This was another beautifully written, classic science fiction from one of the authors who was instrumental informing the early days of science fiction in America of the 1950 -1960's. Simak's writing is consistent in that it is well crafted and explores ideas rather than expanding on the scientific side of a story. His strengths are in describing an inner journey of realisation and so, Ring Around The Sun would be unlikely to be considered science fiction if written today. More likely, it would h...

the concept of this story is great. the parallel Earths and mutation of the humans, although that part surprised me at first I came to enjoy it. As I was reading this story I realized this was written decades ago and I used to think there are ways to hear the stars as well... didn't know others thought the same, let alone some well before I was born. The story Revs up from there real quick, a little too quick and suddenly ends, I do wish there was more said before left to the imagination but all...

Starting 2018 with a great book. Well, ending 2017 and starting 2018, because it took me a bit longer then I expected while reading this short novel. Though it was priceless!It was a while since I've read sci-fi, so this was twice as exciting experience.The story is set in our world on the verge of economical crisis. A strange new products are appearing in the market - "forever" products: razors, that never get dulled; lighters, that never run out of gas; cars, that never break down or require m...

Classic science fiction - not as good as way station (but then again what is) There are off course sign of age, everybody smokes, the Cold War is ever present, but you need to be able to overlook these things, if you ever are going to read an older story.But the story flows quickly and effortless and introduces some very interesting concepts

Very good stuff if a little dated; but then that's what I like about classic sci-fi, the juxtaposition of 50s and 60s settings with mentions of parallel universes and hi-tech gadgetry.

Love this SO much! I remember reading it, 20-something years before and loving every moment of it!To get the full impact of this novel, one has to realise this was one of the very first sci-fi books in my life. I started reading it out of sheer curiousity, just to see what it was about, this book I found stuck on the upper shelves of our home library. And gradually I grew to love it. The idea that at any point in time there are parallel worlds, which are simply on a different schedule on their m...

Simak writes very much like Ray Bradbury. His characters are not superheroes who save universes. They are everymen caught up in extraordinary circumstances. This is why I enjoy the works of Bradbury and Simak more than the modern writers who rely on technology and superheroes to drive their stories.Much of the 1950s culture can be found in this book. Economic displacement was a hard reality of early 1950s with runaway inflation brought about by the end of World War II and the Korean War. We also...

Jay Vickers thinks he's a normal guy in a quickly changing world--new 'forever' products (razors! cars!) are coming out that never need to be replaced or maintained. Big Industry is scared and tries to hire Jay to write something negative about the innovations, but he politely declines. Soon Industry has riled up the masses to riot and smash all the forever products--and sometimes their owners. Jay then escapes on a road trip to his childhood home and relearns a forgotten ability that changes hi...

This book was written in the early 1950s and unfortunately it does feel a little dated. Nevertheless, it's an exciting tale of alternate earths and the 'evolution' or 'mutation' of the human race. There are many, many ideas crammed into the pages and it moves along at a cracking pace. I will definitely read some more Simak after this.

Jay Vickers, living a rural existence in a small town, is a restless writer. There are new gadgets on the market. Everlasting razor blades and lightbulbs are in the shops and then there is the Forever Car, which is guaranteed never to break down.His agent arranges an interview with a client who wants the writer to investigate and disparage the companies behind the devices, since no one knows where these cheap products are coming from and they are undermining the Capitalist system of America. He

Simak is one of the most important Science Fiction writers of the early 1960's, mostly because he created novels of marvelous ideas, ones with much potential and meat on them, if you understand. But Simak didn't always create great characters and plots to go along with those ideas (like so many other science fiction novels, the ideas are more important than the story). However, Ring Around the Sun is not one of those. It is a marvelous sci-fi novel, centering around the very idea that Currie use...

Ive read 5 Simak books now, The City and Way Station are my favourite, out of his more generic ( to me) books this one is the best i've read so far, there's even suspense here, if you enjoyed Time and Again or Time is the simplest thing go for it

Dumb. I kept waiting for it to get smart but it just got dumber. Pretty shocking, as it is considered one of the 100 best science fictions novels of all time and written by the man who produced "A Choice of Gods," which is the opposite of dumb. Oh well.

Of the first (chronological) 8 or so Simak novels, I think this one is the best written. It is consistent and complete. It also feels like it was the ultimate template for the next seven novels Simak wrote. All of these novels have very similar components: rural scenery, paranormal/alien, aloof but self-sufficient main characters, a rather negative view of *current* humanity, a look to an improvement of society/humanity. The beginning feels like a thriller novel, the main character has philosoph...

Clifford Simak is rightfully regarded as one of the masters of the golden age of science fiction. Ring Around the Sun is one of his earlier novels, published in 1952, but still reads fresh despite the passage of time. The protagonist, Jay Vickers, seems like a mild-manner man who is wedded to his routines as a confirmed bachelor and is a well-regarded novelist. But he lives in a time when there are some surprising innovations. A series of products -- light bulbs, razor and automobiles -- are int...

Jesus, this was hard to finish.I don't remember why I wanted to read this. My shoddy memory makes me think it was mentioned in IMDb trivia, the basis for a movie or Twilight Zone episode. I'm really glad I passed up every opportunity to buy it (which wasn't often, either).The main character is bland. No personality. Basically walks away from the plot right off the bat but is dragged back in and we're forced to follow him. Maybe it's the writing style, Sorry Clifford, but none of the characters w...

Though I'm a longtime fan of science fiction, I have often found something a little formulaic about most of the novels from the "golden era" of the genre. The problem is not with the premise -- though that can crop up from time to time -- so much as with the plot, which typically functions in the standard pattern of boy-meets-girl, boy-fights-antagonists (usually against seemingly overwhelming but ultimately surmountable odds), boy-gets-girl. For a while, though, I thought that with this novel I...

A very peculiar 1950's take on the havoc (or benefit, depending on where you're sitting) caused by a subgroup of society with supernatural powers trying to break away from the capitalism and greed destroying Earth in the late 1970's. The author would undoubtedly have been labelled as a Commie at the time of writing. Whet my appetite for some more Asimov-era hijinks.

I read this around 20 years ago and it has sat on my bookshelf ever since. I couldn't remember if I loved it or hated it (though assumed I wouldn't have kept it if the latter..), so thought I would give it another go as i'm 'clearing out' my old book shelves - only 5 star books to be kept in future.Turns out it was a bit bland, so it went on the fire last night after finishing so that it served some final purpose in helping warm the house. Hasn't aged particularly well (I know that feeling), and...

"Ring around the Sun" by Clifford Simak is by many fans of the genre novel has considered canonical. Noble and almost exemplary embodiment of the principles of the science-fiction convention. However, I regret to have to say that this work has already eaten a worm time or at least well chewed them.Successful start galloping promises not wonder, too late translated by another slightly jerky movements of the story. We get into the hands of an interesting vision of a world flooded by the "miracle"