"One of the most important science fiction authors. Brunner held a mirror up to reflect our foibles because he wanted to save us from ourselves."
--SF Site
For each generation, there is a writer meant to bend the rules of what we know. Hugo Award winner (Best Novel, STAND ON ZANZIBAR) and British science fiction master John Brunner remains one of the most influential and respected authors of all time, and now E-Reads is pleased to re-introduce many of his classic works. For readers familiar with his vision, it's a chance to re-examine his thoughtful worlds and words, while for new readers, Brunner's work proves itself the very definition of timeless.
In THE CRUCIBLE OF TIME, John Brunner creates a true epic of SF invention. Imagine a planet existing in a debris-strewn corner of the galaxy. Cosmic dust and rubble cause an endless succession of ice ages followed by tropical warmth followed by more ice ages, etc. Meteors of all sizes plummet to the surface of the planet frequently and burgeoning civilizations have a sad tendency to be wiped out of a sudden. Society survives, sort of, but the brightest scientists know that to survive long-term the race has to transcend the surface of the planet and become a space-faring species. In a story that spans millennia, a determined group of people takes control of its own evolution and builds the technological society that will be its way into space.
Long before Aldiss's magisterial HELLICONIA series, even before some of Arthur C. Clarke's grand future visions, Brunner led the way in imagination and scope of vision.
"Brunner requires the grand scale to convey both the intricacies and excitements of scientific discovery...sf at its best...a pleasure to read."
--Locus