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Author: Matthew Wuertz

Galaxy Science Fiction, March 1954: A Retro-Review

Galaxy Science Fiction, March 1954: A Retro-Review

Galaxy March 1954-smallThe March, 1954 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction features a cover by Ed Emshwiller. I’m not certain how easy it is to see, but I like how he added EMSH to the symbols in the background.

“The Telenizer” by Don Thompson — Langston is a reporter who becomes a target of someone with a telenizer. The device, once honed to someone’s brain waves, can change a person’s perception of reality. One countermeasure is drunkenness, but Langston opts for a neutralizing device that he can carry in a briefcase.

Langston starts a story on himself, beginning with an investigation on Isaac Grogan. Langston did an expose series on Grogan years ago on bribery and corruption, which eventually led to the man’s arrest.  Now that Grogan is free, he has motive for revenge. But there could be more at play than the obvious.

I like the premise and some of the action sequences; the story has a good pace. I couldn’t find much information on Thompson, which made me think the name could be a pseudonym for another author, given that this is the longest story in the issue. But I’m not turning up anything.

Maybe someone else (e.g. Rich Horton) has more information.

“The Littlest People” by Raymond E. Banks — Space labor forces are shipped cheaply by placing people in stasis while being shrunk to just a few inches in size. John’s father is the personnel director on an asteroid and meets with Mr. Mott, who arrives with new people available for hire. As John wanders the ship, he finds one of the little people — a woman — lying on the floor.

He picks her up and means to tell Mr. Mott, but there’s a bit of chaos at that moment, and John pockets her. Later, his sister brings the tiny woman (whom she names Gleam) out of stasis by accidentally injuring her leg. So John begins caring for Gleam like a pet while she bemoans her uselessness because of her permanently injured leg.

This is a really intriguing tale by Banks, and aside from some physical violence, it’s a good coming-of-age story.

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Galaxy Science Fiction, February 1954: A Retro-Review

Galaxy Science Fiction, February 1954: A Retro-Review

Galaxy Science Fiction February 1954-smallThe cover for the February, 1954 issue is titled “Spaceship Hydroponics Room” by Ed Emshwiller. We’re growing some hydroponic tomatoes at home, so the future is now!

“Beep” by James Blish — The Dirac communicator allows instantaneous communication between two devices, regardless of their distance. This gives an immense military advantage to those in the galaxy who possess it. But a shrewd reporter named Dana Lje uncovers something of much greater importance, hidden within a beep that precedes each message. And she sets her own terms for revealing her findings.

This story felt more like a science article expanded into a narrative, where characters are talking about the theoretical science. It didn’t feel much like a story to me. I found the science intriguing enough, but it makes me wonder if a concise article on the subject would have had the same effect.

“The Boys From Vespis” by Arthur Sellings — The Vespians arrive on Earth for their own purposes, and they’re all extremely attractive men. Herbert and other local guys can’t get any attention anymore because of the recent competition, and he’s had enough. He goes straight to the leader of the Vespians to demand that something be done.

It’s a pretty short tale, and it earned a light laugh from me toward the end. Arthur Sellings is a pseudonym for Arthur Gordon Ley, a British author and scientist. He had six novels and many short stories published. Unfortunately, he died of a heart attack at age 47 in 1968.

“Pet Farm” by Roger Dee — A three-man team explores the planet Falak — a small, arid planet that doesn’t rotate. Their job is to look for survivors from the war with the Hymenops — an insect race that attacked humans 200 years ago. The humans they find are all in their mid-twenties or younger and unable to communicate effectively in English. While there are a myriad of explanations for the absence of older humans, they hope to find the cause so that the planet can be recolonized in the future.

There’s a good, mysterious plot that unveils nicely. This story is part of his series that follows the crew of the Marco Four. I reviewed a previous story titled “Wailing Wall” that appeared in the July, 1952 issue.

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Galaxy Science Fiction, January 1954: A Retro-Review

Galaxy Science Fiction, January 1954: A Retro-Review

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Mel Hunter’s “Flight Over Mercury” is featured on the cover of the January, 1954 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction. It’s much more interesting than the actual surface of Mercury, which looks a lot like our moon.

“Natural State” by Damon Knight — The major cities of the United States operate as industrial nations of their own while the rest of the country becomes agricultural. The cities repeatedly try to subjugate those in the country, but the cities’ technology can’t compete against the genetic engineering of those in the country.

Alvah is sent from New York to open trade with the outsiders — the Muckfeet — in hopes of bringing them into a civilized world and to support the needs of the city. When he meets with the Muckfeet, he finds that they consider him backwards – that those in the cities are the uncultured, uncivilized people. It’s up to a young woman named B.J. to reeducate him, if he’ll listen.

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Galaxy Science Fiction, December 1953: A Retro-Review

Galaxy Science Fiction, December 1953: A Retro-Review

Galaxy Science Fiction December 1953-small Galaxy Science Fiction December 1953-back-small

Featuring festive, seasonal artwork from Ed Emshwiller, the December 1953 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction includes fiction from both Theodore Sturgeon and Isaac Asimov.

“The Dark Door” by Alan E. Nourse — Harry Scott hides in an apartment, waiting for them to find him. Who they are, he doesn’t know. But they aren’t men. He tried to learn about them only to become their target. He can’t go to the police. But if he can get back to the center where he works, he might find help. Unless the mysterious not-men get to him first.

I like the feel of this story. It’s not clear what’s happening, and as a reader, you aren’t certain if you can trust the main character’s point of view because it’s clear he’s unstable.

I’ve mentioned this in a past article, but Nourse wrote a novel titled The Bladerunner in 1974. And Ridley Scott bought the rights to the title “Blade Runner” for his 1982 film (which was based on Philip K. Dick’s novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?). I mention this again because of the recent release of Blade Runner 2049. And if you haven’t seen that movie yet, what are you waiting for?

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Galaxy Science Fiction, November 1953: A Retro-Review

Galaxy Science Fiction, November 1953: A Retro-Review

Galaxy Science Fiction November 1953

The November, 1953 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction is one of the better ones, from my perspective. Aside from the continuation of The Caves of Steel by Asimov, Michael Shaara and Roger Dee contributed a pair of good tales.  (The cover art is by Ed Emshwiller.)

“Keep Your Shape” by Robert Sheckley – Pid and his crew arrive on Earth to prepare for a mass invasion. All previous teams failed in their missions for unknown reasons. The Grom (a race of shape-shifters), conquer new worlds as a course of survival. The dangers of Alterationism and Shapelessness are at the forefront of Pid’s mind, but he’s determined to succeed where all other teams failed.

Sheckley does a good job with the Grom, who aren’t very close to humans but still have motives and ideas that I can understand. It’s a fun read.

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Galaxy Science Fiction, October 1953: A Retro-Review

Galaxy Science Fiction, October 1953: A Retro-Review

Galaxy October 1953-smallGalaxy Science Fiction began its fourth year of publication with the October, 1953 issue. Editor H. L. Gold kept up a great pace of monthly issues, each one containing all original stories, many of which were later reprinted. I applaud Gold for his efforts as I do editors of today’s fiction markets, who, like Gold, are striving to deliver great works of fiction to the world.

The Caves of Steel (Part 1) by Isaac Asimov — Lije Baley is a police detective in New York — an immense city spread over two thousand square miles (compared to the mere 300 of the early 21st century). Covered by a roof and walled in, like all other Cities, it’s like a cave.

Those who had ventured into space to colonize beyond Earth are known as Spacers. Over time, their technology advanced beyond the people on Earth, and when some of them returned to establish their own territory on Earth called Spacetown, no one on Earth had the power to stop them.

The police commissioner summons Baley to inform him that a Spacer was murdered in Spacetown. If they can’t find the murderer, the Spacers could ask Earth to pay indemnity fees, which would only fuel further outrage toward Spacers. Or if Earth refuses to pay, the outer world governments could use their advanced technology to harm the Earth in other ways.

Baley agrees to investigate, but the commissioner tells him the Spacers will only keep the murder confidential if one of their agents helps on the case — a robot named Daneel Olivaw.

Asimov has created an amazing world with this novel — imaginative yet gritty with tension. I can’t wait to see how the story continues to unfold. It’s been a great ride so far.

“The Model of a Judge” by William Morrison — A colony on one of Saturn’s moons holds a baking contest. The judge is a reformed carnivore named Ronar whose sense of taste is well beyond that of any human. He’s confident in his ability to choose a winner, but he’s amused by the varying ramifications in choosing each of the three finalists.

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A Cybernetic Detective in a Futuristic Japan: Ghost in the Shell

A Cybernetic Detective in a Futuristic Japan: Ghost in the Shell

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I prepared myself before going to see Ghost in the Shell, expecting an overly simplistic story full of action that vaguely resembled the 1995 anime release of the same title. Fortunately, my expectations were wrong.

Just to set some background: the franchise began with a manga titled The Ghost in the Shell, written in 1989 by Masamune Shirow (a pen name for Masanori Ota). It was later adapted as 1995 film with the same name (directed by Mamoru Oshii) and a subsequent anime series (Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, one of my all-time favorite anime series).

The 1995 film is a really intriguing story, taking a closer look at humanity and robotics in a gritty, futuristic Japan. It took me a couple of viewings to understand everything; the story comes fast, as do the fantastic action sequences. It inspired the Wachowskis with The Matrix film series, and you can see some direct correlations between certain scenes.

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Galaxy Science Fiction, September 1953: A Retro-Review

Galaxy Science Fiction, September 1953: A Retro-Review

Galaxy Science Fiction September 1953-small Galaxy Science Fiction September 1953-back-small

The September, 1953 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction opens with Editor H. L. Gold weighing in on vocabulary guessing for future science fiction. He writes that

Objects and methods must be named so the reader will recognize them. All the author can do is apply logic, which sometimes works, as in the case of several commonly used terms invented by science fiction, but more often does not, as in terms that are born naturally, not synthesized.

He describes how some words, like nylon and Kleenex, are trade names. The word jeep came from how soldiers abbreviated “General Purpose Car” (listed as “G.P.” in stock lists). He concludes his remarks by writing:

If we were trying to predict instead of entertain, you’d be right in objecting to our inevitable bloopers (origin unknown). But would you rather wait for the correct lingo (lingua, tongue) or enjoy our guessing right now?

My answer: bring on the bloopers!

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Galaxy Science Fiction, August 1953: A Retro-Review

Galaxy Science Fiction, August 1953: A Retro-Review

galaxy-science-fiction-august-1953-smallThe August 1953 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction has an intriguing cover titled “Dome Repairs on Mars” by Mel Hunter. But the cover is just the start of the fun…

“Mind Alone” by J. T. M’Intosh — Muriel Martin doesn’t know who she really is or that she came from the planet Murrane. She’d found out too much about the purpose of the war between Earth and Murrane, but instead of killing her, they wiped her memories and dropped her on Venus.

Though her past is erased, Muriel’s intelligence and curiosity remain. And given enough time, she’s formidable enough to discover those secrets again

This story was really good in a lot of ways. Except that I couldn’t quite buy the romantic tie-in. It seems to be a pattern in these older issues that if there’s a young woman and young man, they will inevitably have a romantic relationship, no matter how forced it might seem. There’s some degree of realism in that kind of premise, I suppose, but I’d also like to see characters who, for whatever reason, are fine with not dating anyone. And I think Muriel would have been a much stronger character if she was solely focused on her own agenda.

“We’re Civilized!” by Mark Clifton and Alex Apostolides — Humans arrive on Mars to claim it for their own. Captain Griswold, who tends to be of a conquering mindset, allows for the possibility of sentient life. If their scientist, Mr. Berkeley, can prove the existence of a civilization, Griswold is prepared to leave. After all, the last thing he wants is to become another villain in history. Well, maybe it’s not quite the last thing.

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World Fantasy Convention 2016 Begins Tomorrow

World Fantasy Convention 2016 Begins Tomorrow

Tomorrow, the annual World Fantasy Convention begins in Columbus, Ohio.  It’s an exciting year of nominations, and I wish everyone well, especially those who have ties to Black Gate.

For me, WFC is a time to reconnect with friends and meet new people.  I enjoy going to readings – hearing the authors tell their tales in person.  And the panel discussions are usually thought-provoking and entertaining.  I’m also hoping to find more issues of Galaxy and Unknown in the Dealers Room… for the right price.

For those unable to attend, I’ll be tweeting live and posting to my blog daily:

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I wasn’t able to attend the convention last year, so I’m really looking forward to attending again this year.  For me, the trip begins later today.  Columbus or Bust!