American Science Fiction: Four Classic Novels 1968-1969: Past Master / Picnic on Paradise / Nova / Emphyrio

by Gary K. Wolfe (Editor), R.A. Lafferty, Joanna Russ

The tumultuous 1960s was a watershed decade for American science fiction. While acknowledged masters from the genre’s golden age reached the height of their powers, a new wave of brilliant young voices emerged, upending the genre’s pulp conventions with newfound literary sophistication. Amid calls for civil rights and countercultural revolution, female, nonwhite, and other outsider authors broke into the ranks of SF writers, introducing provocative new protagonists and themes.

Here, in the second volume of a two-volume collector’s set, editor Gary K. Wolfe presents four of the best novels from the final years of the decade. In R. A. Lafferty’s utterly idiosyncratic and uncategorizable Past Master (1968), Renaissance philosopher Thomas More is summoned to Golden Astrobe in the year 2535: Can he save the planet’s troubled utopia from its soulless technological perfection and ensure the survival of the faith? Joanna Russ introduces one of SF’s first and most engaging female adventurers in her taut and edgy debut novel Picnic on Paradise (1968): the tough, sardonic, unforgettable Alyx, an ancient Phoenician mercenary teleported into the future to serve as guide and bodyguard for a band of stranded space tourists.

The first African American writer to make a name for himself in the genre, Samuel R. Delany was hailed as “the best science-fiction writer in the world” on the basis of Nova (1968), a white-hot, fast-paced, protocyberpunk interstellar adventure featuring a misfit crew on a high-stakes quest. Stumbling on a mysterious ancient text among his father’s belongings, the son of a master woodcarver uncovers the key to revolutionary change in Jack Vance’s Emphyrio (1969), a marvel of craftsmanship and visionary world-building set on remote, feudal, theocratic Halma.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Anthologies

762 pages, Hardcover

First published September 24, 2019

About the author

Gary K. Wolfe is Emeritus Professor of Humanities at Roosevelt University and the author, most recently, of Evaporating Genres: Essays on Fantastic Literature and Sightings: Reviews 2002–2006. He writes regular review columns for Locus magazine and the Chicago Tribune, and co-hosts with Jonathan Strahan the Hugo-nominated Coode Street Podcast.

Reviews

[Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Past Master" - this book would not be published today, or if it was self-published, would be derided as evidence of how awful self-publishing is. I mean it was terrible, a slog, lazy rambling. I barely got through it. Near as I can tell the only thing it's trying to say is "Thomas Moore was a moral absolutist." Moore comes through as a character. Everyone else... meh.

"Picnic on Paradise" imagine the book about traveling to the south pole, but Science Fiction. The main character is a Magnificent Bitch... and must have felt more unique when it happened. These days we'd expect a little more, but back then... wow, yeah, warrior woman on the go! I wondered at the relationship between the protagonist and the boy... I thought Russ was a lesbian and I wonder if she had to sublimate her own preferences for commercial appeal. Anyway, the focus on drugs = enlightenment and the weird, war is war?
Very 1960s.

"Nova" -- this is among the best books I have ever written and reading it, enjoying it, showed me just how head-and-shoulders it was above all the novels of its time. It feels 20 years before its time. SO GOOD. The characters are nuanced, the world is nuanced, it feels REAL, complex, all the details in display. I can't gush enough.

"Emphyrio" -- would have been awesome if not after "Nova" which is head-and-shoulders above it. Still, I enjoyed the complexity of the world and the way it addresses issues of work and value. However, I feel it has a strong upper-middle-class bias which irritated me. Still, it was an enjoyable enough read, did not have to force myself to finish.

[Ivan Stoner · Rating 5 out of 5]

I haven't read the Delaney effort yet, but even so I can confidently state that this is the most Sci Fi talent packed into a single volume bar none.

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didn't finish the Lafferty. Didn't care about any of the characters and couldn't see the point.
Found the Russ confusing and nonsensical.
Enjoyed the Delany and Vance.

[Martin Hernandez · Rating 3 out of 5]

De los cuatro volúmenes que ha publicado la Librería de América sobre este género, me parece que éste es el más flojo. Ninguna de las cuatro historias aquí reunidas me enganchó; de hecho, me costó trabajo terminar de leer las dos primeras. Aquí mis comentarios para cada una:

Past Master, de R. A. LAFFERTY es la primera novela publicada de este autor, que imagina al filósofo renacentista Tomás MORO viajando en el tiempo y el espacio a un planeta en el año 2535, con el objetivo de salvar la turbulenta utopía del planeta de su desalmada perfección tecnológica y garantizar la supervivencia de la fe... aunque fue nominada para el Premio Nebula en 1968 y el Hugo el año siguiente, no disfruté mucho la lectura, el argumento me pareció absurdo y difícil de seguir y muchas situaciones, incongruentes. (2/5)

Con Picnic on Paradise, Joanna RUSS sacudió la escena con su ciencia ficción feminista y radical, y su heroína Alix, una guerrera de la antigua Fenicia convertida en una especie de guía de turistas del futuro. Desafortunadamente, la narración es densa y muy confusa; creo que la novela es una buena idea mal ejecutada, y que el tema daba para más, aunque 50 años . También estuvo nominada para el Premio Hugo de 1969. (2/5)

También nominada al Hugo en 1969, Nova, catapultó a la fama a Samuel R. DELANY, y lo hizo uno de los escritores más populares del género. Formalmente cabe dentro del sub-género de la "ópera espacial" aunque sin discusión es una de las precursoras del cyberpunk, la novela explora la política y la cultura de un futuro donde la tecnología cyborg es universal. Me recordó mucho a The Man in the High Castle por el empleo de cartas del tarot pero tomar decisiones importantes (en el caso de la novela de Philip K. DICK es el I Ching). (3/5)

Finalmente, Emphyrio, de Jack VANCE fue la novela que más disfruté de este tomo, aunque también me pareció floja, a veces parece más el boceto de una novela brillante que una obra completamente realizada, cosa que se nota particularmente el final, que es apresurado y poco convincente. (3/5)

[Ashutosh Sahu · Rating 2 out of 5]

This particular volume is, by leaps and bounds, the WORST of the Library of America Collection's Classic American Sci-Fi collections I have ever read. I don't know if the editor/selection committee went full stop stupid or if they deliberately picked obscure and unreadable garbage or if '68-'69 were just bad years.

Other volumes (1950's, earlier 1960's) typically have 3 clear-cut gems and 1 transcendent winner.

Past Master -- unreadable garbage
Picnic -- some kind of sympathy vote at the Nebulas
Nova -- amazing, terrific. The only reason this collection gets a second star
Emphyrio -- flawed, with serious pacing and boredom issues.

[Kevin Price]

Haven’t actually finished all four, just Past Master and Picnic on Paradise. Currently reading, and enjoying, Emphyrio (love Vance and struggled to finish Nova in the past, so I am skipping it for now). I cannot how much shit Past Master and Picnic on Paradise get. Past Master is flawed, but it’s written so beautifully! The world it creates is so fun, and odd. I disagree with its politics, but it’s well worth a read. Picnic on Paradise is also so fun! Very high quality writing, very exciting and romantic as well. I loved it. Just my two cents.

[Bob Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

The years 1968 and 1969 must have been exceptional for Science Fiction, because the four novels collected in the volume are the strongest multi-author collection of Science Fiction that Library of America has published so far.

[DaveH · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just didn't enjoy this book as much as the previous one

[Mills College Library]

Fiction A51278 1968-1969

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Old-timey sci-fi doesn't always ring true in later times. Good stories. I like the classic stuff.

[Timothy]

Past Master (1968) • R. A. Lafferty
Picnic on Paradise (1968) • Joanna Russ
**** Nova (1968) • Samuel R. Delany
***** Emphyrio (1969) • Jack Vance

[Tyler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Four very different novels from an interesting time in the development of the genre. If you like classic scifi then this will appeal.