Cosmic Engineers

Cosmic Engineers is a science fiction novel by American author Clifford D. Simak. It was published in 1950 by Gnome Press in an edition of 6,000 copies, of which 1,000 were bound in paperback for an armed forces edition. The novel was originally serialized in the magazine Astounding in 1939.

Cosmic Engineers
Cover of first edition (hardcover)
AuthorClifford D. Simak
Cover artistEdd Cartier
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
GenreScience fiction
PublisherGnome Press
Publication date
1950
Media typePrint (hardback & paperback)
Pages224
OCLC21462352

Plot introduction

The novel concerns a group of earthmen and a girl, who is awakened from suspended animation, being contacted by aliens with whom they join to prevent the collision of one universe with another.

Reception

Groff Conklin found the 1950 text "has an old-fashioned and somewhat frenetic ring to it which, nevertheless, is rather pleasant."[1] Damon Knight, however, panned the same edition as "a pot-boiler [which] should have been left interred" and noted that the 70th-century's inhabitants "talk, think, and act exactly like middle-class, middle-intellect 1930s Americans."[2] P. Schuyler Miller reported the novel was "good fun, but nothing to weight you down with ideas."[3]

Stephen King mentions Cosmic Engineers in Hearts in Atlantis[4], and also in his memoir On Writing, describing Simak's novel as "a terrific read".[5]

gollark: This means that they require energy stored in batteries, capacitors, etc. to run.
gollark: Calculators are generally electronic devices.
gollark: Yes, it's redundant when HelloBoi knows all information.
gollark: Metaclasses good, as they say.
gollark: I did it for them.

References
  1. "Galaxy's 5 Star Shelf", Galaxy Science Fiction, February 1951, p.101.
  2. "The Dissecting Table", Worlds Beyond, January 1951, p.103
  3. "Book Reviews", Astounding Science Fiction, June 1951, p.132
  4. King, Stephen. Hearts in Atlantis. Pocket Books. Chapter 8.
  5. Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft. 2000, Pocket Books, p. 157

Sources
  • Chalker, Jack L.; Mark Owings (1998). The Science-Fantasy Publishers: A Bibliographic History, 1923-1998. Westminster, MD and Baltimore: Mirage Press, Ltd. p. 299.
  • Tuck, Donald H. (1978). The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy. Chicago: Advent. p. 391. ISBN 0-911682-22-8.


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