The Outward Urge [Hardcover]

John Wyndham (Author), Lucas Parkes (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1959

First British (and first hardcover) edition. Collection of four "Troon Family" novelettes; each tells the tale of the next generation of Troon men as they set out to explore the unknown. Includes "The Space Station A.D. 1994"; "The Moon A.D. 2044"; "Mars A.D. 2094"; and "Venus A.D. 2144." Both "John Wyndham" and "Lucas Parkes" were pseudonyms of English science fiction writer John Wyndham Parkes Lucas Beynon Harris (1903 - 1969).

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Michael Joseph; First edition edition (January 1, 1959)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0718112067
• ISBN-13: 978-0718112066
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,442,520 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wyndham's wit continues, January 8, 2004

By 

"yourwordsdotca" (Toronto) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The outward urge

Told in 5 parts, The Outward Urge is the story of 5 successive eras in the development of space travel and exploration. By now, the topic has covered ad nauseum and books of the sort are left (often with good reason) sitting in the corner or propping up an old table. What differentiates this from those though is that it was written in 1959 when space travel was still a passing dream to most and, as those who have read John Wyndham before will know, the author makes a perfect mix of fact, fiction and philosophy backed by genuinely good story telling to get his point across.

The characters of the novel are very well conceived and all too realistic in their reactions to the circumstances presented to them. I find that John Wyndham has a talent for portraying his characters believably and accurately, which lends his far-out stories an air of realism that many authors lack. In one particular scene of Mars, the third part of the novel, one of two men stranded in a craft on Mars believes the other to be an alien in the man's body; positively bereft of reality, his calm insanity becomes absolutely chilling to one reading in the quiet of the night.

Writing The Outward Urge presented serious obstacles to the author due to the technical nature of writing such a story, solved by consulting Lucas Parkes for the technological details to make it all more believable. Considering the erratic leaps and bounds technology has made since 1959, many predictions weren't so far off- such as the prediction of a space station by 1994 or the use of "narrow radar beams" used for tracking distances (think lasers).

Most important however are the author's suggestions about the other aspects of space travel. While loosely connected, each story part brings its own unique interpretation and representations of the political, social and individual implications of space travel to the tale, with a very clear voice about where the he stands on each. Here too his predictions are eerily accurate. In the fourth part, Venus, he tells of the modern superpower, Brazil, claiming Space as its province, illustrating the absurdity of man's claim to territory. In the first part, The Space Station, man's desire to reach the stars is overshadowed by his government's desire to exploit its tactical possibilities (think STARWARS program) and futher its position in the global rankings. This theme of Government Agenda versus Man carries on throughout and what often begins in personal or technological triumph ends in aggressive positioning and political wrangling, robbing the moment of any victory. Pervasive in each also though is that glimmering possibility that Man will one day overcome his political chains.

As with most of John Wyndham's other novels, The Outward Urge is nothing mind-blowing or particularly overwhelming, but it is a good story and very well written. What he lacks in explosive impact he exceeds in the art of subtlety and intelligence. The book can be read with ease in a day or two and, if you're anything like me, you'll find yourself itching for more and checking out the rest of his works for appeasement. See wwwdotyourwordsdotca for more.

3.0 out of 5 stars Not Free SF Reader, December 27, 2007

By 

Blue Tyson "- Research Finished" (Legion clubhouse) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Outward Urge (Paperback)

This is a collection of space exploration into the solar system.

Wyndham divides his book in sections, and in each era there is a member of the Troon family involved in the goings on.

He calls them :

Outward Urge : The Space Race 1994 - John Wyndham
Outward Urge : The Moon 2044 - John Wyndham
Outward Urge : Mars 2094 - John Wyndham
Outward Urge : Venus 2144 - John Wyndham
Outward Urge : The Asteroids 2194 - John Wyndham

A passable book, but nothing particularly interesting, as he chronicles the exploits of a family in this near future history novel.



Getting up the gonads.

3.5 out of 5


Getting closer.

3 out of 5


Red ones go faster.

3 out of 5


Steaming ahead.

3 out of 5


Going all rocky.

3.5 out of 5




3 out of 5

4.0 out of 5 stars Ideas are fresh, even if the book is not, August 3, 2005

By 

MLJ "MLJ" (Adelaide) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The outward urge

This is John Wyndham's most "technical" work, such is the reason he involved his alter ego Lucas Parkes to collaborate on the tech aspects. The idea of Brazil and Australia becoming super powers is interesting, so too the fact that Space exploration has only been motivated due to war and the quest for power. I sometimes wonder whether Wyndham was not confident in taking full credit for this book as it deviates from his usual British flavoured "cosy catastrophes" as such hid behind collaboration, nonetheless he should have been proud of his effort.