This idea was originated by Bob Shaw. The canonical story is "Light of Other Days", one of the best SF stories of all time. He eventually assembled a number of "Slow Glass" stories into a novel, Other Days, Other Eyes.

According to the ISFDB, "Light of Other Days" was published in Analog, August, 1966, and has been reprinted at least 11 times, including in a couple of best of the year anthologies, in Nebula Award Stories 2, and in the recent huge Hard SF anthology, The Ascent of Wonder. It was nominated for both a Hugo and Nebula, losing to "Neutron Star" and "The Secret Place", two fine stories that, in my opinion, hardly rank with "Light of Other Days". But there you go.

Rich Horton

'Slow glass' was the late Bob Shaw's best known fictional invention -- see his famous short story "Light of Other Days", for instance, and other works. I seem to remember Shaw had 'slow glass farms' as well. Hmm...

There is an excellent account of Shaw's literary treatment of his own invention (which Shaw nurtured for a long time before using in a story) in Robert Silverberg's Worlds of Wonder anthology.

Al Reynolds

'Slow Glass' was created by Bob Shaw in the early 70s. It's a great idea and I'm not surprised it's been used by others.

Andy Love

And perhaps we shouldn't be surprised to see the idea resurfacing. After all, you can't copyright an idea.

Re: Memories of Childhood

The three series that were described by Amar Pai in last issue's letters column as favourite childhood memories rang a bell in my elderly brain of 22 years -- well, at least the first two did anyway.

The series featuring the Legionary with the unbreakable synthetic bones and the telepathic companion was The Last Legionary series by Douglas Hill, which followed the last Legionary in his quest to gain vengeance on those who had destroyed his world.

The series featuring the rag-tag band of kids in the future sounds like ColSec Rebellion, by the same author.

Jarrod Coad

Thanks for the memories!