Once again, I have trawled through the deep and murky waters of the Audible Plus catalogue in search of tasty morsels. Since we’re still in Vintage SF Month, I’ve focused on older works. Each of these is the first time I’ve encountered the author behind the page. Let me tell you, it’s been a mixed experience. In chronological order, here we go!

The Purple Cloud, by M. P. Shiel (1901)
Narrated by Clifford Samuel

The last of my pre-SF reading plans, The Purple Cloud is the story of the last man left alive after a sinister cloud of gas kills everyone else on the planet. Good premise, absolutely terrible execution. The first half of the book is largely concerned with wandering about achieving nothing, save to check in on some of the author’s friends, who are all dead. Then we descend into madness as our protagonist declares himself king of the ruins in a turn of events that ultimately just leads to more wandering. Finally, and here I’m going into spoilers because I don’t think this book can be ruined any more than it already is, we find another survivor. She’s a woman, so naturally she must be eager to live as a servant and/or lover for our good Christian hero. This is genuinely one of the most awful books I’ve ever slogged through, though I have to give the publisher credited for sticking the introduction at the end of the audio edition so people can go in blind. Afterwords are a much better idea than introductions when it comes to classics, and I hope this marks the start of a trend.

When Worlds Collide, by Edwin Balmer & Philip Wylie (1933)
Narrated by Peter Ganim

Despite enjoying The Day After Tomorrow, I’ve never been a huge fan of disaster movies. There are only so many times I can watch the same landmarks being demolished before I start to yawn. That being said, When Worlds Collide is incredibly interesting for being perhaps the first of this particular genre to appear in fiction. the world is not destroyed by war, or alien invasion, but by a natural disaster. It’s ropey at times, but the science is treated seriously. Like many of its successors, it does have a strongly pro-USA approach to global disasters, but it largely succeeds in making the apocalypse feel truly universal. Indeed, the description’s of Earth’s end make for some harrowing listening even today. I’m not in a rush to buy the sequel, but this was a really good listening experience.

Police Your Planet, by Lester Del Rey (1956)
Narrated by Peter Ganim

I primarily know of Del Rey as a publisher, so was excited to find this piece of his own fiction. It’s perfectly fine, but doesn’t offer a whole lot new to a jaded SF reader like myself. The geopolitics are thankfully a little more nuanced than the sexual relations portrayed herein (who would have thought domestic abuse could so easily be overlooked – oh wait, it was the fifties), and there’s a surprising amount of grittiness in Del Rey’s portrayal of the police in the opening chapters. This is one of those stories that never really amounts to anything, but it’s perfectly enjoyable for most of its run.

Star Surgeon, by Alan E. Nourse (1960)
Narrated by Knighton Bliss

I have a theory that the Golden Age is remembered as such not because the stories were better, but because they were aimed at a readership young enough to be influential when science fiction was later being codified. I doubt I’m alone in this theory. Star Surgeon (not to be confused with James White’s later tale of the same name) is a classic example of the SF Juvenile made famous by Heinlein. It’s a rollicking and episodic tale of doctors working across space, with a firm moral core and all the action an adolescent boy could hope for. Yes, it’s a tad on the simple side, but in this case it works.