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The Engines of the Night: Science Fiction in the Eighties
Bluejay Books, 1984. Trade paperback. Collection of critical essays. Locus Award winner.
- GenresScience Fiction
198 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 1982
About the author
Barry N. Malzberg
533 books137 followersBarry Nathaniel Malzberg was an American writer and editor, most often of science fiction and fantasy.
He had also published as:
Mike Barry (thriller/suspense)
K.M. O'Donnell (science fiction/fantasy)
Mel Johnson (adult)
Howard Lee (martial arts/TV tie-ins)
Lee W. Mason (adult)
Claudine Dumas (adult)
Francine di Natale (adult)
Gerrold Watkins (adult)
Eliot B. Reston
He had also published as:
Mike Barry (thriller/suspense)
K.M. O'Donnell (science fiction/fantasy)
Mel Johnson (adult)
Howard Lee (martial arts/TV tie-ins)
Lee W. Mason (adult)
Claudine Dumas (adult)
Francine di Natale (adult)
Gerrold Watkins (adult)
Eliot B. Reston
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
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December 31, 2024Barry Malzberg, R.I.P. (1939-2024)
https://cryptoscatology.blogspot.com/...
https://cryptoscatology.blogspot.com/...
February 15, 2013
SF writer cries in his beer; film at 11:00
There's some interesting material in this collection of essays. Malzberg's comparison of the list of science fiction "classics" that were written in the decade of the fifties, compared with the number produced in any other decade, was an eye-opener for me. Likewise, the discussion of the subtext within Samuel Delany's story "Aye, and Gomorrah" gave me some insights into a story that I thought I knew well. And I could go on and on, picking out many other gems, large and small, that I found in this book.
But unfortunately, the majority of the book is taken up with Malzberg's self-pitying sniffling. The literary community doesn't give SF the respect it deserves. And society at large doesn't give SF the respect it deserves. And SF authors, past and present, don't get the respect they deserve. And many, many SF writers have burnt out before their time. Or died before their time (killed, according to Malzberg, by the stresses and rigors of being SF writers). And ignorant editors and publishers reject glittering works of SF art while accepting and promoting simpleminded garbage. And sniffle, sniffle, sniffle.
By the end of the book I wanted to give Malzberg a slap upside the head. "Life is tough all over, you sniveling wimp," I wanted to yell. "School teachers and postal workers and ditch diggers don't get the respect they deserve. People of all stripes burn out and die before their time. In every field of human endeavor, simpleminded garbage is bought and sold by the truckload while true art is neglected and rejected. And so on. What else is new?"
So... an interesting book with a real insider's look at the field of writing science fiction. If you can overlook the sniffling, or if for some reason you don't find it as tiresome and grating as I did, it's well worth reading by anyone interested in SF studies.
There's some interesting material in this collection of essays. Malzberg's comparison of the list of science fiction "classics" that were written in the decade of the fifties, compared with the number produced in any other decade, was an eye-opener for me. Likewise, the discussion of the subtext within Samuel Delany's story "Aye, and Gomorrah" gave me some insights into a story that I thought I knew well. And I could go on and on, picking out many other gems, large and small, that I found in this book.
But unfortunately, the majority of the book is taken up with Malzberg's self-pitying sniffling. The literary community doesn't give SF the respect it deserves. And society at large doesn't give SF the respect it deserves. And SF authors, past and present, don't get the respect they deserve. And many, many SF writers have burnt out before their time. Or died before their time (killed, according to Malzberg, by the stresses and rigors of being SF writers). And ignorant editors and publishers reject glittering works of SF art while accepting and promoting simpleminded garbage. And sniffle, sniffle, sniffle.
By the end of the book I wanted to give Malzberg a slap upside the head. "Life is tough all over, you sniveling wimp," I wanted to yell. "School teachers and postal workers and ditch diggers don't get the respect they deserve. People of all stripes burn out and die before their time. In every field of human endeavor, simpleminded garbage is bought and sold by the truckload while true art is neglected and rejected. And so on. What else is new?"
So... an interesting book with a real insider's look at the field of writing science fiction. If you can overlook the sniffling, or if for some reason you don't find it as tiresome and grating as I did, it's well worth reading by anyone interested in SF studies.
January 20, 2016
Malzberg's SF criticism is of a piece with his SF (which is nothing if not critical): his fiction is essentially criticism and his criticism is essentially fiction.
'Engines of the Night' is a dark postmodern novel in short discursive chapters - a kind of sequel to 'Herovit's World'- about a burnt-out and money-obsessed science fiction writer in the night reaches of his career, gloomily pondering the indignities of his field and the sad fates of those who came before, the buried giants of the Golden Era.
It contains some wonderful characters - particularly the megalomaniac editor John W. Campbell and the tragic Mark Clifton. These characters are drawn with such feeling that they must surely be based on people Malzberg actually knew - although it is obvious that he has touched them up for his own dramatic purposes.
One probaby shouldn't identify the narrator of the novel too closely with Malzberg the author - although in typical meta-fictional style the narrator is also called Malzberg.
One thing author and narrator do share in common, though, is a deep - so deep as to be painful - love of science fiction and an encyclopaedic knowledge of its minutiae. I hope that one day Malzberg (the author, not the character) will write the definitive alternate history of SF.
If he was to spill the beans on his living (or recently deceased) colleagues - now that would be a book worth reading...
'Engines of the Night' is a dark postmodern novel in short discursive chapters - a kind of sequel to 'Herovit's World'- about a burnt-out and money-obsessed science fiction writer in the night reaches of his career, gloomily pondering the indignities of his field and the sad fates of those who came before, the buried giants of the Golden Era.
It contains some wonderful characters - particularly the megalomaniac editor John W. Campbell and the tragic Mark Clifton. These characters are drawn with such feeling that they must surely be based on people Malzberg actually knew - although it is obvious that he has touched them up for his own dramatic purposes.
One probaby shouldn't identify the narrator of the novel too closely with Malzberg the author - although in typical meta-fictional style the narrator is also called Malzberg.
One thing author and narrator do share in common, though, is a deep - so deep as to be painful - love of science fiction and an encyclopaedic knowledge of its minutiae. I hope that one day Malzberg (the author, not the character) will write the definitive alternate history of SF.
If he was to spill the beans on his living (or recently deceased) colleagues - now that would be a book worth reading...
November 22, 2009
If you thought Thomas Disch's The Dreams Our Stuff is Made Of was a depressing look at Science Fiction, wait till you read Engines of the Night. Disch just describes SF as a form of children's literature, Malzberg compares SF to pornography.
January 17, 2026
If you want to read about a bit of the details and (now) history of science fiction (especially short fiction) in the 50’s through the 70’s, this is a great book. Barry has lots of anecdotes to tell from the point of view of someone who lived it during those decades. He writes about what it started out as, what it turned into and why (from his POV).
He’s engaging, occasionally humorous, and clearly vastly knowledgeable.
He’s engaging, occasionally humorous, and clearly vastly knowledgeable.
October 23, 2009
This is a collection of essays on science fiction and life in the science fiction field by Barry N. Malzberg. It details his love/hate relationship with the genre, and while it is almost impossible to always agree with his conclusions, it's an extremely thought-provoking volume.
May 23, 2011
A set of interesting and idiosyncratic reminiscences about the craft of Science Fiction.
May 23, 2011
It's part how-to find and read good science fiction, part manifesto for what the genre needs to be good and part cry for help.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews