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! 🙂

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. 📚

Well now. This was extraordinary. Very beguiling writing that sucks you in and gradually makes you question what you're reading. There are clues, but in keeping with the general theme of the book, they are hard to see. Remarkable stuff. 🪐📚💙 #scifibooks #sciencefiction #nowreading

Celebrating the enduring legacy of Philip K. Dick, born OTD 1928. I’ve only read a fraction of his output to date (’Ubik‘, at the top of the pile, is next in line), but everything thus far has been thoroughly enjoyable. And that ‘Selected Stories’ volume is still the gift that keeps on giving.

Something of a different tone this week. Having enjoyed Poul Anderson’s 1957 novelette ‘Call Me Joe’ earlier this year (& bolstered by this book’s inclusion in Pringle’s ‘100 Best SF novels’ listing) I’ve embarked on this Hugo nominated slice of ‘Hard SF’ from 1970. At 180-odd pages a slim read too…

My travels through one of my most beloved ‘collected stories’ tomes has brought me to ‘Thirteen to Centaurus’ from 1962, J. G. Ballard’s chilling subversion of the ‘Generation Starship’ concept. And it’s also 60 years to the day since this very faithful adaptation was shown👇 bsky.app/profile/futu...

This has long been on my ‘must read’ list & it certainly didn’t disappoint. Cordwainer Smith’s ‘Scanners Live In Vain‘, feels so far ahead of its time (particularly given the proto-cybernetics on show), it’s hard to think of this as being conceived in 1945. I’ll definitely be seeking out more.

Today’s pick from ‘The Brian Aldiss Collection’ was ‘The Day of the Doomed King’, first published in this 1965 issue of ‘Science Fantasy’ (with a rather striking Keith Roberts cover). A lyrical & evocative fantasy tale, foreshadowing the likes of ‘The Malacia Tapestry’ a decade later.

Finished this today. I recall reading a review of Wyndham‘s legacy which began with the sentence: “Reputations are rarely unfounded…”, and I can think of no better example to apply this to just now than this superb novel. Little wonder it’s never been out of print since 1957. Fabulous.

Given this week‘s reading of ‘The Midwich Cuckoos‘, I thought it would be timely to revisit the 2005 documentary ‘John Wyndham: The Invisible Man of Science Fiction’. I get something new out of each revisit, & it’s always a bonus to see a clip of that rare 1960 interview with the great man himself.

Just caught up with this excellent discussion on one of my favourite Robert Sheckley novels. An informative deep-dive delivered with great enthusiasm - in fact the kind of discussion which makes me want to pick up the novel and read it through all over again 🙂 Recommended.

Celebrating Ridley Scott, 88 today. Justly praised for the likes of ‘Blade Runner’ of course, but as this montage of shots from a 1966 episode of the cult TV series ‘Adam Adamant Lives!’ shows, as a fledgling TV director Scott was already bringing an eye-catching visual flair to his productions… 🙂

On to John Wyndham’s ‘The Midwich Cuckoos’ this weekend. I absolutely loved ‘The Day of the Triffids’ and (earlier this year) ‘The Chrysalids‘, and I just know I’ll find this novel equally engaging. Quality comfort reading of the highest order… 🙂

I always admire the sheer unpredictability of Alfred Bester’s plots. ‘Hobson’s Choice‘ is a fine case in point. It begins with a statistician tracing the source of a mysterious rise in population growth to a small town in Kansas, which then forms the backdrop to a satisfyingly quirky run of events.

Celebrating the influential Frederik Pohl, born OTD 1919. I’m currently reading his 1972 novella ‘The Merchants of Venus’ (from the ‘Platinum Pohl’ collection). Notably, this tale introduces the alien culture of the ‘Heechee’, whose technology later forms the backdrop of his 1977 novel ‘Gateway’.

Another engaging ‘Club Room Archive Release’ video from the Outlaw Bookseller this week - includes insightful overviews of several of Philip K. Dick’s best loved short stories, alongside an affectionate review of Walter Tevis’s ‘The Man Who Fell to Earth’. Recommended. m.youtube.com/watch?v=Jvq8...

Just caught up with what I gather was Philip K. Dick’s first published genre story in 1952. And its remarkable that all the ingredients that defined his work are already here, even the elements of playful whimsy that lighten even the macabre moments. The bovine-like ‘Wub’ is a remarkable creation.

Having noted its 60 years to the day that Terry Nation’s television adaptation of ‘The Fox and the Forest’ was shown, it seemed apt to revisit ‘The Illustrated Man’ as this wonderful thriller is the next story in line. A strong instalment, with a neatly staged reveal. bsky.app/profile/futu...

Hey Presto! I did manage to finish one book this week and I chat about it here, plus the usual stuff. Check it out 👀! 🪐📚💙 #scifibooks #sciencefiction #booktube #theprestige youtu.be/9pEXFbR67Yk

I’ve been dipping in & out of this fine collection over the past year. Finally finished the remaining tale, the wryly humorous ‘The Great Slow Kings’. I think Zelazny had a lot of fun with his two laconic reptilian monarchs, whose laboured decisions are literally millions of years in the making! 🙂

"They do not form a coherent history". This week's article is up (podcast to follow): my beginner's guide to the Hainish novels and stories (1966 - 2000) by Ursula K. Le Guin.

Remembering J.G. Ballard, born OTD 1930. I’ve been reading his work for many years & I can readily appreciate why many qualify his writing as ‘timeless’. And I can think of no better imagery to accompany this post than the equally timeless appeal of David Pelham’s superlative cover art 🙂

Embarked on ‘Inverted World’ over the last few days & it had me hooked from the opening chapters. I’ve still some way to go of course, but I’m already thinking that it’s likely to end up as one of my top 5 reads of the year. My first novel by this fine author - & I’ll certainly be seeking out more…

ACD Q/A: We'd love your help with our December show - a Question and Answer episode on any (ACD-related!) topic you like. If you've got a burning question about Conan Doyle's life and work, drop us a comment and we'll get through as many as we can this December. Thanks!

The hiatus is over, and the self-replicating machines are on the loose - this week's article and podcast ep cover John Sladek's anarchic, comic debut SF novel The Reproductive System, AKA Mechasm (1968).

Ending a week of fine short stories with Samuel R. Delany’s ‘Driftglass’, a tale concerning humans who have been biologically modified to live & work in the ocean depths. A fine character study & all rather beautifully written - amazing to think that this story ranks amongst his earliest work.

Remembering author & curator/librarian David I. Masson, born OTD 1915. A frequent contributor to New Worlds magazine, Masson’s stories were later assembled in the 1968 volume ‘The Caltraps of Time’. His 1965 debut ‘Travellers Rest’ was a huge influence on a young & aspiring Christopher Priest.

Next up in ‘The Illustrated Man‘ was the enigmatic & unsettling ‘The Last Night of the World’. It’s a finely crafted mood piece, as a couple consider their final actions before the world is extinguished, an event mysteriously foreshadowed in a dream that they had both experienced the night before…

David Masson’s ’A Two-Timer’, one of this year’s best reading surprises. First published in New Worlds, it’s an engaging first-person account of a man accidentally brought forward in time from 1678 to 1964. Told entirely in 17th century English dialect, it’s a fantastic conceit, brilliantly told.

BBC2's remarkable adult science fiction anthology Out of the Unknown deserves to be talked about more. I'd actually want the missing episodes to be found over Doctor Who ones. I went on a deep dive with Stephen Hatcher and Dylan Rees for the Very British Futures podcast goodpods.com/podcasts/ver...

Today’s selected story was archetypal PKD. ‘The Electric Ant’ concerns an android who only realises it’s non-human status when being treated after a traffic accident. It’s sense of identity lost, it then sets about establishing whether anything else is truly ‘real‘. The ending is suitably unnerving!

There's still time, but the survey will close late tomorrow, so get your thinking cap on and get your top 10 science fiction books in, and your top 5 science fiction book series too. 📚🪐💙 #scifibooks #sciencefiction forms.gle/8UkmKn7VQRsb...

Today‘s All Hallows' Eve reading pleasure will be a choice M. R. James story. There’s something particularly fitting about reading James from a faded & dusty Penguin Paperback from the late 50s - they now seem to mirror the antiquarian books whose discovery bodes ill in many of his best loved tales!

Today’s SF Hall of Fame selection, part of Blish’s ’pantropy’ series, in which humans are adapted in order to survive diverse planetary environments. Here our microscopic protagonists, who have only known life underwater, undertake a journey that involves a life-changing conceptual breakthrough…

Remembering author and scriptwriter Nigel Kneale, who we lost on this day in 2006. Such an enduring legacy, as frequently revisited and admired as these cherished Penguin paperbacks. Timeless works.

Today’s pick from the ’Platinum Pohl’ tome was ‘The Meeting’ from 1972, a Hugo award-winning collaboration with C.M. Kornbluth. A decidedly bleak tale, involving a couple beset with some particularly problematic decision making regarding the future of their only child... No satirical edges here!

Another recent acquisition, keen to sample Asimov’s later work. Having vastly enjoyed his earlier robot novels, my first pick from the collection was ’Mirror Image’ (1972), which reunites the characters of Detective Lije Baley & his robot partner R. Daneel Olivaw. A neat ‘mini-episode’ of a tale 🙂

A trio of welcome acquisitions today whilst perusing the secondhand bookshops. Shaw, Bayley & Cowper are three authors whom I’ve heard many good things about (particularly these three titles). Very nostalgic to pick up a Fontana, Pan & Corgi paperback too - all in very decent condition 👍

Continuing with J.G. Ballard this week & currently halfway through this gem of a book. Enthralling evocation of a submerged London, the rise of landscapes that echo the primordial jungles of the Triassic era, & global temperatures threatening to expand beyond human tolerance. A captivating novel.

Working my way through Ballard’s ‘collected stories’ tome has brought me to this little 1962 masterpiece. Elegiac without sliding into bleakness (the imagery is beautifully realised), it’s another standout from his early years. Notably, Ballard’s name is absent from the initial MF&SF cover feature 👇