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Rosemary Herbert (review date 1986)

SOURCE: "Anecdotes and Self-Satire," in The Bloomsbury Review, Vol. 6, No. 3, February, 1986, pp. 13-15.

[In the following analysis of The Pale Shadow of Science and Seasons in Flight, Herbert praises Aldiss's writing, which she characterizes as "exciting, mature, insightful, and filled with welcome surprises."]

Although one is nonfiction and the other a collection of short stories, Brian Aldiss' latest books will satisfy a common appetite. Both volumes offer a feast for those who have a taste for highly inventive language and a clever turn of phrase blended with clear prose that makes thought-provoking sense. Sometimes the fare is so delicious that one pictures Aldiss sitting before his typewriter smacking his lips at his own words.

Both Pale Shadow of Science and Seasons in Flight are anthologies representing recent work by the author of the...

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1. Introduction
2. Principal Works
3. Criticism
   1. Brian Aldiss (essay date 1976)
   2. Richard Mathews (essay date 1977)
   3. David Wingrove (essay date 1979)
   4. Thomas M. Disch (review date 1980)
   5. Philip Smith (review date 1982)
   6. Michael R. Collings (essay date 1985)
   7. Michael R. Collings (essay date 1986)
   8. Rosemary Herbert (review date 1986)
   9. Philip E. Smith II (essay date 1986)
   10. Gary K. Wolfe (review date 1993)
4. Further Reading
5. Copyright