An Age
Encyclopedia
An Age is a 1967 science fiction
novel
by Brian Aldiss
. The book, set principally in 2093, combines the popular science fiction themes of time travel
, totalitarian dystopia
, and the untapped potential of the human mind. It was nominated for an Ditmar Award
in 1969 in the "Best International Science Fiction of any length, or collection" category.
) can travel in their minds to the distant past. While mind traveling, they are unable to interact with the world of the past, but they can sense and interact with other travelers from their own time. It has been discovered that the functioning of the human mind is influenced and limited by "the undermind", a mysterious force which aids in mind travel.
searching for inspiration in the past.
When Bush returns from a long stay in the Cryptozoic, he finds that his nation (presumably the United Kingdom
) has been taken over by a totalitarian government. He is immediately drafted into the military and given the mission to kill the scientist Silverstone. As Bush mind travels again to fulfill his mission, he learns of Silverstone's new philosophical and scientific discoveries. Bush and Silverstone meet and decide together to usher in a new era of humanity, one enlightened by the realization that time flows backward.
reviewed the novel unfavorably, calling it "a useless book [which] tells us that the writer thinks he's clever. It even proves that he is, indeed, notionally facile, and perhaps admirable for having gone into doing advertising."
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
by Brian Aldiss
Brian Aldiss
Brian Wilson Aldiss, OBE is an English author of both general fiction and science fiction. His byline reads either Brian W. Aldiss or simply Brian Aldiss. Greatly influenced by science fiction pioneer H. G. Wells, Aldiss is a vice-president of the international H. G. Wells Society...
. The book, set principally in 2093, combines the popular science fiction themes of time travel
Time travel
Time travel is the concept of moving between different points in time in a manner analogous to moving between different points in space. Time travel could hypothetically involve moving backward in time to a moment earlier than the starting point, or forward to the future of that point without the...
, totalitarian dystopia
Dystopia
A dystopia is the idea of a society in a repressive and controlled state, often under the guise of being utopian, as characterized in books like Brave New World and Nineteen Eighty-Four...
, and the untapped potential of the human mind. It was nominated for an Ditmar Award
Ditmar Award results
The Ditmar Award is Australia's oldest and best-known science fiction, fantasy and horror award, presented annually at the Australian "NatCon" since 1969. The historical nominations and results of the Award follow....
in 1969 in the "Best International Science Fiction of any length, or collection" category.
Plot introduction
The future society described in the novel has developed a form of psychological time travel called "mind travel" by which, with the aid of the psychoactive drug CSD (no explanation of this acronym is given, though its mind altering effects are probably a reference to LSDLSD
Lysergic acid diethylamide, abbreviated LSD or LSD-25, also known as lysergide and colloquially as acid, is a semisynthetic psychedelic drug of the ergoline family, well known for its psychological effects which can include altered thinking processes, closed and open eye visuals, synaesthesia, an...
) can travel in their minds to the distant past. While mind traveling, they are unable to interact with the world of the past, but they can sense and interact with other travelers from their own time. It has been discovered that the functioning of the human mind is influenced and limited by "the undermind", a mysterious force which aids in mind travel.
Plot summary
The story concerns Edward Bush, an artistArtist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
searching for inspiration in the past.
When Bush returns from a long stay in the Cryptozoic, he finds that his nation (presumably the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
) has been taken over by a totalitarian government. He is immediately drafted into the military and given the mission to kill the scientist Silverstone. As Bush mind travels again to fulfill his mission, he learns of Silverstone's new philosophical and scientific discoveries. Bush and Silverstone meet and decide together to usher in a new era of humanity, one enlightened by the realization that time flows backward.
Reception
Algis BudrysAlgis Budrys
Algis Budrys was a Lithuanian-American science fiction author, editor, and critic. He was also known under the pen names "Frank Mason", "Alger Rome", "John A. Sentry", "William Scarff", and "Paul Janvier."-Biography:...
reviewed the novel unfavorably, calling it "a useless book [which] tells us that the writer thinks he's clever. It even proves that he is, indeed, notionally facile, and perhaps admirable for having gone into doing advertising."