(Jerome Podwil’s cover for the 1965 edition)
3.25/5 (Above Average)
A few minutes surfing the inter-webs reveals that this 1950s sci-fi work by Poul Anderson arouses some controversy. People looking for Anderson’s pulp-infused sprawling Continue reading
3.75/5 (Good)
Barrington J. Bayley’s Collision Course (Collision with Chronos) (1973) is based on a fascinating hard sci-fi premise, the intersection of two time waves, one from the future heading into the past, and the “present”, heading Continue reading
3.75/5 (Good)
City of the Chasch is the first book of the Tschai, Planet of Adventure series by the famous and well-esteemed sci-fi/fantasy master Jack Vance. Although the novel ultimately fails to break free from the predictable pattern of the princess, the monster (s), the quest (s), City of the Chasch thrives on Vance’s Continue reading
3.75/5 (Good)
They Shall Have Stars (1956) is the first of James Blish’s famous Cities in Flight novels (note: the series was not released according to its internal chronology — the third volume, Earthman Come Home was published first in 1955). Continue reading
4.75/5 (Very Good)
A generation ship! Science run amok! A brilliant work from the late 50s which must be read! Brian Aldiss’ Non-Stop (published in the U.S. as Starship) is a relentlessly dark science fiction novel written in response to Robert Heinlein’s revolutionary yet ultimately unsatisfying Orphans of Continue reading
2/5 (Bad)
I’ve had John Brunner’s The Wrong End of Time (1971) for five years sitting in the to read pile — I’ve managed to get through around thirty pages the four times I’ve tried to read it over the years. However, I’ve finally got around to finishing it. And, well, it falls woefully short of any sort of greatness — especially Continue reading
This collection contains three 1950s short stories/novelettes expanded and modified from their original magazine form for this volume. Although two of the Continue reading
4.25/5 (Very Good)
Nominated Hugo Award (1962) — narrowly lost to Heinlein’s Stranger in a Strange Land
What an unusual read. I picked up a copy Continue reading
A wonderful creepy cover by John Schoenherr
4/5 (Good)
Readers from the first days of my blog might recall my rather dismissive comment in my review of John Brunner’s abysmal Born under Mars (1967),
“I have still yet to find in Brunner’s early pulp(ish) novels any solid indication of his future brilliance that manifests itself so poignantly in his great novels of the late 60s Continue reading
Science Fiction and Other Suspect Ruminations 