Once again I am suckered in to another rebuilding civilisation novel. My main criticism is I wanted it to be twice as long! An interesting take on what is important when undertaking such a project in that the social aspect is primarily focussed on rather than the physical. Remarkably upbeat for a Brunner and worth picking up.

I am a fan of some of John Brunner's classic science fiction, so when I saw a paperback of his I'd never heard of, I bought it. Apparently Polymath was first published in 1963 as Castaways World then revised and republished in 1974. It is the tale of two refugee ships from the planet Zarathustra, whose sun is about to go nova, that both crash in different parts of a new planet light years away. Each group of survivors struggle through the first winter in their own ways, with no contact between t...

Not Brunner's best work but a short, reasonably entertaining read.Tells a story about survivors of two crashed starships trying to make it on an alien world. One group focuses on survival and rebuilding civilization, while the other group become obsessed with a desperate and seemingly futile attempt to repair their crashed ship and escape. Technically part of a series of books but they can be read in any order as the only connection is the plot-triggering event of a planet's sun going nova, caus...

came across this as part of a mass purchase a few years back finally got around to reading it. I found the concept of world building far more interesting than I thought I would. great book overall

Science Fiction, first published 1974Nette klassische Science-Fiction-Abenteuer-Geschichte, very retro. Die ursprüngliche (kürzere) Fassung ist genauso alt wie ich.John Brunner bemüht sich offensichtlich, eine "aufregend andere" Zukunft mit professionell ausgebildeten, gleichberechtigten Frauen und vergleichsweise viel sexueller Freizügigkeit darzustellen... aber er ist nun mal ein Kind seiner Zeit, und daher scheitert er an der Emanzipation ungefähr so kläglich wie ein Shirley-Temple-Film beim

Really the start of the Zarathustra refugees story, following two groups who crash land on an alien world. The primary question is do you focus on trying to escape planet or do you settle in and make the best of it? Interesting show of group dynamics which slips into super-man saves all Sci Fi trope.

John Brunner of course had some big successes as a SciFi writer, but this one reads as a pretty standard pulp fiction yarn, with a couple of interesting twists. This one fits into the general category of disaster survival/post-apocalyptic/castaway SF, with some interesting creatures on a new plant. It's a moderately entertaining read, but it feels targeted at 12 year old boys. WARNING: VIRTUALLY NO CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT. Really, even the protagonist is fairly wooden, with no feel for who he is o...

Pretty decent colonists crash land on the wrong planet story. Nice work. A little dated but a good read.

This book started pretty fast and I wondered if there would be any story interesting enough to continue reading. That changed very quickly. Polymath describes the fate of two groups of people who have crash landed on an inhospitable planet - one focused on repairing and irreparable spacecraft, and the other focused on survival and planning for future generations. The first group devolves rapidly into totalitarianism, while the second group, led by a polymath (similar to Herbert's mentats) are ab...

review of John Brunner's Polymath by tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE - July 12, 2014 John Brunner's Polymath reminds me of J. G. Ballard's short story collections: Vermilion Sands, Chronopolis, The Best Short Stories of J. G. Ballard, & most likely others that I don't have in my personal library. Why? Is it b/c they're both British SF writers w/ radical leanings? No, among other things, their radicality is quite different. It's b/c of the way the publishers reuse older material to sell newer bks. In

DAW Collectors #85Cover Artist: Vincent DiFate.Name: Brunner, John Kilian Houston, Birthplace: Preston Crowmarsh, Oxfordshire, England, UK, ( 24 September 1934-25 August 1995)Alternate Names: , Gill Hunt, John Loxmith, Ellis Quick, Keith Woodcott.Without warning, the sun of the planet Zarathustra goes nova. There is no time to evacuate, but a few spaceships on the night side of the planet are able to lift off and--by driving at maximum speed--outrun the shock wave of the explosion. Driven far b...

I think it was an average book, regarding the science fiction theme. It was an original idea, but I think it failed to capture the essence and excitement. Some dialogues were confusing. Some characters were badly introduced (kinda dropped out of nowhere) and many details of objects and props were not explained properly.However, there is always something happening and the story advances well, there are no unecessary fillers. Good for overall entertainment, but if you skip this book, you won't mis...

Liked it. Definitely not Brunner's worst... Still got the feeling, that even if he's taking everything into consideration, there's stell some dimension missing...But hey, it was written in '74...

Polymath é a minha primeira obra de Brunner.Nota-se neste livro claramente uma transição entre "hard-science" para "soft-science".A obra fala-nos duas tripulações refugiadas que são obrigadas a aterram de emergência num planeta inóspito. A sobrevivência deste grupo encontra-se nas mãos dum Polymath, um ser humano geneticamente modificado, com aptidões físicas e mentais aumentadas e treinado para liderar colónias.Foi um livro difícil de interiorizar, em parte por culpa da tradução, tornando a lei...

Os habitantes de uma colónia distante são obrigados a fugir quando a estrela do seu sistema solar se transforma em supernova. Os sobreviventes fogem em todas as direcções, e alguns dão por si no espaço profundo, longe de possibilidades de resgate por parte de outras colónias. Com as naves danificadas e as provisões a esgotarem-se, aterram no primeiro planeta que lhes permite sobreviver. As naves ficam danificadas para além de qualquer reparação na aterragem, e as condições de vida planetária não...

This book actually takes place long before "Avengers of Carrig" and "Repairmen of Cyclops", even though it's the second in the series. I read it last, so it's like a prequel of sorts. It is its own story, but gives the background of the first settlements of the Zarathustra nova survivors. Overall it is a good story, with a small population figuring out how to survive on a new planet with not much hope for rescue or escape. They have to survive the elements, the wildlife, and biggest off all, the...

I found this book in a thrift shop recently and the title intrigued me. While not exactly what I was expecting, it was an enjoyable read. I found myself wishing it had had a better, less abrupt, ending. It's about a group of people who have found themselves stranded on a planet and have to survive with the knowledge that help is likely not coming.

Discovered this book in jr. high. Mostly holds up--Gilligan's Island in space, without the comedy...shipwrecked refugees on a planet that has life, but nothing for which the refugees are prepared. They're going to have to figure it out fast, navigating the immediate necessities of survival while also trying to develop a society that will survive and adapt. A fast-paced, imaginative piece of work.

I guess SciFi needed books like this at the beginning. I would judge this to be YA perhaps now.Too predictable, too hero-worship (the Polymath solves the day).Pulp.

After their sun goes nova, two groups of survivors find themselves marooned on a faraway planet. Cut off even from each other, the two groups follow two distinct paths: one attempts to organize itself around more or less democratic structures and the other descends into "Lord of the Flies" savagery. The majority of the action in the first part of the novel revolves around showing how difficult it is to maintain a civilized social order in the face of extreme deprivation and hardship. Each of sev...