The Sheep Look Up by John Brunner (Orbit, 1977)

From the Green Shed:

'AND NOW A POLICE FLASH,' said the radio.  'RUMOURS THAT THE SUN IS OUT AT SANTA YUEZ ARE WITHOUT FOUNDATION.'

Pollution--social, moral, political and industrial--is the key to the United States of the not too distant future.  The seas are foul, the rivers choked, the land is poisoned by excessive use of insecticides, no one moves out of doors without a 'filter mask' and the sun is permanently obscured.

John Brunner chronicles a full year of this situation, following the lives of a diverse range of characters from all levels of society.  Many are resigned, a few are seeking new ways for mankind to survive, but the one man whom millions believe has the solution cannot be found.

The Sheep Look Up is more than sf speculation, it is terrifyingly realistic.  It is, indeed, 'a fascinating and brilliant profile of the utter technological hell we are working so hard to create' (Sunday Times).

 1970s science fiction had a tendency to be dystopian.  This example is one of Brunner's best-regarded books, having been nominated for a Nebula Award as "Best Novel" in 1972.

Kay of Kingfishers by Constance M. White (Hutchinson, 1954)

I found this in the Green Shed, and bought it a) because the dust jacket was intact and b) because it looked like something I might have enjoyed when I was a child!

To begin with, Kay missed half a term by being ill.  Then, when she did return, it was to find that dear old Miss Benson--surely the nicest headmistress anyone could wish for--had been replaced by young and efficient Miss Oliver.  And Judy, her dearest friend, seemed to have forsaken Kay for a fresh interest--the new Head's Girl Guide Company.

Kay, rebellious and stubborn, turned to Stella Jason, and together they stumbled upon a discovery which involved not only Miss Oliver, but also an archaeological student, the local vicar, and a strange little girl called Bella.

 All right, get your mind out of the gutter.  (Yes, you.  You know who I'm talking about!)  The "discovery" Kay stumbles upon is neither a drug smuggling ring nor a swingers' party, and absolutely nothing naughty is going on between the headmistress, the vicar and the archaeological student.

The Black Rose by Thomas B. Costain (Tandem, 1971)

Walter of Gurnie, bastard son of the Earl of Lessford, fled from England to escape the enmity of his family and the bitterness of his love for the Lady Engaine.  Wealth and fame and a chance to claim the woman he loved were to be found only in the fabulous realms of the East, if he could win through the savage hordes of Kublai Khan's Mongol warriors, who ruled all of Asia from Persia to the ocean of Cathay.

Joining a caravan under the protection of Bayan of the Hundred Eyes, Walter found Maryam, a beauty as rare as the priceless Black Rose of the spice traders, destined for the Great Khan's harem, and a stronger reason than any other to lead him to the Celestial City of the Manji Emperor.

How Walter followed Maryam to fabled Kinsai, lost her and found her again, makes a superb and stirring romance, filled with the vivid colour and adventure of medieval England and the age-old empires of the East.

 And that just about sums up the entire book... so there's no need to read it.

(I do, however, love the 1970s hairstyles the models are sporting on the cover.  It seems that Vidal Sassoon was hairdresser of choice for the Mongol Hordes!)

The Man From U.N.C.L.E. No. 6 - The Dagger Affair by David McDaniel (Four Square, 1965)

 

"Tell us all about Dagger!"

This was the order threw at Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin.  And from each U.N.C.L.E.  agent came the same answer: 'We know absolutely nothing of DAGGER.' 

'You appear to be telling the truth,' said a hidden voice.  'A pity...'

But it was more than merely unfortunate that the U.N.C.L.E. organization had never heard of DAGGER--for the secret behind that name was an insane plot for mass murder of the human race!

Often regarded as the best of the tie-in novels based on the 60s TV series, The Dagger Affair is a fun read.  Good guys must unite with bad guys to defeat a common enemy.  Of course, the bad guys remaining bad guys (be they never so entertaining) the truce comes to an end once the common enemy is defeated.

This is the book, incidentally, where evil organization "THRUSH" gets a fuller form of its name: The Technological Hierarchy for the Removal of Undesirables and the Subjugation of Humanity!

Cleopatra by Carlo Maria Franzero (Panther, 1962)

 

TEMPTRESS!

'A gift, Great Caesar,' the big man said, prostrating himself, 'from a devoted admirer.'

'H'm,' Caesar murmured, fingering his chin.  'You can't mean Ptolemy...!'  

'Judge for yourself, Master,' Appollodras invited, and unrolled the carpet; out of it sprang to her feet the little Cleopatra, apparently as fresh as a daisy and as bright as a newly minted coin.  She stretched her slim, shapely arms above her lovely head, arched her perfect back so that her perfect young body stood out deliciously under the translucent gown, and smiled provocatively at the mighty Caesar.

An Elizabeth Taylor lookalike poses on the cover of this book--not inappropriately, as Joseph L. Mankiewicz loosely based his 1963 movie version of Cleopatra on this novel.  However, at the time this paperback edition was published the movie was still in production--running grossly over-budget and mired in production problems. 

Sadly, anyone expecting "wantonness" in this version of Cleopatra's story (as promised by the cover blurb on the paperback) will be disappointed.  The titillation value of this book is low, even by the standards of the early 1960s.  You might pick up some history, however, as the main characters spend a lot of time playing politics, 1st Century BC style.

 

Flying Saucers from Outer Space by Donald E. Keyhoe (Arrow Books, around 1956)

 Found in a dusty corner of the Green Shed:

... And it has a wraparound cover.  Oh what the heck--let's see it in all its glory!

Do you believe that flying saucers emanate from another planet?  Or are you a confirmed sceptic?  Whatever your views this book will give a great deal of authoritative information about the most epoch-making phenomena of our time.

Here are investigations, reports, data and explanations from absolutely reliable sources, all rigidly and scientifically checked and verified.  The revelations in this book will startle you.  They will also fascinate you, and when you have read to the end you will be prepared for the final act of the saucer drama--an act that will have an impact on the lives of every person living on the Earth!

There's no date on this book, but research indicates that this was published some time between 1953 (when the first hardcover was released) and 1956.

This is the great-granddaddy of all the UFO conspiracy theories.  The author begins with accounts of pilots seeing things while in flight, continues with speculations about a government coverup, and concludes with a theory that we are being visited by aliens from outer space!

If I had to speculate and formulate a theory, I would say it is no coincidence that the first flying saucers were sighted in 1947, right at the beginning of the Cold War and the atomic age.  If Reds were under the beds, why not alien spaceships in the sky?   Keyhoe was one of the earliest writers about the phenomenon, producing a booked called "Flying Saucers Are Real" in 1950.  This is its followup. 

The Lion of Sparta by John Burke (Pan, 1961)

Another find in the dusty recesses of the Green Shed:

BARBARIC
SPLENDOUR

ELEMENTAL
SAVAGERY

SUPERB
HEROISM

The countless hordes of Asia surged onwards towards Greece--an irresistible wave spreading  fire, pillage and rapine.  Xerxes, King of Persia, had sworn to annihilate the Greek States.

But at Thermopylae waited Leonidas, King of Sparta--blocking the narrow pass with his immortal Three Hundred.

These were no ordinary men.  For Spartans there was no retreat, no surrender.  Their highest hope a glorious death.

This is the story of those men--and their women--and of the days which led them to Thermopylae, that desperate, glorious battle which changed the course of history.

"As filmed by 20th Century Fox starring Richard Egan"... another long-forgotten CinemaScope epic, starring an actor I've never heard of.  And yet, strangely enough, Ralph Richardson appears in a supporting role!