For Non-SF Readers

In his Guest of Honor speech at the World Science Fiction Convention in Heidelberg in 1970, EC Tubb asked: which sf book would you recommend to someone who doesn't read sf? John Brunner replied, "Philip K Dick's The Man In The High Castle because everyone has heard of World War II." On the back of Poul Anderson's The Time Patrol (New York, 1991), David Drake is quoted as saying:

"This is my answer to the question, 'What book would I give to a friend who doesn't read SF?'"

Again, everyone has heard of history.

A retired teacher of English and part-time second hand bookseller admires The Time Machine, in particular the almost poetic description of the Time Traveler's return. He recognized the name Asimov, of course, and may also have recognized Poul Anderson. Needless to say, I recommended the latter but, if asked, which book should I suggest that he read first? Not a Dominic Flandry collection, good though these are both as hard sf action-adventure fiction and when read as the middle period of Flandry's career which is part of the History of Technic Civilization which is one of Anderson's several future history series.

A Midsummer Tempest is an obvious starting place for a man who appreciates literature and it would be interesting to find out whether he noticed the peculiar nature of the text. The Time Patrol might work as a second volume although it is never possible to anticipate how another reader will respond to a text. The guy in question disliked CS Lewis' The Great Divorce and my son-in-law did not enthuse about the Time Patrol series.