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

8:20

#125 Future faith: Let the Fire Fall (1969) by Kate...

Classic SF with Andy Johnson ·

2024/08/23

This episode covers two quite different science fiction novels by two quite different writers, published more than a decade apart. What links them is their emphasis on religious themes. Let the Fire Fall by Kate Wilhelm was published in 1969, and is largely forgotten. Set in a near-contemporary world, it deals with alien visitation and a manipulative religious cult.Strength of Stones is an early novel by Greg Bear, published in 1981. It has a far-future setting on a planet colonised by religi...

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8:44

#124 Moral hazard: Preferred Risk (1955) by Frederik...

Classic SF with Andy Johnson ·

2024/08/08

Back in episode 111, I took a trip back to the 1950s, and looked at three books written collaboratively by Frederik Pohl and Cyril M. Kornbluth. The first two of these, The Space Merchants and Gladiator-at-Law, are major landmarks in the development of social science fiction.In 1955, while that collaboration was ongoing, Frederik Pohl published another novel in partnership with a different author - Lester del Rey. That novel was Preferred Risk, another minor classic of social SF in which the ...

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9:05

#123 In love with death: Rogue Moon (1960) by Algis...

Classic SF with Andy Johnson ·

2024/07/30

Originally published in 1960, Rogue Moon is an excellent novel by the Lithuanian-American author, critic, and editor Algis Budrys. If you read classic science fiction and encounter contemporary reviews of those books, you are sure to have heard Budrys' name. He was a major critic of SF for many years. However he was also a highly capable writer of his own fiction, both at short story and novel length. Rogue Moon is his best-known novel, a nominee for the 1961 Hugo Award which combines a lunar...

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8:14

#122 Suffering for art: Meridian Days (1992) by Eric...

Classic SF with Andy Johnson ·

2024/07/24

A debut novel which deals with guilt, art, and suspicious happenings on a troubled colony founded on matter transmission.The British SF author Eric Brown passed away in March 2023. He first came to prominence through his short fiction in the 1980s. Following the publication of his first collection, Brown was given the chance to put out his first novel. This episode covers that book, Meridian Days. While it has been out of print since 1993, this is an interesting first effort from a writer who...

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8:16

#121 Seeing is believing: A Wreath of Stars (1976) by...

Classic SF with Andy Johnson ·

2024/07/17

What if we share our world with a different intelligent species, but are separated from them by a failure of perception? And what if that gap could be bridged by a new technology, a new way of seeing?That is the premise of Bob Shaw's 1976 novel A Wreath of Stars. In his ninth novel, the Northern Irish writer combined his interest in optics with speculation about exotic particles and a grounded, African setting. This short, intriguing novel is all about perception, and how it can both divide a...

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9:08

#120 Cities at war: Oath of Fealty (1981) by Larry...

Classic SF with Andy Johnson ·

2024/07/11

In a recent episode, we looked at Frederik Pohl and C.M. Kornbluth, who formed the most important science fiction writing team of the 1950s. This instalment looks at a key book by a dominant collaboration of the 1970s and 1980s - Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle. These right-wing hard SF authors worked together on numerous books, and even collaborated on fantasy at times. Their 1981 novel Oath of Fealty is an interesting fusion of their scientific speculations and their unsettling, libertarian...

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8:37

#119: A case of consciousness: The Soul of the Robot...

Classic SF with Andy Johnson ·

2024/07/05

Get in touch with a text message!Barrington J. Bayley's novel The Soul of the Robot (1974) fits within the wider context of robot stories in SF - these include Isaac Asimov's influential tales from the 1940s, and the more subversive work of John Sladek in the 1980s. The protagonist of Bayley's novel, the fully conscious robot Jasperodus, can be seen as a kind of middle ground between these two approaches. Featuring fallen empires, a strange mix of technologies, a war for control of Mars, and ...

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7:47

#118 Schlock and awe: The Paradox Men (1953) by...

Classic SF with Andy Johnson ·

2024/06/27

Get in touch with a text message! Charles L. Harness' 1953 novel The Paradox Men was originally published under the title Flight Into Yesterday. It is a classic example of elevated pulp, which features swordfights, superpowers, voyages to the sun, and a strange furry creature that can speak - if only to speak the phrase "don't go..."The Paradox Men is featured in David Pringle's 1985 book Science Fiction: The 100 Best Novels. This inclusion is arguably a key reason why Harness and his wo...

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7:28

#117: Man and machine: “A Meeting with Medusa”...

Classic SF with Andy Johnson ·

2024/06/22

Get in touch with a text message! Originally published in the December 1971 issue of Playboy, “A Meeting With Medusa” is generally thought of as Clarke’s last significant shorter work. Notably, it won the Nebula Award for Best Novella the following year. It was also an early inspiration for two of Clarke’s successors in the British SF scene. 45 years after the novella’s publication, Stephen Baxter and Alastair Reynolds delivered their novel-length sequel, The Medusa Chronicles.Taken toge...

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7:44

#116 End of days: The Forge of God (1987) by Greg Bear

Classic SF with Andy Johnson ·

2024/06/06

Get in touch with a text message! In The Forge of God (1987), the Earth’s demise is an inevitability. Greg Bear’s novel of apocalypse was published when he was establishing himself as a leader of American hard SF in the 1980s. This is a sophisticated, chillingly believable, and scientifically rigorous view of the end of the world. Crucially, Bear is as interested in human beings as he is in the devastation that unfolds. Knowing the outcome does not undermine the emotive power of his huma...

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7:55

#115 Faith in the stars: To Open the Sky (1967) by...

Classic SF with Andy Johnson ·

2024/05/24

Get in touch with a text message!Robert Silverberg's To Open the Sky (1967) combines five pre-planned stories originally published in Galaxy magazine in 1965 and 1966, it is an interestingly structured piece of work published at a time when Silverberg was just entering his own personal golden age. It also combines themes of religion, psychic powers, terraforming, immortality, and political conflict into a unique take on the "future history" subgenre of SF. Support the Show.For lots more writi...

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11:20

#114 A Thousand Worlds: Dying of the Light (1977) and...

Classic SF with Andy Johnson ·

2024/05/16

Get in touch with a text message!George R.R. Martin is easily one of the best-known, most successful, and wealthiest genre writers still working today - albeit slowly. While Martin is a giant of modern fantasy writing, even some of his ardent fans may not be aware that he first made an impact in science fiction. This episode first covers his debut novel from 1977, Dying of the Light. It's a gloomy, mournful story of lost love and personal obligations set on a dying, rogue planet. Next, I'll t...

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10:14

#113 A pair of Aces: The Atlantic Abomination (1960)...

Classic SF with Andy Johnson ·

2024/05/07

Get in touch with a text message!John Brunner was a startlingly prolific British writer of science fiction, whose reputation rests on four acclaimed books he published from the late 1960s to the mid 1970s. However, earlier in his career he wrote many SF adventures which while less ambitious, are a rich source of pulp excitement.This episode focuses on two of these many novels. The Atlantic Abomination and Sanctuary in the Sky were both published in 1960 by Ace Books. They represent only half ...

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7:34

#112 Empire in time: The Fall of Chronopolis (1974)...

Classic SF with Andy Johnson ·

2024/05/01

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17:34

#111 SF’s greatest partnership? Three novels by...

Classic SF with Andy Johnson ·

2024/04/25

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8:13

#110 Outside context problem: Excession (1996) by...

Classic SF with Andy Johnson ·

2024/04/17

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10:45

#109 No brakes: Tau Zero (1970) by Poul Anderson

Classic SF with Andy Johnson ·

2024/04/10

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8:58

#108 Fashion victim: The Garments of Caean (1976) by...

Classic SF with Andy Johnson ·

2024/04/03

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8:17

#107 Living with the dead: The Falling Woman (1986)...

Classic SF with Andy Johnson ·

2024/03/27

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13:43

#106 Raising Titans: Imperial Earth (1975) by Arthur...

Classic SF with Andy Johnson ·

2024/03/22

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Classic SF with Andy Johnson

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