Friday 7 April 2017

Classic SF

Periodially, out-of-print sf novels are reissued in uniform "classic" editions. See here. Each of us can probably name a dozen titles that we think should be included in such a venture. I do not include anything by either Poul Anderson or James Blish simply because I think that the entire works of both authors should be kept permanently in print. Wells is not included because he is in print. Here are six:

Lest Darkness Fall by L. Sprague de Camp
Bring The Jubilee by Ward Moore
The Technicolor Time Machine by Harry Harrison
The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers
Gladiator by Philip Wylie
The Black Cloud by Fred Hoyle

De Camp and Moore are precursors of Anderson's Time Patrol (see here). The Technicolor Time Machine and The Anubis Gates are circular causality paradox narratives like Anderson's three non-series time travel novels. Gladiator has something in common with one of those three. Which and what?

Wells introduced interplanetary invasion in The War Of The Worlds. Anderson followed this with The War Of Two Worlds. Both had Martians invading Earth whereas Hoyle has an intelligent gas cloud entering the Solar System. Awesome.

3 comments:

David Birr said...

Hmmmm. *The Corridors of Time*, *There Will Be Time*, *The Dancer From Atlantis*.... The only significant feature I can think of *Gladiator* having in common with any of them is that Jack Havig's time-travel ability is a mutant power, and Hugo Danner's powers are a mutation — artificial by genetic engineering rather than occurring naturally, but still a mutation.

paulshackley2017@gmail.com said...

David,
That was what I had in mind.
Paul.

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, DAVID!

You gave a better answer than I would have because I've never read GLADIATOR. Darn!

Sean