Non-Stop

Published in 1958, Non-Stop was Aldiss' first novel and focused on how the descendents of long ago space explorers fare on a generation ship.

As Non-Stop opens, things have not gone well at all, evidenced by the primitive living conditions of the ship's survivors. Hunter Roy Complain, like so many of his generation, feels there is something missing in his life. The adventure he embarks on beyond the perimeter of his tribe's living quarters brings a series of revelations that (for him and us) slowly provide an understanding of where they are, what has happened, and who their supposed enemies really are. It's a testament to Aldiss' plotting and rigorous adherence (for the most part) to Roy's point of view that the revelations work so dramatically and it's the invention and reversals inherent in those revelations, which make Non-Stop the definitive generation ship SF story.