The Shape Of Further Things

This is non-fiction from Aldiss, not really on any particular subject, or arranged with any goal in mind, but a conversation between himself and the reader, importuned by a January 1969 night’s conversation between himself and Christopher Evans. If I may not be too bold, it’s much the same as what I......more

An interesting book written and framed around the Apollo moon landing of July 1969. Aldiss was a wide ranging writer, a journalist of the evolving technology of his era and its social impact, probably mostly remembered now for his science fiction. The Kubrick/Spielberg movie "A. I." is based on his......more

Brian's explorations of the marvellous often came secondary to his analysis of what the genre meant. At that time there was a glaring hole in this genre - the literary establishment either looked down their noses at it or just ignored it. As a result it was left to writers, magazine editors and the......more

This is an unusual book. It's a diary of his life for January of 1969, with a fair amount of the things he was thinking of, with a brief history of SF from the time he started reading it thrown in here and there.......more

An extraordinary blend of memoir, critical analysis of SF, utopian thinking and essays on the nature of dream and the brain, all of which come together brilliantly. Aldiss writes clearly and with conviction and though this book was written in the early 60s it's aged very well. Well worth reading.......more