Science Fiction
FIRST LIGHT.
London: Hamish Hamilton, [1989]. Octavo, boards. First edition. The author's fourth novel.
MOSTLY HARMLESS.
Norwalk, Connecticut: The Easton Press, [1992]. Octavo, frontispiece by Frank Mayo, full leather, a.e.g. First limited edition. One of an unspecified number of copies signed by Adams. Introduction by James Gunn. The fifth book in the Hitch Hiker series. Part of the Easton press signed first edition series. [Reference: See Anatomy of Wonder (2004) II-3].
TIME MACHINES.
New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers, Inc., [1998]. Octavo, boards. First edition. Collects twenty-two stories by Jack Finney, Ray Bradbury, Edgar Allan Poe, Larry Niven, Robert Sawyer, Connie Willis, Rudyard Kipling and others.
BEST SF STORIES OF BRIAN W. ALDISS.
London: Victor Gollancz Ltd, 1988. Octavo, boards. First edition. Collects twenty-two stories, only nine of which appeared in earlier "best of" collections. [Reference: Anatomy of Wonder (2004) II-6].
THE BRIGHTFOUNT DIARIES.
London: Faber and Faber Ltd, [1955]. Octavo, cloth. First edition. The author's first book, based on his experiences working in a bookstore.
CRACKEN AT CRITICAL: A NOVEL IN THREE ACTS.
[Worcester Park, Surrey]: Kerosina Books, 1987. Octavo, cloth. First British edition. One of 250 numbered copies signed by Aldiss. Text revised from that of the earlier U.S. edition published as The Year Before Yesterday.
DRACULA UNBOUND.
[New York]: HarperCollinsPublishers, [1991]. Octavo, cloth backed boards. First edition. Time travelers connect with Bram Stoker to fight Dracula from a future where the human race is enslaved.
EARTHWORKS.
Garden City: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1966. Octavo, cloth. First U. S. edition. "An overpopulated world drifts towards nuclear Armageddon as the only 'solution' to its problems." - Pringle, The Ultimate Guide to Science Fiction, second edition (1995), p. 115.
HOTHOUSE.
London: Faber and Faber, [1962]. Octavo, cloth. First edition. Signed by Aldiss on the title page. Issued earlier in the U.S. in a shorter version as The Long Afternoon of Earth (1962). Novelization of five Hothouse stories that won the 1962 Hugo award for best short fiction published in 1961. [Reference: Anatomy of Wonder (1995) 3-3. Pringle, Science Fiction: The 100 Best Novels 34].
INTANGIBLES INC. AND OTHER STORIES.
London: Faber and Faber, [1969]. Octavo, cloth. First edition. Collects five novellas. The American edition title NEANDERTHAL PLANET (1970) has slightly different contents.
A ROMANCE OF THE EQUATOR.
[Birmingham: The Birmingham Science Fiction Group, 1979]. Octavo, printed wrappers. First edition. Limited to 550 numbered copies. Signed by Aldiss on the limitation page. Booklet issued for Novacon 10 at which Aldiss was guest of honor. Prints the short story.
SOMEWHERE EAST OF LIFE.
New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers, Inc., [1994]. Octavo, cloth backed boards. First U. S. trade edition. The last volume in the author's "Squire Quartet." "Roy Burnell likes his job; he travels the globe for World Antiquities and Cultural Heritage, an agency that researches, registers, and attempts to protect fine architecture from the dangers of wars that have broken out in Europe and Asia. While inspecting a cathedral in Budapest, Burnell encounters another danger of the 21st century: memory pirates. Ten years of his architectural knowledge and sexual experiences have been stolen from him, packaged, and offered up for sale on the e-mnemonicvision black market; Burnell is left confused and bereft. In search of his career and his stolen memories, Burnell travels east, into the heart of ethnic warfare and human depravity. On his journeys he encounters a faithless priest concealing a priceless icon, a brutal conqueror, ruthless profiteers and apathetic prostitutes, and, perhaps most frightening of all, his ex-wife. He braves sandstorms, scorpions, cholera, terrorists, and government bureaucracy, trying to make sense of his own life and the lives of others. Intelligent, funny, and hopeful in spite of itself, Aldiss's (A Tupolev Too Far, 1994) latest fantasy serves as a powerful warning about the perils of the future and a rueful assessment of humanity's likely response." - Kirkus Review 1 June, 1994.
SOMEWHERE EAST OF LIFE.
Norwalk, Connecticut: The Easton Press, [1994]. Octavo, frontispiece by Frank Mayo, full leather, a.e.g. First limited edition. One of an unspecified number of copies signed by Aldiss. Introduction by James Gunn. "Roy Burnell likes his job; he travels the globe for World Antiquities and Cultural Heritage, an agency that researches, registers, and attempts to protect fine architecture from the dangers of wars that have broken out in Europe and Asia. While inspecting a cathedral in Budapest, Burnell encounters another danger of the 21st century: memory pirates. Ten years of his architectural knowledge and sexual experiences have been stolen from him, packaged, and offered up for sale on the e-mnemonicvision black market..." - Kirkus Review, 1 June, 1994. Part of the Easton press signed first edition series.
SPACE, TIME AND NATHANIEL.
London: Faber and Faber, [1957]. Octavo, cloth. First edition. The author's first SF book, a collection of fourteen short stories. Includes "The Shubshub Race," a satire set partly on Upotia, a destination planet for wealthy individuals. "Fourteen lyrical stories, comprising its author's first collection. Notable entries are 'Outside' (1955), 'Psyclops' (1956) and 'The Failed Men' (1957)." - Pringle, The Ultimate Guide to Science Fiction, second edition (1995), p. 338. [Reference: Sargent, British and American Utopian Literature, 1516-1985, p. 264].
SPACE, TIME AND NATHANIEL.
London: Faber and Faber, [1957]. Octavo, cloth. First edition. The author's first SF book, a collection of fourteen short stories. Includes "The Shubshub Race," a satire set partly on Upotia, a destination planet for wealthy individuals. "Fourteen lyrical stories, comprising its author's first collection. Notable entries are 'Outside' (1955), 'Psyclops' (1956) and 'The Failed Men' (1957)." - Pringle, The Ultimate Guide to Science Fiction, second edition (1995), p. 338. [Reference: Sargent, British and American Utopian Literature, 1516-1985, p. 264].
SPACE, TIME AND NATHANIEL.
London: Faber and Faber, [1957]. Octavo, cloth. First edition. Inscribed and signed by Aldiss to editor, researcher and long time fan Joseph Wrzos on the front free end paper. The author's first SF book, a collection of fourteen short stories. Includes "The Shubshub Race," a satire set partly on Upotia, a destination planet for wealthy individuals. "Fourteen lyrical stories, comprising its author's first collection. Notable entries are 'Outside' (1955), 'Psyclops' (1956) and 'The Failed Men' (1957)." - Pringle, The Ultimate Guide to Science Fiction, second edition (1995), p. 338. [Reference: Sargent, British and American Utopian Literature, 1516-1985, p. 264].
NEBULA AWARD STORIES TWO.
Garden City: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1967. Octavo, cloth. First edition. Collects eleven stories by Richard McKenna, Bob Shaw, R. A. Lafferty, Jack Vance, Frederik Pohl, Philip K. Dick, and others. [Reference: Anatomy of Wonder (2004) II-1364].
NEBULA AWARD STORIES TWO.
Garden City: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1967. Octavo, cloth. First edition. Collects eleven stories by Richard McKenna, Bob Shaw, R. A. Lafferty, Jack Vance, Frederik Pohl, Philip K. Dick, and others. [Reference: Anatomy of Wonder (2004) II-1364].
CRACKEN AT CRITICAL: A NOVEL IN THREE ACTS.
[Worcester Park, Surrey]: Kerosina Books, 1987. Octavo, cloth. First British edition. One of 250 numbered copies signed by Aldiss. Fix-up novel in which "the author has built a framing narrative, about an alternative Europe still under Nazi domination, around two old space adventure novellas from the 1950s ... The modern story is fine, but, unfortunately, it comprises less than a fifth of the whole book." - Pringle, The Ultimate Guide to Science Fiction, second edition (1995), p. 80. Text revised from that of the earlier U.S. edition published as THE YEAR BEFORE YESTERDAY.
FRANKENSTEIN UNBOUND.
New York: Random House, [1974]. Octavo, cloth. First U.S. edition. A 1990 film directed by Roger Corman was based on this novel. [Reference: Anatomy of Wonder (2004) II-9. Barron (ed), Horror Literature 4-10. Survey of Science Fiction Literature II, pp. 840-4].
THE HELLICONIA TRILOGY: HELLICONIA SPRING; HELLICONIA SUMMER; AND HELLICONIA WINTER.
London: Jonathan Cape, [1982-1985]. Octavo, three volumes, boards. First British editions. First two simultaneous, last preceded by the U.S. edition. The complete trilogy comprising HELLICONIA SPRING, HELLICONIA SUMMER, and HELLICONIA WINTER. A "massive attempt at world-creation: the evocation of an alien planet where 'winter' lasts many centuries. An epic narrative, impressively detailed. John W. Campbell award winner, 1983. The elaborate, brilliantly sustained sequels are HELLICONIA SUMMER (1983) and HELLICONIA WINTER (1985)." - Pringle, The Ultimate Guide to Science Fiction, second edition (1995), p. 170. "Though science fiction often has this scope, it has never had this grandeur." - The Times Literary Supplement. [Reference: Anatomy of Wonder (2004) II-11].
THE HELLICONIA TRILOGY: HELLICONIA SPRING; HELLICONIA SUMMER; AND HELLICONIA WINTER.
London: Jonathan Cape, [1982-1985]. Octavo, three volumes, boards. First British editions. First two simultaneous, last preceded by the U.S. edition. The complete trilogy comprising HELLICONIA SPRING, HELLICONIA SUMMER, and HELLICONIA WINTER. A "massive attempt at world-creation: the evocation of an alien planet where 'winter' lasts many centuries. An epic narrative, impressively detailed. John W. Campbell award winner, 1983. The elaborate, brilliantly sustained sequels are HELLICONIA SUMMER (1983) and HELLICONIA WINTER (1985)." - Pringle, The Ultimate Guide to Science Fiction, second edition (1995), p. 170. "Though science fiction often has this scope, it has never had this grandeur." - The Times Literary Supplement. [Reference: Anatomy of Wonder (2004) II-11].
THE HELLICONIA TRILOGY: HELLICONIA SPRING; HELLICONIA SUMMER; AND HELLICONIA WINTER.
London: Jonathan Cape, [1982-1985]. Octavo, three volumes, boards. First British editions. The first volume is signed by Aldiss on the title page. First two simultaneous, last preceded by the U.S. edition. The complete trilogy comprising HELLICONIA SPRING, HELLICONIA SUMMER, and HELLICONIA WINTER. A "massive attempt at world-creation: the evocation of an alien planet where 'winter' lasts many centuries. An epic narrative, impressively detailed. John W. Campbell award winner, 1983. The elaborate, brilliantly sustained sequels are HELLICONIA SUMMER (1983) and HELLICONIA WINTER (1985)." - Pringle, The Ultimate Guide to Science Fiction, second edition (1995), p. 170. "Though science fiction often has this scope, it has never had this grandeur." - The Times Literary Supplement. [Reference: Anatomy of Wonder (2004) II-11].
HOTHOUSE...
London: Faber and Faber, [1962]. Octavo, cloth. First edition. Issued earlier in the U.S. in a shorter version as The Long Afternoon of Earth (1962). Novelization of five Hothouse stories that won the 1962 Hugo award for best short fiction published in 1961. [Reference: Anatomy of Wonder (1995) 3-3. Pringle, Science Fiction: The 100 Best Novels 34].
THE MALACIA TAPESTRY.
New York, Hagerstown, San Francisco, London: Harper & Row, Publishers, [1977]. Octavo, cloth-backed boards. First U.S. edition. [Reference: Anatomy of Wonder (1981) 3-9. Barron (ed), Fantasy Literature 4A-3. Pringle, Modern Fantasy: The Hundred Best Novels 59].