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Modern Masters of Science Fiction
John Brunner
Under his own name and numerous pseudonyms, John Brunner (1934–1995) was one of the most prolific and influential science fiction authors of the late twentieth century. During his exemplary career, the British author wrote with a stamina matched by only a few other great science fiction writers and with a literary quality of even fewer, importing modernist techniques into his novels and stories and probing every major theme of his robotics, racism, drugs, space exploration, technological warfare, and ecology.
In this first intensive review of Brunner's life and works, Jad Smith carefully demonstrates how Brunner's much-neglected early fiction laid the foundation for his classic Stand on Zanzibar and other major works such as The Jagged Orbit, The Sheep Look Up, and The Shockwave Rider. Making extensive use of Brunner's letters, columns, speeches, and interviews published in fanzines, Smith approaches Brunner in the context of markets and trends that affected many writers of the time, including Brunner's uneasy association with the "New Wave" of science fiction in the 1960s and '70s. This landmark study shows how Brunner's attempts to cross-fertilize the American pulp tradition with British scientific romance complicated the distinctions between genre and mainstream fiction and between hard and soft science fiction and helped carve out space for emerging modes such as cyberpunk, slipstream, and biopunk.
In this first intensive review of Brunner's life and works, Jad Smith carefully demonstrates how Brunner's much-neglected early fiction laid the foundation for his classic Stand on Zanzibar and other major works such as The Jagged Orbit, The Sheep Look Up, and The Shockwave Rider. Making extensive use of Brunner's letters, columns, speeches, and interviews published in fanzines, Smith approaches Brunner in the context of markets and trends that affected many writers of the time, including Brunner's uneasy association with the "New Wave" of science fiction in the 1960s and '70s. This landmark study shows how Brunner's attempts to cross-fertilize the American pulp tradition with British scientific romance complicated the distinctions between genre and mainstream fiction and between hard and soft science fiction and helped carve out space for emerging modes such as cyberpunk, slipstream, and biopunk.
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200 pages, Hardcover
First published December 1, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
December 3, 2015
John Kilian Houston Brunner (1934-95) was an English Wunderkind who started publishing science fiction early and died well before his time. His work straddled the divide (or perceived divide) between British and American traditions of the fantastic. Brunner worked hard to attain the qualities of craftsmanship and experimentation reputedly appropriate to the British and European ‘literary’ origins of the genre, while using and defending many of the themes and ideas – and markets – generated by the American ‘pulp’ and supposedly more ‘commercial’ traditions. For most of his career Brunner often seemed to be the man in the middle, where life is never easy and a form of ‘literary schizophrenia’ (his own phrase) can be the outcome.
Jad Smith’s study is built around examinations of Brunner’s four most substantial (in all senses) and best-known novels – Stand on Zanzibar (1968), The Jagged Orbit (1969), The Sheep Look Up (1972), and The Shockwave Rider (1975) – in which notable combinations of literary technique and author commitment produced particularly striking, controversial, and enduring results. On either side Smith discusses a wide selection of other novels and stories from the early work of the 1950s to the darker and more horror-based fiction of the 1990s, weaving in throughout enough warts-and-all biographical detail to provide some of the context for Brunner’s often apparently self-destructive and foolhardy decisions and abrasiveness which were sometimes, unfortunately, all that he was known for. Smith’s analyses caused me to hunt out stories I have (in the yellowing and fragile pages of the Nova magazines) in order to read them at last: fine and often ground-breaking work that really does seem to have been all but forgotten for decades.
This is the first book in the University of Illinois Press’ Modern Masters of Science Fiction series. It is densely packed, illustrated, and includes a bibliography of first US appearances. Professor Smith has rendered a valuable service by bringing to attention the simple fact of Brunner’s existence and then setting his large and varied output against its changing contemporary genre and personal backgrounds. It is to be hoped that this book succeeds in its aim of establishing John Brunner in his rightful place as one of the truly important modern writers of fantastic fiction.
Jad Smith’s study is built around examinations of Brunner’s four most substantial (in all senses) and best-known novels – Stand on Zanzibar (1968), The Jagged Orbit (1969), The Sheep Look Up (1972), and The Shockwave Rider (1975) – in which notable combinations of literary technique and author commitment produced particularly striking, controversial, and enduring results. On either side Smith discusses a wide selection of other novels and stories from the early work of the 1950s to the darker and more horror-based fiction of the 1990s, weaving in throughout enough warts-and-all biographical detail to provide some of the context for Brunner’s often apparently self-destructive and foolhardy decisions and abrasiveness which were sometimes, unfortunately, all that he was known for. Smith’s analyses caused me to hunt out stories I have (in the yellowing and fragile pages of the Nova magazines) in order to read them at last: fine and often ground-breaking work that really does seem to have been all but forgotten for decades.
This is the first book in the University of Illinois Press’ Modern Masters of Science Fiction series. It is densely packed, illustrated, and includes a bibliography of first US appearances. Professor Smith has rendered a valuable service by bringing to attention the simple fact of Brunner’s existence and then setting his large and varied output against its changing contemporary genre and personal backgrounds. It is to be hoped that this book succeeds in its aim of establishing John Brunner in his rightful place as one of the truly important modern writers of fantastic fiction.
December 13, 2021
I am not going to say much here because I intend to use it as a source one or two articles on John Brunner. At the same time I want highlight some things. John Brunner has been a favorite writer of mine since the early 90s. I first noticed him as just a name on the shelf at the used book store I shopped at in the home town Cavenant Emptor. There was always several shelves of his books. And I had never heard of him. I looked a few titles just curious what his books were about. I knew nothing about him but the book Crucible of Time just sounded mind bending. I got and I admit it was beyond my teenage reasoning. I had a feeling so I kept on the shelf and planned to give it a shot.
Then as my views on environmentalism evolved and I read Brunner’s Classic the Sheep Look Up. I was not prepared in 1993 when I read it for how powerful it felt. I felt like I was seeing how things could’ve been if pollution didn’t get some more regulation. When I read in the Bush years it felt even closer to reality. The exact eco-challenges were different but the book still spoke to me. That is when I got serious about reading Brunner. I have read most of his major classics and will continue to learn more as time goes on. When the Dickheads journey with Phil is over I am going to read as many Brunner books as I can.
So reading Jad Smith’s fantastic Master of Science Fiction series on Brunner was just incredible for me. I knew a little about Brunner but not compared to Philip K. Dick who has multiple biographies and dozens of books about him. While we don’t have the exact timelines that we do for Dick it was amazing to learn about Brunner’s life. How he discovered HG Wells as a child, how he sold his first novel as a teenager, the various names he published under.
I want to read all the books in this series but this was where I needed to start. It is a must-read for anyone who takes scholarship of 20th-century science fiction seriously. I think John Brunner is one of the best but if you want me to say more you’ll have to wait. I have articles to write on the man.
Then as my views on environmentalism evolved and I read Brunner’s Classic the Sheep Look Up. I was not prepared in 1993 when I read it for how powerful it felt. I felt like I was seeing how things could’ve been if pollution didn’t get some more regulation. When I read in the Bush years it felt even closer to reality. The exact eco-challenges were different but the book still spoke to me. That is when I got serious about reading Brunner. I have read most of his major classics and will continue to learn more as time goes on. When the Dickheads journey with Phil is over I am going to read as many Brunner books as I can.
So reading Jad Smith’s fantastic Master of Science Fiction series on Brunner was just incredible for me. I knew a little about Brunner but not compared to Philip K. Dick who has multiple biographies and dozens of books about him. While we don’t have the exact timelines that we do for Dick it was amazing to learn about Brunner’s life. How he discovered HG Wells as a child, how he sold his first novel as a teenager, the various names he published under.
I want to read all the books in this series but this was where I needed to start. It is a must-read for anyone who takes scholarship of 20th-century science fiction seriously. I think John Brunner is one of the best but if you want me to say more you’ll have to wait. I have articles to write on the man.
December 28, 2012
John Brunner is a science fiction writer who should be exalted among the genre's giants, but has instead fallen out of fashion. A new biography of the British writer might not restore his reputation, but those who read it will find a new-found respect for a man who was ahead of his time. Unfortunately, those who do read it probably already know that.
I first became aware of Brunner while I was in university and was working my way through all of the Hugo-winning novels, novellas and short stories, figuring they would be wheat already separated from chaff. The one book that stood out from all the rest was the novel Stand on Zanzibar by Brunner. To this day, I count it among my favourites.
The book led me to his other groundbreaking novels, The Sheep Look Up and The Shockwave Rider, the former of which is a novel of a coming ecological disaster and the latter which is a prototype for the cyberpunk novel.
The impact of these books is fully covered in the biography John Brunner by Jad Smith. The Eastern Illinois University professor explains how Brunner carefully crafted books that stretched his own writing abilities and the limits of the science fiction novel.
While he was a contemporary of the New Wave authors in Britain, Brunner was never part of that movement, but stood apart and was frequently the target of abuse from them. As the biography describes it, it almost sounds like professional jealousy. Brunner sold his stories where he could make the most money and that was in the U.S. magazine market, not the smaller British outlets. His style was a fusion of the best of the American and British science fiction traditions. (I must confess that before reading this biography, I always thought Brunner was an American!)
Brunner had a handle on what editors wanted and was able to write stories that sold. While some of his stories might have been formulaic, he was always looking for inventive ways to tell them so he was not the sell-out that the New Wave purists might have believed. Brunner didn't think the idea of the starving artist was all that romantic and instead chose to make money from his work. Despite that, you couldn't say he got rich from doing it. He had financial problems of his own and his output, while prolific by many standards, was only ever enough to keep him solvent. His output slowed more as he matured as a writer and chose his stories and markets more carefully.
Smith's biography charts Brunner's career from start to finish with great detail. While Brunner may have had a reputation as a bit of an egotist, Smith portrays him sympathetically and you wonder if some of that bad reputation may have been the work of disinformation spread my his New Wave rivals.
There isn't much about his personal life in the book, although you learn about his marriage to Marjorie and there various ups and downs and how his own health declined after her death. He remarried later in life, but died only a few short years afterwards.
The book concludes with a Q&A with Brunner and it is effective as it reinforces a lot of what is explained previously and acts as a sort of summary of the author's life.
As a fan of both Brunner and literary biographies, I found this book entertaining and informative. I learned a lot about a writer about which I knew virtually nothing. I learned more about some brilliant books that I admired and now have a line on even more Brunner books that I have not yead read, but will do at the next opportunity.
I recommend this book to anyone who is an admirer of John Brunner or is a fan of science fiction history.
John Brunner
By Jad Smith
University of Illinois Press
Price: $21.95, paper; $80 cloth
http://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/...
I first became aware of Brunner while I was in university and was working my way through all of the Hugo-winning novels, novellas and short stories, figuring they would be wheat already separated from chaff. The one book that stood out from all the rest was the novel Stand on Zanzibar by Brunner. To this day, I count it among my favourites.
The book led me to his other groundbreaking novels, The Sheep Look Up and The Shockwave Rider, the former of which is a novel of a coming ecological disaster and the latter which is a prototype for the cyberpunk novel.
The impact of these books is fully covered in the biography John Brunner by Jad Smith. The Eastern Illinois University professor explains how Brunner carefully crafted books that stretched his own writing abilities and the limits of the science fiction novel.
While he was a contemporary of the New Wave authors in Britain, Brunner was never part of that movement, but stood apart and was frequently the target of abuse from them. As the biography describes it, it almost sounds like professional jealousy. Brunner sold his stories where he could make the most money and that was in the U.S. magazine market, not the smaller British outlets. His style was a fusion of the best of the American and British science fiction traditions. (I must confess that before reading this biography, I always thought Brunner was an American!)
Brunner had a handle on what editors wanted and was able to write stories that sold. While some of his stories might have been formulaic, he was always looking for inventive ways to tell them so he was not the sell-out that the New Wave purists might have believed. Brunner didn't think the idea of the starving artist was all that romantic and instead chose to make money from his work. Despite that, you couldn't say he got rich from doing it. He had financial problems of his own and his output, while prolific by many standards, was only ever enough to keep him solvent. His output slowed more as he matured as a writer and chose his stories and markets more carefully.
Smith's biography charts Brunner's career from start to finish with great detail. While Brunner may have had a reputation as a bit of an egotist, Smith portrays him sympathetically and you wonder if some of that bad reputation may have been the work of disinformation spread my his New Wave rivals.
There isn't much about his personal life in the book, although you learn about his marriage to Marjorie and there various ups and downs and how his own health declined after her death. He remarried later in life, but died only a few short years afterwards.
The book concludes with a Q&A with Brunner and it is effective as it reinforces a lot of what is explained previously and acts as a sort of summary of the author's life.
As a fan of both Brunner and literary biographies, I found this book entertaining and informative. I learned a lot about a writer about which I knew virtually nothing. I learned more about some brilliant books that I admired and now have a line on even more Brunner books that I have not yead read, but will do at the next opportunity.
I recommend this book to anyone who is an admirer of John Brunner or is a fan of science fiction history.
John Brunner
By Jad Smith
University of Illinois Press
Price: $21.95, paper; $80 cloth
http://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/...
December 5, 2021
As a long time Brunner fan this was a very exciting book to read. I was inspired and learned much. Stay tuned for a longer review etc.
June 28, 2020
I came across this series of critical studies of "SF Masters" at lithub.com and decided to give the John Brunner book a try. I am very glad I did because it is an excellent (and short) introduction to the neglected SF author John Brunner. I've been reading 60's SF and wanted to learn more about an author I simply haven't read yet. Jad Smith's overview of his career as a writer is superb.
His writing style is distinctly non-academic. He writes critically about Brunner's career and biography in a way that is compelling and illuminating. I especially like his take on Brunner's efforts to bridge the gap between UK SF and American SF during the 60's when the New Wave in SF was so popular. His struggles with money and upsets with editors for dumbing down some of his novels are very well depicted. Jad also spent a lot of time going over Brunner's contributions to fanzines (for free).
Focused commentary on Brunner's magnum opus, Stand on Zanzibar, is a highlight in the book. There are extensive notes and a full bibliography and index (unusual for an ebook). I'm looking forward to reading Bruner with this book at my side.
Highly recommended.
His writing style is distinctly non-academic. He writes critically about Brunner's career and biography in a way that is compelling and illuminating. I especially like his take on Brunner's efforts to bridge the gap between UK SF and American SF during the 60's when the New Wave in SF was so popular. His struggles with money and upsets with editors for dumbing down some of his novels are very well depicted. Jad also spent a lot of time going over Brunner's contributions to fanzines (for free).
Focused commentary on Brunner's magnum opus, Stand on Zanzibar, is a highlight in the book. There are extensive notes and a full bibliography and index (unusual for an ebook). I'm looking forward to reading Bruner with this book at my side.
Highly recommended.
November 10, 2020
This is a thorough survey of John Brunner's literary output. The introduction was mostly nonsense, but I enjoyed the short synopses of his works in the remainder of the book. They get the ideas, which are Brunner's forte, across and save me reading 100s of obscure stories of varying quality. What context is provided is mostly about the reception of Brunner's books by critics and his contemporaries, but there are some biographical details too. I would have appreciated more biography, but that wasn't really the scope here.
Definitely interested in rereading Stand on Zanzibar now, and maybe trying out one of his later works for the first time.
RIP Mr. Brunner: you were ahead of your time.
Definitely interested in rereading Stand on Zanzibar now, and maybe trying out one of his later works for the first time.
RIP Mr. Brunner: you were ahead of your time.
August 17, 2022
Monograph on John Brunner’s life and work. Summed up his impact on the science fiction genre. Revealed his common themes and interests. Covered his lifelong struggles to make a living as a science fiction writer.
Most important of all it inspires me to add many novels and short stories to my TBR pile.
Most important of all it inspires me to add many novels and short stories to my TBR pile.
February 10, 2023
An excellent study of one of the more enigmatic sf writers. I knew some of the things Smith brings forward about Brunner but I have a much deeper understanding of what made him tick and subsequently a deeper understanding (and appreciation) for his work.
Highly recommended!
Highly recommended!
December 10, 2012
This is a fscinating insight to the man and the author that is John Brunner. He proved to be a difficult writer to categorise throughtout his career and this book delves into the why behind that. It is well written and very detailed, but I never felt lost in that detail as it carried me along very well.
I enjoy biographies of people that I have come across and found interesting. Mr Brunner was one of those – a great science fiction author that never seemed to be considered one of the upper echelon of those other great science fiction luminaries. This book goes a long way to explain that. In fact, it shows how Brunner set the style for many sub genres of science fiction which would follow. The writing is well-balance and well structured and uses plenty of source material.
If you have any interest in science fiction and have read John Brunner, then I see this as an essential read.
I enjoy biographies of people that I have come across and found interesting. Mr Brunner was one of those – a great science fiction author that never seemed to be considered one of the upper echelon of those other great science fiction luminaries. This book goes a long way to explain that. In fact, it shows how Brunner set the style for many sub genres of science fiction which would follow. The writing is well-balance and well structured and uses plenty of source material.
If you have any interest in science fiction and have read John Brunner, then I see this as an essential read.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews