The Big Time - 4th Hugo Award Winner (1958)
4th Hugo Award winner (1958)
Published originally in two parts in Galaxy Magazine
Fritz Leiber
Influenced by H. P. Lovecraft
“Conjure Wife” won a Retro Hugo in 2019
More famous for “Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser” series
Credited with inventing the term “sword and sorcery”
“… if you assume a big enough conspiracy, you can explain anything, including the cosmos itself.”
Overview
“The Spiders” & The Snakes” are fighting the "Change War". A time war where battles are being fought in the past, present & future.
The story unfolds in an area called "The Place," which is a rest area outside of time (pocket dimension).
Our protagonist Greta, & her comrades find a bomb while resting at “The Place”. This means there must be a traitor among themselves.
Pros
It’s a cool concept with characters picked out of the past, present, & future. A roman, a nazi (who is apparently good), and a alien moon octopus.
Get characters reminiscing about the missions. “Remember the time we couldn’t save baby Einstein from being murdered.”
Fast paced as everything happens in one day and the novel is 128 pages
Cons
A lot of people are introduced but no real character development happens
The stories the characters reminisce about are more interesting than the novel’s main plot
The dialogue is dated
Should you read it?
Probably not. A neat premise that is excused rather poorly. This would be a great TV show, play or mini series.
My Rating
128 pages