(Ed Emshwiller’s cover for the 1962 edition of The Trial of Terra (1962), Jack Williamson)
3/5 (Average)
Jack Williamson’s The Trial of Terra (1962) illustrates the problematic and frustrating aspects of fix-up novels. This novel is composed of pre-published (and re-edited) short stories/novelletes from as early as 1951. Here’s the breakdown: Continue reading
5/5 (Near Masterpiece)
Nominated for the 1976 Nebula Award for Best Novel
Katherine MacLean’s underrated and seldom read novel Missing Man (1975) was expanded from her 1971 Nebula Award winning novella by the same name. I’ve not read the original version so I’m unsure about how much was added, subtracted, or completely re-conceptualized.
The novel version is a finely wrought vision of a future post-disaster Balkanized New York City comprised of innumerable communes, often at war with each other, inhabited by a small number of slightly telepathic people who are able to detect the emotions of others. Archetype individuals unknowingly project emotions when they are in danger which could at any moment plunge society into intercommune Continue reading
3.25/5 (Average)
Sydney Van Scyoc’s Assignment Nor’ Dyren (1973), inspired by Ursula Le Guin’s masterpiece The Left Hand of Darkness (1969), is a problematic yet generally enjoyable work. I found that Van Scyoc is unable to maintain the sense of wonder she conjures so vividly in the first third. Likewise, her prose tends to plod due to the descriptive restrictions she forces on herself (for example, describing each alien the main character encounters by their species). Perhaps it’s unfair to compare Assignment Nor’ Dyren to Ursula Le Guin’s masterpiece — considered among the best science fiction works ever written — but the overwhelming impression Continue reading
2/5 (Bad)
The seductive combination of a beautiful cover by Paul Lehr, a seldom read author, a fascinating premise (well, at least from the back cover) appeared at first glance a glorious chance for the pen to wax delightfully on the glories everyone else missed out on.
As much as the esotericist delights in searching through back catalogues of dusty books the lack of extant information/reviews on the work entails risk. If I had known the entire plot revolves around a vengeful/vindictive/insane man inflicting tortures (the PG-13 sort) on an unsuspecting family hanging out in space — à la a watered down version of Michael Haneke’s Funny Games (1997) without its postmodern deconstruction of our desire Continue reading
3.25/5 (Average)
The Light That Never Was (1972) is an unusual take on space opera — there are no epic battles, voyages on spaceships, weird technology, or heroic figures. Instead, the swirling eddies of interstellar change descend on a tourist planet replete with legions of rather atrocious, silly, and easily maleable “artists.” The island of Zrilund on the plant of Donev is afflicted by a general artistic malaise — artists paint for the swarms of tourists which descend on the fountains and beaches of the island snatching Continue reading
3.75/5 (Good)
I was pleasantly surprised by Gordon R. Dickson’s intelligent and occasionally thought-provoking The Alien Way (1965). Considering he’s famous for his military sf Dorsai! saga, the lack of epic space battles — i.e. inter-species conflict in the traditional manner — came as a shock. There are a few instances of violence but they’re few and far between.
The ultimate message is a cautionary one — only when the pattern of human nature (its instincts, reactions, ets) is understood can non-violent contact be made with an alien species. We react to protect our species just as animals react to protect their young. Of course the aliens have to come to this realization Continue reading
3.25/5 (Good)
A Life for the Stars is the second novel according to internal chronology in James Blish’s famous Cities in Flight series. Unlike the much more serious first installment, They Shall Have Stars (1956), A Life for the Stars is generally regarded as a juvenile work (i.e. science fiction for a younger audience containing a positive moral message, an intelligent but poor teen boy Continue reading
5/5 (Masterpiece)
I’d previously read four of D. G. Compton’s lesser known works before procuring a copy of his acknowledged masterpiece, The Unsleeping Eye (variant title: The Continuous Katherine Mortenhoe) (1973). The Unsleeping Eye far surpasses the remarkable The Steel Crocodile (1970) and Synthajoy (1968). Many of the themes and techniques Compton uses in the other works of his I’ve read are honed to perfection and greatly expanded on: strong intelligent female characters dominate the pages, Continue reading
1/5 (Bad)
Damon Knight’s dismal Beyond the Barrier (1964) is all plot, lacks even the most cursory world development, makes no attempt to construct a “character”, and contains one of the single most ludicrous scenes I’ve encountered. Knight is considered somewhat of a “master” of sci-fi but his supposed skills are not on show here (short stories?). Yes, there’s adventure, intrigue, action, bizarre technology, green frog aliens, time travel, Earth core traversing oscillating field machines, and time Continue reading
Science Fiction and Other Suspect Ruminations 