''The Seeds of Time'' is a collection of

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

short stories by British writer

John Wyndham John Wyndham Parkes Lucas Beynon Harris (; 10 July 1903 – 11 March 1969) was an English science fiction writer best known for his works published under the pen name John Wyndham, although he also used other combinations of his names ...

, published in 1956 by Michael Joseph. The title is presumably from ''

Macbeth ''Macbeth'' (, full title ''The Tragedie of Macbeth'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those w ...

'', Act I Scene III.

The collection contains: * a foreword by John Wyndham * "Chronoclasm", a time-travelling romantic comedy. * "Time To Rest", depicting the life on Mars of a human survivor of the destruction of Earth. A sequel "No Place Like Earth" appears in the collection ''

No Place Like Earth ''No Place Like Earth'' () is a collection of science fiction short stories by British writer John Wyndham, published in July 2003 by Darkside Press. Contents The collection contains the following short stories: *"Derelict of Space" (first publ ...

'' (2003), which contains both; both also appeared dramatised together in 1965 as “No Place Like Earth”, the first

episode An episode is a narrative unit within a larger dramatic work or documentary production, such as a series intended for radio, television or streaming consumption. The noun ''episode'' is derived from the Greek term ''epeisodion'' (), meaning t ...

of the

BBC2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

series, ''

Out of the Unknown ''Out of the Unknown'' is a British television science fiction anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and broadcast on BBC2 in four series between 1965 and 1971. Most episodes of the first three series were a dramatisation of a science f ...

''. * "Meteor", in which alien visitors to Earth find themselves on a very different scale to humans. * "Survival", set on a spacecraft marooned in orbit around Mars. A

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

adaption was broadcast in 1989 with

Stephen Garlick Stephen Garlick (born 7 July 1959) is a British actor best known as the voice of Jen in '' Jim Henson's The Dark Crystal''. His career has centered on film, television and radio. At the age of five he attended the famous Corona Academy stage s ...

Susan Sheridan Susan Haydn Thomas (18 March 1947 – 8 August 2015) better known as Susan Sheridan, was an English voice actress. Her roles included Noddy in '' Noddy's Toyland Adventures'', Princess Sylvia in '' Muzzy in Gondoland'', Trillian in the BBC rad ...

, and

Nicholas Courtney William Nicholas Stone Courtney (16 December 1929 – 22 February 2011) was an Egyptian-born British actor. He was known for his long-running role as Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart in the BBC science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. Ear ...

. It was released as an

Audiobook An audiobook (or a talking book) is a recording of a book or other work being read out loud. A reading of the complete text is described as "unabridged", while readings of shorter versions are abridgements. Spoken audio has been available in sc ...

in 2007 with the 1981 version of ''

The Chrysalids ''The Chrysalids'' (United States title: ''Re-Birth'') is a science fiction novel by British writer John Wyndham, first published in 1955 by Michael Joseph. It is the least typical of Wyndham's major novels, but regarded by some as his best. A ...

''. * "Pawley's Peepholes", another time travel story, this time playing it as comedy. * "Opposite Number", which plays with the concept of parallel universes. * "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. *
Dumb Martian
, a satire on racism, featuring an Earthman who buys a Martian wife. * "Compassion Circuit", a horror story on the subject of robotics. * "Wild Flower", which explores the tension between nature and technology.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Seeds Of Time, The 1956 short story collections Short story collections by John Wyndham Science fiction short story collections Michael Joseph books