No Time Like Tomorrow

by Brian W. Aldiss

Contains the following stories

Not for and age -
Poor Little warrior! -
Failed mem -
Carrion country -
Judas danced -
Psyclops -
Outside -
Gesture of farewell -
New Father Christmas -
Blighted profile -
Our kind of knowledge

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy, Anthologies

160 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1959

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

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a collection of 12 short stories by Brian Aldiss, an English author born in 1925 who died just last year (2017) on August 19th. It goes without saying that he was very imaginative. I also found him to be an erudite writer who was also thought-provoking. His "Hothouse" remains one of my favorite science fiction books. In this collection published in 1957, the standout for me is the one story that I had read before-"Poor Little Warrior!" about a jaded sportsman traveling back in time to hunt a dinosaur. Another excellent story is "Gesture of Farewell." The governor of a space colony makes the supreme sacrifice for that colony. And another is "Carrion Country" about an exploration team trying to figure out a mystery on the peaceful planet that they have landed on. Why is all that carrion lying around? Those are the best three, but all of the stories are of interest. Aldiss reminds me of Kurt Vonnegut, another author who pushed the boundaries of reality.

[Gert De Bie · Rating 3 out of 5]

2 sterren voor de intrinsieke kwaliteit en de hedendaagse relevantie, een derde ster omdat het toch wel iets bijzonders heeft, scifi van meer dan 60 jaar oud lezen. Nostalgie naar de voorbije toekomst ofzo. :)
Het niveau van romans Hothouse of Greybeard haalt Aldiss echter niet met deze verhalen en zo krachtig of verrassend (en tijdloos) als de kortverhalen van Ray Bradbury zijn ze ook niet.

Charmant en goed geschreven zijn ze meestal wel, maar de meest van de kortverhalen in deze bundel zijn eerder plotgedreven uitgewerkt terwijl de idee-gedreven verhalen in scifi meestal het langst overeind blijven.

Amusant tussendoortje.

[elias fernandes · Rating 5 out of 5]

For two of the stories- Outside and failed men- I have to give it full stars as those stories really moved me by its cleverness and imaginary. Amazing author.

[Invadozer Misothorax Circular-thallus Popewaffensquat · Rating 2 out of 5]

This little book is all Aldiss shorties that end real
abruptly or have sort of nice wrapped up endings that are
reflecting on the rest of the story in this light of 'well
that was...ok'. There is one particular story in here:
GESTURE OF FAREWELL. This story knocked me on my face and
blew my feet off!! The premise is Earth creates a
weapon that sucks a planet's atmosphere out and blows it
into space. The 'enemies' get this 'gobbler' sent to
their world for destructive intentions leaving the
planet open for rebuilding, years of rebuilding. A
certain fella is obsessed with working/revitalizing a
world even though his family is dying or going nuts.
The 'enemies' of these various planets sabotaged
their gobbled planets differently before dying. Each
sabotaged planet is ingenious booby trapped with different
contraptions. This story has one too....damnit it's great, read
that story if you see this book somewhere. It's a
delight to read Aldiss as he uses good synonyms and
adjectives to weave but the basket isn't always holding much
of anything by the end of the story but the words he
tied it together with. Not like every basket woven
needs a snake or pie slice in it... Huzza

[Chris Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am writing this because no other comment mentioned anything about the best short story in this little collection: Judas Danced. I might have been slightly drunk when I read it, or most of the stories in this collection, but it blew me off my feet. I know other authors write stories like this and are technically better writers, but none of them has had the same impact as this one had. I made my wife read it and she was also blown away.

The other stories were alright. Some were quite good. Others pretty garbage. Will read more by Aldiss, even if just looking for the diamond in the rough.

[Joachim Boaz · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75/5 (collated rating: Good)

This collection of Brian Aldiss short stories from the mid-to-late 50s is a notch above the middling Galaxies Like Grains of Sand (1960), collated from the same period, which I reviewed a few months back. Aldiss is definitely one of the more bizarre [...]

Full review: https://sciencefictionruminations.com...

[Michael Tildsley · Rating 2 out of 5]

The stories here are just okay. Many feel outdated, but the biggest sin of them all is Aldiss style is long-winded and boring at times. I love a flowery Bradbury-type story, but please, keep my interest. It felt like all-t00-often that Aldiss got lost in the weeds.

[Naira · Rating 5 out of 5]

"You see, language is the most intrinsic product of any culture; you can't comprehend the language until you have understood the culture- and how do you understand a culture till you know its lenguage."

[Tyler Meyers · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a great imaginative short story collection. My top 3 stories are 3: The failed men 2:Judas danced 1: Carrion country

[Alexander Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story "T" is the best short story i have ever read.

[Felix Dance · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are some interesting ideas in this collection of science fiction short stories from the 1940s, but I found myself constantly comparing him to Asimov and Clarke from the same era and Aldiss just doesn’t cut the mustard. They’re all about aliens and time travel as though those things were new and exciting. In one a man finds himself stranded on a desolate moon after dark with a creepy alien carnivore, in another volunteers are sent hundreds of millions of years into the future to soothe humanity’s destiny as a race of ‘failed men’ and to ask why they have descended into such moroseness. Fairly interesting, as I sat on my Mon Cai balcony trying to figure out if my bike was repairable, but stretching credulity too far.

[Lew · Rating 1 out of 5]

I usually like older science fiction but I could not get into these stories. There were only one story that I liked. It was Gesture of Farewell.