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Author | Brian Aldiss |
---|---|
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Genre | Science fiction |
Publisher | Faber & Faber |
Publication date | 1967 |
Media type | Print (Hardcover and paperback) |
Pages | 224 |
An Age (published in the United States as Cryptozoic!) is a 1967 science fiction novel by English writer Brian Aldiss. The book, set principally in 2093, combines the popular science fiction themes of time travel, totalitarian dystopia, and the untapped potential of the human mind. It was nominated for a Ditmar Award in 1969 in the "Best International Science Fiction of any length, or collection" category.
The future society described in the novel has developed a form of psychological time travel called "mind travel" by which, with the aid of the psychoactive drug CSD (no explanation of this acronym is given, though its mind-altering effects are probably a reference to LSD) can travel in their minds to the distant past. While mind traveling, they are unable to interact with the world of the past, but they can sense and interact with other travelers from their own time. It has been discovered that the functioning of the human mind is influenced and limited by "the undermind", a mysterious force which aids in mind travel.
The story concerns Edward Bush, an artist searching for inspiration in the past. When Bush returns from a long stay in the Jurassic, he finds that his nation (presumably the United Kingdom) has been taken over by a totalitarian government. He is immediately drafted into the military and given the mission to kill the scientist Silverstone (whom he had met as "Stein" in the past). As Bush mind travels again to fulfill his mission, he learns of Silverstone's new philosophical and scientific discoveries. Bush and Silverstone meet, travel to the Cryptozoic with a few allies, and decide together to usher in a new era of humanity, one enlightened by the realization that time flows backward. Bush returns to his present time, only to be imprisoned in a mental institution. Bush's father tries to see him but is prevented by doctors, who explain his son has had a breakdown brought on by excessive mind travel. Outside, a girl stands watching the hospital, presumably planning a rescue.
Algis Budrys reviewed the novel unfavorably, calling it "a useless book [which] tells us that the writer thinks he's clever. It even proves that he is, indeed, notionally facile, and perhaps admirable for having gone into doing advertising". [1]
At the time of writing, Western public opinion was concerned with the Political abuse of psychiatry in the Soviet Union - some Soviet dissidents undergoing experiences reminiscent of the later part of "An Age".
Brian Wilson Aldiss was an English writer, artist, and anthology editor, best known for science fiction novels and short stories. His byline reads either Brian W. Aldiss or simply Brian Aldiss, except for occasional pseudonyms during the mid-1960s.
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There have been many attempts at defining science fiction. This is a list of definitions that have been offered by authors, editors, critics and fans over the years since science fiction became a genre. Definitions of related terms such as "science fantasy", "speculative fiction", and "fabulation" are included where they are intended as definitions of aspects of science fiction or because they illuminate related definitions—see e.g. Robert Scholes's definitions of "fabulation" and "structural fabulation" below. Some definitions of sub-types of science fiction are included, too; for example see David Ketterer's definition of "philosophically-oriented science fiction". In addition, some definitions are included that define, for example, a science fiction story, rather than science fiction itself, since these also illuminate an underlying definition of science fiction.
The Einstein Intersection is a 1967 science fiction novel by Samuel R. Delany. It won the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1967 and was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1968. The title is a reference to Einstein's Theory of Relativity connecting to Kurt Gödel's Constructible universe, which is an analogy to science meeting philosophy. Delany's intended title for the book was A Fabulous, Formless Darkness.
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Nebula Award Stories Two is an anthology of science fiction short stories edited by Brian W. Aldiss and Harry Harrison. It was first published in hardcover by Doubleday in September 1967, with a Science Fiction Book Club edition following in November 1969. The first British edition was published by Gollancz in 1967, under the variant title Nebula Award Stories 1967. Paperback editions followed from Pocket Books in the U.S. in September 1968, and Panther in the U.K. in 1970. The Panther edition bore the variant title Nebula Award Stories 2. The book was more recently reissued by Stealth Press in hardcover in September 2001. It has also been published in German.