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When Aliens are Delicious: Murray Leinster’s “Proxima Centauri” and the Creepy Side of Pulp SF

When Aliens are Delicious: Murray Leinster’s “Proxima Centauri” and the Creepy Side of Pulp SF

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Astounding Stories March 1935What if the first aliens we encounter were made of chocolate? Crunchy, delicious, bite-sized chocolate. Imagine that during that all-important First Contact, you decided to take an experimental bite — because, one, chocolate aliens, and two, who would blame you? — and discovered they were so delicious they brought on raptures of ecstasy.

This is more or less the premise of Murray Leinster’s rip snortin’, force-ray filled space adventure “Proxima Centauri,” from the March 1935 issue of Astounding Stories. Except that the aliens are actually highly advanced carnivorous plants who have systematically hunted every form of animal life on their home planet to extinction, and the delicious, bite-sized aliens are us.

“Proxima Centauri” has been reprinted a few times, but I’d never read it. It came up in the comments on my June 20th article on The Best of Murray Leinster, the first of the Classics of Science Fiction series I’ve been exploring recently. A reader named Doug said:

The one story of Leinster’s that impressed me the most was “Proxima Centauri.” Even if the main drive of the plot is pure pulp, the way he describes human behavior during the long trip adds a realism that counter balances the more fantastic elements (i.e. Plant Men). It’s aged incredibly well when you consider that it was written “Before the Golden Age” (I read this first in the same-named Asimov edited anthology).

Fletcher Vredenburgh concurred:

I was eleven when my dad bought and read the Leinster collection. When I asked him about it he said he didn’t think I’d like it. Fortunately, that only encouraged me to give it a try. Glad I did. The gloriously pulpy “Proxima Centauri” still creeps me out.

Well, that was enough for me. I dug out my treasured copy of Before the Golden Age and settled in to enjoy a classic tale of space travel and creepy aliens from a pulp master.

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Gygax Magazine #2 Announced for Gen Con

Gygax Magazine #2 Announced for Gen Con

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Gygax Magazine 2The second issue of Gygax magazine is now at the printer and will ship in time for Gen Con.

Holy cats, that’s next week. This year Gen Con, the largest game convention in the country, takes place August 15-18 at the Indiana Convention Center.

We’ve been anxiously (and impatiently) awaiting the second issue of Gygax. I reviewed the fabulous first issue back in March and thought it was entirely successful at capturing the spirit of the earliest days of role playing, particularly the first issues of The Dragon, the magazine that shaped and guided the industry in the mid-1970s.

Gygax is a “quarterly adventure role-playing aid” that seems to be sticking more closely to an annual publishing schedule. As that sounds eerily similar to the eventual schedule for the print version of my own magazine, Black Gate, I’m just going to keep my mouth shut and not throw stones.

What I am going to do is peer closely at the pic of the Table of Contents recently published at the MTV Geek and see what I can make out. Looks like Tim Kask has an article on Tactics in Samurai Battles, Joy Libby looks at Hitchhiking in Doctor Who, Bryan Pope (Pipe? Page?) examines Building a Winning Spellbook for Mage Wars, and Vincent Flavio looks at The Old-School Renaissance.

That’s about all I could get before my eyes gave out. I’ll have to wait for the print version to discover the rest. For now, I’ll enjoy that tantalizing Jeff Easley cover and keep an eye on the magazine stand at my local game shop.

Unleash your inner Conan with Barbarian Kings

Unleash your inner Conan with Barbarian Kings

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Barbarian Kings SPI-smallMagic Spells and Enchantments! Elves and Orcs and Dwarves! Airships and Pirate Fleets! Heroes and Wizards and… Barbarian Kings.

That’s the cover copy on the boxed version of Barbarian Kings, one of the most fascinating games from my childhood, a game clearly inspired in equal measure by Robert E. Howard and J.R.R. Tolkien. Except for the airships, which I think maybe was an attempt to throw in a little Edgar Rice Burroughs and John Carter of Mars.

My fascination didn’t stem from any virtue of the game design. In fact, I never even had the chance to play it when it was first released in 1980. But it loomed large in my imagination.

Barbarian Kings was originally published in Ares #3. I’ve mentioned Ares before — it was the short-lived (and today, highly collectible) magazine published by SPI that included a science fiction or fantasy board game in every issue.

And what games they were. Star Trader, simulating high-stakes interstellar trade, commerce, and piracy; The High Crusade, inspired by Poul Anderson’s classic novel of a medieval conquest of the galaxy; Nightmare House, which featured intrepid explorers venturing into a haunted house; Voyage of the B.S.M. Pandora, a solitaire game of interstellar exploration on savage worlds; The Omega War, simulating a post-apocalyptic battle on a war-scarred North America in 2419. And nearly a dozen others.

And in issue #3, it was Barbarian Kings, a simple but compelling game of fantasy empires in conflict for 2-5 players. The Jack Kirby-inspired art on the cover communicated just about everything you needed to know (click on the image at right for a bigger version). This was a game of empire building in a world of dwarves, orcs, and magic, just like any of a hundred fantasy novels crowding the shelves in the 70s. It was a compact theatre of the imagination that could drop you smack dab into your favorite fantasy setting and let you run rampant with an army at your back. And airships. Let’s not forget the airships.

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Experience the Best Science Fiction of 1926 with The Gernsback Awards, Volume One

Experience the Best Science Fiction of 1926 with The Gernsback Awards, Volume One

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The Gernsback Awards-smallThe Hugo Award, science fiction’s most famous prize, was first dreamed up in 1953 for the 11th World Science Fiction Convention, and they’ve been given out every year since 1955. The prestigious Nebula, awarded by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA), was first given out in 1966.

Now, I know what you’re thinking. “But wait! What about all the marvelous science fiction and fantasy published between 1926, the year that marks the birth of Amazing Stories and hence science fiction as a genre, and 1953? With no prestigious award to draw the attention of future generations, is all that pulp fiction doomed to obscurity? Can nothing be done?!?”

Admit it — that’s exactly what you thought, over-punctuation and all. You should think about switching to decaffeinated.

Well, calm down. As usual, there’s no thought that we have that Forrest J. Ackerman hasn’t thunk before. In fact, Forry sprang into action to rectify this serious crime against science fiction way back in 1982.

His ingenious idea was The Gernsback Awards, a series of awards given retroactively to early science fiction. Each year, the ten nominees for the award would be collected in a handsome volume that would allow modern audiences to read and judge for themselves the best of the year.

At least, it was meant to be a series of awards. For unknown reasons, only one volume ever appeared: The Gernsback Awards, Volume One: 1926. Still, that one volume is packed full of terrific fiction from Edmond Hamilton, Curt Siodmak, Murray Leinster, A. Hyatt Verrill, H. G. Wells, and others — not to mention great art by Frank R. Paul.

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Summer 2013 Subterranean Magazine now Available

Summer 2013 Subterranean Magazine now Available

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Subterranean Magazine Summer 2013-smallThe Summer installment of online dark fantasy magazine Subterranean is a special K. J. Parker issue, with two short stories by the pseudonymous author of The Folding Knife and The Engineer trilogy, “The Sun And I” and “Illuminated,” and an article, “Rich Men’s Skins; A Social History of Armour.”

I wonder if the editors have any inside info on who the mysterious K.J. Parker really is? Those Subterranean guys are pretty connected; it’s their job to be in the know on industry secrets and stuff. They’ve published Parker plenty times before — most recently with “Let Maps to Others” (Summer 2012), “The Life and Sad Times of the Western Sword” (Fall 2011), and the World Fantasy Award-winning novella, “A Small Price to Pay for Birdsong” (Winter 2011).

After a lengthy association like that, you’d think they’d have shelled out a couple bucks for a private eye, and maybe have some fuzzy photos and a database of incriminating leads by now. Like the fact that K.J. Parker and John R. Fultz have never been seen in the same room together. Hmmmm.

If Lee Moyer’s cover looks familiar, it should — it was first used as the cover for Weird Tales 357 (see it here). No crime in re-using great art I guess, but you’d think they’d have chosen something less recent. That issue of WT came out just two years ago! Maybe they’re on a budget. Private eyes aren’t cheap.

They didn’t skimp on the contents though — as usual, this issue is packed with great fiction from some of the top names in the industry, including Joe R. Lansdale, Catherynne M. Valente, and Kat Howard.

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“We Thought We Were Immortal”: Robert Bloch on J. Francis McComas, Eric Frank Russell, and Leigh Brackett

“We Thought We Were Immortal”: Robert Bloch on J. Francis McComas, Eric Frank Russell, and Leigh Brackett

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Starlog Science Fiction Yearbook-smallLast week, as part of my ongoing look at Lester Del Rey’s Best of… paperbacks from the 1970s, I wrote a brief piece on The Best of Robert Bloch. In the Comments section, Tangent editor and uber-fan Dave Truesdale offered up this fascinating tidbit:

Back in 1978 David Gerrold and I edited the Starlog SF Yearbook… For the section titled In Memoriam I wrote Robert Bloch and asked if he would do the honors (Kerry O’Quinn, Starlog publisher had given me a budget and so I was of course paying authors). Bob agreed and turned in well over a thousand words on three people who had passed away in 1978: J. Francis “Mick” McComas, co-founder of F&SF; Eric Frank Russell, and Leigh Brackett. It was a marvelous piece, bookended with how the field had begun so small when everybody knew everybody else and it was a big deal when someone died — and today (1978) when hardly anyone noted the passing of folks like Hugo Gernsback or Raymond Palmer…

After Bob got the check for his piece, he wrote back to express his thanks and that Mrs. Bloch would no doubt enjoy spending it on several bags of groceries.

After thinking on it a bit more, Dave got in touch with Robert Bloch’s daughter, Sally (Bloch) Francy, to ask for permission to reprint the piece. Here’s part of her reply:

I’m sure Dad would be very pleased, and I hope he and Rich Matheson are chatting about it as I ‘speak.’ I babysat for Matheson’s kids and rode horseback with their oldest daughter, Tina… Rich’s passing, though not a surprise, given his age and health issues, was still a shock. He and Harlan Ellison are the two people I knew from when I was a teenager, and to whom I still feel strong emotional ties to my father. They are the last of his generation of the people I knew. I miss my dad every day, still!

Thanks to Dave’s efforts, the complete text of her letter and her father’s 1978 piece are reprinted on the Tangent Online website.

Galaxy Science Fiction, March 1951: A Retro-Review

Galaxy Science Fiction, March 1951: A Retro-Review

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Galaxy Science Fiction March 1951-smallGalaxy’s March, 1951 issue is succinct, offering only five pieces of fiction.

I noticed this on the table of contents: “Next issue at your newsstand first week in March,” which means that the March, 1951 issue was available in early February. That’s fairly standard for magazines (probably so the reader feels like an issue is current), but I admit I still find it confusing.

“The Wind Between the Worlds” by Lester Del Rey – Instead of exploring the solar system, mankind inadvertently figures out how to transport between worlds, drawing the attention of the Galactic Counsel. As a provisional member, Earth can exchange matter with other members of the council. When someone sabotages one of the matter transmitters, it remains open, sucking in large amounts of air from Earth every second. It’s up to a couple of engineers and a bureaucrat to figure out how to switch off the transmitter before the U.S. (under increasing pressure to fix the problem) bombs the facility, which would leave the transmitter permanently open.

I like science fiction like this, where there are a variety of alien races with vastly different cultures and appearances. I also enjoyed how mankind never figured out how to travel through space; we simply figured out how to transport matter to distant areas. Plausible and entertaining.

“The Other Now” by Murray Leinster – Jimmy’s wife is killed in a car accident. But in the weeks that follow, he begins to see glimpses of another reality within his home – her cigarette butts in the ashtray, doors opened that he knows were closed. Then he sees her diary open and reads the latest entry. Not only is it the current date, but she writes of missing Jimmy since his untimely death.

This has a great Twilight Zone feel to it. Yes, I know it predates the show, but the comparison is still valid. Leinster may have been the first author to use the idea of parallel universes, given that his story “Sideways in Time” appeared in the June, 1934 issue of Astounding. I leave this open for discussion.

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Amazing Stories, January 1962: A Retro-Review

Amazing Stories, January 1962: A Retro-Review

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Amazing Stories January 1962-smallThis seems to me a fairly significant issue of Amazing, in its way, though  it doesn’t feature any of the really significant Goldsmith discoveries (no Zelazny, no Le Guin, no Bunch); nor are any of the stories lasting classics. But all of the writers are reasonably well-known, and it does feature one somewhat important sort-of-debut, as well as a near farewell.

The cover is by Ed Emshwiller, illustrating Ben Bova’s “The Towers of Titan.” (His wife Carol appears in form-fitting spacesuit.) There is a back cover illustration too, in black-and-white, by Virgil Finlay, for the serial, Mark Clifton’s “Pawn of the Black Fleet.” Interiors are by Finlay, Emshwiller, Adkins, Summers, and Kilpatrick.

The letter column, “… Or So You Say,” has letters from Ken Winkes, H. James Hotaling, and Bob Adolfsen, none of the names familiar to me, discussing among other things the question of whether serials are a good idea.

The book review column, The Spectroscope, by S. E. Cotts, reviews Daniel F. Galouye’s Dark Universe (very favorably – and indeed the novel became a Hugo nominee), Lester Del Rey’s Winston juvenile Moon of Mutiny (very unfavorably), Arthur C. Clarke’s non-fiction collection The Challenge of the Spaceship, John C. Lilly’s Man and Dolphins, an account of the author’s research on dolphins and in particular their intelligence and capacity for language (Cotts reveals himself as rather a skeptic in this area); and also a curious review of an Ace Double, Kenneth Bulmer’s No Man’s World backed with Poul Anderson’s Mayday Orbit.

Cotts modestly praises No Man’s World as “plain uncomplicated entertainment” – no real argument there from me – but he dismisses Mayday Orbit as a “minor trifle” – in itself not an absurd judgment, but if it is a minor trifle then so too surely is No Man’s World!

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Weird Tales 361 Now on Sale

Weird Tales 361 Now on Sale

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Weird Tales 361-smallThe latest issue of the world’s oldest — and arguably greatest — fantasy magazine is now on sale.

Weird Tales #361 is the special demented Fairy Tale issue, with fiction by Peter S. Beagle, Tanith Lee, Jane Yolen, Morgan Llywelyn, and many others.

There’s also articles from Darrell Schweitzer (“Ninety Years of Weird Tales“), an interview with J. David Spurlock on the artwork of Margaret Brundage, and “An Inside Look at Weird Tales,” a step-by-step look at the evolving cover concept for this issue, by editor John Harlacher and artist Jeff Wong.

It’s always a delight to see a new issue of Weird Tales, especially one as jam-packed as this. This fat issue contains no less than 19 stories and four poems, alongside several feature interviews, book reviews, and copious interior art.

The PDF review copy we received is beautifully laid out and easy to navigate and read. This is the second issue produced by Nth Dimension Media, under new editor Marvin Kaye.

Here’s the complete Table of Contents:

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July/August Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction now on Sale

July/August Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction now on Sale

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Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction July August 2013Pretty sedate cover on the latest F&SF. Especially when you consider recent covers have featured deadly sea creatures, dragons, and floating eyeballs. But hey – magical cats are a time-honored tradition in American fantasy, so who am I to judge?

Colleen Chen at Tangent Online finds lots to like about this issue’s cover story, “The Color of Sand” by KJ Kabza, magical cats and all:

I always have high expectations when reading F&SF, but I found this issue particularly delightful. Much of it read like a selection of folk and fairy tales, complete with talking animals and legendary folk, interspersed with a couple of science fiction stories and a dash of horror for variety.

“The Color of Sand” by KJ Kabza is a whimsical tale of a five-year-old boy named Catch who lives on the edge of the dunes with his mother and his only neighbor, a talking sandcat named Bone. Catch and his mother, who pick up mysterious colorful pebble-like objects on the beach to trade and sell, discover one day that the objects, called refulgium, are magic. Catch swallows a red one and becomes a giant. Guided by Bone, he and his mother embark on a journey along the coast to the perilous Final Atoll to seek a black refulgium that will return him to normal size.

This story was such a pleasure to read. It’s smart and funny enough to appeal to adults but would also enrapture children of any age.

The issue also contains fiction by Eleanor Arnason, Tim Sullivan, Adam Rakunas, Chen Qiufan, Harry R. Campion, and many others. In a startling development, there is no contribution from Albert E. Cowdrey this issue – for the first time in two years.

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