Sense of wonder. It's a hoary cliche that seldom seems valid anymore. The earliest science fiction writing was filled with it. Jack Williamson's marvelous Legion of Space series is one of the first to come to mind. Later, milestones of the genre included Asimov's Foundation series, Clarke's Childhood's End and of course the wonderful Young Adult novels by Robert A. Heinlein. However, no novel I can think of has more awe, wonder and pure passion for outer space than Fredric Brown's The Lights in the Sky Are Stars.
Brown is best know these days for penning numerous mystery novels. They are among my favorite pieces in that particular genre. The Screaming Mimi, The Fabulous Clipjoint, Night of the Jabberwock and many others are milestones and it's a criminal shame that they are out of print. Brown's excellent Here Comes a Candle is slated for publication as I write this, and I can only hope that it is a portent of further volumes to come.
An aside: BUY THE BOOK. I own Here Comes a Candle in an earlier edition, but I have it preordered anyway. I want to see more of Brown's fiction to come back to print and the only chance we have of seeing that happen is if the ones that are published are successful. If you've read Fredric Brown's mysteries, you know how good he is. If you haven't read any of them, merely ask anyone that has and you'll see the enthusiasm in their faces as they reply.
As I said, Fredric Brown and his works are beloved by mystery/suspense/noir readers, but he wrote a lot of science fiction as well. On the whole, I don't think his SF is as satisfying as his mysteries are. He has written some damned good ones, like What Mad Universe and also some hopelessly dated whimsical novels like Martians Go Home. In my opinion, the very best science fiction novel Brown wrote is The Lights in the Sky Are Stars.
The Lights in the Sky Are Stars is, to my way of thinking, a romance novel. But it's not what most think of when they hear that term. It's not an icky-sticky love story between a man and a woman. No, The Lights in the Sky Are Stars is about one man's love, passion, obsession with space flight. A man who'll do anything, anything to touch the stars. Or, more precisely, Jupiter in this case. He lies, steals, burgles and is willing to go even further than that in his goal to be a part of humankind's struggle to explore space.
Yet this is not just a mere nuts and bolts science fiction yarn. It's s spiritual story that deals with mysticism and perhaps even hope for an everlasting will. The Lights in the Sky Are Stars is a heartfelt and heartbreaking story and should you decide to read it, please do not expect a candy apple ending. Life rarely ends up that way and while this is a romantic story, as with real life, human frailty comes into play. As sad as this novel is, and it is excruciating at times, The Lights in the Sky Are Stars is ultimately uplifting and an almost religious experience.
Fredric Brown published The Lights in the Sky Are Stars in 1953. That was an important time in the history of science fiction and a hell of a lot of wonderful works were coming out. Few however, can approach the richness and vision that it reaches in its pages. I first read it when I was about 14 and I loved it then. Now at age 45, I just finished reading it again and I found it to be even more rewarding.
Brown is best know these days for penning numerous mystery novels. They are among my favorite pieces in that particular genre. The Screaming Mimi, The Fabulous Clipjoint, Night of the Jabberwock and many others are milestones and it's a criminal shame that they are out of print. Brown's excellent Here Comes a Candle is slated for publication as I write this, and I can only hope that it is a portent of further volumes to come.
An aside: BUY THE BOOK. I own Here Comes a Candle in an earlier edition, but I have it preordered anyway. I want to see more of Brown's fiction to come back to print and the only chance we have of seeing that happen is if the ones that are published are successful. If you've read Fredric Brown's mysteries, you know how good he is. If you haven't read any of them, merely ask anyone that has and you'll see the enthusiasm in their faces as they reply.
As I said, Fredric Brown and his works are beloved by mystery/suspense/noir readers, but he wrote a lot of science fiction as well. On the whole, I don't think his SF is as satisfying as his mysteries are. He has written some damned good ones, like What Mad Universe and also some hopelessly dated whimsical novels like Martians Go Home. In my opinion, the very best science fiction novel Brown wrote is The Lights in the Sky Are Stars.
The Lights in the Sky Are Stars is, to my way of thinking, a romance novel. But it's not what most think of when they hear that term. It's not an icky-sticky love story between a man and a woman. No, The Lights in the Sky Are Stars is about one man's love, passion, obsession with space flight. A man who'll do anything, anything to touch the stars. Or, more precisely, Jupiter in this case. He lies, steals, burgles and is willing to go even further than that in his goal to be a part of humankind's struggle to explore space.
Yet this is not just a mere nuts and bolts science fiction yarn. It's s spiritual story that deals with mysticism and perhaps even hope for an everlasting will. The Lights in the Sky Are Stars is a heartfelt and heartbreaking story and should you decide to read it, please do not expect a candy apple ending. Life rarely ends up that way and while this is a romantic story, as with real life, human frailty comes into play. As sad as this novel is, and it is excruciating at times, The Lights in the Sky Are Stars is ultimately uplifting and an almost religious experience.
Fredric Brown published The Lights in the Sky Are Stars in 1953. That was an important time in the history of science fiction and a hell of a lot of wonderful works were coming out. Few however, can approach the richness and vision that it reaches in its pages. I first read it when I was about 14 and I loved it then. Now at age 45, I just finished reading it again and I found it to be even more rewarding.
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