 First edition | |
| Author | Barrington J. Bayley |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Terry Oakes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Science fiction |
| Publisher | Methuen Publishing |
Publication date | October 1985 |
| Media type | Print (Paperback) |
| Pages | 193 |
| ISBN | 0-413-58160-8 |
| Preceded by | The Soul of the Robot |
The Rod of Light is the thirteenth science fiction novel by Barrington J. Bayley and his only sequel (to 1974's The Soul of the Robot ).
The book continues the story of Jasperodus, who is now in conflict with Gargan, a ruthless robot attempting to make his own soul.
Rhys Hughes described the Jasperodus series as slighter than average for Bayley, covering ground more thoroughly explored in John Sladek's Roderick series. [1] Similar opinions were expressed by John Clute in The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction . [2]
Dave Langford reviewed The Rod of Light for White Dwarf #73, and stated that "Concepts by Jorge Luis Borges, action by Doc Smith, sense of humour Bayley's own." [3]
Brian Stableford said that since the novel builds on the themes of The Soul of the Robot, it was less inventive than much of Bayley's work but "still a delight to read." [4]
Foundation and Earth is a science fiction novel by American writer Isaac Asimov, the fifth novel of the Foundation series and chronologically the last in the series. It was published in 1986, four years after the first sequel to the Foundation trilogy, which is titled Foundation's Edge.
The Memory of Whiteness is a science fiction novel written by Kim Stanley Robinson and published in September 1985. It shares with the Mars trilogy a focus on human colonization of the Solar System and depicts a grand tour that travels from the outer planets inward toward the Sun, visiting many human colonies along the way. The different human societies on the various planets and planetoids visited are depicted in detail. The purpose of the tour is to stage concerts by the "Holywelkin Orchestra", a futuristic musical instrument played by a selected master. Readers follow the Orchestra and its entourage together with a journalist, who after some time detects a conspiracy that seems to be connected with a group of gray-clad, sun-worshipping monks. The tour ends near the planet Mercury in a solar station belonging to these "Grays", which controls the white line energy source for the whole Solar System.
Robots and Empire is a science fiction novel by the American author Isaac Asimov, published by Doubleday Books in 1985. It is part of Asimov's Robot series, which consists of many short stories and five novels.
Robot Dreams (1986) is a collection of science fiction short stories by American writer Isaac Asimov, illustrated by Ralph McQuarrie. The title story is about Susan Calvin's discovery of a robot with rather disturbing dreams. It was written specifically for this volume and inspired by the McQuarrie cover illustration. All of the other stories had previously appeared in various other Asimov collections. Four of the stories are robot stories, while five are Multivac stories.
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Tik-Tok is a 1983 science fiction novel by John Sladek. It received a 1983 British Science Fiction Association Award.
Roderick at Random is a novel by John Sladek published in 1983. It is the sequel to Roderick, or The Education of a Young Machine (1980); both novels were reissued together in 2001 as The Complete Roderick.
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Software is a 1982 cyberpunk science fiction novel written by Rudy Rucker. It won the first Philip K. Dick Award in 1983. The novel is the first book in Rucker's Ware Tetralogy, and was followed by a sequel, Wetware, in 1988.
The Blind Spot is a science fiction novel by American writers Austin Hall and Homer Eon Flint. The novel was originally serialized in six parts in the magazine Argosy beginning in May 1921. It was first published in book form in 1951 by Prime Press in an edition of 74,200 copies, though fewer than 800 were actually bound, and the remainder are assumed lost. The sequel, The Spot of Life, was written by Hall alone.
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The Soul of the Robot is the sixth science fiction novel by Barrington J. Bayley, featuring the character Jasperodus from his 1956 story "Fugitive". The book tells of Jasperodus, the only robot with a soul, as he attempts to prove that he is the equal of the humans around him. It was published in 1974 by Doubleday, with a revised version published in 1976 by Allison and Busby.
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The Glamour is a novel by Christopher Priest published in 1984.
Circumpolar! is a novel by Richard A. Lupoff published in 1984.
Dinner at Deviant's Palace is a novel by Tim Powers published in 1985.