The Twilight of Briareus by Richard Cowper

[@GrammaticusBooks]

Another good review Richard! But I was expecting a 6 at best based on your overview!

[@vintagesf]

I did have internal debate on that rating. The first half was very strong in prose and ideas. I thought it was going to be one of those rare gems we find in vintage SF. The second half didn't stick the ending. It was like reading Stephen King. Strong storytelling, some ick and then an okay ending.

[@GrammaticusBooks]

@@vintagesf Lol, Too bad it couldn't hang in there for four quarters. But great review of the book!

[@salty-walt]

I thought the same thing!

[@OmnivorousReader]

Good video - really interesting! I do have a book or two by Cowper waiting for me to get around to them, now I am enthusiastic about them.

[@vintagesf]

@@OmnivorousReader Apparently this book was written around 1970 and rejectedby his publisher. He then wrote ‘Clone’ and it sold well and then the publisher accepted this book. ‘Twilight’ went to sell more than ‘Clone’.

[@ScienceFictionRetroactivis-j1w]

Agreed: Ice Ages, Tropical Ages, Weather Control, are pretty common in SF. A lot of authors tried their hand at this. Laumer's "Catastrophe Planet", Zelazny's "Damnation Alley", did not seem unusual back in the day. We were taught about The Milankovitch Cycles in grade school back then. Where I am sitting in Mid Western USA was under 2 miles of glacier, 12,800 years ago. The giant rounded boulders pushed down from Canada were all over the place, farmers hauled them to the corners of their land. So, this stuff was interesting!

[@LiminalSpaces03]

Hmmm, on the fence about this one, but the cover is incredible!

[@vintagesf]

Understandable. The Zetas live in an in-between or a becoming but it isn't a strong reference to 'liminal'. I certainly wouldn't put it in the weird category.

[@SciFiScavenger]

I have that edition on my shelves but havent got to it yet. I read a few Cowpers as a teen, the white bird of kinship books (i forget if that is what theyre called or just one of the books. There's 3 of em.) I enjoyed them at the time, i must give them a re-read. 👍

[@themojocorpse1290]

I have never read anything by Cowper . Like the sound of this so ordered a copy last night .

[@vintagesf]

@@themojocorpse1290 Please return with your impressions after reading.

[@disconnected22]

Can always spot a copy of Smith’s “Rediscovery Of Man” on a bookshelf. (Purple)

[@vintagesf]

I've read 6 - 8 of the stories. So good.

[@picturepainter]

The first thing I read by Richard Cowper was a short story called "A Message To the King of Brobdingnag". It was an end of the world story included in the anthology "Armageddons". The destruction of humanity was self-inflicted, but completely unintentional. More recently I read the novel "Clone", which had a more humorous feel to it.

[@vintagesf]

@@picturepainter I just mentioned this book in another comment. Apparently the ‘Twilight’ book was rejected by the publisher and then he wrote ‘Clone’ as a response. Because ‘Clone’ did well they accepted ‘Twilight’. And then ‘Twilight’ did even better.

[@LOLoverun]

I enjoyed your overview, and appreciate your close-ups of the book. The review gave me enough to appreciate the book's qualities without feeling like I needed to read it myself - like you, I think the Zeta age-thing would put me off.

[@vintagesf]

Glad there was enough info for you to make a choice.

[@SlowDazzle11]

Arguably, his best book, though "Clone" might qualify.

[@vintagesf]

@@SlowDazzle11 Clone is probably my next Cowper read.

[@adrianmcmahon5731]

It sounds like a quite curious book that leaves me with just as many unanswered questions just from the review alone. Such as, is all life on earth now sterile or just humans? Where does the alien interference come from and why? I guess I'll have to find a copy to find out maybe some of the answers. I wasnt expecting you to review it quite so highly plus it being a recommendation by the Outlaw Bookseller only doubles the temptation to read it. Damn, my tbr list is never going to get smaller at this rate 🤔😉.

[@vintagesf]

I mention that I found some parallels to 'Childhood's End' by Arthur C. Clarke. 'Briareus' isn't as strong on plotting its paradigm shifts but it may be stronger in mood and prose.

[@adrianmcmahon5731]

@vintagesf its definitely a book I'm going to seek out as it's certainly intrigued me.

[@CptSamelsSigils]

There’s a typo on the back of the book. It should read, “everyone has been rendered infertile, except Chuck Norris.” Also I’m surprised you gave it an 8 out of 10, from your description I thought it was going to get somewhere in the 4-6 range.

[@vintagesf]

@@CptSamelsSigils Yah, may have overshot on that number.

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

My favourite Cowper as you know- covered it in my Winter SF video- I am planning a career overview video of his work (I have all his novels and collections under RC, though he wrote mainstream books as Colin Murray). I have maybe two I've not read. For me, he was always too mild for his own good compared to Priest, Roberts and Compton, all of whom he had afinities with. Despite this, I fwwl he is underrated and I collect his work. His father was a famous literary figure who knew Mansfield, Huxley and Lawrence.

[@vintagesf]

"Too mild compared to Priest, Roberts and Compton." Exactly. I really wanted the second half of the novel to take the reader to another level, whether it be mood, character or paradigm shift.

[@Greg_M1]

I must say, when a promising sci-fi story adds psychic powers to the mix, it disappoints me. To me, it feels like a cheap way to titillate the imagination and sell more books. I would like to think that good sci-fi doesn't need to add such 'magical' elements, but alas, many do. In other words, I prefer my sci-fi w/out fantasy elements. Still, I may give it a shot. Thanks for the excellent review.

[@vintagesf]

Psi powers was so prevalent in the 50s, 60s and 70s SF. It often was the delineating factor between soft and hard SF.

[@mistymarshall5438]

...Or why not make the women the same age as the older men to make a point that older women can still have sexual desire after menopause?

[@vintagesf]

@@mistymarshall5438 Trying not to give away too much but there are reasons it plays out over 17 years.