The Cosmic Puppets by Philip K. Dick
By the time 1956 rolled around, future cult author Philip K. Dick had already seen 80 of his short stories published, as well as his first novel, 1955’s Solar Lottery. But 1956 would turn out to be an important year for the seemingly indefatigable writer. His second and third novels, The World Jones Made and The Man Who Japed,
March 5th, 2024. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 4 | Philip K. Dick | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Foreign espionage and sabotage undermining the credibility of American armed forces. A counter-intelligence group mocked and silenced for its theories. Shadowy plans, decades in the making. The fate of the world caught in the balance between devastation and salvation. Pat Frank describes all of these in Forbidden Area, which was first published in 1956 and is still terrifying sixty-one years later.
Harper Perennial’s 2016 re-issue of Forbidden Area only clocks in at just over 200 pages and contains four interlocking plotlines,
February 27th, 2017. Jana Nyman´s rating: 4.5 | Pat Frank | Edge, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Man Who Japed by Philip K. Dick
Cult sci-fi author Philip K. Dick‘s third novel, The Man Who Japed, was originally published in one of those cute little “Ace doubles” (D-193, for all you collectors out there), back to back with E.C. Tubb’s The Space-Born, in 1956, and with a cover price of a whopping 35 cents. (Ed Emshwiller’s cover for The Man Who Japed was his first of many for these beloved double-deckers.) As in Dick’s previous novel,
October 28th, 2015. Sandy Ferber and Kat Hooper | Philip K. Dick | Audio, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
The Dragon in the Sea by Frank Herbert
The East and the West rule the world, but the West is running out of oil. The West has been sending subtugs (specialized submarines) to smuggle oil from the East, but the last twenty missions have failed. It’s treachery! Security knows that the East has a lot of sleeper agents among their ranks, so they assign John Ramsey, who specializes in psychology and electronics, aboard the next mission in order to uncover the sleeper agent.
There are four men aboard the subtug,
May 5th, 2015. Ryan Skardal´s rating: 3 | Frank Herbert | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester
Much has been written about Alfred Bester’s classic 1956 SF novel The Stars My Destination (Tiger! Tiger! in the United Kingdom). According to Wikipedia, it is considered one of the best SF books of all time by many authors such as Neil Gaiman, Joe Haldeman, Samuel. R. Delany, Robert Silverberg, and William Gibson.
Predating cyberpunk by almost three decades (if you count from Gibson’s Neuromancer in 1984),
March 9th, 2015. Stuart Starosta and Kat Hooper´s rating: 5 | Alfred Bester | Audio, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 7 comments |
The 13th Immortal by Robert Silverberg
The 13th Immortal is one of Robert Silverberg’s earliest novels, and though it’s not considered one of his great works, I certainly enjoyed it thoroughly and recommend it to those who like short science fiction novels from the 1950s. It’s a post-apocalyptic story about twelve immortals who have divided most of the world among themselves into separate Empires, leaving a few other places to whoever claims them. Those few key other spaces include a mutant city, a computerized city with no human inhabitants,
May 28th, 2014. Brad Hawley´s rating: 3.5 | Robert Silverberg | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Double Star by Robert A. Heinlein
Most of Robert A. Heinlein’s adult novels have interesting ideas or premises but many lack likeable characters and/or fun quickly-moving plots. Fortunately Double Star has all the right elements and is entertaining from start to finish. It’s one of Heinlein’s best novels, I think, and I must not be alone in that opinion since it won the Hugo Award in 1956 and was nominated for Locus’ All-Time Best Science Fiction Novels. Double Star is a character-based novel that explores some important political issues without getting preachy.
October 2nd, 2013. Kat Hooper, Tadiana Jones and Stuart Starosta´s rating: 4, 5 | Robert A. Heinlein | Audio, Hugo Award, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 7 comments |
The World Jones Made by Philip K. Dick
By 1956, the sensation of seeing his name in print was not a new one for author Philip K. Dick. Between 1952 and 1955, he had placed around 75 (!) short stories in the various science fiction magazines and digests of the day, and in 1955 his first novel, Solar Lottery, saw its first publication. That novel appeared in one of those cute little “Ace doubles” (D-103, for all you collectors out there), backed with Leigh Brackett’s The Big Jump.
September 4th, 2013. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 4 | Philip K. Dick | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Time for the Stars by Robert A. Heinlein
Time for the Stars is one of my favorite Heinlein Juveniles, and I like his juveniles better than his books for adults, so I guess that makes Time of the Stars one of my favorite Heinlein works. It’s got everything that makes his stories so much fun to read, especially for kids. Likeable heroes, sweet relationships, real emotions, a touch of romance, a bit of physics, spaceship travel and exploration of distant planets. (And also, as usual,
August 7th, 2013. Kat Hooper´s rating: 4 | Robert A. Heinlein | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
The Incredible Shrinking Man by Richard Matheson
Every day Scott Carey is getting shorter by 1/7 of an inch. The doctors have figured out why — he was exposed to a combination of insecticide and radioactivity — but so far they have not been able to make him stop shrinking. Now Scott is only one inch tall and he is trapped in the cellar of his family’s rented home with a stale piece of bread, an out-of-reach box of crackers, a sponge, a garden hose, a water heater, and a black widow spider.
May 14th, 2011. Kat Hooper´s rating: 4.5 | Richard Matheson | Audio, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
What a fascinating exploration of Edwige Fenech's contributions to the giallo genre! I love how the post highlights her unique…
Pretty challenging book. Cut by half, speed up the cadence. Trying to figure out the plot, the main point of…
Thanks for the kind words, Marion! Coming as they are from a professional writer, they are much appreciated!
Wonderful review, Sandy.
The "body count" bothered me a bit less because being dead seemed more like an inconvenience than anything else... unlike…