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270pages. poche. Broché.
285 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1979
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About the author
Maxim Jakubowski
279 books161 followersMaxim Jakubowski is a crime, erotic, and science fiction writer and critic.
Jakubowski was born in England by Russian-British and Polish parents, but raised in France. Jakubowski has also lived in Italy and has travelled extensively. Jakubowski edited the science fiction anthology Twenty Houses of the Zodiac in 1979 for the 37th World Science Fiction Convention (Seacon '79) in Brighton. He also contributed a short story to that anthology. He has now published almost 100 books in a variety of areas.
He has worked in book publishing for many years, which he left to open the Murder One bookshop[1], the UK's first specialist crime and mystery bookstore. He contributes to a variety of newspapers and magazines, and was for eight years the crime columnist for Time Out and, presently, since 2000, the crime reviewer for The Guardian. He is also the literary director of London's Crime Scene Festival and a consultant for the International Mystery Film Festival, Noir in Fest, held annually in Courmayeur, Italy. He is one the leading editors in the crime and mystery and erotica field, in which he has published many major anthologies.
His novels include "It's You That I Want To Kiss", "Because She Thought She Loved Me", "The State Of Montana", "On Tenderness Express", "Kiss me Sadly" and "Confessions of a Romantic Pornographer". His short story collections are "Life in the World of Women", "Fools for Lust" and the collaborative "American Casanova". He is a regular broadcaster on British TV and radio and was recently voted the 4th Sexiest Writer of 2,007 on a poll on the crimespace website.
Jakubowski was born in England by Russian-British and Polish parents, but raised in France. Jakubowski has also lived in Italy and has travelled extensively. Jakubowski edited the science fiction anthology Twenty Houses of the Zodiac in 1979 for the 37th World Science Fiction Convention (Seacon '79) in Brighton. He also contributed a short story to that anthology. He has now published almost 100 books in a variety of areas.
He has worked in book publishing for many years, which he left to open the Murder One bookshop[1], the UK's first specialist crime and mystery bookstore. He contributes to a variety of newspapers and magazines, and was for eight years the crime columnist for Time Out and, presently, since 2000, the crime reviewer for The Guardian. He is also the literary director of London's Crime Scene Festival and a consultant for the International Mystery Film Festival, Noir in Fest, held annually in Courmayeur, Italy. He is one the leading editors in the crime and mystery and erotica field, in which he has published many major anthologies.
His novels include "It's You That I Want To Kiss", "Because She Thought She Loved Me", "The State Of Montana", "On Tenderness Express", "Kiss me Sadly" and "Confessions of a Romantic Pornographer". His short story collections are "Life in the World of Women", "Fools for Lust" and the collaborative "American Casanova". He is a regular broadcaster on British TV and radio and was recently voted the 4th Sexiest Writer of 2,007 on a poll on the crimespace website.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 24, 2023
The book has the subtitle - An Anthology of International Science Fiction. This deliberately set out to be stories from as many countries as possible. The contents page states the country of each author. The introduction also states the book was released simultaneously worldwide to coincide with Seacon 79, the 37th WorldCon which was held in Brighton, England in 1979. Some of the stories are reprints, but many were commissioned specifically for the anthology. The concept of this anthology, coupled with the quality of the names I recognised made it an instant must have purchase and sent it straight to the top of my TBR. This anthology is a very mixed bag. There are some SF masterpieces, and some drivel I wouldn’t even call SF. So here’s what I thought of the stories.
Oh, for a Closer Brush with God by Brian W. Aldiss (England) - An irreverent, some would say sacrilegious, tale where God has manifested in a goldfish bowl, with flippers. I had a few giggles. “You will have to accept that even omnipotence has its limits.”
A Kind of Space by Ion Hobana (Romania) – A fun homage to Wells’ Time Machine featuring Herbert George himself.
Dealers in Light and Darkness by Cherry Wilder (Australia) – On odd story. SF told in a fantasy style. I found this story a bit disjointed, and was occasional confused about which character was which. I think the author has tried to cram too much into too short a story. It’s ended up as two people sitting around telling each other the history of the world instead of a story exploring the world.
A Hole in Time by Gerd Maximovic (West Germany) – An industrial factory mysteriously moves to a jungle in the past and remains there for 1 year. The workers take charge of their survival from the cigar smoking manager. I can’t decide if this is advocating communism or satirising it. Being a West German author I’m leaning towards satire. If it was an East German author I’d lean towards propaganda. Whichever way you interpret it, it’s very much a cold war era story.
High Tide by Élisabeth Vonarburg (Canada) – A farm colony story on an alien planet told from the perspective of an obnoxious brat of a child. The kid is supposed to be the sympathetic protagonist the reader identifies with, but I didn’t find him so. It’s a simple Flood parable story. Coupled with the unpleasant protagonist this is a below average story.
I Can Teleport Myself to Anywhere by Robert Sheckley (USA) – This was a very short story, just over 4 pages, but entirely worth it. An amusing analysis of teleport jet-lag.
Heavier Than Sleep by Philippe Curval (France) – Excellent alien invasion story where the aliens are spores that take over people’s minds if they sleep. The human resistance hasn’t slept for 3 years.
An Avocado Pear for Dolorès by Maxim Jakubowski (as by Adam Barnett-Foster) (San Serriffe) – A space musician bumming around the space-lanes from space gig to space gig with a thin veneer of retro (retro even for 1979) terminology to make it spacey. This story can best be summed up with a quote from the protagonist – “Maybe it’s that I haven’t got anything to say, really.” I can understand why he didn’t want his real name credited to it. Space-filler.
The Gigantic Fluctuation by Arkady Strugatsky and Boris Strugatsky (USSR) – Probability. If you toss a coin and it always comes up heads, you’d probably consider yourself lucky. The brothers Strugatsky take a much more Russian attitude to the proposition. A thought provoking and fun tale.
Zodiac 2000 by J. G. Ballard (England) – Magnificent. A story told in 12 horoscopic snippets of a modernised zodiac. I don’t think anyone other than Ballard could have written this successfully. Now he would leave them, and take the left-handed staircase to the roof above his mind, and fly away across the free skies of his inner space.
A Sunrise by Hugo Raes (Holland) – Aliens having sex on a moon of Saturn. It’s completely bizarre nonsense, while bizarrely making complete sense. This needs to be read to be believed.
Love Keys by Shin'Ichi Hoshi (Japan) – Almost a fable, on love and passwords to the heart. It’s interesting to see biometric security used so early in SF.
The Cottage of Eternity by Bob Shaw (Ireland) – Particle Physics: A supernatural romcom. Not a concept I’d have thought would work, but this was hilarious. Mad Sqientists, ghosts, and nuclear physics, wrapped in a love story. It's completely bonkers, but also strangely plausible
Ice Two by Daniel Walther (France) – Two people retreat to a house in a frozen one wilderness, one of them to write. The only thing that even comes close to making this SF is a reference at the start that the frozen wilderness is on an alien planet. Simple word swap alien planet with Arctic Circle and it would make zero difference to the story. It’s not SF. It’s repetitive stream of consciousness waste of words in the snow.
The Brass Monkey by John Sladek (USA) – Social conditioning and the rise of the machine. Machines condition people into machines in a utopian dystopia. A complex thought experiment referencing Shelly, and Capek, and Lang (the book is has more than the film though so I’m adding a shout out to von Harbou), and Leiber. A story which really engages the brain.
The Alabaster Garden by Teresa Inglés (Spain) – Exploring an undiscovered hyperspace route based on the dying words of an old friend. Very well written and an interesting discovery made. Classic space adventure.
Idiosyncrasies by Maxim Jakubowski (England/France) – There should be a law against editors including their own work in anthologies. This is the second story from Maxim and it is less SF and less point than the first. It’s a half dozen character profiles strung together as a tour of a people collection. It’s utter pointless rubbish.
Take Me Down the River by Sam J. Lundwall (Sweden) – A hotel at the end of the world. Not a metaphorical end, but a literal one. Dirt and rock stop, starry space begins. A river gushes as a waterfall over the edge into endless void. The story starts with a man getting into a barrel. A beautifully written melancholy story.
The White Death by Stanisław Lem (Poland) – Wow. There’s enough complex world building in this short story that if it was written today it would be a 7 novel series. A spaceship crashes on a world of crystal and metal aliens. Brilliantly written and envisaged.
Crossing into Cambodia by Michael Moorcock (England) – An alternate history Apocalypse Now flipped to a Russian perspective set in Cambodia during the end stages of World War II. Not my usual fare. I’m not a fan of AltHist, but Moorcock’s prose makes it worth the read.
Oh, for a Closer Brush with God by Brian W. Aldiss (England) - An irreverent, some would say sacrilegious, tale where God has manifested in a goldfish bowl, with flippers. I had a few giggles. “You will have to accept that even omnipotence has its limits.”
A Kind of Space by Ion Hobana (Romania) – A fun homage to Wells’ Time Machine featuring Herbert George himself.
Dealers in Light and Darkness by Cherry Wilder (Australia) – On odd story. SF told in a fantasy style. I found this story a bit disjointed, and was occasional confused about which character was which. I think the author has tried to cram too much into too short a story. It’s ended up as two people sitting around telling each other the history of the world instead of a story exploring the world.
A Hole in Time by Gerd Maximovic (West Germany) – An industrial factory mysteriously moves to a jungle in the past and remains there for 1 year. The workers take charge of their survival from the cigar smoking manager. I can’t decide if this is advocating communism or satirising it. Being a West German author I’m leaning towards satire. If it was an East German author I’d lean towards propaganda. Whichever way you interpret it, it’s very much a cold war era story.
High Tide by Élisabeth Vonarburg (Canada) – A farm colony story on an alien planet told from the perspective of an obnoxious brat of a child. The kid is supposed to be the sympathetic protagonist the reader identifies with, but I didn’t find him so. It’s a simple Flood parable story. Coupled with the unpleasant protagonist this is a below average story.
I Can Teleport Myself to Anywhere by Robert Sheckley (USA) – This was a very short story, just over 4 pages, but entirely worth it. An amusing analysis of teleport jet-lag.
Heavier Than Sleep by Philippe Curval (France) – Excellent alien invasion story where the aliens are spores that take over people’s minds if they sleep. The human resistance hasn’t slept for 3 years.
An Avocado Pear for Dolorès by Maxim Jakubowski (as by Adam Barnett-Foster) (San Serriffe) – A space musician bumming around the space-lanes from space gig to space gig with a thin veneer of retro (retro even for 1979) terminology to make it spacey. This story can best be summed up with a quote from the protagonist – “Maybe it’s that I haven’t got anything to say, really.” I can understand why he didn’t want his real name credited to it. Space-filler.
The Gigantic Fluctuation by Arkady Strugatsky and Boris Strugatsky (USSR) – Probability. If you toss a coin and it always comes up heads, you’d probably consider yourself lucky. The brothers Strugatsky take a much more Russian attitude to the proposition. A thought provoking and fun tale.
Zodiac 2000 by J. G. Ballard (England) – Magnificent. A story told in 12 horoscopic snippets of a modernised zodiac. I don’t think anyone other than Ballard could have written this successfully. Now he would leave them, and take the left-handed staircase to the roof above his mind, and fly away across the free skies of his inner space.
A Sunrise by Hugo Raes (Holland) – Aliens having sex on a moon of Saturn. It’s completely bizarre nonsense, while bizarrely making complete sense. This needs to be read to be believed.
Love Keys by Shin'Ichi Hoshi (Japan) – Almost a fable, on love and passwords to the heart. It’s interesting to see biometric security used so early in SF.
The Cottage of Eternity by Bob Shaw (Ireland) – Particle Physics: A supernatural romcom. Not a concept I’d have thought would work, but this was hilarious. Mad Sqientists, ghosts, and nuclear physics, wrapped in a love story. It's completely bonkers, but also strangely plausible
Ice Two by Daniel Walther (France) – Two people retreat to a house in a frozen one wilderness, one of them to write. The only thing that even comes close to making this SF is a reference at the start that the frozen wilderness is on an alien planet. Simple word swap alien planet with Arctic Circle and it would make zero difference to the story. It’s not SF. It’s repetitive stream of consciousness waste of words in the snow.
The Brass Monkey by John Sladek (USA) – Social conditioning and the rise of the machine. Machines condition people into machines in a utopian dystopia. A complex thought experiment referencing Shelly, and Capek, and Lang (the book is has more than the film though so I’m adding a shout out to von Harbou), and Leiber. A story which really engages the brain.
The Alabaster Garden by Teresa Inglés (Spain) – Exploring an undiscovered hyperspace route based on the dying words of an old friend. Very well written and an interesting discovery made. Classic space adventure.
Idiosyncrasies by Maxim Jakubowski (England/France) – There should be a law against editors including their own work in anthologies. This is the second story from Maxim and it is less SF and less point than the first. It’s a half dozen character profiles strung together as a tour of a people collection. It’s utter pointless rubbish.
Take Me Down the River by Sam J. Lundwall (Sweden) – A hotel at the end of the world. Not a metaphorical end, but a literal one. Dirt and rock stop, starry space begins. A river gushes as a waterfall over the edge into endless void. The story starts with a man getting into a barrel. A beautifully written melancholy story.
The White Death by Stanisław Lem (Poland) – Wow. There’s enough complex world building in this short story that if it was written today it would be a 7 novel series. A spaceship crashes on a world of crystal and metal aliens. Brilliantly written and envisaged.
Crossing into Cambodia by Michael Moorcock (England) – An alternate history Apocalypse Now flipped to a Russian perspective set in Cambodia during the end stages of World War II. Not my usual fare. I’m not a fan of AltHist, but Moorcock’s prose makes it worth the read.
April 18, 2022
Loved half the stories in here. (Not so keen on the military sci-fi themed tales. Some of these longer stories went on for too long for me!)
My favourites were Aldiss's oh for a closer brush with God, Vonarburg's high tide, and Rae's a sunrise.
Nice to see so many women amongst the contributing authors...progressive for its time (published in 1979).
My favourites were Aldiss's oh for a closer brush with God, Vonarburg's high tide, and Rae's a sunrise.
Nice to see so many women amongst the contributing authors...progressive for its time (published in 1979).
November 18, 2025
An average SF shirt story collection, unfortunately with a lot of "a product of its time" portrayal of women and these stories were also bundled together, so a bit of eye rolling was involved.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews