:''" Ring Around the Sun" is also a SF short story by

Isaac Asimov yi, יצחק אזימאװ , birth_date = , birth_place = Petrovichi, Russian SFSR , spouse = , relatives = , children = 2 , death_date = , death_place = Manhattan, New York City, U.S. , nationality = Russian (1920–1922)Soviet (192 ...

.''

''Ring Around the Sun'' is a

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 ...

novel by American writer

Clifford D. Simak Clifford Donald Simak (; August 3, 1904 – April 25, 1988) was an American science fiction writer. He won three Hugo Awards and one Nebula Award. The Science Fiction Writers of America made him its third SFWA Grand Master, and the Horror W ...

. Its anti-urban and pro-agrarian sentiments are typical of much of Simak's work.

Premise

The novel tells the story of a group of "mutants" with enhanced mental abilities and the ability to move between (apparently all empty) parallel worlds organizing the colonization of those worlds by the population at large. Since this requires uprooting the colonists, and thoroughly disrupting the social structure of the Earth, Earth's current power structure resists fiercely even as it is undermined by the introduction of disruptive devices and everlasting goods, such as the so-called Forever Car, at ridiculously low prices.

Reception

Science fiction editors

Anthony Boucher William Anthony Parker White (August 21, 1911 – April 29, 1968), better known by his pen name Anthony Boucher (), was an American author, critic, and editor who wrote several classic mystery novels, short stories, science fiction, and radio d ...

and

J. Francis McComas Jesse Francis McComas (June 9, 1911 – April 19, 1978) was an American science fiction editor. McComas wrote several stories on his own in the 1950s using both his own name and the pseudonym Webb Marlowe. He entered publishing in 1941 as a sale ...

described the novel as "solid entertainment...with plenty of startling plot-twists and some new ammunition for an old argument." ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' reviewer Villiers Gerson praised ''Ring Around the Sun'' as "quietly written, intricately plotted... erivingmost of its impact from its author's skillful understatement.

P. Schuyler Miller Peter Schuyler Miller (February 21, 1912 – October 13, 1974) was an American science fiction writer and critic. Life Miller was raised in New York's Mohawk Valley, which led to a lifelong interest in the Iroquois Indians. He pursued this as ...

, however, faulted its complicated plot, finding it more "involved" than memorable. Writers

Brian Aldiss Brian Wilson Aldiss (; 18 August 1925 – 19 August 2017) was an English writer, artist, and anthology editor, best known for science fiction novels and short stories. His byline reads either Brian W. Aldiss or simply Brian Aldiss, except for ...

and

David Wingrove David Wingrove (born September 1954) is a British science fiction writer. He is well known as the author of the '' Chung Kuo'' novels. He is also the co-author (with Rand and Robyn Miller) of the three ''Myst'' novels. Biography Wingrove worked ...

went so far as to call it "Clifford Simak's best book," ranking it alongside Simak's best-known novel, ''

City A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

''.

Publication history

''Ring Around the Sun'' was first published as a serial in ''

Galaxy Science Fiction ''Galaxy Science Fiction'' was an American digest-size science fiction magazine, published in Boston from 1950 to 1980. It was founded by a French-Italian company, World Editions, which was looking to break into the American market. World Editi ...

'' in from December 1952 to February 1953. It was printed in book form later that year. It has been subsequently reprinted multiple times and translated into several different languages.

Referenced in

Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, crime, science-fiction, and fantasy novels. Described as the "King of Horror", a play on his surname and a reference to his high s ...

's '' Hearts In Atlantis''

References

External links

* ''Ring Around the Sun'' as serialized in ''Galaxy''
parts 12
an
3
at the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

* {{Clifford Simak, state=autocollapse 1953 American novels Novels by Clifford D. Simak 1953 science fiction novels