Welcome
…to the official Brian W. Aldiss website. As well as being a distinguished SF writer, Aldiss is also an important mainstream novelist, a poet, an essayist, a dramatist, an SF historian and critic whose work has been published in dozens of countries around the world.
Fantastically now re-released Hothouse (Penguin Modern Classics)
Greybeard
Re-released Greybeard (S.F. Masterworks)
‘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 our best novelists.’ William Boyd
In The Press
In Why human educators must assert control as bots enter the classroom Lucas Kwong, a professor of English at New York City College of Technology, cites Supertoys Last All Summer Long as staple fare in the science fiction genre for the “‘boy and his robot’ trope”. The Venturebeat article goes on to discuss the merits of automation in the classroom and is a fascinating read.
Graham Coxon, the guitarist from the band Blur is a Brian Aldiss fan. In this New Statesman article Graham mentions the following novels as recent inspiration to him: The Hand-Reared Boy, Hothouse, Super-State
In a recent article for the Evening Standard John Sutherland quite rightly highlights our on-going fascination with Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein: “Why does Frankenstein matter all these years later? Partly because of the romance of its conception, but mostly because Brian Aldiss, the dean of British science fiction, saw it as foundational. Why? Because it foresees the future: man plays God and creates life through science — then suffers as the creation turns on its creator.” John Sutherland’s Frankenstein’s Brain will be published by Icon Books in September.
News
The Aldiss Award for World Building in Fantasy & Science Fiction
Launched at Novacon ’23 the Aldiss Award will be awarded during Brian’s centenary year 2025 after a years’ worth of submissions and judging. The prize will be awarded for great world building and will not be limited to literature but also embrace gaming and cross genres between science fiction & fantasy. More info on The Aldiss Award for World Building here (opens in new window).
Curtis Brown & Brightfount
From the brightfount.com website:
Our name comes from Brian Aldiss’ first novel, the bookstore farce The Brightfount Diaries. In the first half of the book, there is a sub-plot revolving around ‘saucer books‘. Aldiss uses this as an excuse to stretch his imaginary muscle:
“Supposing these beings from another world arrived. Imagine them as dry, detached intellects in a sponge-like body; they casually present man with the secret of anti-gravity. In the succeeding outburst of space travel and planetary exploration, what an orgy of – not adventure as the rocket-writers predict – but learning would follow! The barriers of every science would be broken down: geology, physiology….“
It’s the most powerful writing in the book, a shock of revolutionary ideas embedded in a social comedy. We like to think of this section of the book as Aldiss finding his voice and his passion. We want Brightfount to be a place where you find your voice and your passion
More info here: brightfount.com/mission/
