Dark Universe by Daniel F. Galouye is one of those science fiction books you should read without knowing anything about the story. I listened to the Audible.com edition, and Richard Dawkins blathered too much about the story in his introduction. If you get the audio, skip the introduction until after you’ve finished the book.
Dark Universe was nominated for the Hugo Award in 1962. It lost to Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein. I can’t believe I’ve gone 65 years without discovering this great science fiction novel; it’s a real classic. I think I need to go read the other nominees from 1962.
There are certain science fiction novels you should read cold – don’t even read the blurbs on the book. Writers paint a unique world by letting readers see it through the perspective of their protagonist. Dark Universe and Of Men and Monsters by William Tenn are great examples. It’s great fun to guess what’s happening scene by scene.
I have read one other novel by Galouye, Lords of the Psychon, but I have no memory of it, even though I wrote a fairly long review. Geez, getting old and feeble-minded is a pain in the ass. I wonder how long I’ll remember Dark Universe? I think it will stick with me because it was so unique and clever.
For the time being, I hope to remember to read more of Galouye and keep an eye out for these books.
James Wallace Harris, 6/5/26
Classics of Science Fiction 
Agree with you on DARK UNIVERSE, and suspect the reason you don’t remember LORDS OF THE PSYCHON is that there wasn’t much to it. I think I’ve read all of Galouye’s novels and the best of the lot is SIMULACRON- a/k/a COUNTERFEIT WORLD–a much better title, since it’s about a computer-simulated world. Unusually, two movies have been made from it: THE THIRTEENTH FLOOR, which is not bad, and THE WORLD ON A WIRE, made by Rainer Werner Fassbinder for German TV, and much better as one would expect.
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