Greybeard

Greybeard
First UK edition
Author	Brian Aldiss
Genre	science fiction
Publisher	Faber & Faber (UK) Harcourt, Brace and World (cloth) (US) Signet (mass market)
Publication date	1964 (cloth) 1965 (mass market paperback)
Pages	237 (UK) 245 (US) 207 (US paperback)
OCLC	1222334

Greybeard is a science fiction novel by British author Brian Aldiss, published in 1964.

Plot summary

Set decades after the Earth's population has been sterilised as a result of nuclear bomb tests conducted in Earth's orbit, the book shows a world emptying of humans, with only an ageing, childless population left. The story is mainly told through the eyes of Algernon "Algy" Timberlane (the title giving Greybeard) and his wife, Martha.^[1]

Publishing history

Since its first publication by Faber & Faber and Harcourt, Brace and World in 1964, it has had numerous reprints and translations, including Romanian, Norwegian, Japanese, Dutch, Swedish,^[2]Slovenian, Polish, Portuguese, Czech, Danish, Spanish, German and French.^[3] It was included in the Gollancz science fiction reprint series, SF Masterworks.

Critical response

The book is included in Interzone editor David Pringle's Science Fiction: The 100 Best Novels.

References

• Greybeard, Brian Aldiss. New York: Signet/New American Library, 1965. P 2689

External links

• Greybeard at Brian Aldiss website
• Greybeard title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
• Greybeard at fantasticfiction website
• review at "My Science Fiction Life", BBC Four website
• Aldiss video commentary on Greybeard at Meet the Author website