Best Science Fiction Stories of Brian W. Aldiss
by Brian W. Aldiss
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This is a note on the title story only. Other notes will be added below if I read other stories. This particular title ('Who Can Replace a Man?' - 1958) looks at men and machines with dry dark dystopian British humour even though the setting is clearly North American in tone.
The machines are, of course, 1950s machines, great clunky things, but Aldiss introduces a form of graded AI into them in order to create the possibility of an alternative machine society that reproduces the violence of humanity from logic rather than emotion when men are gone.
The ancient Biblical idea of the created being created in the image of the creator lurks in here but also that the created is always in some way less than the creator and must obey him. It is a show more rather pessimistic story that plays with our idea of freedom and denies it to our creation.
The machine reasoning process he introduces doesn't really work too well but he is making a point rather than trying to create a credible world. The point is that men and machines are both brutish in their own way but that men, self-destructive to the end, will always have the edge on the latter.
The punch line I leave to the reader since we try to avoid spoilers but it is a witty enough tale and it is understandable that it is much anthologised, especially for adolescents, because it can be used to trigger many initial lines of thought on the 'humanity' of robots and on automation in society. show less
The machines are, of course, 1950s machines, great clunky things, but Aldiss introduces a form of graded AI into them in order to create the possibility of an alternative machine society that reproduces the violence of humanity from logic rather than emotion when men are gone.
The ancient Biblical idea of the created being created in the image of the creator lurks in here but also that the created is always in some way less than the creator and must obey him. It is a show more rather pessimistic story that plays with our idea of freedom and denies it to our creation.
The machine reasoning process he introduces doesn't really work too well but he is making a point rather than trying to create a credible world. The point is that men and machines are both brutish in their own way but that men, self-destructive to the end, will always have the edge on the latter.
The punch line I leave to the reader since we try to avoid spoilers but it is a witty enough tale and it is understandable that it is much anthologised, especially for adolescents, because it can be used to trigger many initial lines of thought on the 'humanity' of robots and on automation in society. show less
Literary but mostly not pretentious or artsy-fartsy, not *L*iterary. The title story, despite being heavily anthologized and despite being the title story, is *not* either the most thoughtful or the most interesting. I highly recommend this to fans of classic SF.
Published in England under the title "Best Science Fiction Stories of Brian W. Aldiss."
It has some good short stories in it. My favorite is probably "The Impossible Star" but it's been a lot of years since I read this. (I just reread it; it's still one of his better stories.)
It has some good short stories in it. My favorite is probably "The Impossible Star" but it's been a lot of years since I read this. (I just reread it; it's still one of his better stories.)
Indeholder "Introduction", "Who Can Replace A Man?", "Not For An Age", "Psyclops", "Outside", "Dumb Show", "The New Father Christmas", "Ahead", "Poor Little Warrior!", "Man on Bridge", "The Impossible Star", "Basis for Negotiation", "Old Hundredth", "A Kind of Artistry", "Man in His Time".
"Introduction" handler om at Brian W. Aldiss er 40 år. da han bliver bedt om at samle noveller til denne bog.
"Who Can Replace A Man?" handler om ???
"Not for an Age" handler om Rodney Furnell, der er havnet som attraktion i en zoo i år 2500. Han og hans familie er i et loop, så det er samme dag hver dag, hvilket han inderst inde godt ved, men ikke kan gøre noget ved. Efter et utal af gentagelser går maskinen i stykker, så han kan undslippe, men show more kort efter går den i gang igen og han er tilbage i loop'et.
"Psyclops" handler om en mand, hvis kone er gravid med tvillinger. Manden og den ene tvilling er telepater og han kan lige nå at kommunikere med denne og den kan lige nå at kommunikere med Jorden, hvilket er tiltrængt, men den vil hellere ud af mors mave og det er nok ikke så godt.
"Outside" handler om en bygning midt i ingenting, hvor nogle mennesker eller aliens holdes under observation for at finde ud af om de er det ene eller det andet. Hovedpersonen tror at han er et menneske, men nej. En typisk Find spionen/forræderen historie.
"Dumb Show" handler om ???
"The New Father Christmas" handler om en fuldautomatisk fabrik, hvor opsynsmanden Robin og hans kone og tre vagabonder bor. Robotterne har overtaget alting, også menneskenes myter, fx den om julemanden, men på deres egen måde. Måske har "den nye julemand" noget at gøre med at der måske ikke er flere mennesker tilbage end de fem i fabrikken? Fabrikken begynder at lave små æg, som udklækkes til starten på nye fabrikker af samme slags.
"Ahead" handler om ???
"Poor Little Warrior!" handler om Claude Ford, der rejser tilbage i tiden, skyder en brontosaurus og bliver dræbt af en af dens parasitter.
"Man on Bridge" handler om ???
"The Impossible Star" handler om ???
"Basis for Negotiation" handler om ???
"Old Hundredth" handler om ???
"A Kind of Artistry" handler om planeten Abrogun, hvor Derek Flamifew/Ende forlader sin mor/partner My Lady for at drage på en mission til The Cliff, som er et vældigt stort væsen, der er svært at komme ind på livet af. Da det er lykkedes, vender han tilbage og da My Lady forsøger at få ham til at love aldrig igen at forlade hende, springer han ud fra en klippe.
"Man in His Time" handler om ???
??? show less
"Introduction" handler om at Brian W. Aldiss er 40 år. da han bliver bedt om at samle noveller til denne bog.
"Who Can Replace A Man?" handler om ???
"Not for an Age" handler om Rodney Furnell, der er havnet som attraktion i en zoo i år 2500. Han og hans familie er i et loop, så det er samme dag hver dag, hvilket han inderst inde godt ved, men ikke kan gøre noget ved. Efter et utal af gentagelser går maskinen i stykker, så han kan undslippe, men show more kort efter går den i gang igen og han er tilbage i loop'et.
"Psyclops" handler om en mand, hvis kone er gravid med tvillinger. Manden og den ene tvilling er telepater og han kan lige nå at kommunikere med denne og den kan lige nå at kommunikere med Jorden, hvilket er tiltrængt, men den vil hellere ud af mors mave og det er nok ikke så godt.
"Outside" handler om en bygning midt i ingenting, hvor nogle mennesker eller aliens holdes under observation for at finde ud af om de er det ene eller det andet. Hovedpersonen tror at han er et menneske, men nej. En typisk Find spionen/forræderen historie.
"Dumb Show" handler om ???
"The New Father Christmas" handler om en fuldautomatisk fabrik, hvor opsynsmanden Robin og hans kone og tre vagabonder bor. Robotterne har overtaget alting, også menneskenes myter, fx den om julemanden, men på deres egen måde. Måske har "den nye julemand" noget at gøre med at der måske ikke er flere mennesker tilbage end de fem i fabrikken? Fabrikken begynder at lave små æg, som udklækkes til starten på nye fabrikker af samme slags.
"Ahead" handler om ???
"Poor Little Warrior!" handler om Claude Ford, der rejser tilbage i tiden, skyder en brontosaurus og bliver dræbt af en af dens parasitter.
"Man on Bridge" handler om ???
"The Impossible Star" handler om ???
"Basis for Negotiation" handler om ???
"Old Hundredth" handler om ???
"A Kind of Artistry" handler om planeten Abrogun, hvor Derek Flamifew/Ende forlader sin mor/partner My Lady for at drage på en mission til The Cliff, som er et vældigt stort væsen, der er svært at komme ind på livet af. Da det er lykkedes, vender han tilbage og da My Lady forsøger at få ham til at love aldrig igen at forlade hende, springer han ud fra en klippe.
"Man in His Time" handler om ???
??? show less
Sep 17, 2012 (Edited)Danish
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Brian W. Aldiss was born in Dereham, United Kingdom on August 18, 1925. In 1943, he joined the Royal Signals regiment, and saw action in Burma. After World War II, he worked as a bookseller at Oxford University. His first book, The Brightfount Diaries, was published in 1955. His first science fiction novel, Non-Stop (Starship in the United show more States), was published in 1958. He wrote more than 80 books including Hothouse, Greybeard, The Helliconia Trilogy, The Squire Quartet, Frankenstein Unbound, The Malacia Tapestry, Walcot, and Mortal Morning. His short story Super-Toys Last All Summer Long was the basis for the film A.I. Artificial Intelligence. He has received numerous awards for his work including two Hugo Awards, the Nebula Award, the John W. Campbell Memorial Award, and an OBE for services to literature. He was also an anthologist and an artist. He was the editor of 40 anthologies including Introducing SF, The Penguin Science Fiction Omnibus, Space Opera, Space Odysseys, Galactic Empires, Evil Earths, and Perilous Planets. He was an abstract artist and his first solo exhibition, The Other Hemisphere, was held in Oxford in August-September 2010. He died on August 19, 2017 at the age of 92. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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- Canonical title
- Best Science Fiction Stories of Brian W. Aldiss
- Original title
- Best Science Fiction Stories of Brian W. Aldiss
- Alternate titles
- Who Can Replace a Man
- Original publication date
- 1967-11
- Dedication
- With affection
for
Charles Monteith
Who
in his miraculous wisdom continues to publish
B.W.A. - First words
- Morning filtered into the sky, lending it the Grey tone of teh Ground Below.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)All events, All children, All seasons.
- Original language
- English
- Canonical DDC/MDS
- 823.087620
- Disambiguation notice
- Published in the USA under the title Who Can Replace a Man.
"Not for an Age", "Psyclops""Outside", "Dumb Show" and "Ahead "- when it was called "The Failed Men" - appeared in Space, Time and Nathanial (Faber & ... (show all)Faber 1975);
"Who Can Replace a Man" appeared in Canopy of Time (Faber & Faber 1959);
"Basis for Negotiations" "Old Hundredth" and "A Kind of Artistry" appeared in Airs of Earth (Faber & Faber)
"Man on Bridge" is reprinted with permission from New Writings in Science Fiction I.
"The New Father Christmas and "Poor Little Warrior" are reprinted by permission of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, and
"The Impossible Star" by permission of Worlds of Tomorrow.
I would particularly like to thank My Kyril Bonfiglioli, editor of Science Fantasy, for permission to reprint "Man in His Time" at rather short notice.
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- 823.087620 — Literature & rhetoric English & Old English literatures English fiction By type Genre fiction Adventure fiction Speculative fiction Science fiction Collections and anthologies
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- PZ4 .A363 — Language and Literature Fiction and juvenile belles lettres Fiction and juvenile belles lettres Fiction in English
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