Classic SF with Andy Johnson
@andyjohnson.xyz
Exploring classic science fiction, with a focus on the 1950s to the 1990s. Weekly articles and podcast at andyjohnson.xyz
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Welcome new followers! I read, talk about, and write about classic #sciencefiction books mainly from the 1950s to the 1990s. Reviews and podcast at andyjohnson.xyz #BookSky 💙📚 🚀 #scifibooks
Happy birthday to Alan Dean Foster, king of SF novelisations and prolific writer of original work, born on this day in 1946. I've covered six of his "Humanx Commonwealth" novels, including his adventure of silicon-based life, Sentenced to Prism (1985).
Crystal methods: Sentenced to Prism (1985) by Alan Dean Foster [Review]
This is a weekly blog exploring classic science fiction , with a focus on the 1950s to the 1990s.
www.andyjohnson.xyz
November 18, 2025 at 10:07 PM
Happy birthday to Alan Dean Foster, king of SF novelisations and prolific writer of original work, born on this day in 1946. I've covered six of his "Humanx Commonwealth" novels, including his adventure of silicon-based life, Sentenced to Prism (1985).
It's about a novel I don't think I'd touch with a bargepole, but this is a very interesting and worthwhile discussion on The Historian (2005), Dracula, and vampire fiction.
It's got history, it's got vampires, it's got...sort of a baffling absence of theory on either topic! Scholar, editor, & comrade @guynes.bsky.social is on to talk about Elizabeth Kostova's THE HISTORIAN.
A Meal of Thorns 37 – THE HISTORIAN with Sean Guynes
Vampire scholar, science fiction studies editor, and ARB co-founder Sean Guynes joins to discuss Kostova’s 2005 historical vampire thriller. We both have fairly negative opinions of the book, but i…
ancillaryreviewofbooks.org
November 17, 2025 at 4:53 PM
It's about a novel I don't think I'd touch with a bargepole, but this is a very interesting and worthwhile discussion on The Historian (2005), Dracula, and vampire fiction.
Reposted by Classic SF with Andy Johnson
🎧 An elegant and eloquent summation of Le Guin’s “Hainish” novels, @andyjohnson.xyz includes a useful suggested reading order which particularly captures the ears* for noobs like myself 🤔
*I just listened to the podcast that followed this as noted👇
🚀 #SciFiBooks 🪐📚💙 #BookSky 🦋 #Podcasts 📻
*I just listened to the podcast that followed this as noted👇
🚀 #SciFiBooks 🪐📚💙 #BookSky 🦋 #Podcasts 📻
"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.
Other ways to live: introducing the Hainish stories by Ursula K. Le Guin
A beginner’s guide to her groundbreaking SF setting
www.andyjohnson.xyz
November 17, 2025 at 3:01 PM
🎧 An elegant and eloquent summation of Le Guin’s “Hainish” novels, @andyjohnson.xyz includes a useful suggested reading order which particularly captures the ears* for noobs like myself 🤔
*I just listened to the podcast that followed this as noted👇
🚀 #SciFiBooks 🪐📚💙 #BookSky 🦋 #Podcasts 📻
*I just listened to the podcast that followed this as noted👇
🚀 #SciFiBooks 🪐📚💙 #BookSky 🦋 #Podcasts 📻
SFF, or just F?
"This analysis has, so far, neglected the Science Fiction category as it is now by far SFF’s junior partner with just two titles in the 2025 Top 50." www.thebookseller.com/bestsellers/...
November 17, 2025 at 11:33 AM
SFF, or just F?
Kris from Speculative Reader has put together a good overview of Bob Shaw's classics of optics and perception, Night Walk (1967) and Other Days, Other Eyes (1972).
Speculative Reader Ep. 69: Bob Shaw's Strange Visions: Night Walk and Other Days, Other Eyes
YouTube video by Speculative Reader
youtu.be
November 16, 2025 at 1:07 PM
Kris from Speculative Reader has put together a good overview of Bob Shaw's classics of optics and perception, Night Walk (1967) and Other Days, Other Eyes (1972).
Reposted by Classic SF with Andy Johnson
Great essay here on SF satirist John Sladek, who should by rights be talked of as one of the greats of the new wave. This debut novel is great - and decidedly prescient - but his short stories are particularly wonderful. The collection Keep The Giraffe Burning is a good place to start...
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).
Silicon and steel: The Reproductive System (1968) by John Sladek
Machines run amok in a comic disaster ahead of its time
www.andyjohnson.xyz
November 16, 2025 at 11:06 AM
Great essay here on SF satirist John Sladek, who should by rights be talked of as one of the greats of the new wave. This debut novel is great - and decidedly prescient - but his short stories are particularly wonderful. The collection Keep The Giraffe Burning is a good place to start...
West of the Sun (1953) by Edgar Pangborn ✅ - six humans crash-land on an Earthlike planet and change, and are changed by, its alien societies. A strong, thoughtful SF debut.
November 15, 2025 at 10:26 PM
West of the Sun (1953) by Edgar Pangborn ✅ - six humans crash-land on an Earthlike planet and change, and are changed by, its alien societies. A strong, thoughtful SF debut.
Reposted by Classic SF with Andy Johnson
OK -- this is a long shot -- but does *anyone* have a copy of either of these two books about Lin Carter? (in the thread) They are hellishly difficult to find; I can't even find them from used sellers or on auction sites at any price!
November 15, 2025 at 7:05 PM
OK -- this is a long shot -- but does *anyone* have a copy of either of these two books about Lin Carter? (in the thread) They are hellishly difficult to find; I can't even find them from used sellers or on auction sites at any price!
J. G. Ballard (1930 - 2009) was born on this day. This piece I wrote about his extraordinary novel Crash (1973) is likely my favourite thing I've published this year.
Celebration of wounds: Crash (1973) by J. G. Ballard
A shocking collision of warped sexuality and twisted metal
www.andyjohnson.xyz
November 15, 2025 at 4:20 PM
J. G. Ballard (1930 - 2009) was born on this day. This piece I wrote about his extraordinary novel Crash (1973) is likely my favourite thing I've published this year.
Reposted by Classic SF with Andy Johnson
"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.
Other ways to live: introducing the Hainish stories by Ursula K. Le Guin
A beginner’s guide to her groundbreaking SF setting
www.andyjohnson.xyz
November 14, 2025 at 7:23 PM
"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.
"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.
Other ways to live: introducing the Hainish stories by Ursula K. Le Guin
A beginner’s guide to her groundbreaking SF setting
www.andyjohnson.xyz
November 14, 2025 at 7:23 PM
"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.
Just arrived: new bookmarks to promote the site, podcast, and newsletter. Will mainly be going out to eBay purchasers of classic SF books 📚
November 13, 2025 at 12:29 PM
Just arrived: new bookmarks to promote the site, podcast, and newsletter. Will mainly be going out to eBay purchasers of classic SF books 📚
Reposted by Classic SF with Andy Johnson
He just stole this idea from Iain M. Banks' Culture books without acknowledging what Banks tells us time and time again is the reason that the Culture is able to function as a post-scarcity society: Communism.
November 11, 2025 at 7:41 PM
He just stole this idea from Iain M. Banks' Culture books without acknowledging what Banks tells us time and time again is the reason that the Culture is able to function as a post-scarcity society: Communism.
Reposted by Classic SF with Andy Johnson
Mack Reynolds (1917-1983) was born on this day. Bibliography: www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.c...
L, Vincent Di Fate, 1976; R, Paul Lehr, 1979
#scifi #sciencefiction #books
L, Vincent Di Fate, 1976; R, Paul Lehr, 1979
#scifi #sciencefiction #books
November 11, 2025 at 4:06 PM
Mack Reynolds (1917-1983) was born on this day. Bibliography: www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.c...
L, Vincent Di Fate, 1976; R, Paul Lehr, 1979
#scifi #sciencefiction #books
L, Vincent Di Fate, 1976; R, Paul Lehr, 1979
#scifi #sciencefiction #books
To me this has been handled well with Judge Dredd. He has been appearing every week since 1977 but he has changed, albeit very slowly. His attitudes have shifted, but he is still Judge Dredd.
Melodrama heroes are built to have infinite adventures. But to do that *they cannot change or grow*. Change and growth can happen to those *around* them, but Batman can't say "you know what? Dressing up like a bat and beating people up is silly."
November 11, 2025 at 2:26 PM
To me this has been handled well with Judge Dredd. He has been appearing every week since 1977 but he has changed, albeit very slowly. His attitudes have shifted, but he is still Judge Dredd.
Reposted by Classic SF with Andy Johnson
The science of storytelling with author and humanist Kurt Vonnegut 😅❤️
Kurt was born #OnThisDay 1922.
Kurt was born #OnThisDay 1922.
November 11, 2025 at 12:01 PM
The science of storytelling with author and humanist Kurt Vonnegut 😅❤️
Kurt was born #OnThisDay 1922.
Kurt was born #OnThisDay 1922.
Scarlet Traces Volume Two (2017) by Ian Edginton and D'Israeli ✅ - further comics sequels to H.G. Wells' The War of the Worlds (1898). Excellent, stirring, and troubling stuff.
November 9, 2025 at 11:35 PM
Scarlet Traces Volume Two (2017) by Ian Edginton and D'Israeli ✅ - further comics sequels to H.G. Wells' The War of the Worlds (1898). Excellent, stirring, and troubling stuff.
Reposted by Classic SF with Andy Johnson
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).
Silicon and steel: The Reproductive System (1968) by John Sladek
Machines run amok in a comic disaster ahead of its time
www.andyjohnson.xyz
November 7, 2025 at 7:35 PM
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).
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).
Silicon and steel: The Reproductive System (1968) by John Sladek
Machines run amok in a comic disaster ahead of its time
www.andyjohnson.xyz
November 7, 2025 at 7:35 PM
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).
In yet another (but final) change to the announced schedule, this week's article will be on John Sladek's "comic inferno" The Reproductive System (1968), and will be available shortly!
November 7, 2025 at 6:15 PM
In yet another (but final) change to the announced schedule, this week's article will be on John Sladek's "comic inferno" The Reproductive System (1968), and will be available shortly!
A Fisherman of the Inland Sea (1994) by Ursula K. Le Guin ✅ - eight '90s stories, the three in the Hainish setting being the main draw, although "The Kerastion" is a good short-short.
November 5, 2025 at 10:35 PM
A Fisherman of the Inland Sea (1994) by Ursula K. Le Guin ✅ - eight '90s stories, the three in the Hainish setting being the main draw, although "The Kerastion" is a good short-short.
[Not SF] True Grit (1968) by Charles Portis ✅ - superb Western novel, twice adapted to film. Makes me want to read more classic Westerns, and to seek out Portis' other novels - of which surprisingly, there are only four.
November 4, 2025 at 5:12 PM
[Not SF] True Grit (1968) by Charles Portis ✅ - superb Western novel, twice adapted to film. Makes me want to read more classic Westerns, and to seek out Portis' other novels - of which surprisingly, there are only four.
Equator (1961) by Brian Aldiss ✅ - strange collection of just two stories, the novella Equator and the novelette "Segregation". Both fairly routine late 1950s fare.
November 1, 2025 at 3:19 PM
Equator (1961) by Brian Aldiss ✅ - strange collection of just two stories, the novella Equator and the novelette "Segregation". Both fairly routine late 1950s fare.
Reminds me of Operation Moolah during the Korean War, in which the US promised $100,000 to the first North Korean pilot to defect and deliver to them a MiG-15 fighter.
A U.S. agent tried to flip Nicolás Maduro’s pilot — offering riches if he secretly flew Venezuela’s leader into U.S. custody.
The failed plan, which reads like a Cold War spy novel, shows how far the U.S. has gone to oust Maduro.
The failed plan, which reads like a Cold War spy novel, shows how far the U.S. has gone to oust Maduro.
US sought to lure Nicolás Maduro’s pilot into betraying the Venezuelan leader
A federal agent had a daring plan: persuade Nicolas Maduro's chief pilot to surreptitiously divert the Venezuelan president’s plane to a place where U.S. authorities could nab the strongman.
bit.ly
October 30, 2025 at 7:14 AM
Reminds me of Operation Moolah during the Korean War, in which the US promised $100,000 to the first North Korean pilot to defect and deliver to them a MiG-15 fighter.