Posts tagged old

So I recently finished reading Another Space - Another Time by HJ Campbell (1953) and whilst it appears to have been not the most popular of books, I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Written in the 50’s it draws on the facination and dangers of nuclear energy at the time. It follows two SS (Science Security) agents working on a case which ends up being much larger than either of them suspected.
The SS is an agency that all scientists must report to about their research, and if it is deemed to have an outcome dangerous to humanity, it is banned. I found it to be quite interesting having the protagonists of the story work for such an organisation yet there is much resentment towards it for impeding scientific study.
Another aspect of the novel I quite liked was the thorough explanations behind much of the science in the story. Having a scientist explain real scientific principles and such in the story is a nice touch. It was also nice to have the characters refer to university examinations as a waste of time in attempting to learn and retain knowledge. Finally, I quite liked the 50’s style characters that much remind me of the 1998 film The Avengers, with the character John Steed especially being similar to the protagonist in this story.
All in all, despite a first edition of this book being worth about $10, I thought it was definatly money well spent and quite good for those who enjoy science fiction.