Triffids Beard 2 - The Bearded Triffid

Well it finally appeared. Ballantine published it in 1983. It made no splash and it sank without trace. Few
people ever knew it had been published and even fewer read it. It was (and it remains) Brunner's great,
lost work.
It broke him. He had really loved that book, fought for that book, believed passionately in that book. The
publishing failure left him a bitter and an angry man and he wrote nothing of significance for the rest of
his life. Oh there were other novels, but they were light and frothy things written with half of his
attention; just tossed of casually. They were never less than competent for Brunner was the
consummate professional, but his heart wasn't in it any more. The great days were over and so were
the great books.
I knew the book existed, but like most people I had never seen it (it went in and out of print frighteningly
fast and there was no second edition as far as I know). And then, a couple of months ago I went to
Sydney. We have recently moved to new offices in Sydney and I was looking forward to seeing them. I
was quite impressed to discover that the offices were just across the road from a second hand book
shop. And I was even more impressed to see, in pride of place, right in the centre of the window display,
The Great Steamboat Race, by John Brunner.
Well it turned out to be a curate's egg. It is a vast novel with a huge cast of characters and a complex
and convoluted story line. There are excellent vignettes within it, moments where the novel springs into
vigorous life. But then it collapses again and the brief spark dies. I think Brunner was a victim of his own
enthusiasm. He researched the novel in enormous depth (there is a long list of primary sources at the
back of the book) and perhaps he researched it too much and became lost in the minutiae. The weight
of its own significance and of its own huge detail overwhelms the book. Brunner let it run away with him.
I think perhaps he was too close to it for too long. It was not the book that he thought it was. And that
too is very sad. I so wanted this to be a great book, for the sake of a wonderful man who believed in it
so passionately.
But it wasn't.
Isaac Asimov Asimov's Guide to Shakespeare Wings Books
Jack Vance Ports of Call Tor
Harry Harrison Stars and Stripes Forever Hodder and Stoughton
Jake Page Apacheria Del Rey
Stephen Gould Helm Tor
Mike Resnick Kirinyaga Del Rey
Michael Flynn Rogue Star Tor
Michael Flynn The Forest of Time and Other Stories Tor
Steve McConnell Code Complete Microsoft Press
Edward Yourdon Death March Prentice Hall
Sir Henry Rider Haggard Cleopatra Harrap
John Brunner The Great Steamboat Race Ballantine