Barrington Bayley SF Gateway Omnibus

by Barrington J. Bayley

An introduction to a hugely influential figure to some of the greats of British SF, perhaps best-known for The Fall of Chronopolis The Soul of the Robot : Jasperodus, a robot, sets out to prove he is the equal of any human being. His futuristic adventures as warrior, tyrant, renegade, and statesman eventually lead him back home to the two human beings who created him. Does he have a soul? The Knights of the Limits : Nine brilliant stories of infinite space and alien consciousness, suffused with a sense of wonder. The Fall of  The mighty ships of the Third Time Fleet relentlessly patrolled the Chronotic Empire's 1,000-year frontier, blotting out an error of history here or there before swooping back to challenge other time-traveling civilizations far into the future. Captain Mond Aton had been proud to serve in such a fleet. But now, falsely convicted of cowardice and dereliction of duty, he has been given the cruelest of to be sent unprotected into time as a lone messenger between the cruising timeships. After such an inconceivable experience in the endless voids there is only one option left to him—to be allowed to die.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction

496 pages, Paperback

First published March 6, 2014

About the author

Barrington J. Bayley published work principally under his own name but also using the pseudonyms ofAlan Aumbry, Michael Barrington (with Michael Moorcock), John Diamond and P.F. Woods.

Bayley was born in Birmingham and educated in Newport, Shropshire. He worked in a number of jobs before joining the Royal Air Force in 1955; his first published story, "Combat's End", had seen print the year before in UK-only publication Vargo Statten Magazine.

During the 1960s, Bayley's short stories featured regularly in New Worlds magazine and later in its successor, the paperback anthologies of the same name. He became friends with New Worlds editor Michael Moorcock, who largely instigated science fiction's New Wave movement. Bayley himself was part of the movement.

Bayley's first book, Star Virus, was followed by more than a dozen other novels; his downbeat, gloomy approach to novel writing has been cited as influential on the works of M. John Harrison, Brian Stableford and Bruce Sterling.

Reviews

[podzo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Gave up.
Read the first novel, Soul of a Robot.
Interesting philosophical ideas told in a manner of a *rattling good Boys Own adventure story*.
Ultimately the experience was emotionless with very very uncomfortable depictions of women as nothing but sexual animals mixed with puerile rape fantasies.

[Grips · Rating 4 out of 5]

Intelligent science fiction that properly emphasizes science, and a tasteful dash of philosophy.