≫ PDF Free Ring Around the Sun Masters of Science Fiction Clifford D Simak 9780881848526 Books

Ring Around the Sun Masters of Science Fiction Clifford D Simak 9780881848526 Books

Download As PDF : Ring Around the Sun Masters of Science Fiction Clifford D Simak 9780881848526 Books

Ring Around the Sun Masters of Science Fiction Clifford D Simak 9780881848526 Books

I read this book in 1967 and it made an indelible impression on me. Simak tells a weird and unforgettable tale of exceptional 'mutants' who have banded together to try and set humanity on a new course. There are some far-out concepts such trading bodies and bringing humanity to a parallel world for a new start. Simak writes with an idealism lacking in most fiction. Today, cynicism reigns and writers would handle a story like this in a much different manner: "they were superior mutants, but did they have humanity's best interests at heart? Of course not!!" This idealism made a deep impression on me as a teenager in the 60s. I say that this book should have been the one that "influenced a generation", rather than Heinlein's 'Stranger in a Strange Land." To this day, Simak remains an obscure gem.


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Ring Around the Sun Masters of Science Fiction Clifford D Simak 9780881848526 Books Reviews

The novel tells the story of an invasion by "aliens" who are actually a secret society of mutant humans from a parallel Earth. They attempt to subvert Earth's economy by introducing disruptive devices and everlasting goods, such as the so-called Forever Car, and making them available at a ridiculously low price.
Written long time ago but very interesting. Even though it is science fiction a lot of food for thought about current times. A lot of surprises and fun to read.
A great story about parallel earths. An endless supply of them! It is Simak at his best.
I highly recommend both this book and the Seller.
Why is this not currently in print? A sci-fi classic that needs to be reprinted. Awesome! From the glory days of sci-fi...blazing the trail!!
It is a thought-provoking book about alternate earths and how to get there. As with many of these kinds of stories, though, it is a bit too easy for the protagonist to go back and forth between these worlds. I liked the story and the concepts proposed. It is a very stimulating read.
Other than a recent re-read of Way Station, I hadn't read a Clifford Simak book in decades. My general recollection of the books of his that I had read was that I would start out enthused by the premise and the writing, but end up dissatisfied. This held for Ring Around the Sun (Masters of Science Fiction), but was tempered by my expectations going in, by it being a better-than-average Simak book, and by my better appreciation at this point of his quasi-Luddite philosophy. As usual, Simak's writing is very good, certainly above average for the genre. The characters are also a bit flat as usual, but this is balanced by some particularly evocative phrasing here and there. The story and its twists would have been much more surprising and thought-provoking when the book was published (late 1950s) than they are today; the main thrust is "mutants among us", so with the X-Men insinuating themselves into the core of American popular culture over the past fifty years, this is more of the same. Simak also falls back on the magical "portal" device that he uses in other books, with lots of loose ends around this element. Nevertheless the writing, pace, and riffs on the basic idea make it an eminently readable book. In context it is far more impressive - it seems likely that some of the writers for the X-Men and other mutant-themed works have liberally lifted from _Ring Around The Sun_ (e.g. the "gadget shops" possibly related to the X-Men character Forge).

The one aspect of the book that I appreciate now, but wouldn't have appreciated much earlier in life, is the theme that technological progress doesn't equal human progress. This is very uncharacteristic of SF, and that it could be a continuing theme throughout the work of a "great" SF author is that much more impressive. Simak makes his point directly in Chapter 43 "It was a lop-sided mechanical culture of clanking machines, a technological world that could provide creature comfort, but not human justice nor security." This sensibility lends a weight to the book that few other SF books share.

I wouldn't recommend this book without reservation - in historical context it is impressive, but by now its most meaningful and interesting ideas have been expanded on in more powerful or interesting ways elsewhere. However, for me it was good enough that I've already ordered three other well-regarded Simak books that I haven't read - so a pretty strong endorsement.
This was probably fashionable stuff back when it was written. It hasn't aged well, though some of the topics it addresses are still interesting. Both the writing style and the setting have dated, and the attitude to gender roles is, with some novel exceptions, much as you'd expect from fiction of the era.

It's interesting to see the same ideas popping up here that were shared with other authors of the era, who ultimately took them in different directions. Heinlein and Zelazny, spring to mind in particular.

However, there are some great details here that could have made it more seminal, or enduring, had they been exploited to the full. Instead, some of the most intriguing parts of this story end up as throw-away plot-devices, or serve no purpose in particular.
I read this book in 1967 and it made an indelible impression on me. Simak tells a weird and unforgettable tale of exceptional 'mutants' who have banded together to try and set humanity on a new course. There are some far-out concepts such trading bodies and bringing humanity to a parallel world for a new start. Simak writes with an idealism lacking in most fiction. Today, cynicism reigns and writers would handle a story like this in a much different manner "they were superior mutants, but did they have humanity's best interests at heart? Of course not!!" This idealism made a deep impression on me as a teenager in the 60s. I say that this book should have been the one that "influenced a generation", rather than Heinlein's 'Stranger in a Strange Land." To this day, Simak remains an obscure gem.