futurerevisited.bsky.social
Revisiting a love of page-turning SF last enjoyed several decades ago… and so now in the process of discovering many fine books for the very first time. 📚
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Will need to revisit HHGG myself someday. According to various cover blurbs, Adams was certainly fond of Sheckley’s work, although opinions do seem to differ on whether he’d read this prior to penning Hitchhikers’. Either way, both are enjoyable 🙂
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Well worth a visit - brief but nicely constructed. I can see how this would have met the brief of New Worlds’ increasing focus on ‘inner’ rather than outer space 🙂
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Excellent - will look out for that one 👍
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Yes, nothing to really complain about - and I’ve certainly rediscovered a love of curling up with a good book (quite a backlog which is probably going to keep me entertained through to retirement 😀)
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Thanks Vaughan - and good to hear from you - hope all is well 👍
Yes, I can’t believe it’s taken me so long to ‘discover’ Keith Roberts! Looking forward immensely to working my way through his output (some of which is OOP of course, but there’s a few ‘print on demand’ releases that are accessible).
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Fine writer - yet to read any of his short stories (something to rectify) but enjoyed ‘Immortality Inc.’ a great deal. Coincidentally, my most recent acquisition was his 1968 novel ‘Dimension of Miracles’.
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Ah yes, I did wonder about that - looking at his other work it seemed to stand somewhat apart from his usual themes and storylines. I vaguely recall reading ‘Neutron Star’, but that was a long time ago! (late 70s in fact).
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One that’s definitely on my list to read in the very near future (next few months anyway). Although I didn’t intend reading Robert’s work in order, as chance would have it I currently have ‘The Furies’ on order - so it’s probably going to be the first cab off the rank as they say.
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Ooh, could that be Albert Gaits Booksellers in the centre background? Can’t quite make out the signage. I recall it was on the corner - facing Marks and Spencer (which as far as I know is still there).
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Only caught up with his myself recently - a very engaging ‘hit the ground running’ type of read. I was surprised to learn that some of my favourite sections (when Mandela first returns to Earth) weren’t included in the book’s initial publication.
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Strong memories tooof watching the original broadcast and then a repeat showing in 1980 - the latter is particularly vivid as I recorded the audio of the TV (yes, on a ‘push to record’ cassette player 🙂). Sections of interview dialogue were duly ingrained over the years!
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Wonderfully put! 🙂👍
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I recently acquired this fine little tome and it’s proving to be one of the best purchases this year. Sampled quite a few stories so far - all them immensely engaging.
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Yes, it went down a path I hadn’t foreseen - quite nihilistic in some respects, albeit tinged with some wonderful black humour.
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Quite a few I haven’t read there, but would definitely concur with the Shirley Jackson, Le Guin & Zelazny picks 👍
I misread that last entry as ‘The Last Seance’ by Agatha Christie, which I’m also particularly fond of - hadn’t expected anything quite so dark and ambiguous at the end 🙂
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Fine Robert Holmes script. I recall missing this one during the UK Gold rerun in the mid-nineties - managed to get a ‘fuzzy’ VHS copy down the track, as I thought at the time it would never see an official release or even another repeat broadcast. Ah, my naive younger self 🙂
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Only caught up with his myself a couple of months ago - yes, a very engaging ‘hit the ground running’ type of read. Ironically, some of my favourite sections were those that weren’t included in one of the initial book publications!
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Still have a copy of his short story collection ‘The Ilusionist’ - a completely random survivor from multiple house moves and culls over the decades - it quietly sits here on the shelves (sans dust jacket) waiting to be picked up again 🙂
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Yes, I guess he’s certainly made his mark over the intervening years! 🙂
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Yes, very fond of that cover too - I thought originally it was late 60s but the edition is dated 1963. Publisher is a little known one to me - John Murray Paperbacks (then based in Abermarle St in London)
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“And what actually have you found so far?” 🙂
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Nice review - and I smiled at those opening lines, which pretty much matches my own reaction when I finally embark on a novel I’ve sadly neglected or simply overlooked for years 🙂
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Thank you 👍
Yes, I’m intrigued to know the degree to which fix-ups applied to other genres too (albeit perhaps not to the same extent). I was quite taken with Brian Aldiss’ ‘Hothouse’ in this respect as the chapter division doesn’t necessarily demarcate where each individual story started/finished.
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Astonishing novel (I came to this rather late in the day) and I’m keen to track down this original shorter piece.
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Oh, I see what you mean - yes, likewise 2nd hand copies very thin on the ground here too!
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Absolutely! That opening chapter certainly hits the ground running and sets the precedent.
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I didn’t think his key SF works were still in print, but certainly ‘Camp Concentration’ and ‘334’ were also released by Vintage Books in the States. Doesn’t look like ‘Echo around his Bones’ or his short story volumes have been reprinted recently though.
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I recall his ‘The End of the Party’ as a rather effective and unsettling short story too (included in an anthology of horror stories published by Faber & Faber in the 60s)
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Thank you - much appreciated.
Camp Concentration was one that I read many years ago - I’m keen to track this down again though. And yes, Brave Little Toaster would certainly make for a stark comparison! 😀
Fabulous writer.
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Ah, definitely some shared DNA there 🙂
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That’s an excellent find.
My own three were picked up from a series of 2nd hand shops in the mid-nineties. They seemed in ‘fair’ condition at the time, but the browning/foxing of a further three decades has certainly lent them a additional musty charm 😀
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Yes, I enjoyed listening to this one - and it was the point at which I realised ‘My Name is Legion’ was a collection of novellas, of which ‘Hangman formed a part 👍
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Yes, somewhat worse for wear I admit….
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My most cherished early Penguin paperbacks too 👍