John Brunner
Doubleday, New York
1972
Hardback
John Brunner is an author that I have been wanting to read more of ever since reading Shockwave Rider, which I discussed in my paper on virtual reality in science fiction. An Englishman, he wrote over sixty-five books and was the winner of the British Fantasy award in 1966. He had impressed me in Shockwave Rider and I wanted to read more of his works.
During a visit to a book sale at the Jonesboro, Arkansas public library in early January, I found a large number of Brunner's works available in discarded hardback Science Fiction Book Club editions. I was able to purchase them for twenty-five to fifty cents each..
The Wrong End of Time is an interesting story concerning American Capitalistic Democracy at its worst, Russian Socialism at its best, and the human preoccupation with it's own supposed superiority at its typical. The story takes place in a United States more isolated by fear of the outside world than by its own defenses.
Into this state of paranoia steps a Russian agent bearing the story of superior intelligence at the edge of the solar system bent on the destruction of the planet earth. Only a young black man, a product of the slums and hunted by both sides, might hold the answer.
Interesting for its use of a black male hero and it's intriguing conclusion, I whole heartedly recommend this book to those who look beyond the banality of PC thinking.