Showing results by publisher "Andy Johnson" in All Categories
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#113 A pair of Aces: The Atlantic Abomination (1960) and Sanctuary in the Sky (1960) by John Brunner
- Length: 10 mins
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John Brunner was a startlingly prolific British writer of science fiction, whose reputation rests on four acclaimed books he published from the late 1960s to the mid 1970s. However, earlier in his career he wrote many SF adventures which while less ambitious, are a rich source of pulp excitement.This episode focuses on two of these many novels. The Atlantic Abomination and Sanctuary in the Sky were both published in 1960 by Ace Books. They represent only half the novels Brunner published that year through the same US publisher. Listen on for a brisk look at these two fast-paced books, ...
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#110 Outside context problem: Excession (1996) by Iain M. Banks
- Length: 8 mins
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Winner of the BSFA Award for Best Novel, Excession (1996) is the fourth novel in Iain M. Banks ever-popular Culture series of SF novels. In this entry, the awesome power of the post-scarcity Culture civilisation is challenged by two linked threats. One is the increasing aggression of a cruel species, the Affront. The other is the emergence of a vast and mysterious structure, the Excession. On one level a classic "big dumb object" story, Excession explores previously unseen elements of the Culture setting - not least the workings of its super-intelligent AIs. Support the Show.For lots ...
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#110 Outside context problem: Excession (1996) by Iain M. Banks
- 04-17-24
- andyjohnson.xyz
- Length: 8 mins
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#108 Fashion victim: The Garments of Caean (1976) by Barrington J. Bayley
- Length: 9 mins
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The Garments of Caean is a science fiction novel by the British author Barrington J. Bayley (1937 - 2008). It forms a part of his classic run of unusual and energetic books in the mid-1970s, and is included in guide 100 Must-Read Science Fiction Novels. This is a space opera with an odd hook - it is about clothes, specifically an incredible Frachonard suit which gives its wearer remarkable influence over others. This is both an exciting interstellar adventure with comic elements, and an interesting vehicle for sociological speculation about cultural exchange, self-image, and whether the ...
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#108 Fashion victim: The Garments of Caean (1976) by Barrington J. Bayley
- 04-03-24
- andyjohnson.xyz
- Length: 9 mins
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#105 Pulling the trigger: Use of Weapons (1990) by Iain M. Banks
- Length: 11 mins
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Use of Weapons (1990) is the third novel in the Culture series of science fiction novels by the much-missed author Iain M. Banks. Originally drafted in 1974, the book follows the interstellar supersoldier Cheradenine Zakalwe, an efficient agent of the Culture.Combining two interleaved narratives, Use of Weapons tells a complex story about military intervention, violence, responsibility, and guilt. This episode explores what makes this perhaps the best-known and most acclaimed novel in the whole Culture sequence. Support the Show.For lots more writing on classic science fiction, other books,...
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#105 Pulling the trigger: Use of Weapons (1990) by Iain M. Banks
- 02-23-24
- andyjohnson.xyz
- Length: 11 mins
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#104 Finding a place in the future: China Mountain Zhang (1992) by Maureen F. McHugh
- Length: 14 mins
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Maureen F. McHugh published her debut novel China Mountain Zhang in 1992 and it went on to win multiple awards. An impactful social science fiction story, the book is set in a 22nd century world in which China is the dominant superpower. Zhang Zhongshan is a young, gay construction engineer in New York City, trying to make his way in a world where his sexuality could land him in prison, or worse.McHugh's book is an attempt to write what she called an "anti-SF novel". Unlike most of the genre, it has a main character who has little to no ability to change the world around him, let alone to save...
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#104 Finding a place in the future: China Mountain Zhang (1992) by Maureen F. McHugh
- 01-30-24
- andyjohnson.xyz
- Length: 14 mins
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#106 Raising Titans: Imperial Earth (1975) by Arthur C. Clarke
- Length: 14 mins
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Imperial Earth is the second of three novels Arthur C. Clarke published during the 1970s - and of those three, it is the least well-known. The main focus of this episode is to assess this tale of 2276, which takes in the quincentennial of the United States, a technological utopia, and Clarke's coy take on sexuality in science fiction. This episode also includes a bonus - a brief look at the first five novels in Roger Zelazny's popular fantasy series, The Chonicles of Amber. Do these tales of infinite alternate universes stand up to their towering reputation? Support the Show.For lots more ...
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#106 Raising Titans: Imperial Earth (1975) by Arthur C. Clarke
- 03-22-24
- andyjohnson.xyz
- Length: 14 mins
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#112 Empire in time: The Fall of Chronopolis (1974) by Barrington J. Bayley
- Length: 8 mins
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Pure SF pulp, The Fall of Chronopolis (1974) is the fifth novel by British author Barrington J. Bayley. While it superficially resembles a space opera, it is really more of what could be called a "time opera". The Chronotic Empire rules hundreds of years of human history, using powerful time-ships to head off threats from the past and the future. But when officer of the Third Time Fleet, Mond Aton, glimpses the true nature of the "temporal substratum", it begins to change everything...This episode is a brisk look at the novel which Rhys Hughes called "perhaps the ultimate time travel story", ...
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#112 Empire in time: The Fall of Chronopolis (1974) by Barrington J. Bayley
- 05-01-24
- andyjohnson.xyz
- Length: 8 mins
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#93 An enemy of the Culture: Consider Phlebas (1987) by Iain M. Banks
- Length: 9 mins
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This second episode in a series on Iain M. Banks' Culture series of science fiction books covers the first novel, Consider Phlebas (1987). In this subversive take on the space opera, Banks introduces the Culture from the outside - by using as his protagonist the ruthless, shape-changing agent Bora Horza Gobuchul. Expect space pirates, cannibals, a fugitive AI, and a deadly game of "Damage" in the book that helped shape the rest of Banks' career. Support the Show.For lots more writing on classic science fiction, other books, video games, and more check our my site andyjohnson.xyz and follow ...
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#93 An enemy of the Culture: Consider Phlebas (1987) by Iain M. Banks
- 04-25-23
- andyjohnson.xyz
- Length: 9 mins
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#96 Out of time: Behold the Man (1969) by Michael Moorcock
- Length: 6 mins
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In 1966, New Worlds magazine published the story "Behold the Man", by its editor Michael Moorcock. This sacrilegious tale of a man who travels back in time to replace Jesus won Moorcock the Nebula Award for Best Novella. This episode covers the extended 1969 novel version of what may be one of the boldest time travel stories of all. Support the Show.For lots more writing on classic science fiction, other books, video games, and more check our my site andyjohnson.xyz and follow me on Twitter: @andyjohnsonuk
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#96 Out of time: Behold the Man (1969) by Michael Moorcock
- 06-01-23
- andyjohnson.xyz
- Length: 6 mins
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#111 SF’s greatest partnership? Three novels by Frederik Pohl and Cyril M. Kornbluth (1952 - 1959)
- Length: 18 mins
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This special feature episode focuses on three novels written in partnership by Frederik Pohl and Cyril M. Kornbbluth - The Space Merchants (1952), Gladiator-at-Law (1955), and Wolfbane (1959). Each unique in their own way, these three books are classics of the genre in the 1950s. They are the products of a special partnership between two writers who complemented each other perfectly. Significantly, all three books were originally serialised in Galaxy magazine, which at the time was edited by H.L. Gold. In this sense, the three books represent some of the high watermarks of magazine SF in the ...
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#92 Remaking humanity: Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang (1976) by Kate Wilhelm
- Length: 7 mins
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An expansion of her 1974 novella, Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang is Kate Wilhelm's best-known work in the science fiction genre. Winner of three major awards for Best Novel in 1977, it is often called one of the most important SF novels to deal with the issue of cloning. This episode looks at how Wilhelm's scientific shortcomings are compensated for by her philosophical thoughtfulness. Support the Show.For lots more writing on classic science fiction, other books, video games, and more check our my site andyjohnson.xyz and follow me on Twitter: @andyjohnsonuk
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#92 Remaking humanity: Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang (1976) by Kate Wilhelm
- 04-19-23
- andyjohnson.xyz
- Length: 7 mins
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Creativity: Creative Block Solutions to Rebuild Creative Confidence and Productivity
- 2nd Edition
- By: Andy Johnson
- Narrated by: Andrea Erickson
- Length: 1 hr and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Welcome to your seven-day journey to creativity. Have you ever become "blocked" while writing, painting, or taking photographs? Do you want to get your creative juices flowing? This audiobook is broken into seven sections that will guide you through the process of prioritizing creativity in your life.
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Robotic Narration
- By bella donna on 07-09-15
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Creativity: Creative Block Solutions to Rebuild Creative Confidence and Productivity
- 2nd Edition
- Narrated by: Andrea Erickson
- Length: 1 hr and 35 mins
- Release date: 05-29-15
- Language: English
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#109 No brakes: Tau Zero (1970) by Poul Anderson
- Length: 11 mins
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Poul Anderson's Tau Zero, published in 1970, is a landmark of hard SF which pushes out far further, beyond the Milky Way and into the frightening emptiness of intergalactic space. It also deals memorably with time dilation, and a vast spain of eons. Significantly, Anderson does all of this in a scientifically convincing way, with a plot strongly grounded in his understanding of phyics at the time. This episode takes a close look at the novel, and the reasons why it remains a classic of its type over 50 years later. Support the Show.For lots more writing on classic science fiction, other books...
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#109 No brakes: Tau Zero (1970) by Poul Anderson
- 04-10-24
- andyjohnson.xyz
- Length: 11 mins
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#107 Living with the dead: The Falling Woman (1986) by Pat Murphy
- Length: 8 mins
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American fantasy in the 1980s is often associated with big, bloated series of novels steeped in Tolkien and Dungeons and Dragons. The Falling Woman is something very different. It isn't set in some imagined world stuck in the middle ages - the story occurs in contemporary Mexico, in and around an archaelogical dig site. But this is a fantasy novel - in which the dead have a profound effect on the living.This episode takes a look at Pat Murphy's 1986 novel, which won the Nebula Award for Best Novel the following year - beating out authors like Gene Wolfe, David Brin, and Greg Bear. Support the ...
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#107 Living with the dead: The Falling Woman (1986) by Pat Murphy
- 03-27-24
- andyjohnson.xyz
- Length: 8 mins
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#103 A dishonourable discharge? Commandos: Strike Force (2006)
- Length: 13 mins
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In 2006, Spanish developers Pyro Studios had big hopes for the fourth entry in the successful Commandos series. Strike Force was intended to help them break into the World War II shooter market, and onto consoles. Unfortunately, it was a critical and commercial disaster. Strike Force sank the Commandos series, and took Pyro Studios down with it. This episode picks through the wreck, to figure out what went wrong with Pyro's fourth and final Commandos game and see if there is anything worth salvaging. Support the Show.For lots more writing on classic science fiction, other books, ...
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#103 A dishonourable discharge? Commandos: Strike Force (2006)
- 01-05-24
- andyjohnson.xyz
- Length: 13 mins
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#102 A methodical masterpiece - Commandos 2: Men of Courage (2001)
- Length: 13 mins
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In 1998, Madrid-based videogame developers Pyro Studios produced a shock hit with their landmark game Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines. It shifted 900,000 copies, and did particularly well in the UK and Germany. Eventually, it would prove to be the trigger point for a small but uniquely engaging sub-genre of real-time stealth tactics games. These sprang up in the early 2000s, died off, and were then revived in 2016.After the release of the standalone expansion Beyond the Call of Duty in 1999, Pyro’s British publisher, Eidos, were eager to profit from another success. They put their weight ...
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#102 A methodical masterpiece - Commandos 2: Men of Courage (2001)
- 11-07-23
- andyjohnson.xyz
- Length: 13 mins
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#101 Uncontrolled evolution: Blood Music (1985) by Greg Bear
- Length: 8 mins
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American science fiction author Greg Bear, who passed away in 2022, had a major success with his 1985 novel Blood Music. An expansion of his award-winning 1983 short story, the novel is themed around emerging sciences of the 1980s: biotechnology and genetic engineering. Both unsettling and in a way inspiring, the book confronts the massive implications of a new kind of artificial, biological intelligence run amok.In the story, a renegade scientist based in a realistic, contemporary California uses his own lymphocytes to create what he calls “noocytes”, or thinking cells. What begins as an ...
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#101 Uncontrolled evolution: Blood Music (1985) by Greg Bear
- 10-31-23
- andyjohnson.xyz
- Length: 8 mins
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#100 (!) There won’t be many coming home: The Forever War (1974) by Joe Haldeman
- Length: 9 mins
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Welcome to episode 100! Thank you so much to everyone who has listened to this humble podcast project, an extension of my site andyjohnson.xyz. This episode begins with a brief reflection on this milestone, and then moves on to its main subject: Joe Haldeman's 1974 science fiction classic The Forever War. An iconic entry in the genre, it is a convincing and humane take on interstellar military conflict. Support the Show.For lots more writing on classic science fiction, other books, video games, and more check our my site andyjohnson.xyz and follow me on Twitter: @andyjohnsonuk
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#100 (!) There won’t be many coming home: The Forever War (1974) by Joe Haldeman
- 10-24-23
- andyjohnson.xyz
- Length: 9 mins
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#99 High stakes: The Player of Games (1988) by Iain M. Banks
- Length: 8 mins
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The Player of Games is the second novel to be published in Iain M. Banks’ revered Culture cycle, following Consider Phlebas (1987). It is often thought to be one of the most popular of the books, and is sometimes suggested to be a good starting point. It is an engaging character study of Gurgeh, and a story which deals cleverly with themes of power, manipulation, and the nature of games.To catch up with this series, be sure to listen to my thoughts on the short story collection The State of the Art (in episode 90) and the first Culture novel Consider Phlebas (in episode 93). Support the ...
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#99 High stakes: The Player of Games (1988) by Iain M. Banks
- 10-16-23
- andyjohnson.xyz
- Length: 8 mins
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