Tue 17 Mar 2026
JOHN BRUNNER – Double, Double. Ballantine, paperback original; 1st printing; January 1969.
Although possibly based on a monster movie script that Brunner couldn’t peddle elsewhere (or hasn’t yet), this does have the benefit of that author’s deft characterization of stock situations and players.
A rock group for the modern class spots the monster (see above) climbing from the sea. But of course their story is not believed. “High on LSD, no doubt!” Events soon prove them correct. Luckily there is also a marine research station in the immediate vicinity, and the nature of the beast is quickly discovered. Otherwise the monster(s) could have taken over the entire population, doubling as it goes.
Brunner himself has to admit (page 203) that luck plays a large part in his plot, still enjoyable nonetheless. In a serious moment, consider: panic, or “the truth”?
Rating: ***½
March 18th, 2026 at 7:07 am
I’m a fan of John Brunner’s work. I prefer THE JAGGED ORBIT to DOUBLE-DOUBLE.
March 18th, 2026 at 3:12 pm
I loved the early books he wrote published in this country as halves of Ace Doubles, and was impressed by the later ones such as JAGGED ORBIT and STAND ON ZANZIBAR, but … I never read them, then nor now. I assume it was just me. I’m thinking now I was intimidated by them and by my drifting away from SF at the time in general.
As for DOUBLE, DOUBLE, I was amused when I posted this I made such a big effort in not revealing more of the details of what the story was about — even when I assumed no one one else would ever read the review but ne — that I have no more idea what the story is about than what’s here on the page above.
I hope everyone knows what I’m talking about. It may not be so.
March 21st, 2026 at 1:24 am
I enjoyed both the more pulpy younger Brunner and the more literary and serious older writer, Squares of the City, Stand on Zanzibar, The Traveller in Black, and even Quicksand (where I know I stand pretty much alone) among my favorites.