A telepath inadvertently acquires a powerful alien consciousness and must run for his life to escape corporate assassins and hate-filled mobs in this enthralling science fiction masterwork Space travel has been abandoned in the twenty-second century. It is deemed too dangerous, expensive, and inconvenient and now the all-powerful Fishhook company holds the monopoly on interstellar exploration for … for commercial gain. Their secret is the use of parries, human beings with the remarkable telepathic ability to expand their minds throughout the universe. On what should have been a routine assignment, however, loyal Fishhook employee Shepherd Blaine is inadvertently implanted with a copy of an alien consciousness, becoming something more than human. Now he s a company pariah, forced to flee the safe confines of the Fishhook complex. But the world he escapes into is not a safe sanctuary; Its people have been taught to hate and fear his parapsychological gift and there is nowhere on Earth, or elsewhere, for Shepherd Blaine to hide. A Hugo Award nominee, “Time Is the Simplest Thing” showcases the enormous talents of one of the true greats of twentieth-century science fiction. This richly imagined tale of prejudice, corporate greed, oppression, and, ultimately, transcendence stands tall among Simak s most enduring works.”
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I first read this book in high school while I was busy tearing up the science fiction shelves with rampant curiosity. I loved this one. So, now it’s on my Kindle HD and peace is with the world. Along with “City” and “Way Station”, Clifford Simak has lit me up numerous times. Ray Bradbury, Issac Asimov and William Gibson remain my favorite science fiction authors.
This is my second Clifford Simak book, my first being the seminal “Way Station”. I enjoyed this book, not nearly as much as “Way Station”, but it was a pleasant experience. It doesn’t have the clarity of plot that some of his best books have, but I find his writing to be charming, engaging, and calming.
Simak first published “Time is the Simplest Thing” in May 1961. For context, Russia first launched Sputnik in 1957 and put the first man in space in April 1961. Mankind was just learning how difficult space travel was and had yet to determine if travel beyond an Earth orbit was possible. This question seems to be the guiding thought underneath this novel. In “Time is the Simplest Thing”, people have given up on manned space travel. Humans are found to be too fragile to withstand the rigors of space and exposure to radiation outside of Earth’s protection.
Instead, there are breakthroughs in psychic abilities. Humans develop a number of these abilities; telepathy, levitation, to name a few. With the help of technology, a star machine, humans develop the ability to visit the stars. Think astral projection combined with a rover that records the experience. The astral explorers bring back inventions and ideas that are processed by a shadowy corporation that decides what gets distributed to the population and what doesn’t. Interestingly, the failure of normal space travel is somewhat considered a failure of science and with the psychic abilities, a backlash from society occurs. Individuals with psychic abilities (called parries), are increasingly feared and tormented. All of this is wonderful, but the plot itself follows the main character (Shep Blaine), an astral projection space explorer who brings back a little more than bargained for. Blaine runs and we follow him as he attempts to escape the shadowy corporation and others that fear what he has brought back.
So, the backdrop is wonderful, but unfortunately, Blaine is somewhat motiveless for much of the story. This causes the plot to somewhat meander and it’s largely the interesting world building that carries us through the book. For me, it’s telling that despite this issue, I still enjoyed Simak’s writing. His love of nature shines though and anytime he describes a scene in nature his prose transforms from pedestrian to poetic! An example:
“The sky came down, pressing on the Earth, a hazy sky that stretched from bluff to bluff, roofing in the river and shutting out the sun so that the birds flew with uneasy twitterings in the willows, puzzled at the early fall of night.”
Simak explores prejudice and bigotry in this story, showing the alarming speed at which “parries” are outcast and persecuted. So while the plot has challenges, the writing, the worldbuilding, the theme, and Simak’s mid-western charm were enough for me to fully enjoy this tale – four stars.
Has not aged well. I couldn’t finish it.
For science fiction turn to CLIFFORD SIMAK
I love Simak but this one is mediocre
Writing style good. Concept interesting. Story boring. Read entire book. Super fan might enjoy. Casual reader will hate.
Classic science fiction, yet relevant today. Entertaining read.
Could not hold my attention. I did not finish.
Big ideas about tolerance and acceptance of differences…written in an old-fashion style
I had difficulty getting into the book. It was written in another time (when women were dames, if you understand the reference, and social structures felt very wrong to modern ears.) But it was a good story. It used extra-perceptual powers as a way of talking about narrow-mindedness, and human prejudices, and fear of differences. Humans have always viewed differences—cognitive or physical—with suspicion and sometimes with hostility and violence.
So if you can put aside the awkwardness that seeps into writing due to social progress, then you will have a nice ride and something to think about.
This is probably my favorite Simak even though there are others of his works that may be objectively more well-written, more accessable, more engaging. This speaks to me. It’s basically a polemic on fear and the prejudices that irrational fear and scapegoating creates, and how that prejudice can destroy a society. Set against a background of institutional use of psychic powers and an alien invasion of a single man’s mind, the book mainly deals with ignorant and unreasoning fear of change and the sweeping of the world by superstition and bigotry deliberately fostered in the interests of power. It may be Simak’s most surreal of his many surreal works. At the very least, it’s highly underrated.
What can i say? It’s Simak! Buy it, you will like it.
Very thought provoking. Great read, want to read more by this author.
Very thought provoking work by a master of sci-fi.
Classic Simak makes you think just what everything is all about love the book while the author
Look, the first time I read this book was in the middle 60’s, when I was 14-16 years old. This book grabbed me and spun me around. It resonated with my mind. I re-read it a couple of times, but lost the book during a move. Now, 45-50 years later, I’m re-reading it for the first time. The ideas in this book stuck with me the entire time and every few years, I’d search for another copy but no luck, till it poped up on Bookbud. I had my ebook copy in under three minutes…….joy! It really sunk a hook in me and I hope if you do read it, that it grabs you too. Thank you Bookbub!!!
I liked the plot twists and surprises, and didn’t want to put it down.
This is an author who doesn’t disappoint.
I first read this book many, many years ago and it has remained one of my favorite science fiction novels. I have re-read it a couple of times and enjoyed it each time.