Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Classic SF with Andy Johnson @andyjohnson.xyz · 14h

This week's article will cover The Masks of Time (1968) by Robert Silverberg, but will likely be a bit late. In the meantime, catch up with last week's piece on the terrifying fascist dystopia Swastika Night (1937) by Katharine Burdekin.

Reign of evil: Swastika Night (1937) by Murray Constantine

An extraordinary and “exceptionally nightmarish” dystopian vision

www.andyjohnson.xyz

1 2 6

Classic SF with Andy Johnson @andyjohnson.xyz · 16h

I'm yet to read any E.C. Tubb outside of one short story - "Umbrella in the Sky" (1961). These Ron Turner covers are fantastic.

SF Encyclopedia @sfencyclopedia.bsky.social · 16h

EC Tubb sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/tubb_e_c was born on this day, so here are some of the covers to his novellas, published 1952-1954 (Artist: 1 Ray Theobald, 2-4 Ron Turner). All written using pseudonyms/publishers' house names:

1 3

Classic SF with Andy Johnson @andyjohnson.xyz · 16h

Happy to see Gollancz has resuscitated the SF Masterworks line. I strongly recommend Greg Bear's excellent, moving The Forge of God (1987), which the publisher has put out before, but is due to induct as a Masterwork.

2 4

Classic SF with Andy Johnson @andyjohnson.xyz · 16h

Good news! The Forge of God is excellent, and I've been intrigued by James White's work - seems those two volumes contain about half the Sector General series.

1 3

Classic SF with Andy Johnson @andyjohnson.xyz · 17h

Currently reading this - slowly but surely. Quite dense and deliberately paced, with significant similarities to Dune (1965) and to a lesser extent Rite of Passage (1968).

Classic SF with Andy Johnson @andyjohnson.xyz · Aug 14

Just arrived: fourth printing of the US first edition of The Snow Queen (1980) by Joan D. Vinge. This novel won the 1981 Hugo for Best Novel, and last had a UK edition in 1988.

Hardcover first edition (fourth printing) of the novel The Snow Queen (1980) by Joan D. Vinge. On the cover, a woman places an ornate golden mask onto a other woman. Three other figures loom in the background.

1 6

Classic SF with Andy Johnson @andyjohnson.xyz · 23h

[Not SF] Midnight Runner (2002) by Jack Higgins ✅ - a direct continuation of Edge of Danger (2001). Higgins' style is quite fascinating, repetitive and almost threadbare but so fast and energetic it remains compelling.

Classic SF with Andy Johnson @andyjohnson.xyz · 2d

Publishing companies which want to sell books ought to go to the effort of developing a good website.

Rachel Feder @rachelfeder.bsky.social · 2d

Tell me your most unhinged literary opinion, as a little treat

9

Reposted by Classic SF with Andy Johnson

Micah @rincewind.run · 2d

it is more important to read books you actually enjoy reading than books that are Literature

Rachel Feder @rachelfeder.bsky.social · 2d

Tell me your most unhinged literary opinion, as a little treat

52 430 2.5K

Reposted by Classic SF with Andy Johnson

Mattie Gregory Lewis @devilsdoorbell.bsky.social · 2d

Any book that goes longer than 300 pages (400 for heavy worldbuilding genres like fantasy, sci-fi, or historical fiction) needs to really earn it. Extremely few books with 600+ pages deserve that many pages.

Rachel Feder @rachelfeder.bsky.social · 2d

Tell me your most unhinged literary opinion, as a little treat

1 5 29

Reposted by Classic SF with Andy Johnson

Classic SF with Andy Johnson @andyjohnson.xyz · 5d

Written by "Murray Constantine" (Katharine Burdekin) and published in 1937, Swastika Night is a terrifying vision of a far-future fascist dystopia, and a novel which is troublingly relevant today. This week's article is here.

Reign of evil: Swastika Night (1937) by Murray Constantine

An extraordinary and “exceptionally nightmarish” dystopian vision

www.andyjohnson.xyz

1 6 10

Classic SF with Andy Johnson @andyjohnson.xyz · 5d

It's no beach read, to be sure. Thanks for sharing!

1

Classic SF with Andy Johnson @andyjohnson.xyz · 5d

"All history, all psychology, all philosophy, all art except music, all medical knowledge except the purely anatomical and physical - every book and picture and statue that could remind Germans of the old time must be destroyed."

Classic SF with Andy Johnson @andyjohnson.xyz · 5d

It is difficult to overstate how intensely bleak this novel is. Burdekin - who was not identified as the author until 1985, over two decades after she had died - crafts a chilling vision of a fascist apotheosis, which is an absolute nadir for the human spirit.

1

Classic SF with Andy Johnson @andyjohnson.xyz · 5d

Written by "Murray Constantine" (Katharine Burdekin) and published in 1937, Swastika Night is a terrifying vision of a far-future fascist dystopia, and a novel which is troublingly relevant today. This week's article is here.

Reign of evil: Swastika Night (1937) by Murray Constantine

An extraordinary and “exceptionally nightmarish” dystopian vision

www.andyjohnson.xyz

1 6 10

Reposted by Classic SF with Andy Johnson

Classic SF with Andy Johnson @andyjohnson.xyz · 5d

More thrifty lunchtime purchases: a little-discussed PKD, my first Lem, and a late-90s Sterling.

2006 Gollancz edition of The Zap Gun (1967) by Philip K. Dick

Orbit edition of Stanislaw Lem's novel Fiasco (1987).

2000 paperback edition of Distraction (1998) by Bruce Sterling.

1 1 5

Classic SF with Andy Johnson @andyjohnson.xyz · 5d

More thrifty lunchtime purchases: a little-discussed PKD, my first Lem, and a late-90s Sterling.

1 1 5

Reposted by Classic SF with Andy Johnson

Classic SF with Andy Johnson @andyjohnson.xyz · 7d

Two acquisitions at 50p each this lunchtime, '90s novels by two authors I'm yet to read anything by: Silver Screen (1999) by Justina Robson and Fairyland (1995) by Paul J. McAuley.

Paperback copies of Silver Screen (1999) by Justina Robson and Fairyland (1995) by Paul J. McAuley.

1 1 4

Classic SF with Andy Johnson @andyjohnson.xyz · 7d

Two acquisitions at 50p each this lunchtime, '90s novels by two authors I'm yet to read anything by: Silver Screen (1999) by Justina Robson and Fairyland (1995) by Paul J. McAuley.

1 1 4

Classic SF with Andy Johnson @andyjohnson.xyz · 10d

Finally for September I finished off the Orbitsville trilogy (1975 - 1990) by Bob Shaw, and shared my thoughts on all three volumes of this macrostructure-focused series.

The endless plain of fortune: Orbitsville trilogy by Bob Shaw (1975 - 1990)

Abandoning the Earth for the vast spaces of a macrostructure

www.andyjohnson.xyz

1

Classic SF with Andy Johnson @andyjohnson.xyz · 10d

Secondly and for episode 171, a rare foray into recent SF (among other genres) with thoroughly odd The Book of Elsewhere (2024), by Keanu Reeves and China Miéville.

Avatar of war: The Book of Elsewhere (2024) by Keanu Reeves and China Miéville

"Only he, among all who walk the Earth, has a story worth writing down."

www.andyjohnson.xyz

1

Classic SF with Andy Johnson @andyjohnson.xyz · 10d

So far I've neglected to do a roundup of what I produced in September: three articles, beginning with one on The Stars My Destination (1956), the second of two novels on which Alfred Bester's reputation rests. Also available as podcast episode 170.

Solar Enemy Number One: The Stars My Destination (1956) by Alfred Bester

A frenzied tale of revenge in a baroque 25th century

www.andyjohnson.xyz

2 6

Classic SF with Andy Johnson @andyjohnson.xyz · 10d

"Getting any portion of Brunner’s fascinating oeuvre back into print and in front of a new audience is a cause for celebration." Strongly agree with this fine @locusmag.bsky.social review by Paul di Filippo.

Paul Di Filippo Reviews The Society of Time by John Brunner

The Society of Time, John Brunner (edited by Mike Ashley) (The British Library 978-0712353823, 288pp, hardcover) November 2020 Was John Brunner’s life a tragedy? In some undeniable senses, yes. Pos…

locusmag.com

1 2

Reposted by Classic SF with Andy Johnson

Classic SF with Andy Johnson @andyjohnson.xyz · 13d

It is 1988 and Don Miguel Navarro is an agent of the Spanish Empire, trusted to travel in time. He is about to learn how fragile his timeline really is... this week's article is up, covering the Society of Time stories (1962) by John Brunner.

Hanging by a thread: the Society of Time trilogy (1962) by John Brunner

One man struggles to protect the Spanish Empire in a fragile timeline

www.andyjohnson.xyz

1 3 7

Classic SF with Andy Johnson @andyjohnson.xyz · 11d

Foster is at his best when exploring strange ecologies, I think. He has a great time with the silicon-based life here.

1

Classic SF with Andy Johnson @andyjohnson.xyz · 11d

Thoroughly enjoyed this one. Some very interesting speculations about increased human longevity, among other things.

1 1