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Not Before Time
Another guaranteed bestselling collection of wide-ranging science fiction and fantasy stories which keep John Brunner, author of The Sheep Look Up and Stand on Zanzibar, in the forefront of the top science fiction writer of today.
With the mastery he has perfected in such novels as The Dramaturges of Yan, he offers a whole range of exciting science fiction ideas, presented in a variety of ways, from gripping suspense to rich humour.
Not Before Time is not only good science fiction entertainment - it will also make you wonder beyond the barriers of space and time...
With the mastery he has perfected in such novels as The Dramaturges of Yan, he offers a whole range of exciting science fiction ideas, presented in a variety of ways, from gripping suspense to rich humour.
Not Before Time is not only good science fiction entertainment - it will also make you wonder beyond the barriers of space and time...
128 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1968
1 person is currently reading
66 people want to read
About the author
John Brunner
572 books480 followersJohn Brunner was born in Preston Crowmarsh, near Wallingford in Oxfordshire, and went to school at St Andrew's Prep School, Pangbourne, then to Cheltenham College. He wrote his first novel, Galactic Storm, at 17, and published it under the pen-name Gill Hunt, but he did not start writing full-time until 1958. He served as an officer in the Royal Air Force from 1953 to 1955, and married Marjorie Rosamond Sauer on 12 July 1958
At the beginning of his writing career Brunner wrote conventional space opera pulp science fiction. Brunner later began to experiment with the novel form. His 1968 novel "Stand on Zanzibar" exploits the fragmented organizational style John Dos Passos invented for his USA trilogy, but updates it in terms of the theory of media popularised by Marshall McLuhan.
"The Jagged Orbit" (1969) is set in a United States dominated by weapons proliferation and interracial violence, and has 100 numbered chapters varying in length from a single syllable to several pages in length. "The Sheep Look Up" (1972) depicts ecological catastrophe in America. Brunner is credited with coining the term "worm" and predicting the emergence of computer viruses in his 1975 novel "The Shockwave Rider", in which he used the term to describe software which reproduces itself across a computer network. Together with "Stand on Zanzibar", these novels have been called the "Club of Rome Quartet", named after the Club of Rome whose 1972 report The Limits to Growth warned of the dire effects of overpopulation.
Brunner's pen names include K. H. Brunner, Gill Hunt, John Loxmith, Trevor Staines, Ellis Quick, Henry Crosstrees Jr., and Keith Woodcott.
In addition to his fiction, Brunner wrote poetry and many unpaid articles in a variety of publications, particularly fanzines, but also 13 letters to the New Scientist and an article about the educational relevance of science fiction in Physics Education. Brunner was an active member of the organisation Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and wrote the words to "The H-Bomb's Thunder", which was sung on the Aldermaston Marches.
Brunner had an uneasy relationship with British new wave writers, who often considered him too American in his settings and themes. He attempted to shift to a more mainstream readership in the early 1980s, without success. Before his death, most of his books had fallen out of print. Brunner accused publishers of a conspiracy against him, although he was difficult to deal with (his wife had handled his publishing relations before she died).[2]
Brunner's health began to decline in the 1980s and worsened with the death of his wife in 1986. He remarried, to Li Yi Tan, on 27 September 1991. He died of a heart attack in Glasgow on 25 August 1995, while attending the World Science Fiction Convention there
aka
K H Brunner, Henry Crosstrees Jr, Gill Hunt (with Dennis Hughes and E C Tubb), John Loxmith, Trevor Staines, Keith Woodcott
Winner of the ESFS Awards in 1980 as "Best Author" and 1n 1984 as "Novelist"..
At the beginning of his writing career Brunner wrote conventional space opera pulp science fiction. Brunner later began to experiment with the novel form. His 1968 novel "Stand on Zanzibar" exploits the fragmented organizational style John Dos Passos invented for his USA trilogy, but updates it in terms of the theory of media popularised by Marshall McLuhan.
"The Jagged Orbit" (1969) is set in a United States dominated by weapons proliferation and interracial violence, and has 100 numbered chapters varying in length from a single syllable to several pages in length. "The Sheep Look Up" (1972) depicts ecological catastrophe in America. Brunner is credited with coining the term "worm" and predicting the emergence of computer viruses in his 1975 novel "The Shockwave Rider", in which he used the term to describe software which reproduces itself across a computer network. Together with "Stand on Zanzibar", these novels have been called the "Club of Rome Quartet", named after the Club of Rome whose 1972 report The Limits to Growth warned of the dire effects of overpopulation.
Brunner's pen names include K. H. Brunner, Gill Hunt, John Loxmith, Trevor Staines, Ellis Quick, Henry Crosstrees Jr., and Keith Woodcott.
In addition to his fiction, Brunner wrote poetry and many unpaid articles in a variety of publications, particularly fanzines, but also 13 letters to the New Scientist and an article about the educational relevance of science fiction in Physics Education. Brunner was an active member of the organisation Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and wrote the words to "The H-Bomb's Thunder", which was sung on the Aldermaston Marches.
Brunner had an uneasy relationship with British new wave writers, who often considered him too American in his settings and themes. He attempted to shift to a more mainstream readership in the early 1980s, without success. Before his death, most of his books had fallen out of print. Brunner accused publishers of a conspiracy against him, although he was difficult to deal with (his wife had handled his publishing relations before she died).[2]
Brunner's health began to decline in the 1980s and worsened with the death of his wife in 1986. He remarried, to Li Yi Tan, on 27 September 1991. He died of a heart attack in Glasgow on 25 August 1995, while attending the World Science Fiction Convention there
aka
K H Brunner, Henry Crosstrees Jr, Gill Hunt (with Dennis Hughes and E C Tubb), John Loxmith, Trevor Staines, Keith Woodcott
Winner of the ESFS Awards in 1980 as "Best Author" and 1n 1984 as "Novelist"..
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
November 6, 2011
What a great selection of stories. Science fiction that makes you think and laugh. All of the stories have merit but my 2 favorites are 'The Warp and the Woof-Woof' and 'A Better Mousetrap'. Not sure if the book is still in print. But it is now imprinted in my head. Read my mind. Enjoy the book.
May 11, 2022
In SF, I like things like robots and aliens, far-flung planets, struggling spaceships, strange futures, and invented worlds. I don't like things grounded too heavily in reality. The previous Brunner I'd read, The Long Result, had aliens and their visitations to a future Earth that was struggling with xenophobic attitude. It wasn't amazing, but I liked it. It's the sort of thing I wanted.
This short story collection was a mix. The first story, Prerogative, about a man dying during a science experiment and the local yokels viewing it as an act of God, had me worried that I was in for some boring science-heavy reality-based tales. Another story about Russian and American tensions in space also bothered me. Right now, I don't want to hear a single thing about Russia. I don't want to be reminded of their never-ending conflict with the West in a book that's over 50 years old.
Thankfully, it picked up.
You could have told me these were all written by different people and I would have believed it. The prose is straightforward and indistinct. After awhile, you start to notice that there's a playful kind of nihilism that's consistent to many of the stories. The view of humanity is never great, and that aligns for me. It's often highlighted by the presence of likable aliens, another trope I enjoy.
Highlights include A Better Mousetrap, about how one might deal with a nuisance species; Coincidence Day, about alien zoos that aren't what they seem; and Treason is a Two-edged Sword, about an intergalactic war that's more complicated than it first appears. In fact, things being more than they seem is probably the most common theme here.
I wouldn't deter another from reading this, but I wouldn't necessarily recommend it either. One of Brunner's "Best ofs" is probably better.
This short story collection was a mix. The first story, Prerogative, about a man dying during a science experiment and the local yokels viewing it as an act of God, had me worried that I was in for some boring science-heavy reality-based tales. Another story about Russian and American tensions in space also bothered me. Right now, I don't want to hear a single thing about Russia. I don't want to be reminded of their never-ending conflict with the West in a book that's over 50 years old.
Thankfully, it picked up.
You could have told me these were all written by different people and I would have believed it. The prose is straightforward and indistinct. After awhile, you start to notice that there's a playful kind of nihilism that's consistent to many of the stories. The view of humanity is never great, and that aligns for me. It's often highlighted by the presence of likable aliens, another trope I enjoy.
Highlights include A Better Mousetrap, about how one might deal with a nuisance species; Coincidence Day, about alien zoos that aren't what they seem; and Treason is a Two-edged Sword, about an intergalactic war that's more complicated than it first appears. In fact, things being more than they seem is probably the most common theme here.
I wouldn't deter another from reading this, but I wouldn't necessarily recommend it either. One of Brunner's "Best ofs" is probably better.
September 22, 2023
Visiting hours, naturally, had to be based on local - Earthside - time, but it was no help to anyone when those who came were confronted with a series of inert lumps, even if those lumps were fifty lightyears from home.
Attempts were consequently always made to adapt the aliens to a twenty-four-hour day. Some adjusted easily; others could not at any price, being too tightly fixated on their home world's night-day cycle.
During the ten hours of the day when the zoo was open for visitors, as many as half the exhibits might be slumbrously dull. Alternatively, the cycles might chime together and the whole place become a buzz of vigorous movement, colour and sound. The latter occasions always brought visitors in hordes because they were always well advertised. for convenience they had to have a name and a definition: a Coincidence Day was one where forty or more of the fifty presentations were at day activity peak for at least five hours.
A book of science fiction short stories first published in 1968. My favourite was "Coincidence Day" which was about a zoo of extraterrestrial species on Earth. I also liked "A Better Mousetrap", "Seizure" and "Treason is a Two-edged Sword", but overall I prefer this author's novels to his short stories.
Attempts were consequently always made to adapt the aliens to a twenty-four-hour day. Some adjusted easily; others could not at any price, being too tightly fixated on their home world's night-day cycle.
During the ten hours of the day when the zoo was open for visitors, as many as half the exhibits might be slumbrously dull. Alternatively, the cycles might chime together and the whole place become a buzz of vigorous movement, colour and sound. The latter occasions always brought visitors in hordes because they were always well advertised. for convenience they had to have a name and a definition: a Coincidence Day was one where forty or more of the fifty presentations were at day activity peak for at least five hours.
A book of science fiction short stories first published in 1968. My favourite was "Coincidence Day" which was about a zoo of extraterrestrial species on Earth. I also liked "A Better Mousetrap", "Seizure" and "Treason is a Two-edged Sword", but overall I prefer this author's novels to his short stories.
October 19, 2025
Ten science-fiction stories by John Brunner written between 1957 and 1966. Five are very good indeed and none are without merit. The better ones often feature Earthlings falling for some alien trick (eg Seizure, A Better Mousetrap). The best of all (Treason Is a Two-Edged Sword) is a refreshingly positive depiction of humanity in an interstellar post-contact era. Round Trip is quite cosmic and takes extra focus to take in, but it's well worth it. The comedies (eg The Warp and the Woof Woof, Coincidence Day) don't work so well for me. But that's OK; overall this is a very pleasing sequence of stories.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews