The Seeds of Time
![]() First edition  | |
| Author | John Wyndham | 
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Richard Barton | 
| Language | English | 
| Genre | Science Fiction | 
| Publisher | Michael Joseph | 
Publication date  | 1956 | 
The Seeds of Time is a collection of science fiction stories (five short stories and five novelettes) by British writer John Wyndham, published in 1956 by Michael Joseph.
Contents
- A foreword by John Wyndham
 - "The Chronoclasm" (1953), novelette, variant of "Chronoclasm"
 - "Pillar to Post" (1951), novelette
 - "Dumb Martian" (1952), novelette
 - "Compassion Circuit" (1954)
 - "Survival" (1952), novelette
 - "Pawley's Peepholes" (1951)
 - "Opposite Number" (1954)
 - "Wild Flower" (1955)
 - "Time to Rest" (1949), as by John Beynon, Bert #1 series[1]
 - "Meteor" (1941), novelette, as by John Beynon
 
Summaries
- "Chronoclasm"
 - a time-travelling romantic comedy.
 - "Pillar to Post"
 - The central character is a paraplegic who was badly injured in a wartime attack. Frequently taking drugs to cope with the pain, he finds himself in a healthy body very far in the future. A complex plot of body-swapping and time travel ensues. It is considered by some people to be the best story in the collection.[2]
 - "Dumb Martian"[3]
 - a satire on racism, featuring an Earthman who buys a Martian wife.
 - "Compassion Circuit"
 - a horror story on the subject of robotics.
 - "Survival"
 - set on a spacecraft marooned in orbit around Mars.
 - "Pawley's Peepholes"
 - another time travel story, this time a comedy in which tourists projected from the future cause chaos in a present-day town.
 - "Opposite Number"
 - which plays with the concept of parallel universes.
 - "Wild Flower"
 - which explores the tension between nature and technology.
 - "Time to Rest"
 - depicting the life on Mars of a human survivor of the destruction of Earth. A sequel "No Place Like Earth"[1] appears in the collection No Place Like Earth (2003), which contains both.
 - "Meteor"
 - in which alien visitors to Earth find themselves on a very different scale to humans.
 
Adaptations
- "Dumb Martian" (1962), episode of the series Armchair Theatre and Out of This World, directed by Charles Jarrott, based on novelette "Dumb Martian"
 - "No Place Like Earth" (1965), episode of the series Out of the Unknown, directed by Peter Potter, based on short story "Time to Rest" and novelette "No Place on Earth"[1]
 - A BBC Radio 4 adaption of "Survival" was broadcast in 1989 with Stephen Garlick, Susan Sheridan, and Nicholas Courtney.[4] It was released as an Audiobook in 2007 with the 1981 version of The Chrysalids.[5]
 
References
- ^ a b c Bould, Mark (18 January 2015). "Out of the Unknown: 'No Place Like Earth' (BBC2 4 October 1965)". Retrieved 14 January 2018.
 - ^ www.dooyoo.co.uk (3 July 2006). "The Seeds of Time - John Wyndham - Review - Chronological Seedlings". Dooyoo.co.uk. Archived from the original on 19 December 2007. Retrieved 31 October 2012.
 - ^ "Dumb Martian"
 - ^ "The Chrysalids & Survival, John Wyndham". Blackstone Audio/The Book Depository. 2014. Retrieved 14 January 2018., ISBN 978-1-48303-511-6
 - ^ "The Chrysalids & Survival: Classic Radio Sci-Fi (Dramatised)". BBC Audiobooks/Audible. 2007. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
 
External links
- The Seeds of Time 1956 publication contents at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
 - John Wyndham at IMDb
 
