Most of his work fits into one of two series. Clifton began publishing in May of 1952 with the often anthologized story 'What Have I Done?'. 1963) was an American science fiction writer. And among other things, it is that rare event: a science fiction novel based on a brand-new idea.

It is full, too, of rich rewards for the reader who appreciates genuinely mature philosophy tinged with gentle irony. THE FOREVER MACHINE is full of excitement, both physical and mental. And gradually the tension increased, the mobs grew restless, the military became more demanding-and the 'bomb' ticked swiftly on.Īnd it was up to Joe Carter to stave off catastrophe. And it was only to this handful that Bossy offered the greatest gift of all: immortality.īut all people wanted immortality, wanted it with a fixed and burning desire. Only a small handful of people are mature enough to realize that they don’t know all the answers. It shows convincingly and compellingly, what would happen if everyone in the world were given a single blunt command: Think or die. Which was why Joe Carter, the worlds only true telepath, and two brilliant Professors had to assume the role of Skid Row bums.Īll this is only the beginning of one of the most thoughtfully written, and thought provoking, science fiction novels ever written. So Bossy had to go underground, and work in hiding. Soon the men who worked with Bossy found themselves able to solve their problems, to erase their prejudices - in short, to think.ĭid the world welcome Bossy with open arms and glad cries? No, because for four decades the world had been in the grip of opinion control, and Bossy represented a serious threat to that dominance.

But she became something much greater: a hypercomputer. Given those facts, her conclusions and predictions were inevitably correct.īossy had been designed as a servomechanism for guiding airplanes. She was limited only in that she had to have facts - not assumptions - with which to work.

They'd Rather Be Right by Mark Clifton