The Criminal Computer
by Terrance Dicks (Blackie and Son, 1987)
An odd final volume, affording the Baker Street Irregulars a high-stakes case framed within a ludicrously unsophisticated conception of digital crime (even for the day). The denouement is pure SF mad scientist, after which Dicks may have felt too embarrassed to continue.
Bottomless Pit
by Philip E. High, New Worlds Science Fiction 128 (March 1963), 49-63.
High’s fiction often gave creative vent to anti-militaristic sentiments, favouring fanciful SF means of triumph over unwarranted aggression. This short story posits a planet near-mythical in fending off alien invaders. Terrans are the latest, falling foul of a unique if improbable ecosystem.
The Art of War
by Timothy Zahn, Fantasy & Science Fiction (March 1997), 120-160.
SF novella that doesn’t really repay its length, though the Kailth offer depth in passing as a warrior culture that appreciates art and nature. The main story (involving a naïve political intern and rare sculptures put to ill-use) trades in run-of-the-mill intrigue.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
by Stephen Chbosky (Pocket Books, 1999);
audiobook read by Noah Galvin (Simon & Schuster Audio, 2017)
An engaging YA narrative that normalises spectrum and identity differences through ingenuous first-person immersion. The plot, rather than being overtly ‘about’ any one thing, encompasses the broader swathe of life and so ends up tackling depression, trauma, family, friendship, love and sexuality.
Temporary Resident
by Philip E. High, New Worlds SF 159 (February 1966), 84-100.
A Cold War analogous SF short story with a twisty exploration of ‘who’s playing deep-rooted mind games with whom’. As so often with High, the wealth of imagination and effortless scope of ideas is let down by poor craftsmanship and muddled delivery.
Upper Fourth at Malory Towers
by Enid Blyton (Methuen, 1949); audiobook read by Beth Eyre (Bolinda, 2021)
Upper Fourth introduces more new characters, including Darrell’s little sister Felicity and Alicia’s brazen cousin June. The dynamics are rather fraught, with some of the girls on the cusp of real maturity but others cruel and sly and Gwendolen reaching her nadir.
Yes Minister, Series 2
by Antony Jay & Jonathan Lynn (BBC 2, 1981)
Series Two offers more of the same, still without entirely hitting its straps (the minister tending to stumble into, not yet earn, his rare victories). Paul Eddington’s tongue-tied floundering remains sublime beyond script. Graeme Garden makes a cameo in ‘The Death List’.
A Suppliant in Space
by Robert Sheckley, Galaxy (November 1973), 42-61.
A slight novelette in terms of content (Sheckley takes aim at hidebound military bureaucracy), but couched in sufficient irreverence to make it worthwhile. The alien Detringer, thoroughly untroubled by his exile for ‘acts of incredible grossness’, typifies Sheckley’s casually transgressive, off-the-wall shadings.
The Prince in Waiting
by John Christopher (Hamish Hamilton, 1970; reprinted 1973)
Book one of a grim, post-apocalyptic fantasy trilogy to match Christopher’s Tripods series. The worldbuilding is astute, each chapter unhurried yet serving as a stepping stone for some significant stride forward (albeit the protagonist is left still to cross his personal Rubicon).
Spoil of Yesterday
by John Brunner, Science Fiction Adventures 25 (March 1962), 2-40.
Understated novelette. Brunner explores the ramifications of time travel, partly through discussion between characters themselves coming to terms with causality and potentially being temporal aberrations, but mostly through presenting, without exposition, a society where the Spanish Armada was victorious over the English.