tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2728909293998777391.post3096027150695141305..comments2024-03-29T06:02:15.882-07:00Comments on Jerry's House of Everything: FORGOTTEN BOOK: THE PRIMAL URGEJerry Househttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09482856733981933159noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2728909293998777391.post-72563378731554421182016-03-18T10:44:54.505-07:002016-03-18T10:44:54.505-07:00Aldis wrote some Very Odd things, and for me they ...Aldis wrote some Very Odd things, and for me they were a bit hard to wade through, regardless of brillance.Rick Robinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07978136287154214297noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2728909293998777391.post-24494254150538992462016-03-18T10:06:55.136-07:002016-03-18T10:06:55.136-07:00Brian Aldiss is an underrated SF writer. I prefer...Brian Aldiss is an underrated SF writer. I prefer his short fiction to his novels.Georgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04546161337366365635noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2728909293998777391.post-70492283968443301062016-03-18T06:54:12.179-07:002016-03-18T06:54:12.179-07:00Aldiss, like a number of other (particularly) Brit...Aldiss, like a number of other (particularly) British sf writers, always seems to have enjoyed the challenge of taking a fairly ridiculous speculative notion, such as these implants, and building the most convincing story around it he could. I haven't read this one yet, but have in a vague way been meaning to for years. <br /><br />I think it should be noted that such work as THE BRIGHTFOUNT DIARIES and A HAND-REARED BOY also gained Aldiss a readership beyond and along with speculative fiction audiences...and the first was his first novel. <br /><br />Also, I'll disagree to a small extent that SF HORIZONS, edited and published by Aldiss and Harrison, was the first sf critical magazine, though it was one of the best-presented so far; Damon Knight and Lester Del Rey's SCIENCE FICTION FORUM preceded it (and likewise only lasted two issues, well before the SFWA began and revived the title), and such fairly elaborate magazines as SAFARI and INSIDE SCIENCE FICTION (which became RIVERSIDE QUARTERLY), even though they were fanzines of serious purpose and some handsome appearance, also rolled in earlier. I suspect that SKYHOOK, like early issues of INSIDE, was more like the typical fanzine in appearance, even if, like Damon Knight's early SNIDE or Fritz Leiber's NEW PURPOSES, they included fairly sophisticated attempts at critical approach.Todd Masonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01815516018079824802noreply@blogger.com