Querying the nature of the universe in Earth’s oceans

In Mexico, an egomaniacal astronomer is using a remote radio telescope to question accepted theories about the universe. In Japan, a young boy is handed over to the American embassy, apparently possessing the mind of a missing cosmonaut. Meanwhile in an obscure corner of the Soviet Union, great strides are being made in understanding a unique form of computation. All of these events are somehow linked to one enigmatic species: Physeter macrocephalus, the sperm whale.

Originally published by Gollancz in 1975, The Jonah Kit is the second science fiction novel by British writer Ian Watson. Like his debut The Embedding (1973), this is emphatically a novel of ideas, packed with challenging notions about cosmology, intelligence, communication, belief, and meaning. It is also panoramic in focus, with settings in the mountains of Mexico, Tokyo, Sakhalin Island in the Soviet far east, San Diego, and the ocean depths. It examines the perspectives of a self-obsessed scientist, a US government functionary, and even a young male sperm whale.

Winner of the BSFA Award for Best Novel, The Jonah Kit is another bracing exploration of ideas by Watson, peopled by deeply flawed characters who struggle, for better or worse, for great truths about the universe.

A warm, backwoods novel about striving for galactic cooperation

Clifford D. Simak (1904 - 1988) is widely credited as the pioneer of what has been called pastoral science fiction. His stories and novels are frequently set in variations on rural south-west Wisconsin, where he was born in 1904. In Simak’s work, the nostalgic peace of these backwoods locales is disrupted by alien intrusions. Way Station is a classic of this type, in which a lone man in the back of beyond has the fate of the galaxy resting on his shoulders. A landmark in Simak’s career, it won the 1964 Hugo Award for Best Novel.

First serialised in Galaxy magazine in the summer of 1963, under the editorship of Frederik Pohl, the novel focuses on Enoch Wallace, a veteran of the American Civil War. After meeting an alien visitor to Earth, he is entrusted with the running of a stopover point on the galactic highways. Wallace becomes poised between worlds - while he befriends strange aliens, he himself becomes estranged from the rest of the human race at a time when a new and devastating war seems imminent.

While at times it risks becoming overstuffed with plot and incident, Way Station is equally full of Simak’s trademark warmth. It is jointly concerned with down-to-Earth, homespun values and a sense of wonder at the scale and dynamism of a lively galaxy. One of Simak’s best-known books, Way Station expresses a sincere hope for peace and brotherhood, both on Earth and among the stars.

SF toolkit essentials, from the novum to the slingshot ending

Since science fiction emerged as a distinct genre in the first half of the 20th century, a large body of scholarship has built up around it. Exploring classic SF does not mean having to read academic papers, though - using the Science Fiction Encyclopedia (SFE) is a way to better appreciate the genre's history, techniques, and the development of its overarching structure, the so-called “megatext”. 

If we think of science fiction as a destination, then the SFE is the most valuable travel guide you could have. While a guide is not essential, the SFE offers some tips that can enhance your understanding and enjoyment.

What follows is a brief introduction - leaning heavily on the SFE and on the critic Darko Suvin - to five useful concepts in SF analysis: the novum, cognitive estrangement, the sense of wonder, conceptual breakthrough, and the slingshot ending. Each one is illustrated with examples from novels mostly previously covered on this site. Some of the terms may be familiar, others less so, and they are far from comprehensive. Think of these as suggested starting points for a deeper exploration of SF and its unique territory.

Something is unreal in small-town America

Written as an attempt to escape the treadmill of poorly-paid genre science fiction work, Time Out of Joint (1959) heralds Philip K. Dick’s growing preoccupation with unreal and deceptive worlds. It straddles aspects of his attempts at mainstream fiction, and the formula SF he was then pumping out for Ace Books. While unsuccessful on publication - with the strapline “a novel of menace” - Time Out of Joint can be seen retrospectively as a “bridge novel”, a step in Dick’s ascent to SF immortality.

While it eventually devolves into a thinly-described and routine genre SF scenario, the earlier parts of Time Out of Joint explore a uniquely deceptive environment. Opening in a small-town 1950s situation that is soon revealed to be an elaborate illusion, the novel addresses themes of nostalgia, paranoia, and the desire to explore, develop, and grow independently.

Scrambling for hope in a bleak near-future Morocco

Nekropolis (2001) is the fourth - and to date, final - novel by the American writer Maureen F. McHugh. Like her much better known debut China Mountain Zhang (1992), this is what could be termed “mundane” science fiction. McHugh’s characters live in an oppressive near-future scenario, but are powerless to change it - the best they can hope for is to live the best life they can.

Set in an alternate future Morocco, Nekropolis focuses on Hariba, a young woman modified for obedience to a contract owner. She begins to view the world differently upon meeting Akhmim, a synthetic human also condemned to a life of service. They long for a life of freedom, and to be together - but learn that these goals may be incompatible. 

A flawed but intriguing novel on the borderline between SF and realist fiction, Nekropolis is about control and agency, hope, and the costs of pursuing personal freedom in an autocratic society.

A soulful sequel to The Soul of the Robot (1974)

Sequels are an entrenched feature of contemporary science fiction. For publishers, the commercial appeal of sequels and planned trilogies is evident. It can be argued quite persuasively, though, that SF is at its best in the form of the one-off story or novel. Today’s writers must square this circle, and look for ways to extract thematic and narrative interest out of the continuations their publishers - and perhaps readers - are liable to want.

When Barrington J. Bayley was at his peak in the 1970s, it was instead the singleton novel that was strongly dominant. It was not until 1985 that Bayley published his first, last, and only sequel - The Rod of Light. A belated continuation of probably his best-known novel, The Soul of the Robot (1974), it again follows the adventures of Jasperodus, the only truly conscious robot in a neo-feudal era in which small states squabble in the long aftermath of a collapsed global empire.

Perhaps surprisingly, in The Rod of Light Bayley finds a way to extend his contemplation of the theme of consciousness - where it comes from, what value it has, and what lengths an intelligent but unconscious being would go to in order to acquire it.

A clash of the deep past and the near future

In the deep past, before the ascendancy of homo sapiens, a nameless young boy sets out on a rite of passage. He hunts a formidable bear - a dangerous quest which if successful will secure for him the bear’s powerful spirit, access to adulthood, and a name of his own. When the boy reaches the great creature, ready to do battle, both are enveloped in a strange, shimmering mist. The young Neanderthal believes they have crossed into the spirit world - but boy and beast have been transported hundreds of thousands of years into their future.

The Shadow Hunter is the debut novel by the American writer Pat Murphy. It was “obscurely published” in 1982 by Popular Library in the US, at that time winding down ahead of a three-year hiatus in new releases. In 1988, it was belatedly published in the UK by the then-recently established company Headline. This publication history did not help The Shadow Hunter receive the praise it deserves. This is a heartfelt, skilful novel of a clash between cultures, set in a vestige of nature in an over-exploited world.

Confinement and culture shock in a hyper-urban world

Robert Silverberg’s reflections on the sexual revolution, the ‘60s drug culture, and urbanisation are combined in his book The World Inside (1971). An assembly of six previously published stories, it is - like Keith Roberts’ Pavane (1968) - arguably a collection rather than a novel. 

Set in 2381, the stories each explore a future in which the world is rigidly bifurcated into two co-dependent societies. The World Inside focuses largely on the urban monads or “urbmons”, immense skyscrapers three kilometres tall and each home to 800,000 people - each one “a needle sticking into god’s eye”. Much of the rest of the world is dedicated to farmland, where a much smaller community produces the food for the vast and growing population of the vertical cities.

A product of Silverberg's prolific peak period, The World Inside is a broadly bleak look at life inside a pressure cooker of incredible population density, and a society closed off from past and future alike.

A personal struggle with cosmic consequences 

For John Breton, it is an ordinary evening - he is drinking heavily, bickering with his wife Kate, and being bored by her friends who are over for a visit. Then, he gets a disconcerting phone call which puts him on edge. Later, he receives a disturbing and seemingly impossible visitor at the house - an exact duplicate of himself, an intruder from another timeline with dark plans on his mind.

The Two-Timers (1968) is the second novel by Northern Irish writer Bob Shaw. It was originally published in the US as part of the first series of Ace Science Fiction Specials, edited by Terry Carr. A year later, it was published as a UK hardcover by Gollancz. In contrast with Shaw’s first novel Night Walk (1967), his second effort has a much more grounded setting in 1981 Montana, and a focus on a fragmenting marriage. But what begins as a domestic drama gradually morphs into a threat to the integrity of the universe itself. 

Centred believably on a decaying relationship, The Two-Timers also deals intriguing with time travel, human frailty, and loss.

Coming of age on a hollowed-out asteroid

In 1969, competition for the Nebula Award for Best Novel was fierce. Nominees included Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Joanna Russ’ Picnic on Paradise, and John Brunner’s formidable Stand on Zanzibar - which won the equivalent Hugo Award that year. But the winning novel was by a much less familiar writer. Rite of Passage is the first novel by Alexei Panshin (1940 - 2022), better known as a prominent scholar and critic of SF. 

Set in 2198, this is a coming of age story in a science fiction setting, specifically an unusual treatment of the generation ship theme. The protagonist is Mia Havero, a young girl who must undergo a gruelling challenge on an underdeveloped colony world to prove herself an adult and a citizen. The novel explores the changing perceptions that come with growing up, the nature of life on a starship which is home to 30,000 people, and the topics of colonisation, exploitation, and justice.

Much admired at the time for Panshin’s believable portrayal of a changing teenage girl, Rite of Passage has strong contemporary relevance in its examination of what the wealthy few owe the struggling many.