Space, Time and Nathaniel

by Brian W. Aldiss

T - the inhabitant of a machine that was built by an ancient race of non-humans - had just one duty, to totally destroy a planet from our solar system!Every day, Rodney Furnell awoke to a groaning bedspring. Every day he leaned over and gently kissed his wife's forehead. Every day, an audience laughed at him!He is told a story about the ultimate bureaucrat. A man who brings prosperity to a backward world just by filling in forms and filing reports.In these, and eleven other stories, Britain's leading writer of science fiction explores the outer vastness of space and the inner obscurity of man.Cover Bruce Pennington

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Short Stories, Anthologies, Collections, Short Story Collection

159 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1957

About the author

Pseudonyms: Jael Cracken, Peter Pica, John Runciman, C.C. Shackleton, Arch Mendicant, & "Doc" Peristyle.

Brian Wilson Aldiss was one of the most important voices in science fiction writing today. He wrote his first novel while working as a bookseller in Oxford. Shortly afterwards he wrote his first work of science fiction and soon gained international recognition. Adored for his innovative literary techniques, evocative plots and irresistible characters, he became a Grand Master of Science Fiction in 1999.
Brian Aldiss died on August 19, 2017, just after celebrating his 92nd birthday with his family and closest friends.

Brian W. Aldiss Group on Good Reads

Reviews

[Simon Clare · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fifteen short stories from one of my favourite writers, every single one of which inspired thoughts that lasted longer than the stories themselves. Allow yourself some time to savour and mull these over.

[Fred · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice collection by Aldiss, maybe the most criminally underrated uk sf novelist here in the states. His early work is on display here and there are some gems, including my favorite, "Psyclops".
What distinguishes Aldiss' work at this early stage is the flashes of experimentalism and psychological insights he would later become well known for. Here in approx. 1956 Aldiss is already resisting genre conventions and cliche character choices. Much like contemporary John Christopher, Aldiss embodies the seemingly British commitment to good literature first and scientific extrapolation second. Also the sense of wonder so admired amongst the early Americans (Asimov, Heinlein et al) is not nearly so central to the stories. In 10 years time Aldiss creates thoroughly postmodern, difficult works such as Probability A and the Canopy of Time collection. He is still learning his craft here, but learning it well. Recommended.

[Keith Currie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Science Fiction short stories dating back to the 1950s - a mixed bag - a few duds, but also some moving tales, the best being The Failed Men, the story of humankind sending aid missions to the far future to a humanity which has unaccountably lost the will and the ability to go on. A positive initiative leads to despair at the outcome for man in his decrepit old age.

[Bob · Rating 3 out of 5]

The sole reason I bought and read this paperback was because it's cover was used by death metal band Blood Incantation on their album Hidden History Of The Human Race. As it turns out, the stories within were (mostly) worth reading!

[James Kinsley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant ideas, one after the other, pouring out to the reader - brilliant stuff, loved it.

[Andi Chorley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brian W Aldiss' excellent first volume of sci-fi short stories gets an extra point for "Our Kind of Knowledge" featuring one of my favourite plants, Wood Sorrell, as a vital plot point.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally published in the 1950s, many of the stories in Space, Time and Nathaniel could be said to prefigure the New Wave Science Fiction movement of the 1960s. Although Aldiss' later work scaled much greater heights, the best stories in this collection show his playful and poetic sides.

"The Failed Men" is a melancholy piece about a relief effort to help humanity of the distant future, the failed men. But its core is an investigation into the problem of linguistics and translation when you don't have congruent contexts for understanding. The translators (machine and human) in the story can provide perfect translations of the speech of the failed men, without being able to offer any insight or understanding into why or how they failed, or even what it is that they failed at.

The least successful stories here are the ones that are closest to the conventional science fiction of the period. "Outside" reminded me very strongly of Philip K Dick's "Impostor", published a few years earlier. I don't think plagiarism is at work here, more a case of the cold war paranoia of the period which infused a lot of science fiction in the 1950s. But even the more conventional stories here have a playful quality often missing from contemporaneous work. Aldiss here is starting to treat science fiction as interesting box of pieces to assemble into new forms rather than as a set of rigid conventions to be followed.

[Flocarine · Rating 4 out of 5]

... ziemlich schräges Lesevergnügen mit Kurzgeschichten - Hard Science Fiction meiner Meinung nach (oder ich nenn es so) und ein wenig wie eine Twilight Folge (wer das noch kennt).

Manche Geschichten machen Sinn, bei einigen fragt man sich nach dem Lesen, was genau ich nun vermittelt bekommen haben soll (vielleicht bin ich aber auch nur zu doof und kapier es nicht *grins*)

Dann gibt es andere Geschichten, da würde man gerne mehr erfahren und zack, ist sie schon zu Ende und man bleibt mit einem grübelnden Ausdruck zurück.

Alles in allem eine nette Mischung von Fantastischen Geschichten, die man - wenn man diese Art von SF mag - doch gelesen haben sollte.

[Johnny · Rating 1 out of 5]

Containing many short stories, one seemed to be better or more interesting and entertaining than the next, which continued throughout the book. One tale was good the next was quite bland. Stories of people rising up as giants only to explore into corpses.
Strange creatures hijacking spacecraft. And even a fun tale of royalty getting lost in space and time on their way to compete in a mysterious space race with a short creature.
A fun little read. The writer does quite well within the subject and strange territory of science fiction

[Andres Borbon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Una colección de relatos que en su mayoría giran en torno al tema del tiempo, su manipulación y algunos problemas irresolubles relacionados con su naturaleza. Casi todos los cuentos de esta colección resultan vagos e incompletos (puede que esto haya sido a propósito) y suelen ser algo confusos. Si bien hay algunas ideas francamente provocativas y que prometen, a mi juicio el autor no consigue redondear las diversas tramas.

[Mick Bordet · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid collection of sometimes gentle, sometimes dark, occasionally amusing short tales. A black mirror from the fifties. I don't think there was one I didn't enjoy on some level, which is not often the case with anthologies.

[Guenter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Always stimulating.

[Graham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some stories I enjoyed better than others, but this is an interesting collection of short stories. Loved it.

[Courtland Bethune · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun Sci-Fi.

[Simon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was my first short story collection by Aldiss I have read although I have read quite a few of his novels. It is a collection of his earliest published tales, all of which were first published in the mid 50's. They definitely have an early Aldiss feel to them. Often they feel rushed and lack the finesse that he would later aquire as a writer.

Thematically they are hugely varied with some very interesting ideas and concepts explored. Tales of alien beings, future wars, satires, dystopias, apocalypses, time and space travel are all to be found here. They are of a mixed quality but none of them are what I would call oustanding. If I went through and plucked out a few of the weaker ones, I could have bumped this up to four stars but one has to rate the collection as a whole, as is.

I'm not one for reviewing short stories individually but I will briefly mention my favourites.

"Not for an Age" seemed a bit like a cross between "Groundhod Day" and "The Truman Show". A man is experiencing the same day of his life over and over again but, although he is aware that it is repeating, he is powerless to change his actions and is also aware of being observed by people in the future who are watching for amusement. That is until one day something goes wrong and he escapes to the future...

"Outside" seemed like Aldiss had anticipated "Big Brother" (the TV show) as six individuals were trapped in a house, living monotonous lives and having their food and provisions provided for them each morning. None of them seems to question their lot nor wonder what is outside the house until one day "Harvey" starts to get curious...

"Supercity" was a satire about beaurocracy, how wasteful it can be and how people of a certain nature can exploit it to become rich and successful without really doing anything useful.

"T" is a story about an alien races last ditch attempt to win a war it is fighting with earth by sending a weapon back in time with the intention of destroying all life on earth before humankind evolves.

I am definitely interested in reading one his later collections of stories which I would expect to be an improvement over this collection.

[Erik Graff · Rating 2 out of 5]

Upon arriving in Oslo, Norway to visit Mother upon graduation from seminary, I hastened to find a source for English language books. Fortunately, there was a small paperback resale shop nearby with several racks containing a disproportionate number of science fiction books published by American and English companies. Aldiss I knew already, so this collection of his early fiction was a clear, early choice. Later, however, as I'd read one after another, returning them for more, I got into unknown authors.

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

I ve recently found a list of books I read almost thirty years ago, some are still clear in my mind (The Chrysalids, Brave New World..) and other like this one I have completely forgotten.

[Jon Pennycook · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay, but a little weird in places.

[James Cooke · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought some of the short stories had interesting concepts and enjoyable to read whereas others seemed somewhat tedious. In three years time, no doubt I will have forgotten them all.

[Terence Park · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review to come

[Steve Clark]

New English Library (1971)