Annihilation Factor

{{Infobox book

| name = Annihilation Factor

| title_orig =

| translator =

| image = File:AnnihilationFactor.jpg

| caption = First edition

| author = Barrington J. Bayley

| illustrator =

| cover_artist = Peter Lloyd

| country = United States

| language = English

| series =

| subject =

| genre = Science fiction

| publisher = Ace Books

| release_date = 1972

| english_release_date =

| media_type = Print (Paperback)

| pages = 134

| isbn =

| dewey=

| congress=

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| preceded_by =

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}}

Annihilation Factor is the second science fiction novel by Barrington J. Bayley, expanded from a 1964 short story ("The Patch") originally published in New Worlds. It centres on the strains placed on a galactic empire by the appearance of the mysterious, planet-devouring "patch".

Literary significance and reception

Rhys Hughes describes the novel as stronger than The Star Virus but "dated" and conventional, noting that the primary distinguishing feature comes from Bayley's decision to concentrate on the pressures of the disaster rather than its physical effects. He also remarks on the alienating effect of Bayley's downbeat ending.{{cite web

|url=http://www.uri.edu/artsci/english/clf/n6_a3.html

|title=Annihilation Factotum: The work of Barrington J. Bayley

|work=The Council for the Literature of the Fantastic

|accessdate=2012-10-27

|url-status=dead

|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121004220800/http://www.uri.edu/artsci/english/clf/n6_a3.html

|archivedate=2012-10-04

}}

John Clute described Annihilation Factor, along with Empire of Two Worlds and Collision Course, as "variously successful".{{cite encyclopedia

| url = http://www.sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/bayley_barrington_j

| title = Bayley, Barrington J.

| encyclopedia = SF Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition