Aardvark Affair

The Big Brain #1

by Gary Brandner

Vintage paperback

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction

160 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 1975

About the author

Gary Phil Brandner (May 31, 1930 – September 22, 2013) was an American horror author best known for his werewolf themed trilogy of novels, The Howling. The first book in the series was loosely adapted as a motion picture in 1981. Brandner's second and third Howling novels, published in 1979 and 1985 respectively, have no connection to the film series, though he was involved in writing the screenplay for the second Howling film, Howling II: Your Sister Is a Werewolf. The fourth film in the Howling series, Howling IV: The Original Nightmare, is actually the closest adaptation of Brandner's original novel, though this too varies to some degree.

Brandner's novel Walkers was adapted and filmed for television as From The Dead Of Night. He also wrote the screenplay for the 1988 horror film Cameron's Closet.

Born in the Midwest and much traveled during his formative years, Brandner published more than 30 novels, over 100 short stories, and also wrote a handful of screenplays. He attended college at the University of Washington where he was a member of Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity. After graduating in 1955, he worked as an amateur boxer, bartender, surveyor, loan company investigator, advertising copywriter, and technical writer before turning to fiction writing. Brandner lived with his wife, Martine Wood Brandner, and several cats in Reno, Nevada.

He died of esophageal cancer in 2013.

Reviews

[Ira (SF Words of Wonder) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Check out a discussion with Nick at The Book Graveyard HERE.
The main character Colin has a BIG BRAIN, and he flexes it a lot. This book seems to be part detective, part espionage and part men’s adventure. The first half of the book was setting up all the mystery around Agency Zero and three employees of Aardvark company who had their brains turned to mush. The second half picks up a bit as some things start to get answered. The writing was better than I expected but there were a lot of plot holes and inconsistencies that some basic editing should have caught. It was a lot of fun discussing this with Nick. C-

[Brett · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book only deserves one star, but I'm giving it two because it has a glorious, amazing cover. Faster than a Computer, Deadlier than a Laser--the Big Brain!

So, like the vast majority of people that own this book in the year 2015, I bought it used because I couldn't stop laughing at the cover art. Pulpy, funny, vaguely racist. It's great. But then it sat on my kitchen counter for months and I wasn't sure what to do with it. I hate throwing books away, but I also don't put a book on my bookshelf unless I have read it. Finally, I didn't want to look at the damn thing anymore and just read it so I could put it away.

Gary Brandner is a name I know only because he wrote the book that the cult movie the Howling is based on, though I suspect the book and movie are not all that similar. This was the first thing I read by him, and, no surprise here, it's not good. I actually thought for most of the novel that it was directed at adolescents, which would explain why so little of it stands up to any real scrutiny, but in the last act there is sexual violence and explicit language that made me reconsider who the audience was supposed to be. I guess it is aimed at adults?

Brander doesn't even bother to come up with some reason why the titular Big Brain is so smart. He has two college professor parents, and they just sort of give him a lot of mental exercises and somehow this develops into a superpower of sorts. And I guess his eyes change colors when he is thinking for some reason?

We also get a big explanation of how using his amazing big brain to its full capacity taxes his health and threatens to burn him out entirely, and how conscious he must be to use his power with some degree of moderation. Does this pay off in a big climax? It sure does not! In fact, it never comes up again in the second half of the book.

The best thing about it (other than the cover, natch) is that it is blessedly short. Though I assume there is a Big Brain #2, I won't be seeking it out.

[Wayne · Rating 4 out of 5]

From the 70's come "The Big Brain," When men's adventure was in it's prime. This one is from the man who later went on to writ The Howling. In fact the author hints at it here when The Big Brain jokes at turning into a werewolf.

The Aardvark affair deals with a secret project run by the government. It turns some people into mindless, drooling vegetables. A hush-hush organization calls in The Big Brain to help find out what's going on. Not much action for this kind of book, but it's very involving. It plays more like a mystery, than out and out adventure. It's nicely paced too. A lot of cloak-and-dagger stuff goes on throughout.

[Zachary Duval · Rating 4 out of 5]

Started an interest in vintage 70s and 80s novels that demonstrate the simple yet complex quality of being nostalgic while also appreciating the storytelling and just articulate writing style that many modern writers try to emulate but never replicate. This was the first one and honestly I really enjoyed it especially with the mixture of surprise and typical twists that altogether allowed me to feel like I had a good time and would genuinely read it again. It is one of those stories whose ending had me smiling for how clever the main character was without ever feeling like a detached from reality type.

[Stef · Rating 2 out of 5]

Quick read. Simple story. Ludicrous premise. No sex. Gratuitous nudity. There’s a twist. That’s all.

[L · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick, engaging read for the most part, though not nearly as enjoyable as the third book in the series (which I read first, many years ago). The main character is not as well developed here, and acts pretty foolishly at times for such a supposedly brilliant man. But really, if you enjoy over the top 70s thrillers, this is still a pretty good example of the genre.

[Lynda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was sort of a guilty pleasure.

[Charlie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I give up. Pretty damn boring. Got better things to do. Great cover though.

[SB · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought this in a used bookstore in FW last week based on the amazing cover. It's got a pink dude in a cardigan with a translucent brain, a dude in a serape holding an axe over a woman tied to a chair, and a dude in a Hawaiian shirt punching another dude in a Hawaiian shirt who is holding a bottle. NONE OF THAT IS IN THE BOOK! The lead dude is the smartest person in the world (for legitimately no given reason other than that his parents "dedicated their lives to ensuring that they had the smartest child possible") but when he starts using his full brain, his body overheats and his eyes turn green and so he learns to turn off most of his "brain circuits" most of the time so he doesn't physically harm himself. He's called into service by an off-the-books rogue government agency (lots of positive emphasis is put on the fact that they don't have to comply with the rule of law) to solve a mystery involving a government project that is ostensibly about making barren soil fertile. The book is weakly written and plotted, but I still found myself enjoying how ridiculous it was, and the novelty of having a pulp narrator being a nerdy insecure weakling. There's two more in this series (in one he fights Satanists!), and some commentators say it gets better as it goes on. I liked it enough to try those two at some point.