Classic SF with Andy Johnson

Andy Johnson
  • 4.5 (2)
  • SCIENCE FICTION
  • UPDATED FORTNIGHTLY

Exploring classic science fiction, with a focus on the 1950s to the 1990s.

  1. #186 Spheres within spheres: Matter (2008) by Iain M. Banks

    2 DAYS AGO

    #186 Spheres within spheres: Matter (2008) by Iain M. Banks

    My coverage of Iain M. Banks' wonderful Culture series continues with the seventh novel, Matter, published in 2008. This is the longest Culture novel yet, and in some ways the most complex - set on a vast macrostructure, specifically the artificial planet of Sursamen. Banks weaves an ambitious plot which at times makes the novel feel like Use of Weapons nested inside Inversions - or perhaps it is the other way around. This is literally a story of spheres within spheres, as the different levels of the planet play host to various species, conflicts, and levels of technological development. In what is in part another Banksian meditation on the ethics of intervention, a novice Culture agent must decide how best to interfere in a conflict that threatens not only her siblings, but the fate of a world. Get in touch with a text message! For more classic SF reviews and discussion, visit andyjohnson.xyz. To get free weekly classic SF updates, sign up here.

    9 min
  2. #185 The big freeze: Ice and Iron (1974) by Wilson Tucker

    5 FEB

    #185 The big freeze: Ice and Iron (1974) by Wilson Tucker

    Confronting a time mystery as a new ice age looms Climate breakdown, and rising temperatures, are a fact of life. But in the 1970s, there was a subset of climate scientists who believed that global cooling was going to be the challenge of the 21st century. Ice and Iron is a little-discussed 1974 novel by the author, critic and fan Wilson Tucker which explores this scenario. It also follows a strange conflict between heavily armed women from the future, and violent nomads, apparently from prehistory.  Can the eccentric researcher Fisher Highsmith solve a mystery of deep time and the human future? Get in touch with a text message! For more classic SF reviews and discussion, visit andyjohnson.xyz. To get free weekly classic SF updates, sign up here.

    9 min
  3. #184 Caught on tape: The Müller-Fokker Effect (1970) by John Sladek

    29 JAN

    #184 Caught on tape: The Müller-Fokker Effect (1970) by John Sladek

    Another comic inferno from another stupid timeline Back in November, in episode 176, I took a look at The Reproductive System, the first novel by the US writer John Sladek, who produced almost all of his work while living in the UK. This episode tackles his second novel, the even more anarchic The Müller-Fokker Effect, published in 1970. It was not successful, and Sladek did not publish another SF novel for a decade. However, The Müller-Fokker Effect is one of those novels from decades past which captures something of the vibe of today's times. Welcome to a wild ride featuring a tradwife proto-influencer, a semi-literate racist demogogue with an eye on the US presidency, and a mind without a body.  Get in touch with a text message! For more classic SF reviews and discussion, visit andyjohnson.xyz. To get free weekly classic SF updates, sign up here.

    7 min
  4. #183 Hostile takeover: The Cold Cash War (1977) by Robert Asprin

    22 JAN

    #183 Hostile takeover: The Cold Cash War (1977) by Robert Asprin

    Corporate warfare becomes deadly as the state crumbles Robert Asprin was best known for the humorous fantasy series MythAdventure and for creating the influential Thieves' World series of anthologies which ran from 1979 to 1989. But before launching either of those long-running enterprises, Asprin got his start in science fiction. His story of corporate mercenaries in the August 1977 issue of Analog was followed immediately by a full-length version, his debut novel The Cold Cash War. Fairly obscure today, this novel is a precursor to cyberpunk which explores a new kind of corporate warfare, fought by non-lethal means and in secrecy. A product of a very particular moment in the late 1970s, how well does The Cold Cash War stand up today, and what contemporary relevance does it have? Get in touch with a text message! For more classic SF reviews and discussion, visit andyjohnson.xyz. To get free weekly classic SF updates, sign up here.

    10 min
  5. #182 Wish it was here: Last Letters from Hav (1985) by Jan Morris

    15 JAN

    #182 Wish it was here: Last Letters from Hav (1985) by Jan Morris

    The definitive travel guide to a place that never existed Like J. G. Ballard's Crash - featured in episode 149 - Last Letters From Hav is another novel which might challenge or expand definitions of science fiction. Originally published in 1985, the book is a work of veteran British travel writer Jan Morris, who died in 2020. Sitting comfortably alongside her books on cities like Oxford, Venice, and New York, it is a travelogue - the difference being that Hav is a fictional place. But what is it that makes Hav such a strangely believable locale? And what qualifies it as science fiction? Get in touch with a text message! For more classic SF reviews and discussion, visit andyjohnson.xyz. To get free weekly classic SF updates, sign up here.

    9 min
  6. #181 Think fast: Brain Wave (1954) by Poul Anderson

    11 JAN

    #181 Think fast: Brain Wave (1954) by Poul Anderson

    The influential classic of enhanced intelligence with a breakneck pace An early novel by Poul Anderson, Brain Wave (1954) is also a landmark science fiction story on the topic of intelligence enhancement. Unlike in the later Flowers for Algernon (1966) - see episode 148 - an explosive rise of brainpower is not the work of human scientists. Instead, the whole world gets a huge intelligence boost, as the Earth exits a vast cosmic field which for millions of years had inhibited "certain electromagnetic and electrochemical processes". Can society survive this colossal, overnight shift? And if so, what does it mean for the human future? Get in touch with a text message! For more classic SF reviews and discussion, visit andyjohnson.xyz. To get free weekly classic SF updates, sign up here.

    9 min
  7. #180 The ten best SF books I read in 2025

    18/12/2025

    #180 The ten best SF books I read in 2025

    It's time for the final episode of 2025! Find out which were the top 10 science fiction books I read over the course of the year, along with five honourable mentions. Plus, a brief reflection on how the year has gone, some plans for 2026, and a thank you to everyone who has listened, shared, and got in touch over the last 12 months. And: corny sound effects! Get in touch with a text message! For more classic SF reviews and discussion, visit andyjohnson.xyz. To get free weekly classic SF updates, sign up here.

    20 min
  8. #179 Walk like thunder: the mammoth trilogy (1999 - 2001) by Stephen Baxter

    27/11/2025

    #179 Walk like thunder: the mammoth trilogy (1999 - 2001) by Stephen Baxter

    Published between 1999 and 2001, the Mammoth trilogy is a fascinating set of linked SF novels by Stephen Baxter. In reality, mammoths died out 4,000 years ago but Baxter imagines a different fate for them. Thoroughly researched and at times quite moving, these are fine examples of science fiction which does without major human characters, and has readers view the world through the eyes of a very different creature. Get in touch with a text message! For more classic SF reviews and discussion, visit andyjohnson.xyz. To get free weekly classic SF updates, sign up here.

    9 min
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Exploring classic science fiction, with a focus on the 1950s to the 1990s.

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