1950s

What pre-1985 science fiction are you reading? + Update No. VI

/ Joachim Boaz / 74 Comments
  • A selection from my shelves

What pre-1985 science fiction are you reading this week?

It’s been over a month since the previous installment. Sorry! While I’d like to keep a schedule, I find myself pathologically unable to do so. As with so much on my site, I’ll post continue to post these updates when I feel the inclination.

As these posts seem to bring in new readers, if you’re curious about my rationale for the perimeters of my site, check out this recent interview and podcast. And follow me on Mastodon if you don’t already as I no longer post on my Twitter account.

Let me know what pre-1985 SF you’ve been reading!

The Photograph (with links to reviews and brief thoughts)

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Short Story Reviews: Robert Silverberg’s “Road to Nightfall” (1958) and Edgar Pangborn’s “The Music Master of Babylon” (1954)

/ Joachim Boaz / 17 Comments

I can’t escape the post-apocalyptic wasteland. Like a voyeuristic shadow, I follow the denizens of the charred surface as they plod their slow movements toward the end. I observe how they push away the looming violent redness that blots out the sky, and, when everything else seems lost, they turn interior. A final movement that lays bare tattered dreams and ephemeral memories…

  • Ed Emshwiller’s cover for Galaxy Science Fiction, ed. H. L. Gold (November 1954)

5/5 (Masterpiece)

Edgar Pangborn’s “The Music Master of Babylon” first appeared in Galaxy Science Fiction, ed. H. L. Gold (November 1954). You can read it online here.

Fresh of Edgar Pangborn’s masterpiece Davy (1964), I decided to cover some of his short fiction on the site. He’s shaping up to be my author of the year. “The Music Master of Babylon” (1954), which I suggest should be included as part of his Tales of a Darkening World sequence due to multiple references to events and people present in the world of Davy, contains many of the embryonic concerns that crop up in the later novel. Pangborn is the master of interweaving narrative and personal memory and the ways art–in this instance music–lays bare the topography of self.

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What pre-1985 science fiction are you reading? + Bimonthly Update No. V

/ Joachim Boaz / 84 Comments

What pre-1985 science fiction are you reading this week?

I apologize for the break in my update schedule. It’s been a month since the previous installment. Alas. As I say week after week, thank you for all the great conversation. The community that’s emerged over the years is one of the main reasons I keep writing. I’ve included a bit about the books in the photograph, birthdays from the last two weeks, and brief ruminations on what I’ve been reading and writing.

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Updates: Recent Science Fiction Purchases No. CCCXXV (Walter Tevis, Katherine MacLean, Michael Frayn, and Jeffrey A. Carver)

/ Joachim Boaz / 35 Comments

My rough start to the semester proves hard to dispel. I’ll get back to my regular programming soon–I promise. In the meantime, I’ve collected some goodies!

Which books/covers/authors intrigue you? Which have you read? Disliked? Enjoyed?

1. The Man Who Fell to Earth, Walter Tevis (1963)

  • Jim Burns’ cover for the 1982 edition

From inside page: “He was not a man; yet he was very much like a man. He was six and a half feet tall, and some men are even taller than that; his hair was as white as that of an albino, yet his face was a light tan color, and his eyes a pale blue. His frame was improbably slight, his features delicate. There was an elfin quality to his face, a fine, boyish look to the wide intelligent eyes.

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What pre-1985 science fiction are you reading? + Bimonthly Update No. V

/ Joachim Boaz / 61 Comments
  • A selection of SF volumes from my shelves

What pre-1985 science fiction are you reading this week?

Thanks again for all the great conversation. Make sure to check out the previous installment if you haven’t already. As before, I’ve included a bit about the books in the photograph, birthdays from the last two weeks, and brief ruminations on what I’ve been reading and writing.

Let me know what pre-1985 SF you’ve been reading!

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What pre-1985 science fiction are you reading? + Bimonthly Update No. IV

/ Joachim Boaz / 77 Comments
  • A selection of SF volumes from my shelves

What pre-1985 science fiction are you reading this week?

I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the conversations and connections you all have made in the comments over the last two months of this column. Make sure to check out the previous installment if you haven’t already. As before, I’ve included a bit about the books in the photograph, birthdays from the last two weeks, and brief ruminations on what I’ve been reading and writing.

Let me know what pre-1985 SF you’ve been reading!

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What pre-1985 science fiction are you reading? + Bimonthly Update No. III

/ Joachim Boaz / 57 Comments
  • A selection of SF volumes from my shelves

What pre-1985 science fiction are you reading this weekend?

Thank you all for making this fanzine column a success! I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the conversations and connections you all have made in the comments. Make sure to check out the previous installment if you haven’t already. As before, I’ve included a bit about the books in the photograph, birthdays from the last two weeks, and brief ruminations on what I’ve been reading and writing.

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What pre-1985 science fiction are you reading? + Bimonthly Update No. II

/ Joachim Boaz / 68 Comments
  • A selection of SF volumes from my shelves

What pre-1985 science fiction are you reading this weekend?

After the success of the previous installment, I’ve decided to make this a bimonthly post (“column”) for my site (“fanzine”). As before, I’ve included a bit about the books in the photograph, birthdays from the last two weeks, and brief ruminations on what I’ve been reading and writing.

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Updates: New Books! No. CCCXXIII (Brian W. Aldiss, Anthology of Chinese SF, Linda Steele, and Alan Brennert)

/ Joachim Boaz / 17 Comments

Which books/covers/authors intrigue you? Which have you read? Disliked? Enjoyed?

1. The Saliva Tree and Other Strange Growths, Brian W. Aldiss (1966)

  • Les Edwards’ cover for the 1979 edition

Contents: “The Saliva Tree” (1965), “Danger: Religion!” (1962), “The Source” (1965), “The Lonely Habit” (1962), “One Role with Relish” (1966), “Legends of Smith’s Burst” (1959), “Day of the Doomed King” (1965), “Paternal Care” (1966), “Girl and Robot with Flowers” (1965)

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