Book Review: The Big Front Yard by Clifford D. Simak

The Big Front Yard (Astounding Science Fiction. Vol. LXII. No. 2. October 1958)The Big Front Yard by Clifford D. Simak

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Read for the 12 in 12 Challenge and the Big Fun in a Little Package Novella Challenge.


This story won the 1959 Hugo Award for Best Novelette.


This story is a fun speculation about what happens when ordinary folks in a small town are the first to make contact with an alien intelligence. It’s lighthearted, fun and perfectly plausible. I see that someone else here was reminded of The Tommyknockers, and I was as well, so I suspect that, like with many other classic science fiction stories, Stephen King read it and then said, “And what if it had gone a different way?”


I enjoyed it quite a lot! It didn’t blow my mind or anything, but I suppose that’s probably because the idea has been revisited since many times, although never has it been as done as well.


Well worth the read!


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Published on March 31, 2018 09:31
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