Classic SF with Andy Johnson

In 1966,  New Worlds  magazine published the story "Behold the Man", by its editor Michael Moorcock. This sacrilegious tale of a man who travels back in time to replace Jesus won Moorcock the Nebula Award for Best Novella. This episode covers the extended 1969 novel version of what may be one of the boldest time travel stories of all. Get in touch with a text message! For more classic SF...

Continuing our look at Alan Dean Foster's Humanx Commonwealth series, this episode covers the fifth standalone novel:  Sentenced to Prism  (1985). Corporate troubleshooter Evan Orgell finds himself on a distant planet where silicon-based life is abundant. As Orgell struggles to survive, Foster gets to explore some of his favourite themes in the context of an SF adventure. Get in touch with a...

The 2020 "definitive editions" of  Mafia  and  Mafia II  are the stars of the show in this latest overview of the games I've played recently. This bumper instalment features: Supplice  [Early Access] (2023) Gun Jam  (2023) Oni  (2001) Urban Chaos  (1999) War Mongrels  (2021) Mafia: Definitive Edition  (2020) Mafia II: Definitive Edition  (2020) Deus Ex: Human Revolution  (2011) Get...

This second episode in a series on Iain M. Banks' Culture series of science fiction books covers the first novel,  Consider Phlebas  (1987). In this subversive take on the space opera, Banks introduces the Culture from the outside - by using as his protagonist the ruthless, shape-changing agent Bora Horza Gobuchul. Expect space pirates, cannibals, a fugitive AI, and a deadly game of "Dam...

An expansion of her 1974 novella,  Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang  is Kate Wilhelm's best-known work in the science fiction genre. Winner of three major awards for Best Novel in 1977, it is often called one of the most important SF novels to deal with the issue of cloning. This episode looks at how Wilhelm's scientific shortcomings are compensated for by her philosophical thoughtfulness...

The anime-inspired third-person action game  Oni  is often thought of mainly as "Bungie's forgotten game". But in fact, this classic deserves to be recognised as something much more than just a footnote in the history of the studio that made  Halo.  This review does a dream dive into what makes  Oni  special, and makes the case that it should be a cult classic. Get in touch with a t...

The 1991 collection  The State of the Art  serves an important function in the bibliography of revered Scottish author Iain M. Banks (1954 - 2013). It collects his short fiction from 1987 to 1989, crucially including the stories "A Gift From the Culture", "Descendant", and the title story. These are entries in Banks' Culture series, and good entry points into that sprawlin...

Can 2023 live up to the lofty hopes of a revival of real-time strategy games? We had the first major test of that thesis in February, with the releases of  The Settlers: New Allies  and  Company of Heroes 3 . I reviewed both of those games for  Entertainium this month, and share some brief thoughts in this episode. The games covered this month are: The Settlers: New Allies  (2023) Company of Heroe...

The exploration and colonisation of Mars is a perennial subject in science fiction. Arthur C. Clarke's 1951 novel  The Sands of Mars  is a significant entry in that history, especially because it takes a realistic approach  before  the Mariner 4 flyby in 1965 - at least until the alien kangaroos show up. This episode takes a look at the book, and how it fits in with the history of Mars-themed...

Before  The Handmaid's Tale (1985), there was  Native Tongue  (1984). Suzette Haden Elgin's feminist dystopia is an early precedent for this increasingly popular genre. Combining a powerful feminist message with a detailed exploration of the science of linguistics, this is an interesting curio of 1980s social SF. But why has Klingon proven to be so much more successful than Láadan, Elgin...

American author Roger Zelazny won the Hugo and Locus awards for Best Novella for his story "Home is the Hangman". The 1976 book My Name is Legion collects this science fiction tale and its two prequels. Featuring nuclear engineering projects, assumed identities, dolphins, and a killer robot, how does this collection stack up? Get in touch with a text message! For more classic SF reviews...

This bumper edition of "what I played" covers not one but  two  months! Featured in this instalment: Need for Speed Unbound  (2022) Metro Exodus  (2019) Company of Heroes 2  (2013) A Plague Tale: Innocence  (2019) Get in touch with a text message! For more classic SF reviews and discussion, visit andyjohnson.xyz . To get free weekly classic SF updates, sign up here .

This episode continues our look at the Humanx Commonwealth sci-fi series by Alan Dean Foster. The fourth standalone book,  Voyage to the City of the Dead , is set on the diverse Commonwealth world of Horseye. Married human scientists Etienne and Lyra Redowl travel up the massive Skar river and could make an incredible discovery -  if  they can survive the planet's dangers. To catch up with th...

If humans mastered the stars and met other alien species, what would they do in order to stay on top? This short episode covers  The Long Result , a 1965 sci-fi novel by British author John Brunner which is part of a transitional period in his fascinating career. Get in touch with a text message! For more classic SF reviews and discussion, visit andyjohnson.xyz . To get free weekly classic SF upda...

The latest monthly roundup of the games I've played lately, new and old. Featured in November 2022:  Evil West  (2022) Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0  (2022) Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory  (2005) Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends  (2006) Sniper Elite 4  (2017) Star Trek: Away Team  (2001) Get in touch with a text message! For more classic SF reviews and discussion, visit andyjohnson.xyz . To get free...

My coverage of Alan Dean Foster's Humanx Commonwealth series continues with  Nor Crystal Tears  (1982). This third novel focuses on the early history of the setting, and the first encounter between humans and the insect-like Thranx. Can the plucky agronomist Ryozenzuzex bridge the cultural barriers with a freakish species who wear their skeletons on the  inside ? Get in touch with a text mess...

Aliens, generation ships, dated social attitudes, and the horror of infinite nothingness. This episode is an overview of the book  Spaceworlds: Stories of Life in the Void . Published by the British Library in 2021, this anthology of classic science fiction stories set in space features short fiction by John Brunner, Jack Vance, Judith Merril, Richard C. Meredith, and more. Which are the essential...

This month's bumper roundup of the games I played features seven entries: Asterigos: Curse of the Stars  (2022) Dome Keeper  (2022) Gotham Knights  (2022) Titanfall 2 (2016) Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance  (2013) Cultic  (2022) Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II  (2022) Get in touch with a text message! For more classic SF reviews and discussion, visit andyjohnson.xyz . To get free weekly classi...

Another month bites the dust, and it was a busy one for me. Writing for Entertainium , I reviewed three games in September - a record. First up was Circus Electrique , an interesting mix of management and turn-based battles in steampunk London. I was much less impressed by No Place for Bravery , a Brazilian indie Soulslike which I found to be way wide of the mark. Conversely, I liked Sunday Gold f...

American author Patricia A. McKillip passed away in May 2022. This episode covers her breakthrough novel for adults,  The Forgotten Beasts of Eld  (1974), which won the first World Fantasy Award. The book focuses on a wizard-woman who commands a group of magical animals and gradually becomes drawn into human conflicts. But how does McKillip's novel weave a spell of its own? Get in touch with...

Each month, I take a look back at the games I've played recently - be they new or old - and share my quick thoughts. In this instalment, I cover new releases  Hard West II  and  Cursed to Golf , as well as  Metro: Last Light  (2013) and  There Is No Game: Wrong Dimension  (2020). Get in touch with a text message! For more classic SF reviews and discussion, visit andyjohnson.xyz . To get free...

Would you believe it, it's the 75th episode! Thank you to everyone who has listened to this odd, bitesize, sort-of-podcast and its highly inconsistent subject matter.  Barry Malzberg's breakthrough science fiction novel  Beyond Apollo  (1972) was the first ever winner of the prestigious Campbell award. Not everyone liked the book's experimental approach, though.  Expect sex, madness...

Originally serialised in Analog magazine in 1975, Lifeboat is a collaborative SF novel by Harry Harrison and Gordon R. Dickson. Can the humans and aliens trapped together in a cramped interstellar escape module find a way to survive? And did Harrison and Dickson deliver an engaging story? Get in touch with a text message! For more classic SF reviews and discussion, visit andyjohnson.xyz . To get f...

Inflation is rising rapidly, plunging working people into poverty. A huge strike wave spreads from one sector to another. A major economy has pulled out of Europe, adding to the economic chaos, and a new disease spreads around the continent. The British government neglects these crises, and instead pursues a culture war. This bleak description fits the UK in the summer of 2022, but it is also the...

This latest instalment of my monthly series on the games I’ve played has four entries. It kicks off with Strange Brigade and Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair , two very different games which are united by their unmistakable Britishness, sense of humour, and love of alliteration. Next up I have a few words about the fairly obscure action RPG Of Orcs and Men , made across the Channel in France....