From really good literature (Greene) to a really good story, with lots of science thrown in to boot. I read Fred Hoyle's The Black Cloud way back in 1976, during third form at Ysgol Glan-Y-Mor in Pwllheli, in company with a couple of friends (Howard Hughes & Andrew Harangozo). As I recall, we were enthralled by the story - it was, for us, real sci-fi; plenty of science, no fantasy elements.
In the years that followed I read most of what Sir Fred wrote - both on his own and in collaboration with his son, Geoffrey (I mean I read his sci-fi books, not his astronomy papers).
For anyone interested in a plot summary, click here.
I'd love to get hold of a copy just to re-read what first opened my eyes to a new genre of writing (new to me, I mean).
4 comments:
I never knew Hoyle wrote fiction; nor that you read SF!
I don't know if I'll be getting a copy (I read little SF these days anyway), but as a window on an era of fiction, this is interesting. The article you link to refers to Hoyle's sideswipe at Big Bang theory.
So what other SF did you read? Or are there surprises coming up on the list?
I can't give away anything in relation to this list, but during my mid-teens sci-fi was the mainstay of my reading. I used to spend hours down the local library, trawling through their collection of Gollancz yellow-jacketed hardback SF books - which would have included the likes of Clarke, Asimov, Aldiss, Heinlein, le Guin, Bradbury, Pohl, Silverburg et al. I didn't necessarily read lots of complete novels (a good number, though) but spend hours browsing and enjoying reading chunks.
I probably also read snippets by Dick, 'Doc' Smith and others, too - the list seemed to be endless and the range impressive. There was one guy I can't remember now whose surname may have begun with a 'C' - I seem to remember more than Clarke being in the 'C' section of the library.
It's a long time ago now!
Just remembered another: Theodore Sturgeon - mainly his 'More Than Human'.
(I ought to say that I wasn't connecting all those authors to Gollancz, although I couldn't tell you which were 'in the yellow' and which weren't....)
I associate yellow Gollancz with detective fiction - Ellory Queen was Gollancz
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