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Anticipations
Book by Ian Watson, Robert Sheckley, Bob Shaw, Harry Harrison, Thomas M. Disch, J. G. Ballard, Brian W. Aldiss
214 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1978
About the author
Christopher Priest
132 books1,085 followersChristopher Priest was born in Cheshire, England. He began writing soon after leaving school and has been a full-time freelance writer since 1968.
He published eleven novels, four short story collections and a number of other books, including critical works, biographies, novelizations and children’s non-fiction.
He also wrote drama for radio (BBC Radio 4) and television (Thames TV and HTV). In 2006, The Prestige was made into a major production by Newmarket Films. Directed by Christopher Nolan, The Prestige went straight to No.1 US box office. It received two Academy Award nominations. Other novels, including Fugue for a Darkening Island and The Glamour, are currently in preparation for filming.
He was Vice-President of the H. G. Wells Society. In 2007, an exhibition of installation art based on his novel The Affirmation was mounted in London.
As a journalist he wrote features and reviews for The Times, the Guardian, the Independent, the New Statesman, the Scotsman, and many different magazines.
He published eleven novels, four short story collections and a number of other books, including critical works, biographies, novelizations and children’s non-fiction.
He also wrote drama for radio (BBC Radio 4) and television (Thames TV and HTV). In 2006, The Prestige was made into a major production by Newmarket Films. Directed by Christopher Nolan, The Prestige went straight to No.1 US box office. It received two Academy Award nominations. Other novels, including Fugue for a Darkening Island and The Glamour, are currently in preparation for filming.
He was Vice-President of the H. G. Wells Society. In 2007, an exhibition of installation art based on his novel The Affirmation was mounted in London.
As a journalist he wrote features and reviews for The Times, the Guardian, the Independent, the New Statesman, the Scotsman, and many different magazines.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
February 6, 2012
A mixed bag. There were a couple of stories in this collection I enjoyed, having got it as Christopher Priest is my husband's cousin. However only one of the stories was his and the quality and length of the other stories was very variable.
April 1, 2026
Introduction-
Priest gives us a lot to ponder as we prepare to dive into this collection. He sets the bar high saying it’s not just a collection of cool sci fi, but a books of contributions from great writers. We also have the (for the time) obligatory debate about if SF is worthy of literary merit. It’s not a bad thing, in some respects I think that even today it’s a worthwhile debate; but it does put you in the mind frame that the stories you are about to read are going to be something special.
TVSTM- Keeping things spoiler free- strong start, but flat finish. It seemed like Watson had all these ideas battling it out for space in the limits of a short story and the ending was given no time to happen, so it just ends. Not a bad story, but I got the feeling either this needed more room to breather, or the ending was as thought out as the concepts.
Is That What People Do? - Scheckley is having fun here, nothing to crazy but a good old style SF story with a hook, follow up, and nice twisty ending. A fun little story.
Amphitheatre - A more slow and steady, tension based story from Bob Shaw. It’s a bit of a mystery and the build up to the end is great. When the finale comes it’s what you expect and not all at the same time. Great stuff.
The Negation - An interesting one from Priest. Loosely connected to a larger universe of which I haven’t read anything so I may have missed some of that subtext. For what I read it was good. A commentary on who profits from war, and why do we have war? Also, and mini exploration of reading but not learning- not being able to read between the lines. All in all one that’s good, but it didn’t blow me away.
The Greening of the Green- A slow burn mystery story that is all about the neat twist at the end. Keeping things spoiler free go in open for anything to happen, I doubt you can predict this one. Unique and a well written story.
Mutability - Taken from at the time an unpublished novel he was working on- it halfway works as a short story. The interesting social commentary and observations he are making don’t have a lot of room to breathe and the reader has to play a lot of catch up to know what’s way is up. In context of the full novel I have a feeling this would be better.
One Afternoon at Utah Beach - Ballard is always a big win for me in short story form. I haven’t read his novels but his short fiction is always among my favorites; this is no exception. A well told time twisted story about an affair and a lost solider. A great story.
A Chinese Perspective- A story that start out one way and goes through three distinct identities. The first two are intriguing, but the third one kind of trails off. I feel like the ending almost is at odds with the first two thirds of the novella- but perhaps that’s the point? It does deal with a lot of religious/fate/universal balancing of opposites i.e. new vs old, fate vs predestination, etc. I still enjoyed it and it’s worthy of a read.
All in all I would recommend this book, but would caution it’s a very unique brand of SF that may not be for everyone.
Priest gives us a lot to ponder as we prepare to dive into this collection. He sets the bar high saying it’s not just a collection of cool sci fi, but a books of contributions from great writers. We also have the (for the time) obligatory debate about if SF is worthy of literary merit. It’s not a bad thing, in some respects I think that even today it’s a worthwhile debate; but it does put you in the mind frame that the stories you are about to read are going to be something special.
TVSTM- Keeping things spoiler free- strong start, but flat finish. It seemed like Watson had all these ideas battling it out for space in the limits of a short story and the ending was given no time to happen, so it just ends. Not a bad story, but I got the feeling either this needed more room to breather, or the ending was as thought out as the concepts.
Is That What People Do? - Scheckley is having fun here, nothing to crazy but a good old style SF story with a hook, follow up, and nice twisty ending. A fun little story.
Amphitheatre - A more slow and steady, tension based story from Bob Shaw. It’s a bit of a mystery and the build up to the end is great. When the finale comes it’s what you expect and not all at the same time. Great stuff.
The Negation - An interesting one from Priest. Loosely connected to a larger universe of which I haven’t read anything so I may have missed some of that subtext. For what I read it was good. A commentary on who profits from war, and why do we have war? Also, and mini exploration of reading but not learning- not being able to read between the lines. All in all one that’s good, but it didn’t blow me away.
The Greening of the Green- A slow burn mystery story that is all about the neat twist at the end. Keeping things spoiler free go in open for anything to happen, I doubt you can predict this one. Unique and a well written story.
Mutability - Taken from at the time an unpublished novel he was working on- it halfway works as a short story. The interesting social commentary and observations he are making don’t have a lot of room to breathe and the reader has to play a lot of catch up to know what’s way is up. In context of the full novel I have a feeling this would be better.
One Afternoon at Utah Beach - Ballard is always a big win for me in short story form. I haven’t read his novels but his short fiction is always among my favorites; this is no exception. A well told time twisted story about an affair and a lost solider. A great story.
A Chinese Perspective- A story that start out one way and goes through three distinct identities. The first two are intriguing, but the third one kind of trails off. I feel like the ending almost is at odds with the first two thirds of the novella- but perhaps that’s the point? It does deal with a lot of religious/fate/universal balancing of opposites i.e. new vs old, fate vs predestination, etc. I still enjoyed it and it’s worthy of a read.
All in all I would recommend this book, but would caution it’s a very unique brand of SF that may not be for everyone.
September 7, 2022
A mostly forgotten scifi anthology from the late 70s I found in a second hand bookstore in Malaysia. There's a couple of fun stories in this anthology, a few that are fine and a couple of awful ones filled with drug-fueled bizzareness and awkward future speak.
Each story:
The Very Slow Time Machine - Ian Watson - incredibly odd story about time reversal which doesn't really lead anywhere. 2/5
Is that what people do - Robert Schekly - very short fun story about magical binoculars. Almost more fantasy than SF but well structured and entertaining. 3/5
Bob Shaw - Amphitheater - a fun monster on another planet story but a weak ending. A little sexist. 3/5
Christopher Priest - Negation - Fantastic literary dystopic short from the editor, a real highlight with a nice twist at the end. 4/5
Harry Harrison - The Greening of the Green - an amusing, humorous piece. Fun and well written. 4/5
Thomas M. Disch - Mutability - An excerpt from an, at the time, unpublished epistolary novel. Did not finish... This shouldn't have been in an anthology. It's trying very hard to be social commentary but is really out of context. 1/5
JG Ballard - One Afternoon at Utah Beach - Light scifi with a touch of time travel. Well written, if nothing revolutionary. 3/5
Brian W Aldiss - A Chinese Perspective - By far the longest story in this collection, pretty much a quarter of the book. Heavily reliant on odd future speak and hallucinatory language it's a wild ride that deals with predestination, predicting the future, psychotropic drugs and finding entertainment by exploring the insides of people's bodies... It's definitely a product of it's time. 1/5
Each story:
The Very Slow Time Machine - Ian Watson - incredibly odd story about time reversal which doesn't really lead anywhere. 2/5
Is that what people do - Robert Schekly - very short fun story about magical binoculars. Almost more fantasy than SF but well structured and entertaining. 3/5
Bob Shaw - Amphitheater - a fun monster on another planet story but a weak ending. A little sexist. 3/5
Christopher Priest - Negation - Fantastic literary dystopic short from the editor, a real highlight with a nice twist at the end. 4/5
Harry Harrison - The Greening of the Green - an amusing, humorous piece. Fun and well written. 4/5
Thomas M. Disch - Mutability - An excerpt from an, at the time, unpublished epistolary novel. Did not finish... This shouldn't have been in an anthology. It's trying very hard to be social commentary but is really out of context. 1/5
JG Ballard - One Afternoon at Utah Beach - Light scifi with a touch of time travel. Well written, if nothing revolutionary. 3/5
Brian W Aldiss - A Chinese Perspective - By far the longest story in this collection, pretty much a quarter of the book. Heavily reliant on odd future speak and hallucinatory language it's a wild ride that deals with predestination, predicting the future, psychotropic drugs and finding entertainment by exploring the insides of people's bodies... It's definitely a product of it's time. 1/5
December 1, 2017
I've read it but can't remember it, so it gets three stars from me - probably average.
May 25, 2021
Read it for the Christopher Priest story, which lived up to expectations; but the rest (by major authors) were only so-so.
June 15, 2024
Anticipations edited by Christopher Priest.
A moderately entertaining story collection. The stories included:
The very slow time machine- Scientists are perplexed when a time machine from the future arrives but with the human occupant moving backwards in time.
Amphitheatre- A nature film maker and his wife have a close call with camouflaged ambush predators on an alien world.
The Negation- A border patrol guard is excited his favourite author is coming to visit his ice covered town.
The greening of the green- An American-Italian civilian turns spy for the US government in a post fossil fuel changing world with Ireland emerging as a new power with iron smelting and nuclear energy but let's itself down with a silly reveal of psychic powers geberated from the Irish being unable to talk or gesture.
A Chinese perspective- A novella length story that was severely disappointing. An engineer from a colonised asteroid visits Earth to sell his prediction machine. Full of East vs West mysticism, dragged on a lot.
A moderately entertaining story collection. The stories included:
The very slow time machine- Scientists are perplexed when a time machine from the future arrives but with the human occupant moving backwards in time.
Amphitheatre- A nature film maker and his wife have a close call with camouflaged ambush predators on an alien world.
The Negation- A border patrol guard is excited his favourite author is coming to visit his ice covered town.
The greening of the green- An American-Italian civilian turns spy for the US government in a post fossil fuel changing world with Ireland emerging as a new power with iron smelting and nuclear energy but let's itself down with a silly reveal of psychic powers geberated from the Irish being unable to talk or gesture.
A Chinese perspective- A novella length story that was severely disappointing. An engineer from a colonised asteroid visits Earth to sell his prediction machine. Full of East vs West mysticism, dragged on a lot.
February 22, 2024
Ear read 2024
6/10 some short stories by several authors Chris was the editor for the collection, some ok, others like the last just felt like fillers.
Contents:- Introduction (Christopher Priest); The Very Slow Time Machine (Ian Watson); Is That What People Do? (Robert Sheckley); Amphitheatre (Bob Shaw); The Negation (Christopher Priest); The Greening of the Green (Harry Harrison); Mutability (Thomas Disch); One Afternoon at Utah Beach (J. G. Ballard); A Chinese Perspective (Brian Aldiss).
6/10 some short stories by several authors Chris was the editor for the collection, some ok, others like the last just felt like fillers.
Contents:- Introduction (Christopher Priest); The Very Slow Time Machine (Ian Watson); Is That What People Do? (Robert Sheckley); Amphitheatre (Bob Shaw); The Negation (Christopher Priest); The Greening of the Green (Harry Harrison); Mutability (Thomas Disch); One Afternoon at Utah Beach (J. G. Ballard); A Chinese Perspective (Brian Aldiss).
April 24, 2010
A good book of original science fiction.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews