Brian Aldiss

[AE35Unit]

Thanks J D et al,this has been a great thread!
He has brought out quite a few interesting books in the early 00s too!

 

[j d worthington]

The Eighty-Minute Hour is often described as a space opera. Mind you, the contents of the anthology he edited, Space Opera, don't always qualify as that. The same is true of Space Odysseys.

May be that my memory is playing tricks on me again, then, as concerns The Eighty-Minute Hour. And I agree, not all could be considered space opera, though I think they might fit into a somewhat stretched definition of the term.

Ian -- what about his two-volume anthology, Galactic Empires? Do you have any feedback about them?

Publication Listing

Publication Listing

 

[Connavar]

I got this from the library Best Sf Stories Of Brian W. Aldiss.
Which has short stories that he thinks is the best he has done. I felt for short stories and choosed this collection of his.

The Failed Men
All the World's Tears
Poor Little Warrior!
Who Can Replace a Man?
Man on Bridge
The Girl and the Robot with Flowers
The Saliva Tree
Man in His Time
Heresies of the Huge God
Confluence
Working in the Spaceship Yards
Super-Toys Last All Summer Long
Sober Noises of Morning in a Marginal Land
The Dark Soul of the Night
An Appearance of Life
Last Orders
Door Slams in Fourth World
The Gods in Flight
My Country 'Tis Not Only of Thee
Infestation
The Difficulties Involved in Photographing Nix Olympica


Anyone who have read who can help out with a story that special enough to be my first Aldiss ?

 

[iansales]

I quite enjoyed the two Galactic Empires anthologies. The contents were a bit dated - the books were published in the late 1970s, but almost all of the stories in them were from the 1940s and 1950s.

 

[AE35Unit]

I got this from the library Best Sf Stories Of Brian W. Aldiss.
Which has short stories that he thinks is the best he has done. I felt for short stories and choosed this collection of his.

The Failed Men
All the World's Tears
Poor Little Warrior!
Who Can Replace a Man?
Man on Bridge
The Girl and the Robot with Flowers
The Saliva Tree
Man in His Time
Heresies of the Huge God
Confluence
Working in the Spaceship Yards
Super-Toys Last All Summer Long
Sober Noises of Morning in a Marginal Land
The Dark Soul of the Night
An Appearance of Life
Last Orders
Door Slams in Fourth World
The Gods in Flight
My Country 'Tis Not Only of Thee
Infestation
The Difficulties Involved in Photographing Nix Olympica


Anyone who have read who can help out with a story that special enough to be my first Aldiss ?

Well I know you like H G Wells and so it should be The Saliva Tree.
(Aldiss is chairman kf the H G Wells society)

 

[iansales]

'Confluence' is good. It's a fake dictionary of expressions for an alien language, and quite amusing, such as...

"cham on th zam - the art of being witty when no one else appreceiates it"

(from memory, so it might not be exactly right...)

One story of Aldiss's I like, 'FOAM', is not in that collection. It was later expanded into the novel Somewhere East of Life.

 

[Connavar]

"Old Hundredth" was my first ever Aldiss story and i was lucky to pick it only by the interesting title.

It was very good, interesting. A good twist. Specially the main character and her mentor wasnt who you expected them to be.

 

[Fried Egg]

I've just finished "The Interpreter" and I really enjoyed it. A really engaging story that has a nice little twist at the end. One of his better stories I think and obviously inspired by his observations of The British Empire in it's dying days.

 

[AE35Unit]

Well his latest novel,HARM,is a strange one. Its rather like reading two books at once,something I find hard to manage(unlike my other half)
On the one hand its about a Muslim prisoner interrogated and brutally punished(some scenes are quite nasty) and its bordering controversial. And on the other its a SF novel set on another planet. Very odd,not quite my cup of tea. Funnily enough I find the earth bound sections more shall we say interesting that the SF elements.

 

[Ian Whates]

Well his latest novel,HARM,is a strange one.

I heard Brian read from this and talk about the book, in conversation with John Clute, a few years ago when it launched. A lot of anger went into this one.

 

[AE35Unit]

You're not kidding Ian! Very close to the knuckle in parts,emotionally stirring. The SF sections are boring by comparison and for that reason I don't think it works. If he'd concentrated on just the prisoner on earth thread he'd have had a winner I think. Albeit a controversial one.

 

[BAYLOR]

Non Stop , The Malacia Tapestry , Dracula Unbound . Superb stuff . I couldn't get int Helliconia , I tries twice.

 

[Ray McCarthy]

I read all of Hellicona, (or maybe not, but 3 volumes anyway) but I liked it less the more I read. Sort of pretentious. I like a lot of Aldiss, but not that.

 

[BAYLOR]

I read all of Hellicona, (or maybe not, but 3 volumes anyway) but I liked it less the more I read. Sort of pretentious. I like a lot of Aldiss, but not that.

For the most part, he tells a good story.

 

[Zendexor]

Wow I am surprised there's no mention of this award winning author on here. I just did a search on here,not one thread started! Well I like some of his stuff,particularly Hothouse which i found brilliant even tho its more like science fantasy. His novella The Saliva Tree is superb steampunk, and The Dark Light Years is entertaining,would love for another novel on that planet to revisit the Utods.
Have also read Cracken at Critical which reminded me of Philip K Dick.
Tried to read Barefoot in the Head but I think you need to be stoned to appreciate it! Have yet to try the Helliconia trilogy,I've heard its hard going.
Any other Aldiss fans on here? Incidentally there's a Aldiss forum. Will post a link if anyone's interested.

Used to love rereading his first novel, Non-Stop, but my latest re-reading was a disappointment. Still, the early impressions are safely part of my mental furniture now! The terrific mystery of the corridors... the ponics... the rats... the huge Ship that is the World...

 

[BAYLOR]

Used to love rereading his first novel, Non-Stop, but my latest re-reading was a disappointment. Still, the early impressions are safely part of my mental furniture now! The terrific mystery of the corridors... the ponics... the rats... the huge Ship that is the World...

Ive read that one , terrific book.

 

[AE35Unit]

Used to love rereading his first novel, Non-Stop, but my latest re-reading was a disappointment. Still, the early impressions are safely part of my mental furniture now! The terrific mystery of the corridors... the ponics... the rats... the huge Ship that is the World...

I'm still looking for Non Stop. Then I saw a poster for a film of that title of the same name with Niam Leeson. Got briefly excited till I realised it was a totally different story.

 

[BAYLOR]

I quite enjoyed the two Galactic Empires anthologies. The contents were a bit dated - the books were published in the late 1970s, but almost all of the stories in them were from the 1940s and 1950s.

They were great stories. My favorite one in that anthology. All The Way Back by Micheal Shaara . I wish he had kept on writing science fiction.

 

[AE35Unit]

About to begin reading his linked collection Starswarm