TABLE OF CONTENTS:
I was reading John O’Neill’s post on BLACKGATE.COM last week where John finally took Brian Aldiss’s Galactic Empires (1979) collections off his shelf after they sat there for decades (you can read about it here). It struck me I’ve had Aldiss’s Galactic Empires on my shelves for nearly the same amount of time! So I read them.
Brian Aldiss is a wonderful SF writer, of fiction and non-fiction, but he’s also an excellent SF editor. I’ve enjoyed every anthology Aldiss has assembled (and I have a couple in the pipeline for blog posts in 2022).
It would be hard to choose a favorite between Volume One and Volume Two. “The Star Plunderer” by Poul Anderson is a favorite of mine. I reread with pleasure Asimov’s famous “Foundation” and Cordwainer Smith’s haunting “The Crime and Glory of Commander Suzdal.” Clifford Simak’s “Immigrant” and James White’s clever “Resident Physician” make Volume One hard to beat.
But Volume Two includes John D. MacDonald’s “Escape to Chaos” and A. E. Van Vogt’s classic “Concealment.” For those readers who are in the mood for some pulp stories, try “Tonight the Stars Revolt!” by Gardner F. Fox and Poul Anderson’s “Lord of a Thousand Suns.” Rounding out the second volume are “Big Ancestor” by F. L. Wallace and Harry Harrison’s “Final Encounter.”
If you’re in the mood for some old-fashioned Science Fiction with Big Ideas and Cosmic Reach, Galactic Empires will tantalize you! GRADE: A
VOLUME ONE:
Introduction by Brian Aldiss
A Sense of Perspective, by Brian Aldiss
“Been a Long, Long Time” by R. A. Lafferty (Fantastic, December 1970)
“The Possessed” by Arthur C. Clarke (Dynamic Science Fiction, March 1953)
“Protected Species” by H. B. Fyfe (Astounding Science Fiction, March 1951)
“All the Way Back” by Michael Shaara (Astounding Science Fiction, July 1952)
“‘Wider Still and Wider…’ by Brian W. Aldiss (non-fiction)
“The Star Plunderer” by Poul Anderson (Planet Stories, September 1952)
“Foundation” by Isaac Asimov (Astounding Science-Fiction, May 1942)
“We’re Civilized!” by Alex Apostolides and Mark Clifton (Galaxy Science Fiction, August 1953)
Horses in the Starship Hold, by Brian W. Aldiss (non-fiction)
“The Crime and the Glory of Commander Suzdal” by Cordwainer Smith (Amazing Stories, May 1964)
“The Rebel of Valkyr” by Alfred Coppel (Planet Stories, Fall 1950)
“Brightness Falls from the Air” by Margaret St. Clair (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, April 1951)
“Immigrant” by Clifford D. Simak (Astounding Science Fiction, March 1954)
The Health Service in the Skies, by Brian W. Aldiss (non-fiction)
“Resident Physician” by James White (New Worlds Science Fiction, #110 September)
“Age of Retirement” by Hal Lynch (Astounding Science Fiction, April 1954)
“Planting Time” by Pete Adams and Charles Nightingale (Antigrav, 1975)
VOLUME TWO:
Introduction by Brian Aldiss
You Can’t Impose Civilization by Force by Brian Aldiss (non-fiction)
“Escape to Chaos” by John D. MacDonald (Super Science Stories, June 1951)
“Concealment” by A. E. van Vogt (Astounding Science-Fiction, September 1943)
“To Civilize” by Algis Budrys (Future Science Fiction, January 1954)
“Beep” by James Blish (Galaxy Science Fiction, February 1954)
The Other End of the Stick, by Brian W. Aldiss (non-fiction)
“Down the River” by Mack Reynolds (Startling Stories, September 1950)
“The Bounty Hunter” by Avram Davidson (Fantastic Universe, March 1958)
“Not Yet the End” by Fredric Brown (Captain Future, Winter 1941)
All Things Are Cyclic, Brian Aldiss (non-fiction)
“Tonight the Stars Revolt!” by Gardner F. Fox (Planet Stories, March 1952)
“Final Encounter” by Harry Harrison (Galaxy Magazine, April 1964)
Big Ancestors and Great Descendants, by Brian Aldiss (non-fiction)
“Lord of a Thousand Suns” by Poul Anderson (Planet Stories, September 1951)
“Big Ancestor” by F. L. Wallace (Galaxy Science Fiction, November 1954)
“The Interlopers” by Roger Dee (Astounding Science Fiction, September 1954)
“Epilogue,” by Olaf Stapledon (excerpt from Star Maker, 1937)
I know I have probably read many of these stories back in the day but I can’t remember anything about them other than Foundation by Asimov which I didn’t like. I have read other anthologies edited by Aldiss and he has pretty good taste. These are probably worth checking out.
Steve, I have no idea why I (and John O’Neill) waited decades to read these anthologies. Excellent stories!
They are, Steve, even with Aldiss’s slightly antic sense of what to include (or because of that!)…I read these back in the ’70s, and it’s a nice reminder.
Thanks for reaching into your back shelves, and it’s been too long since I made a regular stop at Black Gate…a better New Year for us all!
It doesn’t hurt, how many of Aldiss’s selections are from favorite writers of mine…Davidson, St. Clair, Lafferty, McDonald, Budrys, Reynolds, Brown and others…
Todd, Aldiss certainly featured an array of Name Writers in his selections. I wish Aldiss did a third volume…
Todd, Happy New Year to you, too! I love going to BLACKGATE.COM when John O’Neill makes one of his big paperback SF buys!
Sounds like a good collection, as it did when I read the Black Gate post too.
Happy New Year to all here! Stay safe.
Jeff, Happy New Year to you and Jackie! Patrick made it to Houston and Katie made it back to Boston last night. But flying today is a risky proposition.
I, too, have read most of these stories. Like you, George, these volumes have been buried on Mount TBR for years;; time to dig them out. Aldiss was one of the more thoughtful writers-editors-critics in the field.
Let me add my wish for the happiest of New Years for your, your family, and for the readers of this blog. May 2020 see the end of Covid and the beginning of prosperity. May it be a year of health, purpose, and achievement. And may good books, films, songs, plays, food, and friends keep a-comin’.
Jerry, thanks for those kind sentiments! I hope for the best for you and your family in 2022, too! But, something tells me we should buckle our seat belts!
Most of these authors are among my favourites.
I read many of these stories in the 60s – in German translation of course.
In the 70s I started collecting the magazines on my regular trips to London. The famous Fatasy Centre had many of them – fond memories!
And I also went to all the London markets to look for magazines and any other SF books – from Portobello Road to Camden Lock and Pettycoat Lane to Covent Garden.
A Happy New Year to everybody!
I keep meaning to read some of Aldis’s fiction. I’ve read some of his commentaries and he seems to have a smart take on the genre and its history. His remembrances of working on several aborted projects with Stanley Kubrick (one a “Star Wars” rip-off, the other an “E.T.” rip-off that would later evolve into “A.I.”) are especially revealing. He confirms the stories by other Kubrick collaborators that the man was notorious for trying to cheat his writers out of their fair pay and that he brought little to the table in the way of ideas. Kubrick was notorious for not knowing what he wanted, only what he didn’t want and expected everyone he hired to be an inexhaustible well of great ideas.
Byron, I’ve heard stories about Kubrick, too. Not a nice man.
You’re lucky to have these, George, and they look to be in great shape! They’re hard to find and expensive now. If I had to choose, I’d be volume 1. I could do without the non-fiction pieces, but that’s how Aldis did it. Good final FFB of the year, George, and – starting tomorrow – happy new year. Hope 22 will be good to all of us.
Rick, if I come across some copies of GALACTIC EMPIRES, I’ll send them to you.
Aldiss also was a quite prolific writer – here’s a list of his books:
0ALDISS BRIAN
The first digit is a code:
1 Novel
2 Short story collection
5 anthology edited by him
7 Non SF
9 Books I haven’t got but heard about
1THE HAND-REARED BOY (AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL NOVEL 1)
1A RUDE AWAKENING (AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL NOVEL 3)
1A SOLDIER ERECT (AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL NOVEL 2)
1BAREFOOT IN THE HEAD
1BROTHERS OF THE HEAD
1CRACKEN AT CRITICAL
1CRYPTOZOIC = AN AGE = KRYPTOZOIKUM
1THE DARK LIGHTYEARS = DIE DUNKLEN LICHTJAHRE
1DRACULA UNBOUND (SIGNED HARDCOVER)
1EARTHWORKS = TOD IM STAUB
1THE EIGHTY-MINUTE-HOUR = DIE ACHTZIG-MINUTEN-STUNDE
1ENEMIES OF THE SYSTEM
1EQUATOR = VANGUARD FROM ALPHA = FEINDE AUS DEM KOSMOS
1FRANKENSTEIN UNBOUND = DER ENTFESSELTE FRANKENSTEIN
1GALAXIES LIKE GRAINS OF SAND = DAS ENDE ALLER TAGE
1GREYBEARD = AUFSTAND DER ALTEN
1HELLICONIA SPRING = HELLICONIA FRUEHJAHR
1HELLICONIA SUMMER
1HELLICONIA WINTER
1HOTHOUSE=THE LONG AFTERNOON OF EARTH(EXPANDED) = AM VORABEND DER EWIGKEIT
1THE INTERPRETER = BOW DOWN TO NUL = UNTERDRUECKER DER ERDE
1AN ISLAND CALLED MOREAU = DR. MOREAUS NEUE INSEL
1LIFE IN THE WEST (NO SF)
1THE MALACIA TAPESTRY = DER MALACIA-GOBELIN
1THE MALE RESPONSE (NO SF)
1NON-STOP = STARSHIP = FAHRT OHNE ENDE
1THE PRIMAL URGE
1REPORT ON PROBABILITY A = REPORT UEBER PROBABILITAET A
1SCIENCE FICTION BLUES
1STARSWARM = DER STERNENSCHWARM
1WHITE MARS * ROGER PENROSE !!
3A TUPOLEV TOO FAR
3THE AIRS OF EARTH
3THE BOOK OF BRIAN ALDISS
3THE CANOPY OF TIME
3THE COSMIC INFERNO
3INTANGIBLES INC. = NEANDERTHAL PLANET ? = DIE NEUEN NEANDERTALER
3LAST ORDERS = DIE LETZTE RUNDE UND ANDERE SF-GESCHICHTEN
3MAN IN HIS TIME = THE BEST SF-STORIES OF B ALDISS
3THE MOMENT OF ECLIPSE = DER MOMENT DER EKLIPSE
3NEW ARRIVALS, OLD ENCOUNTERS
3NO TIME LIKE TOMORROW
3THE SALIVA TREE
3SEASONS IN FLIGHT
3THE SHAPE OF FUTURE THINGS
3SPACE TIME AND NATHANIEL = RAUM, ZEIT UND NATHANIEL
5FAREWELL FANTASTIC VENUS * HARRY HARRISON
5GALACTIC EMPIRES 1
5GALACTIC EMPIRES 2
5MORE PENGUIN SF = PENGUIN SF OMNIBUS 2
5PENGUIN SF = PENGUIN SF OMNIBUS 1
5PENGUIN SF OMNIBUS
5PERILOUS PLANETS
5YET MORE PENGUIN SF = PENGUIN SF OMNIBUS 3
7THE BILLION YEAR SPREE (SF HISTORY) = DER MILLIONEN-JAHRE-TRAUM
7BURY MY HEART AT W H SMITH`S
7HELL’S CARTOGRAPHERS * HARRY HARRISON
7SCIENCE FICTION ART : THE FANTASIES OF SF (BILDBAND)
7THE TRILLION YEAR SPREE
9A ROMANCE OF THE EQUATOR
9AND THE LURID GLARE OF THE COMET (NON FICTION)
9THE BRIGHTFOUND DIARIES
9FORGOTTEN LIFE (NEW NOVEL IN 88, NO SF)
9RUINS (NO SF)
9THE SECRET OF THIS BOOK (90S STORIES)
9WHO CAN REPLACE A MAN (STORIES) ?
9THE YEAR BEFORE YESTERDAY
9SUPERTOYS LAST ALL SUMMER LONG (COLLECTION)
Wolf: FORGOTTEN LIFE is the second book in Aldiss’s four-volume non-SF series THE SQUIRE QUARTET. The books are (in order) LIFE IN THE WEST (1980), FORGOTTEN LIFE (1988), REMEMBRANCE DAY (1993), and SOMEWHERE EAST OF LIFE (1994). I have read the first and hope to get to the rest in 2022. Books 2, 3, & 4 are available to read online at Internet Archive.
Best wishes to you and yours for a great 2022!
Jerry, thanks and the same to you and all the others!
We just moved into the new year – lots of fireworks here in Hungary (in Germany they are essentially forbidden) and now I have to tell my cat that it’s over …
Wolf, Buffalo has a Ball Drop on New Year’s Eve, but once you’ve seen one Ball Drop, you’ve seen them all!
Jerry, I’m reluctant to admit this but I still have HELLICONIA SPRING, SUMMER, and WINTER to read. Definitely in 2022!
Wolf, nice list!
George — I’m late to the party, but I know you’ll see this, anyway. You wish there were more volumes of these. Do you have the rest of them? Space Opera, Space Odysseys, Evil Earths, Perilous Planets.
And I don’t know why Rick thinks these are hard to come by and expensive. There’s lots of under $10 copies floating around.
Jeff, I own SPACE OPERA, SPACE ODYSSEYS, and EVIL EARTHS. I have PERILOUS PLANETS on order.
Fond memories of reading these in the 1970s from SFBC.
Looking over the contents now, I still remember some of the stories, have completely forgotten others, and was surprised that this collection was probably the first place I encountered many authors.
Definitely worthy of an A grade.
Donna, GALACTIC EMPIRES contains a lot great stories. As I mentioned, I’ve had GALACTIC EMPIRES on my shelf for decades. I finally got around to reading it!
Similarly for me…though I believe I found my copies (of the SFBC editions) at a library sale, or the Honolulu secondhand store Froggy’s….
For a few of the writers, anyway.
Of those, I have SPACE OPERA. I should probably look into the others….and make sure my copies are still intact…Alice in background wonders when I might ask Temple U’s fantastica collection if they need some more fodder…