Celebrating writer and literary critic Samuel R. Delany, who is 84 today. A extraordinary legacy & a highly influential body of work. To date, I’ve read only a handful of his stories, but the kaleidoscopic ’Babel-17‘ & the various gems that comprise ‘Driftglass’ were such a great place to start 🙂

Celebrating writer and literary critic Samuel R. Delany, who is 84 today. A extraordinary legacy & a highly influential body of work. To date, I’ve read only a handful of his stories, but the kaleidoscopic ’Babel-17‘ & the various gems that comprise ‘Driftglass’ were such a great place to start 🙂

Today’s vintage acquisition. A real nostalgia hit here, as this SIlverberg collection was one of the last SF book purchases of my younger years before ‘drifting away’ from the genre. Never got around to reading all the stories, so well over 40 years on I guess I can finally finish what I started! 😀

A third of the way through my first Heinlein & vastly enjoying it. The sentient computer ‘Mike’ (or ‘Michelle’ when the occasion demands) is surely one of the best written & engaging AI ’characters’ of the era - arguably a benevolent HAL 🙂. An inventive novel, far more playful than I’d anticipated.

The hiatus is over and this week's essay is up, focusing on The Shockwave Rider (1975), John Brunner's novel of a hyper-connected, networked society and phreaking proto-hacktivism written over 50 years ago.

Celebrating artist Chris Foss, 80 today. As a youngster discovering ‘grown-up’ SF in the 70s, his striking cover art would never fail to catch my attention. Even if some of the stories went over my head at times, the sense of ‘breathtaking spectacle’ in his imagery always drew me back for more… 🙂

Back to the Complete Stories tome & 1962’s ‘The Watch-Towers’. A disconcerting & eerie tale, set in an oddly quiet suburbia ostensibly overlooked by mysterious observation towers suspended from the hazy sky. A menacing tone conveyed with great subtlety, all the way to an unsettling final paragraph.

I still enjoy sampling from the length & breadth of the genre, so another change of pace & style with this week’s acquisition - a collection of Arthur C. Clarke‘s best known short fiction. Lots to choose from of course, but I’ve opted to start with his 1972 Nebula winner ‘A Meeting with Medusa’…

On to another very early Delany. Published when he was only 24, ‘The Star Pit’ is a finely wrought character study, focusing on themes of estrangement, including the marginalisation of a group whose psychic attributes enables them to safely undertake intergalactic travel. Only 24, extraordinary.

There's a shiny new episode of Starship Alexandria, in which @aptshadow.bsky.social and I discuss the classic novel The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester. starshipalexandria.com/episode-11-t...

Another kinetic & unpredictable story from Bester. The combined efforts of scores of experts in multiple scientific, sociological & psychological fields cannot crack the mystery of why patients at a military hospital are disappearing. The ‘explanation’ & the final sentence are an absolute joy.

Just read Aldiss’s ‘Old Time’s Sake‘, written in 1954, at the outset of his decades-spanning career. A remarkably poignant tale too, about a man coming to terms with the psychological implications of his engineered ‘immortality’. An author who quite simply hit the ground running from the start.

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.

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 👇

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

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 🙂

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.

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).

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… 😀

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...

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

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.

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.

And so back to the 80’s with the title story of Willliam Gibson’s ‘Burning Chrome’ collection. A remarkable and tightly written tale, laying some groundwork for ‘Neuromancer’ of course, but vastly enjoyable and immediately accessible in its own right. A surprisingly poignant ending too.

OTD 1970. ‘The Plastic Eaters’, the inaugural episode of the BBC’s groundbreaking ‘science fact’ drama series ‘Doomwatch’. Here‘s a coveted copy of the Radio Times for that week, with its iconic cover feature, alongside the expanded reinvention of the episode as a full blown 70s disaster novel 🙂

Latest acquisition was Robert Sheckley’s celebrated first collection ‘Untouched by Human Hands’. I’ve opted to begin with ‘Seventh Victim’ from 1953, a disturbingly wry look at a future in which global warfare has been replaced by contractual acts between ‘Hunters’ and their ‘Victims’.

Finished ‘Ubik’, an extraordinary roller-coaster of a book. Like the other PKD works I’ve read so far, I often had the feeling of not quite knowing where I was being taken, but there’s enough discipline in the writing to trust that I’ll be happy with the destination. And ‘Ubik’ wraps up wonderfully.

Remembering author & poet Thomas M. Disch, born OTD 1940. ’The Genocides’ easily found a place within my Top 5 reads of 2025, & I’ve little doubt that revisiting ‘Camp Concentration’ (after many decades) will not disappoint either. Intelligent & at times harrowing SF, but always superbly written.

From corporate man to non-corporeal man: a look at John Sladek's second manic SF satire The Müller-Fokker Effect (1970). This week's essay may interest @joachimboaz.bsky.social and @joebankswriter.bsky.social

Embarked on ‘Ubik’ recently. The phrase that came to mind in the opening chapters was ‘Dickensian’, particularly given the exacting way PKD outlines his more colourful & ’picturesque’ characters. I just know I’m going to be nicely entertained & enthralled in equal measure over the coming days 🙂

Celebrating Richard Davis, born OTD 1945. In the 70s, this book was one of my key ‘gateway’ reads, as my eye was increasingly caught by the wonderful covers that adorned the ‘grown up’ SF paperbacks. A fine collection - the likes of Basil Copper’s eerie ‘The Trodes’ have stayed with me for years 🙂

Today’s story was Aldiss’s 1966 tale ‘Amen and Out’, which I forever associate with this striking New Worlds cover by Keith Roberts. Always enjoy Aldiss‘s satirical eye, in this instance focused on the cultural impact in a future society of a failed Immortality initiative. Economically told & smart.

A weekend of short tales kicks off to a superb start with this pair from the Masterpieces & Hall of Fame volumes. Merrill’s tale is a tightly realised reflection of the fears generated by the atomic era, whilst Crowley‘s ‘Snow’ was one of the most moving SF tales I’ve had the pleasure to discover.

Today I'm joined by Adam Rowe (@70sscifiart.bsky.social) on the Best Retro Science Fiction Art Collections sciencefictionruminations.com/2026/01/19/e... #scifi #sciencefiction #art #artist

They say reputations are rarely unfounded. Well, I’m halfway through ’The Demolished Man’ & I can easily see why this gem of a book left such a wideranging legacy. I think it was fellow author Damon Knight who once said that Bester‘s stories ’never stand still‘ - and here I couldn’t agree more. 🙂

Celebrating Robert Silverberg, who is 91 today. A tremendous body of work spanning several decades - much of which I‘ve yet to become familiar with (beyond the superb ’The Book of Skulls‘). However, this also means there’s an absolute wealth of titles that’ll be a pleasure to finally discover… 🙂

How frequently evocative are the covers of the books I coveted as a youngster. Here was one lost memory firmly recovered today when I saw this cover by Peter Elson (born OTD 1947). Just one glance brought everything back - the shop I bought it from (now long gone) & its bookshelf companions at home.

Embarked yesterday on this celebrated collection. The first tale, ‘Tower of Babylon’, is an absolute masterpiece, centred on the construction of a colossal tower in the ancient city designed to break through the ‘vault of heaven’. An exceptional debut - no wonder it scooped a Nebula Award in 1990.

Now up to Ballard’s ‘Passport to Eternity‘ in the ‘Complete Stories‘ tome, something of a playful pastiche of the more florid elements of ‘Pulp SF‘ (with various descriptive tropes gleefully lampooned). Arguably ‘untypical‘ Ballard, but I’m enjoying the light & shade as I move through his work…

Reading PKD’s ‘Precious Artefact‘ today, prompting me to think that despite repeated key themes (such as the question of ‘what is real?’), he still found a variety of inventive ways to explore them. And since a ‘cat‘ features as a pivotal feature of this 1964 story, this seemed a very apt photo! 🙂

Just when I think I’ve got the ‘measure‘ of the Pulp SF era I read a story that prompts me to think again. This tale, in which two children accidentally come into possession of some objects from the future, is one such story - sharply written, enigmatic, & with an ending that is downright chilling.

Finished Le Guin‘s ‘The Lathe of Heaven’ today. Such a captivating novel with which to begin the year - the type that a reader is likely to ponder on *long* after the closing pages (oh, & the final paragraph is beautifully crafted). So a fine time to listen to this informed & animated discussion 👇

Embarked on Le Guin’s ’The Lathe of Heaven‘, which will happily see me into the New Year. Beyond knowing it touches on territory usually associated with Philip K. Dick, I’m coming to this with very fresh eyes. And by Chapter 2 things are taking very strange turns… Suffice to say that I’m hooked 🙂

The novels that made the greatest impact on this reader in 2025. Try as I might, I gave up attempting a nice tight Top 5, though 8 was still a push! 🙂 Wells is top of the podium (with a book well over 125 years old), with Aldiss, Priest & Roberts not too far behind. Oh it has been such a GOOD year 🙂

Squeezing in some shorter pieces before the year‘s end, including Asimov’s ‘The Bicentennial Man‘. Ever since reading ‘The Caves of Steel’ I’ve harboured a fondness for his robot tales & I feel this ranks with the best of them. A tightly told story, touching without resorting to sentimentality.

Extraordinary how some stories stay lodged in the memory for absolute decades. A case in point is Frederik Pohl‘s ‘Shaffery among the Immortals’, revisited recently in this book. It’s longevity was undoubtedly due to the irony of its twist ending - and as an adult reader it lost none of it‘s impact!

It’s a comfort re-read for me as we head up to Christmas, as I’ve opted to revisit Brian Aldiss’s ‘Hothouse’ (or at least the section originally published as the novelette ‘Nomansland’). It may not be a ‘festive’ pick, but for this reader it has a bizarre magical charm in a league of its own 🙂

This week’s ‘Hall of Fame’ selection was Damon Knight‘s 1956 story ‘The Country of the Kind’. An extremely dark and uncompromising tale (whose premise concerns rehabilitation in a future society that has apparently dispensed entirely with all acts of violence) but nonetheless beautifully crafted.

Remembering illustrator & writer James Cawthorn, born OTD 1929. His work often graced Michael Moorcock’s ‘New Worlds’ in the 60s (a fine example of his b/w work below). Collaborations with Moorcock continued in later years, including co-writing the film script for the ’The Land that Time Forgot’.

Pour yourself a festive drink, pull up a chair, and enjoy... my top ten science fiction reads of 2025! Plus, a roundup of my SF reading year and some plans for 2026. 📚