Thu 13 Jun 2024
SF Diary Review: JACK WILLIAMSON – Bright New Universe.
Posted by Steve under Diary Reviews , Science Fiction & Fantasy[5] Comments
JACK WILLIAMSON – Bright New Universe. Ace G-641, paperback original, 1967. Cover art by John Schoenherr. Collected in Seventy-Five: The Diamond Anniversary of a Science Fiction Pioneer (Hafner Press, hardcover, 2004).
Idealism is confronted with reality, as Adam Cave meets opposition, then disappointment, as he rejects the material comfort which could be his on Earth. The Moon is the site of Project Lifeline, aimed at sending signals to space, seeking other life in the universe. He does not know contact has been made, with his own father, believed dead, and organized opposition has already been created,
His conflict is with those who feel change is always destructive, and indeed with white racists who know their values cannot withstand the shock if the alien culture as it overwhelms Earth’s. The symbol of his triumph is a small Negro boy who now has the power of a transgalactic civilization at his fingertips.
There is a message here, and it is obvious. […] The characters are symbols and little more. It comes as a shock to realize how crude the writing style is, as compared to a craftsman such as [for example] mystery writer Ross Macdonald. There are the ideas, though. Williamson meant for better things, but [this time around], he doesn’t succeed.
June 13th, 2024 at 9:16 pm
I almost decided not to post this old review. What the ellipsis […] in the last paragraph does is to clear out a number of examples of the “message” I was referring to. I meant well at the time, but I found the details of them now to be both confusing and boring, and if I included them, I’m willing to bet you would have too.
June 14th, 2024 at 4:55 am
Williamson was, like his good friend Edmond Hamilton, a pulp writer at heart who at times could transcend the genre beyond action and innovative ideas. His seven-decade career produced many great and readable works which should, perhaps, be taken in context. I still get a thrill when I read his stories.
June 14th, 2024 at 1:48 pm
I pretty much agree with you, Jerry. I was a big fan of his early work, especially his Legion of Space stories, which were serialized in ASTOUNDING in the 1930s (not that I read them then, but later one when I was in my teens). But at this later date, I still don’t think this was one of his better books. It was never reprinted, for example, except in one of Stephen Hafner’s collections, his aim being to reprint *everything* that Williamson ever wrote.
And of course you’re absolutely right. He probably had one of the longest careers of any SF writer ever, clear into his 90s.
June 14th, 2024 at 7:09 pm
Here’s a link to a longer and more in depth review of this book:
https://sciencefictionruminations.com/2012/07/07/book-review-bright-new-universe-jack-williamson-1967/
Here’s an excerpt that I think says he agrees with me:
“Williamson’s work comes off as a valiant attempt to meld pulp with new 60s forms. In that sense the novel is worth reading. However, the result isn’t thought provoking in the least.”
June 15th, 2024 at 12:16 am
Williamson literally goes from Gernzback to the 21rst Century in terms of being published. Like many writers who cut their teeth in the pulps he is uneven, some stories are gems, some just pretty stones, and some just rocks, but even his juvenila is interesting and not many writers managed to straddle and thrive in so many eras against so many changes in style, fashion, and voice.
I admit beyond LEGION OF SPACE and LEGION OF TIME my favorite Williamson titles are usually fantasy, GOLDEN BLOOD, REIGN OF WIZARDRY, and DARKER THAN YOU THINK, the latter, for me, his finest achievment.