Updates: My Top 15 Science Fiction Novels from the 1960s

April 3, 2012June 27, 2015 / Joachim Boaz / 205 Comments

Everyone loves lists!

The 60s produced some of my favorite science fiction works. Many authors moved away from the technologic naivete of pulp sci-fi and predicted less than positive futures (overpopulation, natural disaster, etc) and attempted to instill a more literary quality to their works. I’ve cobbled together a top eleven list — I have probably forgotten a slew of amazing works that I read years ago. Also, I read majority of them before I created my blog and hence do not have reviews — I’ve included a blurb for those without reviews. I’ve linked those that do. And, as I have promised before, a review of J. G. Ballard’s masterful The Drowned World (1962) is on the way!

EDIT: Over the course of reading the comments and glancing over my bookshelves I’ve discovered how much I’d forgotten had been written in the 60s (Vonnegut’s Cat’s Cradle, etc). As a result, I’ll put together a more comprehensive top 20 or so in the near future.

EDIT: 06/26/2015: Because my post is receiving a substantial number of new visitors, I’ve decided to add a few novels I’ve read since I made the initial list three years ago. Instead of a top 11 it’s now a top 15 in no particular order.

New additions:

Anna Kavan’s Ice (1967) — REVIEW LINK

Robert Sheckley’s Journey Beyond Tomorrow (1962) — REVIEW LINK

Josephine Saxton’s The Hieros Gamos of Sam and An Smith (1969) — REVIEW LINK

Naomi Mitchison’s Memoirs of a Spacewoman (1962) — REVIEW LINK

Feel free to list your top 11!

Original list:

1. Stand on Zanzibar, John Brunner (1968) — is by far the best of the overpopulated world genre (for additional works consult my index). Brunner chronicles a dystopian future society in obsessive and awe-inspiring detail with shreds of newspapers, advertising jingles, quotations from invented books, and even current (60s) events. Be warned: low on plot, heavy on world building, experimental structure…

(Steele Savage’s cover f Continue reading →

Updates: Recent Science Fiction Acquisitions No. XXVI (Malzberg + Wells + Gunn +Pohl)

March 31, 2012May 30, 2012 / Joachim Boaz / 12 Comments

A nice (varied) selection of finds….

I’ve continued to be on the lookout for Malzberg’s novels and, due to the proliferation of comments by my readers about what is his best, I’ve acquiesced and picked up a copy of his acknowledged masterpiece, Beyond Apollo (1972). I suspect it will be as good as In The Enclosure (1973).

If there is any area (besides sci-fi from the 21st century) that I haven’t read a good portion of the classics, it’s works from around the turn of the century. I have read a large swathe of Verne’s works and from beginning of the 20th century all of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ John Carter series — but, only a few of H. G. Wells’ oeuvre (The War of the Worlds and The Time Machine). So, when I came across a 60s edition of The First Men in the Moon (1901) with a nostalgic looking cover I snatched it up!

The two short story collections are unknown commodities: Frederick Pohl’s In The Problem Pit (1976) and James Gunn’s Station in Space (1958). I’ve never heard of Gunn and sort of dislike what I’ve read of Pohl so far. Regardless, both works have intriguing covers!

Enjoy!

1. Beyond Apollo, Barry Malzberg (1972)

(Don Maitz’ cover for Continue reading →

Updates: Recent Science Fiction Acquisitions No. XXV (Silverberg + Dickson + Bester + et al.)

March 21, 2012July 17, 2012 / Joachim Boaz / 4 Comments

I have a substantial backlog of purchases from my “productive” book hunting Spring Break in Texas….

I’ve read Alfred Bester’s The Demolished Man (1952), which I loved, and The Stars My Destination (1956), which I mostly enjoyed, however I’ve rarely seen his short story collections in used book stores. I snatched up the gorgeous covered The Dark Side of the Earth (1956). I suspect Bester is even better at short stories than his novel length works….

The Time of the Great Freeze (1964) is considered one of Robert Silverberg’s best pulp works. On indirect advise of my friend Michael Dalke at Potpourri of Science Fiction Literature, I’ve procured more of Gordon R. Dickson’s short works… Thankfully, he hasn’t reviewed the collection The Star Road (1973) yet (I think) — we have a “rivalry.” Haha.

I’ve already reviewed the short story collection edited by Donald Wollheim, The End of the World (1956) (MY REVIEW), and highly recommend it. A few of the stories are duds but two are in my top 5 short work list. Philip K. Dick’s ‘Impostor’ (1953) alone is reason enough to track down the volume.

1. The Dark Side of the Earth (1964), Alfred Bester (MY REVIEW)

(Uncredited cover for the 1964 edition) Continue reading →

Adventures in Science Fiction Art: Doomed Cities Part III (the attack of the metal missile casings, monks among ruins)

March 16, 2012March 16, 2012 / Joachim Boaz / 11 Comments

(Rod Turner’s cover for the 1952 edition of The G-Bomb (1952), Vargo Statten (i.e. John Russell Fearn)

Make sure to check out Part I and Part II if you haven’t. Some of the doomed cities are stunning!

Of all the 50s pulp covers, Rod Turner’s series for Vargo Statten’s novels (John Russell Fearn) has become one of my favorites (above). Although they adhere to every possible cliché, the pure exuberance of delivery is addicting — the books themselves are supposed to be pure drivel.

Enjoy monks among ruins, spaceships hovering above the fragments of past cities, hordes emerging from the wrecked husks of our august metropolises, the attack Continue reading →

Adventures in Science Fiction Cover Art: The Art of Robert Foster, Part II

February 27, 2012March 7, 2013 / Joachim Boaz / 34 Comments

(Robert Foster’s cover for the 1971 edition of The Dakota Project (1968), Jack Beeching)

Unfortunately, science fiction covers from the 60s/70s are not always credited — Robert Foster’s covers are no exception. Originally I assumed that Foster had only produced a handful (see my first post on his work, Part I), but after searching under Bob Foster and identifying covers by sight I’ve cobbled together another varied/intriguing/unusual collection of his work.

His work are often characterized by fascinating collaged, geared, industrial machinery paired with nudes and semi-nudes Continue reading →

Updates: Recent Science Fiction Acquisitions N. XXIII (Farmer, Malzberg + et al.)

February 26, 2012June 20, 2012 / Joachim Boaz / 10 Comments

A while back I slogged through Philip José Farmer’s dismal To Your Scattered Bodies Go (1971) (the worst novel ever to win the Hugo Award?) and all the increasingly terrible sequels and made a solemn vow to wait a few years before I returned to his extensive oeuvre — so, against my better judgement I picked up a copy of Traitor to the Living (1973). I don’t have high hopes (but I love the cover!). I hope my two dollars were well spent.

Malzberg is shaping into my “under read/unjustly forgotten author of the year” whom I’ll showcase. Last year’s winner was the brilliant D. G. Compton (see INDEX for reviews). Fresh off Conversations (1975) and In The Enclosure (1973) I picked up a copy of Guernica Night (1975). I can’t wait!

Harold Mead’s The Bright Phoenix (1955) is yet another against the oppressive state à la Orwell’s 1984… But, I’ve found that the premise generally holds up despite frequent re-interpretations…

Greenfield’s Waters of Death (1967) should be avoided — at all cost. I’ve already written a scathing review (rant).

1. Traitor to the Living (1973), Philip José Farmer (MY REVIEW)

(Hans Ulrich Osterwalder and Ute Continue reading →

Book Review: In The Enclosure, Barry N. Malzberg (1973)

February 18, 2012July 24, 2020 / Joachim Boaz / 14 Comments

(Davis Meltzer’s cover for the 1973 edition)

4.5/5 (Very Good)

Fresh off Malzberg’s intriguing young adult novel, Conversations (1975), I picked up a copy of the altogether more disturbing, transfixing, unnervingly prescient, and at moments, brilliant In The Enclosure (1972). As with many of Malzberg’s oeuvre, the work is infused with a steady dose of metafiction — our hero laments (and we writhe along with him in a malaise of unease), “I will never really know” (189). Just as Quir is unsure of his own reality, his diaristic words — which the reader is desperate to hold on to — are admittedly, “an impression, a conception, nothing more” (190).

Combining the science fiction trope of implanted memories with the literary narrative mode of the unreliable narrator creates an overwhelmingly uncomfortable gulf between reality and constructed reality. The result, the overpowering desire to pick up a piece of pulp science fiction where the future is rosy, technology = happiness, the kids smart, where rockets Continue reading →

Updates: Recent Science Fiction Acquisitions N. XXI (Silverberg + Compton + Malzberg + Anderson)

January 28, 2012April 30, 2012 / Joachim Boaz / 4 Comments

A few more Christmas gift card purchases…

Dying Inside (1972) is often considered one of Silverberg’s best works and I can’t wait to read it (I will after my soon to be hellish weekend grading ~60 undergrad history papers). Despite a painfully negative review on Amazon slamming Compton’s The Silent Multitude (1967) as a dull imitation of J. G. Ballard, it is high on my to read list — almost any experimental (allegorical) work exploring a crumbling city intrigues me. Malzberg’s Conversations (1975) was a shot in the dark — it might be the least read of any of his novels — hence, my interest.

Pohl Anderson is almost always worth reading — even his middling short stories are fun.

Enjoy!

1. Dying Inside, Robert Silverberg (1972)

(Jerry Thorp’s cover for Continue reading →

Updates: Recent Science Fiction Acquisitions N. XX (Clifton + Aldiss + et al.)

January 13, 2012September 16, 2013 / Joachim Boaz / 10 Comments

Christmas giftcard expenditures continue…

An interesting collection of acquisitions — Clifton’s Eight Keys to Eden (1960) is considered, at least by the reviews I’ve found online, to be a little read classic — i.e. my kind of sci-fi novel. Aldiss always has wonderful ideas and The Long Afternoon of Earth (variant title: Hothouse) is generally proclaimed one of his best — I’m still waiting for work which garners the same magic as his masterpiece Non-stop (variant title: Starship) (1958).

After reading Kornbluth’s masterful short story collection The Explorers (1953) I felt obligated to pick up a copy of one of the more famous Pohl + Kornbluth collaborations, Gladiator-In-Law (1954).

A few intriguing Malzberg stories in Future City (1973) compelled me to snatch one of his lesser known novels off of the shelf — In The Enclosure (1973) tells the story of an alien tortured by his human captives. I find Malzberg’s relentlessly dark visions very appealing… He has a HUGE catalog I’ve yet to read.

1. The Long Afternoon of Earth (variant title: Hothouse), Brian Aldiss (1962)