Future Revisitations

Cover of the Gollancz paperback edition of Christopher Priest’s novel ‘A Dream of Wessex’. Image of a woman’s face, eyes closed as if sleeping, overlaid on a grid-like array of portraits of different people.

Halfway through this extraordinary novel - my 2nd by Christopher Priest, who has rapidly become a firm favourite & one of the few authors whose complete output I‘m tempted to track down.
He certainly makes me ‘work’ as a reader, but in a way that‘s never anything less than beguiling. Fabulous story.

Recommendation wholly accepted! 🙂

Cover of the Gollancz paperback edition of Christopher Priest’s novel ‘A Dream of Wessex’. Image of a woman’s face, eyes closed as if sleeping, overlaid on a grid-like array of portraits of different people.

Halfway through this extraordinary novel - my 2nd by Christopher Priest, who has rapidly become a firm favourite & one of the few authors whose complete output I‘m tempted to track down.
He certainly makes me ‘work’ as a reader, but in a way that‘s never anything less than beguiling. Fabulous story.

Absolutely, really enjoyed the depths you went too (no pun intended! 🙂), particularly the textual variations between the different editions and the reflections on how the story was informed by the time and context in which it was written. Great discussion.

Will certainly be checking out your podcast on this novel Andy - always enjoy your concise and well written overviews 👍

Well, this book not only met my expectations but also far exceeded them. The way in which The Kraken Wakes successively shifts gear over its three ‘phases’ makes it a joy to read (with full-on ‘disaster novel’ mode switched on for the finale). Time now to enjoy this insightful analysis 👇

The SFDB entry lists Tim White 👍

My slow tour of classic SF gets back in gear with John Sladek's 1973 short story collection The Steam-Driven Boy. I'm really fond of Sladek, having discovered his other collection Keep The Giraffe Burning in my local library as a young teen - but some of the pieces here are terrifyingly bizarre 1/3

I recall seeing this first as a small reproduction in what I think was the initial edition of the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction - even as a small thumbnail it caught my eye! 🙂

Remembering illustrator Mal Dean, who we lost all too soon on this day in 1974.
Some 56 years on, these much coveted copies of Moorcock’s ‘New Worlds’ magazine have clearly seen better days - but my admiration for Dean’s striking cover art remains untarnished.
And this one was always a standout 🙂

Yes you’ve a great point there - at this stage a lot of production staff in the business had a strong theatre background - and though recording options had vastly improved by the mid-sixties, the scenes were still recorded generally in sequence and ‘as-live’ for the most part. Fascinating era.

Great description 🙂 Yes, it’s a nicely ‘understated‘ production too - the emphasis remaining more on the varied motivations of the key characters & how they play off against other. Keeping that final (and very poignant) closing scene completely silent was a lovely directorial touch.

its a tremendous production - and Alan Bridges was certainly an extraordinary director - head and shoulders above the standard realisation of a multi-camera studio shoot of the era. As you say, the performances are great - pitch perfect.

His short tale ‘The Yellow Pill’ is an enduring favourite here - one of the most PKD-esque stories not written by Philip K. Dick 🙂

Indeed, what could possibly go wrong? 😀

Yes, looking forward to getting round to ‘The Incredible Shrinking Man’ before too long as well. Thanks for the re-post by the way 👍

Cover of the SF Masterworks edition of Richard Matheson’s ‘I am Legend’ - showing a series of dimly lit skeletal figures - the foremost figure is reaching out with clawed hands.

Celebrating the legacy of author & screenwriter Richard Matheson, born OTD 1926.
His name had became so familiar to me over the years that I’d quite overlooked how superb a writer he could be. Finally reading this little masterpiece last year quickly rectified that though.
Such a flawless novel.

Acts of faith: A Canticle for Leibowitz (1959) by Walter M. Miller Jr. The faithful preserve the past, and the future, after a nuclear war

After the apocalypse, who picks up the pieces - and should they? This week's essay is on Walter M. Miller Jr.'s revered classic of faith, science, and nuclear war: A Canticle for Leibowitz (1959).

Yes, a book that’s really in a league of its own - the level of inventiveness is something to be truly admired.

Thanks John - I’ll certainly be watching your video later too! 👍

The cover for ‘The Dream of Wessex’ is one of my all time favourites - absolute gem.

Absolutely, this range certainly had a fair share of fabulous covers 👍

Yes, its in the pinned comments that accompanies the video (screenshot below). I see that @scifiscavenger.bsky.social also has a list too (I think it’s 80 titles if the Christopher Priest edited collection ‘Anticipations’ is included?)

Excellent - very envious - but nonetheless wholly inspired! 😀

I did locate a PDF of all known 80 titles - I think it may have been via the Outlaw Bookseller YT channel? - I’ll recheck!

Copy of the 1979 Pan paperback pollcollection ‘Decades: The 1960s’ (edited by Brian Aldiss and Harry Harrison). Cover image displays a spaceship against a backdrop of stars

Latest vintage acquisition. So many great stories (Disch, Moorcock, Spinrad, etc.) and I’m really pleased to acquire a 70s ‘Pan Lozenge’ in such good condition.
I confess that a long dormant ‘collector gene’ in me is close to being ignited & I’m sorely tempted to seek out the rest in the range… 😀

Cover of the Penguin Modern Clasics edition of John Wyndham’s ‘The Kraken Wakes’. A somewhat minimalist cover of a woman with arms folded sat in a deck chair, looking off to the left. Some watery bubble/ripple effects overlay the image.

On to my fourth Wyndham, one which I’ve noticed tends to be slightly overshadowed by his other works of the 50s.
Some lovely humorous touches in the dialogue & already there‘s a deep sea descent which for tension is equal to anything I recall from ‘Triffids.
A book to savour over the coming week...

Christopher Priest hardbacks, including The Prestige, The Separation, Airside and The Affirmation.

Shelf 41a of my science fiction library. Decent chunk of my Christopher Priest collection. I'd like more of the early hardbacks but they're usually tricky to find and rather expensive to buy. 📚🪐💙 #scifibooks #sciencefiction #bookcollecting #shelfie

Artwork by John Jinx, illustrating Frederik Pohl’s 1985 SF story ‘Fermi and Frost’, showing a man comforting a small boy in his arms, with the mushroom cloud of a nuclear detonation seen in the background.

Well I thought this was excellent. Pohl‘s award-winning ‘Fermi and Frost’ (John Jinx’s artwork here hailing from the story’s 1985 publication in ‘Asimov’s SF Magazine’).
A cleverly constructed tale, weaving the horrors of a nuclear holocaust with a heartwarming story of altruism & resilience.

Cover of the ‘Collected Short Stories of J. G. Ballard’ book. A simple white cover with a b/w portrait of Ballard reproduced in high contrast.

Now on to ‘The Cage of Sand’ from The Complete Short Stories tome.
Archetypal Ballard: vast empty landscapes of red Martian sand, the derelict gantries of an abandoned Cape Canaveral, & the eerie sight of failed space shots, forever caught in a centuries long orbit.
As always, beautifully written.