About this ebook
A grieving songwriter reflects on his life and contemplates his future in this classic novella of heartbreak and healing from a Grand Master of Science Fiction.
It's been a long time since Hugh Billing visited his home in England. Decades earlier, he made his fortune as a hit songwriter in America, but years of shuffling between cities and countries has changed him. His clothes are American, his speech is American—even his thoughts are American. He doesn't have much English left inside him and he hasn't had a hit in years. What he does have, however, is sadness . . .
Then his mother's death returns him to London to embark on a new journey. Forced to examine the state of his life, Hugh begins moving from loneliness and aimlessness to somewhere around survival and hope.
It's been a long time since Hugh Billing visited his home in England. Decades earlier, he made his fortune as a hit songwriter in America, but years of shuffling between cities and countries has changed him. His clothes are American, his speech is American—even his thoughts are American. He doesn't have much English left inside him and he hasn't had a hit in years. What he does have, however, is sadness . . .
Then his mother's death returns him to London to embark on a new journey. Forced to examine the state of his life, Hugh begins moving from loneliness and aimlessness to somewhere around survival and hope.
A grieving songwriter reflects on his life and contemplates his future in this classic novella of heartbreak and healing from a Grand Master of Science Fiction.
It's been a long time since Hugh Billing visited his home in England. Decades earlier, he made his fortune as a hit songwriter in Ameri...
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1 review
Katherine Combs
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September 24, 2026
A short story where Hugh Billings returns to London for his mother's funeral and is adrift, trying to find his way in life even though he had originally started out in music and was successful for a little while. It seemed like he was unsure of things and trying to find out about his parents and questions everything that he has done. Worth a read.
About the author
Brian W. Aldiss was born in Norfolk, England, in 1925. Over a long and distinguished writing career, he published award‐winning science fiction (two Hugo Awards, a Nebula Award, and the John W. Campbell Memorial Award); bestselling popular fiction, including the three‐volume Horatio Stubbs saga and the four‐volume the Squire Quartet; experimental fiction such as Report on Probability A and Barefoot in the Head; and many other iconic and pioneering works, including the Helliconia Trilogy. He edited many successful anthologies and published groundbreaking nonfiction, including a magisterial history of science fiction ( Billion Year Spree, later revised and expanded as Trillion Year Spree). Among his many short stories, perhaps the most famous was "Super‐Toys Last All Summer Long," which was adapted for film by Stanley Kubrick and produced and directed after Kubrick's death by Steven Spielberg as A.I. Artificial Intelligence. Brian W. Aldiss passed away in 2017 at the age of 92.
Brian W. Aldiss was born in Norfolk, England, in 1925. Over a long and distinguished writing career, he published award‐winning science fiction (two Hugo Awards, a Nebula Award, and the John W. Campbell Memorial Award); bestselling popular fiction, including the three‐volume Horatio Stubbs saga a...
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