PODCAST

Classic SF with Andy Johnson

Andy Johnson

Exploring classic science fiction, with a focus on the 1950s to the 1990s.

fiction science fiction

All Episodes

8:05

#155 Fork in the road: The Two-Timers (1968) by Bob Shaw

Classic SF with Andy Johnson ·

2025/05/01

A personal struggle with cosmic consequences Some people are their own worst enemy - that's particularly true for John Breton. One night, he finds himself confronted with an identical, rival version of himself - who has crossed over from another timeline. Originally published in 1968, The Two-Timers is the second novel by Bob Shaw, a follow-up to his debut Night Walk which was covered in episode 129. Both a painful exploration of a collapsing marriage, and an SF story about a threat to the ...

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6:54

#154 Trial by fire: Rite of Passage (1968) by Alexei...

Classic SF with Andy Johnson ·

2025/04/25

Coming of age on a hollowed-out asteroid The critic Algis Budrys said of this novel, "one feels a real shock as one realizes that Panshin after all has never been a girl growing up aboard a hollowed-out planetoid". He was praising Rite of Passage, Alexei Panshin's 1968 novel which went on to win the Nebula Award for Best Novel while up against tough competition. A part of the first series of Ace Science Fiction Specials edited by Terry Carr, Rite of Passage is both a powerful coming of age ...

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8:57

#153 Scarcity and abundance: Ring Around the Sun...

Classic SF with Andy Johnson ·

2025/04/16

A tall tale of impossible products, mutants, and parallel Earths Clifford D. Simak explores the parallel worlds theme to intriguing, energetic effect in his 1953 novel Ring Around the Sun. In this tall tale, originally serialised in Galaxy magazine, a young writer discovers that he has the power to visit many alternate versions of the Earth, each unsullied by human hands. One of these worlds is already in use, however, to make seemingly impossible products that threaten to topple the w...

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7:52

#152 The last city: Cinnabar (1976) by Edward Bryant

Classic SF with Andy Johnson ·

2025/04/10

Entropic tales from the end of time It is a bit of a truism to say that people are entranced by imagining the end of the world. But what about the end of time? In this immensely distant scenario, entropy has had its way with the universe, life has withered away, and all change and incident has ceased. A true entropic scenario leaves little room for story-telling, and so SF writers tend to cheat, finding ways to keep some eccentric humans alive at the end of time. Cinnabar is a 1976 col...

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8:09

#151 Ancient mistakes: Look to Windward (2000) by...

Classic SF with Andy Johnson ·

2025/04/03

The Culture is run by Minds - AI constructs of immense computing power, some of the greatest intelligences in the galaxy. But no amount of intelligence can prevent you from making mistakes. The sixth novel in the Culture series by Iain M. Banks, Look to Windward was first published in 2000. It deals with effects of mistakes made by the Minds. As part of Banks' extended examination of the topic of intervention, it particularly focuses on an attempt to mould the future of a race of cat-like al...

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24:04

#150 The First Classic SF with Andy Johnson Q&A

Classic SF with Andy Johnson ·

2025/03/27

Answering listener questions about all things classic SF. Can you believe it, it's episode 150! To mark this milestone, this episode is a special Q&A. Questions and answers take a tour of Ursula K. Le Guin, J. G. Ballard, Dune (1965), book collecting, getting started with Philip K. Dick, the "cosy catastrophes" of John Wyndham, and more. Get in touch with a text message! For more classic SF reviews and discussion, visit andyjohnson.xyz. To get free weekly classic SF update...

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9:15

#149 Celebration of wounds: Crash (1973) by J. G....

Classic SF with Andy Johnson ·

2025/03/20

A shocking collision of warped sexuality and twisted metal "I wanted to rub the human face in its own vomit - and force it to look in the mirror." With these words, J.G. Ballard described the aim of his 1973 novel Crash. A harrowing descent into a bizarre subculture of damaged outcasts whose sexual fetishes centre on the car crash, the novel is Ballard's disturbing diagnosis of the 20th century. The writer described it as a "deranging book to write", which made him hate himself because he fel...

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9:11

#148 Out of the darkness: Flowers for Algernon (1966)...

Classic SF with Andy Johnson ·

2025/03/13

Flowers for Algernon is a science fiction classic which crossed over into the mainstream. Originally published in novel form in 1966, Daniel Keyes' only fully-fledged SF book not only won a Nebula, but was adapted to film, and frequently appeared on school curricula. It has even been called "arguably the most popular SF novel ever published". Welcome to a landmark story of intelligence, compassion, and what it means to be a good person. Get in touch with a text message! For more classic...

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8:16

#147 Armed to the teeth: The Jagged Orbit (1969) by...

Classic SF with Andy Johnson ·

2025/03/06

A plea for human connection in a computerised world The reputation of John Brunner rests largely on his four "tract novels" published between 1968 and 1975. Complex and imposing, they are fictional explorations of issues and crises facing society in the latter part of the 20th century. Originally published in 1969, The Jagged Orbit is the second of these novels and Brunner's follow-up to Stand on Zanzibar - the first British novel to win the Hugo Award. In a declining United States in 2014, ...

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12:35

#146 Digging up the future: Icehenge (1984) by Kim...

Classic SF with Andy Johnson ·

2025/02/27

A moving meditation on revolution, knowledge, and human longevity Kim Stanley Robinson has been a major fixture of American SF for 30 years. Best known for his Mars trilogy from the 1990s, each of his recent novels has been a major event, and he is a particularly important figure in climate fiction. This episode takes a look at an early and lesser known book by KSR. Icehenge was first published in 1984, and consists of a wide-ranging tour of the future of our solar system. Over the course of...

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8:37

#145 Heavy weather: Mission of Gravity (1954) by Hal...

Classic SF with Andy Johnson ·

2025/02/20

The classic which helped to define hard science fiction Whatever your definition of "hard science fiction", Hal Clement's 1954 novel Mission of Gravity is sure to meet it. Rich with meaty discussions of the hard sciences, and written with a stern adherence to scientific plausibility, Clement's third novel is one of the definitive works of hard SF. Get in touch with a text message! For more classic SF reviews and discussion, visit andyjohnson.xyz. To get free weekly classic SF updates, s...

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7:00

#144 Beating the odds: The Grand Wheel (1977) by...

Classic SF with Andy Johnson ·

2025/02/13

In which life, the universe, and everything are just a game In his 1976 novel The Garments of Caean, Barrington J. Bayley applied his unique approach to a space opera centred on clothes with strange powers. For his next trick, as critic Rhys Hughes put it, "having swept through a stellar Savile Row", Bayley "turned his sights on Monte Carlo". The Grand Wheel is another odd space adventure, in which its gambler protagonist infiltrates an organisation that might be willing to risk the future of...

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8:30

#143 The enemy within: The Second Trip (1971) by...

Classic SF with Andy Johnson ·

2025/02/06

A controversial psychological SF novel of crime and rehabilitation The Second Trip is a 1971 novel by Robert Silverberg which incorporates aspects associated with both the US and UK conceptions of the New Wave. This episode looks at this disturbingly intense work of psychological science fiction, in which two minds battle for control of one body. Get in touch with a text message! For more classic SF reviews and discussion, visit andyjohnson.xyz. To get free weekly classic SF updates, ...

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7:27

#142 Tipping the scales: Dreamsnake (1978) by Vonda...

Classic SF with Andy Johnson ·

2025/01/30

A unique and moving feminist post-apocalyptic taleTo win the Hugo Award for Best Novel is one thing, but to secure the Hugo, the Nebula, and the Locus Awards is another thing entirely. Vonda N. McIntyre's 1978 novel Dreamsnake did exactly that, becoming one of the most acclaimed science fiction books of the late 1970s. This episode explores what made this feminist post-apocalyptic novel significant in 1978, and why it retains its power today. Get in touch with a text message!For mor...

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9:00

#141 A horrorshow cure: A Clockwork Orange (1962) by...

Classic SF with Andy Johnson ·

2025/01/23

"When a man cannot choose, he ceases to be a man."Stanley Kubrick's film A Clockwork Orange was as controversial as it was profitable. Its depiction of a dystopian near future terrorised by ultraviolent teenage gangs made a startling impact on release in 1971. The film was an adaptation of a book that was nearly a decade old. This episode explores Anthony Burgess' 1962 book A Clockwork Orange. Included in David Pringle's list of the 100 must-read science fiction novels, it is an anomalous ven...

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6:26

#140 Plucked from the past: Picnic on Paradise (1968)...

Classic SF with Andy Johnson ·

2025/01/16

A feminist subversion of SF adventure on a snowbound world.Joanna Russ was an American writer of science fiction and fantasy best known for her strident feminist perspective. Her most acclaimed book is The Female Man from 1975, in which several women - each from their own parallel universes - confront misogyny and patriarchy.In Picnic on Paradise (1968), Russ' debut novel, a thief from ancient Tyre is recruited to save the day on a holiday planet plunged into a "commercial war".Get in touch w...

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8:55

#139 In the days of their strength: Pavane (1968) by...

Classic SF with Andy Johnson ·

2025/01/09

Exploring a unique alternate history and a classic of British SF.It is the late 20th century - but not as we know it. There is no electricity, let alone nuclear energy. Steam-powered road trains are the fastest means of transport. And England is run not from London, but from Rome. This is the world of Pavane, a unique alternate history by Keith Roberts, published in 1968.Get in touch with a text message!For more classic SF reviews, visit andyjohnson.xyz

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8:45

#138 Death is no obstacle: The Ophiuchi Hotline...

Classic SF with Andy Johnson ·

2025/01/03

Hundreds of years from now, there is not a single human being on Earth. The species has been exiled to the moon, Mars, and other worlds of the solar system. A powerful alien race has reserved the planet we think of as "ours", and given it over to the real intelligent life: dolphins and whales. Fortunately, humankind has mysterious friends in high places, who offer powerful technological fixes. John Varley's debut novel The Ophiuchi Hotline (1977) is a story of a changed and changeab...

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17:12

#137 The Ten Best SF(F) Books I Read in 2024

Classic SF with Andy Johnson ·

2024/12/19

With another year drawing to a close, it's time to assess the ten best novels I read in 2024: all of them featured on the show at some point. Which books will make the cut? Also: my biggest reading disappointment of the year, some honourable mentions, and looking ahead to plans for 2025.Get in touch with a text message!For more classic SF reviews, visit andyjohnson.xyz

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7:23

#136 Hell freezes over: Ice (1967) by Anna Kavan

Classic SF with Andy Johnson ·

2024/12/13

Dramatic climate breakdown is causing extremes of weather never seen before, and contributing to a succession of convulsive wars, with no end in sight. This isn't the 21st century - it's a unique entry in the tradition of the British catastrophe novel. Ice was written by Anna Kavan and published in 1967. It was the last novel by a uniquely talented, and uniquely troubled author. Similar in some ways to other disaster novels by authors like John Wyndham and J.G. Ballard, Ice differentiates its...

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