''A Mirror for Observers'' 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 uni ...

novel by American writer

Edgar Pangborn Edgar Pangborn (February 25, 1909 – February 1, 1976) was an American writer of mystery, historical, and science fiction. Biography Edgar Pangborn was born in New York City on February 25, 1909, to Harry Levi Pangborn, an attorney and dictio ...

, winner of the

International Fantasy Award The International Fantasy Award was an annual literary award for the best science fiction or fantasy book and, in 1951-1953, the best non-fiction book of interest to science fiction and fantasy readers. The IFA was given by an international panel ...

in 1955. The plot concerns a philosophical conflict between settlers from Mars who attempt to influence human development.

Publication history

The novel was originally published in hardcover by Doubleday in 1954, with a British hardcover following from Frederick Muller Ltd in 1955. The first American paperback was issued by Dell in 1958, the first British paperback by

Penguin Books Penguin Books is a British publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers The Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the following year.Avon Books Avon Publications is one of the leading publishers of romance fiction. At Avon's initial stages, it was an American paperback book and comic book publisher. The shift in content occurred in the early 1970s with multiple Avon romance titles rea ...

published a trade paperback edition in 1975. After paperback reissues from several publishers in the 1970s and 1980s,

Old Earth Books Old Earth Books is a specialty publisher which specializes in out-of-print and niche books, primarily in the science fiction genre. The name comes from the Cordwainer Smith ''Lords of the Instrumentality'' series. It is located in Baltimore, MD. I ...

released a hardcover edition in 2004, and Gollancz included the novel in its SF Gateway line in 2011. ''Mirror'' has been translated into French, German, Italian, and Dutch.

Plot summary

''A Mirror for Observers'' recounts the story of Angelo Pontevecchio, a child prodigy and "potential ethical innovator" caught between two contesting factions of Martians, Observers and Abdicators. The Martians, living secretly on Earth after evacuating their dying home world, have been trying to guide the development of human civilization for thousands of years."Pangborn, Edgar"
''

The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction ''The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction'' (SFE) is an English language reference work on science fiction, first published in 1979. It has won the Hugo, Locus and British SF Awards. Two print editions appeared in 1979 and 1993. A third, continu ...

'' The novel is told from the point of view of Elmis, Angelo's designated Martian guardian, who must shield him from the malignant Abdicators."Book Reviews", ''New Worlds'', October 1955, pp. 122-23

Reception

Boucher and McComas praised the novel, saying "The warmth, depth and perception of a true novelist have given wholly new life to the shopworn remise and the fallible humanity of Pangborn's Martian Observers (from whose viewpoint the story is told) removes this from the paranoid Superman category and makes it a distinguished and moving novel of people ndtheir common problems of free will".

Groff Conklin Edward Groff Conklin (September 6, 1904 – July 19, 1968) was an American science fiction anthologist. He edited 40 anthologies of science fiction, one of mystery stories (co-edited with physician Noah Fabricant), wrote books on home improvemen ...

declared ''A Mirror for Observers'' a "beautiful and moving book, saying that "Despite the bigness of the theme, the story is told in little details which make the tragedy all the more impressive." He noted, however, that the book was "more like a preliminary sketch of a much larger-scope novel than it actually is".

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 ...

described the story as "that oldest of gags, the 'aliens among us' gambit, done as it's never been done before and is unlikely to be done again". '' New Worlds'' reviewer Leslie Flood complimented the British edition as "a book which has given me as much pleasure to read as any other in the past", citing "the tender commiseration for humanity and the understanding objectivity of Elmis himself". John Clute found the novel successful, saying that "Pangborn's gracious literacy usually overcomes a tendency towards a cloying sententiousness.

Gardner Dozois Gardner Raymond Dozois ( ; July 23, 1947 – May 27, 2018) was an American science fiction author and editor. He was the founding editor of ''The Year's Best Science Fiction'' anthologies (1984–2018) and was editor of '' Asimov's Science Fictio ...

described it as "somewhat dated now, but still powerful".

Jo Walton Jo Walton (born 1964) is a Welsh and Canadian fantasy and science fiction writer and poet. She is best known for the fantasy novel ''Among Others'', which won the Hugo and Nebula Awards in 2012, and '' Tooth and Claw'', a Victorian era novel ...

termed ''Mirror'' "deservedly a classic", saying "It’s the mood that I remember and that brings me back to it, the Martians and the humans, the tensions, the sense of time".Quiet Martians
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mirror for Observers 1954 American novels 1954 science fiction novels American science fiction novels Doubleday (publisher) books Novels about alien visitations