And the Lurid Glare of the Comet

Description

A collection of thought-provoking essays and revelations (seven essays, one speech and an extended autobiography) by Brian Aldiss, the master of British science fiction. 'The best contemporary writer of science fiction.' - The Guardian 'The colossus of science fiction' - New Yorker Science fiction is everywhere. Every day fantasy is made fact by new technologies, advancements in science and by connection and communication. Imaginings of the future allow us to reshape our understanding of all that we experience - and through classic science fiction we are better able to understand the hopes and ambitions of the past. With precision and humour Aldiss uses science fiction as a lens with which to examine some of his favourite authors and their work, the role of art and literature - and to look globally at nationhood and culture. With humility and rare insight Aldiss also turns the lens on himself and the experiences which informed his long career in the genre.

Brian Aldiss, OBE, is a fiction and science fiction writer, poet, playwright, critic, memoirist and artist. He was born in Norfolk in 1925. After leaving the army, Aldiss worked as a bookseller, which provided the setting for his first book, The Brightfount Diaries (1955). His first published science fiction work was the story 'Criminal Record', which appeared in Science Fantasy in 1954. Since then he has written nearly 100 books and over 300 short stories, many of which are being reissued as part of The Brian Aldiss Collection. Several of Aldiss' books have been adapted for the cinema; his story 'Supertoys Last All Summer Long' was adapted and released as the film AI in 2001. Besides his own writing, Brian has edited numerous anthologies of science fiction and fantasy stories, as well as the magazine SF Horizons. Aldiss is a vice-president of the international H. G. Wells Society and in 2000 was given the Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award by the Science Fiction Writers of America. Aldiss was awarded the OBE for services to literature in 2005. He now lives in Oxford, the city in which his bookselling career began in 1947.

'Aldiss is a magician' Sunday Times 'The titan of science fiction.' Telegraph 'Brian Aldiss is one of the most influential - and one of the best - SF writers Britain has ever produced.' Iain M Banks 'The best contemporary writer of science fiction.' Guardian 'One of the truly prophetic figures of the space age... the colossus of science fiction' New Yorker 'Once again he demonstrates the power of his imagination.' Daily Mail