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

8:37

#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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6:11

#135 Take these broken wings: Windhaven (1981) by...

Classic SF with Andy Johnson ·

2024/12/03

On the constantly stormy planet of Windhaven, elite messengers take to the skies using flying rigs made from the remnants of an ancient starship. But who deserves to wear the wings?George R. R. Martin is one of the world's best-selling novelists, and Lisa Tuttle is a multi-award winning author and a regular critic of new SF and fantasy work. Back in the 1970s, they collaborated on stories in Analog magazine, which were later extended into a fix-up novel - Windhaven (1981). Get in touch with a...

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5:55

#134 Out of body experience: The Palace of Eternity...

Classic SF with Andy Johnson ·

2024/11/21

This is a neccesarily brief episode - because there is much in this book that must not be spoiled. The Palace of Eternity is an excellent 1969 novel by the Northern Irish writer Bob Shaw. It is a fast-paced, dynamic piece of work, full of surprising developments and wild ideas. Welcome to a fast-moving tale that explores interstellar war, environmental destruction, and even the source of artistic inspiration.Get in touch with a text message!For more classic SF reviews, visit andyjohnson.xyz

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8:07

#133 A century of screams: Breakfast in the Ruins...

Classic SF with Andy Johnson ·

2024/11/14

Breakfast in the Ruins is a sometimes harrowing experimental novel by Michael Moorcock. Originally published in 1972, the novel is a loose sequel of sorts to Moorcock's earlier novel Behold the Man - covered in episode 96. This time, protagonist Karl Glogauer is split into many different lives, in which he becomes entangled, and increasingly guilty of, some of history's worst atrocities.Get in touch with a text message! For more classic SF reviews, visit andyjohnson.xyz

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10:28

#132 Retirement plans: Do Androids Dream of Electric...

Classic SF with Andy Johnson ·

2024/11/10

Since he died in 1982, Philip K. Dick has become, and has remained, one of the best-known science fiction writers of all time. He has recognition not only from established fans of SF, but also from more general audiences - very unusual for a writer who started out publishing in Ace Doubles in the 1950s. To a significant extent, that wide acceptance has to do with the film adaptations of Dick's work, which began with Blade Runner - released shortly after he died.This episode focuses on the nov...

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9:28

#131 El Dorado of the mind: The Embedding (1973) by...

Classic SF with Andy Johnson ·

2024/10/28

Oddly, the British author Ian Watson may be best known today for his various novels in the Warhammer 40,000 setting. Long before he flirted with "the grim darkness of the far future", Watson carved a space for himself as one of the most intellectually challenging and formidable British SF writers of the 1970s.This episode covers Watson's bracing debut novel The Embedding. Originally published in 1973, it is a startling combination of linguistics, anthropology, geopolitics, and first contact w...

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7:41

#130 Thousand island blessing: The Howling Stones...

Classic SF with Andy Johnson ·

2024/10/21

It's been over a year since we last covered a novel in Alan Dean Foster's expansive Humanx Commonwealth setting. In these far-future novels, humanity has allied with the insectoid thranx species, which resemble huge, intelligent ants. Together, the two species create a benevolent, star-faring civilisation.The thranx are disappointingly absent from the sixth standalone book in the setting, The Howling Stones. What this 1997 novel does have is a pair of bickering xenologists, warlike lizard-lik...

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7:44

#129 Blind man's bluff: Night Walk (1967) by Bob Shaw

Classic SF with Andy Johnson ·

2024/10/08

In recent years, the reputation of the Northern Irish writer Bob Shaw has grown. He died in 1996, but left behind a large body of cleverly entertaining science fiction series, novels, and stories. Today, more readers are discovering Shaw's work, which is eminently readable and packed with intriguing ideas taken in surprising directions. Recently, I covered Shaw's excellent 1976 novel A Wreath of Stars, one of his most celebrated works. This episode covers his debut novel, the deft and excitin...

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7:22

#128 Space and the mind: The Black Corridor (1969) by...

Classic SF with Andy Johnson ·

2024/09/16

The hugely prolific Michael Moorcock is credited with making a major contribution to New Wave science fiction, mainly due to his editorship of the pivotal British magazine New Worlds. Moorcock wrote relatively few science fiction novels, certainly compared to his huge output of fantasy work, which he used to help support New Worlds financially.However, some of Moorcock's own SF novels are themselves significant contributions to the New Wave. The Black Corridor, written in uncredited collabora...

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8:42

#127 Science fiction in disguise: Inversions (1998)...

Classic SF with Andy Johnson ·

2024/09/05

The time has come to continue exploring Iain M. Banks' Culture series. Inversions is the fifth of nine novels, and also the last to be published in the 1990s. This time, Banks stretched himself further than ever before, experimenting with a radically different view of his post-scarcity setting. What does the Culture look like, viewed from a medieval society that is unaware that other worlds even exist?To catch up with my coverage of the series, listen to episode 90 for The State of the Art, 9...

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8:43

#126 A very British disaster: The Day of the Triffids...

Classic SF with Andy Johnson ·

2024/08/29

No discussion of classic British science fiction could be complete without mentioning John Wyndham, and perhaps especially his 1951 novel The Day of the Triffids. A pioneer in the noble tradition of the British disaster novel, this influential classic piles not one, or two, but three catastrophes onto the world. The protagonist, Bill Masen, must navigate not only mass blindness and a mystery disease, but the iconic triffids themselves - mobile, venomous, and possibly intelligent plants with m...

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