Thinking, fast and … faster?

Just ahead of the Beamers tackling one of the 20th Century’s most prolific and awarded sf/f writer, Poul Anderson, over on Blackgate.com, Mark R. Kelly provides another of his lovingly detailed re-reads of a sf/f classic, in this case, Mr. Anderson’s early novel about an intelligence booster affecting all life on Earth, Brain Wave. Published in 1954 (just after his fantasy, The Broken Sword), Brain Wave was recognized as a significant and ambitious work for a new writer, posing the question of what happens to human civilization if every creature on Earth, human or otherwise, has a boost to its intelligence that raises us all to “genius” levels, or above.

Cover art by Phil Kirkland for the 5th printing (January 1974), the artwork that I know best

Though not a winner of awards, Brain Wave has kept its place as one of Mr. Anderson’s more daring and developed speculative works, alongside his cosmic, universe-shattering (literally) starship novel, Tau Zero. Does Brain Wave still impress, these days? Mr. Kelly thinks so: “Except for certain sexist attitudes, it holds up well, and its theme about tradition vs. progress is as relevant as ever.” We can hope that our reading of The Broken Sword will also prove it popular with contemporary readers, as well.

• Posted in: Literature ♦ Science Fiction
• Tagged: Black Gate magazine, Brain Wave, Mark R. Kelly, Poul Anderson, Science Fiction