Andromeda Breakthrough

Andromeda #2

by Fred Hoyle

The Andromeda Breakthrough was a 1962 sequel to the popular BBC TV science fiction serial A for Andromeda again written by Fred Hoyle and John Elliot.

Kidnapped by Intel, John Fleming (Peter Halliday) the hero of the first serial, and Andromeda the artificially constructed human (this time played by Susan Hampshire as Julie Christie was unavailable—main reason for the film's failure) are brought to Azaran, a small Middle Eastern country, where a duplicate of the machine he designed has been built by Intel. After many dangers he finds both the reason for the original message having been sent and the means to bring the machine under human control.

The complete TV serial survives in the BBC archives and was released, alongside the surviving material from A for Andromeda and various extra features, as part of The Andromeda Anthology DVD set in 2006.

Souvenir Press published a book titled more simply Andromeda Breakthrough in 1964. Corgi issued a paperback edition in 1966.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1962

About the author

Professor Sir Fred Hoyle was one of the most distinguished, creative, and controversial scientists of the twentieth century. He was a Fellow of St John’s College (1939-1972, Honorary Fellow 1973-2001), was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1957, held the Plumian Chair of Astronomy and Experimental Philosophy (1958-1972), established the Institute of Theoretical Astronomy in Cambridge (now part of the Institute of Astronomy), and (in 1972) received a knighthood for his services to astronomy.

Hoyle was a keen mountain climber, an avid player of chess, a science fiction writer, a populariser of science, and the man who coined the phrase 'The Big Bang'.

Reviews

[Mark Schomburg · Rating 3 out of 5]

An action-packed fast moving tale from 1962 set in Scotland and the Middle East that features computers, biology, the environment and international business consortiums under the influence of ETs. This book is a sequel but reads well alone. The lack of technical detail works to its advantage by not dating passages too much. Hoyle correctly foresaw the applications of computers to molecular biology. His technological extrapolations towards the atmosphere and seas have yet to be tested. It's interesting to read this climate scenario from the 60s and to compare it to today's still vague perceptions. The tone towards ETs is both pro and con which is stimulating in a way that I also enjoy in works by Lem for one.

[Mihai · Rating 3 out of 5]

The second installment of the Andromeda story did not, as expected, bring anything new to the S.F. world. A change of scenery, this time Arab , a cataclysm - a deadly bacteria miss-created to swallow all hydrogen from the air , and a love story between an alien/created woman and a handsome researcher, are simply textual varieties of a TV series, which they in fact really were. Nevertheless, I liked reading it, as it has a still flavor, reminiscent of the 60's British shows, of which scenes are actually described in rich detail in the book.

[Alien · Rating 3 out of 5]

OK to read, but full of plotholes and unbelievable stuff. In the beginning it reminded me more of John LeCarre instead of Science fiction.

[Henri Moreaux · Rating 3 out of 5]

Andromeda Breakthrough continues on the story from A for Andromeda, we commence with the main characters believing the alien designed computer has been destroyed. However shortly thereafter John Fleming and Andromeda are kidnapped by the secretive Intel cooperative and made to work on their version of the alien designed computer which they constructed in secret in the fictitious middle eastern country of Azaran.

The story itself I felt lacked some of the pizzazz of A for Andromeda, certainly the absence of man vs mystery forces story line that formed such a central part of the former meant the amount of material the book had to work with was substantially less. Whilst such does re-emerge a little in the latter half of the book when it becomes apparent a biological contaminant has escaped from the initial testing ground I didn't find the narrative as compelling as the earlier battle of John vs computer we saw in the former.

Overall, it was a decent story, continued the Andromeda world a little more and did make for an enjoyable read even if not quite up to the standard set in the first book. Still worth reading if you enjoyed the first in my opinion.

[Ogden Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

The writing is a little hack. I didn't realize this was originally a TV serial! That makes sense. It reads more like a script than a novel. This is a follow-on to A is for Andromeda, which may be one of the first SF books I ever read. My mom had both of these buried in our basement and I discovered the first one when I was 7 or 8.

[Erik Graff · Rating 2 out of 5]

This novel is the sequel to A for Andromeda and, like its predecessor, was cowritten by Fred Hoyle, the cosmologist, and John Elliot, a television writer, as a tie-in to a screen series.

A for Andromeda is better.

[Kenneth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this one back in the late 1960's or early 1970's and remember really liking it, but don't remember the plot anymore in any detail.

[David Layton · Rating 3 out of 5]

The sequel novelization to the sequel television drama fo "A for Andromeda" is not as well constructed or believable as the first effort. Fred Hoyle and writing partner John Elliot begin "Andromeda Breakthrough" exactly where "A for Andromeda" ended. Rogue computer scientist John Fleming and Andromeda, the woman made in a lab on instructions from the supercomputer designed on another world, have destroyed the supercomputer and fled to a remote island off the coast of Scotland. Nearly all the main characters from "A for Andromeda" are back, except for British intelligence agent Judy Adamson, conspicuously absent, getting only a mention and not by name in the sequel, who was in the original arguably the central point of view for the story. Of course, since this is the sequel, the computer has to be rebuilt and we have to go through the questions again of what the intentions of its designers might be. "Andromeda Breakthrough" goes the route of political thriller, and the first half of the novel is hardly science fiction at all. Evil cartel Intel managed to get its hands on the secret design for the supercomputer and have sold it, under their supervision, to the struggling fictional Arab-oil country Azaran. With Intel's help, Azaran persuades or kidnaps the key scientists, including Fleming and Andromeda, to work on the computer and direct it to make Azaran a strong country in the world. There's murder, intrigue, and a couple of political coups d'etat. Hoyle and Elliot have demoted Kaufman to just a lackey for Intel, and substituted a new villain - French femme fatale Janine Gamboul, higher up in the Intel organization than Kaufman. The novel turns toward the science-fictional in the second half when a mistake that Fleming and fellow scientist on the project Madeline Dawnay had made in the days of the original novel becomes the cause of worldwide destruction.

As a sequel to "A for Andromeda" this story felt to me to be unnecessary. Issues that had been firmly established in the original are revisited from a "new" perspective that serves only to muddy up the messaging. The international intrigue portion is clumsy and superficial, and Gamboul is rather a cartoon villain. There are some intriguing ideas about how humanity has mishandled the environment and the potential causes of such mishandling, especially in the area of unintended consequences. Overall, though, this sequel lacks the tight plotting and concentrated thematics of the original.

[Larry · Rating 3 out of 5]

ANDROMEDA BREAKTHROUGH carries directly on from the first book in the series. The opening scene is seared in my memory from the first time I read it, decades ago, the details of the rest of rest of the book had completely vanished.

The protagonist, John Fleming, is just as irritating as in the first book, but the secondary characters are more vivid, and take up more narrative space, which makes this in some ways a more interesting book.

The ending is unsatisfying because the primary conflict is resolved not by the protagonist defeating the foe, but by the protagonist changing his mind. After beating his head against a wall for two books, on the last page and a half he realizes that he can just step through the door.

That said, if you read the first book, read this one. You won't like it as much, but thinking about why you don't like it will make you a better person.

[Scott DuJardin · Rating 2 out of 5]

The most boring world-on-the-brink-of-destruction story ever!
I agree that it reads like it was written from the television series scripts.
Multiple characters who radically change at a whim - then change back again; not at all believable.
Not a satisfying ending.
So really, not much going for it.

[Vajnis · Rating 4 out of 5]

As nice and quick reading as "A for Andromeda" was.
Will remember this duo. 3,5-4 stars.

[Ellie · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5

[Lawrence · Rating 2 out of 5]

http://gnomeship.blogspot.com/2012/10...

[Bill · Rating 3 out of 5]

The excellent sequel to A for Andromeda.

[SciFiOne · Rating 4 out of 5]

1986 grade B-

Series novel A2

with John Elliot