BILLW%SRI-KL@sri-unix.UUCP (01/16/84)
Since I am a fan of John Brunner, and since I happen to have my collection of Brunner books here in my office, I guess Ill take a shot at doing an overall reveiw. Ill say right off the bat that I haven't read "Crucible of Time" yet. I just dont buy harcopy books unless they are REALLY good. Our local library has it in their new book section, so I might get to it in a couple of days. [I was planning on doing this before the last WorldCon, since Brunner was the guest of honor, but I never got around to it.] Anyway: John Brunner is a professional writer. He is not, and has never been any kind of scientist. Thus many of his books are full of scientific flaws, although he is largely able to get around this by not pretending to put hard science in his stories. This also means that even his worst books are pretty well written. Brunner is at his absolute dealing with people and their reaction to science or technology or whatever. The absolute best Brunner deals with situations easilly predicted from the present, and that effect large range of people, so that he can go in and show how different types of people will react to the given stress. Brunner writes very effective and powerful images of human emotions. Second best Brunner is the ability to invent an alien (though possibly human) culture, and either show it by itself or contrast it with a nearby human culture. Even the more mundane books frequently have a liberal sprinkling of made-up words and currently non-existant fads that seem quite plausible. John Brunner also is something of an experimenter. It seems that every once in a while hell decide that he would like to try and write an SF novel based on some obscure piece of history, a less popular field of science, a chess game, or some such. These are occasionally interesting, occasionally boring, and occasionally totally unintelligible. There is also an occasional Brunner novel that seems to have been written so that he can eat. Here's a list of my collection of Brunner books, with short blurbs. These are in decreasing order of overall quality. ------------------------------------------------------------------ The Shockwave Rider. An absolute classic computer/sf novel. No one working in the computer field should miss reading this book. Basically, the US is connected by a datanet that is used for everything, giving people so much freedom that they are terrified to be free. The main character has dropped out of the system by making himself a computer "tape worm" that allows him to change identities at will. Also extrapolations of Government incompetence, think tanks, "thats incredible", and the great bay quake of 85. I even bought a hardcover copy of this one! The Sheep Look Up. Basically an extrapolation of the unchecked environmental pollution occuring durring the middle-late 60's. Written in a sort of collage style interspersing several veiwpoints and sub-plots. A depressing book full of individual triumphs helpless agains overall doom. Also more Goverment stupidity. Stand on Zanzibar. In the same way the previous book is based on pollution, SoZ is an extrapolation of unchecked population growth, with its attendent pressures on the individual members. Also contains a possibly sentient computer, and a wealth of invented words. Also collaged (even the table of contents is scrambled!). Not quite as depressing as tSLU. The Jagged Orbit. An extrapolation of racial paranoia and "the right to bear arms", in a near future where an individual can purchase weapons sufficient to raise a city block. This book also contains one of the all-time greatest computer error messages. It even has an upbeat ending, more or less. [the above books are grouped together, having generally equivilant quality, tone, and style. I suggest everyone read all of them.] The Whole Man. The worlds most powerful telepath was malformed at birth. Can he still succeed in curing psychological problems in others (which is what telepaths DO, of course)? The main character here is particurally vividly portrayed. The Stone That Never Came Down. How to save the world, given a drug that increases human intelligence. The Long Result. The sociological impications of star travel, and most especially, what will happen when one of the colonies passes earth in technological development. Also Aliens. The Inifinitive of Go. A newly invented matter transmitter has an unexpected flaw: the universe you land in is indeterminant. Polymath. Social implications of a shipwrecked colony spacecraft. Whether to stay, or try and repair the craft and leave. [A polymath is a sort of expert in everything, able to gather and quickly integrate data pertinent to many different fields of science. This sort of person is a recurring character in many Brunner novels, both after people are trained for such positions, and earlier in history when they sort of occur by accident.] Total Eclipse. Based on archeology! A distant planet is found to have the remnants of an advanced technology. Can earth scientists find out what happened to them in time to save earth from the same fate? Another depressing book. The Stardroppers. A strange device allows people to hear funny noises that they beleive are comming from the stars. You can buy one at your local hi-fi shop, but some of the people who have been listening have started to vanish! Players at the Game of People. Someone or something is providing selected individuals with the means to do whatever they want, and live in impossible luxury. The question is who, and why? This book went to a lot of trouble to create a conflict and a fascinating scenario, and then it just sort of stopped, which I found very annoying! Catch a Falling Star. A sort of quest novel. Far future earth has forgotten its science, and is indifferent to possible aproaching doom in the form of an approaching star. Except for the hero, who attempts to travel to a mountain told of in legends, which may be able to save the world. The Squares of the City. Based on traffic engineering and a chess game! Two latin-american power groups play a deadly game with people for pieces, and our hero is a knight who isnt to happy with the way things are going. Born Under Mars. If you were born in the martian colony, you might have a different outlook on the world... Age of Miracles. Earth has been made into a sort of switching point for an alien travel system. The surviving humans too insignificant to notice... TimeScoop. Do you think you could think of something better to do with a time machine than bring foward a bunch of your relatives for a big party? Well, it isn't clear that the main character can. Bedlam Planet. What should of been a successful colony is suffering from scurvy because a local bacterium is stealing vitamin C before the humans can use it. Should/can the colonists stay and fight the problem, or should the give up and go home, or maybe something else. Web of Everywhere. Social implications of transport booths. Invasion of privacy is the ultimate crime, for example. The Dramaturges of Yan. A planet with incomprehensible relics, and an apathetic local population. What does it mean? Also celestial art. Times Without Number. Sort of a standard time patrol novel. The present has the decendents of the spanish empire in control. Manshape. Why would a world refuse the Bridge, which links together humanity spread across dozens of planets? Double,Double. A monster from the sea that can take the form of creatures that it happens to eat. It could have been a grade B movie! The Avengers of Carrig. A non-interference policy is one thing, but how is it enforced? It isnt easy to expunge a would be king with high technology without interferring even more. More Things in Heaven. Strange monsters are appearing in the sky, and the crew of a starship that hasn't returned yet is seen on earth! This is essentially a first contact story. Meeting at infinity. Poorly understood alien technology can save lives, but it can also have some unexpected side effects. The Productions of Time. A group of actors and associated professionals seem to be expected to preform more than just a play for some unseen spectators, and unknown reasons. Into the Slave Nebula. Earth is prosperous and decadant, mut the murder of an android pushes the protagonist into instersellar intruige. Based on a sort of arguable premise. There's also "The World Swappers", and "Quicksand", but I don't even remember what either is about. Most of these books are rather old, although some seem to be being re-released in the US currently. Enjoy BillW
DBarker@HIS-PHOENIX-MULTICS.ARPA (01/20/84)
Off the top of my head (further info when I can check my extensive
library of Brunner at home) if you like the "eco" Brunners - and I agree
that the trilogy you mentioned is probably his best work, then you'll
also like "The Jagged Orbit" and "The Wrong End of Time", both of which
are set in the nearish future, and probably also "The Infinitive of Go",
which has some nice paranoid aspects particularly appropriate in this
year.
Deryk Barker.