the science fiction al core should be given greater weight than the melodrama… Unlike the melodrama in Michael G. Coney’s Syzygy reviewed below, Budrys’ brand engages as each of his Continue reading →